001with our prayer. If uh if anybody would like to join me in prayer, uh please please bow your heads and and let's do that. Dear Lord, we gather tonight in a room that feels impossibly heavy. For the first time in over a half a century, our district is moving forward without the physical presence of the man who helped build every dream within these walls. [snorts] Lord, we thank you for Joseph Arpai. We thank you for the 52 years he dedicated himself to the children of this community. He was a man of passion. He told us that was the only word that truly fired him up. And we saw that fire every single day. But tonight, we don't just remember the superintendent. We remember the man. We thank you for the teacher who loves his students
002that so much. He once brought a horse right into these very halls behind us. An actual horse. That's not a joke. We thank you for the leader who walked our halls with a quiet servant's heart. [snorts] the man who would spot a child in need and quietly ensure that they had a new backpack and gift cards the very next day. Not for the credit, but because they were his kids. [snorts] Lord, we smile through our grief as we remember him dressing up as Clifford the Big Red Dog [snorts] and reading to children in Northwoods Mall. We picture him standing there, a giant in our eyes with that red suit on backwards and [snorts] the tail hanging in front mistakenly and he had no idea. In that image, we see the true job pie, a man
003who took his mission with absolute seriousness but was never too big to be small for a child. >> [snorts] >> He taught us to enjoy this life, to find the joy in the service, and to lead with a heart that was always first and foremost for the kids. [snorts] His passing is a painful reminder that nothing is promised. Our time here is a gift. Help us to honor his legacy, not just with these words, but with our actions. Give us strength to carry the torch he carried for 49 years in this district. May [snorts] we lead with the same grace and the same Joe Pie way that transformed this district into what it is today. Please be with the Pi family tonight and wrap them with your peace. In your name we pray. Amen. Please
004join me for the pledge of allegiance. Good evening. Welcome to the March 9th, 2026 Dorchester District 2 school board meeting. As Mr. Farnsworth um so amazingly said in his prayer, this entire board and our school district was deeply saddened and heartbroken to hear about the passing of Mr. Pi on Friday. Um he he truly was an amazing a special person. And over the weekend, as I had many conversations throughout the community with people regarding him, it it became so apparent to me that every single person had a Mr. Pie story. I of course have my own. We all have them. But but what's so just different about a Mr. pie story is that the story was always about how he poured into them, how he encouraged them, how he knew them personally, took the time
005to to tell them, you know, that they were special, that he had big plans for them, that he touched their lives or the lives of someone in their family. And even though we will miss him greatly, we all know that he is gone, but not really. His his legacy lives on. It truly does. And so we're going to take just a minute tonight to remember a not just a career that supported students and this school district and public education, but a person a person whose life was dedicated to all of those things. Thank you, Dr. Wimberly. And again, thank you for those that are here and thank you for to for having that moment of silence Mr. Pi poured into a lot of us. He added value to everybody that he touched. And again, please
006keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you. All right. At this time, we will call our meeting to order. And I would ask for a motion to approve our consent agenda and meeting minutes. >> So moved. >> Motion made by Mr. Guthrie. >> Seconded by Miss Bates. Any question or discussion? Right. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. All right. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. All right. Next item on our agenda this evening is our district highlights. Mr. Bohannan. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Mr. Wimberly, Mr. Dohy, board members, uh, we've got some great district highlights all surrounding middle school basketball tonight. So, to pres present those, I'd like to bring up Mr. Tyrone Drake, our district athletic director. Um, for the larger groups, we know that there are
007many students in the audience, but there are many that weren't able to join us today. So, if we hit those big groups, I may just hand a big pile of certificates to the coach. For anybody we miss, I'm going to carry everything to the lobby. We'll make sure you get all your stuff. Mr. Drake. Thank you, sir. Madame Chair, Superintendent D, and board, we truly appreciate this honor to stand before you to recognize our middle school athletes. And we'll start with the middle school girls 2026 basketball champions. Um, head coach Rebecca Sour Sors [applause] and her team consists of Brooklyn Applegate, Ellton Baker, Skyler Vice, Allison Burgess, Lydia Dinger, Sera Garrick, Kinsley Jones, Carrington Lee, Lea Lowry, Quinn Patterson, Calie Dipple, McKenzie Wheeler, and Jada Williams. [applause] And now for the 2026 boys basketball champion
008also came from East Edison Middle School which is heads coach Mark Dorsonville [applause] and his players are Lewis Alcara Kristen Coffee Isaac Costa Shane Dinger Carter Dennick, Grayson Dun Meyer, Leavonne Gamble, Valis Matis, Wesley Meiselle, Alexander Porter, Tristan Smalls, Amir Wilkins, and Steuart Wilson. [applause] And now for the player of the year from the Atlantic division, our girls player year is Regina Miles from Oakbrook Middle School. [applause] Our boys player of the year from the Atlantic side is Galvin Krenshaw from Oakwood Middle School. [applause] >> [applause] >> The Pacific player of the year on the girls side is Quammani Presley from River Oaks Middle School. [applause] And on the board side is Grayson Dunmier from Eaststone Ministry. [applause] >> [applause] >> And now the coaches of the year on the girls side is Brian McDermott
009from Oak I'm sorry from River Oaks Middle School. [applause] >> [applause] >> And the boys coach of the year is Mark Dorsonville from the East Edison Middle School. [applause] And now at the end of the season, we have our all-star challenge. And um and the winning team was coached by Mr. Brian McDermott on the girls side. And the girls MVP of the All-Star game was Quammani Presley from River Oaks. I don't think she's here. Um the three-point champion was Ellington Baker from East Ed Middle School. >> [applause] >> And the student athletes that was on the girls championship team is Sariah Fleming from Austin Middle School, Tazia Davis from Austin Middle School, Kayla Shayla from I'm sorry, Kayla Shay Truzdale from the Bose Middle School, Deavon Car from the Bose Middle School. Regina Miles from
010Oakbrook Middle School. Kiara Bird from Oakbrook Middle School. Kmani Presley from River Oaks Middle School. Kamora Cisco from River Oaks Middle School. Graceland Brooks from River Oaks Middle School. And Enera Bines from River Oaks Middle School. [applause] And lastly for the boys, the boys MVP in the All-Star game was Grayson Dunmier from East Ed Middle School. [applause] And we'll have the boys three-point champion come up as well, Alexander Porter from East Edison Middle School. >> [applause] >> And the boys all-star team was coached by coach Mark Dawsonville from East Edo Middle School and his team consists of Grayson Dunmier from East Edestto, Alexander Porter from East Edestto, Val Matthews from East Edestto, Tristan Smalls from East Edestto, Anthony Wales from Greg Middle School. Lamont Cordis from Greg Middle School. TJ Holmes from Rollins Middle School
011of the Arts. And Zack Roland from Rollins Middle School of the Arts. And that concludes our 2026 winner basketball surprises. >> Thank you, Mr. Drakeford. This concludes tonight's district highlights. All right, the next item on our agenda this evening is our public comment on agenda items and we do not have any. So we will move on to our board committee reports. We will begin with our policy committee. Miss Bates. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, we have a couple policies up for first reading today, but with no objection, I would like to take the policy IHBC D and send it back to committee. I have talked to a few board members that wanted to discuss some options for that policy in more depth. So, if there's no objections, um, I would like to move forward
012with the reading of the other policies. Right. So, we will do I I HBG homeschooling and I J ND artificial intelligence responsible use. And actually, I'm sorry, Miss Graham. Wasn't IHBG also supposed to stay in committee? >> Hold the rule. >> Oh, okay. Okay. I just want to confirm. Thank you. So, those two. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, Miss Bates. So, that is coming out of committee. So we do not need a second. So at this time um are there any is there any discussion or questions? >> So very quickly and and it's interesting uh the artificial intelligence uh responsible use policy I noticed that had gotten um some media attention. Anything of course technology related uh kind of piqus their interest. So very quickly and and you know I was at that policy
013committee and and what we're really trying to do is I I don't want to say get ahead of anything because at this point um this stuff is already happening but we are as a district making sure that that we're really looking at all of these new technologies uh you know especially artificial intelligence um and how do we as a as an educational facility balance responsible use um knowing that these these technologies are are here and they are ingrained and and part of our lives every single day and so just making sure that that both our educators um our students our staff everybody kind of has a has a ground a foundation um for our use of artificial intelligence. The other thing that I I will mention in the policy and and this is something we
014are ahead of we had created a task force um several months ago and and so thank you Mr. Dhy um Dr. Sanga and that group for putting that together. And so that's something that that will also help ensure that this policy, the the rules, the process, everything behind our artificial use as a district, artificial intelligence use as a district um really again stays ahead of the game as as much as humanly possible. So just want to say thank you and thank you to the policy committee for bringing that to the board. >> All right. Absolutely. Any other questions, comments? Okay, then at this time we'll call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. All right. Next, we have our finance committee. Mr. Lee, >> finance committee met uh prior to the board
015meeting this evening and had our first presentation of the uh FY27 operations budget. Um consumed pretty much the entire meeting. a lot of great information, a lot of things. Um, not to sound like a broken record, but just like last year at this time, we're still waiting on certain information from the state uh to use for projections and whatnot to see where we're at, but uh it was a very good update if you can get a chance to uh attend. It'll be online for you later. Uh pay attention as uh things move forward uh with the budget process. Uh there'll be a public comment uh period for the budget in April, so be on the lookout for that as well. >> Great. Thank you, Mr. Lee. And then next we have facilities, Mr. Farnsworth. >>
016Um thank you, Madam Chair. Facilities met earlier uh this afternoon as well. So for anybody that would like more detailed information on uh stuff going on, everything and anything going on facilities wise, I would encourage them to uh pick those meetings up. uh the stream and then we will meet again in April. And last thing, we still have a few more facility visits for this round. So, please look at your calendars and if anybody is interested, more than encouraged to uh to please get board participation for those visits. That's all I have. Thank you. >> All right. Great. Thank you, Mr. Farnsworth. And then next, we have our governmental and community relations committee, Mr. Lee. Miss Bates. >> Yes. Um Dr. Wimberly and I we met with Mr. Bennett over was it last weekend? This
017past weekend to discuss some sustainable funding options for long-term. Um we had several good discussions around a potential penny sales tax, our funding formula at the state level and different entities we're working with to to continue to improve those things. We're still in discussions. Um, so as we get updates, we'll update the finance committee and the board as we move forward with those. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Bates. >> And I don't have Mr. Lee. >> Mr. Lee. >> Yeah. Just terms of community relations. I believe uh Superintendent Dohy did uh present to the Rotary this week. Uh so again, intentionally reaching out to various entities as well as I did meet with the DD2 Foundation board uh this past week and everything is all hands on deck and focused on the big event.
018Uh tickets are still available if you're interested. I encourage you to attend. Uh looks like it's going to be uh quite an event. So >> all right, thank you very much. Next item on our agenda is our board chairs report. And we have the CASPA National Conference coming up this week which I am looking forward to attending with several of you. Unfortunately means we will miss the big event and that I do not like. So um it is as Mr. Lee said a a lot of fun and a great opportunity to support our school district and teachers. So um we also have the SCSBA day at the Capitol. um in April and I know that Wanda has sent out some information on that. So, please RSVP to her and let her know if you are
019able to or planning to attend. She will get you registered for that. Um all right. Next, I wanted us to talk just a minute about our um South Carolina School Boards Association annual convention that a few of us were able to attend together a couple of weeks ago at the end of February. Um I will say it it was one of the best conventions that um we have attended really was a great opportunity. Um you know it's always good information and a a good time to network and work together with this board and with other boards across the state. Um but this one felt a little different. I don't know if y'all would agree, but I think we all walked away feeling very inspired. Um, several excellent speakers and we actually came home with some
020books. Even for those of you who are not able to attend and hoping that we can all kind of continue that motivation, inspiration together, um, I I feel like it's going to lead to some just good um, discussions amongst the entire board. um actually brought a copy of one of the books that one of the speakers we had um Liz Huntley I think this might be your copy we got we got all the everyone who was not able to attend to come this one's yours Chad but um if you weren't um there I I encourage you to um look her up she was just a a phenomenal speaker who um talked about how public education truly can transform and change someone's life. You know, I know sometimes from this role, we all sit up here
021and feel like we are spooning water out of the ocean. You know, sometimes it is hard to feel in the daytoday that you're really making a difference. But um hearing such a powerful testimony from someone who you know education just was her opportunity. um you know, yeah, she she really was um very inspiring and I do believe that there are students out there, you know, in this school district and across the state and across the country who education truly transforms their lives and and makes a huge difference. Um, you know, I would like to think it's it's all students, but I know for some, you know, one of the things she talked about how school for her was, you know, that was what she looked forward to every day and the impact that her teachers
022had on her, you know, that just followed her throughout her entire life. It was it really was it was a I didn't mean to go on so long about it, but I I definitely feel like she was very inspiring um and was you know, was just a very positive speaker. So, I enjoyed it very much. Look forward to having some discussions with the rest of you about that. But, um, I don't know if anyone else wants to share something that they take away. >> Yeah, I echo those sentiments. It's going to be hard. Gosh, I will say I echo what Ashley said. Sometimes when you're up here, you get lost in you're so high up and you don't get as much opportunity to see your impact directly. And both the speakers told very very impactful
023stories from a very different perspectives. Um, one had a very I call it a neurospicy child like mine. Um, that struggled in the public education system and a special education teacher who gave that child an outlet and potential and spoke life into that child. um changed his life and gave him a a huge future like I mean completely turned around his behavior issues, his his depression issues, his anxiety and all the things and gave him an outlet and hope and and it was just a beautiful story as somebody who has a child with ADHD and just how I know they can struggle. Um I was very personally impacted by that. And then just the the other lady as you mentioned um her story was very impactful too. the difference that a teacher can make in
024a child's life and the difference that having somebody to go to every day, that smile, that that positive word, that that person and as somebody who also kind of was a student who fell through the cracks in the the school system and had those teachers that that saw that and made that difference in my life, um it reminded me of why I decided to do this, which I really really needed. So, um I I echo that. It was one of the most impactful ones I've gotten to go to and yeah, so now I'm going to cry and but it was wonderful. So, >> well, I can neither confirm nor deny that the perspiration from the eyes was was pretty prevalent throughout the entire conference. Um every one of the keynotes uh in a different way
025uh were very impactful. That that is a fair word. um for me and bit of a cynic in most things when it comes to conferences and whatnot. I' I've been through technology conferences for 35 years and it's like okay. Uh but seriously, this thing had hit on all of my high notes. There was politics. It was spiritual. It was impactful and inspirational. And it was practical. There were some very pragmatic things that that I took away from some of the breakouts and things that I chose to attend. And I want to thank the district for affording us to go to that. Uh it was a worthwhile investment of my time and I believe your time uh through the board members as well. And I'm looking forward to continuing some of the conversations uh about some
026of the the specific things that came out of that uh as as we focus on making DD2 the best it can be. >> All right. Thank you all very much. And then the next item under the board chair's report this evening is our um approval of the updated superintendent evaluation tool as we discussed at our um board retreat and I believe that was also included in everyone's packet. So at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the updated superintendent evaluation tool as presented. Motion made by Miss Bates, seconded by Miss King. Um, any questions or discussion? All right, hearing none, we will call for the vote. Okay, motion carries. Six in favor, one abs. All right, next item on our agenda is our superintendence report. And so we will turn it over
027to Mr. Dhy. >> Uh thank you, Mrs. Dr. Wimberly and the rest of the board. Uh this evening we have several items to to take care of. And the first item we're going to have is the fine arts program update from Mr. Jason Walsh. I think Mr. Walsh has put some things up on your uh on the desk here in front of you about uh actually being a judge and some of the art that is going to be posted around uh uh our community. So, I'll let Mr. Walsh touch on that. >> Yeah. Good evening. Thank you for letting me speak to you, Madame Chair, school board, um Mr. Dohy. I'm so excited. It is uh March, which is a busy time for us. It is nationally everything month for us. It's uh youth music
028in our schools month, youth art month, theater in our schools month, and all of and every one of dance in our schools month. So, as you see at the top there, it's by the numbers. Since it is our major month for advocacy, I wanted to give you some data points. U first at the state level, then at a regional level, and then here in DD2, so you can understand how important the arts are to not only what we do every day, but how it impacts our students as they move forward. So in 2024, the South Carolina House Ways and Means uh subcommittee noted that the arts had a $14 billion direct impact on the econ economy of South Carolina with 120,000 plus jobs in the creative sectors. A study cited in Charleston that the cultural
029affairs department notes that the arts has a $186 million indirect impact on the economy of the city of Charleston and supports around 6700 jobs within Charleston. Um not only that in our local economy of Somerville we were known we were denoted as the 13th cultural arts district in the state. There are only 12 others and that is for the downtown area of Hutcherson Square in that area. Now for our DD2 numbers which I'm super proud of. We work on it. Any one of my teachers or not they're not my teachers, our teachers. Um I'm a little protective of them if you couldn't tell. And so they will tell you that my motto is 100%. I believe the fine arts are good for every kid and we're going to keep on until we have 100% of
030our kids participating every day. and we're getting close. So, it's instruct not only is it an an activity, but is fundamental to the instructional day and operation of schools. So, in DD2, we have 13,896 students total, this is according to last Thursday in Power School, um, grades 6 through 12. Of those 13,8,360 students participate in a fine arts class every day. That means 60% of our students grades 6 through 12 are participating in a fine arts class every day. If you add the 10,989 students that are in kindergarten through fifth grade, that creates a total of 19,349 total students participating in fine arts daily or 74% of our 26,000 students participate in the fine arts every single day in our school. and we're so proud of that. Um, some of our other programs, you all
031have heard Gateway and Pathway a number of times. They're how we serve our gifted and talented students. We have a little over 500 students who have attended at least one session this year. So, a little over 200 students, probably 220 students in Pathway and 330 in Gateway. And those are all supported by our 155 um fine arts teachers that I'm privileged to support every day. So, uh, I wanted to talk a little bit tonight about when I giving those updates and we're is we're using all of that with our strategic plan that was, uh, we worked very hard on a couple years ago and that you guys um, the school board um, approved in April of 2024. We're making great progress. A lot of the things we've worked on, we've worked on a lot of
032different funding options. We've worked on a lot of different class structures. Um but our current our current goals as this we finish up this five-year program um the current goals are center around class offerings and student participation for our um our underserved populations. Right? So one of the things is in our fine arts mission statement is fine arts is good for all students. Right? And that includes what we are working on a lot um is our special learners. Right? One of the things that is uh dear to my heart is is that we are trying to serve our special learners. And as a person who is [clears throat] excuse me a music a music person, every one of our teachers uh wants to participate in that population. They want to do that. But as you
033go through school, you don't really receive a whole lot of training on that. So, we're working um most of our schools offer some level of instruction for low incidents or self-contained. They are there is a class here or a class there or they're being pushed into a class and that's great and but our goal is to provide more training. We're working with Michelle Jake and her groups. We just did a training two weeks ago u working on a long range plan to give um our teachers more tools in their toolbox to understand how to approach the situation. They want to participate but frankly sometimes they get a little um nervous and they they don't know how to handle certain situations and we we really want to give them the opportunity so that they feel that
034they can provide quality instruction to all of our students. Um, we just finished one of our big programs that I've talked to you about before called United Sound. There's a picture up on the board. Um, that is the first United Sound program in the state of South Carolina. We finished at Fort Dorchester and and last last fall. And what that is is that all of those students are partnered with um at least three students in the Fort High School band, right? So, the students do all of the work. So they are partnered uh with a person in the band. So that one of the students is provided an instrument and then three students who are in the band sit with that child and teach them whatever they can teach them on that instrument. So if
035uh they teach them to play the clarinet, they can only play three notes. They rewrite a piece of music so that that child can only play their three notes. And for that concert, that child is not something special. It's not something where we they are part of the Fort Dorchester High School band for a concert and so they just get to go and they get to sit and the child who is their mentors they play those three notes with them and they just get to be um a a part of the group and I was fortunate enough to meet the leader of United Sound and she said something that will always strike me and she said when you have a student she created this in New Mexico where she's from and she said when you
036have a student who has uh special needs. You learn two things. You are an advocate and that you don't get to go to school after hours for the things that other student teach parents do. They don't go to honors nights. They don't go and for one night at least we let those parents just go to a band concert and that's pretty special. Um, so we're we're working, like I said, with Miss Jakes and her and her team to create not only professional development for our teachers, but we're also working, which we're super proud of, is to create new high school unified arts classes, which is kind of based on the United Sound model. And what that is is that uh a student who is probably a leadership student who is not necessarily a band kid
037or a choir kid or they need a fine arts credit because they want to go to the University of South Carolina or wherever state school. And so they can sign up for choir or art or theater which I'll be our three pilots and they are assigned as a mentor to a student who would then participate in that class fully. So, at the end of that class, they get um they get their theater one CP credit, but also a student who would not necessarily get the opportunity to participate fully in that class other than for inclusion or another piece will get the the opportunity to take that class fully. And we're super excited. We we worked with some teachers. We're working on a curriculum uh working on teacher training and we are in the process of
038meeting uh with Miss Jake and those teachers to create what that would look like. and the course codes and how all that would work for us to so that we can implement that not next fall but to be able to get the training in so that the fall of was that 2027 would be the first time we would offer that class. Um, and then a couple upcoming events. Something I'm very proud of, an American or Schulwork is a graduate level class. It is something you've probably all seen in elementary school. They've got the little xylophones and they all sit. That is a whole whole system of learning that is based on recorder teaching, movement, and those uh or instruments or xylophones. We worked really hard the past three years to create a partnership with CSU.
039So, we're partnering with CSU is going to offer a graduate level a graduate level credit for our teachers. And then um I wrote a grant that will pay for it. So, not only uh generally this this training costs about $800 for a teacher to get this credit, we're going to be able to offer that for our teachers for free. Um, and we are the only uh section in we are the only class of its kind in the state of South Carolina. The nearest one to us is in Atlanta. Um, and once our teachers are finished signing up, we're going to let other people join in. And I've already had people I had a lady email me from Ireland who wants to come do it. A lady one from Wyoming. So, it's a really hard thing
040to get into and we're we're uh super excited to let to provide this training for our teachers. The next step would be level two, which we'll have to see. Um, and then now the big one in two weeks, Dreamfest, which I never imagined would turn into something. When I started here in 2020 in the throws of COVID, I told some people downtown that um I wanted a DD2 arts festival where our kids were all over the city and uh we worked on it and worked on it and now we have one and it is fantastic and we hope you'll join us. You should all have some ribbons up there. Um, so a new thing this year, you're going to have three ribbons. The art is already up. So you have from now until March 24th
041to make your way downtown to to place your ribbons. You don't have to come on March 19th. We would love for you to come on March 19th. That's when the big show happens. Um, but we understand you have schedules. If you can stop by people's places and quilts and throw a a when you can, that would be great. And and then afterwards that we will present those students as our district artwork. As another plan forward, we used to have the district art gallery which we would present you with the artwork that was your gallery. This will be your gallery. The art that you pull up you the art that you choose will be the art that we hang in the hallway as the district artwork gallery. So you get to choose your own artwork for
042the first time in 26 years. So do a good job. We're counting on you. Um so you have your three ribbons. We would love for you to possibly choose an elementary, middle, and high, but don't worry about that. Just pick the best art you see. Uh, and then on Thursday, May March, not May 19th, it feels like May already. Uh, March 19th, we start around 5:15 downtown. Get there early. Uh, we are the biggest third Thursday by around 3,000 people. Every year we have about 5,000 people who show up in three square blocks. So, get there early so you can park. And then from 5:30 to about 8:30 we will have around 250 students perform. So we have uh 12 this year uh we're excited. We brought in our elementary steel drums um which is
043a challenge but we're going to get we're going to make it happen. So they start about our elementary stard drums start about 5 o'lock and then on Hutcherson Square they start about 5:15 and those all those performers run till about 8:30. So, that is it for me. And you should all have a map if you need it. And if you and if you lose your map, because I lose paper all the time, it is on the fine arts web page for you to find if you if you just want to take your phone. I'm happy to answer any questions. I will talk about fine arts all night. So, >> any questions from the board for Mr. Walsh, but we appreciate you coming and speaking about fine arts. And I know you could talk all night,
044so we appreciate all you do. >> Absolutely. >> Any other questions from >> I was just going to say thank you for all you do. I love it. I appreciate it. As an arts girl myself, I I know the difference it makes in kids' lives and the impact it has on their education. So, I appreciate it. And also, FYI, we have two ribbons up here each. So, if we're supposed to have three, >> only Mr. Dhy has three. >> Okay. Just wanted to make sure. >> Yes, that's right. That's right. >> I appreciate you so much. Thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Jason. And now we'll have up uh our assistant director for CTE, Miss Em, Dr. Emily Delantis and she's going to talk to you about the uh textbook
045adoption that's in your packet this evening and you can see that and she's going to discuss that. Um and that's for board approval this evening. And so uh Dr. Dlantis, >> thank you. I promise I don't have as much fun information to share, but um I am excited that we have this textbook adoption up. Um we currently don't have any textbooks adopted for AP computer science. So we're really excited about this opportunity. Um so Dr. Wimberly, Mr. Doy and members of the board, thank you for allowing me to present the newly proposed computer science textbooks for two of our AP computer science courses. Um, as Mr. Doy mentioned, I provided a more detailed outline of the process that we followed in your packet, but I'll summarize it up here this evening. So, in early February,
046it was brought to our attention that textbooks for AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles were up for adoption. As the next step, we provided sample textbook materials to our teachers at all three high schools for review. The teachers were then provided with a voting and feedback form so that they could select their preferred resources for AP computer science A. The teachers reviewed AP computer science through code HS, Java programming through Compu Scholar and Java programming through um National Geographic in Sengage. For the AP computer science principles, the teachers also reviewed the AP computer science um text through code HS and again Java programming through Compu Scholar. Those were our choices that we were allowed to select from. All three teachers voted unanimously for the code HS textbook for both classes. It's a
047very robust resource. They currently use the paid for pro version pro version. And so to have that textbook also complement what they're currently doing. They were excited about that opportunity. So as a final step in this adoption process, we are asking for the school board's approval tonight for these instructional resources. >> Any questions from the board? Well, thank you, Dr. Dlantis. >> Yes, thank you. So, board members, at this time, I would ask for a motion to approve the CTE textbooks as presented. >> All right. Motion made by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Farnsworth. Any questions or discussion? Okay. Hearing none, we'll call for the vote. motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. >> Thank you. And the next item we have on the board agenda is our safety and security update. And uh Mr.
048Giant, our director of uh safety and security, is going to talk to you a little bit about um some items that are going on in our security department. and uh I think his first item is going to be a kind of exciting one to check off the list. So >> yeah. Um yeah, definitely appreciate you having me here tonight. Um it's always exciting anytime you get to check anything off of a list. I know that we just keep in adding things to the bottom of it, but it's nice to check some things off. Um I'm happy to report that everything we had for safety and security in the referendum that was passed has been checked off and completed. Um so we are at 100% completion. uh as we're going around doing our facilities walkthroughs and
049those types of things, we get to see um things like the new vestibules that have gone in in the front office, uh just creates a bit a little bit of a time barrier uh if anybody was to to gain access through our uh front doors. It creates a time barrier and provides some provides some protection for those uh folks that work up front. So, that's the one over there at Austin Bailey. That was our biggest uh most time consuming and expensive project. Uh but we were able to get that completed. Jeff and and his crew did a great job of organizing that and getting those types of things in. Uh we were able to expand our open gate um weapons detections program into the middle schools. They each have them now and you guys have
050been getting monthly emails uh with some of the updates on how that's going in those schools. And uh it's been great. We've had great feedback from the students. Um I've talked to parents out in the community and they're happy to have them. I think the way that we use them is particularly beneficial in our middle schools. Uh so that you know they can't really kind of figure out where they're going to be just like in the high schools. But the kids have responded great. We haven't had a single issue um with the kids pushing back on that type of thing. So we'll get some questions every now and then which is expected. Parents will ask questions but as far as push back on that from the kids and the parents we really have not received
051any. It's been been overwhelmingly positive. Uh the door access control system has been updated throughout the the district. We used to have an old antiquated um keypad system where you had a fob and you couldn't really track who was coming in and out. I remember when I first got here uh I caught a kid going into the at Reeves Elementary that used a keypad to go into one of the the back doors off the playground. I said, "What code did you just use?" And he gave me my code. Uh, [laughter] so it was just an old code that had been passed down from one director to the next and I don't know how he got it. I guess he said his sister was uh in the ROC at Somerville High School. So trying to track
052that down. Um, you know, when you give somebody a pin, it's pretty easy to share those things. So we've gotten rid of that. Um, I've got I've got some other stories. If I have any of you ever want me to roll Mr. Frell under the bus, I've got a great story that that uh we can talk about. But um, it's been pretty good. We can track now um who's coming in and out. If we need to issue a temporary card to contractors, we can do that and see when they were there um and and kind of keep track of those things. If somebody loses a card, it's a click of a button to delete those cards out of the system and it's gone. Uh whereas with keys, you know, we spend a bunch of money
053rekeying the whole whole district. If somebody loses a key to the building, you just kind of have to hope that nobody finds it or if somebody does find it, they don't know where it goes to or you have to re key the the entire uh building. So, we we've been able to stay away from keys. Um the final thing up there is the radio project. Uh the radio project was a pretty big one. It allows all of our schools to communicate not just within their school, but with other schools. So if we have an incident at Somerville High School, they can communicate with Greg Middle School, they can communicate with Rise. If it's something that's going on on the Selmill Branch Trail, which we see from time to time, um or something on the the
054Berlin G, they can even communicate with Flowertown in Newington. Uh so they can all kind of talk and and find out what's going on quickly and easily. Our district leadership and first responders can also go to those schools. If there's an emergency at a school, we can go there quickly switch over to that channel and immediately start following what's going on and if we need to give directions um or ask questions and get information, we can do that as well. So, very happy to report that that the referendum stuff has been completed. Uh before I move on to the next part, does anybody have any questions about the referendum stuff? I >> I do have a question there, Preston. So, go ahead. >> I just I thought it would be fun because sometimes I hear
055stories about since Chester is not actually found any weapons in our school. People are like, "Can he even find weapons?" And I thought it would be fun if you could share a little bit about a recent story regarding our good friend Chester. >> Yeah. So, this one was actually is great. So, you know, there is the question, I get that question all the time. Is Chester ever actually found anything? And the answer is no, which is great because it's a double-edged sword. You you want him to work, but you don't really want to find out that he can do it um within the context of a school. So, he does a lot of training. Um, not too long ago, we all know that there was a shooting at the Sonic um on Dorchester Road. Put
056several our schools in lockdown. Um, but they never could find the gun. So, they did a canvas. The the suspect had run through the woods. They did a police canvas through the woods um on foot. They brought in their dogs um from Somerville Police to do a search. Uh they brought in the dogs from Dorchester County to to do a search. And the next morning, I think that was on a Friday, I think Saturday morning, they called um Officer Gama, who runs Chester for us, and said, "Hey, can you uh bring Chester out and let's just try again." Within five minutes, he found the gun. Um so, and that was an area that had been trampled. That was an an area that had had five or 10 other dogs run through there. Um so, there
057was all kind of scents and things to mess with. Um it it had rained overnight, so there were all the reasons for him not to be able to find it. But within five minutes, he found that gun and and even Gamble was like um he was pretty excited and very relieved uh that that he was able to find it. So yes, Chester does work and we um we love having him in our schools for a variety of reasons. >> All right. Anything else on the referendum before we go to the next slide? All right. Um and then just a couple of other updates. Um the bullet bulletproof doors. Um the PO I don't think it has has it been issued yet. Tina, do you know? I think as of Yeah. So, um that should say
058the quote has been received. Um they're working on the PO for that, but we've the quote's been received. The quotes been approved. We're working on the PO for that. So, that's a little bit of a of a mis a misprint by myself. Um the doors are being constructed. Uh Mr. Dohy and Mr. Frell and I and I think a couple of the principles at the schools um have the opportunity uh on March 27th, I believe, to go over to R2P and watch a live fire exercise um so that they can demonstrate. You know, I've seen it several times. Our law enforcement leaders have seen it several times, but it's going to be good for some of our school leaders to be able to go over there and see what these doors can actually do and
059what they can stop. So, they'll fire all kind of rounds at these doors um to show what they can actually be do uh what can actually be stopped. Um it's scheduled to be completed. We're still on track for it to be completed by August or when we start school. Um, and it was paid for 100% by a safety grant from the Department of Education that we received for $178,000. Um, I applied for it back in September. We were we were notified in October, November that we received it and uh were able to get that underway. Um, the open great open gate screenings like I mentioned a few minutes ago are going well. The middle and high schools are continuing the random screenings. Contraband continues to primarily be vapes, which is good and bad. It's not
060weapons, so that's a good thing, but it's just continues to illustrate the enormous complexity of the vaping problem that we have in our in our district. Um, and really in the in the country. It's not just in our district, it's everywhere. Um, everybody's fighting that battle. So, something we got that'll hopefully help with that is we are piloting at the three high schools uh the Triton vape sensors. Uh they do a lot of different things other than just detect vape. Uh but the primary focus right now is to detect vapes in some restrooms that are kind of our frequent flyers for folks that want to go in there and do those types of things. They can differentiate between nicotine vapes and THC vapes. Uh so that'll help us address that. Um they also help with
061crowd detection. So we can set it to alert us if there's more than, you know, three or four people in the restroom at a time. Uh it will tell us how long they've been in there. Uh, so they'll they'll be green if they're four minutes or less. If they're at between four and eight minutes, they'll turn yellow. Eight minutes, they turn red. And it shows us a little dot. Um, it doesn't actually show the person. It's just a little dot that kind of tells you where that person is in the bathroom and how long they've been in there. They've already w done the walkthroughs um with our IT our IT department, our vendor, and our school uh administrators to determine which restrooms are going in. and I got the drawings for those about 30 minutes
062before this meeting started. Um, so we got the drawings from the vendor to show exactly how that cabling is going to be done and where are they going to go. We're hoping they are all installed by the end of spring break and each, like I said, each school is getting two centers for one male and one female restroom. And I think that was the last the last there. Is there one more Wanda? Oh, yep. That's right. There was one more. And then finally, we are doing a fullscale active shooter exercise that will involve Somerville Police, Doorchester County Sheriff's Office, all of our EMS partners, um, fish and game, all of our three-letter agencies that are in the area, emergency management, um, fire and rescue, uh, really kind of everybody that can possibly be involved or
063might respond to an active shooter situation will be there that day. Um, it's going to be held at Ashley Ridge High School. We might try to recruit some of you guys to be uh actors for us. Um you're not gonna we're not going to be shooting you with rubber bullets or anything, but we need some victims that can can play those parts for us or, you know, be the the teachers that have to escort classes out and all those types of things. So, um 911 dispatch is going to be involved. It's going to be a very very large undertaking. Uh we've been in planning planning this for over a year. Um so, it's taken we we've been about 18 months actually by the time we we pull it off in July. So, we're going to
064be just over 18 months of planning in order to execute this and make sure it goes properly. Uh, so we're we're looking forward to um getting it going and that should be August of 2024, actually. So, it's been going for quite a while. >> Will that be something if we aren't actors or hiding in a bathroom or something that we as board members would be able to observe again like last time? >> Absolutely. If you want to if you want to come and just observe, we can do that, too. who will put a little vest on you that says you're not part of the exercise and you can walk around and see what's going on and and kind of check it out. Kind of a all access kind of pass kind of deal. >> I
065think it helps us a lot on a policy standpoint and just in in a public relations standpoint, you know, relaying and and articulating that as we are conduits to the public. It's really good for us to understand in depth how those procedures work so we can better articulate that to our constituents as well. So, Sure. I appreciate you. >> Sure. Anybody else? >> All right. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Giant. We appreciate you. Thank you. Uh our next item on the agenda is uh we're looking at uh it's in your board packet the approval of the quote for the Oakbrook Elementary playground equipment. This was discussed in our facilities meeting. Um again, this kind of goes over the threshold and it's going to be paid through 8% and some of the tiff dollars over at
066Oakbrook and so asking uh for board approval this evening. >> Thank you, Mr. Dohy. Board members, at this time I'd ask for a motion to approve the quote for the Oakbrook Elementary School playground equipment as presented in our packet. >> So moved. >> Motion made by Mr. Guthrie, >> seconded by Mr. Lee. Any questions or discussion? All right. Hearing none, we'll call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. >> Our next item on the agenda is our personnel report and Mr. Scott Matthews, our executive director for personnel, is going to come up and give you kind of an update there uh with our recruitment fair. But something to give you a little bit of uh information on Mr. Matthews. he was able to present at the uh personnel round table in front
067of all the other personnel directors in the state and so about recruitment and retention and so Mr. Mr. Matthews so and he has and Scott and his team have done a phenomenal job of uh you know working with our employees working with administrators and working with the district office uh when we're talking about uh retention and recruitment and he's going to give you some statistics that kind of show a little bit where we're at and again Dr. Wilson's part of that as well. Um, I know he works directly with personnel, so I want to thank him as well. So, um, Scott, the floor is yours. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Wimberly, Mr. Dardy, members of the board. Thank you for this opportunity. You know, I was up here several weeks ago as we were
068preparing for the recruitment fair and um, we talked about how we were the coolest place to work and remember I even put on some shades um, as I was leaving. But uh then we had the snow and we had to postpone the recruitment fair. It was it was disappointing, but uh but we we reorganized and um you know it gave us even a little more time to recruit and and get more people there and and get the word out. And I'm here to tell you today that we just did not tell people we're the coolest place to work. It wasn't just a slogan that day. We showed it. It was uh in full display and um you know it was just a terrific event. Um and I think there was a you may have already
069seen it the pictures already go through the video. No, not yet. Oh, that comes next. Okay. Sorry. Um, so we do have some pictures to show you, but it was, you know, when we when DD2 does a recruitment fair, it's it's not just, it's different than anybody else does it. It is a district, it's not just a personnel recruitment fair. It is a district-wide. So, I want to thank Mr. Dy, Dr. Wilson, Miss Barker, Mr. Farrell, and many folks who are here and in our district who helped come that day to help us to to to do this. It's not just a hiring event and interviews. We have all of our schools have these marvelous displays on hand to uh showcase all of our schools and all of their swag and uh you know I
070have to say and uh and certainly in honor of Mr. Pi who you know at one time was the personnel director many years ago a lot of the way we do things still has his stamp on it and and this recruitment fair is no different. you know, when you when you sit back and you just look at all the relationships, all the conversations that are happening that day. Um, all the the passion that you see being displayed by our administrators, by our by the folks there representing their schools, by our district office folks, it it is truly powerful and and this the general spirit we have in our district. And that is our number one recruiting tool right there above above anything else. why people choose DD2 and continue to choose DD2. Uh it was
071a great day. Um there's some some pictures of our setup. The way we had it decorated uh was marvelous. I do want to thank my team. Uh have to thank the personnel team that they they're so dedicated. As I was walking to the board meeting tonight, uh we still had people here working. That shows their level of dedication this time of the year. And uh I would they're just their their dedication's unmatched and unrivaled. Um some statistics. Um if we could get there we go. If we go back to the stats page, this was uh our most successful recruiting fair we've had in many many years. Uh we had 155 total candidates in attendance, 48 classified because we did out of all of our departments there as well as well. This was not just a
072a certified recruitment fair. Was very happy at the 7 certified candidates that that showed up for the recruitment fair. Um when I went back and looked, this is the third year we've done the big recruitment fair on a Saturday. We we sort of went away from it during the COVID years because it wasn't good to bring a bunch of people together, but but now we we have it again. And um uh last year, previous year we had about a hundred total and then the year before that it was about 80 total. So, we're definitely trending in a in a good direction and 155 was was a great number. We have 33 we had 33 recommendations come in that Saturday after the event. So, that shows that we had some quality people there and principles were
073ready to hire. They're ready to recommend them. And and since then, we've hired 20 uh since since Saturday the 28th, we've hired 20 uh employees that were in attendance on that Saturday uh recruitment fair just over a week ago. And and then what we did too was when we had to cancel on the 7th um and go back to the 28th, we didn't just wait. We we went ahead and we reached out to everybody who was planning on attending to let them know and then we went ahead and connected some of them with principles and we went ahead and we had already hired 15 candidates before uh from the 7th through the 28th. So, uh, very exciting, um, recruitment event. Very well done. And, um, it just, uh, was awesome. And we, right now, we're
074in good shape. Uh, you know, it's still early. We're still in March, but, you know, things move fast this time of the year as we're looking to 26, 27 now. And uh and right now we're we've we've hired a good number of people uh some great people to to add to our uh talented teachers and classified staff that we already have for 2627. We'll be sending those forward in in the coming weeks to you. And uh right now we're looking pretty good on the vacancy front. Right now we're looking, if you look at our vacancies for 2627, uh 10 at the elementary level that and we we hope to have those filled very soon. 14 at the high school level, 11 at the middle school level, and we have 10 special education openings. So, um,
075so you know, these are all openings that we we are working hard on and hope to have filled in the coming weeks. So, uh, just a little bit about our recruitment fair. Again, thank you for all of your support and, um, and thank uh, Mr. Dy and the entire district and and all of our administrators and schools for an outstanding day and event. >> Mr. Matthews, I do have a question here. So, you know, when we're looking at recruitment and retention, you know, we talked about in our finance committee about, you know, salaries, you know, obviously when we look at, you know, surrounding districts, Berkeley, Charleston, and um, you know, we're a little bit lower paying than those districts. Are you seeing very many people come back from some of those surrounding districts to us?
076>> We do. We see, you know, people love our community and, uh, that's that's a big draw. People love the community. when we did our stay survey last spring for for people that continue to come back to us despite the fact that that they could drive not too far and make more money. You know, they that's one of the big things is location. They love this location. They love our culture, our climate, our support. Um, you know, and I I know that uh we're continuing to to work hard on the salary front and we certainly want to continue to do that so we can stay competitive. But but I think you know we have we are seeing people come back from from other districts and coming back to our district because it's a it's a
077special place. We have um we have we have a lot of the climate and culture, the family, uh the support, um people go other places sometimes and they they don't find that in some of the other places. So they so they want to come back. And then this is just a great district, great community, great place to be. And one other question, I'm sorry to put you on the spot here, but you know, we're talking about contracts and people signing contracts to come back from next year and you talk about those openings that you're going to have next year and those are not very they're not a lot of openings compared to the number of teachers we have. So how many people would percentage you say are signing their continuation or contract? I know you
078guys got some of that data. We had a very high percentage of intent, letters of intent, you know, back in January. And uh I want to say we had uh about 90 some odd percent signed to say they're they're returning for next year. A lot some of them are retiring and such. Uh of course we'll uh we've continuing to monitor as we go through March and then when we get into April is when contract season that's when we'll really um you know get the final numbers for who's returning. But but right now, you know, with all indications, uh things are looking good. Um you know, I don't suspect we're gonna um I think we're on a very good trajectory trae trajectory. All of our trajectory is going in the right direction and this recruitment fair
079is a good example of that. I think the the high number of intent forms of people planning to retend comeback is a good example of that. So, I'm hoping that this trend will continue when we give out our contracts in April and we'll see the same trend continue. >> Any other questions for the board? But thank you to your team, Dr. Wilson. Thank you. I know uh you guys had worked really hard uh of trying to prepare that and making sure Fort Dorchester was decorated appropriately and with the administrators and so thank you for all the time spent for you and your team. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Okay, now we'll bring up uh our next item on the superintendent report is our projects and that'll bring up uh Mr. Tony Souls and Jeff Smith
080to talk about a referendum and some other projects in the district. So, Mr. Souls, >> good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Mr. Dy. Uh tonight, we got the referendum projects that we are currently working on. Quite an extensive list. uh the elementary school of ponds. We're always having conversations with the folks at Coulter and the folks of the county about getting conveyance of that land and we hope to soon have resolution uh over at Somerville Elementary right behind us. We've got uh a project going on that's a a rapid pace project that when we started this back last summer, we we uh we knew we were going to have a time timeline to meet and uh we're definitely on that timeline. The most important thing I want to talk about Somerville Elementary is
081the scheduled power outage that we have back there scheduled for spring break on on the 27th, March 27th. We're going to be taking the power down to Somerville Elementary campus and that power will be off to allow us to connect a new transformer to the new switch gear, the old switch gear and reconnect the entire campus so we can have permanent power on on our new switch gear for for the for the new addition. And hopefully they'll have the power back on the Wednesday following that. So it'll be around the 1st of April, 2nd of April before we have power back on there. We are coordinating closely with the school administration. Uh food service already knows about it. We're going to have another meeting uh teams meeting probably this week or next week before then
082just to make sure everybody has a schedule and everybody knows their spot on stage so when we drop the power at 1:00 on the 27th of March, everybody has their marching orders and everything goes off without a hitch. That's that's the reason we want to make everybody well aware of what's going to happen that week. Uh Summerville High School, we did complete the fire and egress modeling analysis. Uh the construction documents are are in progress right now. We hope to have the 100% documents turned into OSF for review by June 1st. And the Ashley Ridge edition, uh Mr. Dy and I and Mr. Pharaoh, we met out there on Friday to uh check the progress out out there and that's going well as well. They got the structural steel on the roof going in. They
083started the roof today on the new band room. The new weight room is going to have uh structural steel starting out there this week. So, it's it's very very rapid pace construction. We're hope to have all this done. The band room and the wait room will be completed by June 1st. >> And Mr. real quick. That's going to give us an additional 10 classrooms in there. Correct. When we're moving those other >> with the with the new band room, the new weight room, uh the additional classrooms that are going into the fine arts wing. We've got uh the the band room is not just a band room. It's a band room, several small practice rooms for for small groups, two full-size classrooms, plus all the storage that uh the band folks need. Then we're going
084to go in and renovate the old weight room and turn that into two classrooms. And I don't know if everybody remembers, but this past summer we went in, there were two uh extra-large classrooms, I call it, were about 1,800 square feet classroom. We took those and split those in half. And those two classrooms are now four classrooms. So at the end of the day, we're going to end up with net of about 11 classrooms total added to that square footage out there. Thank you. >> Uh the Fort Do Northchester High School classroom edition. Uh the permitting is complete. The bid verification is in progress. We've got the uh design team looking at the bids now to make sure we've got everything we need covered there. The Knightsville Elementary School campus upgrades. We we've fasttracked this.
085We've got the design team on it. uh we meet this week on Wednesday with the design team and the construction team and we're going to discuss the schematic design that we already have uh done and we're going to narrow that down to make sure that we've got all the programming covered for the general ed classrooms, special ed classrooms, all the staff needs in the in the new wing, plus the new uh cafeteria that's the the right size for a school of this size and update a kitchen that was built probably sometime in the 1930s or 40s and it's well overdue for a makeover. So, we're going to that it's it's it's a campus upgrade. It's not just a a wing addition. So, we meet with those folks on Wednesday and and we're going to continue
086on until we get some documents that we can get a number on for for bidding purposes and then we're going to get uh started on construction. [clears throat] other CIP construction. It's not referendum related. Uh Oak Middle School edition. We've got that completed. We're just waiting on final approval for some documents come back from LLR. Uh Oak Brook Middle School edition is uh elementary school edition is right behind that. Uh the roofing is complete. They're they're just doing some uh interior work now. We've got a overhead inspection schedule for this week. And so that one should be completed. It'll be completed before the summer for use for next school year. Uh the bus maintenance facility at Oakbrook, uh we've got the building, the pre-engineered metal building is on site. We start this week with site
087work. So hopefully by the end of next week, we'll start to see some footings, foundations, and some earth work being done out there. Are there any questions on any of the projects that I've mentioned and talked about? I just had one and I'm sorry this is a loaded question a little bit but um do we have any idea where we stand when the ponds is has to turn over the land like how far out are we from that? So we know the language that is in the development agreement. I mean everybody I mean everybody should be well versed in that language now. So and where they are now out there is I rode through the neighborhood last week just to see and they are on phase 10. They are they are cleared phase 10 and
088they're doing their land work out on phase 10. So, uh, you know, I'm not sure what their, uh, the civil engineers guys, they they they're ones that are going to have to do the final plat approval and and get that through the channels through the county for final plat approval for phase 10. I And the timeline on that, >> have they been at least willing to communicate like where they are on like if they're not going to turn it over prior to that? Well, well, you know, we we have those conver we're having conversations and we're seeing, you know, if there's a way we can accelerate >> or or uh come to an understanding or some just some type of agreement. But, uh, and we're having conversations every week with them. And hopefully hopefully those
089conversations will be fruitful. Uh, I'm I'm I'm going to keep a positive attitude. I love it. >> I've had a positive attitude about this thing for over a year now. I'm not going to drop it yet. Hey, that's what I said in our committee meetings, y'all. I love to stay positive. So, I appreciate that. And that's all we can do right now. So, thank you for all you do. >> Yes, ma'am. >> I'm going to turn it over to Jeff. He has some things to talk about. >> Um, just wanted to make sure everybody's aware that so the first of our two press boxes is complete. um are actually district electricians uh ran all the conduit today at Fort and they'll be pulling wire tomorrow so that um I know Miss Floyd has it set
090up to have uh their sound system installed Wednesday for their first home softball game. So that one's going to be done uh essentially tomorrow and uh Somervilles is supposed to ship out this week we're hopeful and uh site prep is already done so we'll be installing that one hopefully this week worst case next week but they'll be up and running there as well. Um I know Mr. Dory had wanted us to just definitely you know hit hard on the things that we've done so far and so this is just kind of a quick update on obviously we we have completed Sand Hills um addition. It's all moved in. It was a big you know push over break where we had you know moving company come in get everything moved for you know existing classrooms into
091these spaces that comes with moving other people around the building. So, probably roughly 20 25 classrooms that had to get touched and moved to, you know, get everybody in their right locations now. And, uh, a lot of furniture to sort through and get pulled out, moved around, things of that nature. But, um, so they're up up and running. And if you ever go over there and walk through, for anybody in the public that's ever in that building, it's almost a seamless transition walking into that area. You don't even know it was added on as an addition. So, turned out really nice. students are loving it and it's u you know a great addition to the the DD2 family. I just wanted to post this too just to, you know, get it out in the board
092meeting so that folks know that if you go to the website and you go to the referendum link, this is what's on there and this is what we meet with the cart every quarter. We uh when we meet with them, Miss Grace makes this spreadsheet up. We go through it with them. We update every single project. A lot of these things are the smaller stuff that we don't talk about necessarily at every board meeting, but it's it's listed. So that could be something as simple as like an exterior wall renovation at Eagles's Nest. But it just gives you an idea of where we're at on each project, what's been started yet, what hasn't been started, and just I would just, you know, encourage anybody at home to look at that website to get an update
093on things just to, you know, keep more informed of what we're actually doing out there because the big stuff is nice. It's great and it's the what takes up a lot of the attention, but there are a lot of little things that are going on that are also affecting student learning and, you know, outcomes. >> And thank you, Jeff. One other question I have, you know, with the the TIFF dollars uh over at Austin Middle School. Yep. And the Austin, where are we at with tennis courts? I know that was something we talked about. Can you give a little bit update? We talked a little about >> our surveys are scheduled to be done on Wednesday. Um those surveys were needed obviously to do the design. So um I'm hopeful that ADC will have us
094a design or at least a schematic design by the end of the month, first part of April. And um we're going to hopefully shoot for the goal is to start working on construction of the property after July 1st because we obviously have some commitments of folks that are using that property currently for uh you know out outside activities and facility usage rentals. Um so yeah, we're we're on track. We should have a um like the surveys done this week and then hopefully get all the um design documents done relatively quick. get them through the town of Somerville, get them to the different people to permit and have that all done. >> Thank you. Any other questions for Jeff or Tony? So again, thank you Jeff, Tony, and also thank you to Tina and Ashley Cash
095and the team and Liz and everybody. So there's a lot of buckets and a lot of projects going on to try to keep safe and they do it, you know, do a great job, try to keep them all straight. So thank you. >> Yep. Thanks. And our and our last agenda on the superintendent report is item G is student enrollment recommendations for 2526. >> All right, board members, we did receive that information in our packet. Is everyone okay to proceed with the vote in open session? >> All right, then at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the student enrollment request as presented. >> So moved. >> Motion made by Mr. Guthrie. Second, seconded by Miss Bates. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, we'll call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in
096favor, one absent. Thank you, Mr. Dohy and team. >> You're very welcome. >> Okay. Next item on our agenda this evening is our public comments um on non-aggenda items. And we do have one, Mr. Jason Brockert. Good evening. Yep, it's me again. Uh, non-aggenda items because on the agenda, I did not see anything about the policy that I submitted for review a little over a month ago. I mean, that's fine. citizen can submit a policy for review and never get a response. I I guess that's your job. Um, executive session, I I might know a little bit about something that's being discussed there. Uh, took 30 days for me to get a response. Don't worry, you'll you'll get a response from me much much faster than 30 days. I'm not sure how this is really
097supposed to go. I know how I wanted it to go. I mean, last May, we sat down and I thought it was a very respectful discussion. And then I didn't take it too well when that respectful discussion turned into a stabbing me in the back kind of situation. That's that's okay. I got a little bit of that frustration out and it's on video. You can go back and review all of that. I didn't do anything in secret. I didn't do anything in behind closed doors. And then we founded a charity and I offered to try to partner to do something better. You all said no. Actually, you didn't really say anything. You literally just did not respond to me. Um, after I invited you to an event, I got no response. After I emailed counselors
098in the district, I got no response. After I emailed principles in the district, I got one response. somebody didn't follow orders. That was fun. And so I tried to host a Unity Day event, which is bullying prevention in coordination with Pacers bullying prevention, national bullying prevention. Unity Day is their thing. I remember what happened on Unity Day last year. And it wasn't Unity Day in Dorchester, too. Not on Unity Day. I really do appreciate the words that that you shared publicly for Joe Pie tonight. I spoke several times with him. This is back in the dark COVID days. Things were really bad. We had very respectful discussions. I'm actually very sad that I don't get to talk to him about what's happened with us since the issues in 2022 because I really would have liked
099to have gotten his opinion on how things went because we had much more respectful discussions. Now, I'm going to continue to try to push some bullying prevention and some suicide prevention. We'll see how that goes. I'd rather just talk about it respectfully and openly, but here I am again. And there you are again, and this is our conversation. Good night. >> Thank you, Mr. Brockert. All right, the next item on our agenda is our executive session. Board members, at this time I would ask for a motion to convene into executive session for the purpose of receipt of legal advice regarding potential litigation as well as for personnel related matters. Motion made by Mr. Farnsworth, seconded by Miss King. Any questions or discussion? All right, hearing none, we'll call for the vote. motion carries. Six in
100favor, one absent. We are in executive session and we will return. At this time, I would ask for a motion to return to open session. Motion made by Mr. Lee, seconded by Miss Bates. Any questions or discussion? Right. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. All right. At this time, I would ask for a motion from our executive session. Discussion. >> All right. Motion made by Mr. Farnsworth to accept the personnel recommendation as presented. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Second. Seconded by Miss King. All right. Any questions or discussion? >> All right. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Board members, at this time I would ask for a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion made
101by Miss Bates, seconded by Mr. Guthrie. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. We are journed.