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[5:16] happy new years's and welcome to this
January the 8th
[5:21] 2024 special meeting of Gaston County
Board of Education I'm Jeff Ramsey
[5:27] chairman of the board and to my left is
Doc chair or vice chair I would like to
[5:32] call this meeting to order and welcome
everyone for being here today before we
[5:38] begin I'd like to ask the members of our
board to introduce themselves Lee
[5:42] deadmond Gastonia Township Josh Chris
Dallas Township Robbie LEL Cherryville
[5:47] Township Todd kinlaw South Point
Township doc Guth Gastonia Township I
[5:53] Stevens Riverbend Township Brit Moore
Crow Mountain Township thank you our
[5:59] next next order of business is adopt the
agenda do I hear a motion to adopt the
[6:03] agenda Mr Moore second Mr Deadman all in
favor that's unanimous the agenda is
[6:13] adopted our next order of business will
require the board to go in the close
[6:18] session for personnel because there are
so many in the audience we decided to
[6:24] have our closed session portion in our
conference room and leave y'all
[6:31] here and hopefully we'll have some great
music for
[6:35] you
when when that has concluded we will
[6:40] return to the boardroom for this some
exciting news related to our
[6:44] superintendent search thank you for
being here and for your patience for the
[6:48] next few minutes so now I need a motion
to go into close session Mr chair I'd
[6:54] like to make a motion to go into CL
session under North Carolina General
[6:57] statute 1433
18.11 A6 for personnel second second Mr
[7:06] Steven all in
favor that's unanimous we'll go in close
[7:10] session we'll be
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[23:28] we're back in Open Session thank you for
your patient as we conducted that
[23:34] portion of the meeting in the closed
session we're now ready to move forward
[23:37] with the next item on the agenda the
appointment of our new superintendent
[23:42] this is an action item and I do need a
motion Mr chairman I move that we
[23:50] appoint Dr Morgan whoar to Ser
superintendent of g county
[23:56] SCH
[24:17] [Applause]
a
[24:22] second
I I didn't finish let me start over I
[24:27] move we appoint Dr Morgan hoard to serve
as superintendent of Gaston County
[24:31] Schools effective February 19th 2024 and
that we approve the contract discussed
[24:37] in close session I second okay um any
discussion U Miss L yes I would like uh
[24:47] to say for public record that my vote
this evening uh is simply a reflection
[24:53] on the fact that I was not present
during the time that that this was uh
[24:57] discussed and decided upon however going
forward I would like to say that I will
[25:04] be supporting Dr hushard 100% in the
future because I'm sure that everything
[25:10] he does will be the best decisions for
Gaston County schools for the employees
[25:15] as well as for the students thank you
okay anybody Mr Ken um Todd kenlaw South
[25:23] Point Township I'd like to read my
statement the statement has no ill will
[25:27] or anything to do uh with the actual
person who is to be named superintendent
[25:32] only the process as my colleague said of
which this board used I want to go on
[25:37] record that this board was hijacked by
members the process was not flawed and
[25:42] unfortunately this board handled this
matter in an unethical way as far as I'm
[25:47] concerned this has been the biggest joke
I've ever been associated with as I
[25:51] remember it takes five people to make a
[25:56] majority
and we didn't do it in good faith as a
[26:00] board there was a majority in the
initial process but we had members of
[26:04] this board who created controversy and
Hoodwinked some of us and took advantage
[26:09] of people not being present during our
meeting it can be better called a dirty
[26:16] process or I can call it
underhanded I will not have any a part
[26:20] of it I'm not voting in favor of the
superintendent for the
[26:24] record
to
[26:29] show the flawed process like I said four
of
[26:33] us hijacked the process I'm not voting
tonight for the person because of the
[26:37] students and teachers of Gaston County
deserve this board to be held to the
[26:41] highest standards the employees already
have had to endure many issues created
[26:45] by this board of which I'm a part of I
ran on transparency and credibility of
[26:50] my actions we have failed at our job to
have credibility in this process it's
[26:55] not because that the superintend that
has flaws it's because the flaws were
[27:00] created by this
board I share this so that each one of
[27:04] you be held accountable for the actions
you took the corners cut and the
[27:08] downright despicable process of hiring
this
[27:11] gentleman our students our employees in
this County deserve the best and we
[27:16] settled because there were some who
didn't get your way the old take your
[27:19] ball and go
home this way this process was hand the
[27:23] way this process was handled was not
okay last month not okay last week not
[27:28] okay
tonight when you refer to one of
[27:33] us um the old adages uh we haven't been
here long enough to make this
[27:39] decision I take offense to that I'm
going to stand up and I'm going to let
[27:43] you know I'm voting no this appointment
tonight because not because of Thee the
[27:48] superintendent of record because simply
the process was not
[27:55] followed okay I don't like getting my
way is what was taken out of this and so
[28:01] we take our ball and go home as I said
so that's why Mr hoard I will back you
[28:06] once the process but I wanted folks to
know that I was hired on transparency
[28:10] and truth and credibility I wish you all
the best and I'll stand with
[28:15] you m
cther i value
[28:20] leadership and I hope that leadership
values the community it
[28:26] serves I want want the community to
know not just the person whom we are
[28:32] going to vote on tonight or have voted
on
[28:36] already but leadership is knowing the
community knowing the needs the
[28:43] community reaching out into the
community to make assessment to truly
[28:51] serve our population of families to
truly understand the needs of our
[28:59] children and where they are from and how
to
[29:05] effectively communicate with all parents
all children as you assess those
[29:14] Needs Trust is a very important
word
[29:21] leadership is embedded in that
trust and I hope
[29:27] that you will start DR
hashad start off knowing the community
[29:35] Gaston County not just a special
population but the population of Gaston
[29:44] County and sir I am willing to support
you
[29:49] 100% but I W to know that our families
are going to be supported by you thank
[29:56] you thank you Miss cther anyone else for
a call for the vote just want to say
[30:02] real quick that um I share some of the
other concerns that other board members
[30:07] have we did have a majority prior to uh
a work session where our decision as a
[30:15] as a majority had been made and then
hijacked that decision um but I will
[30:21] tell you this I'd be a lot more upset if
it wasn't Morgan hoard I know he's going
[30:25] to do a fantastic job for County schools
and uh I don't like the process that
[30:31] they they took to get there but I like
the man that they chose and I'm excited
[30:36] to work with him and I know he's going
to do what's best for Gaston County
[30:40] Schools okay anyone else okay all in
[30:53] favor I
oppose
[31:00] okay well congratulations Dr Huard you
have been
[31:07] [Applause]
[31:26] selected
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before we give uh Dr hhar opportunity to
[31:53] share some remarks with us I would like
to say how fortunate
[31:57] we are to have him as the next leader of
Gaston County schools during his
[32:03] successful career in public education Dr
hushard has proven time after time that
[32:10] he possessed the knowledge skills and
the expert expertise to serve us as
[32:16] superintendent he's been a classroom
teacher assistant principal a principal
[32:23] a central office administrator with
experience in academic mics curriculum
[32:30] accountability Personnel Transportation
School nutrition technology facilities
[32:38] school safety and student service and
others I think it I put bus driver and
[32:44] cafeteria worker so having experienced
all these areas makes him well-rounded
[32:50] in our School District Operations he's
always has significant knowledge of
[32:55] Gaston County Schools Dr hushard is the
ideal person to serve as our
[33:01] superintendent and we are confident that
he will take us in a new directions and
[33:06] began moving us forward right away so at
this time I would like to give Dr
[33:11] hushard the opportunity to say a few
words well thank you
[33:16] everyone thank you chairman Ramsey Vice
chairman Cherry members of the board I
[33:22] would like to begin by expressing my
gratitude and appreciation to the board
[33:26] of educ ation for giving me this
opportunity and believing in my ability
[33:30] to serve as a superintendent for Gaston
County Schools I truly honored I look
[33:37] forward to working with you
all and I'm committed to doing
[33:41] everything I can to make our school
system even
[33:44] stronger because I believe having strong
schools is directly connected to the
[33:50] strength of our community and our
nation when my daughter wife and I
[33:55] packed up our things to move to Gaston
County Schools 8 years ago we were
[34:00] excited but we didn't know what to
expect we did not know what would we
[34:05] find with Josie's teachers her school
the school system or our new
[34:11] community I want to take a minute to
tell you what we
[34:15] found we found teachers who deeply cared
about their students and the teaching
[34:21] and learning that goes on in their
classrooms we found teachers who
[34:26] challeng their students with high
expectations and then worked to help
[34:31] them be successful and we found teachers
who embraced their
[34:36] communities we found staff and school
leaders who went above and beyond to
[34:40] help ensure that schools were safe and
orderly for a learning
[34:46] environment they made teaching and
learning the priority and the center of
[34:50] all things we found an active
relationship with the community
[34:53] involving parents as a genuine part of
the school culture and we found school
[34:58] pride we found the 10th largest school
district in North Carolina that still
[35:03] felt and treated us as if it were one of
the
[35:06] smallest we experienced District
leadership and a board of education that
[35:11] worked hard to ensure schools were
supported in their work by providing the
[35:15] best educational experience for students
one were rigor relevance and Equity were
[35:22] Center of discussions and all
decisions and we watched as parents
[35:28] community members partners and all
stakeholders were involved in that
[35:32] process and we found a community that
embraced us as Citizens and welcomed us
[35:38] to our new
home I am so proud to be a part of the
[35:42] gon County schools and truly honored to
be its next
[35:46] superintendent I want to thank you the
Board of Education once again for your
[35:50] trust and the opportunity to lead this
District I want students faculty staff
[35:58] administrators parents and the community
to know how I'm how excited I am to be a
[36:03] part of the Gast and County Schools
family I look forward to be able working
[36:09] with you all in the years to come thank
[Applause]
[36:25] you
[36:56] as we close our meeting thank you for
sharing this exciting time with us as we
[37:02] share with you a selection of our Gaston
County Superintendent we look forward to
[37:08] the February the 19th when Dr whoar will
take the lead until that
[37:15] time we remain grateful to Dr Steve
L we can't get rid
[37:25] of
[Applause]
[37:38] well the I I was getting ready to say Dr
fer too is agreed to stay with the
[37:55] night
[37:59] so they'll be here until we get through
the transition of February 19th our
[38:05] regular meeting will be in con our next
regular meeting will be in conjunction
[38:09] with our board retreat will be held on
Friday January 26
[38:15] 2024 while we have you here thank you
for your support for this board and
[38:20] Gaston County school for what you do for
our children in Gaston County y'all go
[38:24] the extra mile every day and we know it
and we appreciate it so now I'd like to
[38:30] ask for a motion to adjourn Mr La Mr
Chris
[38:34] second uh also we're going to have a
little reception where y'all can meet
[38:39] with Morgan and everything thank y'all
for being here all in favor recogniz
[38:45] Tam Tamar's here she's gonna be oh
actually I'm
[38:49] sorry more you want to introduce your
wife for
[38:53] [Laughter]
us
[38:58] [Applause]
[39:12] language well all in favor for
adjournment that's unanimous thank
[39:25] you