001So, as we begin tonight, I I think it's important. Let's take a a brief moment and I want to focus our thoughts on on the reason that we're here. And of course, that is our our students. May our discussion tonight be thoughtful, our tone respectful, and our decisions grounded in fairness, evidence, and what's best for learning. Let us listen carefully, speak with purpose, and collaborate with open minds. We're grateful for the dedication of our teachers and staff, the trust of our families, and the potential in every child. May we show empathy when issues are hard, courage when choices are tough, and humility to learn from one another. With clear purpose and cooperative spirit, let's begin our work. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one
002nation indivisibley for all. And madame chair, if you will indulge me. Uh, tomorrow is is a very special day. And so I wanted to take a moment uh just to recognize, of course, Veterans Day um here in the district, many of our teachers, our our staff, our parents, students come from military families and and that spirit of uh discipline, that spirit of teamwork, uh that spirit of service runs deep in our schools and our community. And so we would be remiss if we didn't appreciate that. Um, so I I will say as as a veteran, >> [snorts] >> um, I can tell you one of the the most powerful words that a veteran can ever hear, um, are thank you. So tonight I want to say a very genuine, um, thank you to every veteran,
003to every spouse, to every child in our school district, and everybody who served alongside them. You set the example. Um, quiet courage and steady commitment, and that's what leadership looks like. So, we are eternally grateful. Uh for the last remaining bit, I will turn it over uh to Mr. Jim Lee, our other serving veteran on the board. >> Thank you, Justin. And uh I would echo as well, thank you to all those who have ever served in uniform in defense of this country. Anybody here who is a veteran, I'd ask you to stand up and let's let us just recognize you for a moment. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you all for your service. Um, you know, we uh you've all heard the saying, you know, some gave all, all gave. All gave some, some
004gave all. And we celebrate those who gave all on Memorial Day. But on Veterans Day, we recognize all who gave of themselves. Um, ever since even when I went into the service, Justin and I uh were teasing back and forth, he would recognize the veterans of the more contemporary ones and I would go back to something more along my timeline, the Revolutionary War, War of 1812. But seriously, uh, when I entered into the service, it was an all volunteer service and it has been ever since. So, we owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have served in the military who, whether they realize it or not, signed a blank check with their lives and gave up some of their liberty in order to preserve our liberty and our freedom. Whether we realize it
005or not, we are the beneficiaries of others willingness to step forward and serve and sacrifice. Lastly, I would just say to those who are at a point in life where you're contemplating what you're going to do, I strongly encourage you to consider looking at the military as a possible avenue for you to fulfill your goals in life. Doesn't necessarily have to be a career, but uh every single veteran I've ever met who has spent time in the military took from that valuable life's lessons that have served them throughout their time. And then lastly, I would just like to wish a happy birthday to my fellow Marine colleagues, uh, who are celebrating 250 years. So, a lot to celebrate there. So, uh, for those of you who are going to enjoy a federal holiday tomorrow, uh,
006interestingly enough, I rarely if ever take Veterans Day because it's in the middle of the week, but we celebrate Veterans Day, unlike many of our other holidays, on the day to recognize Armmesus' day, the day we commemorate the war to end all wars. Sadly, that hasn't come to fruition, but that holiday continues to be celebrated on November 11th every year. So, please take that in consideration. And again, thank you all veterans. >> Thank you, Mr. Farnsworth and Mr. Lee. All right. At this time, I will call this um November 10th, 2025 board meeting to order. And I will ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda and the meeting minutes. >> So move. >> Motion made by Mr. Gut three, seconded by Miss Powell. Any questions or discussion? All right. Hearing none, we will
007call for the vote. Okay, motion carries unanimously. All right. Um, and the next item on our agenda is our district highlights. So, at this time, we will recognize Mr. Brian Bohannan. >> Good evening, Dr. Wimberly, Mr. Dhy, board members, and a nearly full house. We love to have a full house so we can celebrate some great things. This evening, we've got highlights that showcase school, student, and staff achievement. We're going to begin tonight with recognition of three schools selected to receives arts curricular innovation grants from the South Carolina Department of Education's Distinguished Arts Program. We're going to call uh schools up individually. So, you and all your people, I know we have teachers and administrators, come on up, receive a certificate of appreciation from Dr. Wimberly and Mr. Dhy take a quick photo and we'll
008plug on through. These grants support innovative arts programming that enriches student learning and creativity through strategic planning. Our first school up is Dr. Eugene Sireers Elementary School. [applause] They were awarded nearly $10,000 for their project. The artist in you. I immersive fine arts experience week. [applause] Next, we'd like to welcome Austin Middle School, [applause] awarded $12,600 for their project, Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken. >> [applause] >> And finally, Somerville High School [applause] awarded $12,550 for shaping creative futures, advancing arts education with purpose and passion. >> [applause] >> Congratulations to all three of these schools, securing nearly $35,000 and continuing our history of award-winning arts education in DD2. Up next, we've got the East Edo Middle School. Okay, hang out, kids. I'm going to say nice things about you and then I'll bring you up,
009so don't get anxious. The Hyland Treble Choir, a historic achievement for not only East Edestto but also the district. This choir under the direction of Mr. Maurice Burgess was selected to perform at the South Carolina Coral Directors Association's fall conference. One of the most prestigious events in the region and I will tell you knowing Maurice pretty well that this was not a one-time application. He had to submit years, correct me if I'm wrong, sir, years of recordings of this group in order to be eligible. So he has to show depth and a history of success in this program. And it's because of that they were the only middle school choir chosen from across South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida and joined a lineup of high school, university, and professional groups that were also performing at the
010conference. So this marks the first time in district history that a DD2 choir of any kind, much less middle school, has been afforded this opportunity. And so now everybody come on up. The Hiling Choir from Misetto Middle School [cheering and applause] [applause] [cheering] It's always creativity. >> [laughter] [applause and cheering] [applause] >> Fantastic. I've just handed Mr. Burgess a big staff of certificates that he's going to hand out in the lobby in just a minute when we finish highlights. So parents, if you want to hang out for just another second or you can go quietly and respectfully right now, that's totally great. No worries. And uh you know, members of that group will be at the Somerville Italian Feast performing on Sunday, so please come out and hear them there. Our final highlight this evening
011recognizes the 2025 Early Career Educator of the Year awarded by the South Carolina Council for the Social Studies. This statewide honor celebrates exceptional new teachers who demonstrate creativity, strong content knowledge, and a passion for helping students connect the past to the world around them. This year's recipient is an educator whose engaging lesson on the industrial revolution impressed the selection committee and reflected the high standards of our district's social studies programs. Please join me in congratulating from Ashley Ridge High School, Mr. Thomas Maguire on being named 2025 South Carolina Council for the Social Studies Early Career Educator of the Year. >> [applause] >> This concludes this evening's district highlights. Thank you. Amen. All right, board members. The next item on our agenda this evening are board committee reports and we will begin with our policy committee.
012Miss Bates. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. We have several policies today for second reading and several for first. Uh is it okay if we just do them in one batch? >> Yes, I believe. I believe that as long as everyone else >> Yep. >> Absolutely. Let's proceed. >> So the policies for second reading are as follows. Policy EF, food services. Policy EFR, food services, the administrative rule. Policy GBC, staff compensation. Policy GCB, professional staff contracts and compensation. Policy IC, school year. And then the policies for first reading are as follows. Policies ED, materials and equipment management. Policy EDR, materials and equipment management, the administrative rule. Policy JKD, suspension of students. JKDR, suspension of students administrative rule. Policy Jke, expulsion of students. And then JKER, expulsion of students, the administrative rule. All right. Thank you,
013Miss Bates. As these are coming out of committee, we do not need a second. So, at this time, I would ask if there are any questions or discussion. Okay. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Seven in favor. All right. And then I just want to share that we met today at 3 PM for a policy committee meeting. You can see that. Um it was live streamed. So you can go back on our YouTube to view that. And then our next meeting will be December 15th at 5:00 pm. And unless Miss King has anything further to add, that will be all. >> All right. Great. Thank you, Miss Bates and Miss King. All right. Next we have our finance committee, Mr. Guthrie. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, so finance committee was
014able to meet today at 4 pm. And we went over some of our referendum projects, uh, expenditures, uh, our quarter one contracts, and also some special revenue funds that we're definitely have to take a look at for upcoming years, um, to make sure we're covered. But, and then, uh, I don't know, M Mr. Lee has anything you want to add. I'm just really uh impressed with how well the district has responded to many of these asks. We're asking for more information, different cuts of information and whatnot. And we're continuing to evolve in in trying to bring information to the public also to make sure that the board fully understands everything that's going on with the finances. So, uh I'm a little bit biased. I think the finance committee is the best of the subcommittees and
015I appreciate all the work the district is doing to work with us. Thank you. >> And perfect. and we have an upcoming meeting December 8th at 4 pm. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Lee. And then last but certainly not least, we have our facilities committee. Miss Farnsworth, did you like to respond to Mr. Lee's comment about them being the best? >> I was going to say, I think when I was on the finance committee, it was the best. Now, facilities of course is is the best committee. [laughter] They uh they all are amazing. Um and I will very quickly and and just to Mr. 's point um to to Tina and your team as we sat in that finance meeting today um what what really comes to mind is
016how much that team is able to do um with with I would say a very finite amount of resources. Um you look at at districts our size across the state and across the country and and it takes them exponentially more people and and so that just speaks volumes uh for for you and your team. So, um that said, moving on to facilities. Again, the best uh committee that we have. Um we did we were able to meet earlier uh this evening at 5. We had a a busy uh afternoon of committee meetings. Um I would encourage everybody fac specifically for facilities and and we of course will talk a little bit about the goings on there uh here in a little bit, but please go back. I would encourage folks uh the facilities committee meetings.
017We go through a lot of information with what's going on. We have we have a lot of facilities in the district. We have a lot of updates, renovations, upgrades, referendum projects, capital improvements projects. Uh we have we have a lot of stuff going on. So I would just encourage folks to go back and and watch those videos. Um we do have a meeting on December 8th. That's our next upcoming meeting. And that is my report. Miss Powell, anything from your side? >> All right. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you both very much. Next item on our agenda is public comment on agenda items. This evening we do have one um Mrs. Megan Jones. Good evening board members, citizens, and parents. With respect to the current super suspension and expulsion policies and the proposed policy revisions,
018it has been 24 years since the district has updated its suspension and expulsion policies. It's very difficult to understand why when the district introduced new progressive discipline plans and new matrix rules this school year, it did not take the opportunity to review all related discipline policies, particularly those governing suspensions and expulsions. The most reasonable explanation seems to be that this long overdue review began only after a parent finally raised concerns and challenged the lack of clarity. If that's what it took after 24 years to have these policies reviewed and revised, then I am proud to say that I am that parent. Through a foyer request for records related to the interview practices of school administrators with minor students, I confirmed that my eight-year-old son, eight years old, was interrogated by three administrators at the elementary
019school. This was confirmed by the foyer request record that your in-house attorney provided to me. The record included interrogations. During this interrogation, my 8-year-old son was not told why he was there. He was not told why he was being questioned, and he was led to make statements and implicate himself and his older brother. When I met with administrators to view the bus, >> Madam Chair, and and I would just point of order um for our public comments, we have to be very careful that we don't hear specific student issues. Obviously, she >> I thought I read in the board policy manual that if it pertained to your own student that you could speak about it. >> So, Madam Chair, I would I would just caution the board on hearing any further commentary on on a
020student scenario. >> Okay. Okay. The board policy seems to contradict that. It said not other students. You could discuss your discuss your own students >> um >> during public board meetings. Regardless, administrators do not follow policy and procedures according to the board policy manual as well as South Carolina code of law title 5963 230 with suspensions, notifications, the right to an appeal and the right to a conference with the principal. None of the requirements were followed in the two notifications that I received in addition to the other foyer request records that I received. I had to research the district policy and state law over a holiday weekend. And when I finally got in touch with the superintendent, I was granted less than one school day for my to gather all of my information for an
021appeal. When he gave me his decision, I was not informed of my right to petition to the board. Through the fullear request records, I obtained the disciplinary records that does not show that the principal followed the policy South Carolina code of law and there were no warnings for the misconduct. There was no opportunity for myself as a parent to be able to correct the behavior. While I appreciate that the board is now updating the policies and procedures, it does not correct what happened to my children and denied others fair process. Despite multiple emails, no board member has reached out to me and the district leadership has only indicated that they will work with staff and communication to them and training. I have uncovered multiple policy violations since then. For example, this >> um I'm sorry,
022Miss Jones, I apologize. It looks as if your time has elapsed. Yeah. Thank you very much for your comment. All right, the next item on our agenda this evening are um is our board chairs report. And so we do have our um SCSBA 2025 legislative advocacy conference coming up in December. Um at this time we have three board members scheduled to attend that. And so this evening we need to um certify our delegates for the 2025 SCSBA delegate assembly. Um Mr. Lee has very graciously offered to serve as our delegate for that event. Um and I will serve as the alternate. Um so at this time um I would ask for a motion um to approve the delegates as presented. Mr. Lee as our delegate and myself as the alternate. >> So moved. >> Okay.
023Motion made by Miss Farnsworth, seconded by Miss Bates. Is there any questions or discussion? >> Okay. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. All right, motion carries. Seven in favor. All right, and the next item on our agenda this evening is our superintendence report. So, turn it over to Mr. Dhy for I looks like some good news to start out with. >> Yes, Dr. Wimberly and the rest of the board. Uh this evening, we're going to talk about our school report card presentation. And tonight I'm going to highlight uh a little bit about our report card throughout the district. And so we're very excited to to present to the board that we had eight excellent schools this year. Um of those remaining schools, eight earned an overall rating of good and nine earned an
024overall rating of average. Um DD2 is proud to report that none of our schools were rated below average or unsatisfactory. And so that goes to the work of the board, um our administrators, our district team, and all of our teachers and administrators. they've done an outstanding job and also with our students who uh put their best foot forward. So, we're very excited about that. And so, going to the next slide, um you can see a little bit of the data going to slide 15. There you can see academic achievement. So, um Austin Bailey Elementary and River Oaks uh River Oaks Middle School improved and moved out of below average and so they were in below average last year. So, um that's a big credit to their staff. So, congratulations >> [cheering] >> And so and
025and to go on to that point, they moved from a 39 to a 48. They improved nine points for Austin Bailey. [applause and cheering] And the River Oak staff, they went from a 34 to 43 and nine points each. So again, well above the the cut for average. So congratulations to those schools. Um then we had Fort Dorchester Elementary School, East Edestto Middle School, and Oakbrook Middle School join the ranks of excellent with our other schools. So congratulations to their administrators and teachers and students for those three schools. [applause] And something that's real exciting, a point of pride, there are 83 districts in South Carolina. And if you if you remove the non-traditional districts like the charter school districts, the governor school districts, DJJ and other special districts, there are 74 traditional neighborhood districts. And
026we are among 27 school districts that did not have a school earning below average or unsatisfactory. So that really speaks the efforts of the board, the district, our teachers and administrators. So congratulations there. So slide 16, you go to that one. Again, it's academic achievement. So, English and language arts met and exceeded up 5.9% points from last year. So, however, we need to keep in mind that the South Carolina Department of Education tested new standards and revamped the way students are tested in writing. So, while we are happy with the improvement, we can not fully compare this year to last year. So, again, apples to oranges. However, this is just setting the baseline data for future years, but we're still very happy for uh our improvement. Uh math, let's talk a little bit about math.
027Math is up 2.9% points from last year. We've been making slow consistent progress over the past 3 to four years. Um the South Carolina Department of Education will be re revamping the math uh assessment in 2526. So, we're eager to see if we can keep up our consistent progress even with the new standards and expectations. Uh on slide 17, we go to this one. It's academic achievement for our high school. And when you look at that, English 2 is also up 4.6% from last year of those earning a C or better. And then algebra 1 is up 1.5% um points from last year. So again, significant amount improvements. We go to slide 18 talking about our preparing students for success. In 2324, students three through eight were field tested. So we have no comparative data
028for the 24-25 school year. However, if you go back two years ago, only 50.5% of our students were meets or exceeds in science. So we're happy with a 56.2% as it is an improvement, but we also realize this is a new baseline from which to improve. So we saw improvement there. from high school. Both biology and US history, the percentage of students earning a C or higher are also up. Biology is up 1.7%. US history is up five points from last year. And then when you go to slide 19 talking about our multilingual learners, um this indicator is always a tricky one uh with the population of students is very transient. Um, so they take the Wedias WEDA assessment and screeners have changed over the years, but the South Carolina Department of Education has changed
029the exit criteria from last year. That said, we did see a drop in percentage of students who met uh progress towards a proficiency um decrease of 6.7%. However, our 47.7% still ranked 13th in the state. And so we're very excited about that. So we saw an increase in the percent of students in ML subgroup who are considered to achieve English language proficiency. So from 25 23.5% 2425 20 to 28.5% 2425. So again another great highlight tonight. And then if we go to SI slide 20 are talking about our graduation rate and you can see how our DD2 graduation rate has uh from 23 to 24 we dipped down a little bit but then last year we went back up to 91.4% and as you know Fort Dorchester High School and Ashley Ridge have one of
030the top high school graduation rates in the state. So um and also we saw an improvement at Somerville High School. So all three of our high schools did a great job of getting students uh across the stage. So that's a great highlight as well. And again, well be uh above the state average. And then slide 21, when we go through this, just remember that 82.7% is for college or career ready. So you can see this slide. Um you can see where DD2 ranks uh we continue to show slight improvements and again we're above the state average. So we're at 82.7 where the state average is 75.1. And this is another new indicator for us when we go talk about the high school um success indicator. And that is a new um kind of an indicator
031they put in there for the 2425 school year. And it's a second year that indicator has existed. So last year it only measured the success rate of freshman, meaning it measured how many freshmen earned at least one language arts credit, one math credit, and six overall credits by the end of their first year in high school. Last year we had 86.5% of those students meet that that criteria. And if you look at that criteria, that criteria is a direct reflection of your graduation rate. So if you don't catch students at a freshman year early, then you're not going to catch them. And so our people are doing a really good job with prevention intervention at our high schools. Um the year both sophomore and freshman cohorts were included in this indicator. And the requirements for
032sophomore are two language arts credits, two math credits, 12 overall credits. And we're happy uh able to see the state, we saw a percentage of students demonstrating success in high school increase from 86 to 88%. So a great job for our high school administrators and teachers did a great job. And so next year for this year, we'll include our freshman, sophomore, and juniors will be included in this indicator. So congratulations to everybody involved there. And then talking about student progress, this is a little bit trickier. This is really about uh growth. And so when you talk about this, it's uh it's on the South Carolina Department of Education report card. And it's a bit of finagling with the indicators mathematical formula due to the fact that the ELA test was a field test. So, please
033keep in mind that the ELA portion of the points and the math portion of the points don't line up equally. So, this makes comparing this year to last year not as clean as we would like. Um, that said, the good news is that our overall growth performance did increase from 44.2% in 24 to 47.6% in 25. So, in case they ask the MAT, the MAT uh Mr. Schmink could not be here this evening, but MAT is a goal students need to make to make average or expected growth. The AVT is the stretch goal, both of which improved over last year. And Mr. Schmink, who's not here, give him a lot of credit. He has met with all of our building principles to understand this formula to understand what MAT and AVT is and they have
034done a great job of bringing in professional de uh professional uh PLC's and meeting with teachers and looking at individual students for their growth and so they have done a phenomenal job on that. So, we're very very excited about our our report card and the data that we've seen and I know our curriculum instruction team has worked really hard um to make sure we have everything aligned for student success. So, I would like to give them a lot of shoutouts because they've done a a phenomenal job and that then filters down to our administrators and our teachers who then have to execute the plan and they've done a phenomenal job. So, just a great job all around with all of our whole team. So, thank you >> [applause] >> Okay, the next on our agenda
035is this evening is our Rise Academy Austin Bailey Elementary Partnership Empowering Students through Reading. And I know our administrators are here this uh this evening that is Tuana Sanders, Mr. Lree, and uh if you could please come up and talk about the RISE readers that would be awesome. I know their staff is also here and they're going to be able to share uh exactly what they were able to do and their partnership with Austin Bailey. So, thank you for coming down, Mrs. Sanders. So, let's give them a round of applause. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, Madame Chair, board members, Superintendent Dhy. Thank you so much for inviting us today to speak about Rise Readers. I have a team of people behind me um because it takes a lot of there's a lot of moving
036pieces and it takes a village to get this program off of the ground. One of our students Kanea Gathers um who was at Ashley Rich student participated in the Rise program and she's going to share something briefly. Miss Bender birthed this baby and was the one that brought it to um me to discuss getting this program off the ground and we thank her so much for that as well as Miss Gregory who pours into this program a lot. When we called Miss Bodison to say we had this idea, she was she never hesitated. She was like, "Let's go." So, we thank our Austin family for allowing us to come into the school. So, just briefly, I'll share a couple of things about what Rise readers is. So, our goal is to build literacy, leadership, and
037community connection by having our Rise Academy students read to elementary students as well as senior citizens. And you'll see a few pictures in a little while. We also want to promote reading as a pathway to empowerment and strengthen literacy skills, empathy, and purpose while dismantling the school to prison pipeline. Um, Miss Bender does a lot of research and I do as well. Um, in reference to literacy levels being connected to prison rates. Um, it's very interesting data and we know that if we can get our students reading that we run the risk of we can lower that risk. Um, we want to foster early literacy and reading engagement through consistent role models, encourage positive relationships with older students who serve as mentors, and increase confidence and motivation um for students to read and reduce flu
038future literacy gaps. So, for Rise Readers, we do plan to expand um we would like to um partner with more schools in our district. I believe this is the first time we've had this happen. Um so we're excited to get into more elementary schools and we also want to add a writing buddy component where our students are pin pals with um other students and then we want to incorporate tracking. We know that you cannot say that it's all rise readers but it can have an impact on the data um with increase in reading. And then you'll see a couple of pictures of our um students and Miss Bodis if you would like to share anything. Good evening, chairperson, Dr. Wimberly, board members, and uh Mr. Dohy. We uh definitely appreciate the partnership with Principal Sanders
039and her amazing Rise Academy faculty and staff. The Rise readers have brought immense, and I do mean immense joy to our students while while also cultivating a love of literacy. Tonight, my Alustin Bailey family is back there in the back. And we want to honor Miss Sanders and her Rise faculty and staff with something that we do for as a Catherine Hearts Catherine Kids Heart School called Two Claps and a Rick Flare. We'd like for them to stand up in the back right now and let's give Miss Sanders and her amazing staff two claps and a Rick Flare. Let's go. [cheering] That's really how our students feel each and every day. They want to know when will the Rise readers be coming in. They absolutely love their RISE readers. And so, one of our teachers
040shared, "My students have shared that they are excited when it's Rise Readers Day. They like getting to read all kinds of books about trucks, animals, and places. They also like reading with a big kid and having fun. So we do appreciate the partnership with Mr. S Miss Sanders and her her staff amazing staff and my assistant principles Dr. Shamir Conurs and Mr. Charles Pico Sanders also just want to say a couple of words of gratitude at this time. Thank you. >> Good afternoon. you know, Miss Bodis going to make us speak. [laughter] But honestly and truthfully, every time they come, every two weeks and the rise reader comes, everybody in the class wants to go and we're constantly seeing it's only the rise breeders, it's on the ride readers. So, the fact that you want
041to expand this partnership, I think a lot of students will benefit from and we chose students um from different backgrounds, different demographics, our ML learners, our students who struggles and our students who do not. So, they all a will have this opportunity. And what we've learned is that the RISE students kind of get tearyeyed because now they're the mentor. They're the person that the kids are asking questions. Well, why did they do this and why did they do that? And so we love that you guys have that voice and you guys have brought it to Austin Bailey and I am proud to be a witness of it. >> And I just kind of want to second some of that. For me, you know, as an educator, one of the most important things is to promote
042a love of learning. And not only they promoted a love of learning, but a love of reading. And we know reading is the catalyst for everything else in the school. And to see the kids walk in the in the building and ask, "Are the RISE readers here yet?" I mean, it is something that they truly truly thrive and want to be a part of. But one thing I've noticed that's really stuck out to me is the joy in the Rise Readers. And what I love about that is they don't let their circumstances hold them down and they're able to see that they get to be a mentor. They get to be a leader. And so it's almost like a second chance in a way for them as well. So I think they're getting as much
043as our kids are getting. So, I am excited to see that this is going to be able to go into other schools as well. So, thank you for that. >> And last, we want to just again thank thank you. Thank you for choosing Austin Bailey to make this literacy journey possible. You have inspired our students and you have given them something to look forward to. Hope is actually the best gift that we can give each other and we do. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Up here like don't cry at the board meeting. [laughter] >> Um and Mr. Leree, I apologize. I I look back and I didn't see him, but Mr. Lere's over there taking pictures when I tell you he's getting buses together. He is >> emailing transportation. He's figuring it out.
044And we thank you for everything that you're doing to make this program possible. So, Kanea is going to come up and say a few things. This is one of our students who has actually already returned to Ashley Ridge, but you would not believe a lot of our kids want to stay because they want to stay in the program and they want to continue going to Rise Readers. >> Good afternoon. My name is Ka and I just wanted to let you know my experience about the Rise Readers. Um, the experience was great reading to the kids, you know, making a bond with them. every time they come, they're ready to, you know, see you then tell you how their weekend was or tell you what holiday they got going on and tell you what they do
045after school. They was telling me they wasn't doing their homework. Like, do your homework. But yeah, it was great. And also some of them remember you, some of them don't. But the ones that do, it's like great because when we were coming there and they remembered us, they would just come straight to our table. That's a good thing. Um, they would get off track with the book because they wanted to talk most of the time. But that's okay, too. Reading several books, helping them sound out words, and just letting them know if they don't want to read a book, I mean, we can just try. Some of them just be like, "No, I can't read. I'm just signed it out." But yeah, that's a good experience. And I would like everybody that, you know, participates
046after now to have a great experience and enjoy just reading with the kids and, you know, spending their time with the kids. Thank you. [applause] Y'all are gonna make me cry. Um, I think it just it just this pictures speak for themselves. You know, we just recognize that we are as a nation, we are in a crisis with literacy. And so, we have to play our part. And so, how can we break this thing up? We just get the kids who are maybe vulnerable in that pipeline and use them to actually be catalysts for change. So, they get to go to the third grade because if we're not reading by third grade, all of our elementary people know this that starting to funnel into that pipeline. So, let's use as our kids get out there
047and start breaking this thing up. And so, it's just been such a a blessing. I think it takes a life of its own. Um, so we're just kind of enjoying this ride and just allowing these kids to kind of navigate and be seen in a positive light. >> And so, we have to remember we are dealing with children if they're high school, middle school, we are dealing with children who have made some mistakes, right? But we get to reset and pivot. And that's what Rise Academy is. We are a rise above, rise together. And we are doing this with our kids. And we're not perfect, but we are in process. We are moving forward. And so we just want to get behind our kids who become our children, adopted children, and we just support this.
048And uh yeah, so thank you for your time to let us share this. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> And and I would just like to say, you know, Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Lree, and staff, thank you for working with Mrs. Bodison, Mr. Bedford, you know, Dr. Conurs and your staff. This is what a great partnership again to try to make sure all of our students are at grade level or above. And so, thank you for making a difference and uh making this partnership. What a great partnership. And this is just what a great story. So, thank you for sharing this evening. >> Thank you all. >> Hey, um excuse [cheering] hello. Um >> hello. We got one more comment. >> I just want to say you know how I feel about Riseze. I love all our
049schools, but I have a special heart for Rise. And the fact that these young people, like you say, made a mistake, but now they see themselves as leaders. And so, we've sewn seeds into them for them to go back to their school and continue to be leaders. And for the young people, you are basically helping them without them feeling embarrassed like they can't do it. They're great motivators to them. Yeah, you can make a mistake, but you too don't have to take the same path that we've taken. So I say to you all, all of you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And that's why our scores are so good. Great. >> Okay, going on to our next item. That's going to be hard to top there, but uh um we'll go into board goals.
050And this is something that uh the board and the superintendent worked on uh in the summer and uh right before the school year. And so you can see here uh going to our board goals uh the next item is there's six areas that we identified. Growth and achievement. We heard a lot about that this evening. Recruitment and retention engagement, comprehensive financial planning, we heard a lot about that this evening at a lot of our uh at our committee meetings. Future planning, we heard a lot about that uh and our facilities. And then safety and security. So those were the six items that we identified. And this is just for uh for information only. And then when you go on to the board goals, you can see those six areas. And there are several categories in
051there. Again, this is just for information only. But again, you can see those areas that um that we'll be monitoring under each one of those six areas. Um and there are certain things kind of those smart goals that are kind of they're vague, but a lot of those things all fall into those areas. since you can see some of those items that we'll be working on uh to fulfill um again throughout the 25 through the 28 school year. So um these are just for information only and we'll bring this back to the board in uh the meeting in December. So just want to give this information to the board this evening. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Dhy. So board members, um we also received these in our packets, but um we wanted to present
052them tonight and give everyone an opportunity to read through them um and just look them over and then we will bring it back as Mr. Dohy said to our December meeting for a vote to approve. So thank you very much. >> You're very welcome. We'll move on to the next item. We have uh Mr. Jay Lombardo here this evening and he is the chairman of our CART committee, our citizens advisory review team that looks over the $200 million referendum and uh he's here this evening to give a report after our last meeting. Thank you Mr. Lombardo, Dr. We board members, uh, Superintendent Dohy, and, um, for those that are still here, [laughter] um, we had our CART meeting on the, um, um, 5th of, uh, November. Um, and, uh, we went over some items of
053our major projects. Uh right now um under safety and security which obviously is part of one of your goals also uh we're happy to say that all schools are about 85% complete on their safety and security needs. The remaining projects are the installation of door alarms. Um and that is projected to be completed by the end of the school year. For updates um we have a couple of them. uh Ashley Ridge School. Uh the progress on the 10 new um uh classrooms uh phase one is complete. Phase two and four are expected to be completed sometime in August 26 and ready for the 2627 school year. Additionally, they uh had some uh expansion of the Wi-Fi system and is now 100% complete. at uh San Hill. Uh we have determined that the uh status was
054red on our stoplight charge. Uh there was some deficiencies found in the preliminary inspection of the overhead wiring and that repair was to be completed and awaiting final inspection. That should be done by the end of this week. My understanding uh right now there are 77 projects that have been planned. Eight are complete. 57 are in work and we have uh either spent or have encumbered 47,840,000 or 24% of the referendum monies uh this year. Um we have some issues. We all know that ponds uh elementary we're still awaiting the land conveyance um and we're hoping to get some information on that soon. The other one is the RB track. And at the current meeting on the 17th of September, um the RV track uh uh information was given to us that there was some
055potential wetland areas that could uh cause some issues. The cart requested at the meeting for Superintendent Dhy to look at the impact of the RBY Elementary delay on the expected student population growth. The card asked if there was alternate plan on this issue. At the five November CART meeting, Superintendent Dudy presented his plan B as it was called and uh it it's there to redirect some of the referendum funds uh from construction of the new elementary school to add classrooms at Nightsville Elementary and Reeves elementary schools. The cart backs this plan and awaits the presentation of the plan B tonight to the board members. Do you have any questions for us? >> Hey, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lardo. And uh that kind of goes into our plan B. And so uh we presented this
056at our last board meeting for information. And this evening, we'll continue to go over this one more time just to make sure everybody's well aware of what plan B is. And that's one thing that the cart uh challenged us to do is come up with a plan B. Um because knowing what this Yerby site development timeline became uh was not going to meet the timeline with the referendum dollars. And so when you look here at the first slide, you can see the Yerby site development timeline. Um those are pictures that were taken here in the fall. And you can kind of see on the right hand side um that star is where Yerby Road ends and goes into development. And you can see the area that is outlined in blue. That is where the school
057is supposed to be. So when you look at that timeline, February of 28, they start home building and the goal is 100 or excuse me, 250 houses per year. And from that site, that would take us about three years to build a school. That's when they would actually clear the land. Um and that way we would have to do our due diligence. And so approximately a school will be completed in 2031. Um that does not meet the kind of the requirements and the timeline that the referendum those dollars to be expended. And so we came up with a plan. So an elementary in the area of the Yerby would be around 750 students. This will be equivalent to 30 to 35 brand new classrooms. Okay. Thank you. And you can see this this was the
058original timeline and buildout. Um that is not even close. And so we have on there that 2028 is when they're going to start building. Okay. Go ahead, Wanda. Thank you. And this is the referendum question. And we kind of have it highlighted there. Uh DD2 is expected to have 15,000 homes built in the district the next 5 to 10 years, planning for growth as a priority for the district. And so that $200 million referendum um was voted on by our taxpayers to come up with two elementary schools included in this referendum. So you can see here on the map uh above you can see the star that's in red. That is the Yerby track development which has not started and will not start until 2028. And so in the area of the Yerby you will
059see that there is a star with a blue around it. That is William Reeves Elementary. And with William Reeves Elementary, the distance is 1.9 miles. And then the school site is five miles. And then from Knightsville, you'll see a star surrounded by yellow and that's where Knightsville is. Uh you can see the distance from the Yerby and that is in the area of the Yerby tract and again 3.2 miles from Yerby Road and then six miles from the school site. So what we have here is another kind of curveball that was thrown at the district. Um the Orangeborg Road project at Knightsville Elementary. So, this project is going to start in 2029. And you can see by the picture there in the diagram that is off the county website, you can see the red there.
060And actually, the road that goes in front of Knightsville is actually a county road. And you can see the issue it's going to create um coming right up to the building, which will cause uh some safety issues for us uh with the creation of that new road. So what happens in the elementary school in the area of the Yerby um Knightsville so again the distance um you can see that and the currently we have 47 classrooms brick and mortar can house approximately about 1,200 students and with the trailers um those are 30 additional classrooms for a capacity around 1,500 and the current uh cafeteria right now can only really feed 800 students and that's 80 to 100 students can eat at one time. So when we're looking is those campus upgrades would include the following.
061We construct 40 classrooms, new addition. Uh we would have to demo approximately 18 classrooms due to the Orangeburg Road project for safety concerns. Um the net would be approximately 20 brand new elementary classrooms at u Knightsville Elementary. We'd al actually have a new larger cafeteria and kitchen would be um built there and also expanding the multi-purpose rooms. So you can see what we would do there. So brand an additional 20 additional classrooms. And then when you look at the possible reconfiguration design of Knightsville, you can see this um the yellow would be the new addition. Um that addresses the bus loop. The safety concern address with the location of the road and the building is a new area is the yellow. Um the white below the yellow that is actually the historic side of Knightsville
062Elementary which we would not touch which is the auditorium. So that would be continue to be part of uh the building and the building scope. And then you can look on the very uh top you can see another small little square. That's where we'd move actually the kitchen and cafeteria area and the multi-purpose room. If you don't go down below, you can see a little bit of a building that has kind of some it's shaded in. That's actually the current cafeteria and multi-purpose room and some additional classrooms. Yes, there's a mouse on that and you can see that those will be some possibility. We'll keep those classrooms. We may have to take those classrooms off because there may have to be an emergency road that'll have to go around the building. So again, these are
063uh in the preliminary stages again, but we're adding 20 additional, but you'll see that little um yellow area, that is 40 additional classrooms, but only it'll be a net of 20 because we're going to have to tear down some due to the um the safety of the building being close to the road. So, a net of 20 elementary classes, brand new. So, now you're talking about we talked about Knightsville. So, again, um you can see that's an opportunity to modernize our oldest school in the district in 1932. Um Knightsville can address multiple elementary attendance zones to help with growth. And again, the area of the Yerby to help with growth in this area. And also, as we talked about, just kind of that curveball was thrown at us is that Orangeberg road expansion projects going
064to five lanes. And so that will come up and make a safety issue at Niceville. So again, why is this kind of a uh something we need to do? Now, you can see when they're going to start the project is 2029 for that Orangeburg Road project. So kind of going back what uh Mr. Lombardo said is kind of challenged with that plan B. This is our plan B. And then moving on to the William Reeves Elementary School. Again, the distances we went over that currently there's 41 classrooms brick and mortar um that can house 805 students and with the trailers 16 additional classrooms for a capacity of 1125. And so the current cafeteria can feed 1,200 students, but we're going to add 12 to 15 brand new brick and mortar classrooms there. And so that'll
065expand the current cafeteria and the kitchen. And then the total capacity up would be 1,200 in brick and mortar classrooms um for that campus. And so we're going to be adding 32 to 35 brand new classrooms there in the area of the Yerby um as which we talked about. So that's equivalent to a small elementary school. And so this is an area that uh you know we put on there that addition could possibly be there. We would still need to go out and do a feasibility study at William Reeves Elementary School on that campus um to make sure that's where that addition can go. But when talking with our people, that would be a prime opportunity to put an addition there and that would be connected to both those buildings. And so again, adding 20
066additional classrooms at Knightsville Elementary School. We're adding approximately 10 to 15 at William Reeves Elementary School. and then 30 to 35 additional qu classrooms equivalent to an elementary school of 750 students. And so funding of those those two projects would come from the dollars allocated for the Yerby school in the area of the Yerby. And so um what we're asking tonight um for the board is to vote on a resolution um to reallocate um the expenditure of the referendum funding for the improvements at Knitzville Elementary and William Reeves elementary schools. And so approving a revised plan for a portion of revenue from general obligation bonds issued pursuant to a successful referendum held in in school district number two of Dorchester County, South Carolina on May 14th, 2024. And so you have in your packet the
067resolution and asking for um board action on that resolution to reallocate those Yerby funds for the addition of classrooms for 20 at Knightsville and 10 to 15 at William Reeves for equivalent to be 30 to 35 classroom brand new classrooms equivalent to an elementary school. Any questions? >> Uh no questions. Madam Chair, I make a motion to accept the resolution as presented uh regarding the referendum reappropriation of funds. >> Motion made by Mr. Farnsworth. Do I have a second? >> Second. All >> right. Seconded by Mr. Lee. At this time, is there any questions or discussion? >> So, and and very quickly, um I do want to point out and and Mr. majority and and um when it when this comes to us it looks like oh it's a fairly easy res resolution. Um but
068but behind the scenes I think back to really when Mr. Lee got on the board and and started asking some questions about what's our backup plan, what's our plan B and and so that investigation fast forward um through a lot of different um district stuff. Uh there there's logistics behind it. we we have to get our legal team behind it. We have to um get all the operations um to to do that. Um and so I'm just again I I think I want to say I'm very thankful for the district uh for for providing this. Uh when you look at what we do, what we are vested to do as a school district, right? We we are vested to educate our children. Um my viewpoint is we should be creating lifelong learners to to be
069productive citizens in society. um we need to provide for their safety and security while they're in our walls. And then um you know, a little bit down on the list, but but very very important is being good stewards of taxpayer money. And and so in this situation, we are able to um really allocate funds, I think, in a way that provides um very very solid and and foundational facilities updates um that that we need in a way that that is a very very good stewardship of taxpayer money. So again, so just want to say thank you and look forward to to moving forward with plan B. >> I agree. I believe this plan um addresses things that are outside of our control and also is going to best serve our students and our families and
070community. So, thank you for your thorough work on this plan B. All right, any other questions or discussion? Okay, then at this time we will call for the vote. All right. And the motion carries. Seven in favor. >> And one last thing I would like to say is I want to thank uh you know, Mr. Lombardo and the cart, also um our facilities team, Mr. Smith, uh Mr. Souls, also Mr. Frell, also our academic team that help with uh making sure we have the appropriate classrooms available when we're doing these things. So, and also Miss Manet and her finance team. Um and u so it was a team effort to come up with this and so so thank you. >> If I may as a member of the cart I think it's now time for
071us to come up with a new name other than plan B. Yes. Yes. Mr. Lombardo. >> Good night. Thank you. >> Uh one one other uh item for action for the board is this evening. Um, you've heard this several times at a facilities meeting and also you've heard at a board meeting um for information, but uh this is to donate 1.55 acres to the town of Somerville to make improvements to the uh current skate park and uh we are in favor of that. So, just seeking board approval on this this evening. >> All right, board members. At this time, I'd ask for a motion to delegate authority to the superintendent, Mr. DHY to negotiate a contract to donate a portion of the land at 9001 McKisik Way to the town of Somerville. >> Motion made
072by Miss Bates, seconded by Miss Powell. At this time, are there any questions or discussion? >> Okay. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Seven in favor. >> Okay. Our next our last item on our agenda this evening uh for the superintendent's report uh would be Mr. Giant is going to talk a little bit about safety and security update um and kind of give us what things are going on in his area. So Mr. Giant, >> good evening Dr. Wimberly and members of the board. Mr. Dhy, um just a couple of updates from safety and security. Um we have completed all of the safety audits for all of our schools. Um it's a pretty intensive process that Mr. Williams, myself, and Mr. feral um go around to each school and and really
073check out the facilities, the procedures um and everything that's going on in the schools. Very very happy with where we are in terms of the upgrades that we've made. Um as Mr. Lombardo said that uh the the safety upgrades from the referendum have all been completed except for one little outstanding project. Um some door prop alarms to make sure that uh we're only using the doors that are approved to be used. um if somebody tries to prop a door open, uh it'll alert us so that that we know that they're closed. So, that's the only thing that's outstanding. Um all of the other upgrades have been completed. Our communication system with our radios has been completed. Our door access controls have been completed. Uh so, very, very happy with where we are um as a
074district with safety and security. That being said, we can't get complacent. Uh there's always places to go. Uh, I was speaking with my counterpart over in Charleston County about, you know, the advancements they've made with the Raptor system and they've gone to the wearable um, alerts, ID badges that teachers can use. They're working through some issues over there. So, I say we let them work through those issues uh, before we take on that project and then maybe once they work out the kinks, we can learn from from their hiccups and maybe that's something we can look at moving down the road. But, um, that's that's down the road, I think, just a little bit for us. Uh but but looking forward to exploring that. Um the second thing is uh open gate screenings at our
075middle and high schools. We've been doing it now for a couple years at our high schools. Our middle schools have taken that on this year. They're doing a great job uh getting kids through there. They're doing the random screening just like we do at the schools. You never know where they're going to be, where they might pop up. The biggest thing that we're finding is vapes. Uh that's both a good thing and a bad thing. It's good that, you know, we're not getting a whole lot of weapons and those types of things. I think we're doing a pretty good job of keeping those things out of our schools as far as we know. Uh but it's bad that you know vaping it just continues to be a societal issue. Uh it's not something that's unique
076to our schools, but it's something that is definitely going on with with the kids in our community. So, we're finding them. We're getting them out of their hands as quickly as possible. Uh but that is something that we might look at um getting with guidance or the middle and high school administration team to see what else we can do to attack that problem rather than just finding them and and disciplining them. Let's see if we can prevent some of that. So I think that's the the next step in the evolution um that that I've kind of come up with from the open gate screenings. Um the stop it app is uh becoming more and more active u especially in our elementary schools. Our elementary schools have really started to educate their kids about that. So,
077we're getting a lot of reports from our our students. Some of them are they didn't like the cartoons that were on on Saturday mornings or I think someone who's upset about the the YouTube TV not having some of the football games they wanted this past weekend. Uh I get you kid. I'm with you. Not necessarily for Stop it, though. Uh but on a on a more positive note or more productive note, we have had several incidents stopped. I shared with our uh administrators, our principles in the last principal meeting, we actually stopped a suicide in progress uh last month in early October and we stopped a situation of uh abuse within the home. So, it's good that our kids have an outlet to report those types of things even when they're at home and not
078within the school building. They can report those things and uh those things are monitored 247 by stop it. So when something comes across that is a high priority like that, I get a phone call immediately and it allows me to to work through that. So um both of those were late at night, one or two o'clock in the morning. So it's good that our kids do have a way to to report those things to us. Um and then finally uh the state um instituted a mapping project in which all schools are going to be mapped and put into a datab bank uh for our our law enforcement and first responders. Every school has maps and we provide those maps to our first responders, but they're all different. So if you go from one district to
079the next, so even DD2 to DD4, uh you're going to get very different formats of the maps. So this mapping project that the state has taken on will put them all in one format, put them all in one place so that any first responder if there's an emergency, they can pull that file up and it it's going to look the same. It's going to read the same to them so that they're not getting something different. So I think that in the event that we have a fire, earthquake, tornado, you know, something else crazy going on, it's going to be extremely helpful for our first responders and our 911 center to be able to pull those maps up, look at it, and say, "Yep, go here. Go here. go here and direct our our folks to
080the proper place to respond. So, that's really all I have for you, unless you have any questions for me. >> I do have a question with the vaping, especially anything else that shouldn't be on campus. Do y'all keep a record of the repeat offenders? >> Yes, ma'am. So okay each each thing that's found the the administrators record that they handle discipline so it really kind of gets handled through our discipline any type of contraband that's found and they are keeping a record of our repeat offenders. >> Okay. Um, so you would let the board know if the number increases continuously because I I guess I have a problem with, you know, okay, we took this from you, two weeks later you're back with it and now you've had like maybe 10 or 20 occurrences. So
081we aren't doing what we need to do apparently. >> Yeah, I think the discipline matrix is a big help with that that it escalates. So, the first time they have a consequence, the second time they have a consequence, you know, the third, fourth, or how many other times, um, you know, there are going to be escalating consequences that would, uh, you know, the first the first offense probably isn't going to be, uh, a board issue. >> Second offense, maybe not, by the time they're getting to the third or fourth and they're a repeat offender and you start to see those recommend uh, recommendations for expulsion um, or long suspensions, then that's going to be something that the board would definitely start to learn about a little bit. And the other thing to differentiate from vapes,
082we have THC vapes and and that goes to the next level. So, uh I just want to clarify that one. So, >> and we do have the skip, you know, we are working with them and they do a very good job of reporting with to us the representatives that go to the skip meetings. So, just want to make sure the parents know that's available. >> Are we um able to test those then for the difference between THC vapes versus >> we can't test them. Um, fortunately, most of them are labeled. >> Oh, okay. I was going to say like how are you just >> So, a lot of times, you know, a regular nicotine vape um versus a and it's not necessarily the vape itself. It's sometimes it's the cartridges put in there. So, when
083they pull those cartridges out, they can do a little bit of research, a quick Google search to find out, you know, is this a THC vape or is this a nicotine vape. There are some circumstances where um some of those cartridges can be reloaded by the by the consumer. They can buy the product and reload those cartridges. In those particular cases, we may suspect that it's a THC vape. May not necessarily have a way to prove it. The the testing has to go through sled and sled is just so overwhelmed with um drug testing that THC vapes aren't always their highest priority. I just I guess that's my ignorance speaks to my ignorance about them because I didn't know they were labeled. That's funny. Um I did have a couple questions. So do any of
084our update security protocols like with the cameras I mean um do they allow remote access to law enforcement at all? >> Yep. So we have given 911 access to our cameras. We recently did an update. Um I think there was some type of network update. So it is already on top of that working back through that process uh within >> Is that districtwide or is that just district. Yeah, it was a district. Um I'm not great with it. It was some type of update or something we did with our network to made it more secure or something they did with it. Stop giving 911 access to it. Um but they're already in the process of working. >> Okay. So that they'll be able in the event of an emergency. >> Yeah. So as a matter
085of fact, I saw a meeting invite come through this morning from um MCA with it and with 911 dispatch that came through as a followup to several other meetings that we've had about it already. I don't remember. It's I don't remember if it was this week or if it's early next week, but we are in the process of getting that access back up and running. >> Okay. Could you give a like with your next security update when you come to the board? Just let us know if that's been done. >> Sure. Okay. Um and then for the Stop it app, is that pre-loaded on all the students devices still? >> Yes, this year. >> Yes, it is. It's still on. It should still be an icon at the bottom of their um screen. >> Perfect.
086And then the last question request I had is for us to continue to get the logs with Chester and the weapons detection. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Thank you. >> We'll make sure that happens. >> All right. >> Thanks. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> And our last item on the agenda is we have I believe a few student enrollment recommendations for the board. Um yes. >> So for student for board approval. >> All right, board members. We did receive those in our packet. Is everyone okay with proceeding in open session? >> Yes. Okay. Then at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the student enrollment recommendations as presented. >> So moved. >> Made by Mr. Guthrie, >> seconded by Miss King. Any questions or discussion? Okay. Hearing now we will call for
087the vote. All right. Motion carries. Seven in favor. All right. Thank you, Mr. Dhy and team. All right. The next item on our agenda this evening is um public comments and we have one Mr. Jason Brockert. Send away for a priceless gift. One not subtle, one not on the list. Send away for a perfect world. Not one simply so absurd. In these times of doing what we're told, hide these feelings. No one knows. Whatever happened to the young man's heart, swallowed by pain as he slowly fell apart. I'm not a professional singer, but I'm staring in these empty, cold, and soulless eyes. Swimming through the ashes of this other life. There's no real reason to accept the way things have changed. Staring in these empty, cold, and soulless eyes. Send a message to the unborn
088child. Keep your eyes open for a while in a bottle high up on a shelf. Called to you, no one else. It was a piece of a puzzle known as life, wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight. Whatever happened to my own son's heart, swallowed by pain as he slowly fell apart. And I'm staring in these cold and soulless eyes, sifting through the ashes of my own son's life. Is he not a reason to accept the ways that you must change so I don't have to stare IN YOUR SOULLESS EYES? [screaming] NO, I CAN'T HOLD A tune right now because I can't control my anger. Because 364 days ago, I asked if you would just remove that timer so I could talk. So I could talk. I've been at this podium for years now. I'm talking
089about the youth suicide epidemic which has claimed my son and many other children. It is alive and well in DD2 and you won't let me talk about it. 364 days ago, I asked if you would remove my time limit. Are you asking me to stop talking about the sooth suicide epidemic and yield the podium so that you can get back to business as usual? >> Your time is up. Thank you for your comment. >> Thank you for answering my question. You would like to get back to business as usual instead of work on the youth suicide epidemic. Thank you for answering my question. >> Time is up, Mr. >> Because you don't respond to my emails >> or texts or All right, board members, at at this time, we do not have um an executive
090session this evening. So, I would ask for a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion made by Miss Bates, >> seconded by Miss King. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, we will call for the vote. I can't even see it. Okay, let's The motion carries. Is everyone in favor of adjourning? >> Yeah, that's okay. Let's just we'll call for a vote. Is everyone um in favor of adjourning? Yes. All right. Motion carries. We are journed. Thank you.