001Uh bow your heads. Join me in a word of prayer before we get started. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you that we're able to come together tonight as free people, Lord, to discuss matters of interest in our community, focused primarily on our children and what uh we want to do, what is best to educate them, prepare them to live in this world. Lord, we thank you for all the people that you brought here tonight. We pray for your guidance, your knowledge, your wisdom, and most importantly your discernment, Lord, as we consider the the matters of business before us tonight. And Lord, as we take time to to celebrate successes and discuss matters of interest, I pray that you would just bring a spirit of graciousness, a spirit of attention and understanding to all
002who are here tonight. Lord, that we walk away from here today uh having known that we've been respectful, courteous, and that you've been glorified in everything that happens tonight. Lord, we just thank you and praise you. And I ask all this in your son, Jesus' name. Amen. You can join me. We're going to uh say the pledge. All right. Good evening and welcome to the May 19th board meeting. Um board members, at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda and meeting minutes. So moved. Motion made by Mr. Guthrie. Second. Seconded by Miss Bates. Any discussion? Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. All right. Next item on our agenda this evening are district highlights. Turn it over to Mr. Bohannan. Good
003evening, Dr. Wimbley, Mr. Dhy. Another full house here at the district office. Love seeing a full house here. You're all welcome to stay for the entire meeting. Learn lots of great stuff. Um, another round of highlights showcasing innovation, achievement, and pride that defines Dorchester School District 2. First, several robotics awards, teams advancing to having state competitions and on the world stage. It's been an incredible year in DD2 for robotics. Several weeks ago, you remember we had the Somerville Elementary, we had the Turtlebots in here, and they'll be performing uh in the world in Boston this summer. And we have one middle school and three high school groups here with similar achievements to celebrate. Our first group up, we're going to recognize category five from Somerville High School. You guys go ahead and get up and
004come on up here. We're going to welcome you to the stage. We're going to take a big photo and I'm going to read nice things about you. one of our community based teams. Yeah, let them hear it. We're likely going to make two rows, so if you're tall, stay in the back. If you're less tall, feel free to make that second row. Cat 5 communitybased team earned the impact award of the state robotics championship, an honor celebrating long-term commitment to outreach, STEM advocacy, and team culture. That awarded secured them the invitation to the world championships representing DD2 with pride on a global stage. Just got back from Texas. Make sure moms get them when we get the thumbs up from moms. Miss Passmore, are you good? Category five, everybody. [Applause] Wait, was that Storm Surge,
005too? Wait, Storm Surge, stay up there. I had a whole separate thing for storm surge. Who makes up a component of category five and so we'll we'll let Storm Surge get their own photo op. um competed at the state championship as part of the second seed alliance and delivering a strong showcase. So there's storm surge fantastic. All right, next we're going to bring up the robotic rebels of East Edestto Middle School. Where you at? There we go. Team 29485B earned their world bid through their state level skills ranking, becoming just the second DD2 middle school team in history to qualify for world championships. Their season filled with hard work, creativity, and innovation. And proudly represented both their school and our state on the world stage again in Texas, traveling all the way to Texas. [Applause]
006The robotic rebels of East Edison. Oh yeah. [Applause] And finally, from Fort Dorchester High School, the Burning Magnetos. [Applause] This team had a phenomenal season finishing as state championship finalists and winning both the engineering inspiration award and impact award the highest honor in first robotics. Their invitation to worlds capped off a season of mentorship excellence and elite level South Carolina's top three high schools in Palmetto's finest. So come on up. I [Applause] gotta do a little costume change. One of the highest honors a school can receive in South Carolina. Presented by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, this award recognizes excellence in academics, leadership, community engagement, and innovation. and part of they had a great celebration out on the football field. They live streamed in the results and there was confetti and much halaloo
007and it was an amazing time. And Mr. Aldridge gave a speech out there of which I have an excerpt. And Principal Aldridge said, "This is not just about recognition, it's about impact. The core question of this award asks, what difference is this school making in the lives of students and the community?" I believe our answer speaks for itself. At Fort Doorchester, excellence isn't an event, it's our culture. Fort Dorchester High School. At this time, I'd like to invite Mr. Matt Moshchelle, district content interventionist, to the podium to present the HMH 180 awards, which celebrate outstanding growth and achievement in reading and math intervention programs. Good evening, Mr. Dry, board of trustees. We have a lot to celebrate this evening because our district continues to make an impact in the HMH 180 awards, a national recognition
008program that honors students and educators that have demonstrated growth, leadership, and perseverance in literacy and math. The 180 award recipients were nominated by fellow educators, parents, district, and school leaders from across the country. This year's student winners represent powerful cross-section of learners from elementary to high school who have made tremendous strides. This year's educator winners come from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise but share the passion for providing meaningful and targeted instruction and are united in the deep dive with students to build strong academic foundations and prepare them for the future. Nearly 400 nominations were submitted from the 33 states sharing powerful stories and academic breakthroughs of educator dedication. This year, Doorchester 2 is being honored with four student winners and two teacher winners. And for that, we all say well done and congratulations to
009this respected reward. [Applause] We're going to start with our first student winner, Kyle Guthrie from Oakbrook Middle School. [Applause] Yeah. Our second winner, Eve Roberts from [Applause] Spain. [Applause] Our third student winner, Paris Hamilton from Somerville High School. [Applause] Our fourth student winner, Raquel Carneahan from Rawlings Middle School. [Applause] Our first teacher winner, Alexander Blair from Eagle Nest Elementary School. [Applause] Mr. Michelle, you want me to read this first? And next we have Stephanie Washington from River Oaks Middle School. [Applause] Okay, before everybody leaves, how about one more round of applause? Our robotic students for Dorchester High School Palmetto's finest and our Reed 180 award winners. This concludes our district highlights. All right. Thank you all for your patience. We'll give everyone just a second to clear out before we move on to our board
010committee reports. All right. Next item on our agenda are our board committee reports. And first up we have our policy committee. I will turn it over to Miss Bates. Hi. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, today the policy committee met at 400 pm and we will have some policies next time for first reading, but we also have some for second reading today. And those policies are DGD DA Oh, DGD, sorry. Um, what is that called? Hold on, let me look at it. Oh, credit card use. Sorry, it wasn't specified. DHA contracting authority and policy DJ which is purchasing. All right. Thank you, Miss Bates. That is coming from our committee. So, we um do not need a second. So, at this time, I would ask if there are any questions or discussion. Okay. And hearing none,
011we will call for the vote to approve these policies. um as read by Miss Bates for second reading. Okay. And the motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. And then also uh our next meeting will be June 9th at 4M and we will probably look to be adding one in July. So stay tuned for that. And that's all I have for today. Okay. Thank you very much. Next we have our finance committee, Mr. Guthrie. Yeah. So, we're still deep into the budget season and we'll find out what happens with the county council moving forward. So, if you're interested, uh please do check those out and we appreciate uh people's interest in what's happening with the budget here in uh DD2. Thank you. Right. Thank you, Mr. Goth and Mr. Lee. Okay. And then we have
012our facilities committee, Mr. Farnsworth. Um thank you, Madam Chair. Our next meeting will be June 9th after the policy committee meeting. And then we do have some items to discuss. Uh I believe we'll be doing those in executive session this evening. So that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next item on our agenda are public comments on agenda items. Um and we do not have any this evening. So we will move right into our board chairs report. Um board members, I do have several events and important dates listed on this report. I believe most of them you should already be aware of. Um, this Thursday evening we have our district retiree celebration. Um, and then of course Saturday, May 31st. Super excited about our graduations. Very much looking forward to that day
013as always. Um, one item on here that is new is a potential date for our summer board retreat. Um, I spoke with Mr. Dohy when we were planning the agenda and we are throwing this date out as a possible option, Monday, June 23rd. We do have a board meeting that evening, so we were hoping that maybe everyone would be in town. So, if you could just check your calendar and let me know if you will be here. Um, if you could be here for that, it would be during the day and then followed of course by our evening board meeting. So, you can get back to me in regards to that. And if that date's not going to work, then we will go back to the drawing board because I do think we should all
014be there for that that board retreat. So, please check and let me know. Um, and then of course, we still have our two town hall meetings coming up. Um, one July 17th and then October 24th. And I also have on here our upcoming conference with the SCSBA. The next one is the school law conference in August. Um if I believe registration has opened for that. So if you're interested in in attending, please let Wanda know. Any questions about those dates? All right. Thank you all for your continued support and attendance. Got lots of exciting things going on and I appreciate it. So all right, next item on our agenda is our superintendence report. Mr. Doherty. Yes, madam chair and the rest of the board. We have item 7A, our retention and recruitment task force. Um,
015we have our former teacher, district teacher of the year, Sarah Nesbet, is going to come up and give us end of the year update and talk a little bit about the end of the year teacher survey. So, please welcome Sarah Nesbet. Good evening. Um, and like Mr. DHY said as a collaborative effort with teacher forum the task force has been developing a brief survey as a tool to solicit authentic feedback about the reasons why DD2 employees choose to stay. The survey will focus on what aspects of their jobs the district could improve to make DD2 a more attractive choice. It also will help the task force in soliciting direct teacher input regarding positive aspects and suggestions for improvement at their spe at their specific worker location. The results will be used to guide the task
016force and also district leadership in helping to improve the day-to-day workplace satisfaction of all employees. All survey responses are completely anonymous and it will be sent out to all employees who have signed contracts to remain in the district for the 2526 school year. It will be sent out by the end of this coming week. And as a thank you for completing the brief survey, all participants will get a jeans day upon verification of completion. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Nesbet. Our next item on uh the superintendent report is item 7B, the South Carolina seal of biiteracy. And we have our assistant director uh for high schools, Miss Christy Sealander, who's going to talk about that. So, Miss Sealander. Okay. Good evening, Madame Chair. Good evening, Mr. Doerty. Board members. Um, I just would like to
017share with you guys a little bit about our cil by literacy program and just tell you some of the successes that we're having with that program and what a great opportunity is for our students to participate. So, this is something that the state sponsors and it really is looking to identify our students who are who demonstrate proficiency in English and also at least one other world language. So we typically will target students who know who were in level three or four of a world language in our schools. We also like to identify students that are in our ESOL program that have reached a high level of English proficiency and then they're likely to be successful testing in their home language. So the benefit for students is that it helps them showcase these skills that they
018have to future employers. Um some of our colleges in the state are even offering college credit in order for the students to have this seal. So we're really excited that our program is growing. Um so it is a volunt that you can see that our program has grown a little bit. We had a bumper year in 2023 and we're kind of building back from that. We don't have our final stats for this year right now. We're still waiting on a few scores to come back. But I would like you to notice look at all of the languages our students speak. Isn't that just amazing? So, I mean, we're really, really proud of these kids. This is a hard test. It is a hard test. So, students are able to earn a seal, either a bronze,
019silver, or gold depending upon their proficiency. And we are looking to celebrate that with our seniors in a special medal that they're going to be able to wear at graduation starting this year. Okay, any questions? Thank you, Mrs. Cer. That's great information. And the second thing if you look on uh on the superintendent report is 7 uh C is our local board approved courses. In your board packet you will see our board uh approval course renewals, our JOTC summer course LBA application for May and also our bio lab H and Chem Lab H LBA applications. And so you can see those in your board packet. And so u Mrs. Calander is here to talk about those as well. So thank you Mrs. Calander. Yeah, these are programs that we are already having in progress and
020we have had these for a number of years. The we just are trying to catch up with our course code numbers. the state is really um making an effort to make these course codes really accessible for us and we want to make sure we're in compliance that we're not using an incorrect course code in powers school that will trip the auditing systems that we have to help identify students and their credits and are they ready for graduation. So the junior ROTC program is a summer leadership program that's worth a half a credit. So again, it's something that voluntary those RTC students are doing on their own time. Um, and then we also have the lab associated with AP chemistry and AP biology that helps students give the lab lab time that they need to develop
021that proficiency to be prepared for the AP exam. Is there any other questions from the board? If not, we're asking for a motion to approve these local courses. All right. Yes. Board members, at this time, I'd ask for a motion to approve the local board courses as presented. So moved. All right. Motion made by Mr. Lee. Seconded by Miss Bates. Any questions or discussion? Okay. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next item uh is 7D, proprietary security business license. And this will I'll bring up Christy Graham and also Mr. Preston Giant. Um this is a new um law that was signed it signed on 512 20225. Pursuant to legislation, public school districts using security officers who are not SRO's
022must now apply for and obtain a proprietary security business license and provide sled approved security officer training to all district security staff. So given that this legislation has taken place effective immediately, we'd like to move as quickly as possible into compliance. A process begins by a vote of the board to approve the superintendent's authority to apply for the license. And simultaneously, the district is working to ensure that once the application submitted, all individual security applications and trainings will be prepared and ready to be implemented. So that's why I have Mr. Giant and also Mrs. Graham up here to kind of explain a little bit more what this new legislation means and kind of what the details were. So Mr. Giant, so I'll kind of give you the brief overview and then uh Mrs. Cram can
023correct me on all the things that I screw up. Um, so we'll kind of go that route. Um, this is actually something I think will be good for the district um, and good for schools around the state. Um, I want to be very clear so that everybody understands these security officers will not replace SRO's. Our police officers that are in our schools will stay there. That's also required by the law. We're not going to be removing any police officers. But what it allows us to do is to augment that force um with security of our own. That's something we're kind of doing already here in Dorchester School District 2. Uh but what it does is allows us to get certified. It was kind of weird or kind of funny. We could have security officers. They
024just weren't allowed to be certified. Um and what the certification does is it it actually allows them a wider range of powers. Um, so our security officers that we employ in our schools will actually have the uh have arrest powers on campus. So they can work in conjunction with the police that we have there. Um, they will be able to conduct arrest if they if need be. Um, obviously that's not a practice that we're going to be looking to get into. Uh, but they can um in the in the worst case scenarios, they could do that and then actually prosecute those cases in uh court. We're super fortunate. We already have folks working for us um in a little bit more limited role that are all former law enforcement, former military, former first responders, uh
025super high qual highly qualified individuals. Uh which I think gives us a distinct advantage being able to do this because prior to this law being passed, we could go to a private security company and hire them to provide security, armed security within our schools if we wanted to. But we were at the mercy of those security companies to supply us with whoever they felt like was a good hire. Um, and we had no ability to screen those individuals, vet their backgrounds, and make sure they were the kind of quality individuals that we want working for us in this district. So, um, being able to, uh, have this law and and have Mr. Doherty be uh, I guess the the security chief, I'm gonna give him some of my other jobs, too. um uh it'll allow
026us to vet those people and make sure that we get the kind of people working for us that we want working in our schools and then we can give them direction um as well. So um if Miss Graham wants to talk a little bit about the process, I'll turn it over to her. Thank you. Mr. J did a great job. So I don't have much to add. I just want to um clarify that we're bringing this before the board tonight because part of the statute requires that the board take a vote and approve in writing for Mr. Mr. Dhy to be the applicant for this business license. And so that is what we're asking for the board tonight. And then Mr. Dhy can begin that process and then we will move into the process of
027having all of the district security officers uh complete the background checks and training necessary. We're happy to answer any questions you all have. Is there any cost to obtaining the business license? Um yes. I don't know if Mr. Di has spoken with SLED about that already. is supposed to be making um that process available to us and I don't know if you've had any conversations with them. The last I read it was $100. It it just passed I believe on May 12th. Um and so I don't know that SLED has officially rolled out a lot of information for school districts yet, but we want to be proactive and be ready to go as soon as that's available. Understand? And do you know if that's going to be an annual renewal license? I don't know. Um,
028I do know there will be a small fee uh for each one of our individuals to get certified as well. I they they will pay reertification fee every year. I don't know what the fee is for the district. Um, like Miss Graham said, it's kind of dumped on us last week. Um, I I think it's good news, but we still don't have quite all of the details yet. Okay. Thank you. Just logistics wise, so and I'm maybe I just don't understand. So is the district as a whole applying for the license or each individual security officer has to have their own business license? So once um once the district gets the propri proprietary license um to operate us almost like a business then each security officer will have to get their own um certification. So
029or their own license underneath the umbrella. So once Mr. Dohy is uh given that ability to hire then he can recommend. I can't go to training without his recommendation. He as the business owner has to give me that recommendation to go to training. Is there a benefit? And and again, it's just out of curiosity. I the constable program from law enforcement. Is that something that makes sense as well or could that take the place? So, I'm actually a state constable. Um that means I have statewide law enforcement uh capabilities, but I have to work with another agency. Um, unfortunately, and some of my other guys do as well, some of my guys are also still certified as law enforcement one, so like regular police officers as well. Unfortunately, with sledge, you cannot have both certifications.
030So, all of us that are current active law enforcement will have to give up our law enforcement certifications in order to be um security, which it's kind of funny to me, but that's just the way it works. Got it. And then the last question I had and and putting on kind of the insurance hat. So it's really no different than the current setup as far as the liability to the district. God forbid someone goes out and does something we don't want. Yeah. That follows up that would then follow up through that through that license. So I had great talks with our risk manager. Um, and I think one of the things this does is actually adds some protections and reduces our liability because um, there's going to be records of training and records of firearm
031certification and yearly reertifications kept at the state level. Um, so it kind of takes some of that training onus and responsibility off of us and puts it on the state. So they're the ones that are tracking all of that for us. Beautiful. Thank you. All right, board members. If there's nothing else, then at this time I would ask for a motion to approve Mr. Doherty as the applicant for the proprietary security business license on behalf of Dorchester School District 2. So moved. Okay. Motion made by Mr. Guthrie, seconded by Miss Bates. Any questions or discussion? Okay. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Okay. The next item we have on our agenda is 7E, our review of our budget presentation. And Miss Manet will come up and
032give a uh review of our budget presentation. So, Miss Met. Thank you. Um, good evening again, Madam Chair, board members, and Mr. Dhy. Um, I don't know if we want to go through the entire budget pro um, presentation again. We'll just maybe hit some of the highlights from the public hearing or if anybody on the Deis wants to give the presentation. Y'all know it now by heart. Um just to hit some of the highlights, what we were discussing in the public hearing was um the revenues that we have included for next year. Uh we're proposing at $292.7 million. Um that's an increase of 8.6 million and that's without a tax increase included in those numbers. Um although we did Miss Man, what slide are you on? So we could have uh what slide? There we
033go. Thank you. Sorry about that. Me turn it on. So it works this time, Emmy. Um, right here we're on slide five. Um, our revenues for FY25 versus FY26 would be an 8.6 million increase. Um the 5.5 million for local property taxes does not include the um the millage increase that we requested. Um but we did ask for that request. I'll skip over to that. Um teacher salary comparisons we've been talking about. Um yeah. Did you want to go back to that real quick on projected salary increases? um kind of where we're at and here this one. Yes, ma'am. Or here. There you go. Yep. So, um this is our FY25 teacher salary comparison for um between Dorchester 2, Bufort, Berkeley, and Charleston. Um Dorchester 2 is on the far left. Charleston, of course, is
034on the far right. Um and the other two districts are in between. Um, next year Berkeley um is proposing to go to 575 567 I'm looking at Lisa our budget director and um Charleston is proposing to go to 64 um with our increase that we've asked for in the budget we are um asking for Miller to go to 51,000 um which um shows on the second item there from the bottom The 26 FY26 $2,000 increase to where we are currently would bring bring us to 51,000 which we have done great we have made great strides since 2018 when our beginning teacher pay was 36,000. Um next year we'll we hope fingers crossed we'll go to 51,000. Um some of the areas that we were able to um do some right sizing um we were able
035to reduce some FTEEs based on um we had projected additional growth for students. So we had additional teaching positions which we did not recognize this year. Um we did not realize that many positions. So we were reducing those for next year's budget. Um teacher step is included. That's a mandate. So every teacher would who's eligible would get a step on the teacher salary scale. Um our pending state actions mandates that actually probably will make it through the um insurance which will not be on the employees but on the employer and then the um paid parental leave would go from six weeks to 12 weeks. um additional classroom allocations, bringing content specialists and IT physicians back in house, um kind of right sizing that program a little bit, but bringing it back into the general fund,
036whereas it was paid in federal dollars before. Uh, and this is where we were showing the increase for the teacher salary scale um by $2,000, but also to include a step and a 1% for classified and certified staff who are not teacher not paid on the teacher scale if they were eligible for a step and the 1% cola. Um, so summary of our proposed expenditures, middle column to be $295,960 and $160,72. And then the um millage request that we brought to county council, you can see on the far bottom right was the 7.6 mills to give us a balanced budget for revenues and expenditures. Is that everything, Mr. Dhy? Thank you, Mr. Manet, any any questions from the board on the budget? I know we've we've talked a lot about the budget and so uh
037any questions or any highlights we can discuss further. I think in terms of highlights again for those that did not uh attend the public hearing where Miss Man team went through in much detail uh each one of the slides there's a lot of information on each one of those but the message I would give to the community is that um the district has deferred over 13.5 million dollars in budget requests that they have rightsized and looked at all of our resources We have found savings here, there, and where we can, but we also have to deal with some mandates we have no control over. And I think uh it behooves folks to take a look at it. It points out a couple of things. One, I think that your district is doing a good job
038of trying to be good financial stewards with taxpayers resources. Most importantly, it aligns with our district's goals, which start with student achievement. But it also continues to reinforce the challenges we have with what is, in my view, a completely unsustainable funding mechanism for public education here in South Carolina. And so I encourage the citizens to get themselves informed and uh ask questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Mr. Lee. Think that's that's a huge thing to talk about, especially when you're talking about teacher retention and teacher recruitment and you're talking about student achievement. It's all about the teacher. And you can see tonight with the number of programs we had come this evening, you can't take a a mediocre teacher and wrap around a good program. Um, you just can't do it. And those are outstanding
039educators we had here this evening. Uh, and the programs that they're able to do and the extra time that they spend with our students and again trying to reward them. So, I would agree with you 100%. And so, I know that's what the team's working on. I know the board uh is engaged with with others to try to do that as well. So, we appreciate your help and support. You and our next item, if there's no other further questions, we'll go on to um item 7F. That is a study regarding financial impact of consolidation of school districts. This is something the board has asked us to bring uh back to and again um you can see in your packet there's a revenue sharing agreement and there's also a consolidation study agreement and so Miss Manet
040did you want to talk a little bit more about that? Sure. Um thank you Mr. Dhy. There are actually two agreements. The first one is in in to enter into an agreement for consultants to gather information and data for Dorchester School District 2 and Dorchester School District 4 as a consolidation study um for fiscal and economic impact of that consolidation. Um we had been presented with an old um study that um the school boards association prepared for the Dorchester County legislative delegation back in 2006. And then also uh there was a South Carolina Education Oversight Committee study that was done in 2003. So this um this study will be an upgrade or um will bring us newer information just to upgrade both of those those studies. Some of those things that they the consultants will
041be looking at are assessed values in both areas of Dorchester 2 and Dorchester 4. The current operating millage and debt millages and what would happen if there were consolidation of our school districts. Um teacher scales and what would have to happen um outstanding bond bonded indebtedness and then um comparative revenues. So um as we were talking about there's a separate agreement to do um revenue sharing agreement um that the consultants would um perform a study to in regards to revenue sharing agreements of multi-school district counties in other counties and bring the information back to us as to how it would affect Dorchester County. Um both of these um agreements are a not to exceed amount of $5,000. The one that would be um shared with Doorchester 4. They felt very certain that we would not
042go over $5,000 for the entire study. So they're just going to be updating this information and they felt like they would be able to do that in a very timely manner. So those are the two agreements. Question. Um, did DD4 not want to share the cost of the second part of the study, the shared tax agreement? Because I see like in one we're sharing the cost of the study and then in the other I think we're paying the cost of the study ourselves. Correct. That is correct that we had approached the consultants about doing an add-on as a separate agreement to do revenue sharing. um we were the ones who brought that request to them um to DD4 to the consult to the consultants. Um, I guess I mean I'm not sure either way. Um,
043but I from my understanding like when DD4 brought it to us, they wanted us to look into the study and we agreed, but part of that conversation I felt like was we agreed as long as this was also part of the study. We were going to share the cost. And now it seems like they want to share the cost of the part of the study that they feel most benefits them, but not share the cost of the part of the study that they don't want to. participate in even though they publicly stated multiple times that they are in favor of a shared tax agreement. So, it's just a little frustrating for me to see that they're willing to share the cost of one and not the other. So, I I digress. I was just clarifying.
044Well, I will say I don't want to um overstep, but I I didn't approach Doorchester for um about sharing this because we asked for this as an add-on for Doorchester 2 because it seemed like it was something, as you said, that Doorchester 2 wanted. Well, that definitely helps. Thank you. So, in terms of the uh revenue sharing study, um our exposure would be the full $5,000. Yes. And then not to exceed and then updating the previous study that was done in 2003, our share of it would be $2,500 potentially. Yes, sir. And it goes up um in the uh in the retentive criticism category. I I think in paragraph 4 with compensation, I think they want to say commensurate and not commiserate with. Um you are correct. I'm just weird that way. Um that was
045not hopefully that was not a 40 and slip. Oh gracious. Yes. Thank you for catching that. But breaking breaking the ice there for for me and I'll just just ask the question. Um my understanding from the 2003 study was that there was nothing in there that said you should think about consolidating. Period. There is nothing in there that says you really should think about consolidating from the 2003 study. And so fast forward now to 2025. Um to my knowledge, no one's come forward with anything that says you should think about consolidating. As a matter of fact, the response from at least DD4 community was not no but heck no. So, um I don't know whether this is a an effective use of our money just yet. I would like to understand um you know what's
046going to happen with the legislature this time around as well as any feedback we get from uh the county council. they they seemed pretty understanding of the fact that we all acknowledge that the way we're funding education isn't going to work and we've got to come up with some answers. So, you know, we may be able to find some things there. U but that's my perspective on that. Are we interested in speaking with DD4 and seeing if they would be willing to um share the cost of the tax revenue portion of the study? I think for me just I can only speak for myself. I was under the impression you know they asked for this study. I think it's beneficial for all parties to know what the what would happen with consolidation, but I think
047the other side of that coin was we also based on conversations they've had, we need sustainable funding mechanisms and we wanted to look into the impact of a shared tax agreement. And so I thought it was going to be just one thing that we were going to share the cost of, which is kind of why I supported spending that money to find out where we stand with all the issues. I have a little bit harder time justifying the cost of the one versus the other, if that makes sense. Um, I'm certainly willing to reach out with them and reach out to them and ask them if they would be willing to um include that portion of it and just do one have one study that, you know, looks at both things um both options. As
048far as um the study that was done in 2003, I agree with what you're saying, Mr. Lee, but I do think I mean that's 22 years ago. So, I think having updated information would be, you know, relevant and helpful when we're trying to look forward. Um, as you said earlier, I mean, sustainable funding is definitely a concern and a challenge here. And so I think having the results of a current study would be helpful when we are trying to make plans, advocate to our um legislators, um have discussions with county council, just everyone involved. Um because I think from a lot of the conversations I've had, this is a possible solution in their mind. And um it's very difficult to say one way or the other truthfully if it is because we're based we are
049we have facts from 2003 um and nothing more current than that. You know they're saying with the potential growth that we're going to see in this county especially in the upper part of the county the DD4 you know area um that we could potentially benefit. And so I think the study would take some of that into account. And so, um, I think the information would be very helpful for us to have. And so, I I'd echo, um, what you're saying, Dr. Riley, for sure. I I think it would be beneficial. Um, one one interesting piece would be, especially talking about the revenue share portion of it. I I would assume any consultant that is going to come in worth their salt is going to need some sort of level of access, some sort of we'll
050say cooperation with all of the entities um that are being examined. And so it'd be interesting kind of to Miss Bait's point whether DD4 would even be open to that conversation of of revenue sharing because I I echo that sentiment very early on. it it sounded like from their side revenue sharing was an open possibility. were open to that to kind of stop the the discussion of consolidation which I think for the most part we agreed with but now it feels like and again without having spoken with them directly it it feels like there's some push back on the revenue share um you know this this is mine don't don't come touch it so you know how we move forward with that I I think we need to be a little bit strategic as a
051board. Um, I I think it probably makes sense, and again, it's up to the board. I would say from the board level, I would say we we probably needed to to craft some sort of letter or actual documentation to them rather than than just kind of a oneoff conversation. Probably makes sense. Yeah, I I agree with that fully. So at this time then um you know we don't have to take any action on this at this time. what we could do is work on um a a letter um to the DD4 board kind of putting out there um our stance and what information we think would be important and that um you know we feel like as part of the study um we need because I agree with what you're saying when the last the
052discussions we have had with them about consolidation have been that obviously they're not in favor of it but they would be open to alternatives and so that's really what we would be asking for just a consideration of potential alternatives. Madam Chairman, I would move that we table both of these in lie of sending a letter uh to DD4 explaining what you know our position is and uh whether they're interested in proceeding. Second. Um yes, can you please repeat that motion, Mr. Lee? I sure hope this is recorded. I can never Oh, sorry. No, I I move that we table the discussion on these two uh potential consultant agreements and send a letter to DD4 outlining what our interests are and what our goals are and evaluate their response. Great. Thank you very much. Motion made
053by Mr. Lee, seconded by Miss Bates. Any further discussion or questions? Okay. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. I guess. Yeah. Um I tell you what, why don't we do a Oh, no. It's in there. It's in there. Motion to table the discussion. Um and did you get that second part, Wanda, about sending the letter as well? Y up and she's going to kind of go over those and uh what that what that means. And so before we go into those bids. So, Miss Beignet. Okay. Um thank you. Um our procurement team worked with our facilities team. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um to work on solicitations um there's a difference between an invitation for bid where the um specs are received um sent out to various vendors and they submit their proposals and
054it's um based on a bid. So lowest bid wins in that um form of um procurement. And then for a request for proposal cost is not the only factor. Um so technic so this would be for professional services or if it's a multi-year contract um there is an evaluation committee that is that meets they rank the vendors um and it's again not just on costs there are many other and the proposal ranked as most advantageous is presented from the committee to Mr. to the board um for acceptance. So, we have a couple of um invitation for bids and then we have some proposals that we would like to present to tonight for the board. Um um so the first one, oh sorry Wanda, you didn't have that one, but for I guess for us to
055vote on I think we're going to vote on these separately. So, the first contract um the award would be for the Windsor Hill School uh partial roof replacement and exterior wall renovation. And this is um this was um invitation for bid. So, lowest bidder. That information was uploaded into executive content for the board. Um we'd like to award that and these are coming from referendum dollars. All right, board members. At this time, I would ask for a motion to approve the award of the contract for roofing at Windsor Hill Elementary School as presented. Motion made by Mr. Farnsworth, seconded by Miss Bates. Any questions or discussion? Okay, hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Okay. The next um is an award for a contract. Same um situation.
056Um it was a um a bid and the lowest bidder um the information was uploaded into your packet. And this is going to be for um roofing at I'm sorry, I think that says Windsor Hill again. Um, that should be Knightsville Elementary School. All right. So, board members, at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the award of the contract for roofing at Nightsville Elementary School as presented in your packets. And we are getting that corrected. Nightsville. Oh, motion made by Miss King. And I do have a question after we get a second. Motion made by Mr. Farnsworth, seconded by Miss Bates. Go ahead. Does that So when we go into the fencing contract as far as um pricing moving forward, does that lock in certain pricing for the next year within
057that amount? So this allows us to do com competition between these two vendors um for we hope less than market value of fencing. um there's not a certain price point since um cost was not the only factor in this RFP for these two vendors so that we could have multiple vendors over multi-year. For instance, if if we went out to a school and we said, "Hey, we need 100 ft of fencing at this school." That that's not included in this price. We would send the um specs to both of them and have them basically send us their best quote so that we would go with the lowest of the two between these two vendors. Did I say that right, Tony? Did I say that correctly? Okay. Looking at Ashley, too. Yes. So, I apologize for
058for a possibly stupid question. What are we paying for here? This is for us to have um based on so the price that we have in there is that the estimated one-year cost for year one is um we used prior year's information just to kind of extrapolate out based on their best costs that they received. So this really is or the RFP this really isn't an award of a specific contract. This is forming uh preferred vendors. Yes. Okay. under these terms and conditions and as work comes up they will compete for that in the form of work orders or something to that effect. So that that makes more sense. So we're we're not actually we're not paying out this amount of money to those companies up front. No, that was just an estimate based on
059prior year what we've spent with them. Right. But this establishes a a potential one-year with four four one-year renewals relationship with these companies uh to provide our fencing installation and repairs as needed theoretically. And I know this is ridiculous. We never have a need for fencing installation or anything. We would pay out nothing. Correct. That is correct. Yes, sir. It's not a job. And these funds would come from where? For these kinds of things. this if it would come out of operating expenses um out of operations and maintenance and some of could be for our capital projects that we have going on. This wasn't part of any referendum project that we were talking about right now in the near future. Thank you. Yeah. And again, just going back to our facilities visits, I I don't
060know that we have a ton of fencing needs. I didn't see as many this year as as we've had in previous years. I was just mistaken. I thought this was the amount that we're paying out to these companies, which it is not. So, good question. Good to go. Thank you, Mr. Lee knew what he was talking about. You're in my wheelhouse. All right. Any other discussion or questions? All right. Then hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor. one absent. Okay, that moves we move on to now our FJ or excuse me 7J which would be our award award of a contract for food services. And so I'll turn that over. We have uh Mr. Kenneth Frell, chief operations officer. And so he's going to talk a little bit about
061the process. And so Mr. Frell, good evening. Good evening. Yes, the selection committee um met over several weeks and I'd like to thank the selection committee because it was a it was a uh interesting process. Um as you can see um through the process for the RFP um the district u had to work with the state and get guidance from the state um to get the rubric which is on your right there that kind of guided us through the process. Um then we started off with uh the six vendors attended a pre-posal conference through schools that walked around the schools, went through the lunches of the high schools and the different levels um to see um how we do things and how things operate. Uh the same six vendors then submitted official RFP proposals. The
062selection committee went through those proposals. As you can see, the uh committee uh was made up of district leadership, four of us, and then school principles, one at each level. Next, um and then after that, we had the um six vendors come in and do a presentation. Um and then also we had a little food tasting. We brought some students in and they they brought in their best muscle chicken reimburseable meal. Um and really uh the kids uh love the the panel. They love the the opportunity to provide feedback and uh saw a lot of lot of interesting recipes, you know, very good. Um and then uh the completed score sheets um were sent to the state for approval. Um and then we have now recommended to Mr. Dhy the u the vendor which we'd
063like to go with. Any questions? And this is a a one-year contract with option for four additional as well. So it's not we're it's not a fiveyear outright. So it's one year at a time. So Mr. Frell, one question, a couple things. Um, so again, this is going this uh this proposal is going to include the instructional day instructional day meal service for breakfast and lunch as well as snacks, special programming meals, which would include summer feeding. Correct. Um, and then also allocart sales and then catering. Correct. Correct. Okay. Um, Madam Chair, I would just ask if if the board would be so inclined to move that into executive session for contractual reasons to discuss an executive session for this particular RFP. Second Um, yeah, I would I would actually I'd like to make a
064motion to tableem J. Was that under 7J? Award of contract for food services. Um until such a time, the board can have an executive session to discuss contractual matters for that RFP. All right, we have a motion by Mr. Farnsworth. Do we have a second? I will second for the purpose of being able to have a little discussion. All right, thank you, Mr. Lee. I have a question, too. Okay, we have Go ahead. We have discussion and question. My I have a question for y'all. Is this time sensitive? Because I mean obviously we have summer coming up. We have a transition period if that's going to happen or not happen. I just I feel like people need to know if they have jobs all the different things. I don't know. Yes, you're right. Is it
065time sensitive? Can it wait till June 9th or whatever? And you know, forgive us for bringing it this late, but it took a while for the state to get us the rubric and and Ashley worked through that with the state and the procurement. So uh that's why we are we are now but yes we are time sensitive with summer fast approaching and summer meals and and the new year starting in July. So the the intent to award desire to post that on Tuesday I take it this is on the critical path. Yes sir. Okay. And can it be moved? Anything could be moved. It's just gonna I would say this. If we need to, Mr. We could have a special session um if we if we need to next week if that's what a called
066meeting. Yes. If if needed. Yeah. I mean this has been in our packet. I I and I I guess my question is unless there's like something specific that a board member feels needs to be discussed. Yeah, I I'm I'm not trying to seem like I'm not a me. I will do whatever the board wants to do. Uh but I I think there are some discussion items that that need to happen in executive session because they're contractual in nature. Well, out of respect for the sense of urgency, I would move that we amend the agenda to include this so that we can try and get to this tonight, assuming that it's nothing that uh blows the whole thing out of the water. I will remove my motion to table. There you go. So, so Mr. Farnsworth
067has removed his motion to table the vote um on the contract food services. Mr. Lee, I move we amend the agenda to add to our discussion in executive session uh potential contractual matters associated with the food services RFP. I will second that and and I will apologize because I really when I looked at our agenda I thought we had this in our executive session ear or else I would have brought that up earlier. So I apologize there and for discussion I just like to notate that I do think it is emergent and necessary because we do have a time constraint that we need to meet. So all right so at this time we have a motion from Mr. Lee and a second from Mr. Farnsworth to amend the agenda to add an executive session to
068discuss the contractual matter of the award the contract for food services. Um and if there is no further discussion or questions then at this time we will um call for the vote for that and seconded by Mr. Barnesworth. Motion made by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Farnsworth. All right. And the motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. All right. Okay. Okay, the next item we have on our agenda is uh item 7K, which is the facilities update on the Somerville High School gymnasium. And um Mr. Souls is provide a little bit of update. We have a little bit of movement on that, working uh with our architect. And uh so Mr. Souls, good evening. We've been meeting with the architect and this construction manager almost every week for the past three weeks, and we've we've
069got a very good concept hammered out now. uh at approximately 32,000 square feet with 3,410 spectator seats in the bleachers. Uh hopefully by the end of next week, we will have a schematic design that we can present and and get that uploaded to OSF for uh for their approval so we can get moving forward with some construction documents. Short and sweet. Nothing to vote on here. Thank you, Mr. SS. We appreciate that. And now we have uh we'll go to item 7L, personnel report. And uh you have your personnel report there in your packet. Um if there's any questions there on personnel. All right, board members, are we okay with proceeding with the vote in open session? Okay. So if so, then at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the personnel
070recommendations as presented in our packet. All right. Motion made by Miss Bates, seconded by Miss King. Any discussion or questions? Okay. Sorry. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Okay, that moves to our last item on the superintendent's report. Uh, student enrollment recommendations. We have two there for the board that's in their board packet. So, asking for approval or if we need to go to exact session for right board members, are you okay with proceeding with this in open session? All right. So at this time I would ask for a motion to approve the student enrollment recommendations as presented. So moved. Motion made by Miss Bates. Seconded by Mr. Lee. Any questions or discussion? All right. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six
071in favor, one absent. And that wraps up our superintendent report. Dr. Wimberly. Great. Thank you so much, Mr. Dhy. All right. The next item on our agenda are public comments on non-aggenda items. And this evening we have one, Mr. Jason Brockert. take it away. Okay. Well, first off, thank you for finally sitting down with us to discuss what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. I'd hope to hear more about our discussion on Friday in tonight's meeting. Though I know it would seem as short notice since we met this past Friday. I'll remind you that Friday will be one year from the day the world lost Julian Brocker. One year. It was 189 days ago that I first came back to this podium to share Julian's story and asked for my time
072limit to be removed so I can actually talk about the whole thing. Still not have that granted even tonight. This is not short notice. 78 hours ago, we had this discussion. This is not short notice. A year, 189 days. This is not short notice. I would like to publicly ask that DD2 host a vigil this Friday, May 23rd. The vigil would not be for just Julian. The vigil would be for all of the ones that we've already lost and more importantly for the ones that we are trying not to lose. I understand you worry that a vigil might inadvertently give someone the wrong idea. the wrong idea. It's natural reaction to want to protect those who are vulnerable. However, the overwhelming evidence and consensus among mental health professionals and suicide prevention experts show that openly
073acknowledging and grieving loss and uniting against bullying actually has the opposite effect for the vast majority of people. It breaks the silence and stigma. Teen suicide often thrives in secrecy and shame. Vigils bring those issues into the light. It fosters connection and support for those who are grieving the loss of someone to suicide or who have been affected by bullying. A vigil provides a space to connect with others who understand their pain. This sense of community and shared experience is incredibly important for healing and can reduce feelings of isolation, a major factor in suicidal ideiations. It raises awareness and normalizes seeking help. vigils can include information about mental health resources, crisis lines, and ways to report bullying. The district outreach, the sorry, the direct outreach can empower individuals to seek help for themselves or for
074others. It honors the lives and validates their struggles. It honors the lives that we've lost and validates their struggles. Let me say that again. Ignoring these issues does not make them go away. A vigil is a way to remember those we've lost and to validate the pain and trauma caused by bullying. The very rare instances are heavily outweighed by the widespread positive impact. While it's true that incredibly small number of cases a vulnerable individual might misinterpret the intention, that's not what's going to happen. Again, if you see this as short notice on my part, I'm reminding you that one year ago, 365 days ago, this coming Friday is when we lost our son due at least in part to the school's inaction about bullying. I would like for you all to speak up for everyone
075as I speak up for Julian. Three minutes on the dot. Thank you, Mr. Brockert. All right, the next item on our agenda is our executive session. So at this time, I would ask for a motion to convene into executive session for the purpose of contractual negotiations regarding land acquisition as well as the food services contract. So moved. Right. Motion made by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Farnsworth. Any discussion? Okay. hearing. Now we will call for the vote. Yes, Mr. Farnsworth. Okay, thank you. She's going to change the language. She said popping up. There it is. All right. And the motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. We are in executive session and we will return. All right, board members, at this time I would ask for a motion to return to open session. So moved.
076Motion made by Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Guthrie. Any discussion? Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Everyone motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Okay, we are back in open session at this time. I would ask for any motions from action required from our executive session. Madame Chair, I make a motion to grant the superintendent the right to negotiate and enter into the land acquisition acquisition contract with the specifications discussed in executive session. All right. Motion made by Miss Bates. Do I have a second? Seconded by Mr. Farnsworth. Any questions or discussion? So, very briefly, and and I just want for the two people that will watch this video at some point in the future, um I I do think it's important to note, um when we talk about the school board and
077and the district always looking at our options, with growth coming to our community, it is non-stop. We heard a a number the other day, 250,000 people that are going to come into the tri county area over the next 15 years. And so our job is is to continue to look at ways to um build and and acquire land and continue our facility plans uh well into the future, generations into the future. Um so again, so just want to say that that I applaud our board. I applaud our district. It's a lot of work. Um thank you for for putting that work in um to get us good options on the table that will help move us forward. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Farnsworth. Any other discussion or questions? Okay, hearing none, we will call for
078the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. Right. Any other motions at this time? I move that we uh approve the award for contract food services that's been presented. All right. Motion made by Mr. Lee to approve the food contract award as presented in our packet. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Miss King. Any questions or discussion? All right. Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. All right. And at this time, I would ask for a motion to adjurnn. Or we could stay. Motion made by Miss Bates. Do I have a second? Seconded by Mr. Lee. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, we will call for the vote. Unless you all want to be here. It's been fun. It has been fun. All right.
079And the motion carries. Six in favor, one absent. We are adjourned.