[11:07] [Captioner present]
[15:21] Chair Jenkins: Good evening.
[15:23] I call the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board
[15:26] of education meeting to order.
[15:28] The first item on the agenda.
[15:29] May I get a motion to approve the agenda.
[15:31] >> So move.
[15:34] Chair Jenkins: I have a motion from Vicky
[15:36] and a second from Meredith.
[15:38] All those in favor say aye.
[15:40] [Members voting]
[15:41] Chair Jenkins: May I get a motion
[15:42] to go into closed session for the purpose
[15:44] as stated on the agenda.
[15:46] >> So move.
[15:48] Chair Jenkins: I have a motion from Barb
[15:51] and a second from Vicky.
[15:52] All those in favor say aye.
[15:55] [Members voting]
[15:56] Chair Jenkins: Well return to 7:00 as close as possible.
[15:59] Thank you.
[16:05] --We'll return to 7:00 as close As possible.
[16:23] Thank you.
[1:16:32] Chair Jenkins: To amend the agenda.
[1:16:33] I'll entertain that motion.
[1:16:35] Go ahead Barb.
[1:16:37] >> I move that we move to amend the agenda to include items six
[1:16:42] C, gestion of our district joining some multidistrict
[1:16:46] litigation against social media companies.
[1:16:49] Chair Jenkins: I have a motion from Barb.
[1:16:51] Can I get a second?
[1:16:53] A second from George.
[1:16:54] All those in favor of amending our agenda to include item six
[1:16:59] C as Barb stated say I. voting]
[1:17:03] Chair Jenkins: The agenda has been amended.
[1:17:06] All right.
[1:17:12] So our next item on the agenda is public comment.
[1:17:17] I'm looking to Miss Holloway to see.
[1:17:21] Okay, thank you.
[1:17:24] Do you need to adjust that?
[1:17:28] Yeah we can.
[1:17:29] It's a very quiet meeting.
[1:17:31] Do you know how to do it?
[1:17:42] Um the board of the board appreciates and encourages
[1:17:44] public comment.
[1:17:45] Board members will listen to the comments
[1:17:48] and may ask or make clarifying questions or comments
[1:17:50] but there will be no general discussion
[1:17:52] related to the public comments.
[1:17:54] Comments should relate to the education and safety of students
[1:17:56] or the operation of the school system.
[1:17:58] The public time comment times for discussion
[1:18:01] of educational issues or the operation of the Chapel
[1:18:05] Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
[1:18:06] Public comment is not intended for disruptive behavior.
[1:18:09] Speakers may offer criticism of the school
[1:18:11] operation and programs as well as criticism of board members
[1:18:14] and administrators and their official capacity
[1:18:16] however the board will not allow personal attacks,
[1:18:18] seem abusive or definitively language will not be tolerated.
[1:18:22] Since we have just a few speakers tonight,
[1:18:25] speakers will have up to three minutes for their comment.
[1:18:27] When you're recognized, please come forward, state your name
[1:18:30] and if you're speaking for an organization,
[1:18:32] please identify the name of the organization.
[1:18:34] It doesn't look like we have any of our recognized
[1:18:37] teachers organizations, city or student groups,
[1:18:39] so we'll go ahead and start with anyone
[1:18:41] who signed up with advance and thank you Mr. Mullen,
[1:18:44] it looks like you are ready to go.
[1:18:46] >> Hi.
[1:18:47] I'm Rob Mullen.
[1:18:48] I spoke once before in the spring of the year.
[1:18:52] My wife and I have two children in the Mandarin dual language
[1:18:57] pathway.
[1:18:57] I cannot say all I want to say now but I can say this:
[1:19:03] I listened live online to the previous board meeting and heard
[1:19:07] you vote to divide the two Mandarin pathways.
[1:19:11] You had hinted at your leanings since late February early March,
[1:19:16] so that was no surprise.
[1:19:19] I noted also the way you relied on the school camp
[1:19:23] report prepared by folks from NC state.
[1:19:26] That too was no surprise.
[1:19:28] You paid for the report and said its parameters.
[1:19:32] You got what you paid for.
[1:19:35] You own it.
[1:19:36] What did surprise me was when I had the chance to read your lead
[1:19:42] fleshed teacher Shawna Catlett's letter to you
[1:19:45] and saw that you had cherry picked her words
[1:19:47] that the Mandarin World language pathway
[1:19:49] would have difficulty standing on its own while
[1:19:53] ignoring her larger point.
[1:19:55] Clearly stated that the dual language and world language
[1:19:59] pathways should remain together.
[1:20:02] What appalled me was that you, having made many commitments
[1:20:10] to maintain the two pathways, seemed
[1:20:14] so ready to throw the Mandarin world language pathway
[1:20:17] under the bus.
[1:20:19] Thankfully some of you remembered your commitments,
[1:20:24] so the world language pathway will go on for the time being
[1:20:27] in a form yet to be determined.
[1:20:32] In view of the ongoing chaos that the board has created
[1:20:37] over the past year, and the harm is inflicted, supposedly
[1:20:43] in the name of fairness, but perhaps
[1:20:45] more accurately in an attempt to create plausible deniability
[1:20:49] and tick all the legal boxes, I strongly
[1:20:53] suggest that you reconsider your vote
[1:20:56] to separate the two pathways and the subsequent votes
[1:21:00] to house them in separate schools.
[1:21:02] You have reversed yourselves before and you can do so again.
[1:21:08] If that creates a strain on the district administration,
[1:21:12] then so be it.
[1:21:14] That's what we pay all of you for.
[1:21:16] Thank you.
[1:21:28] >> Thank you members of the board.
[1:21:30] My name is Calvin.
[1:21:32] I have a kindergartner at Glenwood in the dual language
[1:21:35] program.
[1:21:36] I don't have prepared remarks tonight.
[1:21:39] I just wanted to express to you how important it
[1:21:44] is to the many parents at Glenwood who
[1:21:48] have been part of this process since January February
[1:21:52] that promises are kept to the parents of the world language
[1:21:58] students.
[1:22:01] I think that could be lots of different things.
[1:22:05] I believe that the message from the Glenwood community
[1:22:08] has always been consistently that we want to work together
[1:22:11] to figure out a solution that works
[1:22:14] for our community and the district as a whole.
[1:22:19] Our community are the experts in the dual language
[1:22:23] and the Mandarin world language pathways.
[1:22:25] We know how they can work.
[1:22:27] We know how they can survive and thrive.
[1:22:31] Certainly at Glenwood but also at the new Environments.
[1:22:35] We want to make sure that those pathways --
[1:22:42] the board has voted to split them,
[1:22:43] we want to make sure that those pathways will continue
[1:22:46] to provide opportunities for students in the school district.
[1:22:52] And whether that is in the current form as part of steam
[1:23:01] squared or and some new form that
[1:23:04] honors the experiences and the cohorts of the children
[1:23:10] that are currently in the World language pathway.
[1:23:13] That's very important to us.
[1:23:16] I look forward to having Glenwood
[1:23:19] double Dutch current Glenwood community to continue
[1:23:22] to be at board meetings, continue
[1:23:27] to meet with the board to make sure there's
[1:23:30] a way forward for all of us.
[1:23:31] Thank you.
[1:23:32] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[1:23:35] Kevin are you going to speak tonight?
[1:23:37] Okay.
[1:23:41] >> (Inaudible)
[1:23:44] Chair Jenkins: It's fine.
[1:23:45] We don't have a work session so all public comments are now.
[1:23:48] If it was a work session, then you
[1:23:50] would speak before the work session.
[1:23:52] >> I understand.
[1:23:53] Thank you.
[1:23:54] My name is Kevin Argabright.
[1:23:56] My comment was more of a question on agenda item
[1:24:00] around the rights for students and parents.
[1:24:03] You have a reading where you're amending it, adding
[1:24:07] a statement that is in order to request that students be not
[1:24:13] included in the list of information
[1:24:15] given to military recruiters and higher education institutions
[1:24:18] that they have to submit that in writing to the guidance
[1:24:24] counselor or superintendent.
[1:24:26] I was wondering if you could provide clarification
[1:24:29] as to why that right is being separated out
[1:24:34] in isolated with that because none
[1:24:36] of the other things, such as asking to amend your student
[1:24:41] records require you to submit that in writing
[1:24:43] and I personally believe there should
[1:24:46] be a consistency but the lowest barrier to entry
[1:24:52] for removing yourself from military recruiter scope.
[1:24:57] Thank you.
[1:25:01] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[1:25:03] Meredith did you want to ask a clarifying question?
[1:25:06] >> I wanted to see.
[1:25:08] Even wanted to mention why that was.
[1:25:10] I just wanted to wonder if you could reiterate that?
[1:25:13] Chair Jenkins: Microphone.
[1:25:16] >> There are a couple of statutes that require the school
[1:25:19] system to provide information to military recruiters.
[1:25:24] One is the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
[1:25:30] which states that any school system receiving federal funds
[1:25:33] must upon the request of a military recruiter,
[1:25:35] provide name address and telephone
[1:25:37] number of each student.
[1:25:39] And then there's another statute that requires schools
[1:25:42] provide also email addresses for students.
[1:25:46] The military recruiters are supposed to be requesting
[1:25:50] or directing their efforts at students who are 17 or older
[1:25:54] or 11th grade or higher.
[1:25:56] But they are allowed to request the information of students
[1:25:59] who are younger.
[1:26:01] And the statute specifically states
[1:26:03] that we are required to notify parents that they can opt out.
[1:26:11] So the law is that you have to provide it
[1:26:13] unless parents opt out.
[1:26:14] And opt in is not permitted and then
[1:26:17] there's a state statute as well that
[1:26:19] says that any school system that provides access
[1:26:23] for educational or like college fairs,
[1:26:27] anything like that, that you have
[1:26:29] to provide the same access to military recruiters
[1:26:31] as you do to colleges or other employers, job fairs, etc.
[1:26:35] Chair Jenkins: Thank you Eva.
[1:26:40] I mean, you still have time for your public comment.
[1:26:43] If you want to continue.
[1:26:45] >> Hearing all that, it didn't address the concern that I had
[1:26:50] because the state statute said that you have to make those opt
[1:26:54] out requests in writing, understood.
[1:26:56] But the right as it's written right now
[1:27:00] is already an opt out system, so once again, it's
[1:27:03] just adding the opt out via writing to specific people.
[1:27:08] So understanding why that is.
[1:27:11] >> I think if the board wants to pull it from --
[1:27:16] Chair Jenkins: We can do that.
[1:27:18] If there's still questions.
[1:27:19] Thank you Eva.
[1:27:22] Any other community members wishing to make public comment?
[1:27:26] Go ahead and step forward, make sure you state your name, first
[1:27:31] and last name.
[1:27:32] We do need it for the minutes.
[1:27:34] >> My name is Joe Irick and I'm the mother of a student
[1:27:39] at Victor Hill Elementary and Victor Hill Middle.
[1:27:41] I think we all know that we've had a bus disaster.
[1:27:43] My sixth grader was one of hundreds of kids who had no bus
[1:27:48] and for my family, this was an inconvenience
[1:27:51] because my work is flexible and I could drive a middle Schooler
[1:27:55] to school for two weeks.
[1:27:56] But for some families in our community
[1:28:00] who are hourly wage workers or who do not have access to a car,
[1:28:05] this is a disaster.
[1:28:07] This is not an inconvenience.
[1:28:08] And so, I know that Mr. Stewart and others have been working
[1:28:13] very hard on trying to get this straightened out
[1:28:15] but this is an equity issue.
[1:28:18] This cannot happen.
[1:28:19] We can do better than this.
[1:28:22] Our students have to be able to get to school, all of them,
[1:28:26] regardless of their family's ability
[1:28:28] to drive them in the morning.
[1:28:31] And certainly at McDougall, there are a lot of students --
[1:28:41] [NO AUDIO]
[1:30:23] Chair Jenkins: Anyone else?
[1:30:24] All right.
[1:30:25] Thank you everyone.
[1:30:27] Board members, are we open to a motion to amend our agenda again
[1:30:33] and move consent item --
[1:30:36] I just wrote it down -- five C, recommendation for approval
[1:30:41] of first reading of minor changing to policy code 4700
[1:30:45] student records down to discussion and action.
[1:30:47] It will be item six D. Is everyone good with that?
[1:30:53] Okay, we've got a motion.
[1:30:55] Sounds like Barb is seconding.
[1:30:57] All those in favor say aye
[1:31:00] [Members voting]
[1:31:01] Chair Jenkins: So it'll be item six
[1:31:02] D. All right, our next item on the agenda
[1:31:05] is consent, board members may I have a motion to approve
[1:31:09] our consent agenda as amended?
[1:31:11] >> So move.
[1:31:14] Chair Jenkins: I've got a motion from Meredith
[1:31:16] and a second please.
[1:31:17] Second from Vicky.
[1:31:18] All those in favor say aye.
[1:31:21] [Members voting]
[1:31:22] Chair Jenkins: Any opposed?
[1:31:23] Okay.
[1:31:24] Next is discussion and action and our first item
[1:31:29] is recommendation for approval first reading for policy code
[1:31:34] 3460 graduation requirements.
[1:31:48] >> (Inaudible)
[1:31:49] Chair Jenkins: You turned it off.
[1:31:50] There you go.
[1:31:51] >> All right, I am Alicia Curtis executive director for secondary
[1:31:57] instruction and academic program.
[1:31:59] Hi Rebecca Atkins our director of programing.
[1:32:01] A brief overview of policy 3460 and our recommendations
[1:32:05] for revision.
[1:32:07] We last revised policy 3460 prior
[1:32:10] to block schedule implementation at the High school.
[1:32:14] So looking at this, we need to update
[1:32:17] it to reflect a couple of changes in the number of courses
[1:32:21] students take and additionally, with graduation which was not
[1:32:25] necessarily on the table before transitioning to a block
[1:32:28] schedule.
[1:32:28] So you have in front of you the recommended changes,
[1:32:32] one of which removes graduation requirements which were listed
[1:32:36] in tables which were not in addition to the state
[1:32:40] requirement for graduation or state requirements
[1:32:42] for graduation, which are listed in graduation policy 004
[1:32:46] by the state.
[1:32:48] And that recommendation was made at the May Policy Committee
[1:32:51] meeting.
[1:32:52] Additionally, we added language in section C adjusting
[1:32:55] the course load requirements to meet block schedule
[1:32:58] and then added language in section D
[1:33:00] for special circumstances regarding graduation
[1:33:03] and defining an saying that major graduation requirements.
[1:33:07] We are h happy to answer any questions
[1:33:11] or provide any clarity on items that you may need.
[1:33:14] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[1:33:16] Board members, do you have any questions about this policy
[1:33:18] change?
[1:33:19] Go ahead Barb.
[1:33:22] >> Thank you Miss Curtis.
[1:33:25] I find see one, what were saying students are generally required
[1:33:30] to be enrolled in eight courses or six courses in a study period
[1:33:34] each semester A confusing sentence because it's not
[1:33:40] each semester.
[1:33:41] It's four?
[1:33:45] >> We could add some punctuation and or tighten up the language
[1:33:50] so it's less confusing for six courses per year and two study
[1:33:58] halls if they choose that route.
[1:34:04] Vice-Chair Fedders: Yeah.
[1:34:06] >> And I think you said this and I missed it but what was
[1:34:08] the rationale behind deleting all the graduation requirements?
[1:34:12] >> The policy committee discussion in May felt that it
[1:34:16] was overkill having the -- all the tables listed since they do
[1:34:20] not differentiate in our district from the state
[1:34:22] graduation requirements that are linked in graduation policy 004.
[1:34:26] >> I can speak to that as well because I think that was partly
[1:34:30] my recommendation.
[1:34:31] Originally, there were state graduation minimums
[1:34:34] and then Chapel Hill had its own in addition,
[1:34:37] but a couple of years ago the legislature
[1:34:40] passed the requirement that you could
[1:34:41] no longer have any additions.
[1:34:42] The state sets it and so it's no longer your policy
[1:34:45] and it was every time the state made a change,
[1:34:48] you would have to come back and make your change your policy
[1:34:50] even though it's nothing that you decided.
[1:34:52] So I think there's still set forth in your handbook
[1:34:55] and so forth but it didn't make sense
[1:34:58] to reproduce the whole state policy and your policy
[1:35:00] now that you have no control over it.
[1:35:03] >> So if a parent wants to know what their kid has to do
[1:35:07] to graduate, where do they get that information?
[1:35:09] I guess then?
[1:35:11] >> It's in the high school course book.
[1:35:16] And on the state website.
[1:35:18] We can add it to the counseling website for high school easily
[1:35:21] but it's in the high school course book.
[1:35:29] Chair Jenkins: Any other questions?
[1:35:33] Go ahead Vicki permit
[1:35:36] >> I want to follow up with Barr for a second.
[1:35:38] Basically what the state did is take away and say you
[1:35:41] guys don't get to have your own requirements.
[1:35:42] It's ours and ours alone.
[1:35:44] Vice-Chair Fedders: I guess if I'm just random parent
[1:35:48] of a sixth grader and I want to know,
[1:35:50] you're not going to look --
[1:35:52] I just want it to be somewhere easy to find for everybody.
[1:35:56] What else did you say Miss Atkins?
[1:35:58] You said it could be the high school course book?
[1:36:01] >> I don't mind adding it to the school counseling website.
[1:36:05] I certainly would it will certainly fit quite well.
[1:36:08] I always wonder what people would Google
[1:36:10] and if they see CC s graduation requirements,
[1:36:13] and we want to make sense what they found.
[1:36:15] >> That makes sense.
[1:36:18] Chair Jenkins: Any other questions or comments?
[1:36:23] So so are we good with the minor adjustments --
[1:36:28] the clarification, I think we just need to say six per,
[1:36:32] and the study session per semester?
[1:36:35] >> I will edit that this evening.
[1:36:38] Chair Jenkins: That's a minor enough edit
[1:36:41] that we don't need to get a motion
[1:36:42] to approve this as amended.
[1:36:46] >> So move.
[1:36:48] Chair Jenkins: I've got a motion from Barb.
[1:36:51] I've got a second from Meredith.
[1:36:54] Thank you.
[1:36:54] All those in favor say I.
[1:36:58] [Members voting] Any opposed?
[1:36:59] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[1:37:04] Our next item on the agenda -- sorry my computer is item six b.
[1:37:17] Oh that's me.
[1:37:20] Approval of our draft timeline and application
[1:37:23] process to fill our board vacancy.
[1:37:27] Board members, I put together this abstract.
[1:37:34] I used the information and how we've
[1:37:39] done it in this district for the past couple of times.
[1:37:43] I did include the relevant statutes and policies
[1:37:46] in the abstract.
[1:37:48] That kind of governs who could be elected to the board
[1:37:54] in any requirements listed in our policy 2110 and 2115.
[1:38:01] And so, why don't we start by just looking at the timeline
[1:38:08] first.
[1:38:09] Board members, so if we approve the application
[1:38:14] and the timeline tonight, the timeline
[1:38:19] starts with advertising the process
[1:38:21] to fill the board vacancy.
[1:38:24] And so, the application will go out
[1:38:26] and we'll work with our districts communication team
[1:38:29] on getting this information out to the community
[1:38:32] and obviously it'll get posted on our social media
[1:38:35] and everyone in the community will
[1:38:37] be encouraged to post it out.
[1:38:39] That application will be open from September 4th through
[1:38:42] the 14th, with the applications due by September 14th at 12 noon
[1:38:47] because there is an option for people to drop off hard copies
[1:38:50] of the application.
[1:38:52] Although, electronic is obviously preferred
[1:38:55] but we want to make sure people had both options.
[1:38:59] So that's our timeline.
[1:39:01] And then I did put on here --
[1:39:06] I wanted to hold some time for so a potential special meeting
[1:39:09] for the board to review applications and possibly
[1:39:11] conduct interviews of candidates if needed.
[1:39:13] Obviously, we all know more on September 14th in terms
[1:39:17] of the volume of candidates that we have.
[1:39:21] But those are two dates that I put out there as placeholders
[1:39:24] and obviously, we'll work with staff
[1:39:27] to get it advertised and posted, in terms of time and place.
[1:39:34] Here for a special meeting to do that and the timeline has
[1:39:38] an expectation that we will select at our September 17th
[1:39:43] meeting a replacement board member.
[1:39:46] The swearing in, we will determine at a future date.
[1:39:52] Any comments on the timeline from board members?
[1:39:58] Go ahead George.
[1:40:00] >> I don't think I really have a comment on the timeline.
[1:40:03] I just do have some questions about the process after
[1:40:06] the 14th.
[1:40:07] However you're handling that.
[1:40:11] Chair Jenkins: We can go to the application
[1:40:15] and we can talk a little bit more about process two.
[1:40:18] On the second page of the attachment for the abstract,
[1:40:23] is the actual application.
[1:40:25] It does look slightly different maybe from past applications.
[1:40:31] But it gathers demographic -- just basic data,
[1:40:37] demographic information.
[1:40:38] Their name, their information and things like that.
[1:40:41] And then the two questions.
[1:40:44] The first one is the potential --
[1:40:48] the applicant has reviewed the requirements and they made
[1:40:50] the requirements to serve on the Board of Education.
[1:40:53] Because we're doing this process and it's not like the election
[1:40:56] process where you go to the Board of Elections
[1:40:59] and they vet you to make sure you meet the requirements.
[1:41:01] We just need people to make sure that they
[1:41:03] do that step of confirming that they have
[1:41:08] gone through the process of making sure they
[1:41:10] make the requirements.
[1:41:11] And then the second question is on the application
[1:41:15] why do you want to serve on the school board.
[1:41:18] And that's it with the application.
[1:41:19] It provides the information where any applicant can
[1:41:23] return it with the deadline.
[1:41:25] And so that is the whole application.
[1:41:28] Any questions or comments on the application itself?
[1:41:36] Okay.
[1:41:38] So George --
[1:41:43] >> I appreciated the simplicity of the questions.
[1:41:46] Do you qualify and why do you want to be on the board.
[1:41:48] I think that's a great way to start.
[1:41:50] Rather than 25 questions or something.
[1:41:53] Chair Jenkins: Yeah, I think, the first draft for you guys.
[1:41:59] I thought back to my time of other applications I've seen
[1:42:02] and I think that's really all the requirements we have
[1:42:05] to have as board member as we meet the requirements
[1:42:08] and why do we want to serve.
[1:42:10] That was the question that we got
[1:42:12] asked so we want to make sure we kept it simple
[1:42:14] and it wasn't a barrier for anyone
[1:42:16] who might be interested in applying as well.
[1:42:18] >> So my question is then on the 14th or on the 15th
[1:42:23] in the morning, if we have say double digit applicants,
[1:42:27] what's the process then?
[1:42:29] What are you thinking?
[1:42:31] Because we can't obviously call a meeting and then
[1:42:33] interview people if we haven't decided ahead
[1:42:36] of time who to interview and invite them.
[1:42:38] I'm just curious what happens after applications arrive
[1:42:42] on the 14th?
[1:42:43] What are you thinking?
[1:42:45] Chair Jenkins: First thing, we will
[1:42:48] have our staff go through an organize who they are.
[1:42:52] We'll have our special call meeting that's
[1:42:54] going to be up to us how we weed through,
[1:42:58] however we end up with 1 or 1000.
[1:43:01] And so, we will need to decide then
[1:43:04] what that's going to look like.
[1:43:06] I think prescribing a process now
[1:43:09] probably might be a little heavy handed.
[1:43:12] >> You mean during the meeting?
[1:43:14] The special call?
[1:43:16] Because there's a meeting on the 17th, a board member.
[1:43:19] Chair Jenkins: We do.
[1:43:21] >> I know there's a big agenda for that night.
[1:43:24] Chair Jenkins: Yeah and for something like this
[1:43:26] we want to have it as our own thing
[1:43:28] because we might have to workshop our way through how
[1:43:30] we're going to narrow down.
[1:43:32] >> Okay I'm fine.
[1:43:34] I'm just trying to see how this works.
[1:43:38] If we do have a lot of applicants,
[1:43:40] then we would just go through them
[1:43:42] with a special called meeting?
[1:43:44] Chair Jenkins: That's right.
[1:43:47] We'll review all the applications that are there
[1:43:49] and we will determine how we want to whittle it down.
[1:43:54] Obviously it's all going to be in an open double Dutch special
[1:43:57] call but an open meeting. -- special call but an open
[1:44:02] meeting.
[1:44:03] Any narrowing down or voting we might want to do we'll
[1:44:05] do an open session.
[1:44:06] Go ahead Vicki.
[1:44:08] >> Are we possibly open to moving the selection date if we
[1:44:13] need to based on what we have, considering what we know
[1:44:17] we're going to have on our agenda for the 17th?
[1:44:19] So that we don't have to feel pushed
[1:44:21] to have a placement because we know we're fine with six
[1:44:26] if need be.
[1:44:28] Chair Jenkins: Yes.
[1:44:29] We can always amend whatever we need to.
[1:44:31] Go ahead Barb.
[1:44:32] Vice-Chair Fedders: So is your vision then on the 15th or 16th
[1:44:36] where we're sitting and looking at applications?
[1:44:39] >> Potentially.
[1:44:42] Vice-Chair Fedders: We can't do the interview on that same day
[1:44:44] right?
[1:44:45] Because we'll be looking at them all together for the first time.
[1:44:48] Chair Jenkins: That's correct.
[1:44:50] That's why I held two days there for us.
[1:44:52] Vice-Chair Fedders: And when are we
[1:44:53] going to decide what questions we are going to Chair Jenkins:
[1:44:58] In an interview?
[1:44:59] When we narrow it down.
[1:45:00] Vice-Chair Fedders: Okay.
[1:45:01] All right.
[1:45:02] On the same day?
[1:45:04] Chair Jenkins: On the same day.
[1:45:10] I mean, if we wanted to go ahead and amend the timeline and move
[1:45:14] the selection to the October -- what is it fourth?
[1:45:20] It was at the fourth?
[1:45:21] Is it the first?
[1:45:23] I've been typing these days a lot, so it is the first.
[1:45:27] If we want to move it to October 1st, we can,
[1:45:31] to give ourselves some relief.
[1:45:33] And then we could swap out the language
[1:45:36] for the interview process?
[1:45:44] I'm fine with that.
[1:45:48] I wanted to put dates out there so people are applying --
[1:45:54] you know?
[1:45:54] They have enough and they can go ahead and start thinking about
[1:45:57] if I work or I have obligations with my family
[1:45:59] or something like that.
[1:46:02] Or if I might have flexibility with my schedule, then
[1:46:04] maybe I will hold these two dates open.
[1:46:07] That was my only thinking about calling commas dates
[1:46:11] for a special meeting.
[1:46:14] Vice-Chair Fedders: We just say September 17th or October 1st.
[1:46:18] Just to leave ourselves --
[1:46:22] Chair Jenkins: We can.
[1:46:23] Do we want to put two more dates after the 15th and 16th?
[1:46:26] Or are we okay with the 15th and 16th?
[1:46:29] Are we still fine?
[1:46:32] Are people still fine with the 15th and 16th?
[1:46:34] Okay.
[1:46:35] All right.
[1:46:36] So we're going to adjust the timeline to say September 17th
[1:46:43] or October 1st.
[1:46:45] Okay?
[1:46:45] >> Is it possible that we can leave a little wiggle room with
[1:46:50] the 15th and the 16th?
[1:46:51] Because we also know that we're going
[1:46:53] to have to have another hearing that week.
[1:46:57] Chair Jenkins: We do.
[1:47:00] We could do it the week of the 22nd and 23rd?
[1:47:04] We've got a teacher work day on the 21st.
[1:47:13] >> (Inaudible)
[1:47:23] >> I definitely like that you have the ten days to get
[1:47:25] the applications in.
[1:47:26] We just want to know what we're going
[1:47:29] to look at until after that.
[1:47:31] So you've got a good head start.
[1:47:33] But we just can't foresee.
[1:47:36] Chair Jenkins: I'm just trying to see
[1:47:39] and make sure there's no committee meetings on that day
[1:47:41] to.
[1:47:41] We have student success on the 22nd.
[1:47:45] We do not have a board meeting on the 24th.
[1:47:49] >> We wouldn't hold anything on the 21st though right?
[1:47:54] It's Yom Kippur.
[1:47:56] I don't think that'd be a good --
[1:48:00] Chair Jenkins: Yeah, no.
[1:48:03] We could do the 23rd and 24th?
[1:48:07] Everyone -- I just want to make sure?
[1:48:13] Obviously Miss Manning's not here but.
[1:48:18] >> (Inaudible)
[1:48:20] Chair Jenkins: It'll be the next week.
[1:48:22] The 29th.
[1:48:23] Oh, no it's not.
[1:48:25] No, it's a second.
[1:48:27] The second Tuesday.
[1:48:29] Finance is on the eighth, sorry.
[1:48:32] So it's success.
[1:48:36] >> (Inaudible)
[1:48:37] Chair Jenkins: All right so, 23rd and 24th for holding
[1:48:42] for the special call meeting.
[1:48:46] And moving the -- let me get my titles.
[1:48:56] The selection to October 1st.
[1:49:08] >> (Inaudible) correct those other things strike those other
[1:49:11] things
[1:49:13] >> Strike those other things.
[1:49:14] Chair Jenkins: The dates on the process will be the fourth
[1:49:17] through the 14th for the advertising and application
[1:49:20] going out.
[1:49:20] September 14th at 12 noon for the deadline.
[1:49:23] September 23rd and 24th, we're going to hold those
[1:49:27] for a special call meeting of the board to review
[1:49:31] the applications and also possible interviews
[1:49:36] of candidates if needed.
[1:49:38] And October 1st, will be the Board of Education's selection
[1:49:43] of a replacement and the swearing in still TBD.
[1:49:51] Go ahead.
[1:49:53] >> Well the applications be available for the board members
[1:49:57] to review prior to the meeting where we're discussing?
[1:50:00] Chair Jenkins: Because they're doing the 14th.
[1:50:03] >> Because I think that would be better.
[1:50:07] Nobody wants to watch us reviewing each one.
[1:50:09] Chair Jenkins: That's fair.
[1:50:12] I'll work with our clerk to make sure that you guys get
[1:50:14] the whole package of that.
[1:50:16] Go ahead Eva.
[1:50:17] >> Madam chair com I thought it might be helpful for those out
[1:50:21] loud for those that might be applying that those applications
[1:50:25] are not confidential those are public record.
[1:50:27] So that they're Chair Jenkins: Thank you for stating that Eva.
[1:50:35] Board members, do you have everything?
[1:50:38] All the updates?
[1:50:39] Miss Holloway, do you have everything you need?
[1:50:42] Okay.
[1:50:43] I'll work with the team to make sure the communication goes out.
[1:50:48] Okay.
[1:50:49] This is on discussion and action.
[1:50:54] So board members, I'll need a motion to approve the timeline
[1:50:59] as amended in the application --
[1:51:07] >> Go ahead Meredith.
[1:51:08] >> Sorry one more question.
[1:51:10] Can we request that the communication staff comment
[1:51:13] when they put it out, that they put it out
[1:51:14] in multiple languages.
[1:51:16] Chair Jenkins: Everything gets translated
[1:51:18] into all the languages so yeah.
[1:51:21] Good on that?
[1:51:25] Okay.
[1:51:26] So again, this is on discussion and action
[1:51:31] so we'll need a motion to approve the timeline as amended
[1:51:34] and the application
[1:51:35] >> So moved.
[1:51:38] Chair Jenkins: We've got a motion from Barb.
[1:51:40] Can I get a second?
[1:51:41] A second from George.
[1:51:45] All those in favor say aye.
[1:51:46] [Members voting] Any opposed?
[1:51:47] Chair Jenkins: Okay, thank you.
[1:51:53] Our next agenda item is approval of a retainer agreement
[1:52:01] for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
[1:52:03] to join the multi District Social Media litigation
[1:52:05] and we're going to have our board attorney,
[1:52:07] miss Eva assist us with this one.
[1:52:14] >> The proposal before you tonight is whether to join
[1:52:21] as a plaintiff a nationwide lawsuit against social media
[1:52:25] companies.
[1:52:26] The lawsuit is a multidistrict litigation
[1:52:30] against in which all the plaintiffs are school systems.
[1:52:37] The defendants are meta, snap Inc.
[1:52:40] Which owns Snapchat, TikTok and Google, which owns YouTube.
[1:52:46] And the theory of the plaintiffs is
[1:52:49] that these companies deliberately designed
[1:52:52] developed and marketed social media platforms to attract
[1:52:55] and addict minors permit and that that
[1:52:59] has had a measurable impact on schools because of the need
[1:53:05] to deal with the disciplinary and mental health
[1:53:08] outcomes of that.
[1:53:10] This case that was filed in 2022 and has
[1:53:16] been consolidated into this one courtroom in California.
[1:53:20] It is still possible for additional school systems
[1:53:23] to join as plaintiffs.
[1:53:25] And so in order to do that, you would have an open session
[1:53:30] joining the lawsuit and retaining
[1:53:33] the law firm of Brock Stock Madalas
[1:53:39] Frederico, who is lead counsel.
[1:53:43] And then Lieff Cabraser and Darrington Smith
[1:53:49] as local counsel.
[1:53:50] Those agreements are contingencies
[1:53:52] so the board would not be paying attorneys fees unless it
[1:53:55] receives some sort of settlement or judgment.
[1:53:58] But part of the lawsuit is seeking
[1:54:01] damages for school systems to have resources
[1:54:04] to combat these negative outcomes and part of it
[1:54:08] is seeking injunctive relief to require the social media
[1:54:11] companies to change their practices.
[1:54:13] Chair Jenkins: All right, thank you.
[1:54:16] Board members, do you have any questions or comments?
[1:54:24] Okay.
[1:54:24] Do I have a motion to approve the joining of the litigation
[1:54:33] and authorization to execute the retainer agreement?
[1:54:38] >> So move.
[1:54:40] Chair Jenkins: A motion from Meredith.
[1:54:43] Do I have a second?
[1:54:44] Second from George.
[1:54:46] All those in favor say aye.
[1:54:48] [Members voting]
[1:54:49] Chair Jenkins: Any opposed?
[1:54:50] Thank you so much.
[1:54:51] Our next item on discussion and action
[1:54:54] is former Consent item five C, it
[1:54:58] is now six D, recommendation for approval
[1:55:01] of first reading to minor changes to policy code 4700,
[1:55:06] student records.
[1:55:10] Let me navigate over to that.
[1:55:13] I know we had some questions at the beginning.
[1:55:18] And so, just give me one second.
[1:55:21] Give the board members a second to reorganize our notes.
[1:55:28] Okay.
[1:55:34] So for this one, I think there was some concern about why there
[1:55:38] had to be a written opt out from the double Dutch and I'm trying
[1:55:46] to get to the section --
[1:55:48] sounds like a federal act and requirement.
[1:55:52] >> The requirements be that there's an opt out and that was
[1:55:56] already entered policy.
[1:55:57] The additional writing of it being
[1:55:59] in language writing to a different person
[1:56:01] came from the policy committee saying
[1:56:03] there's a concern that an opt out was not enough guidance
[1:56:06] for parents and that they needed more information about how.
[1:56:09] So that's where that came from.
[1:56:11] Chair Jenkins: That's helpful, thank you.
[1:56:14] And I know we've got a couple members on policy here.
[1:56:17] So I don't know if you have anything to add to that?
[1:56:20] Or thoughts?
[1:56:21] Go ahead.
[1:56:22] >> Yes, we're wanting to put it to be done that way so that
[1:56:27] parents wouldn't just be who am I supposed to say it
[1:56:29] to, considering we have different schools and different
[1:56:32] situations.
[1:56:32] So that if it's in the policy saying
[1:56:34] that it needs to have a specific opt out to a certain person,
[1:56:40] we'll be able to get that specific person
[1:56:42] and know exactly who is going to and who will be responsible
[1:56:45] for you to follow up with.
[1:56:47] Chair Jenkins: Okay.
[1:56:49] Any other comments or questions go ahead Barb.
[1:56:52] Vice-Chair Fedders: So is this something
[1:56:55] that the student can do or just the parent?
[1:56:59] Chair Jenkins: It's the parent.
[1:57:01] >> The student can do it if they're 18 or over.
[1:57:07] I believe the student can do it at any age.
[1:57:10] That is my recollection.
[1:57:12] I do believe we looked at that.
[1:57:14] It's been a little while.
[1:57:15] But certainly if they are over 18, they can.
[1:57:22] I think I may have -- here it is.
[1:57:25] Yes, a student or parent may opt out.
[1:57:27] So
[1:57:31] Vice-Chair Fedders: So I want to address the public comment
[1:57:33] and wonder if the request can be a verbal or written?
[1:57:37] I realize
[1:57:40] [Interposing voices]
[1:57:40] Chair Jenkins: I'm curious.
[1:57:42] So if it's verbal and I'm just asking
[1:57:45] as we think about this, if it's verbal and somebody still
[1:57:51] gets contact from the military recruiter
[1:57:54] after they've verbally said it to someone in the school,
[1:57:59] how does anyone say well, I told someone?
[1:58:03] Vice-Chair Fedders: The council would write it down
[1:58:06] that this person wants to opt out.
[1:58:09] >> It is possible.
[1:58:10] I think the idea from the policy committee
[1:58:13] was that this was intended to make it easier for parents,
[1:58:18] not harder, by adding that.
[1:58:23] And I do worry about how we would
[1:58:24] keep track of verbal requests.
[1:58:26] But it's not illegal to have it be verbal.
[1:58:30] Chair Jenkins: Go ahead.
[1:58:32] >> My concern would be if it's verbal and let's just say it was
[1:58:37] a message and technology is technology and that'd be
[1:58:41] a message that you don't know where it went.
[1:58:45] Sometimes lines do go down and you're
[1:58:48] thinking your message was received by a counselor who
[1:58:50] may have ignored your situation and that's not the case
[1:58:54] and it may simply be that it didn't
[1:58:56] get where it was supposed to.
[1:58:58] As opposed to if you have an email,
[1:59:01] I'm just saying or a handwritten letter, something
[1:59:03] that you can put your hand on to stand
[1:59:06] to say I know I sent this to counselor Mr. Or Miss Smith
[1:59:10] and we can follow this up.
[1:59:13] And you can ask that this is placed in my student's counselor
[1:59:16] record.
[1:59:16] We have a method to follow to make sure
[1:59:19] that you have recourse.
[1:59:22] Chair Jenkins: Unfortunately no.
[1:59:26] No
[1:59:27] >> You can send me an email you can send an email though.
[1:59:30] Chair Jenkins: Barb, I see you still contemplating on this.
[1:59:36] Vice-Chair Fedders:
[1:59:37] That makes sense.
[1:59:40] Any email will do we're not going to create a template
[1:59:43] or anything like that?
[1:59:44] >> I don't have an answer to that.
[1:59:47] I think somebody who's been a principal
[1:59:48] would be able to speak to how this work a little bit better.
[1:59:51] My guess is that the recruiters come in annually
[1:59:53] and ask for a list.
[1:59:59] >> And the on the parent side, I could say that often at the end
[2:00:03] of the year you'll get different forms that you'll want to say
[2:00:06] if you want to opt out of this, you sign and you just opt out
[2:00:11] and you send it back.
[2:00:12] To the school and it tells you to who it's going to.
[2:00:15] And then ups you out of what said things
[2:00:18] you want to be opted out of.
[2:00:20] Chair Jenkins: But we're not saying creating a form.
[2:00:24] Vice-Chair Fedders: I'm just saying if the parent just
[2:00:26] said I, Vicki wanted to opt my child out
[2:00:28] from being a, b, c, d to the counselor for the recruiter.
[2:00:32] Chair Jenkins: Right.
[2:00:34] It can be written on a napkin as long as it's written.
[2:00:37] It doesn't have to be in any form.
[2:00:39] There you go.
[2:00:42] We good?
[2:00:48] This one was on consent and is now on discussion in action,
[2:00:53] so if we want to approve this policy,
[2:00:57] I'll require a motion to approve first reading of minor changes
[2:01:04] to policy code 4700, student records.
[2:01:07] >> So move.
[2:01:10] Chair Jenkins: I have a motion for Vicki.
[2:01:12] Do I have a second.
[2:01:13] A second from Meredith.
[2:01:16] All those in favor say aye.
[2:01:17] [Members voting]
[2:01:18] Chair Jenkins: Any opposed?
[2:01:19] Thank you.
[2:01:32] Our next item on the agenda is an update on the Board
[2:01:38] of Education's fiscal year 26-27 budget adoption and I see Mr.
[2:01:43] Scott coming forward.
[2:01:44] Thank you.
[2:01:47] >> Thank you Madam Chair.
[2:01:50] Good evening board members, doctor,
[2:01:53] members of the cabinet and members of the public.
[2:01:55] I've got some good news for you all for a change.
[2:01:58] This time around.
[2:01:59] I wanted to come and update the board of where we are with
[2:02:02] the budget adoption for 26-27.
[2:02:04] As you know, the state took budgetary action early in July
[2:02:09] which has led us to the point now where we're ready
[2:02:11] to recommend a budget for adoption at your September 17th
[2:02:14] meeting.
[2:02:19] It's not working.
[2:02:27] >> The side.`
[2:02:29] >> Technology, right?
[2:02:31] So as I just said, we're kind of at the end now.
[2:02:35] Through our budget process for the year.
[2:02:38] We wanted to give a broad overview of what we intend
[2:02:40] to bring on September 17th for adoption.
[2:02:43] We gave this presentation a few weeks ago
[2:02:46] at Finance and Facilities so some of you
[2:02:48] may be familiar with it.
[2:02:49] Wanted to talk a little bit about enrollment.
[2:02:53] Student data, and just wanted to make sure
[2:02:57] that we're all clear on this.
[2:02:59] We've spoken about many times, North Carolina
[2:03:03] places our budget in arrears in Orange County
[2:03:06] also bases our funding on that.
[2:03:08] So when we're looking at our budget enrollment for this year,
[2:03:11] it's a budgeted enrollment for revenues and not
[2:03:15] necessarily expenditures.
[2:03:17] So this year on the revenue side,
[2:03:19] we're looking at projected decrease of 277 students with
[2:03:23] a budgeted revenue enrollment of 10,741.
[2:03:26] When we get to where we're beginning to apply our cost
[2:03:33] allocations across schools, we use a different estimate,
[2:03:37] which is a projection for this year which is significantly
[2:03:40] lower than the 10,741.
[2:03:41] I just want to call that out because I
[2:03:43] think there's been some questions in years
[2:03:45] past about why enrollments dropped so much from projected
[2:03:48] budget enrollment.
[2:03:49] That's the reason because we go back a year
[2:03:51] and we look at revenue and again we're
[2:03:53] projecting expenses based on our enrollment
[2:03:56] projections for the year.
[2:03:57] And as we approach the 40th day, we'll have more information
[2:04:01] to get back to the board about actual enrollment for the year.
[2:04:04] Let's talk a little bit about the impact of the state budget.
[2:04:09] It was very calm a very different this year
[2:04:11] to normal years.
[2:04:13] The state took actions for teachers
[2:04:17] and instructional certified positions very different
[2:04:20] than they typically do.
[2:04:21] We have seen changes in the certified salary scale from 5%
[2:04:26] to 18% depending on years of service permit that can change
[2:04:31] your raise from basically under $3,000 to almost $7,500.
[2:04:36] People at the beginning of the scale are certified A0 teachers
[2:04:41] went from a $41,000 a year annual salary to a $49,000
[2:04:46] a year or $48,000 a year salary.
[2:04:50] That's where you see the 18% year increases.
[2:04:52] It was very varied this year.
[2:04:54] A lot harder to project especially
[2:04:56] because the majority of our lower ten year teachers
[2:04:59] are on our local side.
[2:05:01] It's created a significant increase
[2:05:04] to the requirement of local funds
[2:05:07] to match the certified increases.
[2:05:09] Our assistant principals, we have our own local assistant
[2:05:13] principal scale.
[2:05:14] It is tied to the average teacher increase
[2:05:18] because the assistant principals have also served that position.
[2:05:22] We're seeing across the board 8% for assistant principals.
[2:05:25] Again, we talked a little bit in the last meeting
[2:05:28] about classified staff, principals, and administrators.
[2:05:31] That was legislated to 3% across the scale except
[2:05:35] of course for employees that we had
[2:05:36] that were under the Orange County living wage which
[2:05:40] this year increased by 10% so we do have a pretty significant
[2:05:43] of our lower paid staff that are receiving raises
[2:05:45] in excess of 3%.
[2:05:47] Beyond that, there are several one time mandated state bonuses
[2:05:51] in the budget.
[2:05:53] Again, for teachers and certified staff
[2:05:56] it will either be a 500 or $1000 bonus depending of your license
[2:06:02] Surestep.
[2:06:02] Anything from 0 to 15 is a $500 bonus anything above that is
[2:06:12] a $1,000 bonus.
[2:06:14] On the administrator and classified staff
[2:06:16] side is a 1000 to $1750.
[2:06:19] That believe that cut off was employees
[2:06:21] who make less than 65000.
[2:06:24] Their bonus would be 1750.
[2:06:27] Anyone above that, it was $1,000 bonus.
[2:06:29] The state will pick up the state side
[2:06:31] but remember we have a pretty significant of local personnel
[2:06:34] so we have to budget that money on the local side
[2:06:36] for our local people.
[2:06:38] These bonuses won't be subject to retirement,
[2:06:40] just social security .
[2:06:46] And then employer matching rate went up from 24.67 to 26.1.
[2:06:52] That was a pretty sizable increase,
[2:06:56] much larger than we anticipated in our earlier budget
[2:06:59] presentations.
[2:06:59] Health insurance is going from 8500 to 8925,
[2:07:02] which is pretty much in line with what we predicted.
[2:07:05] Obviously there were increases in Social Security
[2:07:08] to match the salary increases.
[2:07:10] And then we applied the 4% inflationary factor
[2:07:14] across all Non-personnel costs.
[2:07:16] That brings us to our total continuation budget.
[2:07:20] This is the largest one I've seen.
[2:07:22] Since I began doing this.
[2:07:25] We have a total continuation budget
[2:07:27] on the local side of just over 5.6 million.
[2:07:30] We typically see continuation budgets in the $3 million area.
[2:07:35] Remember though, about a million of that is one time bonuses,
[2:07:39] so our actual continuation is closer to 4.6 million.
[2:07:43] Again, one of the largest I've seen
[2:07:46] by far the largest I've seen.
[2:07:49] Talk a little bit about our revenue
[2:07:52] changes because that offsets some of that need.
[2:07:55] Our budgeted revenues total 98.1 million,
[2:07:58] about 3,000,001 or 3.1% more than last year.
[2:08:02] Driven primarily by a $2.8 million
[2:08:05] increase in the county appropriation.
[2:08:07] Also our special district has increased just under $600,000.
[2:08:13] We also were projecting an increase of about $25,000
[2:08:17] in sales and use tax revenue.
[2:08:19] That's going up because of inflation and our application
[2:08:23] of inflationary factors to non-personnel costs,
[2:08:26] just by nature of that sales tax.
[2:08:29] Just because goods are costing more than they did.
[2:08:32] Also wanted to address a couple of revenue decreases.
[2:08:36] We're proposing to move $375,000 in transportation revenue
[2:08:40] and $50,000 in driver's Ed fee revenue from the local fund
[2:08:44] to Fund eight.
[2:08:45] The reason for that is the transportation revenue we're
[2:08:48] moving will be primarily for activity busses,
[2:08:51] for field trips and sporting events.
[2:08:53] That revenue, if it were to remain in fund two,
[2:08:57] would be shared and subject to sharing with driver schools
[2:09:01] along with the driver's Ed fees.
[2:09:03] So this is a good opportunity for us
[2:09:05] to move those into fund eight where
[2:09:06] we don't know how long I have to share those
[2:09:09] by court decision with the charter schools.
[2:09:12] Also, we're proposing a breakdown of fines
[2:09:16] and forfeitures by about $25,000.
[2:09:19] We just have not been collecting funds fines and forfeitures
[2:09:22] at the level we were previously.
[2:09:24] When you add all that up, you kind of see
[2:09:27] this revenue changes.
[2:09:28] It just kind of paints the pictures
[2:09:30] of the local revenue changes.
[2:09:32] But now we need to look at the impact of that.
[2:09:35] As you compare it to the continuation need,
[2:09:38] so as we talked about earlier, we had a 5.6 million
[2:09:41] continuation need.
[2:09:42] We've addressed just over 2.6 million
[2:09:45] of that with additional revenue.
[2:09:48] That's still left us --
[2:09:51] I'm sorry.
[2:09:52] We addressed about 3 million of that with additional revenue.
[2:09:55] Leaving us with just over $2.6 million deficit.
[2:10:00] As you -- as I'm sure you're aware,
[2:10:04] we've had several significant changes over the course
[2:10:07] of the last couple of months.
[2:10:09] One is that we had a central office
[2:10:11] reorganization and reduction.
[2:10:14] From that, once everything cleared,
[2:10:16] moving to this fiscal year we anticipated about $1.3 million
[2:10:20] in that savings.
[2:10:21] Beyond that, we had a change in the high school
[2:10:24] allotment formula this year and we anticipate
[2:10:26] about a $1.1 million savings.
[2:10:28] When you net those two against the $2.6 million need,
[2:10:33] we've gotten that down to about a $250,000 difference.
[2:10:37] We feel fairly comfortable we can cover that
[2:10:40] with existing surpluses that were available from last year.
[2:10:44] So that's the nuts and bolts or big picture
[2:10:47] to what we intend to bring.
[2:10:49] I want to talk about fund balance.
[2:10:52] We are now through June 30th of 2026.
[2:10:55] At the last board meeting, we provided the board
[2:10:59] with urine financial statements.
[2:11:00] I don't want to go into that too deep tonight.
[2:11:04] But just wanted to project out where
[2:11:06] we anticipate our fund balance to be once the audit report is
[2:11:10] released.
[2:11:10] As you remember last year, we had very little fund balance,
[2:11:14] I think $360,000 in total.
[2:11:16] At the end of this year now we are
[2:11:18] projecting about a $6 million fund balance.
[2:11:22] Of that, we think about 4 million,
[2:11:25] somewhere about 4.2 million will be unallocated and reserved.
[2:11:29] We do reserve a portion of the fund balance
[2:11:31] for prepaid expenses and we try to pay things like insurance
[2:11:35] and large ticket items prior to year end
[2:11:37] as a reservation of fund balance.
[2:11:39] But I just wanted to share this chart with the board
[2:11:42] to let you know that our fund balance is coming back
[2:11:44] a little bit.
[2:11:45] That will be about 4% of local expenditures.
[2:11:50] Which is a good thing.
[2:11:51] And we anticipate that some of those recurring surpluses
[2:11:55] will be available next year to be able to rebuild
[2:11:57] that a little bit more.
[2:11:59] Probably not to the level that we've experienced in 2026
[2:12:02] but we do anticipate that we will be able to add
[2:12:05] a little bit in fiscal 2027.
[2:12:08] And that's pretty much all I had.
[2:12:10] Again, I just wanted to give the board a high level overview
[2:12:13] of what we intend to bring.
[2:12:14] We're in process right now of compiling the official budget
[2:12:19] document and we'll bring that to the board for discussion
[2:12:21] and action on September 17th.
[2:12:23] And at this point, I'd be happy to turn it over
[2:12:26] to you for questions.
[2:12:29] All
[2:12:33] Chair Jenkins: All right thank you.
[2:12:35] Board members do you have any questions?
[2:12:37] Go ahead.
[2:12:38] >> Doctor Scott thank you for that.
[2:12:41] Back to the fund balance, four years ago when we had a surplus,
[2:12:44] we elected to spend a good amount of that on teacher
[2:12:48] supplement increases.
[2:12:50] That's Steph classified staff salary increases to spend down.
[2:12:57] And then thanks to Doctor Hamlet and now Doctor Trice,
[2:13:01] we've had two significant reductions in force
[2:13:05] in the past three years.
[2:13:06] You alluded to them.
[2:13:09] I think that just bears commending people
[2:13:13] for taking action over the years to get us to this point from it
[2:13:17] you yourself, you have been right on the money
[2:13:23] predicting where we would fall for the past three
[2:13:26] years, four years.
[2:13:28] And I'm sure before that.
[2:13:30] I'm not suggesting you weren't before that,
[2:13:32] but I commend you on that because there's
[2:13:34] a lot of reassurance that in very difficult money times,
[2:13:39] you've got a good picture of what we're doing.
[2:13:41] And the last thing I would ask you to comment on
[2:13:45] is our county commissioners at the very tail end
[2:13:49] of their budget work really came through with more money
[2:13:52] than they had originally planned to allocate to public schools.
[2:13:56] And if anybody's been following their agenda,
[2:14:00] it took a big reach for them to find that extra money.
[2:14:03] Could you elaborate a little bit on that
[2:14:05] so that people are aware that the commissioners really did
[2:14:09] come through for the schools?
[2:14:10] I think as much as they could?
[2:14:12] >> Certainly.
[2:14:14] I kind of painted right through that
[2:14:16] so I appreciate you calling my attention back to that.
[2:14:18] With the county manager's recommended budget,
[2:14:20] the county manager recommended a 3% increase for public education
[2:14:26] in Orange County.
[2:14:27] The reason that increase was at 3%
[2:14:29] was primarily because the existing debt from the school
[2:14:33] bonds we're trying to balance the budget
[2:14:35] and they're also experiencing some pretty significant
[2:14:37] reductions on their side that they weren't anticipating
[2:14:40] from Snap benefits to a whole list of things
[2:14:46] that were creating a fairly large budget gap for them
[2:14:48] as well.
[2:14:49] The county manager presented his budget
[2:14:52] at the same time the Board of Education of Orange County
[2:14:56] and of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools presented their budget
[2:14:59] requests.
[2:15:00] I think it's fair to say now looking back,
[2:15:02] neither board of Education US or Orange County
[2:15:05] had any idea the magnitude of the impact of the state budget.
[2:15:08] And when we went in April.
[2:15:10] So we both went to ask for a 4% increase.
[2:15:15] So subsequent to that and subsequent to the release
[2:15:17] of the county manager's budget, the state did take action
[2:15:20] and they started signaling about what the actual state
[2:15:23] budget would entail.
[2:15:25] From that, it was very both school districts,
[2:15:28] it was very clear that the amount of money including
[2:15:32] in the county manager's budget was not going to be sufficient.
[2:15:35] As I showed you earlier, we have one of the biggest continuations
[2:15:39] that I've ever seen.
[2:15:40] So both superintendents took an opportunity
[2:15:42] to really plead their case with the county manager.
[2:15:45] We all met in Hillsborough to talk it out.
[2:15:50] The county manager was very receptive to what
[2:15:52] the districts were saying and very understanding
[2:15:54] of the situation we're going to be in.
[2:15:57] In between that and his work with his board,
[2:16:00] there was a budget amendment presented by County commissioner
[2:16:06] that increased the manager's budget recommendation
[2:16:08] for public education from 3% to 5.5%.
[2:16:13] It wasn't able to give the schools a full continuation,
[2:16:17] but for both the districts it really went a long way.
[2:16:19] For us it was an additional million dollars,
[2:16:21] so we'd be looking for another million dollars
[2:16:24] had they not done that.
[2:16:25] So we are very grateful for that and it really assisted us
[2:16:30] with balancing this budget.
[2:16:31] >> Thank you.
[2:16:36] Chair Jenkins: Board members, any other comments or questions?
[2:16:41] All right.
[2:16:42] Thank you so much.
[2:16:45] We look forward to seeing this back on our next agenda.
[2:16:53] All right.
[2:16:54] Our next agenda item is a transportation update
[2:17:01] and I see our superintendent doctor Tice.
[2:17:06] Is coming forward.
[2:17:11] >> Thank you chair Jenkins, members of the board,
[2:17:15] and certainly the community.
[2:17:16] Before we get to the transportation presentation,
[2:17:20] I wanted to just share a brief statement with the Chapel
[2:17:24] Hill-Carrboro City Schools community concerning
[2:17:26] transportation, if that's okay?
[2:17:28] I want to take just a few moments
[2:17:32] to speak directly to our students, our families, staff
[2:17:37] and community.
[2:17:38] The transportation problems we've
[2:17:41] experienced since the beginning of school
[2:17:44] have caused a significant disruption to many families.
[2:17:48] Some students have been dropped from our systems.
[2:17:54] Families have received conflicting or incomplete
[2:17:57] information.
[2:17:58] Parents have had to rearrange work schedules
[2:18:02] to find alternative transportation,
[2:18:04] as was shared earlier.
[2:18:07] And to spend far too much time trying to get answers from us.
[2:18:14] Our families expected reliable transportation and clean
[2:18:19] communication and at the start of --
[2:18:22] this was at the start of the school year,
[2:18:24] too many did not experience that.
[2:18:27] I'm sorry for the disruption, the frustration,
[2:18:31] and the uncertainty that this has caused many
[2:18:35] in our community, particularly our students and our families.
[2:18:40] Are our immediate priority has been
[2:18:43] and continues to be getting students to and from school
[2:18:47] safely and reliably.
[2:18:50] The work needs not finished.
[2:18:53] Our transportation technology, data, school
[2:18:57] based, and other staff continue working
[2:19:00] through individual student issues and the broader systemic
[2:19:05] or systems problems that we're experiencing so at this time um
[2:19:10] we have an obligation when we understand what happened,
[2:19:16] where the breakdowns occurred, and what contributed
[2:19:20] to that as the board is aware Uh I'm initiated a that will be
[2:19:28] on we will examine our entire process,
[2:19:35] including transportation operations, our student
[2:19:40] information system, data systems exceptional treatment systems,
[2:19:45] and services communication, school processes, district
[2:19:49] leadership, and the handoff that typically
[2:19:52] occurs between those segments.
[2:19:55] We need to understand what happened, why it happened,
[2:20:00] where the processes and controls failed and prevented us
[2:20:04] from detecting these problems.
[2:20:08] Whether established procedures were followed and were
[2:20:10] adequate and what changes are necessary so
[2:20:13] that we do not repeat these experiences in the future.
[2:20:19] Tonight's presentation is in an important part
[2:20:23] of that work permit but it is not the final accounting of what
[2:20:29] happened this year, there are questions we can answer tonight
[2:20:36] but there are also questions we are still working through
[2:20:39] as a staff.
[2:20:41] And questions that will require deeper examination
[2:20:46] once our staff can focus on the that.
[2:20:53] That work may also require the assistance
[2:20:57] from state and external partners.
[2:21:01] From what we understand today.
[2:21:03] I also understand and know that accountability
[2:21:06] requires transparency.
[2:21:08] So as we develop a a clearer understanding of what occurred,
[2:21:14] we will share that information not only with the board,
[2:21:18] but with our community as well, including
[2:21:22] what we determine As I've heard but what we learn,
[2:21:27] what changes are necessary.
[2:21:29] But today, most importantly I want our families
[2:21:32] to know that we understand the seriousness of what
[2:21:37] they experiencing.
[2:21:40] Transportation is not simply an operational function.
[2:21:45] For many of our students, it's what makes access
[2:21:50] to school possible paramedic when that system does not
[2:21:55] work as intended, the impact on students and families is real.
[2:22:01] We certainly have more work to do both to resolve the remaining
[2:22:07] problems that you will hear about in just a moment,
[2:22:11] but also to rebuild confidence in the system itself.
[2:22:16] We are committed to doing both as an administration
[2:22:20] and with that, I'll turn it over to our team who
[2:22:24] can share tonight's presentation and we look forward
[2:22:28] to addressing any of the board's questions thank you.
[2:22:31] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[2:22:41] >> Good evening board members.
[2:22:43] Excuse me.
[2:22:45] Doctor Trice, community members, colleagues,
[2:22:51] we stand before you the operations division
[2:22:53] and transportation tonight and the first thing
[2:22:56] that we want to do is we want to offer our sincere apologies.
[2:23:00] First to the community, to every affected family,
[2:23:04] to every child , we are sorry that we failed you to begin this
[2:23:11] school year.
[2:23:13] Please understand that we take ownership.
[2:23:17] That we are searching still for some answers.
[2:23:25] We hold this as a high priority.
[2:23:28] There's a level of urgency that we have right now.
[2:23:34] But our top priority is to make sure
[2:23:37] that every student that needs transportation
[2:23:40] receives transportation.
[2:23:41] I want to extend that apology to the board
[2:23:46] for the number of correspondence that you've received
[2:23:51] as well as Doctor Trice.
[2:23:53] Doctor Trice, we apologize that you
[2:23:56] had to stand here and offer an apology on our behalf.
[2:24:00] Our staff feels horrible about this
[2:24:03] and they are working seven days a week to try to correct this.
[2:24:08] We have contacted the North Carolina Public Instruction.
[2:24:15] We are working twice a week with each out of North Carolina
[2:24:21] State.
[2:24:22] They are the routing specialists for everyone
[2:24:25] in the state of North Carolina.
[2:24:27] And we will get to the bottom of this.
[2:24:32] We were using a time frame that CHCCS has
[2:24:37] used for probably two decades.
[2:24:39] We were caught in a perfect storm.
[2:24:42] The time frame failed us.
[2:24:44] Our software failed us.
[2:24:46] We had a retirement in the middle of the summer.
[2:24:50] And the information that we received was insufficient for us
[2:24:55] to know that there was a problem with this magnitude.
[2:25:00] Tonight I want to try to go through what a normal year looks
[2:25:06] like.
[2:25:06] What happened to us this year.
[2:25:09] And the steps that we will take to change things moving forward.
[2:25:17] In a typical year with transportation,
[2:25:20] what happens is our software --
[2:25:25] we have three major software groups
[2:25:30] and they speak to each other.
[2:25:32] So we have infinite campus, Tims which is transportation
[2:25:36] information management system.
[2:25:38] Those are the two major components.
[2:25:40] So in a typical year, what you will see
[2:25:43] is data managers at the schools will enter yes's and no's
[2:25:47] for students, for every child that wants transportation.
[2:25:50] If you want transportation, it becomes a yes.
[2:25:53] That information is then downloaded into the Tims system.
[2:25:59] Tims will then begin to route students.
[2:26:01] With the routing of students, we have a lot of codes
[2:26:06] and I'll talk about those when we get to trends
[2:26:09] and try to explain it a little better,
[2:26:11] but after routes are created and students are placed on busses,
[2:26:16] that information is then uploaded back
[2:26:19] into Infinite campus?
[2:26:21] Typically in a year, CHCCS receives
[2:26:26] about 5000 transportation requests or just
[2:26:28] over 5000 requests.
[2:26:29] This year we received about 5000 requests.
[2:26:32] So from the Tims side of things, everything looked normal.
[2:26:36] We had the same number that we've had in years past.
[2:26:39] It was not until we began to try to upload routes
[2:26:45] that it gave us a small indication that something
[2:26:48] may have been going on.
[2:26:51] When we moved out and we moved forward,
[2:26:54] what we saw was our ridership number --
[2:26:57] and I'll need to explain this.
[2:26:59] Well we have about 5000, 300 or so requests, on a yearly basis,
[2:27:05] we route and our ridership numbers
[2:27:08] are around 3800 students per year.
[2:27:11] But we route every student who applies for transportation.
[2:27:14] So about half the district applies.
[2:27:16] We route everyone and as the year goes on, usually
[2:27:20] in mid-October, we have to submit a Tims
[2:27:22] report to the state.
[2:27:24] That Tims report, the state wants us to be around 110%
[2:27:28] of our student ridership.
[2:27:32] We're usually up closer to 160% because we route everyone
[2:27:37] and that's what we do and we have to take those students off
[2:27:40] of routes when they don't show for ten days.
[2:27:43] So this is the normal process of what happens every year.
[2:27:49] We begin the process in the summer
[2:27:53] and this is part of our timeline failing us this year.
[2:27:58] We begin the process usually after summer school.
[2:28:01] So we route for summer school in June
[2:28:05] because we are dependent upon EOC and EOG
[2:28:10] scores in order to know who the grant programs.
[2:28:13] And then once that is complete, we begin to route for the year.
[2:28:18] This year, what happened to us?
[2:28:23] When we hold our download from infinite campus into TIMS,
[2:28:30] we found that information was incorrectly coded.
[2:28:35] It came over incorrect that's a question why that happened.
[2:28:40] I know that's the million dollar question that everybody wants
[2:28:43] to know why did this happen.
[2:28:44] We're still searching with NC state,
[2:28:47] with DPI to find out why this happened.
[2:28:50] But because of the time frame that we
[2:28:53] have used for over two decades, we
[2:28:55] were then behind and being able to correct it.
[2:29:00] So the information came over -- really what did we learn that
[2:29:05] there was a major issue?
[2:29:06] We believed to learn it was a major issue on the first day
[2:29:09] of school because that's when we started to receive communication
[2:29:12] saying my child doesn't have a bus.
[2:29:16] And we went into our TIMS system to research it
[2:29:21] and our system said no, no for that student.
[2:29:25] We contacted the school staff and managers and the school data
[2:29:28] manager said it's showing yes, yes.
[2:29:31] So that was an immediate problem that we had.
[2:29:36] About halfway through the first week,
[2:29:38] we reverted to scheduling students on busses by the end.
[2:29:43] This is the process that we're actually using right now.
[2:29:46] It's the only foolproof way that we
[2:29:48] know that we are capturing every child that needs a bus.
[2:29:51] We're having to do them one student at a time tonight
[2:29:55] to compound matters, what we found
[2:29:58] is that the information that we had in
[2:30:01] Tims when we went to upload it into Infinite campus,
[2:30:05] it did not upload properly.
[2:30:07] Which is why some parents have reached out to us
[2:30:11] and they've said I see that here comes the bus app.
[2:30:14] My child is on 133 in the morning and 155
[2:30:18] in the afternoon, but there are no times.
[2:30:22] There's no location.
[2:30:25] It's because the information was incomplete.
[2:30:28] CHCCS also has a lot of programs, program schools.
[2:30:34] The way TIMS codes is but codes by attendance boundary. --
[2:30:43] it codes biotin boundary.
[2:30:45] So for example let's say a student a,
[2:30:48] they went to Carrboro elementary.
[2:30:51] They've now moved on to middle school.
[2:30:54] They're going to Google to continue
[2:30:57] in Spanish dual language.
[2:30:59] But that student's address is actually in the Smith zone.
[2:31:04] When that information comes down in TIMS,
[2:31:09] they code that student has a 12 meaning they're out of boundary.
[2:31:13] A bus does not automatically granted that to that student
[2:31:15] and you have to go in and handwrite those.
[2:31:18] We had about 475 what we call unmatched addresses,
[2:31:27] where if Andre Stewart lives at 750 South Maryville Road,
[2:31:33] his address needs to be entered in the road needs to be spelled
[2:31:39] out R--a-d.
[2:31:42] If that information is put into infinite campus
[2:31:45] and it is r D or d period, it then kicks me out
[2:31:49] it kicks my information out.
[2:31:50] That's part of the holdup is we had
[2:31:52] to get those addresses matched up
[2:31:55] and work through that as well.
[2:31:59] So what are we saying with some of our data
[2:32:02] and some of the trends?
[2:32:04] We have routed over ten 000 requests.
[2:32:09] That accounts for about 5000 students
[2:32:11] that we place on busses so far.
[2:32:14] I had to submit this for upload to the board earlier.
[2:32:18] We actually have over 4000 students running in the morning
[2:32:22] and over 4600 students running in the afternoon currently
[2:32:26] and that is the data from today comparison wise,
[2:32:30] we have more riders than we did last year.
[2:32:34] But in looking at it, we're looking
[2:32:38] to go student by student to find out where the issues are.
[2:32:42] So we're having to work with data managers.
[2:32:44] I can tell you just today, I responded
[2:32:47] to a parent who emailed me and her daughter, on our side,
[2:32:52] says no and no.
[2:32:54] But still in the infinite canvas side, says yes hype
[2:32:57] and yes so we have to work through that
[2:32:59] and then code that child properly and work through it.
[2:33:05] --yes-yes
[2:33:07] it has been an absolute nightmare for us.
[2:33:10] It's been a nightmare.
[2:33:12] And we apologize and we take full accountability for it.
[2:33:15] But I wanted the board to know and the community
[2:33:18] to know the process that we're working through in order to get
[2:33:22] students on busses.
[2:33:25] We also had issues with walk zones.
[2:33:29] This is something that we've taken accountability
[2:33:32] for because our initial communication on walk zones
[2:33:36] that went out earlier, we placed it in infinite campus.
[2:33:41] And because we later found out that that communication didn't
[2:33:45] reach a lot of homes.
[2:33:47] And it two years ago probably we worked with the towns two
[2:33:52] and tours the state while policy, which is 1.5 miles.
[2:33:57] That 1.5 miles from the top of our neighborhood,
[2:34:00] not to the door of the house.
[2:34:04] And enforcing that and talk about the towns,
[2:34:08] there was a lot of construction projects,
[2:34:10] as well as some safety issues that
[2:34:12] were going on around the town.
[2:34:13] So our routing team grandfathered
[2:34:16] different neighborhoods in.
[2:34:19] As construction things completed throughout the towns,
[2:34:23] we went ahead and removed that grandfathering on those busses
[2:34:28] and put those neighborhoods into the walk zones.
[2:34:32] Our communication failed us here.
[2:34:37] Mr. Austin and his team will actually go out
[2:34:43] and when they receive requests from parents,
[2:34:46] they will actually ride.
[2:34:48] If a parent says I have a safety concern, they will ride,
[2:34:51] they will walk it to see.
[2:34:53] There are students and there are instances
[2:34:55] where students are in within the 1.5 miles
[2:34:58] but they may not have a sidewalk.
[2:35:03] That they can use to get to school.
[2:35:05] Their home may be in a blind curve.
[2:35:08] We have to get those students transportation.
[2:35:11] And working through those types of things,
[2:35:13] that's always a fluid situation with transportation and walk
[2:35:17] zones.
[2:35:18] But we own the fact that the communication,
[2:35:21] the initial communication, did not reach everyone
[2:35:24] and the secondary communication was sent out late.
[2:35:29] How do we fix this how do we change it
[2:35:33] and how do we make it better?
[2:35:34] Well the first thing that we are going to do
[2:35:37] is we're going to overhaul the entire timeline.
[2:35:40] So instead of waiting until August to begin routing we
[2:35:46] are March and April will are routing
[2:35:52] timeframe 20% of my colleagues and some other divisions,
[2:35:57] but at this point, I don't ever want
[2:36:01] to stand in front of the board for this again.
[2:36:04] So we're going to hold fast to our time frame.
[2:36:09] We'll route in April.
[2:36:11] At the conclusion of routing in April, we will send bus routes.
[2:36:16] Will work through communication at the end of the school year
[2:36:19] to let parents know that their 27-28 bus routes are
[2:36:24] in the portal.
[2:36:25] If you don't see your information
[2:36:27] in the portal in mid June, then reach out to transportation
[2:36:30] and we can troubleshoot it.
[2:36:32] That will give us enough time.
[2:36:35] We don't have to run through scheduling summer programs
[2:36:38] the same way that we have due to testing,
[2:36:42] but this will give us a longer runway
[2:36:43] to be able to troubleshoot and make sure that this does not
[2:36:47] happen again.
[2:36:48] The board did tonight approve also
[2:36:52] the hiring of a second tennis coordinator for the district,
[2:36:56] which will help us not only root better in March and April,
[2:37:01] but will help us to come out of the current situation
[2:37:04] that we're in right now.
[2:37:06] And also we'll continue our work with NC state
[2:37:11] and other outside agencies to troubleshoot
[2:37:14] exactly what happened, to get professional development
[2:37:18] for our staff and give them the tools that they need
[2:37:20] to successful in America at this point of where we are,
[2:37:27] we're going student by student.
[2:37:30] We've asked and the communication team
[2:37:33] has sent out a message that at noon tomorrow,
[2:37:37] if infinite campus is not showing that your child needs
[2:37:41] double Dutch has a bus route, that you simply
[2:37:45] send an email to Mr. Austin and myself and we will
[2:37:49] be working to respond to those.
[2:37:52] Working through our alpha listing.
[2:37:55] The Alpha listing is the master list of busses and students
[2:38:00] throughout the district.
[2:38:02] We uploaded an alpha listing this afternoon
[2:38:05] and it had over 5400 entries in it.
[2:38:08] So Mr. Austin and I will be working through that until we
[2:38:12] get every student on a bus?
[2:38:15] You can reach out to us.
[2:38:18] And at this time, we'll take any questions from the board.
[2:38:23] Chair Jenkins: All right, board members
[2:38:26] questions or comments go ahead.
[2:38:29] >> I have a lot of questions.
[2:38:32] I'm also willing to let somebody else go.
[2:38:34] Chair Jenkins, if you would prefer.
[2:38:37] Chair Jenkins: I have a lot of questions
[2:38:39] too so why don't you start and we'll just go down the line.
[2:38:43] >> First of all, I sincerely do appreciate the apology permit I
[2:38:49] believe that was from your heart and thank you for acknowledging
[2:38:54] that.
[2:38:55] And I don't really know where I'm going to start here
[2:39:00] but one thing I wanted to back up
[2:39:02] to was the hand-off from Infinite Campus to TIMS.
[2:39:08] Who did that?
[2:39:10] I don't need to know my name, but my position
[2:39:15] because as I understand it, and if I'm wrong, please correct me
[2:39:21] when we get into this.
[2:39:23] You send over 4800 student requests and TIMS sends it back
[2:39:31] and there's a batch number of problems that are identified
[2:39:33] right then and there.
[2:39:34] If you send over 4800 and you get back 3800,
[2:39:38] you've got 1000 records that have problems.
[2:39:41] Somebody then at that point should have stopped
[2:39:45] and said this is a typical process,
[2:39:48] we've got a problem here.
[2:39:50] I don't care if it was on August the 1st or July 1st or whatever
[2:39:55] and you mentioned it tonight but then you kept alluding
[2:39:59] to software glitch or software.
[2:40:01] We don't know.
[2:40:02] You can't possibly even move forward
[2:40:05] at that point without knowing what to do next.
[2:40:09] Explain what happened there.
[2:40:12] >> Yes sir.
[2:40:14] Doctor Griffin, the process works when the information
[2:40:17] is entered at the school level.
[2:40:19] It is pulled into TIMS through the server.
[2:40:26] You're exactly right when you say there
[2:40:28] should have been some signs.
[2:40:36] >> There's big signs there.
[2:40:37] It's not a should then some signs
[2:40:39] flashing lights there's parameters there
[2:40:41] that don't like where to look.
[2:40:43] Correct?
[2:40:44] >> Correct doctor Griffin if- --
[2:40:50] >> How come somebody didn't do that?
[2:40:53] >> Because there is no sign of it.
[2:40:55] There's no sign of that because there was yes on one side
[2:40:58] and then they became nos.
[2:40:59] They didn't flag it's problems.
[2:41:01] They just flagged as students who did not need transportation.
[2:41:04] Because when we pulled it, there were still over 5000 requests.
[2:41:08] So what we saw as the flags were the 475 unmatched addresses.
[2:41:15] That's something that is normal, every day.
[2:41:19] What we did not see and what we did not get at that point
[2:41:23] until we started to dig into it was the trend data where
[2:41:28] it said students, infinite campus,
[2:41:31] students that were moving from one grade level to the next,
[2:41:35] when building to the next, excuse me
[2:41:38] if Kindergartner's, sixth graders, ninth graders,
[2:41:42] buildings.
[2:41:43] Somehow, they were the ones that dropped.
[2:41:47] They were a good percentage.
[2:41:50] But there's no full rhyme or reason
[2:41:53] because not every sixth grader, ninth grader and kindergartner
[2:41:55] was dropped.
[2:41:57] Then there were outlier schools.
[2:41:58] So we worked through -- we found one school where none
[2:42:04] of the students moved out of the school,
[2:42:07] yet 70 students were flipped from yes to no.
[2:42:12] So there is no rhyme or reason, but from the Tims side,
[2:42:18] we could still see 5000 requests.
[2:42:22] Routing 5000 students.
[2:42:24] We're working through the unmatched addresses.
[2:42:26] We're working through the students
[2:42:28] that are out of boundary like we do every year.
[2:42:31] So there was not an indication when the data pulled
[2:42:36] that there was a problem.
[2:42:39] >> Okay, so then when did you become first aware that
[2:42:44] there's a serious problem?
[2:42:45] >> We became aware that there's a serious problem on the first
[2:42:49] day of school.
[2:42:50] >> You thought everything was good until the first day
[2:42:53] of school?
[2:42:54] >> We did.
[2:42:55] Because at that point we had 4000 students
[2:42:58] routed in on busses.
[2:42:59] >> Okay change in direction a little bit.
[2:43:02] Tims you mentioned on the road.
[2:43:04] I'm not clear if we're working with Tims
[2:43:07] or we've been solo in it and now we're calling them for help?
[2:43:13] TIMS what if advised all kinds of things back in July to say we
[2:43:17] need to do this.
[2:43:18] We need to do that.
[2:43:19] We need to do that.
[2:43:21] Are we working with them like that this summer
[2:43:23] or are we on our own and now we're going to call them?
[2:43:27] >> No doctor Griffin.
[2:43:29] We work with them.
[2:43:30] We meet with them.
[2:43:32] And look.
[2:43:33] What Tims will tell us is the major issue here.
[2:43:39] Is that we had a problem, others had problems as well Tims,
[2:43:45] problem, it was in August.
[2:43:49] And now we're having to work through it manually, by hand.
[2:43:53] Tims is going to say -- and that's part
[2:43:56] of their recommendation, start your process earlier.
[2:43:58] So that there is a problem, you can work through it.
[2:44:02] They do not -- they can come in and look at the system.
[2:44:05] We have a meeting with them tomorrow morning.
[2:44:08] To look at it and to see where we
[2:44:10] are, to see if our things are uploaded.
[2:44:11] To see if our files are correct.
[2:44:14] Those are the things that they look at for you.
[2:44:16] They made the suggestion that our files were corrupt
[2:44:19] when we went to upload and that was the issue that stuff was not
[2:44:23] moving back into infinite campus.
[2:44:25] So they're making recommendations to us
[2:44:28] but they can't give us any hard line answers as to this
[2:44:34] was the exact issue that you experienced.
[2:44:36] I'm going to rephrase my question
[2:44:39] and then I'll let somebody else
[2:44:42] >> And then I'll let somebody else have a turn here because I
[2:44:44] have a lot of questions.
[2:44:46] Tims recommends regular quarterly meeting
[2:44:50] with data managers can I pinch recommends monthly meetings
[2:44:54] with data managers.
[2:44:55] Tims recommends a process that we should have in place
[2:44:59] if we're working with Tims all along.
[2:45:02] And many other school districts are in fact in my career,
[2:45:06] we've always worked with Tims.
[2:45:08] Tims when map it out for you and say picture 110% goal
[2:45:13] for efficiency and we're going to take money back from it --
[2:45:17] are we working side by side with Tims or have we been working
[2:45:23] on our own by ourselves on our own thing and I'm calling them
[2:45:27] for help?
[2:45:28] >> To answer your question as clearly as I can Doctor Griffin,
[2:45:33] could we work with them better and more often?
[2:45:37] Yes.
[2:45:37] Are we working solo alone?
[2:45:40] No we're not.
[2:45:42] We probably could have worked with them
[2:45:45] in the past, monthly can I where we're
[2:45:48] working with them quarterly.
[2:45:51] So yes.
[2:45:52] We need to increase the relationship.
[2:45:55] Increase the fluency of the relationship.
[2:45:58] But no, we weren't out there by ourselves doing this all alone.
[2:46:02] >> Okay well I look forward to hearing then what you learned
[2:46:06] about this glitch.
[2:46:08] In the process that seems to work in other districts.
[2:46:11] Where you upload the information and then they
[2:46:14] send it back to you and right there
[2:46:17] is where everybody should know we've got a problem.
[2:46:20] And that didn't seem to happen here
[2:46:23] but it seems to be working other places.
[2:46:25] I don't know that tonight is appropriate
[2:46:27] or I'll get it tonight, but I really
[2:46:30] want to understand what happened.
[2:46:31] Much less what we need to do down the road.
[2:46:35] >> Yes sir.
[2:46:38] >> I'll stop now and let other people have a turn.
[2:46:41] I've got more questions.
[2:46:43] Chair Jenkins: We'll ping pong this way.
[2:46:46] Go ahead.
[2:46:47] >> Thank you and I also appreciate the apology.
[2:46:51] I know this is really difficult on all of our families
[2:46:53] and I know you guys are working really hard to resolve things.
[2:46:56] One thing that I have not yet heard tonight
[2:47:00] is what the current status is.
[2:47:02] Do we have a number of how many families are still affected?
[2:47:06] And by when they can expect a resolution?
[2:47:09] >> So we are, with the numbers, yes or no.
[2:47:14] We have the number of what we still have to work through
[2:47:20] that we currently know about.
[2:47:22] We're hoping at this point that they're no additions
[2:47:25] and there are always the transportation
[2:47:27] everyday issues that you have to work through.
[2:47:29] This town needs a US, this child wants a different route,
[2:47:34] this child is going through a different place we have
[2:47:36] to work through those as well.
[2:47:37] Are priority right now is every child
[2:47:40] that does not have a bus to get them a bus parent currently
[2:47:43] request wise, this is not children but request wise,
[2:47:46] we are still working about 800 requests.
[2:47:53] >> (Inaudible)
[2:47:53] >> Yes sir.
[2:47:54] But a lot of our children have morning routes
[2:47:58] and afternoon route.
[2:48:00] Or they have an afternoon route and need a morning route.
[2:48:03] That is a request that we're working through.
[2:48:06] And then we have children that need both routes.
[2:48:09] Well the issue, or crystal to 2000
[2:48:15] that we were working through.
[2:48:18] >> That's nearly half, right?
[2:48:21] >> And what we're finding is we think that this is going to be
[2:48:25] higher than normal usage year for transportation.
[2:48:28] For people requesting routes.
[2:48:31] Last Friday, or Monday, excuse me, we were at 1286 requests.
[2:48:41] So today, working through being 800 and so,
[2:48:47] we are working it down one by one.
[2:48:52] >> Even while we've been sitting here at this meeting,
[2:48:54] I got an email from somebody who not a native English speaker
[2:48:59] and really needs assistance.
[2:49:00] I know you guys are doing all you can
[2:49:03] but we got to get through as many of these people as we can.
[2:49:08] And then I wanted to talk specifically
[2:49:09] about the segment of families that
[2:49:11] were affected by the grandfathered neighborhoods.
[2:49:15] I would love to understand, it doesn't
[2:49:18] have to be tonight necessarily, but I
[2:49:20] love to understand what the procedure is
[2:49:22] for notifying those families and what approvals have to be made.
[2:49:28] It just seems like when a family is
[2:49:30] used to having bus service over a number of years
[2:49:32] and they may not have been apprized of the fact
[2:49:34] that it was a temporary grandfathered situation,
[2:49:36] that there needs to be some kind of approval or process
[2:49:43] by which we evaluate the need of the neighborhood.
[2:49:47] Because the descriptions that we're
[2:49:48] getting from a lot of families who are affected by that are
[2:49:51] this is not safe.
[2:49:53] My kindergartner can't cross myth level.
[2:49:56] Just things like that.
[2:49:58] It made me feel a little uneasy that those were
[2:50:04] decided without board approval.
[2:50:05] I know two years ago, there were some things
[2:50:09] that changed as you mentioned.
[2:50:10] I remember voting on a change that
[2:50:12] was due to the state regulations or the state's recommendations.
[2:50:17] And that seemed like that was a bigger board approval process.
[2:50:22] And so, this time, like that was the first time I've heard of it.
[2:50:26] So that concerned me.
[2:50:28] I still don't have a sense of how many families
[2:50:30] were affected by that.
[2:50:31] Some people said they got no notification whatsoever.
[2:50:35] And then, going forward, is it possible that we
[2:50:40] can get a couple times a week of updates
[2:50:44] to say you have 800 requests today, so in a couple of days,
[2:50:49] can we get an update saying that hopefully that number is
[2:50:52] smaller, so we know where we are?
[2:50:56] Because I feel like we haven't gotten a lot of regular updates.
[2:51:00] And so I would like to make sure that we know.
[2:51:08] And then this is a separate note but on the timeline question,
[2:51:13] in your opinion, what is the ideal date
[2:51:16] that families would get a notification of what
[2:51:19] their busses?
[2:51:20] Just best practice?
[2:51:21] To give us enough time to troubleshoot problems.
[2:51:24] Because it really did seem like this year,
[2:51:27] it was very less minute.
[2:51:29] And I think from what I'm hearing from affected families,
[2:51:32] by the time that they realized that they weren't going
[2:51:35] to get an assignment like the first day of school
[2:51:37] was already underway.
[2:51:38] >> For the time, the Monday after graduation in June.
[2:51:44] That's what we're aiming for.
[2:51:46] >> Okay.
[2:51:47] That's certainly better.
[2:51:49] I was a little surprised that it was even you were recommending
[2:51:52] that may time but great.
[2:51:54] I think the earlier the better so families have time to really
[2:51:57] troubleshoot what's going on.
[2:51:59] And then you mentioned the last thing
[2:52:01] I had is just the second coordinator that
[2:52:07] was replacing the staff member that was retired?
[2:52:10] >> Yes Ma'am.
[2:52:13] Vice-Chair Fedders: Yes I echo everybody's appreciation
[2:52:17] for the accountability and apology and extend my own.
[2:52:21] We have oversight responsibility.
[2:52:24] I'm the chair of Finance Facilities and Operations
[2:52:27] and we should have met over the summer so I'll take that.
[2:52:32] A lot of my questions have already been addressed.
[2:52:35] But it seems like we have enough bus drivers right?
[2:52:38] And the good news department?
[2:52:40] >> Yes Ma'am we do.
[2:52:43] Vice-Chair Fedders: And do you feel
[2:52:45] with the new person we just hired, the department has
[2:52:48] enough people?
[2:52:49] Probably nobody has enough people?
[2:52:51] >> We will be in a better place.
[2:52:54] I think one of the things that Mr. Austin and I are working on
[2:52:57] is ensuring that our operators have dedicated time to work.
[2:53:03] That while having a CDL is a requirement for the position,
[2:53:07] trying to keep them off a bus as much as possible as something
[2:53:13] that is helpful so that they can sit in the office
[2:53:15] and they can troubleshoot through this.
[2:53:24] [NO AUDIO]
[2:55:13] >> Just going to every classroom and say who's got a bus problem?
[2:55:16] >> Doctor Griffin I apologize.
[2:55:21] [Interposing voices]
[2:55:22] >> We have 20 administrators sitting here tonight.
[2:55:24] Why not tomorrow?
[2:55:25] The system is not working.
[2:55:27] We're not going to get 800 kids back in another week.
[2:55:30] It's the third week of school next week.
[2:55:34] The kitchen's on fire.
[2:55:36] Somebody needs to go out there and find out
[2:55:39] who's got a bus problem.
[2:55:41] Not waiting for parents to contact you
[2:55:44] for the third time saying nobody's
[2:55:47] told me anything for nine days.
[2:55:50] That's just not good enough.
[2:55:52] It's not working.
[2:55:53] So stop it and go fix it.
[2:55:58] >> Excuse me for a second.
[2:56:00] A while back I am being told and I apologize if I'm out of order
[2:56:04] but this needs to be said.
[2:56:05] A while back I was told that we need
[2:56:08] to make sure we're going to have a certain level of decorum
[2:56:11] and not make our staff feel that we're going to be attacked.
[2:56:14] And if I'm going to be told we're
[2:56:15] going to make our staff not feel that we're going to be attacked,
[2:56:18] that's going to be across the board.
[2:56:20] I want to take a deep breath.
[2:56:22] I would invite all of us to take a deep breath.
[2:56:24] And we're not going to want our staff to feel attacked.
[2:56:28] He's standing here.
[2:56:29] He is owning this problem.
[2:56:31] He is not making an excuse.
[2:56:33] He is not telling me something that's not factual.
[2:56:36] A system that is not working is not
[2:56:39] the same as a person that's telling me
[2:56:41] history that's not correct.
[2:56:42] So I will say yes, the master list may not be working.
[2:56:46] Tims may not be doing what it's supposed to do.
[2:56:49] Our families are hurting and the kitchen may be on fire,
[2:56:52] but we're not going to act like we don't have water
[2:56:55] from the university lake in Owosso.
[2:56:57] We are going to deal with this and we're going to get it fixed.
[2:56:59] I as a board member say I am sorry to our families.
[2:57:03] As a former bus driver will be glad to volunteer my time
[2:57:07] and get in a van to help you get our children to school.
[2:57:11] But we have to work together at this point and realize that
[2:57:14] we're at September the 3rd and we're in a bad situation and we
[2:57:18] need to figure out what we need to do and we can get the answers
[2:57:22] as we can get them, but what needs to happen right now is
[2:57:25] to get as many children on the bus as possible and for us
[2:57:28] to get the answers when we can come and how we can.
[2:57:32] When I want to know is how and what
[2:57:33] is the fastest way to get every little person on a bus,
[2:57:38] in a van, in a car.
[2:57:40] >> Yes Ma'am.
[2:57:42] Thank you.
[2:57:43] I want to take one step back because it
[2:57:46] was an important omission that I made.
[2:57:50] We have spreadsheets from every school that we share.
[2:57:56] So the schools are filling out the spreadsheets
[2:57:59] when they find out that there's a student who
[2:58:02] does not have transportation.
[2:58:03] We are addressing it through the spreadsheets.
[2:58:06] And then adding those students to the alpha list.
[2:58:09] That's my fault for that omission.
[2:58:11] But we are -- we're not relying solely upon the alpha list.
[2:58:17] We are actually communicating with schools
[2:58:20] through spreadsheets, through the apps or the data managers.
[2:58:24] Whoever they're designated as.
[2:58:26] The fastest way for us to get students on a bus
[2:58:31] is simply for us to put our heads down
[2:58:35] to continue to route everything, every day.
[2:58:39] For us to continue to partner with Itry to make sure
[2:58:45] we're doing everything we possibly can the right way.
[2:58:50] We want to resolve this as fast as we possibly can.
[2:58:54] And we will continue to work to do so.
[2:58:59] Chair Jenkins: I'm going to jump in.
[2:59:02] Are there any other resources that we can offer?
[2:59:06] Temp staff.
[2:59:08] I know somebody off the street probably
[2:59:10] can't come in and do this.
[2:59:12] I doubt I can.
[2:59:13] But I don't know if we need temp staff for like five days?
[2:59:18] And Doctor Stewart, I appreciate every school year,
[2:59:20] we talk about transportation since I've been on the board.
[2:59:23] It's like a big concern.
[2:59:25] Like barb, I was chair of FFO so even
[2:59:27] on social media, putting out how people get in touch to address
[2:59:31] transportation issues.
[2:59:33] But if need temp staff for seven days
[2:59:36] I feel like, it sounds like that the energy of the board
[2:59:41] is like we can go out there and bring in temp staff.
[2:59:45] Support somebody working additional hours
[2:59:48] during the next week, two weeks to get this fixed.
[2:59:52] >> Yes Ma'am.
[2:59:54] We're bringing in a second TIMS operator next week on Tuesday.
[3:00:00] We had a former operator that moved to another division.
[3:00:03] That we've brought on board to help us as well.
[3:00:06] Just getting them dedicated time that they can sit down
[3:00:10] and they can route and we'll put out the other fires.
[3:00:12] We'll get on the busses.
[3:00:13] We'll do what we have to do but getting them
[3:00:16] that dedicated time is the most important thing.
[3:00:20] >> Just a word.
[3:00:23] I also encourage our families.
[3:00:26] There's direct communication and it's pretty long
[3:00:30] but it does go a long way in terms
[3:00:34] of letting family know what they can do to help us out
[3:00:39] in the situation.
[3:00:40] To Doctor Stewart's point, when I walked the schools,
[3:00:45] principals and assistant principals
[3:00:47] have a pretty good sense of whether it's
[3:00:51] 20 students, 30 students, 50 students who don't have a bus.
[3:00:54] That's not as quick as okay, we have
[3:00:58] to enter the students in the system.
[3:01:01] The system then has to route the students
[3:01:02] and then you have to notify parent like that's
[3:01:05] not the fastest process.
[3:01:07] But I don't know that I would frame it as, on a large scale,
[3:01:14] any given school doesn't know who doesn't have is not still
[3:01:19] working transportation.
[3:01:21] Whether that's through a spreadsheet.
[3:01:24] What I do understand the frustration
[3:01:26] about how fast we can resolve the issue
[3:01:30] and we're looking forward to the upload that occurred today
[3:01:34] to give us a sense of how far we've
[3:01:38] gone to correct that issue.
[3:01:41] But parents, community members, families,
[3:01:44] the district communication that went out
[3:01:47] today would help us as well in terms of resolving this Chair
[3:01:55] Jenkins: I would agree and I know,
[3:01:57] thank you Doctor Stewart for taking some time
[3:01:58] to talk with me this week.
[3:02:00] I also echo the need for the board, the community, definitely
[3:02:04] the board to get frequent updates.
[3:02:07] You know?
[3:02:08] If it's weekly or whatever.
[3:02:11] One thing I don't want to stop you
[3:02:13] guys who are running a report to give to us when
[3:02:15] you can be doing the work.
[3:02:17] So obviously, give us an update.
[3:02:20] Keep us updated until we get to zero requests per minute we just
[3:02:25] need to know that this is getting worked on
[3:02:29] and we are moving quickly to get these requests done.
[3:02:33] I will say --
[3:02:35] I want to go back to George's point about validation.
[3:02:37] We talked a lot you and I about this
[3:02:39] and I said I'm not going to go and do your job.
[3:02:42] I don't want to be the type of board where we reach in
[3:02:45] and start telling staff, who are supposed to do this,
[3:02:49] but I think there are some additional layers of validation
[3:02:52] and I think as we're thinking about how this process works
[3:02:56] and all the process failures that one along the way,
[3:03:00] there are a lot of opportunities.
[3:03:02] And so obviously, think about, like George said, ahead of.
[3:03:09] Those data managers see the numbers,
[3:03:13] they get a report that says we've got 300 kids in our school
[3:03:16] and 200 of them require transportation
[3:03:19] and we have all those numbers across the district
[3:03:22] and we end up with 6000 and you see what TIMS report says.
[3:03:29] We already have a mismatch.
[3:03:30] There's something going on in the system so I just want you
[3:03:33] guys to think about even -- we all fill out that form.
[3:03:36] I am also --
[3:03:37] I want to make sure we're moving up timelines,
[3:03:39] it's going to impact a lot of things.
[3:03:42] We're saying it lightheartedly now in a meeting
[3:03:45] but to families, that means deadlines for things
[3:03:48] are critical.
[3:03:48] That's why when families are like why
[3:03:50] is this deadline moving up?
[3:03:51] This is why.
[3:03:52] So if there's an application deadline for something
[3:03:55] that students need to enroll in.
[3:03:57] If the district moves up their email
[3:03:59] that they send at the end of the year saying
[3:04:01] what is your intention?
[3:04:02] You need to fill it out.
[3:04:04] I know I get in in June or whatever I get it.
[3:04:07] If they move that up to April, we have to make sure as families
[3:04:12] we're filling it out.
[3:04:13] We're not like oh I forgot to fill it out
[3:04:15] and things like that.
[3:04:16] This is only going to work if we also
[3:04:20] help move this because obviously, they
[3:04:22] want to fix this sooner.
[3:04:25] They want to be able to no issue sooner
[3:04:27] but this is going to be a shift across the board.
[3:04:30] I think if we can communicate that very loud, very clear,
[3:04:36] and keep doing that because I hear you.
[3:04:40] I'm just envisioning all the things
[3:04:42] that are going to be impacted across the district.
[3:04:46] Timelines and deadlines for things that families are used to
[3:04:49] are going to completely shift and people
[3:04:52] are going to be asking why and the response should
[3:04:55] be because we need to make sure we get transportation assigned
[3:04:58] sooner to families, however, we can just remind people
[3:05:04] sooner, earlier, the better.
[3:05:06] Because I want to make sure that we
[3:05:08] have enough time that if we have typically 400 issues every year,
[3:05:13] we can clear those even sooner and if there's continued systems
[3:05:17] issues, we identify that as early as possible.
[3:05:20] And then we can roll that out.
[3:05:25] We've answered a lot of my questions and things.
[3:05:30] But I think board members and community members
[3:05:32] have conveyed it's urgent.
[3:05:35] I appreciate the people emailing the board
[3:05:39] and doing things that we didn't we just forwarded it to Primo.
[3:05:43] Please follow the emails.
[3:05:45] Emailing the board is a slowdown in the process.
[3:05:48] Obviously we have people monitoring
[3:05:49] stuff that comes to us but if I can go directly
[3:05:51] to Doctor Stewart and Mr. Allston, please do that.
[3:05:56] We are aware this is an issue.
[3:05:58] So just get it directly to them for people
[3:06:01] who need the email to email anyone
[3:06:03] because it's another step in the process
[3:06:06] that it has to come out of our inbox and go over to them
[3:06:09] and we don't want any more delays with this to.
[3:06:12] Go ahead Barb.
[3:06:13] Vice-Chair Fedders: I just feel like at the pace that we've
[3:06:16] been going, it's going to take two and a half more weeks
[3:06:19] and I just still haven't heard anything
[3:06:21] that suggests that we're going to solve this problem quickly.
[3:06:25] That's just a comment.
[3:06:27] I don't understand why we didn't hire somebody
[3:06:30] faster after the person quit in the middle of the summer.
[3:06:33] I don't understand why we didn't get temps right away.
[3:06:37] Like on August 25th.
[3:06:40] Again, those don't need answers but I
[3:06:42] think as we're doing our review, I just I'm not seeing enough
[3:06:47] I'm upset also like George, very,
[3:06:51] and it's not getting matched.
[3:06:54] I'm not feeling enough urgency in any of this.
[3:06:59] So I don't know.
[3:07:01] I'm not an operations expert but something
[3:07:03] has to happen that's different.
[3:07:06] We had an audit in 2022, maybe there's something in there.
[3:07:14] I have a couple specific suggestions if that's okay?
[3:07:19] I think we need weekly updates but I think the public does too
[3:07:24] and we have a dashboard for Carrboro elementary
[3:07:29] and we have a digital dashboard for the education plan
[3:07:32] but we need a digital dashboard.
[3:07:34] I think Doctor Tracy's point about trust is really important.
[3:07:37] We're about to redistrict.
[3:07:41] --Trice so people have to trust us.
[3:07:44] That's number one.
[3:07:45] Number two, restore all the kids at school
[3:07:47] are going to be held harmless?
[3:07:48] They're not going to turn in those assignments
[3:07:51] and not be docked on their grades
[3:07:52] I'm going to make sure that happens.
[3:07:54] I think we should seriously consider
[3:07:56] having either simultaneously or after the internal review
[3:08:00] that we're doing, an external firm to audit us.
[3:08:05] Because I'm mystified as to why this is just happening to us
[3:08:09] and why this year not last year when it just rolled out
[3:08:12] I'm like I was expecting it to be a bad last year.
[3:08:15] This is just mystifying.
[3:08:17] And so I think we need some help figuring out what went wrong.
[3:08:20] I hate to spend that money but I think
[3:08:22] it would go a long way to restoring trust.
[3:08:24] So those are my four suggestions.
[3:08:27] I don't know if we should vote on them
[3:08:29] or if we can just discuss them or what.
[3:08:33] Chair Jenkins: Thank you Barb.
[3:08:37] I think in terms of updates, I agree with you,
[3:08:40] I think we don't necessarily need to vote on those.
[3:08:43] We can just direct administration
[3:08:44] to provide not only the board but the public weekly updates.
[3:08:47] In terms of where we stand.
[3:08:51] Typically transportation comes in where front of FFO
[3:08:55] we and the stand. full I think maybe,
[3:08:59] typically transportation comes in front of FFO
[3:09:01] and the full board at the beginning of the year anyway
[3:09:03] so we were set to get a transportation update anyway.
[3:09:06] FFO this month and then the full board
[3:09:09] as part of a greater operations update in October
[3:09:12] if I remember the cadence of these updates.
[3:09:14] So I think in that meeting, maybe we
[3:09:17] can talk about next steps after we hear
[3:09:20] and hopefully the staff will have more time
[3:09:22] and then we can direct another transportation audit.
[3:09:26] I think we also probably need to layer
[3:09:28] in like impact of redistricting as well in.
[3:09:33] So that we factor that into.
[3:09:35] So you know, so I think that part will just
[3:09:38] put it in our notation and administration
[3:09:41] know that that's probably going to come.
[3:09:43] As a request.
[3:09:44] And what was that last one?
[3:09:46] Oh there was some other, the audit that's what I was saying.
[3:09:48] Yeah.
[3:09:49] Oh the holding kids harmless.
[3:09:51] I think that's the important part
[3:09:52] I've been seeing and hearing some things about that, I know
[3:09:56] generally like for transportation if kids are late
[3:09:58] and things like that, it gets noted as like excused
[3:10:01] and it's not penalized, they're not penalized for it.
[3:10:04] But I think also Doctor Trice it would go a long way that if kids
[3:10:09] like miss assignments because they've like
[3:10:11] missed the entire first period or whatever,
[3:10:14] that we ask the teachers provide some flexibility.
[3:10:19] >> We'll make sure that happens.
[3:10:22] Chair Jenkins: Okay thank you.
[3:10:24] Any other questions?
[3:10:26] Comments?
[3:10:27] Go ahead.
[3:10:29] >> I had a question about the Tims in terms of where
[3:10:33] they're clocking the one and a half miles or the 1.6 miles I
[3:10:36] think it is where you say it's at the top of the neighborhoods.
[3:10:39] Is our communities becoming more and more dense,
[3:10:43] from the top of our neighborhood to sometimes the back
[3:10:46] of our neighborhoods, we're looking
[3:10:48] at sometimes three quarters of a mile.
[3:10:51] So if the top is saying, is one and a half so to speak,
[3:10:57] or that child's door is which is where they're not gauging
[3:11:00] is well outside of what a walk zone could be because so
[3:11:04] many of our communities are now being interconnected where there
[3:11:07] are different entrances so how are we,
[3:11:10] are those having to be like one offs?
[3:11:12] Because those are whole additional neighborhoods,
[3:11:15] I'll give you even an example like the way Lake Hogan is now
[3:11:19] connecting for the back on 086, where there's homestead and then
[3:11:24] there's 086 and it's going deeper and deeper and it's a new
[3:11:28] subdivision.
[3:11:29] So how would that look to make sure
[3:11:31] that those children that are in the center towards the back
[3:11:34] wouldn't be considered in a walk zone
[3:11:37] because they are much further away
[3:11:39] from the school than the children that
[3:11:41] are facing like Homestead Road.
[3:11:44] I mean I know you guys probably know where I'm talking about,
[3:11:46] if that makes sense to you that's kind of my question.
[3:11:49] How are we looking at that?
[3:11:50] So that our young people aren't looking
[3:11:53] at spaces without sidewalks or safety to get from so far back
[3:12:00] to get to a main road to maybe be able to get a bus.
[3:12:02] Is that something that will be looked at?
[3:12:05] >> Yes Ma'am.
[3:12:06] We will get you an answer.
[3:12:08] >> Thank you.
[3:12:11] Chair Jenkins: Anything else from our members?
[3:12:14] >> I just have one last little thing that actually jogged
[3:12:18] my memory what you said Risa about redistricting.
[3:12:20] I do think that it would be helpful
[3:12:22] as we approach redistricting, the board
[3:12:25] is made aware of plans on how we're
[3:12:28] going to, I mean there's definitely
[3:12:30] going to be an additional lift in burden
[3:12:32] with regard to transportation as we
[3:12:34] change the existing routes quite a bit.
[3:12:36] So I just want to make sure that like we're
[3:12:39] kept abreast of those plans as we approach that.
[3:12:43] Major event.
[3:12:55] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[3:13:03] All right.
[3:13:05] Thank you.
[3:13:06] Thank you doctor Stewart.
[3:13:08] Thank you Mr. Ralston.
[3:13:15] Our last item on our agenda is committee reports and sharing.
[3:13:22] Let's see.
[3:13:23] Who we have here.
[3:13:25] I think we've got all the committee's represented right?
[3:13:28] Finance facility and operations.
[3:13:31] Okay.
[3:13:31] You have an upcoming meeting?
[3:13:33] Okay.
[3:13:36] I think it's the eighth, September 8th, 530.
[3:13:43] Okay.
[3:13:44] And hopefully you all will get more updates on this.
[3:13:47] Previous topic.
[3:13:49] Student success?
[3:13:51] >> Yes we are meeting on September the 22nd as our next
[3:14:00] meeting.
[3:14:01] And we will be going over the results of all
[3:14:08] of the testing and things that have just recently come out,
[3:14:11] so it's going to be an important meeting.
[3:14:13] So I'd encourage folks to watch that if they're
[3:14:15] interested to see some of our growth numbers
[3:14:18] and other things that are coming out with those reports.
[3:14:21] Chair Jenkins: Thank you.
[3:14:23] And then policy.
[3:14:25] Our next meeting?
[3:14:27] That's you.
[3:14:28] >> We have our next meeting on September the 15th at 530
[3:14:32] and our last meeting information was on (Indistinct)
[3:14:37] Chair Jenkins: Okay thank you Vicki.
[3:14:38] Any sharing from board members?
[3:14:42] Well I just want to say I know we've had hiccups
[3:14:46] with the opening of school but I will say,
[3:14:48] thank you to the staff doctor Trice and staff and our schools
[3:14:52] and other board members who joined, Doctor twice
[3:14:55] as he visited all the schools in the district.
[3:14:57] I think I made it to all but one and even wrote
[3:15:00] some of the school busses with the kids early in the morning.
[3:15:03] So thank you so much to our staff, the kids were happy
[3:15:09] and in class and excited, it was just
[3:15:11] really really great to see our kids back in school
[3:15:15] and just really excited and energized
[3:15:17] and enjoying lunch and playing outside.
[3:15:20] It was really great.
[3:15:22] To see all of our kiddos back in school.
[3:15:25] So thank you.
[3:15:26] Thank you again, our community our families and especially
[3:15:29] our staff and our schools.
[3:15:31] And with that, I'm looking around,
[3:15:35] our meeting is adjourned.