23-6-6 Board Meeting

001foreign it is Tuesday June 6 2023 at 5 30 pm and we are calling this regular meeting of the Wake County Board of Education to order I don't I want to welcome those of you that are watching at home and those that are here in person Wake County Board of Education meetings are conducted for the purpose of carrying on the official business of the school system the public is cordially invited to attend board meetings to observe the board as it conducts its official business persons who 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

002to action in accordance with General statute 143-318.17 um I do want to State we have about 30 folks on we have 30 folks signed up for public comment today which if everyone speaks for three minutes is it 90 minutes of time um and I feel like setting the expectation ahead of time that we're going to go for about 45 minutes and then we're going to move on to board business and then anyone who wasn't called will be called before we go back into closed session I want to set that expectation early we also have some students who have signed up for public comment and they do have school tomorrow even though it's the last week of school so we're going to let them go first so I want everyone who's here for public comment just

003to be aware of that ahead of time if you are waiting just so you know what the expectations are we do have a quorum if you will all stand and join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance congratulations for all thank you try this nope is that better okay thank you Communications Team all right we are now I'm going to now turn it over to superintendent more for her comments good evening congratulations are in order for two outstanding members of our student Support Services team Jasmine traughber who serves Pleasant Union Elementary and Sanderson high was named the 2022-23 wcpss school psychologist of the year and Miss Stephanie Nelson of Garner Magnet High was named the 2223 wcpss school counselor of the Year Ms trober has been a school psychologist in our district for seven years

004she demonstrates leadership through empowering her colleagues providing training opportunities and collaborating to improve student outcomes Brian Tunstall principal at Pleasant Union School says Jasmine takes time to hear out her peers concerns and validate their observations and experiences Jasmine is able to problem solve with them in a constructive manner where they feel supported and come up with student-centered decisions that best benefit the child Miss trauber also builds Partnerships with parents and students during special education evaluation processes this year she focused on improving assessment practices to reduce bias counteract stereotypes and consider students unique backgrounds Dr Nelson has been a school counselor at Garner Magnet High since 2007. she is a leader both in her school and in the school counseling profession Garner High administrators wrote in nominating her for this award she has put into action

005the latest techniques in School counseling and these have resulted in maximizing their academic academic achievement of students she is leading efforts to implement and sustain a data-driven and comprehensive counseling program she is also known for her enthusiasm and serves as a tireless worker who leads by example the work of school counselors and school psychologists has never been more critical than it is now my thanks to these and all of the dedicated professionals who are using their knowledge and talent to improve the lives of their students and Families yesterday we announced this year's winners of the 4C fund grants the 4C fund was created just for Wake County Public School System Educators and offers grants of up to ten thousand dollars the 4C fund emphasizes the importance of collaboration communication creativity and critical thinking in every

006student's education this year's grant winner submitted projects that demonstrate exceptional potential to help students develop these skills the winners are a team of seven teachers from edlow magnet high for a project called making our stories known where students will write their own Memoirs and learn from those of others a team of three teachers from Herbert Akins Road Middle for their project growing and sensory Gardens students will create two gardens at their school one that will produce fresh produce and one that will be a calming area for all to enjoy a team of four from Heritage High for the Husky financial institute which will link learning and economics and personal finance courses with real life experiences a team of three from Knightdale High for their project leveling the playing field bringing diverse students to stem which

007will use robots and stem kits to get students from diverse backgrounds excited about careers in computer science Aaron Wasco of Oberlin Road Middle for her project stop motion science using animation to build understanding of our world 8th grade students will collaborate to create science-based stop-motion animations that connect curriculum with global issues and environmental concerns and Mary Craig Wells from Rogers Lane Elementary for her project hopped to success with math and movement which will combine math and physical movement to improve student achievement my thanks to all of these Educators for taking the initiative to develop these exciting projects that will help our students hone their 4C skills congratulations to the student staff at Swift Creek Elementary which has been named a green shield school by the positivity project the positivity project provides schools with digital resources

008and training to teach the 24 character strengths including Integrity kindness self-control and Empower students to build positive relationships Swift Creek is the only School in Wake County and one of just 11 schools Nationwide to have received this prestigious recognition this year green shield schools are recognized for demonstrating character and relationships driven systems among staff students and families which cultivate lifelong learning in a positive School culture many of our schools benefit from participation in the positivity project learn more at pawzproject.org finally this evening graduation season is here time for more than 11 000 students to take this important step towards productive citizenship as well as College and Career our Communications team will be sharing the stories of just a few members of the class of 2023 students who have persevered through adversity to reach this Milestone

009and are now on to great things I'd like to share one of those stories with you now Emma Gray Hooper who will be graduating from Holly Springs High has battled an autoimmune disease for the past two years that kept her at home for much of her High School experience through it all Emma's family and teachers say she has remained dedicated to her classwork and kept a positive attitude please join me in taking a look at this video profiled and visit wcpss.net graduation to find more [Music] honestly I've had a lot of fun because I was sick the past two years so I didn't get to go to school but now I got to go for a little bit at least and it's been really good to see my friends and my teachers about two years

010ago I was diagnosed with pr3 Inca vasculitis and that like it attacked my kidneys and so three weeks ago I got a kidney transplant and my brother donated his kidney I mean when I woke up for from surgery the first thing I said is Noah okay and the first thing he said was is my sister okay so we're very close I was really sick but now it's like completely the opposite she just she takes care of everything in advance if she knows she's going to be absurd or was absent so she'd be like can I come in tomorrow at lunch and make up that test I miss so just that willingness to give up all her free time and to devote towards putting towards her education is awesome my teachers really worked with me when

011I was sick and stuff so if I had to be out they would just help me out a lot Miss Camden definitely my math teacher she just really helped me understand it instead of just teaching it she thinks that we're helping her I'm sure I know a lot of teachers go out of their way to help the kids on their own personal time but she doesn't understand what she's doing for us also I'm honestly so excited I'm going to the University of South Carolina so I'm ready to graduate and I'm a little nervous but I have a roommate she's really nice I really like her and I'm close to a hospital so it's like I'm I'm gonna be fine no matter what honestly I just had fun with my senior year I got to take

012a break and just have fun with my friends thank you that concludes my comments we were bringing a video today um good evening everyone and happy pride month I'd like to begin by wishing our track one teachers and staff a restful summer vacation and our traditional calendars family students and staff will be joining them on Friday last night the Wake County Commission approved their budget which allowed for an additional 10 million dollars on top of the county manager's budget I'd like to thank our partners and commit in the County commission for their thoughtful process on this their consideration for listening and asking good questions and we heard that balance and that difficulty in creating that budget in their comments and always thankful for them to be our continued Partners in pursuing our students academic success

013a superintendent Moore said graduation season is kicking off I'm excited that tomorrow it starts with project search it is a one-year school to work program for students in extended content classrooms so students with disabilities um giving them access to work and many of them employment upon graduation and I'd like to thank the Embassy Suites at RTP and Kerry for being our partners in this endeavor it's not always easy to take on high school students for an internship and it is always exciting to see how different businesses can help our students learn about different roles in the community for Memorial Day Holly Grove Elementary School held their annual Memorial Day celebration it is always always a lovely and sobering event to kick off Memorial Day Weekend many thanks to Ms Ingersoll Knox Miss Russell and Mr

014Klein um and the Holly Grove Middle School band there was a all veteran team flyover and fifth graders read parts of the or the entirety of the getty Gettysburg address as well as the poem on Flanders Field and sharing the significance of the poppy and remembering those folks not just in the world but specifically in their Elementary School Community who are family members that are no longer with us and served during that time and so many thanks to the hedgies for that and that concludes my comments Vice chair Hagerty thank you chair Mahaffey so I also want to express my thanks to the Wake County Commission to chair Thomas Vice chair Vice chair Evans and all seven Wake County Commissioners for their vote to increase the manager's recommended budget it that will help to provide

015additional funding that will in turn help us get all of our employees up to a minimum of 17 an hour of course the county budget also supports a number of other important programs many of which also help our students and we saw expansions for Pre-K and 3K services and as we look ahead I hope this can be an area of future collaboration between the school board and the county to really help all of our children get the Head Start that they need to be ready for school when they're entering kindergarten so thank you to them and all of their hard work chair Mahaffey and I had the opportunity it was a couple weeks ago but now but since our last meeting to visit Mills Park Middle School where we participated in a middle school competition

016for sustainability and design and ideas for helping our schools both save money and develop more environmental response environmentally responsible policies and there were many wonderful proposals but the winning proposal I want to give special recognition to Connor fan Allison Peterson and varnica ravivarma and I don't know if Mr Strickland is still here but we've had a lot of Fine Young Minds with a lot of great ideas that we're going to present to you so congratulations again to the Mills Park students I want to take a moment of personal privilege and just say thank you to all of my colleagues around the table many of you in the audience and many in the public might not know about the work that has been going on because it is a closed process but we have been involved

017now for weeks and our superintendent search and this has been a lot of effort a lot of work you all have reviewed literally thousands of pages of documents in a short amount of time conducted interviews and you've done this while keeping up with all of your other board duties your meetings your committees your transfer Appeals your due process appeals your student recognitions your constituent service and this is not an easy task this is a sacrifice that I want to acknowledge keeps you from your family keeps you from your job I know many of you have taken paid time off to keep up with and fulfill your duties and so if no one else has said it I want to give I want to express to each of you a sincere thank you for the dedication

018all of you have made in this process and again you know it's it can be a lot and I know especially those who've gone above and beyond thank you well said I do thank you chairman happy do you want more I have one more and this one is significant many of us are carrying a large loss with us today for the passing of our good friend Conan Morgan Conan was a proud graduate of Garner High School a very active and influential alum also a very proud Alum of North Carolina State University a Truman scholar a selfless and tireless advocate for so many in our community many may not know but he was also a passionate Champion for North Carolina Science Olympiad from when he was just a small Middle School student competing himself his mother

019today told stories of him taking apart things just to see how they worked to get an idea of just seeing things from New Perspectives to as a professional an adult becoming the MC of these Statewide Awards and always out there passionately promoting opportunities for stem and science for all of our students Conan's obituary has been printed it's out there it's wonderful I'm not going to repeat it but it today was a very moving and impactful celebration of his life was the paths posthumous awarding of the order of the Longleaf Pine and a time to come together with his friends and his family and remember just a wonderful life of a very dedicated public servant and I know I have other colleagues who probably express it much more articulate much more gracious than I can but

020it was a life well lived that will continue to have an impact in our community for years to come and we remember Conan Morgan thank you Mr Hershey um thank you Vice chair for those words about Conan it is um I'm still in shock and I will be for a long time all right let me compose um you it isn't just weeks we've been at it it's months for the superintendent search and I was going to um thank my colleagues as well for their hard work I know it is out of sight so you can only take our word for it but we take this very seriously it is along with creating policy our number one job and my colleagues are putting in the work uh I want to congratulate all the people who are

021graduating it was a pleasure being at the young men's and women's leadership academies for their graduation I look forward to being at Broughton and Sanderson in the coming week along with the promotion ceremony at Mount Vernon um I want to thank our Raleigh City councilors for Action that they took last night to raise the pay of our crossing guards all of my schools are in Raleigh and Raleigh and a lot of board members have schools and rallies they raised it from somewhere below 12 to over fifteen dollars an hour and so I want to thank the Raleigh City councilors personally for that I'd like to thank our Wake County Commissioners as well they are they show themselves every year to be tremendous Public School supporters and I appreciate their hard work it is not easy

022to be a board that has to ask for money rather than for us to be able to control have to have tax Authority taxing Authority like so many other states do so I I really appreciate what they go through for us so I thank them and lastly um I'm gonna just say happy pride month and I want to address it real quick because people raised the question of why why is it here why is it there and we have students and staff and families who are part of that community and that is a community that has been treated like second-class citizens for most of world history and when we when we the question gets posed and was posed recently how is this impactful by saying happy pride month how is that impacting students and staff

023well part of of Wake County Public Schools is providing a safe and welcoming environment and you better believe that does have an impact on academic achievement and so while they are constantly under attack it is important for me as a human being to put my arms around them and let them know unequivocally that I welcome them and love them and will continue to love them and stand with them as they as other people attempt to erase them from our schools and from our life and so that is why it is important to recognize pride month thank you madam chair Mr Hershey appreciate those words Dr Ing um good evening um I wanted to just Echo the appreciation to the um Wake County for understanding the the need for really supporting our teachers by providing the

024funds to do so but however it does not remove the necessity for us to as a school board to look at our budget carefully to make sure that we are using our money wisely in all facets so in of our operations I do want to just mention that I had a chance to go to um North wake College and Career Academy for a visit and it was uh just a wonderful visit I had a tour with Dr battle the principal as well as Mrs Lacey Garner this assistant principal and as well as some students some seniors from from that school and got a really up close look at what they do and the wonderful program that they have you know they um those students have to actually apply to get in they have to write

025an essay and all that to to get in and once they're in um it's a very rigorous uh program uh with AP courses um and uh uh uh uh college courses as well and and you can enroll in uh EMT core uh program business administration early childhood education uh I.T and culinary arts so these are real practical career paths and I I really applaud them for doing having this kind of a model in our school system and some of them even after they finish their uh senior year they go to a 13th year where they can get additional certificate and college credits so some of them finished their 13th year and they're you know ready to go to work and and and um and uh some of them you know actually have gone in to

026become EMT with um uh over at uh in the Wake County and so um I I really really um was just um uh Overjoyed to see that kind of a program uh in our schools and uh so I had a chance to go to their graduation um uh of the seniors there as well as some other schools wake STEM Magnet High School the Wake Early College of Health and Sciences as well as the international Baccalaureate diploma program uh graduation for for the people at Millbrook High School and and I you know no matter what path students take whether they're going College Bound or going to a career um you know I think that the future is bright and I you know as long as they maintain their you know the ethic of hard work and

027and persistence and and just focusing on on um their future and and I think that uh you know uh what we're doing here is worth it um and it makes my job just so much more rewarding to see all those people graduating so thank you thank you Dr Eng Miss Edmonds thank you I'd also like to recognize pride month I found this on the U.S state Department website and Mr Hershey I think it expands on your idea of why quote Pride reminds us of the spirit of democratic protest and the principle that all persons are created equal and every individual's full Humanity should be equally respected democracies are stronger when they celebrate the full rights and value of all persons without discrimination end quote to our lgbtq plus staff members I say happy pride and

028thank you for your work and dedication to public education you are valued and appreciated to our lgbtq plus students I want you to know that you too are valued and welcome in our schools schools should be and remain a safe welcoming space for you June 2nd was National Gun Violence awareness day and where orange weekend where orange takes place in June every year it's a time for honoring gun violence survivors and bringing people together to end gun violence the work of ending gun violence is an important part of school safety especially prevention efforts such as safe storage and red flag laws you can learn more at where orange.org I've been to I've been to too many school events and graduations to mention but I do want to say that as this as busy as this

029time of year is um for end-of-year events performances Etc it has been a joy and a privilege to watch our students shine congratulations to all of our graduates I will highlight one event Middle Creek Elementary had a third grade Musical and I didn't know anything about it before going there but it turned out to be a performance of songs about eogs and testing all the songs were upbeat and fun but they addressed issues like anxiety and stress the kids sang about their quote Mighty Minds there were songs about books reading and math there was even a lyric about multiplying all of the lyrics were empowering for kids there was a very clear message of you got this you can do this I thought it was really really clever a clever way to try and help

030students relax about testing we know that many of our kids really struggle during testing season and I just want to applaud this music teacher at Middle Creek Elementary for using the power of song to try and help children let go of some of that anxiety and stress EOG songs might be a thing now maybe it happens a lot across elementary schools but it was a first for me and I really enjoyed it so much the last thing finally on another somber note I want to extend my sympathies to the Combs Magnet Elementary School family one of their excuse me one of their students was killed while riding their scooter over Memorial Day weekend and I just want to extend my sympathies to the child's family and that school Community thank you Miss Edmonds Miss Waters

031thank you chairman happy it has certainly been a day filled with a range of emotions Vice chair Hagerty thank you for lifting up our friend Conan Morgan his legacy is undeniable those in attendance at the memorial represented only a fraction of the lives that he changed and impacted and so I count myself blessed to have had the opportunity and the privilege to know him and so grateful for for his service and the impact that we will continue to feel it has been um a day as I said filled with a lot of emotions um and just moving into sort of a different element of emotion I had the great privilege of attending a sweet Pre-K graduation at Brentwood Elementary School and Pre-K students are a delight they do lots of things they sing they dance

032but they express the best that we have for our future and I just wanted to take a moment just to lift up our Pre-K Educators they are some of our most talented Educators in our buildings and their impact is is so profound the work that they do in these very early years for our children can really cause such important long-term outcomes and so just want to celebrate the work of preschool Educators and on on Sunday afternoon I had the great privilege of speaking at a Pre-K graduation and it was Wanda's little hands and when I received the invitation I accepted it gladly and so I was expecting a small intimate Affair and then I arrived to three to four hundred people and was quite thankful for that communication degree from NC State because it came

033in handy um with a room full of families but what that said to me is how education has the power to bring us all together the way that all of the children were celebrated the way that family members in their entire Village came to to share in that education so really count our youngest Learners our youngest Scholars really important and other graduations have also been great to attend during this season Vernon Malone graduation what stood out to me there was just how each of the students celebrated their peers they were so excited to see all the accomplishments that their peers had made so just really love the celebratory Spirit as they achieved greatness and Wake Early College of health and science what Scholastic achievements I was just blown away by the um the the number

034of accomplishments their right Futures ahead I'm really excited to be a part of that and Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School graduation I don't know where to begin there are so many elements of pure excellence in that graduation that school Community reflects so many great opportunities for our Learners and so really so excited to continue on the Journey of graduations in the in the coming days and looking forward to celebrating the wonderful times and one of the graduations that I'm particularly looking forward to is the Millbrook High School graduation I know someone else on this board is also looking forward to that as a member of the class of 1996 I will certainly cherish the opportunity to be there in addition to graduation season it is also a time where we are seeing many of our

035beloved um going to a different phase called retirement I wanted to celebrate um principal Cheryl finner of Southeast Raleigh Elementary opened that school and has done phenomenal work for so many years as a lifelong resident or or born in southeast Raleigh and her passion and commitment super grateful for that I also want to celebrate a wonderful special education teacher from Lynn Road Elementary had the great joy of having her in my child's life for for a long time and and just Cheryl Wilson if you were listening or if somebody can pass along that message just want to thank you for your commitment to kids and all of our special education teachers that work does not go unnoticed and also a very very very special retirement coming up very soon I'd like to celebrate Chris Brown

036anybody in this room who knows her knows why I celebrate her when I was a senior at Millbrook High School I had the opportunity to become a Cooperative education student and work in the district and so I interviewed with her and didn't get the job so I was not her first choice but the First Choice wasn't able to take the job so I was the second choice and it changed my life and I was only supposed to be there with her for one year but they work with me and helped me from my senior at Millbrook to my senior in college and it has been a great joy to carry on all the things that she taught me they still influenced me today so just want to just thank her for being the best boss

037I've ever had in in working more than 30 years and just want to celebrate all of the things that she has done for so many in this district and super grateful and and yeah super grateful I can't even put into words what she means to me and then um as we move along in the calendar month um the Juneteenth holiday will will find us in a few weeks or probably less than less than a few weeks but just wanted to continue to to encourage everyone to really um look for opportunities to affirm the experiences of so many in this nation and to really rally around the importance of telling a factual account of History so that we can acknowledge the experiences that the lived experiences of our ancestors and the impact that that we still

038feel today so I hope you will continue to use your voice to advocate for the opportunity for Education that reflects a full and accurate account of History so I lift that up to you today and as I close just want to continue to Express gratitude for our wonderful County Commissioners this is a a group who has a very weighty responsibility as they manage so many things that impact 1000 and thousands of our citizens and really appreciate their commitment to public schools and so glad to count them as colleagues and for champions for public schools thank you thank you Miss Waters Miss Caulfield I wanted to say thank you Mr hegarty for acknowledging the dedication and time that we put into the superintendent which includes some long days and nights and weekends included but we all

039know how important the task is but thank you for recognizing that for all of us and we thank you as well congratulations to Wake Forest High School baseball who made it to the state championship this is their first time since 1977 and they came in second place so well done and go cougars congratulations to all the graduates at Knightdale High School I enjoyed being part of their graduation and the excitement in the room was let's just say energetic it was great congratulations to all the seniors that are about to embark on their new chapter after over the next few weeks I look forward to joining the upcoming graduation commencements this is an exciting time and it may look different forever for many but I wish you all the best of luck in whatever your journey

040brings these last two weeks I was able to participate in two very important programs that deal with student safety which looks different to different people at different times one has um was with a very lovely woman Alicia Kozak who turned her very moving and scary story at the age of 13 into a lifelong career to reach all children of all ages about Internet safety I think it would be beneficial to from everybody to hear her story and to learn more about the Alicia Kozak project so she does have a website you could go on there and learn about her story and see how you can help your child anywhere from you know a preschool Elementary the second that they are involved with any kind of Technology whatsoever it would be beneficial and she does speak

041to different students at different ages and different levels and different ways to reach whatever they are whatever level they're at but I think it would be really great for us to hear from her hopefully we can have her here at Wake County at one point to share the awareness with our students friends the other opportunity I had was with an advanced driver safety course it's called breaks some of you may have heard it it's for teens after the students receive our driver's ed program they can earn their permit and then get after 30 hours they can participate in this amazing program with real life Advanced driving program the program was started by a former race car driver that lost his two teenage boys in a reckless driving accident on the way to McDonald's to get

042a biscuit I mentioned this because someone recently said to me it takes one second to change your life forever this tragedy inspired this Dad to reach all the teens out there that he can with the skills and knowledge to be safe on the roads this was an incredible program not to replace Driver's Ed but to enhance it with Advanced Training education and real life driving skills these teens particularly loved the skid pads track as you could imagine but honestly it gives you really good hands-on experience in real scenarios from the proper positioning of your mirrors how to handle a car in an emergency and it even gave the parents some time when you go and take your teen parents have to go in and they have to take a part of the class as well

043it's a nationwide program that has reached over 50 000 teens from 50 different states in five countries it's also text deductible and can be free if you if for most of you if at the end you want to donate I think that most people do walk away donating because they realize it's such a valuable program and I bring this up as a reset as a resource that can only add to the safety of our teens as they get their permits and license and now they go out and to enjoy this exciting time but also sometimes they lose focus in this time of graduation it's exciting so enjoy and please be safe congratulations to all our seniors now is the time for you to take all that you have learned so far and soar so go

044get them I am what I'm going to give myself permission to be an articulate as I'm it's been a very uh interesting interesting day so I I want to first start by thanking the County Commissioners for their investment in our public education system and for their support we know that this did not go as you know we couldn't touch all that we wanted to touch but we were grateful for their investment and to the taxpayers for your investment as well um so we want to thank you for that I also want to congratulate the Apec softball team for winning their championship game over the weekend maintenance their 18th Championship I want to thank the Apex Community for carousing around that the team and making it just a a celebration um in addition I want to

045extend my congratulations to our upcoming seniors as they embark on their their Journey past high school and and experience the real world some of those students are already experienced in the real world and I want them to know that really and truly from here do you think is possible and that the world is the world is theirs and it's up to them to uh discover how they want to leave an impact and a legacy I would also like to take a moment of personal privilege to express like many um my condolences to the Morgan Family um you know what one thing is life is very short and we never know what we have with that between the birth and the sunrise that Dash in between is really what counts the most and and Conan's 42

046years which is relatively short he made a very lifelong impact and I think he accomplished more things in his 42 years than many of us could ever dream of or those who are double his age and so I this is a huge loss to our community and it's a huge loss for those uh including myself who knew him and who who confided in him and you know he never made you feel as if you were a burden uh no matter what time you called what questions you had he was always there and I I remember and apologized for calling late at night or something as I know is this is this is what I'm here for and so he was truly that Confidant and if any of us are blessed and privileged to have a

047Conan in your life cherish those folks chairs of life because life is life is precious and you know we are we never know the moments when our time comes but the biggest thing that I want to hear is Is Well done thy good and faithful servant you've been Faithful over a few things and those are words I think we all should strive whether we are an elected office or not that we should strive to do what's best and striving to do what's best often means there's going to be times where there's there's unpopular uh opinions and not unpopular um moments that you face with but how you move in that and and move with Integrity is what matters and that's what Conan uh displayed so his legacy is is here and I'm grateful to be

048a part of that Legacy and so um I had those I continue to support his family and the work ahead and know that we all have a a role in this in this world and the great thing is that we're all blessed to walk this Earth together and it's how we choose to spend our time is what what matters so thank you Miss Johnson hosler um thank you um and my colleagues have said so many other things and articulated them well and and I can't thank the Commissioners in our community enough for supporting in and showing their investment by being partners and taking up um the mantle of public education when others who are tasked with doing the job don't um and and it and I acknowledge their courageousness and braveness to step into a

049space that isn't necessarily designated as as theirs as we look at our state constitution and so we've all thanked them and I hopefully our community and our Educators and our families will also extend their heartfelt thanks for their courage and support in showing the community that public education is a pathway for so many of our citizens including myself sitting at this table because of our public because of the public education I was afforded in our state so thank you to our colleagues and friends for their support um before I forget thank you Ms waters for bringing this up um so many communities have amazing Juneteenth celebrations but I'd be remissed if I didn't invite people to Fuquay because it does combine the acknowledgment of fathers black fathers or black Heritage in this country but also

050looking at and including our educational institution with an amazing group called brainstemology in Fuquay so please if you can it's all weekend it starts on Friday and ends on um Juneteenth the 19th and so please if you can take a look at the great work they're doing it's all over social media and you will see lots of our students Educators and a board member that'll be engaged and quite I will not be engaged in their Cipher but I will be there and so I strongly encourage you to to look at what I would say is the community acknowledging the need to be United on the ways in which we show up for each other so please check out the work of Fuquay Varina and brainstemology in their Juneteenth celebrations coming up I almost forgot and

051so I'm glad we the superintendent mentioned the 4cs Grant I had the great opportunity of spending way more time than I think they anticipated me being in the building at South Garner High School they were recipients of the 4C Grant last year and so it was Pandora Springs Elementary East Garner Middle School in South Garner High School who did the Chronicles so they had four they used all four C's and they had amazing support from the community they interviewed the community all student-led and student driven I shudder to hear the podcast that I didn't realize I was actively engaging in but but indeed the students asked really great questions and um quite frankly as I say this I had not thought about it until as I'm speaking because so much of this is emotional for

052me and many of us don't live in the moment and I generally am not a person who live in the moment I'm a planner everything is super organized and I'm thoughtful about the way I show up in this world and in that moment I realize with those young people I had a great time and lived in that moment and it's not something that I feel like I've been afforded to do because oftentimes as a black woman my job is to show up in the ways that people expect me to because my grandmother said that that was the expectation and I've lived up to that which often means I don't live in the moment and I did with those kids and I think as you heard from my colleagues about our dear friend Conan Morgan who

053absolutely lived in the moment and most people at this table know I endeavored upon a huge Endeavor in 2020 and so many people supported me but everybody walked away except for Coleman and he showed up for being ways that he didn't have to I didn't really know him so that's who he was and I also think that his spirit and his legacy is about letting your words and actions speak for you and he lived in his Godly principles every day keeping his word and being a public servant and while we are certainly in mourning and grieving in North Carolina I have been in DC for the past couple of days and it was interesting when I started to tell people I was flying back and then flying back again tomorrow um that several people knew

054why because his work extends beyond the boundaries of his beloved home state North Carolina and it was great to hear people like the collective pack at DC who were also honoring him when members of Congress were honoring him last week and so again a person who understood that the next moment is not promised to us and he lived in that and so when things are hard and you're making hard decisions and you know who you are and your principal but people call those principles into question what I would say to you today is living your truth and acknowledge there is only one Judgment Day and it is not the people in this room you all and he understood that and that is the lesson that I'm going to take away in this moment and lastly

055ask all of you who truly understand the power of prayer and your positive thoughts to extend those to our dear friend Heather Scott who's whose husband is in critical condition and I've not been able to get myself together because I heard about it just before I walked across the back of here and so I'm I'm going to ask you to pray for her and her two children and it is a reminder for me that so many people asked her not to step away from this board and what I would say to you is that she understood something greater than we did and that is the power to have been with her family today and not sitting at this table so when we think that this work can't be done without us I assure you to

056think bigger and harder about where we belong because oftentimes we're told that and we don't listen and that's another person who in this moment I am acknowledging understood what was greater than her and that was being with her family today and so oftentimes we get caught up in the fame the the kind words the encouragement but most importantly remember whose we are and why we show up in this space and so I'll ask you to be um in prayer um and sending and wrapping your loving arms around her and her family and it is public now so I was going back and forth so thank you miss my happy for not calling on me at the start because I wasn't sure that it was public when I got the text but it is public now

057um and we don't know the outcome but it was very Dire from the public comment that has already been posted so um again if you know the power prayer I ask that you extend your prayer and love to the Scott family and several of us just saw him literally less than a week ago thank you thank you miss my happy for acknowledging something was happening over here for me oh and thank you Miss Johnson Hustler for lifting her up I know prayer is a powerful thing and something that means so much to her and um I if we seem a little Shook at this table please I know everyone's here for their own reasons for their own agenda but um we literally just found this out um so if we're going to try to maintain

058our full attention but if we seem distracted please understand um that piece um at this time I will take a motion to approve the meeting agenda we have a motion in a second all those in favor please say aye any opposed nay right we do move on to something a little bit happier which we absolutely need there is there is joy and sorrow then they can live in tandem so I am going to hand it off to superintendent more and recognize Mr Stacy Olson of East Wake High School to bring us some joyful news superintendent Moore board chair Mahaffey and members of the board tonight we are honored to bring a recommendation item on naming the main gym of East Wake High School in honor of Coach Marion Strickland as principal of East Wake High

059School coach stricken his dedication over 30 Decades of her life to teaching and coaching at Vaden Whitley high school and East Wake high school left an indelible mark on the institution her journey began in 1971 when she joined van Whitley High School which later merged to form East Wake High School her unwavering commitment to her students and athletes to find her career into her retirement in 2003. coach Strickland's profound impact on East Wake High School's athletic landscape earned her well-deserved place in the school's Hall of Fame in 2008 a Trailblazer in advancing athletic opportunities for female students she played a pivotal role in founding the school's softball and volleyball programs while coaching basketball and softball was a part of her repertoire volleyball was her true passion she's deserved she served as a coach for an

060impressionable 20 years during her tenure as volleyball coach coach Strickland achieved remarkable success solidifying her position as a revered figure in the sports community her team's triumphed securing six conference championships six Conference tournament championships their dominance extended to the state level for 13 State playoff appearances under coach Strickland's tutelage her exceptional coaching ability earn heard the prestigious Coach of the Year titled five times four times which was for volleyball and one time for basketball coach Strickland's Keen I for talent and Relentless pursuit of Excellence resulting in six player of the year selections during her tenure her unwavering dedication to her athletic her athletes led the volleyball program to claim one sectional Championship solidifying their place among the state's Elite teams coach Strickland's contribution to East Wake high school extended far beyond the volleyball court her

061Legacy leads lies in the her ability to inspire her athletes and still discipline sportsmanship and creating an environment where anyone could strive both on and off the court her impact on the lives of countless students and athletes will continue to her two famous quotes play like champlings and the power to win comes from within at this time I'm pleased to introduce Miss Betty Parker senior director of Real Estate Services to the podium thank you Professor Austin good afternoon ladies and gentlemen it's always a pleasure to be before you I met coach Strickland about 50 years ago so with all of this other joyful conversations that we've been having I appreciate Ms Johnson hostler's suggestion to live in the moment and Ms mahaffey's to to seek Joy I would offer my meager condolences to this board

062and the Board of Commissioners who have both suffered Mr Morgan's loss if I get upset it is my very best impression of Kathy Moore [Laughter] so this is a happy item this is a happy moment it's a proud opportunity for the district to celebrate a wonderful educator it is with overwhelming enthusiasm that we support naming the main gymnasium at East Wake high school as the coach Miriam Strickland Memorial gymnasium in honor of former and much beloved teacher and Coach Miriam Strickland in accordance with board policy 9300 coach Strickland's teaching and coaching career at Vaden Whitley in East Wake High School spend 31 years from 1972 to 2003. during those years she taught health and physical education as principal Alston mentioned she coached volleyball basketball and softball she was revered as a supportive mentor of respected

063classroom teacher a competitive and caring coach and model of integrity and positivity coach Strickland retired from service with the district in 2003 and unfortunately a year later was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease she continued to enjoy her retirement and sadly tragically passed away in a car accident on March 5th of this year coach Strickland provided exemplary service to the Wake County Public School System and the Eastern Wake County community she devoted her life to students athletes families School staff friends and her family and was beloved and well-respected in her community at Large the East Wake High School teacher alumni group East Wake High School alumni association and the East Wake High School alumni Scholarship Foundation has respectfully recommended that the gymnasium be named in her honor to celebrate her life an exemplary service to the Wake

064County Public School System and the Vaden Whitley High East Wake High families and staff any fiscal implications for the acquisition and installation of a moral plaque identifying the coach Miriam Strickland Memorial gymnasium will be funded by the Eastway Kai Alumni Association teachers alumni group and the high school alumni Scholarship Foundation from private donations in addition the Scholarship Foundation is developing a scholarship in coach Strickland's honor to support a female athlete with a character and integrity that coach Strickland had the financial need a person that's a female athlete and with good grades so it will continue her Legacy and and the group is very excited about that we have a large group of Coach Strickland's family here some you might consider family some are close friends some are friends for a long time some are students

065some are athletes some are colleagues they're all their family in particular I want to recognize Marianna Taylor we have some retired Educators in this group and at least one who's had an offer of employment today already Marianna Taylor retired after years at East Wake Middle School she was in the car with Coach Strickland when coach Strickland passed and she has fought back over substantial injury has overcome a lot and shared that she still has a lot she wants to do and I'm I'm Overjoyed that she was able to be with us today so so I'm glad you're here [Applause] um this item is for recognition only at this time the board approval has been requested on the consent agenda we knew the agenda would be large and wanted to be sure we had an opportunity

066for the families traveled so far to be able to be here with you and make their way back home at this time I understand that superintendent Moore has some comments and I made it let's see if you do so I can say that um in accordance with board policy 9300 the superintendent also enthusiastically supports this recommendation coach strick as I knew her was um already a seasoned veteran coach in the mid 90s when I began coaching volleyball at Enloe High School and um we were in the same conference at the time I can't remember which cap it was six or seven or eight one of those um and so she was an experienced mentor and I remember just marveling at what she got from her student athletes she was a master of recognizing athletic Talent

067and then developing that Talent within whatever the sport was in order to maximize the performance of the individual and the team and she was mama grandma she was a mentor to all of those student athletes but in addition to what that has been mentioned today I just wanted to take that personal point to say that she was a mentor to me as an experienced coach and me brand new trying to understand how to best serve the student athletes that I was serving and to be able to learn and grow from watching what she did in her community as a resident of the East Wake Community for 30 more than 30 years I have also run into many people over the years who revered her and appreciated all that she brought to the community and all

068the student and athletes that she serve it is rare today to have an individual who is a teacher and a coach in one of our schools that is coaching year round because volleyball is in the fall begins August 1st and softball ends sometime in June and you're coaching all the way through that kind of dedication and passion to the students that she served is just not seen very often and um and just an additional piece of why she was incredibly special and really deserving of this recognition and dishonor which again I enthusiastically support and I will stop there attendant Morin thank you Miss Parker Mr Alston and to all of you who came here to support and honor her memory I don't think I could say it any better than that um so thank you

069for being here and as Ms Parker mentioned this is an item that is on the consent agenda later this evening but has been our practice in the last few years we do the recognition as an item prior to the consent agenda being adopted so they they don't have to stay for the whole thing that's right thank you and thank you to all of you for coming this evening it really is special to see you all here we now will move on to public comment speakers commenting on items on tonight's agenda will be heard before speakers commenting on other topics today we have no one signed up for any on agenda topics um all speakers will be heard in order of sign up as I said at the top of the um of the board meeting

070we do have some students that I took a personal privilege of moving them to the top of the agenda item as they have school tomorrow um if the public comment portion of the agenda exceeds 30 minutes the board policy states that the board chair reserves the right to conduct other board business before inviting the remaining speakers to the podium again as I shared at the top we're going to go for 45 minutes and then we can stop if you have not been called at those 45 minutes you are welcome and you cannot say you are welcome to send us an email um I understand not everybody can stay the whole time members of the public are welcome to offer comments or criticism directed at substantive ideas actions or procedures of the board and individual board

071members the laws and policies of North Carolina provide that issues or concerns involving individual personnel and individual student matters are confidential and therefore not appropriate for 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 may be addressed through applicable wcpss Personnel the grievance policy or other applicable policies during public comment you may speak for up to three minutes a green light will illuminate at the podium when you begin a yellow light will light up along with an audio tone when there are 30 seconds remaining in your time and a red light along with an audible tone will signal that your time is up please finish so that the next speaker will be called can be called to

072the podium in the interest of maintaining civility in decorum speakers are encouraged 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 other members of the General Public any materials you wish to share with the board should be handed to our board attorney either before or after your comments first up Cora Wexler followed by Oliver bessemet hello my name is Cora Wexler and this is Arjun Shaw Jennifer sautter Ainsley Turner and Oliver bestant and we are 8th grade students at Dillard Drive Magna Middle School thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak this evening I want to start by saying that we understand that the school board is not solely able to solve the issue of gun violence

073in our country there are multiple causes to consider like the fact that almost anyone can easily purchase and use assault weapons without proper background checks however part of the school board's responsibility is to ensure that students feel safe at school unfortunately that's not the case every time I step foot into school my stomach tightens with fear disturbing images of kids my age being shot flashed through my mind it's disheartening that people's right to bear arms takes away my right to feel safe at school in my opinion no average citizen has the right to a semi-automatic weapon this is why we're here talking to you the bottom line is we don't feel safe at school this is why we need to get more safety measures implemented into our school we understand that there are certain improvements

074already underway but we need to see immediate action if we want anything to get better since the 1999 Columbine shooting over 352 000 kids have experienced gun violence at school that's almost half a million kids in less than 25 years even in the last five years 113 people have been killed and 297 have been injured due to school shootings however when just when looking at statistics we must keep in mind that these aren't just numbers these are actual people being injured and dying even if they are not physically being injured they're being impacted in a multitude of different ways studies conducted by Stanford's Institute for economic policy research showed that students took a higher rate of antidepressants after shooting at their school had much lower average test scores were more likely to repeat repeat a

075grade were less likely to graduate high school and go to college and had lower earnings than the average earnings of a person in their 20s with all this in mind we must ask what actions are being put in place to ensure our safety we are aware that there are some measures that will eventually be put in place but they must be sped up we cannot just sit idly waiting for these plans to come to fruition years after we have graduated continuing our constant fear every single day that a school shooting could occur in our school with the result of our classmates perishing numerous windows and schools across the county are lacking the basic protection and privacy that would make us feel remotely safe countless doors are without adequate window covers leaving teachers to take tape

076largely see see through sheets of notebook paper to their doors windows and a futile attempt to give their students even the slightest bit of safety installing thicker blinds or covering door windows with black laminated paper to prevent Outsiders from seeing inside could mean the distinction between life and death Wake County is 71st out of 100 counties in North Carolina and the percentage of revenue from taxes allocated education and school safety on top of that most of the money accumulated from the North Carolina Education Lottery is not actually provided to the schools themselves so they can afford proper safety measures this must be amended with new policies and procedures so that our mission of making our schools safe is actually attainable if schools receive more funding specifically dedicated to enhancing safety measures and making the school

077building more secure it would truly make a difference so with all that's said and done what if we actually come here to accomplish we're witnessing other counties and states in the nation take action and investing the money to ensure safety in schools two examples would be the Dallas Independent School District in Texas requiring clear backpacks for all students and the Hemet Unified School District in Southern California starting to transition to electronic Doors door locks on classrooms these are actionable steps that other places in the country have taken and they could easily be enacted here in Wake County we've come here to show you that we the very people your goal is to protect and support do not feel safe with the current conditions that we're left with in our schools our requests are quite reasonable

078these Solutions as we know won't magically solve everything nor do they represent the entirety of the problem but their starting point and a step in the right direction we have to start somewhere we hope that you take these issues we've presented today into consideration and that your view our words as a wake-up call to the tremendous growing issue of school safety thank you for hearing us out tonight and I think I speak for all of us when we offer our condolences for your loss foreign followed by Timothy Kelly I did not expect to be first good evening ladies and gentlemen it's been a long time since I spoke here sadly in the interim not much changed for seven hours each day guardians of precious lives expect those students back to wherever home is and hope

079those growing lives were enriched as parents now grandparents and taxpayers there's a seemingly simple expectation that the day passed safely and you offered new knowledge to them ideally moments with Educators expanded and instilled their love for learning not just the required facts and figures that we as a shared Society value but a spark that becomes a raging fire for lifelong inquiry that simply put is your mission what's actually happening failures you rely over and over on the same educational experts with no real positive change in academic outcomes did relying on Experts during the Wuhan flu teach us that relying on Experts is the best idea shuttering schools multiplied learning losses I realize as elected board members you're not necessarily experts in education do you realize that perhaps you should trust those in the classroom more

080perhaps and this is an unpopular opinion you should trust parents and Guardians more is there something you dare not say to us about what you think about us as Guardians parents and grandparents even Rich the Educational Consultants grifters really they may have good intentions but the actual results are plain to see results dismal more suicides increased promiscuity and licentious behaviors lower academic results spending time and resources on everything except inquiry and learning our school's medical facilities when did it become your job in any way to supplement what local government doesn't provide it didn't take an honest moment of self-reflection beyond your pedagogic bubble is what you're doing and what you've been doing truly effective has the academic setting bitten off more than it can chew are you trying to do things never envisioned to be

081done by a board of education interfering with teachers teaching interfering with parents parenting and allowing elements of Fringe groups to run rampant in our schools I also thought Public Schools were for everyone which makes things challenging when you let small demographics act as though they represent the whole you failed tossing around words like inclusion diversity Equity while simultaneously altering their meanings and enabling extremists to feel better about themselves at the same time the policy making part of this board ignores increasing rates of suicide and the many voices silenced by inclusive and abusive demands it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy it's sad and it's wrong it doesn't do anything to guide students to love learning you treat children like adults that's abusive some like to paint those who come and share these concerns with you as a

082minority or somehow radical we respect and include you while you close your ears and eyes to Common Sense and protection of the vulnerable you can do better thank you our next speaker is Timothy Kelly followed by Janet Peterson you stole my thunder ma'am you didn't realize it but you stole my thunder when you talked about safety in the tower you don't realize it but Proverbs 18 10 talks about the Tower and the safe space of the Tower the schools are that safe space and wherever those where do those children go they left okay so I'm going to piggyback off what those kids said right it's 17 years old it went through the Marine Corps infantry training program learned one word it was drilled into our heads it's called perimeter you have an armed Deputy standing

083right over there on your perimeter right her job is if I was to violate your perimeter her job is to come and put me in custody right yet you don't give the students that same equal protection of an armed agent on the perimeter does that make sense but you'll sit here teachers will sit here administrators will sit here and my dad was a superintendent of schools and he was also a pastor so I've had a lot of book knowledge come into my head perimeter security is everything if you don't stop that threat whether it's a gun or a knife or a ball bat at the perimeter of the school once they're inside it's too late we've seen that in every single time you said it yourself sir life is what precious and every one of

084those kids are precious they're our future sound cliche and we don't protect we have scanners we have ID cards that's all great it's a great start but in my world I specialize in Perimeter security I guard people for a living doing close Protection work I was a police officer in Rochester New York I worked in the Marshall service guarding judges what was the one thing that was drilled into our heads at every one of those career paths I took perimeter security and if you're even in any way questioning it go back about a month ago in Raleigh and what happened because you all know what happened they had a man with a rifle coming down the street Raleigh Police responded and what did the Raleigh Police do they killed him before he got to the

085school they got him on the Outer Perimeter because they knew where he was going nobody wanted to say it but they knew where he was going so if you're not sure about how to provide perimeter security you need to do your research folks it's not complicated you put an armed sheepdog all right on that perimeter and that armed sheepdog protects that school so that active shooter doesn't get through the perimeter to the building thank you because I have to go do a perimeter survey for a company followed by Lana Witt Janet Peterson followed by Lana Witt no it's called a sheepdog it's a term you know what sheepdog does they protects people on defense life that's what it is hi I'd like to say if there are any children watching this to please leave while

086I speak I want to say that I appreciate the work that the school board did on policy 3200 and I appreciate the positive statement that they made regarding the Cooperative partnership between parents Guardians the community and schools and then that being the key to fostering and improving educational achievement and I appreciate that you acknowledge that when you develop the principles governing selection of instructional materials that's a mouthful but I'm concerned about part of of course of the those um those issues so Dee says the material should be educationally suitable appropriate for the age maturity and grade levels of the applicable students that's a great job there however you put that it should not be pervasively vulgar I'm going to assume that you're using the same principles when governing selection of Library collection materials I assume

087that and and I listened and I watched as you discussed and you debated that term pervasively vulgar I listened to some of the board members talk about the definition or request a definition for that term I listened to some of the school board members say that challenged books were only a few uh books with a few selected uh inappropriate pages and I even heard someone say and I'm paraphrasing that she thought that images referring to a movie were more powerful than what was written and what was read and so um I would like to remind you that a PG-13 movie only allows one curse word and a pg-17 requires a parental presence of course as does PG-13 this is a book that is in Wake County Public Schools and I would like to know if

088this book would be considered pervasively vulgar that book is a court of silver Flames I would also like to know about this one push and I asked the public to take a look at that as well would this be considered pervasively vulgar maybe perhaps this one would be the haters I think someone read from this book recently is this pervasively vulgar I contend that it is and I contend that when you are purchasing and you are challenging people are challenging books that you consider the content the theme and the language this is not a time for students to have a voice in a challenged decision um this is a time when your job is to show your leadership your guidance and do what's right and here is the word count from Lawn Boy one of

089your favorites I don't want to read it for the children's sake our next speaker is Lana Witt followed by Becky Lou Hobbs thank you [Applause] thank you Mr Bloomberg I left copies of content on this book specifically it was recently highlighted in the news and observer on the front page it looks innocent enough wouldn't you say the cover of the book for a moment I'd like us to pause and envision the experience of my friend in the fall of last year at Athens Drive High School imagine substituting as a special education resource teacher in a classroom with students who have IEPs the main English teachers teaching the class welcome her and tell her to sit in the back of the groom as they begin read aloud for the book the absolute true diary of a

090Part-Time Indian by Sherman alexie during the read aloud imagine her startle as students in an inclusive classroom with fellow special education classmates classmates were called on to read in front of peers and Educators contents that extensively speak about death committing suicide body parts of boys as well as girls lower area upper area don't need to say the words functions of those body parts eating disorders and more one of the lines in this book of the excitement of a male in finding out his sister died how does this educate high schoolers and more important what's the impact on the mental health at any age the substitute which you have a hard time retaining and especially the students as a female student in that class came across the phrase chronic masturbation at her discretion she shared I'm

091not saying that a fellow male classmate said I'll say it and read the words aloud the teacher then affirms the male student for reading the words as a former educator to Educators a few questions arise for me who's accountable for this material being in that classroom with special education students were Guardians and parents informed in a timely Advance about the contents of this book and given the option to opt in not opt out opt-in and how did the lack of affirmation of the female students discretion impact her and her classmates what are the rest and objectives and the outcomes for reading such books our next speaker is Becky Lou Hobbs followed by Jessica Lewis foreign last time we spoke about policies 3200 and 3210 and what pervasively vulgar means yet most of the board still

092seems to be supporting this type of materials in school so here's an example of one of the many books superintendent Moore chair Mahaffey and the board support Jesus Land by Julia shears it's rated for on the rating system which means no miners adult content no child under 18. yet it's in six of our high schools the book depicts attempted rape incest sex it also has prolific alcohol abuse and profanity and I quote Scott unclamps my mouth and snakes a hand down my top groping my breasts through my bathing suit not quite ripe but tasty all the same you I scream at him craning my neck to look into his eyes Brad and Todd are now both yanking on the waistband on my sweatpants trying to force it over my hips Scott is reaching under my

093swimsuit I flail my arms and legs like a possessed rag doll trying to twist from their grasp the the girl in this book is only 12 here I open my eyes in a boozy blur see his penis jutting from his shorts he grabs it by the root lick it he says in his thick voice pressing my head towards it I've heard girls giggle about at school it's something a boyfriend requires of you I stare at Scott's penis there's a pearl balance on the tan tip that smells like liverwurst like a lollipop he's begging now breathing hard he wags his penis his hand touch it to get my attention I close my eyes stick out my tongue and he touches the side of it open your mouth Scott says and I do it he puts it

094between my lips grabs my hair and pulls my head down onto it a moment later he groans in something slimy spurts into my mouth it tastes like pond water she's 13 in this scene so some of the other phrases in this book that appear multiple times whoa nice udders you can't jack off with Jesus today's a good day for sex look at that Woody and the profanity samples ass dick and that's just an interview the fact that chair Mahaffey and this board is not objecting to me reading this right now it's an offense and it speaks volumes to the depravity of this board who could read this or show these obscene pictures at work and not have repercussions but somehow chair Mahaffey and the board and the administrators seem to think it's okay to talk

095to Children about dicks Woody's and it's educational and they want to keep parents out and not know this is this is what is pervasively vulgar I just gave you a sample remove it from our schools keep this out of the hands of our children thank you and I would like to remind folks that these three minutes are protected by the First Amendment and there were um different guidelines posted at the front please respect the speaker that is speaking and allow them to be heard our next speaker is Jessica Lewis followed by Crystal amanchuku good evening here we are a year and a half later and we as parents are still speaking to you about the obscene material that our children have access to this is ridiculous so the school board continues to ignore parents on

096this issue the book is perfectly normal is in Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Middle Schools including Leesville Road Davis Drive Carol Centennial Wendell also at low high school this book is supposedly for ages 10 and older it instructs young children about puberty sexual intercourse STDs pregnancy abortion sexual abuse it contains illustrations involving sexual activities and nudity here are a few quotes when the clitoris and peanuts are touched and rubbed the body feels good tingly and warm it feels sexy a male can have an erection when his penis is touched a rub when he has pleasurable thoughts and erection makes it possible for the penis to enter the vagina the illustration depicts a young man lying on his bed exposing his penis and scrotum masturbating is perfectly normal boys and girls experience sexy feeling feelings when

097they masturbate masturbation is touching and rubbing for pleasure because it feels good during sexual intercourse the female's vagina becomes moist and slippery her clitoris becomes hard and the penis becomes erect it can involve the penis vagina mouth genitals or anus the wetness from the vagina makes it easier for the penis to go in sexual intercourse is when a male and female are close to each other that the penis goes inside the vagina and the vagina stretches to fit around the penis when the feelings come to climax semen is ejaculated from the penis and squirts into the vagina the book also talks about having an abortion so now the book is teaching our children it is perfectly normal to have sex and then it is okay to get an abortion why just why are you allowing

098books to Target and sexualize our children why do 10 year olds need to know how to have sex and why do some school librarians feel like they need to have these books like these here are you is that you do not want us telling children what they can or cannot read the street drives both ways and I do not want my children having access to books like these in the school system the definition of a groomer someone who builds a relationship trust an emotional connection with a child so they can manipulate exploit and abuse them Librarians teachers and school board members that do not protect our children from harmful material are groomers that do not need to be around our children policy 3200 States instructional materials should be appropriate for the age maturity and grade

099levels of the students and not be pervasively vulgar this book does not align with your policy remove it now as a parent I cannot believe we are still having to defend this issue it is past time to stand up and protect our children from groomers or are you the groomer and that is why parents want School of choice for their children the choice is yours make the school system about academic performance or the school system will die in the name of diversity inclusion and equity [Applause] by Patrick wooden foreign thank you for the opportunity to speak today I am a lifelong North Carolinian I've been in Wake County for most of my life and received received my middle and high school education right here in Wake County Public Schools I'm here today to express my

100concern about the priority of academic advancement and our need to invest more resources in the right places and less in the wrong places this particular book is called queer The Ultimate lgbtq Guide for teens and is in high schools throughout Wake County I'll read some of it for you just as there are many different types of relationships there are a gazillion ways to have sex not all gay men have anal sex nor do all lesbians like oral sex not all trans guys wear dildos it's a rainbow darling you'll need to figure out for yourself what you like at some point have patience with yourself and get plenty of practice to enjoy sex don't worry very few people will turn down the opportunity for more practice it talks about touching and rubbing genital stimulation can come

101from any part of the body you can use your hand or hips or feet or you can rub your private parts on someone's thigh arm genitals butts and ankles you may stroke his penis insert fingers insert fingers into his anus or insert fingers into her vagina it goes on to talk about anal sex this can involve penetration with the penis fingers or a sex toy for care of the sex toy it talks about the anus has lots of bacteria when spread elsewhere it can cause problems if you're going to use a sex toy for anal penetration be sure to use one that is silicone as long as it doesn't have electrical components just boil it for five minutes and run it through the dishwasher penetrating the anus with a foreign object like food can be

102dangerous can be dangerous so don't think about it even if it seems like a good idea at the time exploration is a big part of sex you might find that you're into some weird stuff although if you only knew how many people were in the weird stuff you'd realize it's not so weird some people like to role play dress up like animals tie each other up wear leather and high heels hey whatever makes your toes tingle there's no reason to be judgmental about consensual sex it also goes on to talk about monogamy that some people like to be with one partner some like to have others other option is okay I think it's easy to see that this book is of concern this book is not informational it's instructional it's an all-out endorsement and encouragement

103and Playbook on how to discover the rainbow in other words to be promiscuous this book sends the readers which in our context are teenagers on a journey to be promiscuous and to explore all kinds of sex and let's face it we're talking about teens if they're exploring their sexuality in such a intense way they're not studying they're not preparing for their Futures let me ask you a familiar question is this fourth grade would this be on the SAT or the PSAT or college entrance exams let's go back to being a school our next speaker is Patrick wooden followed by Dana Ramos thank you [Applause] Patrick wooden thank you for this opportunity to speak and I want to take the time to First wish everybody a happy Jesus pride month for the month of June we

104have designated this month to Jesus Pride because we love the Lord and we believe in biblical principles and uh and we're glad to wish you a Jesus Pride as you wish the rest of us a pride uh Happy pride month now I'm standing before you today as a grandfather I got to have wonderful grandkids I have one who is in the age group of this book when Aiden became a brother and uh when Adam was born everyone thought he was a girl but once he came out as a trans boy Aiden and his parents fixed the parts of his life that didn't fit anymore and he settled happily into being himself Aiden didn't feel like any kind of girl he was really another kind of boy now this book is for kids five-year-olds six-year-olds so

105forth and so on and this book is available in 31 elementary schools in our County this is garbage and whoever is responsible for this ought to be ashamed and I want to say this there is a judgment day coming but there is evidence that the god of the Bible is passing judgment when God passes judgment you know what he does he gives people over to vile affections vile thoughts when they reject his truth and decide no matter what they're going to believe what they want to believe anyway you know what God says he says have at it and it's evident that in many cases I'm seeing judgment past because there is no way anyone in their right mind can argue that the things that we're hearing today that's being placed in our high schools elementary

106schools middle schools for kids to hear and read and practice has anything to do with making them better making America better making our neighborhoods better this is trash and I pray that to the extent that you can you will rise up against this there ought to be something in us that will make us want to protect the hearts and minds and even the appetites about children and many of them have no sexual appetite at all until they read this are we sexualizing our children I'm as angry about this as I can be and I pray that you will consider uh our words and give our children a chance they're not sex toys and they're not your kids we want to relieve raising the children to the parents thank you very much followed by Robin Livingston

107[Applause] after every speaker I am saying the names of the next two folks so please listen Dana Ramos followed by Robin Livingston okay my name is Dana Ramos I'm a Wake County parent and taxpayer concerned about certain reading materials in some Wake County Schools this is not about banning books books that remain widely available but it's about keeping inappropriate sexual books out of our schools one explicit book example titled what girls are made of by Elena K Arnold is located in at least 14 Public Schools I will read some of it for you now I laid a towel on the sheet in case I bled and then I watched Seth roll the condom over his penis and watched his hand pushed into the flesh between my thighs spreading them apart and I watched him maneuver

108his latex wrapped erection as he pushed and tried to get inside if Seth wants to have sex and I'm on my period I'm the one to suggest that I give him head it's the way his fingers look glazed like donut after they've been inside me so you know the girl I'm dating Nina no matter how much we do it or how long I lick her she just can't come I pull him out of his underwear and he's soft in my hand I open my mouth and pull him into it and I pull and suck until he grows hard and makes sounds that means he likes it and I keep going and going and when he says I'm going to come I don't pull away the dead of him is warm and salty and tastes like

109thick and sweat I let my knees splay open and find my slit with my fingers the soft hooded nub at its apex and I guide the Red Rubber Ball against it my back arches and I hiss in a breath at its first wonderful terrible contact a jolt of pleasure shoots through me so different from the jet of warm water that pours from the shower head so different from the Press of my own hand so different from the wet lapping of Seth's tongue there's much much more why is vulgar erotica in our schools for minors please explain how this has literary value or supplements academics again this is not about banning books a parent or teenager can buy this book and find it in public libraries but most parents Democrat and Republicans believe vulgar erotica in

110our schools is completely inappropriate this book and many others should be removed from schools thank you [Applause] thank you good evening um I wasn't here on the 16th but I did listen to all the debate about policy 3200 and I just was I'm hoping that most people heard it and um unfortunately I wrote a speech but I left it in the car um I it felt like it was a really honest debate about balancing the legalities as well as the interests of students I don't believe in censorship it's very hard to follow some of this we are not a Christian School so people have different viewpoints and I I while I'm uncomfortable with some of the material that is being read right now um I've read some of the books that um that have been

111on some of the Banning book banned book lists across the country I don't find most of them too inappropriate for a high school kid um so I'm just I just wanted to let you know that I do support you all I know these are difficult times but I want to thank you for your hard work thank you I want to remind folks to make sure that we can clearly hear speakers and to keep personal comments to yourself unless you are at the podium thank you our next speaker is Stacy Campbell followed by Jim Walsh and very quickly at the beginning I said we had 45 minutes and then we're going to get back to business there is about seven minutes remaining in that time good evening everyone I'm here to speak really quickly about my

112mother um she was a Wake County Public School teacher special education 71 years of age her name is Paulette Brooks and my mother turned down the position um as a principal she turned out a position on this very School Board um she wrote final exams she was a majorette coach she worked at three different of the high schools she trained countless teachers she tutored and when she retired six months later when she found out there was a shortage she came back in and still taught until she died I'm here because in February I tried reaching out to the schools with phone calls voicemails and emails and after a month of no response of trying to return my mother out I had to go into the school when I went into the school they didn't give

113me much help needless to say um on the 8th I was able to change and submit the paperwork finally and four days later my mother passed away and I was told by Miss Rod or shroud and the HR office that even though it was submitted the paper was submitted and the beneficiary sat that it was not valid it is three months later and I still holding the check refusing to cash it until this is fixed there was no verification given by the HR department by Mr Rock when I asked her if there was a benefit from my mother or anything in place because we didn't have all of the information because in her final days she was unable to speak after she told me that there was at least a 25 000 to 50 000

114death benefit I asked her I let her know that I was going to have the funeral people give her a call when they called she gave them the automated system number as a result I had to cremate my mother and not bury her I had to come out of my own pocket to take care of this I don't wish this on anyone especially when they're grieving their parents I cannot understand how if the paperwork was turned in four days before my mother to stop I was not violent as a community activist and ties through ABC 11 I promise you I will not let this rest with all this being said I implore the board and petition you to make changes of policies make sure people are trained properly and not just that why should teachers

115have to pay out of their own pockets for their own substitute teachers you have to pay in order to have a day off these things should not be like this it is with a heavy stressful heart that I am here and I wish this on no one [Applause] Jim Walsh followed by Susan book all right let's play a little hypothetical for a couple of minutes teachers or other employees are overheard having the following conversation while at school Hannah when did you first start watching porn Oliver very young probably 12 or 13. it's actually quite sad for me to think that by the time I'm 25 I'll spend half of my lifetime watching porn it developed after I started masturbating I overheard boastful comments in school from more alpha male leads and the class about masturbating

116three or four times a day and watching porn I took it quite literally and began to think I should be doing the same it led me to watching more and more porn to get the same effect I ended up watching a lot of hardcore pornography although by the end I settled on watching the same 8 to 10 videos each time a bit like an alcoholic who only wants one drink I've watched everything I'm a cisgender straight man about 1.5 on the Kinsey scale but I have gone through pretty much all of it wow that would be a terrible scenario to hear from teachers or School Employees while on school property with policy 3200 regarding pervasive vulgarity be taken into consideration and the teacher or teachers suspended or even fired or would it be overlooked like

117the book doing it right by Hannah witton which is at 9 Heights schools from which I just read has a school board and its efforts to redefine policies to find them such that if applied to material housed in the facilities would be suspended or are you setting a new standard that pornography obscenity in our schools is the new Norm we know that pornography is to the mind like what it was stated earlier about alcohol you never are freed from it are our schools going to be the roadway of our children becoming addicted to pornography would you like to stand up and state that happened on your watch thank you our final speaker for this portion of the evening is Susan book [Applause] every child deserves to feel safe wanted and be given the opportunity to

118thrive no child should live in fear at school or in our community every person working in our school system should feel safe and be given the opportunity to be themselves it's June and it's time to celebrate Pride it's June and we should be especially conscious especially in our policy meetings that our lgbtq plus students and employees have the right to be the right to be the right to have safe existence safety you see is not sro's patrolling hallways it is not just in how we are monitor our entry doors real safety it's about the resources and most importantly the relationships we build knowing that there is someone in your building who validates you is important for everyone knowing that there are books for you and your library is important for everyone it is especially important

119when bullies come to your door so I'm here to thank the teachers the counselors the principals who outwardly let our students know through symbols and words that every child is deserving of love I hope that Wake County Schools is brave enough to celebrate Pride I hope they are brave enough to keep books on the shelves that represent all students for now is not a time to be timid it is not a time to be a timid Ally pride is about standing together in the fight for Humanity I ask that all are bored and our community stand up for lgbtq plus students and employees now more than ever thank you [Applause] that will pause this part of public comment again we are going to resume our agenda and come back to this if you are unable

120to stay we welcome an email from you and understand um that that was not what you expected when you came in but we do have business to attend to that being said we're going to take about a five to ten minute pause before we return to our meeting thank you thank you all right we're going to continue with the last of our information items uh which are our superintendent updates good evening again as has been my practice I'm going to recap the items that were covered during the work session today the two items from staff included a um request that the board will see on their consent agenda this evening to provide a bus driver attendance bonus for all of the summer programs that are in place during the summer we had took some data

121from last year that showed that we need our bus drivers obviously to be regular for the summer programs for our students and they were missing and hopefully the attendance bonus based on a survey that was done will help support that so the board will see that on their consent agenda this evening the second staff item was an overview of the current wcpss employee benefits that are available to employees of the district this was done as a precursor for board approval that work will occur later on in June or in July to approve a contract being awarded for non-required benefits after an RFP process was followed this past spring the third item covered in the board work session today was a session with Dr Pat Ashley on Master board training to provide development and opportunities for

122the board to do assessments on how they you guys work together and move forward and lots of good discussion that was work session today thank you superintendent Moore um at this time I'll take a motion to approve the consent items which includes the bus driver summer phrases as mentioned by superintendent Moore as well as approval of the naming of the East Wake high school gymnasium in memory of Coach Miriam Strickland so moved we have a motion in a second any discussion all those in favor please say aye any opposed nay we now move on to our action agenda which begins with um some items out of policy the first being policy 4023-7233 pregnant parenting and lactating students and employees for first reading we have Dr AJ mutilo to present eventually board members attendant Moore tonight

123I am bringing policy 40 40 23-7233 pregnant parenting and lactating students employees for first read just to review the revisions that you see were suggested by staff you'll see them in blue and the North Carolina School boards Association you'll see there in red essentially the law now requires lactation support for employees which is addressed in red and we've been providing support anyway but now addressing it through law we've expanded that support to include students and address providing space time and a complaint process which you'll see addressed in blue you'll see the legal references there have substantially increased also we appreciate the policy committee we reviewed this May 23rd and they provided a couple suggestions that help strengthen our policy so you'll see one at the bottom of page two in section C1 where we describe

124the space as well maintained and you'll see the other at the top of page four where we've added and the students counselor to the to the student complaint process it's like I said we've reviewed this with policy committee on May 23rd and asked for approval of first reading tonight thank you Dr mutilo Ms Johnson hosler Jeremy happy I moved excuse me I thought we passed the oh sorry oh policy on first reading okay all right we have a motion and a second um and again Dr mutilo highlighted the discussion that happened in the policy committee meeting um which I'm sure miss Johnson hosler would reference if she so if there's any further discussion or questions at this time board members all right seeing none all those in favor of passing this on first reading please

125say aye any opposed nay all right thank you motion passes we now move on to board policy 5020 visitors to the school for first reading and we have Russ Smith our senior director for the office of security Mr Smith thank you good evening board chairman happy superintendent Moore and Board of Education members this evening we're bringing to you for first reading board policy 5020 and you'll note that the revisions are noted in blue uh the revisions were primarily aimed at providing Clarity around the addition of our visitor management system and the work completed during our recent security assessments the first iteration of the revisions was reviewed at the May 23rd policy committee and additional revisions were made based upon recommendations from the board to include all reference to parents parent or parents to include guardian

126and Guardians as well as a hyperlink to policy 5015 School volunteers tonight we request the board's approval for the first reading of award policy 5020 visitor schools excuse me and I move that we approved this on first reading thank you Mr Smith second we have a motion in the second is there any questions or discussion yes sir Mr Hershey I just want to make sure that when we the when the rmp is done that and without knowing who has been spoken to yet that we make sure that we are bringing in front office staff to weigh in on the procedures so you get their feedback in their perspective of what is actually doable and what is not that that certainly can additionally be done they were involved in the first steps of the process and

127so they they were uh we did have those that were brought in but we certainly can do that thank you anything else all right all those in favor please say aye any opposed nay all right uh board policy 50 20 passes on first reading thank you thank you Mr Smith we now move on to board policy 7735 tutoring or providing services to students for pay for first reading and Dr mutilo will be joining us again all right tonight I'm also bringing policy 7735 providing services to students for pay for the first read the primary change here was really to broaden access to tutoring services for students the the old policy that you'll see in there acrossed out did not allow a teacher to tutor a student for pay if they were in their class in

128their school at all so here we've removed basically that provision and now teachers can tutor students for pay with the other Provisions in this policy as long as they are not currently teaching the student so that was the primary purpose of bringing this policy forward I did want to note that Upon A further review before bringing it tonight we did make two small adjustments to the policy they're both highlighted in yellow to remove the phrase individualized before private capacity just upon reading it it was contained in that definition definition earlier and we saw it as just a bit redundant so we're proposing to remove that as well this he was reviewed May 23rd so tonight we are requesting approval on the first reading of board policy 7735 chairman happy I move that we approve this

129on first reading as well and thank you for the attention to detail of making that change all right you have a motion we have a motion and a double second um any discussion questions at this time board members seeing none all those in favor please say aye any opposed nay thank you Dr mutilo thank you we now move out of some things that are out of the office of the chief of schools I Believe Miss Betty Parker will be joining us in order to discuss naming a new High School in Morrisville and the Research Triangle Park area thank you chair Mahaffey on March 16th of 2023 the Board of Education acquired a 33.523 acre Trek from Wake Technical Community College in Morrisville for its use is a small High School on May 5th the board

130also acquired an additional two and a half acre track from Morrisville for assemblage with that site the school is currently slated for design to start in the fall of 23 and open in the fall of 27. naming of the new h-14 high school is now required in accordance with board policy 9300 the following names are offered for consideration Paramount Parkway High School Parkside high school and Morrisville High School in accordance with board policy 9300 the names were offered to the facilities committee on May 10th after due consideration the facilities committee unanimously recommended that the name selection of Morrisville High School be brought forward to the full board for consideration at your board meeting tonight pursuant to that board input the name recommended is Morrisville high school I'm happy to answer any questions and we would

131request board approval all right thank you Miss Parker Vice chair Hagerty thank you chair Mahaffey so as Ms Parker said this was an issue that came up to us in facilities committee it was discussed and there was unanimous recommendation for Morrisville High School I do want to take this opportunity again just to really highlight the collaboration between the town between our staff the fantastic job our staff did in making a high school possible in an area where many experts thought we could not find the space we could not get the footprint we could not imagine how to put a high school in this location and so it took a lot of creative thought and there are so many people that are so very excited about this so it doesn't have to do with the name

132but I want to take the opportunity to thank you and thank everybody involved and again board members I would move at this time that we accept the facility committee's recommendation and uh for the name Morrisville High School right we have a motion from Vice chair Hagerty and the second from Mr Swanson both of whom represent the town of Morrisville well done is there any discussion and again as Vice chair Hagerty said many thanks to the town to Wake Tech and others let's make it official folks all those in favor please say aye any opposed nay no thank you Miss Parker thank you believe you're staying with us for the next one yes ma'am all right enter local agreement for infrastructure provision to support public school facilities with the town of Apex Felton Grove High School

133h-12 thank you ma'am the board owns a 68-acre attractive land located at 5100 thriftwood Drive in Apex which is the site of the future of Felton Grove High School as part of the Felton Grove project the traffic impact analysis indicated a need for a variety of Road improvements to support and benefit the high school the adjacent neighborhood and the community which include improvements to Dairy down Lane thriftwood Drive and Stevenson Road in addition the installation of speed home says traffic calming devices on the neighborhood roads Dairy down Lane and thriftwood drive to promote vehicular and pedestrian safety is warranted and it's been requested by the neighboring Community dot approval is required for installation of the speed homes and it's based on the town's acceptance of ongoing maintenance and repair responsibilities board and town staff have

134collaborated to explore cost sharing opportunities and to evaluate the improvements needed per the Tia as mutually beneficial to support safe vehicular and pedestrian traffic for the school adjacent neighborhood and community terms and conditions of an interlocal agreement with the town have been reached regarding these Road improvements as included in the Board site plan the board will be responsible for Designing construction of the road improvements together with formal dedication from maintenance to ncdot the board will be financially responsible for advancing all necessary cost of work the Town has agreed to contribute 2.25 million dollars to help offset the cost of the provision of the off-site road improvements to Stevenson Road which payment will be due on completion acceptance of the maintenance responsibilities for the speed home I'm sorry for the infrastructure and operation by dot in

135addition the town has agreed to accept ongoing maintenance for the speed humps and related signage that are planned on the two neighborhood roads the Town Council is scheduled to receive this agreement for consideration of approval at their meeting on June 13th I just once again want to Echo what Mr Hagerty said about collaboration on this project the town of Apex has has done an awful lot to help us get this school up and running this is a situation where those improvements would typically have been required by Dot and paid by four by dot but the town as well as the town of Kerry have recognized how critical this throughway is and how how bad it would be if this traffic were not addressed with these improvements and they have really stepped up this contribution represents

136about a third of those off-site Improvement costs so I really appreciate the the manager Crosby assistant manager Purvis Russell Dalton in transportation their whole team has just been wonderful to work with in helping us overcome these these rather large obstacles I'm happy to address any questions and at the conclusion would appreciate your support of approval all right at this time is there a motion to approve the interlocal agreement all right we have a motion in a second is there any discussion I just want to say um again Miss Parker thank you for your comments I know that this has relied heavily on the town of Apex and the town of Kerry to help get this done as well as some folks from dot so thank you and appreciate you and your team for um sharing

137those comments and please give our thanks as well back to the other Municipal to the other municipalities involved at this time all those in favor of approval please say aye any opposed nay emotion passes thank you thank you Miss Parker we have an item that was on the consent agenda we asked for an update on I believe Mr Drew cook will be joining us for the driver education contract with Jordan Driving School Mr cook evening chair Mahaffey superintendent more members of the board in July of 2022 the Board of Education approved a contract with Jordan Driving School to continue providing driver education services to the Wake County Public School System for the 22-23 school year tonight staff is seeking board approval to extend the current contract for up to two months for the period of

138July 1st to August 31st 2023. Jordan Driving School meets All-State requirements to operate and facilitate a quality driver's education instructional program for our students as we do each year with other District services and programs we continue to engage in and review and evaluate systems structures and needs related to driver education programming and in doing so we've determined that it is prudent to rebid the district contract at the end of this school year rather than extending it for one or two additional years as the terms of the contract agreement allows the purpose of the two-month extension of the current contract is simply to provide a digital time to finalize and post an RFP and to allow sufficient time for all bidders to ask questions and respond as needed we will then plan to bring back a

139recommendation for the board after that process has concluded some of you may recall that just last year in the spring of 2022 staff requested and the board approved an amendment to our contract at that time with Jordan Driving School for the purpose of of repurposing funds for additional contracts with other vendors to address the behind the wheel backlog that had accumulated during the course of the Pandemic those additional supplemental contracts with other vendors ran through September of 2022 for our newer board members and also for the benefit of the public driver education training for our students consists of two parts the first is a classroom instructional piece totaling 30 hours typically 15 days at two hours or 10 days or three hours depending on the structure and there's also a six hour requirement for behind

140the wheel instruction aligned with statutory and DPI requirements a backlog and what we're referencing here formed during the pandemic related to the required behind-the-wheel driving primarily due to the period of time where the instruction behind the wheel instruction uh had to be suspended for an indefinite amount of time due to safety concerns and also due to a lack of drivers returning to this work after the pandemic due to increases in Pay opportunities other market conditions among other factors at the present time we continue to see an average gap of about three to four months between classroom completion and behind the wheel instruction which while that's down from the six to seven month average wait time we were seeing in 2122 is still above the pre-pandemic norm of typically two to two and a half months

141going back to 2020 and 2019 and before it's also worth noting that the three to four month time frame is a district-wide average and there is some variance of course across regions and schools with some experiencing longer and some experiencing shorter delays and other in terms of the time between the classroom portion and behind the wheel it is important to note we believe that Jordan Driving School and our additional vendors that we contracted with on a short-term basis last year have worked hard to alleviate the backlog even as they continue like many others to experience higher vacancy rates and are operating with fewer staff than what would be ideal that said the district has and will continue of course to seek opportunities to strengthen and improve Service delivery program efficiency and related processes just as

142we do in every other aspect of our operation so it's with that background in context in mind that staff is requesting approval of the contract extension with Jordan through August of 2023 and certainly happy to share additional information or answer questions that board members may have thank you Mr cook I had asked the superintendent to pull this because we often hear from parents about the lag and I appreciate you taking the time to provide that update at this time is there a motion to approve this contract with extension with Jordan Driving School Edmonds and Dr Ing are there any questions or comments at this time for Mr cook yes Miss Caufield thank you for that I appreciate it um I know that they are doing quite a bit to kind of catch up and um

143I've had the pleasure of actually speaking with them on it as well um I know that they are still three four months to four months behind um and while they are limited with what they can do they really are trying um I'm curious as as it goes with the bids because we are talking about the contract is it possible to have more than one um until they're able to catch up or a temporary bid with somebody else that could kind of help and move them along or how does that work yes ma'am thank you for the question it's a good question I think to to answer it succinctly the answer is yes we we are not um we're not restricted to one bidder or one vendor and so as we rebid the contract I think

144that absolutely is a consideration and a potential option it may may or may not be one vendor and as we did even last year in revising the contract that we had in place with one vendor repurpose some funds to add an additional two vendors to help with that backlog so that is certainly an option yes ma'am comment if I could having a senior who has been trying to go through this process the the DMV is actually extremely far behind now that they changed it from one year back to six months they've also added a limit that they are only taking by appointments before 11 A.M so that actually is extending the time even further out so that's why I was asking if we can have like more contracts to help them catch up because even

145after we do get them through this program they're going to wait quite some time before they even eligible to get their permit to even start earning their hours towards being able to drive so that would be helpful I think yes ma'am thank you unfortunately we're I mean we're not responsible for the DMV but I saw their summer wait list and it is I think you have to go out to the coast to get a year if you can that's absolutely right that's absolutely right um because we're all headed out there um are there any other comments or questions at this time all right hearing none all those in favor of approval of the driver education contract with Jordan Driving School extension please say aye any opposed nay we now will return to public comments thank

146you I would just like to reiterate we're moving on to public comment and speakers um 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 provide the issues or concerns involving individual Personnel or student matters are confidential and therefore not appropriate for the public comment setting those offering comments to the board including students may discuss issues in matters of General concern concerns related to Personnel issues or student matters may be addressed through applicable wcpss Personnel the grievance policy or other applicable policies please respect the speaker that is speaking and make sure that they can be clearly heard during public comment you may speak for up to three minutes again a green light will illuminate when you begin

147a yellow light will announce that you have 30 seconds remaining in your time and a red light along with an audible tone will signal that your time is up and it is time to stop so the next speaker can be called to the podium please um for the sake of Civility and decorum address your comments to the board and refrain from personal attacks and insults directed at the board individual board members staff or members of the general public remain at the podium during your speaking time and again if you have materials you wish to share with us please hand it to the board attorney either before or after your comments our next speaker is Michelle Morrow followed by LaShonda Williams I'm sorry um on 79 years ago on June 6 1944 we lost nearly a

148quarter of a million of our young people you guys probably know this but there were many young soldiers who lied about their age they were 15 16 17 years old so that they could go and they could fight what were they fighting for they were fighting for the standards of Freedom that we know and love so well and they wanted that to be extended but you know what else they were young men and they understood that being a man meant that being courageous is you run into the battle you run into where there is danger these men knew as they were going on these boats they were running into gunfire and they did so willingly because they believed in the country that we were in and I will tell you in the North Carolina Constitution

149in article 9 it says education is encouraged section one religion morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind schools lie libraries and the means of Education shall forever be encouraged I know you guys are tired of us standing up here and talking about what is in our schools and what needs to be taken out so could you just do it could you just focus all of your time on actually educating our children so that they're able to be critically thinking and mature adults as a nurse I want you to understand something there is no pride in perversion what we should be proud about is the fact that we are people of character you talk today about Swift Creek Elementary or middle school wherever it was it was talking about the

150issues of character development that is what we need in our schools they need to know that they're responsible for themselves they need to know how to think they need to know that they are going to be able to compete on the global Marketplace we are not able to compete we can brag all day long about how we have such high graduation rates but last year 50 percent of those that graduated in Wake County Schools could not pass their reading and math exams that is a travesty it is a crime and by the way when we're talking about crimes there is a statute in North Carolina that says it is a Class one felony to allow this stuff that talks about sexual intimacy that talks about it with minors that you are that you're giving it

151to them listen I'm a nurse I have come here for five years and I've told you there is a way to teach children about what the changes that are going to happen to their body but I want this to be heard all children are trans they're transitioning from childhood to adulthood they are the ones they there's no child that feels like a man or a woman so allowing them to make decisions about their life or who they're going to love or to know about the lifestyle choices of adults is abusing the child's mind at that time we should not be doing anything to our children to imp to impede their natural progression of maturity guys Purity is a natural maturation process it is not a disease it does not need a treatment what it needs

152is children need to be guided through it to understand that they are normal LaShonda Williams followed by Mark Peterson [Applause] good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening I am a wife of one and a mother of four with three under three I am also a proud aunt of 16 nieces and nephews six of which are between the tender age of 4 and 15 years of age which is generally the age of range of children that are in elementary and middle school there are topics of conversation range from recognizing sight words to critically thinking and analyzing scholarly articles I must admit at times those scholarly articles they can get sometimes in the weeds with data but that's okay in comparison to how in the weeds some of these inappropriate books and

153materials get that are being considered to be made accessible to elementary and middle school children I am a product of wcpss so this bothers me that sexually explicit books are made available to students elementary students particularly one in particular is entitled all boys aren't Blue by George M Johnson who is a journalist that self-identifies as queer and thought it necessary to write a book about how he became into knowing he was that way so listen to this uh the book in chapter 15 describes how he was sexually assaulted in the boys bathroom at school and how he lost his virginity twice I said how he lost his virginity the only clean way to describe how you lost your virginity is to literally say I lost my virginity anything beyond that is sexually explicit and inappropriate

154for an elementary or a school-aged student to read in his or her Leisure possibly and most likely without the parental consent so I find it odd that as late as today the state of North Carolina has a general statute numbered 115c-81.30 entitled reproductive health and safety education provided by local school administrative unit so Clause a states that each local school administrative unit shall provide a reproductive health and safety education program commencing in the seventh grade material is used in this instruction shall be age appropriate for use with students it said that one should teach the abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school-aged children number two it says that you must present techniques and strategies to deal with peer pressure and offering positive reinforcement number three present reasons skills

155and strategies for remaining and becoming abstinent from sexual activity number four it says teach that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain means of avoiding out of wedlock pregnancy sexual sexually transmitted diseases when transmitted through sexual contact including HIV and AIDS and the list goes on and it requires parental uh consent so if that is a policy for sexual education then certainly there should be some policy where parents are required to give consent to the materials checked out by their children from the school or even to have vote a voted say as to what books are put in the media center our next speaker is Mark Peterson followed by Jennifer labs [Applause] I'd like to start off by commanding all of you for the work that you've done so far this year I've watched

156some of your discussions amongst yourselves and uh I I'm I've get a ray of hopes seeing you hash out things and debate issues and but um uh and and I'm also very happy to see that we have a proud Christian a bold Christian who is not shy about uh asking for prayer for those who are who need it uh I'm I'm a little concerned about something I heard earlier tonight this the public comments section began with an announcement that no one had signed up for an agenda item I signed up for an agenda item I've asked others if they signed up for an agenda item but everybody who signed up for an agenda item please raise their hand I want to know well I won't know this is a rhetorical question um I'm going to

157give the chairman the benefit of the doubt that maybe she didn't know that what she was telling us was not true but when this happens we lose trust and faith in this school board when we are told something that is a flat out false we signed up for agenda items but we're told no one did now that said we've been talking about books that are offensive um I want to look back a couple years if y'all recall a couple years ago six books were banned essentially not officially I don't think they were taken off the shelves in Lake County schools at least I'm told they're not but six books were banned this is one of the six I I bought this book because I wanted to know what was wrong with this book because we

158were told that some of the content in Dr Seuss's books were offensive or might be offensive to some people I've I've read this book all the way through it's called If I Ran the Circus iron fight all of you to read this book get your hands on it and tell me what's offensive in this this book The only thing that I could find two items this the me the song Dixie and a picture of some looks like cats that have black faces that are driving around in cars real fast this is all I could find in this book that might be offensive now when this when this in five other books were banned I heard nobody come to the defense of this book but I hear people now defending books that you've heard with the

159content of them they're clearly offensive why is this band and those books aren't our next speaker is Jennifer Labs followed by Tess Bowen Jennifer labs followed by Tess bowade [Music] thank you superintendent Moore chair Mahaffey and school board members for allowing me to speak today my children my husband and I moved to Wake County over a decade ago essentially because of Wake County Public Schools my husband's a teacher my two children are in elementary school in a school downtown at a school book fair that I was volunteering at four years ago my friend Heather Scott and I were talking and we talked about something we were really passionate about which was schools it was really hard for me to hear that about her family today so thank you for sharing and thank you guys for

160putting her and her family in your prayers so I've been following the school board meetings ever since I've listened to them and I got brave enough last time to come and actually sit and I'm glad I have because things have changed since I was a child going to school and you know what that's a good thing because there are many highly qualified people that go into careers dedicating their lives to serving our children and that is so important I love Wake County Public School System and I wanted to continue to grow stronger my reason here for for commenting today is is that I want to tell my support for having all of the positions filled with highly qualified adults in our schools I think that will really help keep our schools strong I know that

161the pandemic was a bit difficult on a lot of people and I know that many decisions that you guys have to make there aren't A or B answer there's always somebody that will be disappointed or feel bad but I implore you as school board members and elected officials look at the good and how you can work together keep it strong I will end by saying I walked into the kindergarten room of my children for the first time and they said tell your feet to walk and I'm like what is that tell your feet to walk I'm like it was instead of telling the kids no running well if you hear the message differently if you tell your feet to walk that is such a different way to go about doing things our next speaker is

162Tess bowed followed by Marlins Hernandez Novoa is Miss Bowie still here Marlena's Hernandez nuvoa followed by Amy Marshall I want to thank everybody for being here and I want to thank God first I still can't believe that I'm alive here in this world I live in Wake County I'm disgusted with the school system I pay property taxes and state taxes and I'm more disgusted that I am on the streets as a Frontline paramedic and a firefighter risky my life why everybody sits here kids or no kids I have four kids I'm a mother I'm a wife and my fourth daughter has a disability a rare disability but I told her it's not a disability you're an angel from God she has gone through so much in that wake system that I will stop it so

163I moved into Wake County and I'm paying those taxes and I'm working overtime and I'm working 24 7 7 days a week and I'm going to work for North Carolina if it's for free you guys need to really go home and pray tonight because I pray every day and I talk to God every day everybody thinks I'm crazy I took a note to this country and I retook an oath and I will take a note to the state I am proud to say that I am running for lieutenant governor and I'm Hispanic and if anybody has a problem or gets in my way God's Gonna take care of it because like I say to everybody I have a firewall and I've broke into many Firearms I've been discriminated in this state what's a southern belle

164girl what is a southern Belgrade do I look like a southern belle girl I'm a Hispanic my mom's from Spain my dad's from Cuba mental awareness my dad took his life in the pandemic I will fight for every kid in every place in North Carolina I've been everywhere in North Carolina I talk on the phone with parents I go to schools and I talk to kids I took an oath to God and I am here for the kids parents everybody in this room if you're a parent what goes inside your house you guys are the ones you're you're the first ones that need to teach your children teachers are out there putting their lives us we're out there putting our lives I don't even care about money money's paper I don't care if you're Democrat

165if you're Republican I don't care I was born here and I'm gonna die here and I moved from Florida so I am glad for what I stand for and God is going to be with me with all of you guys and please pray pray every day more and more I thank you and go with God thank you so much Amy Marshall followed by Margaret Hamilton hi I'm Amy Marshall founder and president of Carolina teachers Alliance at carolinateachers.org where our vision is an unbiased and academically sound education for all children we at CTA are an educator Association serving North and South Carolina with national affiliate American teachers Alliance at americanteachers.me we're a 501c3 public charity nonpartisan non-profit organization I'm here today on behalf of our Wake County CTA Members First to announce our student scholarship opportunities

166for Wake Public Schools graduating seniors CTA is providing a total of nine hundred dollars in scholarships to two students and the application period is open until June 23rd we are offering first a Hometown Heroes 400 scholarship to seniors who are children of U.S military members or police officers we're also offering a 500 members only scholarship to a child of CTA School staff member GPA requirements for those are 2.75 for each scholarship I have a flyer for each board member and if you could pass on the info to your District principals we'd appreciate it students may visit carolinacheachers.org to apply the second reason I'm here tonight is regarding your proposed changes to policy 3210 regarding the objections to instructional materials the board's proposed policy changes would block parents from objecting on previously approved material which is

167unconstitutional parents must be able to object to curriculum Additionally the board's proposed changes to 3210 would place the decision-making Authority about whether a book is obscene or not with children which is not only morally wrong in this case it violates North Carolina Child exploitation laws namely statute 14-190.17 second degree sexual exploitation of a minor that statute States a person commits the offense of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor if he or she distributes transports exhibits receives sells purchases exchanges or solicits material that contains a visual representation of a minor engage in sexual activity violation of this statute is a Class E felony there's no question there's no question that Wake County Public Schools is already in violation of the statute but by allowing retention by allowing retention of the pornographic books in the schools that

168contain images depicting oral sex between minors putting children in charge of reviewing pornographic books is irresponsible and a dereliction of Duty the innocence of children must be protected if you allow students to be the decision makers on the pornographic books you're not only violating the child exploitation laws but you are stealing the innocence of a child we urge you to reject the proposed changes thank you our next speaker is Margaret Hamilton followed by John Aman chukwu hello I'm here to speak on behalf of our younger children and their academics this book it feels good to be yourself which isn't which has an oxymoronic title based on its content can be found in 26 elementary schools it is geared towards K2 and as MacMillan publisher says it basically get is geared to what ages four through

169eight it introduces four different characters with different gender identities it makes it seem as if gender is an imaginary concept that can be changed on a whim when the truth is gender is factual you're either a boy or a girl and gender identity what you see yourself as that's imaginary well let me read you a couple of things first character is Ruthie she's a transgender girl that means when she was born everyone thought she was a boy until she grew a little older old enough to tell everyone that she's actually a girl then there's her brother Xavier Xavier is a cisgender boy which fourth to eight year old knows what cisgender means can they spell cisgender that means when Xavier was born everyone thought he was a boy and as he Grew Older it turned

170out everyone was right he was a boy then there's Alex the friend Alex is both a boy and a girl then there's JJ JJ is neither a boy nor a girl ever since JJ was very little they never felt exactly like a boy or girl they just felt like themselves this is JJ's gender identity some girls some kids feel like girls some kids feel like boys some kids feel like a little bit of both part Boy Part girl reminds me of that old commercial sometimes you feel like a nut sometimes you don't is that okay some kids don't feel exactly like a boy or a girl they feel like neither some kids feel that their gender identity isn't always the same it's often changing so now are we endorsing schizophrenia what are we doing whether

171you feel like a boy or a girl or neither if you describe yourself another way that is your gender identity when does this phone foolishness stop when you shroud lunacy insanity or fallacy and colorful words and pictures to be read to young children you have created unsafe and unsafe environment since we're talking about safe environment right where does it stop at this time to age our children should be learning their ABCs and one two threes who authorize this who told you that you are God who gave you permission to tell our children who they are and who they're supposed to be this is intentional and evil at its core get back to what you are elected to do and formally educate our children not indoctrinate them with left-wing ideologies under the guise of providing a

172safe and welcoming space hear us clearly we will not surrender our children leave our children alone [Applause] [Music] I would I would like to remind members of the audience to show respect for the speaker by refraining from loud comments or other disruptions whether you agree or disagree so that speaker may be heard our next speaker is John amanchuku followed by Leah Carson Lindsay Mahaffey you open this session earlier on celebrating pride month and so I brought a book that I read from about a month ago called Jack of Hearts and other parts to read I guess part two of a message entitled who are the perverts the book says this it says eventually he finishes and pulls out and the condom of course is covered in and he gets mad at me like it's my

173fault I don't know about how to clean up down there he makes me take the crap covered condom off and flush it and then he showers alone when he gets out of the shower he frowns at me and goes you're still here anyway here's my advice to you make sure you want to do it because it's going to be uncomfortable at first for sure but it can be fun too even if you don't have a prostate there are nerve endings and pressure just make sure you've taken an beforehand and cleaned after him preferably with soap and water in the shower cause if you gotta go while he's inside of you is going to come out gross when you're ready to get f-u-c-k-e-d use lots of lube a finger first go slow make sure he's still

174focused on keeping you turned on to it helps if you start out writing him face forward then you have more control over how deep it goes and you can still communicate what you need once he's in you tell him to just stay there for a while so you can get used to it then when you give the okay he can slowly start effing you if you don't like it tell them to stop if you decide to switch holes use a fresh condom and be prepared sometimes just happens but if you take it slow it can be really great is that what you celebrate Lindsay happy pride month to what feces on condoms stimulating prostates whether you have one or not is that what you condone is that what you celebrate would you acknowledge pride month

175be it known today that Galatians chapter 6 verse 7 says be not deceived God is Not mock you can't laugh at him whatever a man sows that shall he also reap and the operative word is that you sow this filth to Children Lindsay and you're going to reap it if you celebrate pride month and push this filth on kids you're going to reap it it's going to be more terrible for you because you are of age you're adults you know what's right you know what's wrong Tyler you're going to reap it if you say nothing and only speak about the black issues brother Monica you're going to reap it if you say nothing about it and you know in the Black Culture we don't even condone this stuff we fight against our next species followed

176by Renee [Applause] I'm here to speak up for our children and our youth they are being robbed of their innocence by the culture woke parents and the school system they are being taught and pushed and over-sexualized indoctrination that tells them that they are a mistake in the wrong gender that's a lie they are also surrounded by adults that are celebrating Pride instead of humility lgbtq makes up of only three percent of the population but it's being pushed as if they are the majority while the majority are being mocked and dismissed we are already seeing the effects of this push young children and the youth are depressed suicidal and Confused more than ever I have recently heard countless stories of young trans adults who regret their decision and are now dealing with lifelong consequences consequences from

177cutting off their body parts blocking their natural growth and development process getting several irreversible surgeries and taking lifelong medication they now deal with mental torment depression and Suicidal Thoughts all because they were taught to hate their god-given genders the children's books as you heard today in the public libraries and schools are explicitly teaching kids how to have sex and to question who they were born to be it is scientifically proven that our brains do not fully develop until we are 25 years old when we are children we don't know who we are or how to make decisions I was a tomboy as a little kid who never wore a dress and loved to climb trees as a kid and I'm so grateful my parents and my school did not tell me I was the wrong

178gender and change my gender because I love being 100 woman you cannot blame guns for the school shootings by students you must blame their mental health due to all this indoctrination growing up I never heard of school shooting until Columbine happened that was the very first time you heard school shooting now it's become the norm this agenda targeting our children has to stop before we have a world filled with hopelessness our next and final speaker of the night is Renee seckel I'm not sure how to handle this but could we ask the speakers to pick up their trash first thank you hey first off I want to say I know that this is a really hard day for a lot of you for several reasons and I'm really really sorry that I have to be

179up here speaking tonight I'm sure you would all rather be home with your families and I sincerely feel for y'all second off I had the pleasure of coming to the policy meeting just to watch um I guess it was about two weeks ago and first off I just want to say how much I learned while I was there because in watching that meeting you learned some from coming to these meetings but in watching the policy meeting you see like something just as simple as a visitor system actually has a lot of thought and care that goes behind it and a lot of moving parts and so I really appreciated the work and the thought that you guys did in that policy meeting and how it's really kind of brought home the enormity of the tasks

180that you all have and the seriousness with which you take it up that said I do have some suggestions to add to the policy that you were considering in the last meeting forgive me I don't have the number but it was about challenges to materials there are three suggestions I would like to make first I appreciate that the policy requires that the challenging parent or Guardian actually have a student in the school that is a good and smart decision I would also ask that the policy require the parent or Guardian who is complaining about a material a test that they have actually read the challenged materials in their entirety before filing their protest second I would ask you to please consider a requirement that the child actually have encountered or is imminently to encounter the

181material that could maybe ameliorate some of the outrage farming that we have been seeing Oh I don't know tonight um so that folks wouldn't just crawl through the libraries looking for something to be mad about but actually have something that their kid might actually have seen or taken out of the library and third I would ask that the policy be amended to include or write for parents who are not complaining to know that a challenge has been filed and to appeal a decision to remove a book I understand the parents who file a complaint and don't get what they want can appeal all the way up through the school board and that there is some I didn't quite understand the policy there's some mechanism by which the school itself can appeal but I would like

182for other parents to have that right too to support their Librarians and the teachers and the reason that those books were there in the first place thank you very much this concludes public comments at this time I will take a motion to return to closed session for reasons previously stated we have a motion and a second to return to closed session all in favor please say aye any opposed nay that concludes this portion of tonight's agenda have a safe time home and happy Pride