Dare County Schools Board of Education Meeting - June 23, 2026

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[0:32] Good morning. I'd like to call the special meeting of the Dare County Board of Education to order. Today is Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026. We're meeting that the Dare County Administrative Building in Manteo. And the time is 9 a.m..
[0:45] I'd like to request a motion to approve the agenda.
[0:48] Mr. chairman, I move approve the agenda.
[0:49] Motion by Mr. Payne. Second by Mr. Bright. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion carries. Request a motion to go into closed session.
[1:01] Mr. chairman, I move to go into closed session to consult with the Board of Education. Attorney to preserve the attorney. Client privilege is provided in North Carolina General Statutes 143, three, 18, 1183 to consider confidential personnel matters as provided in 143, 3181186, and to consider confidential student matters as provided in 14331811 A1 and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA 20, US code 1232 G 34 CFR part 99.
[1:38] Motion by Mr. Brower. Second second by Mr. Bateman. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye aye. Motion carries. In closed session.
[2:01] We returned an open session. Mr. chairman of the session. Motion by Mr. Payne. Second by Mr. Bryant. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any motion carries. We're back in open session. Board members I. We have. I'm gonna turn it over to Miss Hitch. We're going to need to agenda. Uh, we're going to amend the agenda from what we approve.
[2:22] Or we can attend the agenda. Whatever. You know. Um. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to put on from from legal that there was a request from the administration to review the possibility of a telehealth program for urgent care services in connection with DHHS. And I think the administration is looking to to find out from the board whether they would approve that kind of program pending legal review, so that they can move forward on getting since you don't have a meeting in July so they can move forward at looking at letting parents know about it and getting waivers and all the things that they would need to do that. So I don't know whether Mr. Bassett can provide some information and the board could. Well, I think what they're asking for is approval of a program pending legal review. And then what we would do is before school starts in August, we would bring that back to you and let you know what what basically how it turned out, what was set up.
[3:15] Mr.. Would you like that? Yes, sir. We had we had hoped to have Sheila Davies here with us today, but she was unable to attend, um, to roll this program out to the board. Uh, we've.
[3:26] Been working with DHHS to, um, to create a telehealth program in all of our schools. As you know, our school nurses, secondary, um, all of our school nurses are provided by DHHS. So they're their employees, um, and they have worked out an agreement with, um, Surf Pediatrics, where if we have a student that comes into the nurse's office in the front office and is ill. Um, the parent could be could sign a waiver allowing that child to participate in telehealth, where they would sit there in the nurse's office and right on the screen have a virtual office visit with Surf Pediatrics. They could actually do a diagnosis. They can look down their throat, they can check their ears all online, um, make a diagnosis and even provide, uh, a prescription if necessary, for the child that the parent would be notified of to pick up at whatever pharmacy, um, that they would be using. Um, so again, additional medical services for our, our students. Um, it also would, would help us with students that that have sick argue. Um, do you need to go home. Um, and making a more educated decision about that to be able to inform our parents? Uh, here's what's going on. Um, and we've we've got that to legal and, um, excited about this program. Like I said, we were going to do a big rollout. Um, she was going to be here with us in August to discuss this with you, but our notification to Parents Go goes out July 1st. Um, and we didn't want anyone to miss out on this, so we would like to include this in our July 1st notification so parents can sign off on approval. So I guess what what we're requesting is, um, asking for approval from the board based on the legal review of the agreement with DHHS. Is that.
[5:23] So? What you need first, Mr. Chair, is whether the board wants to amend the agenda to include that discussion or whether the board would prefer not to do that.
[5:31] So do I have a motion on the floor to amend.
[5:34] The agenda to include this or not?
[5:36] I have a motion by Mr..
[5:37] Bright, second.
[5:38] By Mr. Bateman. Any discussion?
[5:41] All in favor? Aye.
[5:43] Nays.
[5:43] All right. So the agenda has been amended and amended. The in a minute. So now we have the discussion. Now we're going to need a motion to have the process that Mr. Barnard is sharing with his telehealth to be approved here, based on the report from our attorney reviewing it, to be offered to explain to us in August.
[6:10] What I think that the what would go out in July would be a notice to the parent that would say something like, if any, any telehealth urgent care program exists in Dare County schools. I am opting into that program. Here's my consent or whatever. And that way if you guys decide in August to have the program, that's great. If you decide in August that you need to look at it longer, you know? But that way the parents will have filled out the necessary consent forms for any program that might come into play in Dare County. Does that make sense? And that that means that I think the concern is making sure that the parent that the parents get all those kinds of notices together in July because notices that come after the the concern is whether or not you get the participation in that program when the parent finds out about it or has to go take extra steps to sign up for it outside of what they're already opting into in July.
[7:07] Mr. Bastian, is there a cost to the parent for that service?
[7:15] So they would have the ability to do it through insurance to submit their insurance. And there's also a self-pay option. And so it's just we wouldn't be responsible for that. It would go through DHHS and surf PD or Surf Urgent Care. And they would determine the pay or the cost of what it would be, depending on insurance and or self-pay.
[7:34] Okay. Thank you.
[7:37] Any other questions for Mr. Bruhl, Mr.
[7:46] Mr. Chairman. How was that?
[7:49] I moved.
[7:50] To approve the.
[7:53] Superintendent's.
[7:54] Proposal to.
[7:55] Proceed with notification of parents for telehealth and to proceed developing the program. Motion by Mr. Bryce. Second by Mr. Payne. Is that work?
[8:05] That's great.
[8:07] Any discussion?
[8:08] Any pending legal review?
[8:09] Yeah, pending.
[8:10] Legal.
[8:10] Review. Any further discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye aye. Any nays? Motion carries. Thank you.
[8:17] Thank you so much.
[8:18] Thank you.
[8:22] Next item on the agenda is approve the consent agenda.
[8:26] Mr. chairman, I move.
[8:27] We produced a motion by Mr.
[8:33] Second. By Mr. Brower. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any nays? All right. Motion carries. Next, I'll turn it over to Miss Hitch to present the second reading of the proposed policy manual. Updates.
[8:59] No. Not really. I mean, I think we covered it pretty well and we haven't gotten, uh, really any feedback per se.
[9:07] Uh, and I.
[9:09] Think.
[9:09] It's a pretty anodyne policy in the same with the policy, the other policy we're looking at as well, that dovetails into this.
[9:17] So with that being said, do I have a motion on the floor for the update policy manual that has been presented for the second reading?
[9:25] Mr. chairman, I move we approve the policies as presented.
[9:30] Motion by Mr. Brower, second by Mr. Lloyd. Any discussion?
[9:35] Yes. One question. Mr. Bastian on the e-bike. Disciplinary action at the student doesn't follow regulations. Are we going to be specific on that? Here's warning. One week off a month off.
[9:53] Yes, sir. That'll be included in the code of conduct.
[9:56] Okay.
[9:58] Any other discussion?
[10:00] What's up?
[10:01] All in favor, say aye.
[10:02] All right.
[10:03] Any motion carries. Thank you all.
[10:10] Next, I'll turn the meeting over to Mr. Knight to give us an update on the Deer County's AIG program.
[10:17] Mr. chairman, thank you very much. I'm going to have Miss Spruill. Uh, Miss Bridgers. Uh, come to the podium and give you an update on the Derek County Schools AIG program.
[10:37] Good morning. How are you guys? So, as Mr. Bass Night shared, I'm Miss Brule and I are going to share some AIG information with you. Um, the title of our presentation today is AIG Strategic Resource Optimization. So we are looking at maximizing our dollars and making sure that all of our students are served. Um, and so what we're going to do today is, is walk you through that. And what we're looking at for the 2627 school year. So to start us off, we're going to talk about the program standards. Okay. So the AIG programs Mr.
[11:19] Yeah.
[11:25] I've got it.
[11:27] No, no. You're fine.
[11:37] One.
[11:50] Okay. Okay. All right. So we're going to start with talking about the AIG program standards. Um, these standards were revised by the State Board of Education on July 11th of 2024. And these standards are the official guidance for the development of the local AIG plans. And they reflect article nine B and the nationally accepted best practices in gifted education. Um, so back in 2022 to 2025, our AIG plan, we received feedback that Dare County needed to go back and include identification and services for students in K-2. Um, that plan was revised and submitted for approval. So then when we moved in to our next reiteration of the 2025 2028 plan, we had to make sure that that was included in that plan as well.
[12:47] All right. So when we started looking at District Energy plan, okay, so the feedback on the 2225 district AG plan, um, we received 12 recommendations from the CDP team. Um, so Denise Fallon and I attended a week long ag plan writing workshop at Incat in January of 2025, um, where we collaborated with districts from the northeast and the southeast, as well as um staff from DPS, Advanced Learning and Gifted Education representatives. So they were all there and we all came together to say, okay, what is everybody doing? And figuring out what were the best practices? And then when we were rewriting our plan, addressing those 12 recommendations or findings that we had from the 22 to 25 plan. Um, and so when we.
[13:35] I'm sorry. My, my. Okay. There we go. Um, so every three years are required to submit an updated AIG plan. And those have to be reviewed by the DPI team for advanced learning and gifted education academic policy. And they review them and give us feedback. So, um, DPI provides funding for our gifted programs. And that's at 4% of our ATM. And so and that's average daily membership. And so in 2425 that was about $1,519 per student. Um, and so for Dare County schools are planned for 2020 25 to 2028. Was approved by you all on June 30th of last year. And we submitted it to DPI for review. And we received in December. We received the feedback with no recommendations or revisions, which is an improvement from the 2225, 2022, 2025 plan where we had 12 suggestions. Um, so, as you know, our ATM has declined over the past several years, which directly impacts the funding we get from the state as well as local funding. And so we have in 2025 and 2026, we had approximately 4790 students as our average daily membership. Going into next year, we are predicted to have approximately 4709 students. So that's a decrease from this year to next year. And there has been a steady decrease over the past several years. We did a study where we looked at the last 20 years, and there was a huge spike in 2021, and that has gradually come down. Um, and so in 2000 or in 2019, 2020, that school year, we had approximately 222 state funded teacher positions, which is about 69% of our teacher allotment. Um, and then we had 100 locally funded positions, which is about 31% of our teacher allotment. In 2526, we had 181 state funded teacher positions, which is about 59% of our teacher allotment and 125 locally funded positions, which is about 41%. So pre-pandemic, we were at 31% locally funded to now 41%. So there's been an increase. And so one thing we've been working on as a district, not just with AIG, but in every department AC, ESL, DLI, classroom teachers, um, every department support staff, we are looking at what are the things we can do because we're not getting more funding. Our ATM is going down, but our teaching positions, our positions are going up. Um, and so we've seen an ATM drop by 4% since in the last 20 years. Our state funded positions have decreased by 21%. And that's because of based off of the, um, ratios that they fund us on for different line items for the budget and then our enrollment or sorry. And then our locally funded positions have increased 76% in the last 20 years. And so when we started looking with our team to say, what are the things we can do? And we've done this with all of our schools, and we really looked at what are the positions that are nice to have, but are not required to have, because we are very fortunate to have the local funding that we have, but we also don't want to abuse that either and expect that. Um, and so over the past few years, we have taken a closer look at staffing in all our departments to and work to reduce the number of positions across the district and not having where it's like we're taking things that are absolutely necessary. Um, and we have done this strategically through attrition. When somebody retires, you know, looking at is that position actually needed or can we fulfill or can we fulfill that role in a different way? Um, and then also enrollment in programs.
[17:08] And looking at numbers to determine, you know, if numbers are smaller in one school this year, but we have the need in another school. So we may need to to transfer a teacher, you know, to, to another school. So those conversations are continuously held for every program in every department.
[17:26] Right.
[17:28] So this is just a screenshot of our current, um, AIG identification chart. And so there was a change from the 20 to 25, um, plan because we had to add there we had to have five pathways. And that was something that was told told to us by DPI. And so we have gifted. So we have five pathways. Gifted is the first one. Um, second one is math only. You're gifted in math. Only third one is reading only the fourth one is intellectually gifted. And then the fifth one is academically and intellectually gifted. Um, and so we under pathways, under pathway one, students must meet the criteria to qualify as gifted in both reading and math using any combination. Um, under pathways two and three, students must meet the criteria to qualify as gifted in either math or reading. With all three of those pathways, students must perform highly on aptitude and achievement assessments, so aptitude measures a student's potential. So those are like your screeners. So we have got that. We do. Um, other districts might do it. The Iowa test of basic skills. Um, we also have stages that we use. Stages is the screening assessment for gifted elementary and middle school students. And so that is something that we can administer to students if they're in K-2 or if they might not have scored well on the the gap. But we wanted to see is it was it a bad day or anything like that.
[18:58] And that's something we went and got for that.
[19:00] Purpose.
[19:01] To be able to use as a screener for those students?
[19:03] Yeah. So for pathway four, which is the intellectually gifted, those are for students who have demonstrated high intellectual capacity, and they demonstrate cognitive processing and reasoning abilities in areas of study outside of regular academic programming. And they perform in the superior range on aptitude assessments, but may show limited evidence of achievement. And so they may be very, very bright and show that potential. But then the application of it, it might not be there in there. So they might. And so that's probably the area that we don't have as many qualified because the teachers are like they're not gifted. They're not performing in class. Well actually they're their potential says they are. Um, and so that's that's four pathway for pathway five is students who have demonstrated high intellectual capacity and academic achievement. So it's both of those things. And if you look at the percentages the percentages range on those. So for pathways one, two and three it's 90%. And then for pathways four and five it's 98%. So those are your they're in the 98th percentile. Um and so that's what those are.
[20:03] Okay. Okay. So our next slide here shows the actual elementary data breakdown by school for identified AIG students. Okay. So I do want to stress that this is before students are identified next year. We do have some AIG teachers that will be identifying students students in the fall. But currently right now, if you were to pull the data, if the state were to pull the data from Infinite Campus, this is what would show. So, um, you can currently see that Ms.. And first flight will begin the year with zero identified students. Now, yes, they will be identifying some students, but they're they're not identified currently.
[20:51] Fourth and fifth.
[20:52] Grade, third, fourth and fifth grade. Um, you can see Cape Hatteras, Kitty Hawk and um, Nags Head as well. You'll see coming up um, in the next slides. That part of the reason for this is we had a large number of fifth grade students that were identified, um, for AIG, 56 to be exact, that are moving in to middle school. And so our identification for third and fourth grade and fifth has not caught up to that. So we have a big influx going to to middle school.
[21:24] If I may. Um, those children that are identified in fifth grade were identified under a different criteria. It was the 22 to 25 plan.
[21:36] Yes.
[21:37] The pathways are a little bit different on that plan versus this. Yes. Could you talk a little bit about that and why we changed the pathways?
[21:46] Was that.
[21:48] Uh, dumped on us by DPI or is this something we elected to do.
[21:52] So. And I'll let Miss Brill talk to that. But it's my understanding that when she and Miss Fallon went to MCAT for the AIG plan, writing, certain criteria were delivered by DPI. That said, we had to make some changes for those pathways, and that is why we now have five pathways. Correct? Okay.
[22:10] And that's correct. And I think it was really looking at when the feedback From other districts in the southeast and northeast and looking at, okay, what are those things or what are the requirements that they need to have? Because the fear when we were at the Cat and Miss Fallon was there as well, but it was really looking at what you don't want to over identify students. And that should really be like your top 10%. You know, if you're AIG, like, that should be like the top. So they are saying that's why they're saying the 90th percentile or higher is really where you want to focus, because those are your students who are truly gifted. And then you're and we're about to get into the talent development. Those are your kids that are like right there, like like you're 85%. And looking at that.
[22:50] That's not what changed between the two plans.
[22:53] The achievement piece.
[22:54] Well, the achievement piece, but not the aptitude piece that was changed from the previous plan to this plan that every pathway now relies on a score to even start things. We had a pathway pathway to in the previous plan.
[23:09] Uh.
[23:09] That allowed for, you know, perhaps bad test taking or lack of test taking skills where you could. Certify someone or classify them as AIG. Um, with basically the supplementary evidence. Um, if I'm correct.
[23:29] Yes, that was correct. And that was feedback from that workshop and DPI saying because they didn't because what was happening is that we had students that were the assessments that we had under the achievement were subjective. And so they felt that there were there was a veil or a possibility, and that what they had seen across districts was there was a possibility where students were it was based on what the teacher assessed them at.
[23:53] Um, in that way, we have AIG certified instructors who are qualified to do that.
[23:58] But they don't, because one of the things one of the tests we had on there was class where they could qualify for services for AIG through M class, and that is a teacher administered assessment. Um, and so that's the piece that we got feedback on. And the recommendation was to have something where there was a potential there, but that's not keeping them. That was just one of them. It was. That wasn't the only assessment that you could have if there was a concern. Let's say the teacher saw, hey. Achievement wise, they are like flying. And the combat, they were in the 70th percentile. Then we had the opportunity to do sages or to look at another aptitude test to see. Was that a bad day? But the pieces you don't want to just. They DP really urged us to not have it solely on achievement and to have a piece where there's a, there's another aptitude piece that but it's not one test keeping them from that.
[24:45] So correct.
[24:47] So I understand that the sage is three is is can be used. But how is that being used. And is that being used in the buildings.
[24:55] So do you want to speak to that.
[24:58] So what I will share with you is it is being utilized in some buildings, but not all buildings. Um, is what I can say. I recently had, um, Cape Hatteras recently did one for for a student. So I do know it's being used in some, but not at all.
[25:15] My understanding also is it's pretty cumbersome to administer that test. I don't know what goes into that, but perhaps you guys could.
[25:24] Yes. And I and I will tell you, I have heard that from an ag teacher. Um, I haven't heard it from all, but but I have had one that has said it's it's very time consuming. And so I have heard that feedback. Um, but again, I do know it is being used in, in, in some buildings.
[25:42] Well, to place the point here is that the numbers are dropped, I think largely because of the way we're identifying children. Um, the other thing also, and I don't know if this is a statutory requirement or if it's just something we do in the buildings, but kids who do not or are not certified as AIG, um, I suppose because of cognates and not having a say, just test. But the reading on an L4, L5 or performing mathematics on an L4 L5 level end up being put in the AIG classes so that those students aren't reflected here. And your numbers here.
[26:21] Yeah. That's coming. That's separate. So this is just strictly AIG identified, right? So this is what's an infinite campus. Yes, yes. So these are the students that have a DEP. They have a plan. They are identified. We've met with the parents, all of that. So the next slide that we're going to talk about, um, is talent development. Um, and this is the group of students that you're talking about, Mr. Brauer. So these are students that potentially could meet the AIG eligibility criteria. So these are the students that should be right there. As Mr. Bruhl was talking about, um, talent development is part of our local AIG plan, okay. And state standards, but it's limited to K-3. But we do it K5. Okay. So we do it across the board in elementary so we exceed that standard. Now the criteria for talent development is not mandated by NC DPI. So they don't say you the student has to have, you know, has to be in the top 10% or you have to have these things. They leave those guidelines and guidance up to us locally to to decide that.
[27:33] Okay, decide how the talent pool is developed or.
[27:36] To decide which students. Yes, sir. To decide which students. Yes. And the ag facilitators and the schools. Keep up with that. That's not something that's housed, you know, an infinite campus. Um, those numbers can change as we're looking, you know, at assessments, you know, throughout the year, check ins, you know, things like that. Um, so so these numbers do vary. Yes. In different buildings and, um, and throughout the year. So on this slide You will see the breakdown by school for Talent Development students. Now again, these are numbers that were shared with me by AIG teachers. I have no way of of pulling these numbers and Infinite campus. I will also share that you could have a student that's AIG identified in math, but is in talent pool for reading. You can have a student that's talent pool for both, right. So these numbers could be a little higher because one student may be counting as as two in these numbers, if that makes sense. Um, so again you can see here we we are servicing these students, you know, so we do have a large number of talent development students. Um, but I think there's also a conversation to be had to, um, and that we will continue to look at is with these numbers. These numbers aren't transferring into the kids that are being truly identified. Um, and so those are conversations that we will We will continue to have to figure out, you know, why is that the case? You know, what else do we need to look at, or can we look out for that?
[29:11] Okay, here's the comparison. This is what I was talking about a little earlier in the presentation. For 2526, we had 84 total students that were identified and 368 students in talent development. Um, starting off this year for 2627, we will have 28 students identified again. That's before they identify the ones in the fall. But again, looking at those numbers, we're not going to get up to 284. And that again is we had that large cohort of kids that are moving to middle school. Those 56 students are moving to middle school. Um, and the talent development numbers, um, have gone up to 460 based on the information that the teachers provided to me with that.
[30:02] All right. So for the funding received for 26, 27 will be approximately $4,000 lower because it is 4% of our ATM. And we're expecting less students for it was 4790 to 4709. Um, so this year we received $290,858 from the state for AIG. And that is not based on our AIG numbers. That is based off of ATM. Okay. So our our average daily membership for students in the district. And so we pay that's about 57% of our AIG elementary facilitator salaries. Okay. The elementary salaries and benefits total is $502,514. So we pay about 42% of those salaries locally. Um, and those are considered out of our oh like our 001 which our classroom teacher Allocations. Um, so and this doesn't include any professional learning, any support at the middle and high schools. This is solely just the elementary piece. And so, um, we it's something that we have to look at when we look at funding, you know, every looking at positions and figuring out, you know, where is the biggest bang for our buck. Um, and not saying that we're shorting a group of individuals and all of that. Like, I want to be clear that we are not trying to defund or set up AIG to not be successful. We are truly looking at how are there allocations or resources that we have in the entire district, and how do we allocate them so we can serve the most students as possible and also build on what we have.
[31:43] And to to go along with that, as Miss Spruill shared, you know that that's what we're looking at. How do we maximize the impact with the funding that we receive with our numbers, the way that they are. And so on this slide you will see this is pulled straight from our local AIG plan. Um, the the delivery models, co-teaching pull out consultation. Um, you'll also see the key resources are AIG facilitators, classroom teachers, counselors. Right. So we so we all play a part in this, not just AIG facilitators, um, classroom teachers as well. Um, the differentiation strategies. So these are, are things that we have in our plan that we say, like, we will provide to students that can come from an AIG facilitator or a classroom teacher. Um, again, it's it's all of us. It doesn't just fall on, on one person. And we we have to look at the numbers, and we have to look at how we can maximize our, our impact across the district.
[32:44] Um, and one thing about the slide Mary just shared. Um, we have in our AIG plan when we when we started looking at, you know, this and we've been in conversations about this all year. Mary and Denise. Mary Bridgers and Denise Fallon have overseen AIG for the district, and they were looking at going to get their AIG certification. But then when we started looking, Holly King, who was our director of technology, is AIG certified. And so she will be over taking over the AIG program for the district going into next school year starting July 1st. And she has a lot of really great ideas to kind of, you know, continue that work and making sure that we are aligned and there's some consistency across buildings.
[33:27] And she created.
[33:27] Our.
[33:27] Local industry, and she created our local endorsement modules to get local endorsement for AIG. Um, that is because that is a pathway that we can have for educators, like a classroom teacher that might want to go in and get certified and how to provide or get AIG certified. And so that is a pathway that Holly has created, and she does have that certification. Um, so another piece and this is not directly tied to AIG, but I just felt like it was worth mentioning because there have been some, um, this has been brought up so advanced courses in mathematics. So our general statute 115 C 81.36, when practicable, the local board shall offer advanced learning opportunities for math in grades three through five and advanced coursework in math in all grades six and higher. So we have to provide advanced coursework, which can be from an AIG facilitator, a classroom teacher, um, anyone that is providing that advanced coursework or advanced opportunities. And it is. But then for 612, there has to be the advanced courses in math or in grades six through higher at the highest level on the end for students scoring at the highest level at the end of end of grade tests. So for example, if you have somebody that scores a level five on an EOG, on an EOG in seventh grade, you have to offer them math. One, you know, and then parent can say, no, I don't want them. I want them to take Matthaei, but we have to offer that to them the next year. But that is not a requirement for elementary school. That is for sixth grade and up. Um, so that is just I wanted to just give that clarification. And so for the purposes of this section, advanced learning opportunities are those services and curricular modifications in math for academically or intellectually gifted students. And this is not just for academically gifted. So you may have a student who is identified who is not identified as AIG and scores a five. They still have to be provided those opportunities to enrich their learning. Um, and so but it's not a separate class.
[35:26] If I may. Yeah. Uh, just just a question on how kids can, uh, transition from elementary school to, um, middle school. If a kid who is taking ag courses, who's, you know, at level four, level five ability, when they get to middle school, They don't bring that certification, any kind of certification. They're not identified as AIG.
[35:58] Just.
[35:59] They.
[35:59] Just.
[35:59] Had a level 4.
[36:00] Or 5, just got level four, level five and received AIG instruction?
[36:04] Correct.
[36:04] They would not be AIG.
[36:06] So they were in talent development, right? No, they would not have an identification.
[36:11] So in order to then become identified, it would rely again on the Cog act for sixth graders.
[36:18] Yes. And it.
[36:19] Would be the start of the pathway.
[36:21] For them. Yes.
[36:30] Yes.
[36:32] Or stages.
[36:33] Or stages? Yes.
[36:34] Yes. One of the things we started looking at several years ago was we were noticing kids and I in my house, kids leave fifth grade and go to middle school. What? What kind of services are they getting? So we started strengthening middle school about three years ago and adding adding some strength to to the instruction in middle school for AIG identified students. And something Mr. Paine will appreciate, I'm sure, is when they go to ninth grade. If you've got a student that's scoring a level five and they're identified, then that opens the pathway to begin taking dual enrollment classes in ninth grade, as opposed to having to wait till 11th grade. So whether it's honors courses, AP courses, CCP, and dual enrollment courses, um, there are ways in middle and high school to continue to advance. And the difference in the definition up there on the board is opportunities and courses, um, to provide opportunities in elementary school for students who are identified or talent pool to gain additional educational opportunities in elementary school, as opposed to providing courses in middle and high school for students to take related to those.
[37:50] Okay. All right. So I want to assure you, we are here to make sure we are sustaining excellence in Dare County schools for all programs. However, we do have a fiscal responsibility. We have to look at the funds we're giving that we're given and maximize that impact. We also have to make sure that we're providing equitable support. Right. So we're not talking about defunding the program. We're not talking about cutting corners or getting away with things. We're talking about adjusting schedules and maybe doing things differently than we have in the past to make sure that we're maximizing that impact. Um, and also, our AIG facilitators are wonderful, right? We want to make sure that we're getting system wide support. So when they're out there co-teaching and consulting and doing those things right with with multiple teachers that builds impact across the the entire school building, not just with groups of students that they're working with or maybe pulling out or just maybe teaching in their classes. Um, and we're committed to continuous evaluation of everything, as always, these are ongoing conversations, but our job is to ensure that every resource continues to yield the highest possible impact in return for our students.
[39:15] It is our hope that we're able to rebuild these numbers, um, by providing targeted services in our buildings. There's no desire to stop servicing ag students at all. Um, but we have to service them with the resources we have. And when the numbers rebuild, uh, if we're expanding those, the number of students that need to be served. Um, Adding additional positions in those areas when they become a necessity will be something that is considered. This is not an end all time. Um, we're constantly looking at all of our programs and evaluating where we are. Um, and, and the amount of, uh, as we've shared several times, our money's in our people. And, and so sometimes you have to move people to address, um, concerns as well as resources and programs in your buildings. And we're just trying to best serve everybody with what we've got.
[40:14] Is there any questions? Any questions?
[40:16] Um.
[40:18] EQ teachers and facilitators are.
[40:21] Are they confined to one building or do they have to move around.
[40:23] Some?
[40:24] No, they can move around. So EC is is just like any other program. We look at numbers. Um, they have caps and EC so teachers can't have you know, but so many students, you know, on their caseload they can only have so many kids and.
[40:37] They just.
[40:37] Have, but they may.
[40:38] Have to move around from school.
[40:39] To school.
[40:39] But they may. Yes, that that that is correct. With any program that.
[40:43] We have secondary teachers, PE.
[40:45] Teachers, stuff like.
[40:46] That, they they.
[40:47] Have to move around to.
[40:48] From time.
[40:48] To.
[40:49] Time.
[40:49] Some.
[40:49] Of.
[40:49] Them from.
[40:50] Manteo to Cape Hatteras.
[41:00] Okay.
[41:00] That's what.
[41:00] I.
[41:00] Was getting at.
[41:01] So we're not asking somebody to do anything that we're not already asking people to do. That's right.
[41:07] That is correct. We have teachers that are moving from building to building just because the numbers don't support them being in this building at this time. So they're moving to another school this year. Um, so again, we're not asking anything from AIG that's not happening in every other department.
[41:25] It's all.
[41:25] Good. And I want to let you also let you know, Mary has worked very closely with the principals because it's the first one. And Kittyhawk are not the only ones that are being the AIG facilitators are being asked to split. And so with any position, any schools that we are splitting based on numbers, we have worked with the principals to say, how can we make this work with to serve the students in your building and the principals have been actively involved in okay, I need them these days, these times, whatever. And so it's not us saying you're going to have them three days and you're going to have them two days. It's how do we make this work in our schedule? So it has the least amount of impact on your students and staff? Um, it's truly just saying this is what we have to do. How can we make it happen and how can we support you?
[42:07] Yes. Thank you.
[42:08] Any other questions?
[42:10] I guess my heartburn is that, you know, we're talking about the numbers dropping, but they're dropping because of the change in the plan. Yeah. Um, you know, I get it that Sage's is probably a difficult, um, test or a method to to get the numbers where they need to be as far as increasing the the number of certified students. Um, but it looks to me like that's the only other way with the plan as we currently have it. And if I understand you correctly, uh, using a POG and then, you know, achievement or other forms of achievement to actually classify, uh, the kid as AIG, uh, is frowned upon by DPI. Is that correct? They don't want to see that in our pathways.
[43:00] Right. But I will also say that I will follow up with DPI. But that was our understanding when we met with them last January. And again, our identification chart was put in our plan that was fully approved with no recommendations by DPI. And so that but I understand what you're saying and I hear what and I hear you. Um, and so that is something that I want that I will follow up on to make sure. But that is like they did not flag that and say, hey. And that was what they had told us at the workshop last year.
[45:50] Uh I guess my response would be we handle that just like we handle any other service that we provide in a traditional classroom. Um, we have instructors. We have very good teachers, um, who address a spectrum of needs in their classrooms every day. You you're sort of blending talent pool and AIG talent pool. Are those kids that potentially.
[46:21] That.
[46:21] That potentially. But that talent pool is also across the spectrum because you may have some very high performing kids in that talent pool, and you have some kids that are just above, um, average in that talent pool. Well, our classroom teachers are are trained to provide differentiation. Sorry, I use the word um to students throughout their classroom. Um, and that that's something that happens every single day. So yes, we're identifying kids who receive additional resources. But keep in mind here the plan that you're talking about that you know that. Okay, so our numbers changed after this new plan was directed by DPI, identified by DPI, reviewed by DPI. And and so we didn't just come up with this. We sat down with, with schools all over the northeast and southeast of North Carolina and developed this plan. It's not something that we did to prevent kids from enrolling. We used the data that we were provided, the resources that we provided. We went out and got additional resources.
[47:32] To do that. My point, Steve, my point was that, you know, we're saying the numbers dropped. Well, there's a direct correlation, I believe, in the method of evaluation.
[47:42] So and Mr. Brower, if I may, I will share to to your point that what I shared with AIG facilitators when that concern came up was keep track of the data this year. Let's look at the number of kids that could have been served on the old plan versus the new plan. And then when we meet at the beginning of the year, we have that data. And then if we need to have additional conversations or make changes or reach out to DPI for whatever we can at that time, it's just hard to say just by looking at the plan, oh, we're not going to be able to identify kids based on this. I wanted hard numbers like I need, you know, numbers to look at, to be able to to take that information.
[48:30] Just three testing. I think if you're going to do that, it has to be implemented in in all the schools.
[48:37] Yes.
[48:38] If that's what we're trying to do.
[48:39] Yeah. I don't I don't disagree with you there.
[48:42] Okay.
[48:42] Yeah.
[48:43] And that is something that we can work towards because it's being used in.
[48:47] All in all the schools. It's not being used in the schools.
[48:50] I know it's available. Um, yes.
[48:53] That's teachers get to make that choice. In some.
[48:57] Schools.
[48:58] It might be something that we strongly recommend.
[49:01] We strongly recommend.
[49:02] Well, that that is that that that is coming. But I don't want you to think like that concern was brought and like it wasn't listened to. Like we just we just have to have the data to say, okay, based on this, we could have identified these kids. Now with this plan, this is how many kids were missing. So we can, you know, ask those additional questions and see, because we are doing what DPI asks us to do, and we would have to be able to take that information back to DPI to say, okay, this is what you told us to do. This is how it's impacted us.
[49:31] Well, another concern that I do have is, yeah, the time commitment, because I know that, you know, the talent pool is a team. You know, you might have the library and you might have other teachers involved in it. Um, you know, is there enough time in the day because everyone's working as a team. Means meetings, teams meeting, meetings. Right? Yeah. Uh, to be doing that in two different schools. And, you know, I could see that being problematic.
[50:01] Well, I can tell you that I consulted and had conversations before these decisions were made and other additional conversations, um, had had taken place. Um, and so, as Miss Spruill shared, I've worked very closely with the principals. The principals have worked to say, okay, this is what's going to work for me. This is what I need. We've looked at master schedules, or they've looked at master schedules together to make sure that, again, no school is getting slighted in their needs. Every student at that school will still be able to to to be served. Now again, it may look different with talent development in some places in terms of depending on whether or not the ag teacher pulls them completely out versus is done during an enrichment block. You know all of those things. But schools have the ability to determine what that looks like in their building. Um, and principals at this point have not expressed concerns to me about that, but obviously they know. And I've shared, if we get into this and something needs to be tweaked, we need to come back to the table and talk about it.
[51:09] Do we have, you know, the adequate personnel that would support? You know, we've got so many kids in third grade, second grade, first grade. We'd like to pull them out. Um, you know, for individual instruction, enrichment or whatever.
[51:23] Mhm.
[51:23] Mhm. Like I said that has not. Yes. That has not been brought up as a concern to, to me for, for that at this moment.
[51:35] I guess when, when we look at the totality of a budget, um, there's X amount of dollars.
[51:42] Yeah I understand.
[51:43] And.
[51:43] And.
[51:44] I'm not not saying you don't, but we can do this. We can fully fund this. We can put an individual in every school and and continue all five buildings with full, fully funded teachers. But that's got to come from somewhere. And when we make that decision, then this group gets slighted. So what we've got to do is we've got to take this box And make everybody fit in the box and provide the services to the highest degree possible for every single group, whether it's AIG or EC or DLI, or administratively, or a number of teachers that we have in the building. I would love for our teachers to be teaching classes with 12 kids in the classroom. We could hire people to do that if we had the money to do that. And so we've got to make choices here and decisions for everybody based on what we believe to be the best that we've got, with the best information we can put together. And if it doesn't work.
[53:00] Revise it.
[53:01] Absolutely.
[53:02] But that that those kind of decisions. Mr. Bateman's question a while ago. Do we have teachers traveling between buildings? We absolutely do. That makes us just like every other school system that I've ever been involved. Certainly. And so this is not some anomaly that we've just come up with to hurt a program. We're trying to sustain a program with what we've got.
[53:24] I don't think you're trying to do that at all. Um, I'm not insinuating. Not by any means. Um, yeah. I'm just kind of worried about, you know, what's what's going to happen with the talent pool and how big that is and as far as where we're putting our resources, I mean, we've got, you know, a classrooms, dry classrooms, first, second grade where you've got two people up, you know, teaching a class of 12 kids. We've got that at Kitty Hawk Elementary.
[53:55] Yeah.
[53:57] That's I know that's getting into a much bigger question and discussions, you know, are coming down the road at some point for, for some schools. But, you know, I would say at least my opinion on on AIG and where it fits in to the elementary schools is it is hyper important. And I know you all get that. Yes. And you know, the analogy I would use, it's like a small market baseball team, you know, how are the Tampa Bay rays beating the Red Sox and the Yankees? Year after year, with a minimal payroll and minimal resources? The answer is, you know, they draft intelligently, and they develop a talent pool in the minor leagues that they're only going to have for a short period of time before they end up on the Yankees or the Red Sox. So, you know, that's just kind of where I am with that. And I am a little I'm concerned about splitting the duties between buildings. I understand that we have to do that in in certain cases. And I think it's warranted with some schools, you know, based on the number of identified or talent pool students. But I would just like, You know, to know that we're looking at this as carefully as we can and that we have the flexibility to make changes down the road, that is, and even alter the program, which, if we wanted to change anything in our in our plan that goes DPI.
[55:25] You know, assuming that we, you know, we might want to do that. How difficult is it to do that? Because I know it's every three years. Um, can you amend it and say, uh, we're going to do this instead?
[55:37] Well, yes. So we can go within reason. So you have to have a justification for why you're wanting to change it. Um, but I think if we go so let's say, for example, we want to change, we talk to DPI and say, hey, we've noticed a drop in our identification of AIG students. We want to review this and potentially, you know, change this there. I would envision that they would say, okay, give us your justification while you're doing that. And we can say drop in, enroll or drop in eligibility, all that. And they would say, okay, that's fine. I mean, they're not going to stop us, but I just want to make sure that we're not making a knee jerk reaction.
[56:10] Right.
[56:10] But I'm just wondering how this works. Is this, like another cumbersome process? If you get from the state that, you know it's going to take a whole year to amend something?
[56:20] No. So we would just have to submit a an amendment with them with the justification, and then they would review it and determine whether it's approved or not.
[56:28] But now how long that takes.
[56:29] Yeah.
[56:30] That's the question.
[56:31] Variable.
[56:31] Yeah.
[56:32] So.
[56:33] Well I think everything that we have in the current plan is enough. But I do believe that this age is three. You know, even if that is a difficult or hardship to actually put that in the plan, I think that's what needs to be done. I agree. Um, I had one other point that's slipping my mind, so I guess it couldn't have been that important.
[56:58] He said nothing.
[57:00] I guess it was it, because I'm not seeing it in my notes and my questions, but thank you very much.
[57:06] Thank you.
[57:07] Let me say something about what you just asked to. I assure you, none of this is being done without hard, long looks and digging into the information that's needed to make these decisions.
[57:22] Believe me, I get that. I've been on the board for four years. I know how we do things here. Trying to explain that, um. To parents. I mean, I don't know if y'all saw, but there's some kind of Change.org petition circulating that's got 100 and I think over 100 signatures.
[57:43] Yes.
[57:44] I don't know what happens with that. If do we get presented with it or somebody emails us, but it's out there. But there's a great deal a high level of concern in my community, in the district I represent.
[57:56] Absolutely.
[57:57] And, um, you know, these are people I've known for a long, long time in the there. My neighbors and my friends.
[58:56] Yeah. I'm just not used to seeing, uh, so much reaction from New York elementary School and and hearing some of the things I'm hearing. I'm not used to it. Yeah. Um, which brings some concern. And we look at how much money we're sending out to charter schools right now, and that goes up about $10,000 a year, more or less. It seems I'm looking we've gone from like 120 to close to 150 now or charters. Yeah. For the you know.
[59:28] More than that.
[59:29] More than.
[59:30] We.
[59:30] Saw. I think their.
[59:32] County has 20.
[59:32] Or.
[59:33] 22 kids that are either homeschooled or one charter and um, uh, two virtual charters. So we have currently we have 22 kids that are enrolled in charters statewide. Um, that number is in the 300 billion. So, I mean, that's that's where we're heading.
[59:52] Well, um, if a population, um, that feeds an elementary school is not satisfied with the services, and they have the means to do it. You're going to see more charter schools and you're going to see more homeschooling, at least on the elementary level. It's inevitable.
[1:00:14] I think that's a fact everywhere I think. Dare County has, um, has not seen what everybody else is dealing with. Um, but I will say this I still believe we have better schools than a charter can provide. I assure you that no decision that we make is made based on a spreadsheet. Um, every decision that they're talking about involves students, families, teachers, and our community. And that is never lost in our decision making. And we realize that some decisions are difficult. But we also realize that some decisions are necessary. And and at times, you've got to take the most difficult decision and make it work for everybody. Um, and that's what we're trying to do. But never, ever lose sight that these are people, these are children that we're making decisions for. And that's that is I know that is on their minds. I know it's on our minds. I know it's on your minds. Um, and we don't do things because we have the ability to. We do things for improvement. We do things to get better. We do things to strengthen the services that we have. And that may not mean doing it the way we've always done it or the way that it's done in this building, but it's not done that way anywhere else. So looking at all the factors and saying, how can we continue to improve and provide the services that we've always had and and get the results that our children deserve?
[1:02:10] That's sometimes you got to choose between a better of two.
[1:02:14] Two decent decisions. I said that the other day, you got this and this, and they're both good options, but you got to pick one.
[1:02:20] Well, I'm thinking more like you've got this and this are both bad options, and you got to find the one that's not as bad.
[1:02:26] Really.
[1:02:32] Yeah.
[1:02:32] Thank you. Thank you.
[1:02:33] Thank you, thank you.
[1:02:35] With that being said, do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting?
[1:02:38] Motion to adjourn.
[1:02:39] Motion by Mr. Fang. Second by Mr. Bateman. All in favor? Aye.
[1:02:44] Aye.
[1:02:48] Yes, sir.