001Unice good evening everybody I would like to welcome you to the July 22nd Schoolboard trustee meeting at this time I'll call this meeting to order and I need a motion to approve the consent agenda to start the meeting I have Miss pal and seconded by Miss Crosby um any discussion hearing none I'll call for the vote motion carries five in favor and two absent and then at this time we are going to move over to our district highlights and I will turn it over to Miss K and Troy thank you good evening board members superintendent Dr Robins at this time I'll turn the podium over to Jason Jason Walsh to do the board highlights good evening uh School Board Dr Robbins everyone my name is Jason M the director of f Arts sh dd2 we've
002talked many times um one of the things we have been working on with the Strategic plan that you guys approved in the spring is nationally there is a blind spot in Fine Arts instruction with our special needs students special services students and that is something just it's just a hard a hard thing to do and and we are fortunate this year we are working on two new programs we would be the only the only School District in the state of South Carolina to offer these programs with a group called United sound United sound is based in Arizona they are a national program who sole purpose is to provide uh music instruction to special needs students and we are operating in two separate programs with them one of the programs works with high school students and
003uh one works with middle school students and briefly just to explain how that works at the high school level um students become sponsors for a a a student with special services so for example if Dr Robins is plays the saxophone in the Ashley Ridge High School band and I'm the special services student he would sponsor me and he would teach me to play the saxophone so what would happen is there's groups of three students um and this will be happening at Fort Dorchester High School this year in the Band program so they'll have three students who and the the band director and the special needs teacher will partner together and then the students will teach this uh student and they'll rewrite the part for whatever they do so Dr Robbins plays saxophones I can only
004play two notes they've managed to get me to play two notes so that's what I can do and they rewrite their part so that during the concert I sit next to them and I play my two notes when they come up into music so I get to do what I can do at my ability level and I get to be a part of the Fort Dorchester High School band and so we're very excited to do that it's a a national program um and we we're we've been trying for a couple years to get this happen we're super excited about that uh the second uh program is called play with us but us stands for United sound and that is specifically for middle school students and so they have um we will be purchasing instrument packs
005for all the students um who are in our self-contained classes because right now we're working very hard to get those students to push into classes and to participate in Fine Arts as best they're able however those students who are self-contained uh lots of times don't have that opportunity so this is a program that they created uh where we buy instrument packs and they have these unicorn teachers who are certified in both special uh special needs and music and so we buy instrument packs and once a week um they will zoom into the class and those kids will now get a music class once a week inside their class and so we're so excited again we'll be the first school to try this in South Carolina and School District rather and I am super hopeful that
006this will spread all across the district all all across the state so that is uh United sound and what we're planning to do to serve our students this year thank you yes Jason thank you so much that is so exciting I can't wait to hear more from y'all about that so awesome um next on our agenda we have public comments on agenda items and we do not have any public comment on agenda items so I'm going to move to the board chairs report and I don't have a whole lot for you other than on Monday August 12th at 12: PM we'll be meeting at mckisic Stadium or mckisic Museum I'm sorry for our um what is it the summer board advance and then later we'll have that regular board meeting and our superintendent evaluation that
007same evening uh so if you have any questions you've not talked to Ashley about uh make sure you get things that you want on the agenda sent to her so that she can get with Dr Robbins and add those to our um Advance Workshop all right and anybody have any questions about that good all right so then I'm G to turn it over to miss pal for policy committee because we have our board committee reports okay um at this time please take note of the fact that we'll have two policy meetings before election and that will be on August the 26th and September the 23rd at 5:00 p.m. there will be no other meetings regarding policy until after the election so those dates again August 26 September 23rd and they're both at 5:00 pm this
008evening we have several of our policies up for a second reading and um let me just go ahead and let you know um we do have our phone policy in place for the upcoming 2425 school year however the state has not yet sent us what their expectations are but when they do we will make the adjustment as needed so that we fall in line with whatever their policies are okay so Miss B can I interject yes just real quick oh I forgot um yeah so I most of you know I'm on the um State Department um committee to develop the model policy we had our first meeting last week I shared with our team our District's policy the work we've done and the suggestion was when you all pass the policy is to do it
009such that allows for any modifications once the State Board uh approves their policy and so we're really close um there were a couple things that uh were question marks that we didn't have answers to that the state board's going to try to get clarification one is what is meant by access you know and the second thing is what is meant by so the house version Senate version I get them backwards one said the instructional day one said the school day there is a difference the instructional day is Bell to Bell the school day is when a student um establishes that they are they're a student whether they're at the bus stop on a school bus until they get that bus or until they leave that bus stop SO waiting on clarification on access and school
010day versus instructional day and then I do think that the one thing that we put out in our committee meeting was that we asked for the ability to make uh a little gray areas for local decisions you know in terms of what access meant so you know again when you po pass the policy just know that based on state board guidance you can amend it without going through your whole first and second reading again okay thank you Dr Robbins okay our second uper second reading our policies are BCB board member conflict of interest policy EB CB safety drills policy e CAC vandalism policy EF competitive food sales vending machines policy G gbh staff participation in the community previously staff participation in community activities that's just a change of wording policy GCI professional staff development policy
011GC QC slgc QD resignation of instructional staff administrative staff polic I AA comprehensive literacy education prev previously known as englishreading language arts education policy ik R grading assessment systems policy i k e promotion retention and acceleration of students policy J policy ik ke okay that's my glasses policy J IA R student dress policy jic CJ possession sluse of personal electronic devices a district owned devices previously use of paging devices cell phones in school policy jic CJ r - R possession use of personal electronic devices or District own devices previously use of paging devices cell phon in school policy Ka School parent community relations previously known as School parent community relations goals priority objectives policy khc this distribution SL promoting uh posting of promotional materials and then our new policy would be the sick Le Bank
012those are what we have for second reading thank you Miss pal coming from committee I don't need a second do we have any discussion um yep thank you I did have just a couple points and and I'm sure we've got thousands of viewers watching on this summer evening uh but but there are a couple policies I I did want to highlight for folks um that that are paying attention to this stuff um really good stuff and and so miss pal alluded to earlier and and last board meeting we should have a long time to really talk about the policies um but taking part in the policy committee discussion that that phone policy for our school district um that's that's something our Educators have been screaming for um for for a while now and and really
013the intent you know folks and and we're hearing it already we're hearing from parents oh your tangway cell phones oh my God what are we going to do um that's that's not the intent the intent is to it's twofold um to protect instructional time for our teachers um and then B unfortunately we see it a little bit at the middle school level but at the high school level um we're seeing some safety concerns um with the cell phones and so we're really trying to um kind of hone that in and bring that back so that's the cell phone policy that's that's the first one um the the other one for our Educators if you haven't taken a look uh the sick Bank the sick leave Bank um that that is a huge win that's something
014dd2 had years ago uh it kind of went by the wayside we had some issues with it uh but we've been able to now bring it back so I want to make sure folks uh know understand and and um are are all in on that policy and then one that that is near and dear to my heart of course uh ihaa worked a number of months on it um that's our new litter policy um we talked about first in the district U Mr Walsh talked about you know first um for our fine arts program um this is another first of its kind policy in the state of South Carolina um that it really goes into comprehensive literacy instruction talking about reading science um throughout Dorchester District too and and what it's really doing is reiterating
015from the board level from a leadership level um that Dorchester District 2 is all about literacy we we believe in it um it is heartfelt and we mean it so much that we're putting it into policy so again so it's really important and I just want to do a really quick shout out because there was a team of Educators a team of um professionals within our school district that really helped put that together um that specific policy over a number of months and so I just want to make sure to uh to applaud their efforts and and say thank you so that's what I got thank you anybody else i' just like to say um I try to stay alert as to what's happening Nationwide and the phone policy is something that is of concern
016Nationwide and a lot of people are implementing means by which they can protect the academic day as well as the students themselves thank you both excellent points and I appreciate you highlighting all that hard work coming out of policy committee um I think there's a lot of wonderful things coming out so at this this time I'm going to call for the vote and we have five in favor two absent and then next on our committee reports we have the finance committee uh Miss Crosby I know Evan's not here do you guys have anything under the finance committee okay then next we have facilities committee Justin um nothing major a lot of work going on at the schools obviously a shortened summer for the facilities committee I know um I think Mr frell has got a
017report a little bit later but as far as the committee um nothing that I've got is used all good thank you thank you both and then next on our agenda that brings us to the superintendent's report so I'll turn it over to Dr Robbins and I did this purposely the first um item is our facilities report so U Mr frell um is going to cover some of the things that is going on um at some of our buildings but before um he gets to that point you can come on up um is this is separate from what was in our um cpf plan but we have a construction bid for the um scoreboard at Fort Dorchester High School it's just it's beyond repair the parks are so old and um so we went out and
018we went through the RFP process and did the competitive bid uh we had committee that evaluated those bids we have um money um in um emergency procurement to pay for this uh for the video board and so we looked at the bids we took the low bid uh the most responsive bid and making the recommendation um for the video board so I have that for the board um we really need your approval before we can move forward with awarding the document um to start the process as it stands um the winning bidder is not you know we we've kept it somewhat um the the cost factor is not in there because it's still not been awarded yet uh we think that the construction timeline or the project timeline will get us close to the first
019football game but it may be where we have to use the other um scoreboard um at least in part until we can get the the new one completely done but the nice thing about this one versus the one we did at Ashley Ridge is the structural steel um we will be able to use the same we don't have to replace the structural steel gerss in in the Ford doorchester so happy to answer questions um I know Kenny's here as well um Tina no we can't tell you the amount I just wanted to make a um a clarification on the who so um we have three vendors listed there and those were because we did procurement to go out for a five-year term contract so this is an award for the three vendors that were selected
020under this type of procurement for us to be able to do any future projects for any video boards um external indoors or outd doors so that's the who for um this five-year term contract since as Dr Robin said we haven't issued the award for the um for doorchester high school scoreboard we have not listed their name because um that hasn't been out to the to the bidder yet and we haven't gone through the protest period so I just want to clarify that thank you thank you good evening well hold on hold on before you I need got a recommendation all right at this time do I have a motion to approve the recommendation made by DR Robins okay motion by Miss pal second in by Miss Hughes any discussion yes I have a question um
021upon evaluating the the companies or the selections did we look into the future like the upkeep like if we have we're going to put sponsors on there what is it going to cost to put a sponsor on there that kind of thing are we allowed to get other people to put the sponsors or does it have to come through them that kind of thing part part of the nice thing about this board what we tried to do that's different from the board you see behind us at mckisic Stadium it's a video board and so it's it's all electronic so the sponsors will all be on the board much like Ashley ridge's board okay so nothing graphic wise around the board or any we don't have soul spots or no whatever that are there that we
022have to upkeep and that kind of thing okay okay excellent question Miss Hughes does anybody else have any questions comments all right at this time I'll call for the vote then yes no problem it will be a manual vote so all in favor could you signify by raising your hand right five in favor two absent and I'll turn it back to you Dr Robin all right Mr frell all right um summer has been good evening summer has been uh short and Furious and uh we are still working around the clock but uh our abatements four campuses Austin Four campuses yeah four Austin span Somerville and Knightsville um are wrapping up um Somerville high school is getting the second floor um tiles going down the Texas granite which we put last year on the first floor
023which is a huge huge piece um and we moved to Knightsville Knightsville we've got the trailers ready um for the uh the new students and then we have the um renovation in the inside of the upper ceiling and lighting that we should be w up quickly um and then we moved to see Austin and then we move to Fort Dorchester High School um the New Media Center is ready um about halfway with the old Media Center conversion front office they say will be ready in two weeks so uh a lot of this is a a game time uh plan and we've repainted span we repainted oook we repainted Austin Middle those are wrapping up and touching up span has got new air conditioning units going in we're wrapping up that project the next couple of
024days so we have been Fast and Furious and had a a busy summer and we continue to do that so those are the big projects I think I don't think I missed any big projects so any questions yes I got a question um I gotta get my mic over here so I don't have to you don't have to squit to see me um correct me if I'm wrong but did nightville uh also not have an issue with air conditions they they are in the process that as well okay so the air conditions are are being taken care of at nightville as well because I thought there was a major issue going on with the we had air conditions we have the roof we had the um floor there's quite a few things going on over
025there but I just not as quite as much as we talked about but that's in the process over the next okay okay I was just concerned about the air conditions I just didn't want to have because I know they were having some real issues with the units a lot of the units being out or not operational correctly anyway crossing our fingers because you know we were hitting that time where you know we had Marshall O'Brien go out today so you know it's that's that time where they're they're being tested day in and day out and and so we're we're hitting those as fast and okay thank you and I did have a another quick question apologies and and apologies if I missed it um learning cottages at Sand Hill where do those stand okay we
026they they got here early well early than expected me rephrase that they got here earlier than they told us they were going to get here after they moved them back um so they did get here the Fourth of July week um so right now we are U Fast and Furious we have water we have electricity we have security going in we're waiting for the ramping system to come in and that'll come in the 29th uh take three days to put that down concrete three more days and then OSF then we have to wait for OSF to give us to clear it so it is going to be a game time few days after we've talked to Mr Joy from day one about having Plan B and plan B is the trailers will be ready on
027the first day of school plan a is they probably it's going to be close you know how osf's going to be be but right now everything in the perfect world stars line up the eth we could have them in there but it could be the next week before we get them in got it thank you yeah I'm Mr Joyce tracking for a plan B force of action um for that situation also I wanted to add while Mr frell's up here so those are all the projects that are going on that are part of our Tiff money and our 8% money um what I want to be clear about uh and just talk real briefly with you is we have not made that next real step into our referendum mdy I know everybody is really excited
028when we passed the referendum in May but there's a lot of things that had to take place before we could actually start to move forward now the one nice thing that I've shared publicly is this board several years ago bought the blueprints um to a building so we have been able to work with the architect for the design and development before we went out to RFP services so the RFP for the ponds project will be for the construction services we also have an RFP out for construction Management Services because we have so many projects going on there is no way that we can do this internally and so those rfps are out right now and then thirdly uh we'll have an RFP out that's a multi-award RFP for the wing editions at the high schools
029at the at the uh middle schools and some of these other locations the gym Edition at Somerville High School those will be multi-award rfps so you'll start to see things ramp up but we haven't awarded the first project yet and once that happens our cart will start meeting and then you'll start to receive updates and briefs from the construction manager once we procure those Services we just haven't done that yet because the shovel and ground stuff we're doing right now is with you know monies it's not referendum monies so happy to answer any question on that um I know it seems like we're in a little bit of a paex with the referendum but some Of You' been through this so you know it'll move it'll start moving really fast once um we get some
030of these permits approved and and shovel his dirt in ground yeah Dr robins and I spoke earlier about it and and um my only concern was the fact that the purpose for approving or or going for um the special ction or the special special referendum was so that we could get out there quickly and so that we could make sure that we got the best prices and we got the best construction companies out there working with us so um and he assured me that that was definitely going to happen we all know there's a lot of groundwork that has to happen that we could not do or would not do because we didn't want to commit the the financial part of it um until we knew that it was going to happen so um I
031I would just just for me I would just like to say that if you could keep us a breast on as things progress and the closer we get U maybe the awarding dates if we know when the awarding dates are going to be just so that we know and we can kind of watch that because we did promise that to the community and I want to make sure that that follows through so so we are working with a local architect as well um he's worked with us um Don boss for years to create Gant charts for every one of these projects that will be online and again we have the nice thing about owning the blueprints to the model we're going to use in the ponds those have already been submitted and we're starting to
032submit the permitting request and we do have the RFP out for construction services so if you think if we did not move forward with the referendum early we would not even have started this process so when November rolls around we'll have the construction company the architect hopefully the approved plans will already be doing the civil engineering permitting requests and making really you know strong Headway we've met with the Architects already they feel very confident that if they get shovel in ground and start building in February we'll be able to occupy in August so but yes absolutely for each one of those projects we'll start once that starts we'll make sure you guys are receiving weekly updates anyone have any more questions or anything else all right go ahead and continue or you done okay right
033Dr Robbins um next we have is the finance report so miss m good evening board members Dr Robbins um this evening we are presenting our um financials as of June 30th 2024 I will say that these are financials um as of July 18th we are working in two years right now so um these financials only reflect the um hostings as I said through July 18th um we have goods and services that were received prior to um June 30th that perhaps we haven't received our invoices until July so we'll be posting those back into the prior fiscal year of 24 which we have here um and then we're also working in current year for our current year expenditures um so our assets as of June 30th 2024 as of July 18th were at6 um8 million our
034liabilities and fund balance so the liabilities you can see look higher than as of last year at this time um and they will keep going higher because as I said we will be putting some more accounts payable we'll be acur those expenditures back and also for our salaries and wages we have one more payroll which is July 30th for our instructional folks um who work on contracts that are um August through the following July for this time frame we acred those um salaries and benefits back so we will adjust our liabilities um a little further um for June 30th but at this time they were at 28.5 million and when we adjust those liabilities that will um decrease our fund balance but right now as it stands we're at 13.2 increase for fund balance when
035we look at our cash flow um I'll be sure to point that out what it will probably most likely look like um um our next report is the um schedule of revenues expenditures and changes in fund balance we've been working also um to acre back our revenues so the state usually sends us 13th month payments so in July um that they send us in July for the June time frame um as well as some of our taxes we have received in July for the fy2 24 um so we did well based on what um the county proposed as our property taxes we got more revenues um at this time it's close to $4.5 million that's great um our investment earnings were a lot higher than what we had anticipated we didn't know that interest rates
036were still going to be at 5.5% for the whole year so we were able to um earn some more revenues there our state revenue in Le of taxes was also higher and our state a to classrooms was higher so I think we've captured all of our 13th month payments we'll see if anything else in um the rest of this month we're still working on our closing entries um as I pointed out before pardon me so our total revenues at this time were $ 271.50 million for the instruction under the expenditures under that instructional support is where we'll see the one more um payroll that will be posted there that will increase those expenditure line items um we had anticipated to use $4.4 million in in our fund balance that shows the net change in fund
037balance but right now we're at 13.2 so either way we're going to be if our expenditures that we're posting at the end of July that are going back will still be higher than we had anticipated um we won't need to go that far into our fund balance for for FY 24 so so that's great news so our next report um Wanda is the thank you the um cash flow analysis and we have filled up every column from July through June we have filled it up for fy2 24 it's crazy time flies um so for our June column which is um one column to the left of the total um we had anticipated that our Reven that our expenditures if you go almost all the way down to the bottom above the black line of 46.4
038million for this one month so that's including the July expenditures that are getting being posted back so we're still working on doing that with the payroll and the um goods and services that were received that we're posting back in the in FY 24 so if you look at our revenues and the anticipated full expenditures we had anticipated that our fund balance would go down by $931,000 so that's not as bad as what we had budgeted we were going to use $4.4 million so that will leave us with a fund balance at the end of the year um projected at 24% um we had um included in our budget for fy2 to use $4.6 million which would bring our percentage down to 21% and fund balance is a Hot Topic at the state level so I
039just want to make make youall aware of that so um which is really good um that gives us a good posture for in the event happen God forbid we don't want that to happen but if we had any hurricanes or we weren't able to get our revenues on time and we won't have to get a tan to get us through until the property taxes come in um so having a a healthy fund balance is very important um also the the very bottom section is about our food service fund balance um we would be at $4.6 million again we're still working to approve um expenditures back for last year year and that's pretty much all I have for our June 30th um financials if anybody has any questions thank you Tina any questions okay at this
040time I would like to accept the finance reports as information or I would like to ask for a motion to accept the finance reports as information only yes um I have a first by Miss Barbara Crosby do I have a second Say seconded by Miss Hughes um let's call for the vote vote a manual she said and that will be a manual vote so all in favor uh signify by raising your hand we have five in favor two absent and then I will turn it back over to Dr Robins thank you thanks Mr Man um and as you can see we're with what we have invested um in the last contracts we feel pretty com confident and comfortable in where we are financially um next I have is student enrollment recommendations for 2425 I also
041spoke with um Miss bannan today and we won't have another board meeting before the start of school so um these recommendations are before you a lot of um things coming across their desk are the grandfathered from the rezoning um but we would ask that you would give us tentative approval to Grant um those you know occurring requests for the um upcoming school year before we get to the next board meet if not what we would have as students that would potentially start at school a and then we'd wait for a week or so have a board meeting you approve them and then we'd move them to um to school be so are you saying just the grandfathered noest any request as long as we stay consistent to what we've been recommending does the board feel
042good about that feel comfortable about that everybody I was just going to say we have been um with the elementary schools obviously very protective of beachill and San Hill because they're overc capacity so we're really only looking at um situations where they'd be going into schools where we have space I make a motion that we Grant um well that we accept the ones that as presented as well as Grant him the authority to approve the upcoming ones for the prior year to keep students from being out of school all right I have a motion by Miss Hughes and a second by Mr Farnsworth any discussion all right all in favor oh wait is this digital all right I'll call for the vote all right I believe we have five in favor and two absent and
043I'll turn it back over to you Dr Robbins thanks Miss Bates the next item we have um I'm actually um very excited about this one the next two things I'm really going to talk about go in line with what Mr farnworth mentioned in terms of Our Sick bank but we have worked really hard for the last 24 months to come up with an idea of what we can do for our Elementary uh um teachers to give them back the gift of time um at least at the middle school with teaming in the high school with their early report time U they are able to do their professional learning communities um relatively easily but your elementaries are not able to do that so we have a recommendation um before you that we've vetted very thoroughly through
044that would allow us to um have what we call a professional learning community be Wednesday don't want to say an early release because everybody naturally their instinct is a half day schedule that's not what it is we're just simply going to re uh release the buses about 30 minutes earlier to allow our teachers to have that time to go into professional development whether it would be data teams faculty meetings whatever it may be that typically requires them to stay past their duty hours so that we could give them back the gift of time um we're going to increase uh the school day by 10 minutes uh which is back to pre pandemic our pre pandemic timeline U Mr frell's uh work with Mr sh they feel like the buses can handle that change without any
045impact to the middle school and the high school schedules obviously on Wednesdays it becomes much easier U but it's on Monday Tuesday Thursday and Friday the reason we changed us to begin with was because we weren't able to to get our buses on there on time we're doing a really good job job I believe I talked to Mr Matthews today um and I talked to Mr frell in terms of Staffing for the transportation department so we feel like route wise we're in a um really good situation all of our staff members would uh that typically participate in dismissal procedures we'll still carry out those procedures it's just now we're giving them 30 minutes where they can go back in the building and sit down for their plc's which would in essence we're releasing 30 minutes
046early but that gives them 45 minutes of professional development time um for them so trying to give them back the gift of time so we would make this recommendation that we modify the elementary bell schedule every Wednesday by 30 minutes but we're also starting the day um or increasing the length of the day by 10 minutes every day so I have a question that so that's not going to be like half day Wednesdays that's going to be every Wednesday oh I hope my parents can keep up with that yeah every Wednesday um can you talk more briefly on like the child care aspect are we um extending leap for that y y so we will um we'll extend the leap you know that opportunity will still be there especially for our staff members that take
047advantage of leap so the LEAP program will be they'll have some expanded time for those kids um you know now in terms of you know what we're doing with the um after school programs you know we need to vet this with them to make sure they understand what we're doing really to be hon honest with you we'll be able to take it a little slower during um release time with our bus routes and so that that 30 minutes all of a sudden shrinks down to about 20 minutes and it really becomes pretty nominal um at the end of the day but in terms of internally on what we're doing yes the leak program will be expanded as well try to think if missed anything else now I have another question please so on the early
048out days still get out at 11 yeah this doesn't have anything to do with the um required um early release days that are required by the state they still GA at 11 o'clock this is something completely separate and it's only for the elementary schools all right um so I do have a question so with the LEAP program had had have they been approached at least to give make them aware in advance yes ma'am they were part of the conversation as well as our I have Miss Barker our chief academic officer out here she can probably help answer any other questions you might have pardon me I do want you to vote yeah all right well at this time I'm going to ask for a motion and see if we have a motion I'll make the
049motion motion made by Miss Hughes do I have a second seconded by Mr Farnsworth okay any discussion um the only comment I would say especially on the earlier release um is communication communication communication um that it doesn't seem like a big change because I think for our educator Community it's probably not the end of the world we have leap we have all those programs but for our parents 30 minutes and child care um probably changes a lot once a week so earlier the better the communication on that change um the better and again not not I know you already answered this but just to reiterate um this this is coming from principles like they've signed off they've bought off on it did this come out of the teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force if I'm
050not mistaken okay it did um and just to piggy back off of Mr Farnsworth question and just to for my own clarification from my understanding I thought that parents weren't going to have to necessarily pick up their kids or the buses they could utilize the leap if it's needed like they don't want if they're not home at that 30 minute earlier Mark they can utilize leap or if they purpose they already did leap they'll go just to LEAP a little bit earlier I just want to make sure that people understand that we're not leaving them high and dry and that they do have somewhere their kids can be so here was here was the conversation um and we kind of met in the middle on on this typically when you um you do an early
051release or a delayed Start program um you run the buses and the car rider lines um early and and the reason you do that is is because it just allows you to maintain that same operational pattern but we also understand that when you do that you also can create some issues with those parents who may not home whose students are riding the bus or who may not be able to get there because they're picking their kids up after they get off work and they aren't the ones that show up at 11:30 or 12 o' to get mine in the car rider line they actually come when school's getting out and so that's where we'll have a provision for a little bit of expanded Services we felt like doing it this way we would get more
052kids off grounds and less students remaining behind for us to try to figure out how to supervise versus if we waited until normal time for car rider and and the bus routes and then we would put all those kids into a media center a cafeteria the playground it it just reduces that number of students that we have to consider for alternative supervision so if if that's the case we will have alternate supervision opportunities for them it just won't have to be the like what if they only have to utilize like that 30 minute difference cuz like I know you and I have talked about this at a private school that I used to substitute teach at they didn't have the bus issue so that is a different issue about picking kids up and dropping them
053off earlier at school but they do an early out every Wednesday and most parents utilize pickup and pick up their students but for those who can't they offered gap which was our Elite program free of charge for that 30 minute or hour difference that they dismiss kids every week so if they only need a util let's say their work has worked out where they can pick their kid up 2:30 from elementary school every day but this time like they're not going to be home they're not going to be able to pick them up can they utilize it for 30 minutes is there is that something yeah there'll be no charge and at no charge okay yes yeah yeah because they're still working all right good questions and um to yeah they're still being compensated you
054know for their time they're on serving on the job um we are working on a press release we're going to put out three bullet points tonight after the meeting if this is approved and then we'll draft I I met with Pio before this meeting then we'll draft a more comprehensive press release to go out to our families and it'll be ready for fax and fees and we will not just one time we'll continue to hit this over and over and over again until it becomes culture yeah I definitely am with Farnsworth Mr Farnsworth sorry on the fact that we definitely communication that our parents understand this know this are constantly reminded I mean I remember even the first time I dealt with it I was like oh my gosh it's Wednesday and you know so
055I think it's really important we continue like especially for the first quarter like just reminding people send out Text Blast like on that Wednesday to our elementary schools like hey reminder it's early out if you'd like to pick up your kids if not remember and is there something for them to sign up if they're going to have to utilize it for that 30 minutes they like we're we're not going to be able to do that okay all right um any more questions good so in my head I'm trying to visualize to make sure that we have enough adult coverage when I say adult whoever the leaders are for the after school program because I'm not sure if they always have enough according to guidelines to make sure if I'm not mistaken is this like maybe
056those people who utilize it for just aren't going to be there to like four five six are they going to just kind of be in a centralized location kind of more of like it's just a temporary hold room for 30 minutes which is very different than more of a structure it's not like a part of the regular okay so they'll probably I'm just trying to make sure they're not overburdened and all of that so okay we're kind of like when you drop them off in the morning they're all in the media center and they're sitting their lines and that's like usually like a 30 45 minute I'm assuming it'd be similar to that I would guess all right you can clarify is it will be um we'll use big spaces um depending on the school
057and the amount of space we need and the adults that we need again I think once people become accustomed to it the number of students that were acquired that will I've done this several places you'll see that number start to diminish but we'll be prepared for it to start out the first and I believe as soon as the parents become more um adapted to that new way of dropping the off on Wednesdays that would be to our advantage and we wouldn't have a problem like that yes ma'am just kind of thinking out loud thank you all right is there any more discussion or questions all right at this time I'll call for the vote it should be on your screen all right um motion carries five in favor two absent okay the next thing I
058have tonight is your personnel report but before um you know before I make a recommendation on the Personnel report I wanted to give you an update on our recruiting and retention task force we had our third meeting last week um this this group has been very Dynamic we kind of take about 10 to 15 minutes to get going and the next thing you know it's an hour and a half later but we'll have a more comprehensive report for you um probably in the next couple of months but I wanted to share some highlights you know we're right now what we're doing is we're identifying the main things that we think we can potentially accomplish we're assigning um responsible parties for that and then timelines so that we have a measurable metric on what's taking place
059but just some things that have already we're already in action that were brainstormed by this this group and the board's already um supported one obviously with salary increases the retention stiens you just approved um the early released Wednesdays given back the gift of time the employee sick Bank I've worked with our teachers forum for two years to try to get the employee sick Bank back I'm so excited you guys approved that in policy um I actually went down the teachers Forum has a retreat every year where they brainstorm for the upcoming year and I visit them and I shared with them that that is going to be um on the agenda tonight and we've talked about that quite a bit um we have Kim cofell and I have been working together we have a potential
060partnership with the YMCA to provide a sh cost sharing for memberships for our employees the um chamber um Business Partnership branding right now we have minimum of 25 um groups that already offer educator discounts and so one of the things that we talked about in our last task force meeting was a way to Brand this because we all know that 90% of people are not going to walk into a business and say do you offer an educator discount they just aren't going to do it but if we come up with a storefront branding way that as you walk into that business you know they offer it and then you go to the counter and you just show your ID that takes some of that away from the employee to to actually make the so um
061I think um Dr liner shared with me at the last meeting that I wasn't even aware of that Hanger Outlet Under Armour offers a 15% discount so um there's so many of these things and what we're trying to do is capture it and include it in our induction program and then um create cards for our employees so they see what that is the other really neat idea that we discussed was a QR code that would take you straight to our website and give you a comprehensive list of all of our partners that we have so again a lot of great things taking place um some things that we're working on right now is brainstorming um Workforce housing uh we are working on a trip up to Fairfield County where they were finally able to establish
062Workforce housing for educators it took them nearly four and a half no I take it back six years to accomplish it so we've had some early discussions uh with County officials about it we want to go and about the ins and outs of some of the things that they've done but also mortgage companies and and a lot of the other things that'll help us recruit and retain employees in our community so it's been a fascinating group to work with they're very motivated when they get together um it's now it's about tailoring it down and having measurable metrics of things that we can accomplish and package and and share with our community and with our employees of our district which numbers almost 4,000 so answering questions Miss Pal's on the committee U Miss cofell's on the
063committee Miss Meyer's on the committee so I'm sure they they could fill in any blanks or answer your questions I believe also The Branding is terrific for our community because it lets the community people parents Etc know who is being very supportive of our teachers in the time that we're living in now and I think that's super important so they're getting free advertisement and we're thankful are you when you say Brandon do you mean like like a window decal that's like hey we have a teacher discount that's cool I like that idea it's a really neat idea something small storefront anyone else well um I thank you for that Dr Robbins I think that at our board Advance teacher Recruitment and Retention and figuring out new ways to continue to show our people that they're
064appreciated and valued and important is something that we're all probably going to be eager to discuss more um but I appreciate uh what you brought to us so far you um and then the next thing I have obviously is the Personnel report and recommendations um I did again I met with Mr Matthews we talk almost every day right now as we're um getting ready for the start of school year we're in the 50s um right now in terms of bacanes last year we were at 75 and at this time of the year and I will tell you that uh proportionately that's even smaller because we have more staff members we have more students this year so I'm very proud of our Personnel team and the recruiting that's taking place uh right now it's spread out
065amongst you know all three levels but we're in pretty good shape in terms of recruiting and they're signing them up and and on boarding them every single day so that's your report and and again happy to answer any questions in terms of our vacancy situation and I was very impressed with some of the innovative ways that they're recruiting so um I said great job Team all right board members um those recommendations and resignations should have been in your packet so if everybody is okay with doing those in Open Session I'll move forward and ask for a motion to approve I'll make the motion to approve approve is presentent yes okay I have a motion by Miss Hughes and a second by Miss pal um at this time I will oh is there any discussion I'm
066sorry we did already had the discussion at this time I'll call for the vote all right motion carries five in favor to absent thank you and then the last parting thing I have for my report tonight um I apologize I didn't get it um done to have at your seats but I will have an invitation for you our Symposium our administrator Symposium is the 29th and the 30th of July and so I offer an invitation to you breakfast is at 7 o'clock um you're more than welcome to join us uh the first first half of the day is training there'll be an opening um presentation by a couple of us and then we'll have breakout sessions uh and then we are going to do our second annual dd2 works for you community service and so
067uh talk to Dr Wilson today we have several things lined up uh working with the YMCA Habitat for Humanity um we're waiting to hear back from the parks department we're going to have for those people because it is pretty hot and humid um and so for those people that really probably shouldn't be outside working in this weather we also going to have the mobile blood bank here at the district office where people can sign up to donate blood and and again I I last year was amazing um to have 150 people serving our community in a different capacity and I think they enjoyed it and the feedback I got from the Community Partners we worked with they enjoyed it as well so that will be um in the afternoon that day but again I'll get
068you invitations you're more than welcome to join us and um speak to the staff can we join you for the volunteering you know you know I love a serve Day More can join us for the volunteering but to speak to the staff as well can I and and on that I we'll get the invitations but this is for Wanda can can we get a huge favor if you can send those to us in a calendar invite um that and convocation y good both of those on the calendar thank you and that's all I have tonight thank you all right thank you Dr Robins I appreciate you lots of great information um next on our agenda we have our public comment on non-agenda items and we do have several of those so first up we have
069Sam Richardson thank you for your Indulgence in the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon I want to speak with with you about a very good man that had a big impact in my life Charlie STM was my principal at Summerville High School um I'm a graduate 1985 I had a particular set of circumstances though pretty complicated I was uh a start on a football team but I was also the executive uh commander in the RC program the Navy RC program and so I had some demands on both sides um at the time I believe I was one of the few that was able to do something like that so the schedule was pretty challenging he was able to uh motivate me in terms of of being able to work through some of the complicated
070issues surrounding that uh on the on the RC side he was able to tell me uh some professional development things that the you know um follow me into adulthood and I'm a retired lieutenant colonel as a result of that United States Army on the uh football side the recruiting process was pretty complicated I was country boy from down uh in the uh County Line Road area and I didn't know anything about being recruited know anything about it he walked me through that process he uh he talked to my recruiters he talked to me about maintaining my good academic standing and what that would mean to me um what schools offered what particular subjects and how that would benefit me so I will tell you that uh even now he offers me mentorship from that time
071he has been a a standing influence in my life for my entire life and uh it' be an honor if you consider U naming the school in his honor he's been a good man and a resource to many people here thank you thank you Mr Richardson Madam chair a a point of personal privilege I mean and I'm not going to reply to Sam's comment but I absolutely since he came up if if you don't mind um Sam I just want to say thank you most folks don't know but um Sam is our deputy sheriff in Dorchester County um the partnership I want to say specifically for for the county from the Sheriff's Office and the school district um this year the past couple years has has been unbelievable it it has been um light years
072above what I've seen in the past and so since you're here I just want to take a second and and say a very very strong thank you not only for what you do but for that [Applause] partnership absolutely I can not agree more Mr barnworth all right next for public comment we have Jimmy Tupper thank you for having me Jimmy Tupper I'd also I'm here also to talk about uh Charlie studemire I would like to ask the school board to vote before November to name the next school laam while we have a consensus School Board before the unknowns are out there um I would also like to put Charlie's name in the front of that list he had dedicated over 45 years of his life to education with 22 being in dd2 and eight years
073on the school board I have known Mr stud for 40 years he coached me as a young child and always kept it we when I was do what I was doing throughout life many people can go through all the awards Mr star received but to me stands out in a different way he he battled a vision disability and never once let it get in his way he worked non-stop with no excuses he volunteered with no hesitation and he checked on you when he didn't have to Mr STM is a man all people should look up to and want to be like to today's society the world looks for many reasons not to do something then you have a person like Mr star who has a disability and never let it get in his way of
07445 years of public education thank you well thank you Mr Tupper um and then the last person we have is Joy Patterson well um I'm Joy Patterson taught with Mr for Mr s Meer also um started at flower toown and um I'm speaking it's hard to follow you two gentlemen but everything he said was true and I just feel like he's a wonderful person a great leader he inspired our teachers our students the parents always had an open door policy he would expect a lot of you but you knew he loved you and he wanted you to do your best everyone did and um I just think of all his service and his time that he's put in a school and his honor named after him would be wonderful so hope I'd like to that
075thank you so much and miss barbarra yes you may speak I want to thank all of you for coming and speaking up for Charlie tonight um Charlie's the one that got me into this position I'm in so I don't know if that's good or bad Charlie it was and I and Charlie came and recruited us right yep and I appreciate him for doing that but a lot of people don't know about all the things that Charlie has done like even in a different District he would take young men and he would U Mentor them and he would take them aside and keep them out of trouble I mean of course back then things were different but he would find find out one of them was down at the corner or down at the street or
076something he'd go down there and get them bring them back to school I mean he cared about the kids and he does care about kids and um I know that there will be other nominations I understand that but I do wish appreciate you coming out tonight and I'd appreciate the Public's consideration on naming that school after him all right thank you Miss Crosby um next on our agenda is executive session and we have nothing for executive session today so last I need a motion to adjourn I'll make the motion evans's not here like did I miss something late all right I have a motion to adjourn by Miss Hughes do I have a second second In by Mr Farnsworth any discussion all right hearing none I'll call for the vote all right all right the
077motion carries five in favor two absent at this time the meeting is adjourned