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CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY BEAUFORT COUNTY.
WE'LL NOW CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.
THIS IS A JOINT MEETING OF THE BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION AND JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION ON FEBRUARY 26TH, 2024.
THE MEETING IS BEING CONDUCTED AT THE BEAUFORT JASPER AT ACADEMY FOR CAREER EXCELLENCE.
SINCE THE INTERNET IS OUT, THE MEETING IS BEING RECORDED, BUT NOT LIVE STREAM TONIGHT, COUNTY CHANNEL IS HERE WITH US.
I'LL BE THE PRESIDING OFFICER TONIGHT.
THE MEDIA HAS BEEN PROPERLY NOTIFIED.
BEFORE WE APPROVE THE AGENDA, I THINK WE NEED TO THANK THE CULINARY STUDENTS THAT PREPARED SOME DELICIOUS, UH, SNACKS FOR US.
AND IF ANY OF THE CULINARY STUDENTS OR THEIR TEACHERS ARE IN THE ROOM, COULD THEY PLEASE RAISE THEIR HAND OR STAND TO BE RECOGNIZED? AND WE'LL GIVE YAY,
THOSE WERE THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES,
TONIGHT WE WILL, UH, FOLLOW ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER.
UM, THERE IS A QUORUM FOR BOTH THE JASPER BOARD AND THE BEAUFORT BOARD PRESENT.
PLEASE GIVE CONCISE REMARKS SO WE CAN HAVE AN EFFICIENT MEETING.
THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF US HERE, UM, IN THE ROOM, SO WE NOW NEED A MOTION TO APPROVE THE AGENDA, PLEASE.
RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU WANNA DISCUSS ANYTHING ABOUT THE AGENDA.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.
ANY NOS AND ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
THE MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY.
PLEASE STAND NOW FOR THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES, STATES OF AMERICA, AND, AND REPUBLIC FOR WHICH STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.
NEXT, WE HAVE THE INTRODUCTION OF THE BOARD MEMBERS, AND I KNOW BOTH OF OUR SUPERINTENDENTS ARE NOT ABLE TO BE IN PERSON TONIGHT.
SO WHY DON'T WE START WITH THE JASPER BOARD AND MS. GREEN? YES.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THIS PUTTING TOGETHER THIS JOINT MEETING.
FIRST, I'D LIKE TO START WITH MY VICE CHAIR, MRS. PRISCILLA FRAZIER, OUR SECRETARY, MRS. SHALANDA TUBER.
WE HAVE BOARD MEMBER, BOARD OF TRUSTEE DAISY MITCHELL, BOARD OF TRUSTEE TOM BAG.
AND NEXT TO HIM WE HAVE BOARD OF TRUSTEE, MRS. CAROLYN BOLDEN.
NEXT TO HER, WE HAVE BOARD OF TRUSTEE, MRS. BIRDIE RILEY, AND NEXT TO HER IS BOARD OF TRUSTEE, MRS. JOYCE GERD.
AND AT THE VERY END, WE HAVE MR. TO TED MO.
THIS IS OUR JASPER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD.
THANK YOU FOR THE BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD MEMBERS.
WE HAVE TO MY RIGHT, COLONEL GEIER, OUR VICE CHAIR, WILLIAM SMITH, BOARD OF TRUSTEE CARLTON DALLAS, BOARD OF TRUSTEE, VICTOR NAY, BOARD OF TRUSTEE INGRID BOATWRIGHT, BOARD OF TRUSTEE, AND EARL CAMPBELL, BOARD OF TRUSTEE.
SO THE PURPOSE OF TONIGHT'S MEETING IS TO REALLY START THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO BOARDS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ACE.
WE DON'T ANTICIPATE DECISIONS BEING MADE TONIGHT.
WE JUST WANNA START A DIALOGUE.
AND, UM, WE PROBABLY, AFTER THIS MEETING, IT'S LIKELY THAT THE BEAUFORT, UH, BOARD AND THE, AND THE JASPER BOARD WILL, YOU KNOW, GO BACK TO THEIR RESPECTIVE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVE DISCUSSIONS AND, AND PERHAPS, UH, MORE SOLIDIFY WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO PRO PROCEED FORWARD WITH THIS FACILITY.
SO WE NEXT HAVE THE, UH, POINTS OF CELEBRATION.
BJ'S FINALIST FOR PALMETTO'S FINEST, DR.
UM, I JUST WANT TO RECOGNIZE REALLY THE, THE STAFF THAT, THE ENTIRE STAFF, NOT EVERYONE COULD BE HERE TONIGHT.
WE HAVE A NUMBER OF STAFF MEMBERS.
I'D ASK IF THEY COULD STAND UP AND, UH, AND PICK A BOW, BECAUSE THIS IS A LOT OF WORK,
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AS I TELL THEM, UM, QUITE OFTEN THAT SOMETIMES I'LL KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, GETS TO SPEAK AND HAS THEIR PICTURE UP.BUT IT'S TRULY THE WORK, UH, THAT, THAT THEY DO IN THE WORK OF OUR STUDENTS, THAT, THAT MAKES THIS A SPECIAL PLACE IN GENERAL.
JUST FOR, UH, CAN YOU GUYS TALK TO THE MICROPHONE FOR MEETING'S SAKE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I'M NOT GONNA TALK TOO MUCH LONGER, BUT, SO I JUST WANTED TO RECOGNIZE MY STAFF AND, UH, THE STUDENTS OF ACE, THEY'RE THE, I APPRECIATE THE BOARD'S RECOGNITION.
WE APPRECIATE AND ARE HUMBLED BY THE RECOGNITION FROM THE STATE.
AND OUR NEXT STEP IS ON, UM, THE WEEK OF MARCH, UH, 16TH, I BELIEVE THEY WILL GIVE US A SURPRISE VISIT, AND IT'LL BE FOR ONE FULL DAY, THEY'LL GO INTO ALL THE CLASSROOMS, TALK TO STUDENTS, TALK TO TEACHERS, AND THEN THEY WILL LIVE BROADCAST ON, UH, ETV ON AUGUST 23RD.
AND I BROADCAST WHO ARE THE ACTUAL WINNERS ARE.
OUR STUDENTS ARE EXCITED, AND OF COURSE, OUR STAFF.
NEXT ON OUR, WE HAVE THE DISCUSSION OF ACE FUNDING, AND I ASSUME THAT'S, UH, OUR CFO TANYA CROSBY.
I'M THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND, UH, MY STAFF UNDER, I BELIEVE IT'S UNDER THE STATE LAW OR OR LOCAL, UH, AGREEMENT.
THE FINANCES OF ACE WILL ARE, UM, MANAGED BY THE BUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, I'M, I HAVE BEEN WITH THE DISTRICT FOR 22 YEARS, ALL IN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT.
UH, BEEN IN MY ROLE AS ABOUT SEVEN YEARS.
SO, UM, I'VE BEEN, UH, ATTEND, REGULARLY, ATTEND ACE BOARD MEETINGS AND PROVIDE FINANCIAL UPDATES FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO, UM, UH, AREN'T ON THE ACE BOARD.
BUT, UH, THIS IS JUST A, AN UPDATE OF OUR, UH, ONE, OUR FINANCIAL LATEST FINANCIAL REPORTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, UP TO DATE INFORMATION ABOUT ACE IS FINANCIAL SITUATION.
AND ALSO, UH, JUST A QUICK PREVIEW OF THE BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR AS WELL.
SO, UM, I JUST HAVE A COUPLE OF SLIDES HERE.
AND THE FUNDING STRUCTURE, UM, PROVIDED UNDER THE LOCAL AGREEMENT IS THAT THE OPERATIONS BUDGET, WHICH IS MANAGES THE TEACHER SALARIES, UM, ENERGY BILLS, SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS ARE OUT ON A TWO THIRDS, ONE THIRD BASIS WITH BUFORT.
UM, ALLOCATING TWO THIRDS OF THE BUDGET TO BE, UM, TO THE, TO ACE AND JASPER ALLOCATING ONE THIRD.
AND SO THOSE ARE MADE IN MONTHLY PAYMENTS, UH, EVERY YEAR.
AND, UH, WITH THE TOTALS BUDGETED, UH, ACCORDINGLY IN THE REVENUE SECTION, UM, IN THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, ACCORDING TO, I BELIEVE IT'S, UH, STATE LAW OR, OR LOCAL ORDINANCE, WHICHEVER ONE I THINK YOU'LL BE GETTING ON THAT LATER.
IT'S, UH, A 50 50 ARRANGEMENTS.
SO 50% OF THE PROPERTY, THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY AND THE BUILDINGS AND, AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS MADE FOR ACE, UH, ARE ALSO, UH, ON THE 50 50, UM, SPLIT OR SHARE ARRANGEMENT.
SO, UM, THE OPERATIONS BUDGET, WE HAVE AN UPDATE TODAY FOR THE THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL SUMMARY.
UH, IT IS THROUGH THE END, UH, THE LATEST, UH, POINT IN FEBRUARY.
SO TYPICALLY A THIRD QUARTER WOULD GO THROUGH THE END OF MARCH, BUT WE WON'T HAVE ANOTHER MEETING UNTIL, UH, PROBABLY TWO TO THREE MONTHS FROM NOW.
UM, SO THIS YEAR, THIS BUDGET YEAR WAS THE FIRST YEAR IN SEVEN YEARS THAT WE ACTUALLY HAD AN INCREASE IN OUR ALLOCATIONS FROM JASPER AND BUFORT.
UM, SO WE WERE ABLE TO HOLD THE, UH, AMOUNTS PRETTY LEVEL, UH, BUT DUE TO THE INCREASE IN MAJOR INCREASES IN SALARIES AND BENEFITS, UH, AND IN IT COSTS INCREASES IN PRACTICALLY EVERY AREA OF OUR BUDGET.
WE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO INCREASE THE ALLOCATIONS FOR BOTH DISTRICTS IN ORDER TO BALANCE THIS YEAR'S BUDGET.
UH, WE ARE CURRENTLY AT 55%, UH, UM, OF SPENDING ON THIS BUDGET.
SO WE ARE VERY MUCH ON TRACK FOR FULLY EXPENDING THE BUDGET.
SO THE NEXT PAGE IS JUST A BRIEF SUMMARY, UH, WITH A COUPLE OF PRIOR, WITH, UH, AT LEAST ONE PRIOR YEAR OF, UH, SO COLUMN A IS THE AUDITED ACTUAL NUMBERS FOR THE FULL YEAR OF THE LAST SCHOOL YEAR.
UH, WE DID, WE BEGAN WITH A BEGINNING FUND BALANCE OF $905,000 THAT'S NEAR THE BOTTOM.
UH, AND WE DID, DUE TO SOME, UH, MAINTENANCE COSTS
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AND OTHER THINGS, WE, AND, AND, AND PLANNED, UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE HAD BUDGETED FOR IN THE BUDGET, WE ENDED UP WITH A DECREASE IN OUR FUND BALANCE OF 475 $6,000, UM, MAKING OUR FUND BALANCE 428,000 OR 12% OF THE BUDGET AT YEAR END.AND SO CARRYING THAT FORWARD INTO THE BUDGET FOR THE NEW YEAR, UM, WE PLANNED TO NOT INCREASE OR DECREASE FUND BALANCE, NO.
THE TOTAL BUDGET IS 3.5 MILLION.
AND IN COLUMN C, THEY, UH, WE HAVE EXPENDED $1.9 MILLION SO FAR THIS YEAR AND RECEIVED A LITTLE LESS THAN, UH, ABOUT 20,000 LESS, UM, THAN, UH, THE EXPENDITURES.
SO, UM, WE'RE HOLDING STEADY WITH A FUND BALANCE AS OF THIS POINT IN THE YEAR, WHICH IS A GOOD THING.
UH, WE'RE AT A 12.8% FUND BALANCE, UM, WHICH IS, UH, LITTLE ON THE LOW SIDE.
I WOULD SAY THAT, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT FUND BALANCE POLICY IS FOR JASPER BEAUFORT FUND BALANCE POLICY IS CURRENTLY IN THE RANGE OF 15 TO 17%.
SO WE'D WANT IT A LITTLE HIGHER THAN WHAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY.
SO, UM, BUT THAT PROVIDES YOU A GOOD SNAPSHOT OF SORT OF WHERE WE ARE TODAY IN, IN THE FINANCES.
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE HAVE A HISTOR, A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THE HISTORICAL FUND BALANCE.
UH, WE DID HAVE A FEW YEARS THERE OF BEING ABLE TO, UM, WE HAD SOME SAVINGS.
UM, AND SO IN FISCAL SCHOOL YEAR 21 AND 22, UH, I DON'T THINK THAT WAS, UH, YOU KNOW, AFTER COVID, UH, SO THERE WERE SOME INCREASES THERE.
I THINK THERE WAS, UM, SAVINGS DUE TO LESS SPENDING.
UM, AND OUR MOST SCHOOL DISTRICTS DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME HAD SAVINGS IN THEIR BUDGETS BECAUSE WE WERE PARTIALLY REMOTE.
UM, SO THAT COULD HAVE HAD AN IMPACT ON THAT.
UH, BUT NOW WE ARE BACK DOWN TO THE LEVEL OF, IN THE 12% RANGE, OR A LITTLE MORE THAN $400,000.
AND THE LAST SLIDE IS ABOUT NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET.
UH, NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON, HAVE NOT FINALIZED YET.
UM, TODAY WE GOT SOME, UM, UH, WELL, WE DON'T HAVE ANY REVENUE INFORMATION FROM THE STATE YET, BUT THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE HAS FINALIZED THEIR PORTION OF THE BUDGET, AND WE SHOULD HAVE SOME BUDGET PROJECTIONS WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK FROM THEM.
UM, WHETHER MULTI-DISTRICT CAREER CENTERS, WHICH ACE IS, WHETHER THEY RECEIVE, UH, ONE OF THOSE, UH, UPDATES, UH, PROJECTIONS, UH, IS UNCERTAIN, UM, BECAUSE, UM, THEY SHOULD HAVE AN ALLOCATION AS WELL.
UH, THEY'RE JUST TREATED SORT OF AS A SEPARATE SCHOOL IN THE LINE OF ALL THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE, UH, STATE.
SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE LOOKING, WE HAVE DONE SOME PRELIMINARY NUMBERS, AND, UM, IT LOOKS AS IF WE COULD HAVE ABOUT A THREE, UH, $3.8 MILLION PRELIMINARY BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR, WHICH IS GONNA BE ABOUT A $300,000 INCREASE FROM THE CURRENT YEAR.
UH, AND THE INCREASES, UH, WOULD BE ALLOCATED TWO THIRDS, ONE THIRDS, SO 200,000 FOR BUFORT, A HUNDRED THOUSAND FOR JASPER.
AGAIN, THESE ARE VERY EARLY PRELIMINARY NUMBERS WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE FINALIZING THINGS, BUT, UM, AND THE INCREASED AREAS OF COST ARE SALARIES AND BENEFITS, ENERGY, PROPERTY INSURANCE, SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS AND MAINTENANCE.
SO MAINTENANCE COSTS, WE DO EXPECT, AS THE FACILITIES AGE, WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO PUT MORE INTO THE OPERATING BUDGET TO MAINTAIN.
UM, SO WE ARE INCREASING THAT LINE ITEM, UM, SO THAT WE CAN COVER ANYTHING THAT COMES UP.
NOT EVERYTHING, IT WON'T BE ANY MAJOR ITEMS, BUT, UM, JUST SMALLER ITEMS THAT ARE UNEXPECTED.
SO, UH, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
I'D BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MAY HAVE QUESTIONS.
UM, I NOTICED THAT OUR FUND BALANCE WAS ALMOST A MILLION DOLLARS IN 2021, BUT WE ARE UNDER 450,000 THAT WE HAVE SOME EXPENDITURES THAT NEEDED TO BE TAKEN CARE OF.
SOME ITEMS, OR, BECAUSE THAT'S MORE THAN HALF OF WHAT WAS THERE ALREADY.
VICKI MAY BE ABLE TO HELP ME A LITTLE BIT WITH THIS ONE, BUT I BELIEVE THERE WAS AN HVAC UNIT THAT WAS REPLACED WITH THOSE FUNDS.
AND, UH, THERE MAY MULTIPLE HVAC, MULTIPLE HVAC SYSTEMS. SO WE USED THE FUND BALANCE,
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UM, TO INTENTIONALLY TO DRAW DOWN.IT WAS BUILT INTO THE BUDGET THAT WE WOULD, UH, AND VOTED ON BY THE ACE BOARD TO INTENTIONALLY DRAW THAT DOWN AND SPEND IT ON THAT PURPOSE.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU, MS. GERALD.
THAT WASN'T THE ONLY REASON WHY THE FUND BALANCES REDUCED YEAR.
CAN YOU TALK CLOSER TO THE MICROPHONE, PLEASE? THANK YOU.
YOU MIGHT NEED TO BRING THE MIC IN TOWARDS YOU SO THAT IT'S NOT ON, YOU GOTTA GO THE BUTTON.
WE ARE AT 400,000 BECAUSE FOR AS LONG AS I HAVE BEEN ON THE ACE BOARD, WHICH IS THREE YEARS, WE HAVE USED THE FUND BALANCE TO BALANCE THE BUDGET, WHICH IS INAPPROPRIATE.
SO NOW HERE WE ARE AT 400,000 AND THERE ARE THINGS IN THIS BUILDING THAT SHOULD BE REPAIRED, BUT THERE WON'T BE ANY MONEY THERE FOR IT TO BE REPAIRED.
SO WE CAN'T CONTINUE LIKE THIS.
SO THIS IS WHY IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO DETERMINE WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BE NON-EXISTENT SOON.
THERE WON'T BE A FUND BALANCE.
IT WON'T BE ANYBODY ELSE LIKE TO ASK QUESTIONS? MR. SMITH? UM, MY QUESTION IS, UH, I KNOW THAT WE'VE, WE'VE ALL BOTH GOTTEN EXTRA FUNDS.
HOW HAVE WE USED THE EXTRA FUNDS IN TERMS OF, UH, WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE IN TERMS OF MOVING FORWARD AND, AND HAVE, HAVE WE GOTTEN ANY EXTRA FUNDS IN THIS BUILDING? AND WHERE, WHERE'S THAT AT? IN THIS REPORT, WE USE THE ESSER FUNDS FIRST TO SUPPLEMENT SOME OF THE COSTS OF THOSE THREE HVAC UNITS.
WE ALSO HAD A, UM, SHADE STRUCTURE RIGHT HERE TO ALLEVIATE SOME OF THE, THE PRESSURE THAT WAS ON THE CAFETERIA DURING THE HEIGHT OF COVID.
WE HAD PURCHASED A NEW, UH, BUS.
'CAUSE WE HAVE TWO BUSES THAT HAD CONSISTENTLY BROKEN DOWN.
UM, THERE WERE OTHER SMALLER PURCHASES LIKE, UM, A NEW DISHWASHER IN CULINARY THAT IS MORE DISINFECTING, UM, TOUCHLESS, FLUSHERS AND HAND WASH IN THE, IN THE BATHROOMS. SO WE'VE USED IT, WE'VE SPREAD IT OUT AS MUCH AS WE COULD.
WE GOT ONE LUMP SUM OF MONEY, AND WE HAD, UM, A, A YEAR TO, TO PRESENT THAT.
SO THAT PLAN WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE ACE BOARD APPROVED BY THE ACE BOARD, AND THEN, UM, SPENT ACCORDINGLY.
SO WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY ESSER FUNDS IN ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF.
I BELIEVE THAT SINCE WE'VE FINISHED ALL OUR PURCHASES.
SO, SO THEN MY QUESTION WOULD BE, I WOULD WANNA GO BACK TO MR. UH, TO MR. MOORE'S QUESTION.
UM, IF THAT WAS THE CASE, IF WE'VE USED SOME OF ESSA FUNDS, THEN THAT'S STILL A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT IS BEING MISSING.
I MEAN, THAT IS, THAT IS, THAT HAS BEEN SPENT IN, IN TERMS OF AN ADDITIONAL TO WHAT WAS SPENT OUT, OUT, OUT, OUT OF THE, UH, THE MILLION.
SO I, I THINK THAT DOES BRING ME SOME CONCERN TO HEAR THAT.
UM, BECAUSE I DON'T IMAGINE THAT WE HAVE ANY, UH, SEVEN, FOUR, UH, PASTURE BUSES OR ANYTHING.
I MEAN, IT'S, AND, AND I DON'T SEE THIS BUILDING TO BE THAT HUGE TO, UH, WELL, I JUST, I JUST SAID IT BRINGS ME SOME CONCERN.
SO, UM, MAYBE, MAYBE MRS. CROSBY MAY, UH, COULD SPEAK TO THAT OR WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE.
WELL, I THINK THE, UM, THERE'LL BE A CAPITAL CONVERSATION FOLLOWING THIS ONE, BUT I THINK YOU'LL SEE THAT THE CAPITAL NEEDS IN THIS FACILITY ARE SIGNIFICANT.
AND WE'RE JUST SCRATCHING THE SURFACE BY A PLACE IN ONE OR TWO OR THREE UNITS.
THERE ARE MANY MORE THAT NEED, UH, REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT AS WELL AS MANY OTHER, UM, NEEDS.
UH, ALSO, UM, THIS, WE'RE JUST TAKING CARE OF THE ITEMS THAT HAVE FAILED, THE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE FAILED AND NOT PREVENTING THE NEXT ONES TO FAIL, IF, YOU KNOW, UM, SO REPAIRING OR REPLACING SYSTEMS THAT HAVE GONE DOWN AND, AND ALLOW, PREVENT US FROM FUNCTIONING IN CLASSROOMS. MS. BOLDEN? YES, MS. CROSBY, UM, OR DR.
LAO, HOW MUCH ESSR FUNDS WERE RECEIVED FOR ACE? I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A BALLPARK.
I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A BALLPARK BECAUSE I CAN'T REMEMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I BELIEVE IT WAS IN THE, IN THE AREA OF $175,000.
AND SO YOU PURCHASED VANS, NOT BUSES.
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14 PASSENGER BUS.AND THEN WHAT WAS THE COST, DO YOU KNOW, UH, TO REPAIR THE HVHC TO, TO REPAIR THE AIR CONDITION? I KNOW IT WAS OVER THAT WE HAD TO USE SOME GENERAL FUNDS, WHICH ENDED UP BEING FUND BALANCE IN ADDITION TO THE, UM, INTO THE ESSER FUNDS.
I CAN SHARE WITH THE BOARD TOMORROW THE ESSER PLAN THAT WE PRESENTED AND, AND THE SPENDING BREAKDOWN, IF THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT, YEAH, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE COULD KNOW WHAT THE SR FUNDS WERE SPENT ON SPECIFICALLY THE, UH, DOLLAR AMOUNT MM-HMM.
AND WHAT WAS THE INVOICE AMOUNT SO THAT, YOU KNOW, I CAN MAKE A MORE CLEARER UNDERSTANDING.
'CAUSE I'M JUST, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO JUST SEE THE FULL BREAKDOWN BECAUSE I KNOW THAT SR IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TO GO INTO THE FUND BALANCE, BUT JUST FOR CLARITY.
SO I HAVE A QUESTION, MS. CROSBY.
UM, SO I KNOW FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, UH, 80% OF THE OPERATING BUDGET BASICALLY ARE, ARE SALARY AND BENEFITS IS, WOULD THAT BE THE SAME CASE FOR, UM, B BJ ACE? YES, MA'AM.
WOULD ANYBODY, UH, HOLD ON A SECOND.
WOULD ANYBODY LIKE TO SPEAK THAT IS NOT SPOKEN? ALL RIGHT, MR. SMITH, AND YOU SAID IN ESSO FUNDS, ACE HAD ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS 75, 500 HUNDRED, 175 MM-HMM,
AND COULD YOU TELL US, WHEN YOU DO GIVE US THAT BREAKDOWN, CAN YOU TELL US EXACTLY WHERE IT CAME FROM? BECAUSE I WOULD, I WOULD BELIEVE THAT PART OF IT WOULD COME FROM BEAUFORT COUNTY AND PART OF IT, OR PART OF IT WOULDN'T COME FROM, UH, J UH, UM, JASPER COUNTY.
NO, H HOW WOULD THAT WORK? WE, WE, AS A CAREER CENTER, WE GOT A LUMP SUM THAT WAS FROM, FOR JUST FOR THIS CAREER CENTER AND, UM, FROM THE STATE? YEAH, FROM THE STATE TO THE CAREER CENTER.
AND THEY WERE GIVING US SPECIFIC GUIDELINES ON, IN TERMS OF SPENDING.
SO WE, ONCE WE GOT THE BOARD APPROVAL, WE HAD TO PRESENT THE PLAN TO THE STATE.
ONCE THEY ACCEPTED IT, WE COULD BE GOOD OUR SPENDING.
SO WE HAD TO FOLLOW SIMILAR STEPS AND TRACKING AND, AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
HOWEVER, WE JUST GOT A SUM THAT WAS JUST EARMARKED FOR CAREER CENTERS IN ACE.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, LEMME SAY I'M NEW.
SO I'VE BEEN ON THE BOARD LESS THAN A YEAR, SO I DON'T HAVE ALL THE BACK STORY THAT SO MANY OF YOU HAVE, BUT IF I HELICOPTER UP, UH, BRAKE FIX MAINTENANCE IS A VERY UNPREDICTABLE WAY TO KEEP YOUR OPERATION GOING, WHICH MEANS SOMETHING BREAKS, YOU FIX IT, YOU HAVEN'T PLANNED FOR IT.
SO THAT EATS INTO THE ALLOCATION.
ALRIGHT? THE SECOND THING IS, UH, THE ALLOCATION HAD NO INCREASE UNTIL THIS YEAR.
SO BOTH JASPER AND BUFORT, YOU'VE NOT INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF MONEY GOING.
AND THE LAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS, INFLATION HAS BEEN 7.50 CENT PERCENT OR HIGHER.
THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR WHERE IT'S GOTTEN DOWN CLOSE TO THREE, 2.7.
SO THINGS, IF YOU BOUGHT THE SAME NUMBER OF UNITS, YOU WERE GOING TO PAY MORE.
SO I THINK $175,000 IN ESSER FUNDS.
SO I THINK STRATEGICALLY WE'RE GOING HAVE TO SAY, ARE BOTH GROUPS WILLING TO STEP UP AND FUND THIS INSTITUTION? IF NOT, WE NEED TO SORT OF, YOU KNOW, FIGURE OUT ANOTHER WAY OF DOING IT.
THE NUMBERS ARE TELLING US WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.
I DON'T SEE ANY, UM, FURTHER HANDS UP.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
NE NEXT ON THE AGENDA IS THE JOINT BOARD DISCUSSION REGARDING THE FUTURE OF ACE TALK TO CAPITAL REQUIRE, OH, I'M SORRY.
COLONEL GEIER, WE, WE, ARE WE SPEAKING TO CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS? UM, MS. CROSBY OR DR.
LUO? I'VE SHARED WITH THE BOARD, UM, THE ACE BOARD, PARDON ME, THAT WE ARE REALLY LOOKING AT TWO ISSUES FROM, FROM WHERE I SIT, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE FUNDING ISSUE, WHICH IS OPERATIONAL, AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THE BUILDING AND MAINTENANCE ISSUE, WHERE THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ARE, UM, THE BIGGEST CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT THAT WE FACE.
AND TO KIND OF GO BACK TO WHAT MR. DALLAS SAYS IS THE FIX IT, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE STUFF, THINGS ARE UNPREDICTABLE.
DESPITE THE FACT WE HAVE A NUMBER OF NEW HVAC UNITS, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF FAIL ALREADY THIS YEAR.
SO IN DECEMBER, WE WELCOMED OUR NEW STUDENTS TO ACE, AND WE HAD THREE CLASSROOMS OF STUDENTS DISPLACED BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE A HEATING SYSTEM THAT WAS FUNCTIONING.
SO STUDENTS THAT CAME HERE FOR BARBERING IN OUR TWO COSMETOLOGY CLASSROOMS COULD NOT BE DOWN IN THE BARBER SHOP OR IN THE COSMETOLOGY STUDIO BECAUSE THERE WAS NO HEAT.
SO THEY CAME TO ACE AND WERE IN A CLASSROOM,
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A GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM FOR A MONTH AND A HALF IN THEIR, IN THEIR FIRST IMPRESSION.SO THESE ARE THE LITTLE THINGS THAT, THAT KEEP POPPING UP.
I'VE SHARED WITH THE BOARD THAT WE HAVE SOME SMELLS THAT NOBODY CAN IDENTIFY THAT, UH, UH, ARISE IN OUR OFFICE, IN OUR GUIDANCE SUITE.
UM, WE HAVE AN ELECTRICITY PROBLEM WHERE WE, THE, THE WIRING AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IN THIS BUILDING, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE, IS THE ORIGINAL SYSTEM.
SO WE HAVE SOME EQUIPMENT THAT WE CAN'T UTILIZE BECAUSE THE SYSTEM DOESN'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO HOLD SOME OF THE NEWER EQUIPMENT.
SO MY GOAL AS A DIRECTOR IS TO HAVE STATE-OF-THE-ART OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR STUDENTS.
AND I'M SURE THAT'S THE GOAL OF THE BOARDS, BUT WE NEED THE FACILITY TO BE ABLE TO, TO SUPPORT THAT.
SO WE HAD, AND WE'VE SHARED WITH THE BOARD, I THINK A, A BUILDING, UM, FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
AND I WAS ASKED AT THE LAST ACE BOARD MEETING, HOW WOULD I PRIORITIZE THAT? AND FOR ME, THAT'S DIFFICULT.
I'M, I'M NOT A CONSTRUCTION PERSON.
I, I KNOW WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE, AND I KNOW WHAT I BELIEVE THE KIDS NEED, BUT MY JOB IS TO EDUCATE THE STUDENTS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE EDUCATED IN A BARBER SHOP OR IN A COSMETOLOGY SHOP.
THEY NEED TO BE SAFE, WARM, AND HAVE THE, UM, ABILITY TO USE THE MACHINERY, THE TOOLS THAT ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORKFORCE IS USING.
BECAUSE IF WE SEND THEM OUT, NOT USING STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY OR, OR TOOLS OR MACHINERY, THEY'RE ALREADY A STEP BEHIND THE PEOPLE THEY'RE COMPETING AGAINST.
AND WHAT I ASKED THE BOARD FROM, FROM MY SEAT IS TO, IS TO THINK ABOUT A FEW YEARS BACK, I DID, I DID SOME RESEARCH IN THE NUMBER ONE PLACE THAT PEOPLE RECRUITED INTO BEAUFORT COUNTY TO WORK WAS JASPER.
THE NUMBER ONE PLACE THAT PEOPLE COMMUTED INTO JASPER COUNTY TO WORK WAS FROM BEAUFORT.
OKAY? WE HAD A STUDENT WHO COMPLETED AN EMT PROGRAM WITH US, OUR EMS PROGRAM IN DECEMBER.
THE STUDENT WAS A BEAUFORT HIGH STUDENT.
HE'S CURRENTLY A JASPER COUNTY FIREMAN.
OKAY? SO I UNDERSTAND WHEN I SIT IN FRONT OF TWO BOARDS THAT YOU HAVE A LINE TO PROTECT, BUT FOR ME, I LOOK AT IT FROM THE LOW COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE OF YOU'RE ALREADY SUPPORTING AND EDUCATING EACH OTHER'S WORKFORCE, RIGHT? AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE STATE OF THE ART OPPORTUNITY THAT THESE STUDENTS DESERVE, THAT THESE COMMUNITIES DESERVE.
BECAUSE WHEN WE LOOK AT REALLY THE IMPACT OF ACE, YOU CAN'T LOOK AT THE NUMBERS RIGHT NOW.
YOU HAVE TO THINK OF HOW MANY WORKERS ARE OUT IN OUR COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTING, MAKING A LIVING, GETTING IN THE CYCLE, ECONOMIC CYCLE WHERE THEY'RE SPENDING IN THEIR COMMUNITY, THEY'RE WORKING IN THEIR COMMUNITY, AND THEY'RE SUPPORTING THEIR COMMUNITY.
SO I, WHAT I WOULD ASK IS, WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IS SOMEBODY THAT, THAT WANTS TO OUTLINE THAT IT HAS FAR BEYOND THE SCOPE OF KNOWLEDGE THAN I HAVE.
I KNOW THAT EVERY TEACHER HERE COMES TO ME WITH SOMETHING THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THEIR ROOM OR, OR IN THEIR SHOP.
AND IT'S, IT SOMETIMES IS OVERWHELMING WHEN YOU'RE A PRINCIPAL.
AND, AND YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THAT WHEN YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR TEACHERS DISPLACED FOR THREE MONTHS.
THAT'S NOT GREAT FOR OUR MORALE.
YOU KNOW, ON ONE HAND, WE, WE LOOK AT OURSELVES AND SAY, WOW, WE'RE RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE SIX BEST SCHOOLS IN THE STATE.
AND ON THE OTHER HAND, WE CAN'T GET KIDS IN OUR SHOPS, YOU KNOW, THAT COME HERE FOR THAT.
SO IT'S, IT'S A MIXED MESSAGE, YOU KNOW, TO THE STUDENTS AND TO THE STAFF SOMETIMES.
AND I, AND I KNOW THAT, THAT THE RIGHT THING'S GONNA HAPPEN BECAUSE I BELIEVE, AND, AND I'VE SEEN OVER EIGHT YEARS WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THIS PLACE.
WHEN I, WHEN I STARTED EIGHT YEARS AGO, THIS MEETING WAS ABOUT CLOSING THE SCHOOL, RIGHT? IT WAS ABOUT SH SHUTTING THE DOORS.
NOW, EIGHT YEARS LATER, WE'VE COME TO THE POINT WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, OKAY, WHAT CAN WE DO TO SUPPORT IT? AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE THIS PLACE BETTER? AND I THINK THAT'S A LONG, LONG REALLY JOURNEY.
AND IT'S, IT'S REALLY A TESTAMENT TO THE SUPERINTENDENTS, THE BOARDS AND, AND THE PEOPLE OF BOTH DISTRICTS WHO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF CTE EDUCATION.
SO I GUESS FROM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS WE NEED A LOT.
IF YOU WALK THROUGH THIS BUILDING AND YOU'RE GONNA TURN A CORNER, YOU'RE GONNA SEE SOMETHING THAT'S OLD THAT NEEDS AN UPGRADE AND NEEDS REPLACEMENT.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS IS A SWITCH THAT CONTROLS THE INTERNET THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO RESET RIGHT NOW.
AND THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME OUR STAFFS COME IN WITH PLANS, LESSON PLANS, TECHNOLOGY BASED, AND WE HAVEN'T HAD INTERNET.
WE'VE GONE DAYS WITHOUT INTERNET.
AND THESE ARE, LIKE I SAID, JUST A, THE SWITCH.
THERE IS AN OLDER SWITCH FROM BEAUFORT COUNTY THAT THEY LENT US WHEN OUR ORIGINAL SWITCH WENT DOWN.
SO THAT GIVES YOU AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE'VE, WE'VE, YOU KNOW, PIECEMEALED, WE'VE, WE'VE TRIED TO BE CONSERVATIVE WITH SPENDING, WHICH IS WHY WE GOT THAT FUND BALANCE TO BEGIN WITH, AND GOT TO SPEND IT ON THINGS LIKE THE FLASHING AND OTHER THINGS THAT THE BILLY NEEDED.
HOWEVER, WE'VE KIND OF REACHED A BREAKING POINT NOW WHERE WE'RE JUST FIGHTING TO SURVIVE AND PAY THE BILLS, SO TO SPEAK, IN THE, IN THE EXTRA STUFF THAT WE USED TO PUT TOWARDS FIXING ACE.
THAT MONEY'S NOT THERE ANY LONGER.
SO WE HAVE TO REASSESS AND, AND DETERMINE WHAT'S THE BEST WAY WE CAN MOVE FORWARD JOINTLY.
[00:30:01]
COLONEL GEIER.IF YOU LOOK AT THIS LIST AND YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM LINE, IT'S, UH, TOTALING UP TO $11,191,910.
UH, WE JUST PASSED A REFERENDUM AND WE DIDN'T PUT ANYTHING IN OUR REFERENDUM FOR THIS.
AND, AND IN 2020 HINDSIGHT, WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE, WE USE, UH, IN, IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, WE USE OUR 8% BORROWING AUTHORITY TO PAY FOR, UH, HIGH DOLLAR REPLACEMENT OF HVACS AND SO ON.
UM, WE HAVE A LIST, WE HAVE A PRIORITY LIST.
WE HAVE, UH, MANY MORE PROJECTS THAN WE HAVE MONEY LAST YEAR.
UH, WE, UH, THIS YEAR WE'RE GONNA SPEND ABOUT $30 MILLION ON DIFFERENT PROJECTS.
NONE OF THEM ARE FOR THIS BUILDING THAT I KNOW OF.
SOMEHOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CHANGE THAT.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA DO THAT.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE COULD DO THAT THIS YEAR, BUT WE'RE PLANNING ON OUR 8% FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND SO WE PROBABLY OUGHT TO GET TOGETHER AND, AND LOOK AT WHAT IS A EQUITABLE SHARE.
UM, BUT WE CAN'T KEEP DOING, UH, USING OPERATIONAL FUNDS.
WE, WE JUST CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE WITH THAT FUND BALANCE.
SO IT, IT SEEMS TO ME THE ONLY OPTION THAT WE HAVE IS, IS 8%.
LUCHI, UM, CONSIDERING THE STATE OF THE BUILDING, THIS IS AGGRAVATING.
IS IT ON, JUST LEAVE THE BUTTON ALONE.
SO, CONSIDERING THE STATE OF THE BUILDING AND CONSIDERING THE PIECEMEAL METHOD THAT WE'VE USED TO MAINTAIN THE MUCH NEEDED SERVICES THAT THE STUDENTS NEED, 'CAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BUILDING, IT'S ABOUT WHAT THE CHILDREN CAN HAVE ACCESS TO AT THIS POINT.
I THINK THE ONLY WAY FOR US TO RESOLVE THE SITUATION IS TO HAVE A LIST THAT'S BEEN DEVELOPED BY THE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT, WHOEVER IT IS, UH, WITH THE PROJECTED, BASED ON PREVIOUS POSSIBLE EXPENDITURES, PROTECTED EXPENDITURES BESIDE EACH ITEM BASED ON CURRENT MARKET VALUE AND COST AND PROJECTED, BECAUSE IT'S OUT THERE OF WHAT IT WILL COST NEXT YEAR.
AND THEN WE WILL HAVE A LIST OF ALL THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE REPAIRED AND WHAT THE BOTTOM LINE COST WILL BE.
THIS BOARD AND BUFORD COUNTY BOARD WILL HAVE THAT AND THEN DO A TRIAGE ON THAT LIST.
MEANING THE AREAS WHERE THE CHILDREN'S HEALTH ARE MOST GOING TO BE AFFECTED, LIKE THE COSMETOLOGY CLASSROOM WHERE THEY COULD ACTUALLY DIE FROM THE, IN NON APPROPRIATE INHALATION OF FUMES THAT THEY SHOULDN'T BE BREATHING IN, WHICH RATHER DISTURBING TO ME AND THE ISSUES THAT YOU'RE HAVING WITH THE SMELLS, WHICH COULD BE DEAD ANIMALS, WHICH CREATES ANOTHER ISSUE AS FAR AS HEALTH IS CONCERNED.
SO THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE DETAILED IN THE LIFTS, BECAUSE THE MONEY'S NOT GONNA COME OUT OF THE AIR, BUT WE ARE AT A CRISIS NOW, AND THE BUILDING IS FUNCTIONING, IN MY OPINION, AT A DANGEROUS LEVEL.
SO THOSE ARE THE THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MADAM CHAIR LISTED WITH THE PROJECTED COSTS.
AND IF YOU USE INDUSTRY PEOPLE, THEY CAN PROJECT WHAT THE COST WILL BE NEXT YEAR.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN HAPPEN VERY EASILY.
UM, HAVE YOU ALL LOOKED INTO THE GUARANTEED ENERGY SAVINGS CONTRACT? NO, WE HAVE NOT.
WELL, YOU NEED TO INVESTIGATE THAT, BECAUSE BACK IN 2020, JASPER COUNTY DID A MAJOR OVERHAUL WITH CMTA.
THEY CAME IN AND THEY DID AN ASSESSMENT OF AND HVAC, EVERYTHING THEY HAVE SAVED US.
THE FIRST YEAR WE SAVED ALMOST $300,000 IN UTILITIES AND BILLS.
AFTER THE UPGRADES TWO YEARS AGO, WE SAVED ALMOST 400,000.
SO YOU NEED TO PROBABLY GET WITH AN ENERGY SAVING COMPANY LIKE CMTA OR SOME OTHER AGENCY AND EVALUATE AND TALK WITH THEM ABOUT RETROFITTING ACE, BECAUSE IT DON'T LOOK LIKE IT'S GONNA GO ANYWHERE.
[00:35:02]
AS A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR THESE KIDS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MOST IMPRESSION, MOST IMPORTANT CARGO COMING IN HERE.AND IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE SERVICES THAT WE NEED TO PROVIDE FOR THEM TO GET THEIR EDUCATION, WHAT GOOD IS THE BUILDING? SO IF YOU CAN LOOK INTO SOME ENERGY SAVING COMPANY THAT CAN COME IN AND DO AN ASSESSMENT, IT'LL BE IN TO OUR ADVANTAGE.
MR. DALLAS? YEAH, I'D LIKE TO, UH, THANK MR. MOY FOR THAT, UH, SHARING THAT INSIGHT.
I THINK ONE OF THE SYSTEMS THAT NEEDS TO BE, UH, INSTALLED IS HOW THE FINDINGS OF $600,000 OVER TWO, OVER TWO ITERATIONS, NOT DID IT FLOW TO THE ACE LEADERSHIP.
SO THAT'S A QUESTION, DID THEY KNOW ABOUT ALL THE EFFICIENCIES THAT YOU'VE ALREADY IDENTIFIED? SO I THINK HOPEFULLY ONE OF THE THINGS I HOPE COMES OUT OF THIS IS THAT THE INFORMATION THAT EACH SIDE GAINS, WHETHER IT'S PROJECTED FUNDING FOR FIVE YEARS ON MAINTENANCE, OBVIOUSLY GETS MORE THAN ONE ONE YEAR.
SO THAT, THAT SHOULD BE A TAKEAWAY, I THINK, OF HOW DO WE CAPTURE BEST PRACTICES THAT ARE HA HAPPENING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE TABLE.
MR. EARL CAMPBELL? UH, YES, YOU'RE GONNA NEED A, MANY OF THE, THE PROBLEMS THAT MR. DR.
DIDN'T THIS HAPPENED, IT HAPPENED YEARS AGO, MANY YEARS AGO.
AND, UM, MY SUGGESTION WOULD BE WE NEED TO SIT DOWN WITH THE DELEGATION, LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION BECAUSE OTHER SCHOOLS, UH, LIKE THIS SCHOOL IN THE, IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, DOES GET SOME FUNDING.
AND WE NEED TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT, I THINK WE NEED TO TALK TO 'EM ABOUT THIS.
UM, BECAUSE I, I DON'T, I DO NOT THINK THAT BEAUFORT COUNTY OR JASPER COUNTY CAN USE THEIR, UM, CAPITAL MONEY TO, TO FUND THE SCHOOL THAT'S GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK THAT THAT IS A STEP THAT WE NEED TO DO AND DO IT SOON.
BUT ALSO, IN THE MEANTIME, BETWEEN TIME, I THINK THAT WE DO NEED A ALLOCATED LIST.
AND I'M NOT SURE WHETHER THAT'S GONNA NEED TO COME FROM WHERE THAT WOULD COME FROM.
UM, I BELIEVE, UM, I DUNNO IF IT BE COUNTY, WE, WE GET, WE GET ASKED FROM, UM, MR. OUTING, UH, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THE SCHOOL NEED TO BE LOOKED AT THOROUGHLY, AND SO WE CAN KNOW EXACTLY ON WHAT'S GOING ON BECAUSE WE CAN'T KEEP SITTING HERE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION.
BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS ON THE A BOARD, AS MR. CAMPBELL, UH, SPOKE A MINUTE AGO, THIS, THIS JUST, THIS DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN.
SO WHAT MY THING WAS, NOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND IT, NOW THAT WE'RE TAKING THIS SERIOUS AND WE'RE ALL IN AGREEANCE THAT IT NEEDS, IT NEEDS TO BE FIXED, THEN NOW WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO GET A MASTER ROSTER OF EVERYTHING, WHETHER IT'S THE, WHETHER IT'S THIS DOORWAY THAT'S BROKEN, WHETHER IT'S A GLASS THAT'S CRACKED, WHETHER IT'S THE FRONT OF THE BADGE THAT'S NOT WORKING.
WE NEED AN, AN, WE NEED, WE NEED A ITEMIZED, UH, WE NEED AN ITEMIZED INVENTORY OF EVERY SINGLE THING THAT'S WRONG.
SO WE CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT, IN WHAT WAY AND WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE, UH, VIOLENCE NEEDS VERSUS WANT, WHAT NEED TO BE DONE IN THIS BUILDING, UH, EFFECTIVELY SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THAT IS IN THE FACILITY STUDY THAT WAS UPDATED, UM, LAST AUGUST, YOU CAN SEE THE FINAL COST, UM, ON THE PROJECTOR.
HOWEVER, THEY HAVE AN ITEMIZED BREAKDOWN FROM EVERYTHING FROM THE MAJOR THINGS LIKE, UH, THE ELECTRICITY ALL THE WAY DOWN TO CLA EACH INDIVIDUAL CLASSROOM IMPROVEMENT.
UM, SO WE DO HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
WHAT, WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT WHEN I SAID I'M NO EXPERT IS WHEN THEY SAID TO PRIORITIZE THIS.
I, I DON'T FEEL LIKE I WOULD HAVE THE ABILITY IN TO PRIORITIZE THIS INFORMATION AND BREAK IT DOWN.
I KNOW SAFETY WOULD BE FIRST AND FOREMOST, AND AS MS. GERALD SAID, YOU KNOW, CLEAN AIR AND A LOT OF THESE PROGRAMS AND, AND THE AIR FLOW IS VERY IMPORTANT.
BUT I THINK THAT WE REALLY NEED SOMEBODY TO, IF THEY WERE GONNA NOT FUND THIS IN ONE CHUNK WHERE WE COULD AND WE WANTED IT BROKEN DOWN, SOMEONE WHO WOULD'VE TO COME IN WHO HAS A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPERTISE IN THESE AREAS THAN I DO.
MADAM CHAIR, FOLLOW UP FROM DR.
YOU SAID THIS LIST, SO WHO COMPILED THIS LIST? HOW DO, HOW DO WE OBTAIN THIS LIST OF NEEDS? THIS WAS COMPILED WHEN WE BROUGHT IN REDIR ARCHITECTS, I BELIEVE, ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO.
AND THEY CREATED A FACILITY STUDY.
AND WHAT HAPPENED WAS, LAST YEAR THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
[00:40:01]
FACILITY BY THE BOARD.WE GOT AN UPDATE FROM THEM WHERE THEY CAME IN AND UPDATED THAT LIST IN UPDATED COSTS LAST AUGUST.
SO IT WAS FIRST BROUGHT UP BY THE ACE BOARD ONE, A FACILITY STUDY UPDATE.
UH, I THINK IT WAS FIVE YEARS AGO.
I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT DATE ON, ON, SO, SO WE, WE DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION IN, IN THIS PACKET.
IT WAS, IT WAS ABOUT 80 PAGES IF I, IF I RECALL.
SO IT WAS, IT WAS SENT VIA EMAIL TO, UH, BOTH BOARD, ALL BOARD MEMBERS.
THEY DON'T HAVE, THE ACE BOARD HAS THE, 'CAUSE I, I DON'T HAVE IT.
THE ACE BOARD HAD THE FULL FACILITIES PACKET, UH, THAT LOOKS LIKE, UH, COLONEL GEIERS PACKET THERE.
THAT ONE'S FROM I BELIEVE, 2019.
AND THIS IS AN UPDATE, UH, THAT IT DID REMOVE SOME OF THE MAJOR, UH, HVAC UNITS THAT WE HAD ALREADY COMPLETED.
AND THEN UPDATED THE COST FOR 2023.
SO THIS ONE IS JUST A SUMMARY OF THE UPDATE.
SO, SO WE NEED AN UPDATE FROM 2024 PRIORITIZING.
THAT'S WHAT I'M, I, I BELIEVE WE NEED WHAT WE NEED PRIORITIZED.
SO WE'LL KNOW, BECAUSE THAT'S A HUGE PACKET OF INFORMATION.
AND JUST LIKE, UH, MR. DALLAS SAYS, YOU KNOW, UM, OUR CAPITAL FUNDS WILL NOT, UH, PAY FOR, FOR ALL THESE MAJOR UPDATES.
AND I, I JUST THINK THIS IS A LOT TO DIGEST TONIGHT.
THIS IS ABOUT FIVE MONTHS OLD.
UM, THE UPDATE, AND IT DOES, IT IS A SUMMARY THAT THAT REPORT, AND WE CAN PROVIDE THAT TO BOTH BOARDS.
UM, IT HAS MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION.
UM, BUT THIS PROVIDED A, JUST A SUMMARY, BUT IT'S ONLY ABOUT FIVE MONTHS OLD, SO.
UM, AND CAPITAL FUNDS CAN BE USED FROM BUFORT AND JASPER, UM, FOR, UH, THEIR 8% FUNDS CAN BE USED FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AT ACE.
UH, WE DID DO THAT BACK IN 2010, I THINK WAS THE LAST MAJOR SET OF IMPROVEMENTS.
WE DID ABOUT $10 MILLION OF IMPROVEMENTS AND THEY HAVE TO BE ON A 50 50 ALLOCATION BASIS.
SO, UM, THAT IS A POSSIBILITY.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT.
UM, AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE, UH, WHATEVER IMPROVEMENTS ARE MADE WOULD HAVE TO BE SPLIT IN HALF.
UM, SO I, YOU KNOW, I WAS ON THE ACE BOARD AND I'VE TOURED THE SCHOOL AND IT'S OBVIOUS THAT IT NEEDS A LOT OF WORK.
AND THAT WAS BACK IN 20 21, 20 22.
I THINK ALSO WHAT I FEEL LIKE THE BOARD HAS TO GET THEIR HEADS AROUND, IN ADDITION TO GETTING THE DETAILS AND THE SUMMARIES AND EVERYTHING, IS WHAT I FEEL LIKE DR.
LUO IS ASKING FOR, IS FOR OUR TWO BOARDS TO MAKE A COMMITMENT TO THIS CENTER.
UM, RECOGNIZING THAT CTE IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT AND THAT WE NEED WORKERS, UM, ON HILTON HEAD, THAT IS A REFRAIN YOU HEAR QUITE A BIT.
UM, THE WORKFORCE SHORTAGE, UH, WE JUST DID PASS A SUBSTANTIAL REFERENDUM WITH A VERY HIGH PASS RATE.
SO TO ME, I FEEL LIKE MY CONSTITUENTS, BEAUFORT COUNTY, UH, RESIDENTS RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR UPDATING AND IMPROVING SCHOOLS.
SO THE QUESTION IS, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE GET THERE, BECAUSE THIS IS SORT OF A WEIRD ARRANGEMENT.
I GUESS THERE ARE OTHER PLACES IN SOUTH CAROLINA THAT, WHERE THERE'S NOT LIKE A SPECIFIC DISTRICT IN CHARGE OF A SCHOOL.
SO WE HAVE A ACE BOARD AND WE HAVE TWO DISTRICTS.
WE CAN'T DO AN ACE REFERENDUM.
I DON'T KNOW HOW WE ALLOCATE, I I KNOW ESSENTIALLY THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A POINT AT WHICH THE LEGISLATURES WANTED THESE TWO BOARDS TO MANAGE THE CAPITAL FUNDS BECAUSE THERE'S A SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN.
SO THEY ANTICIPATED BUFORT AND JASPER AT SOME POINT HAVING TO PROVIDE CAPITAL FUNDS.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FINAL AMOUNT'S GONNA BE.
IT'S GOING TO BE IN THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
AND SO FOR ME, I JUST WANT TO HEAR FROM OTHER PEOPLE, UM, I FULLY SUPPORT PER, UH, INCREASING FUNDING FOR CTE FOR BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY.
AND I FEEL LIKE THAT'S REALLY THE STARTING POINT FOR ME IS, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARDS WANT TO DO? AND IF SO, THEN WE CAN FIGURE OUT THE DETAILS.
UM, BUT I DEFINITELY WOULD, UH, LEND MY SUPPORT FOR RAISING THAT MONEY.
I JUST DON'T KNOW, TANYA, HONESTLY, WHAT THE MECHANISM WOULD BE.
AND IF MR. CAMPBELL IS SAYING, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF THESE OTHER MULTI-DISTRICT CAREER CENTERS THERE ARE IN THE STATE, UM, AND HOW THEY GO ABOUT CAPITAL FUNDING.
'CAUSE IT IS, THERE'S LIKE, IT'S NOT THAT THERE'S A LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY, THERE'S KIND OF A LACK OF AUTHORITY IN TERMS OF HOW WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, MR. BELAY, SO MY QUESTION GOES BACK TO, YOU KNOW, YOU DIDN'T INCLUDE IT IN YOUR REFERENDUM.
IS IT POSSIBLE, 'CAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A, A REFERENDUM FOR US, UM, IS IT POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE BJ ACE IN OUR REFERENDUM? AT LEAST FOR OUR PART OF IT, THAT, THAT'S KIND OF A LEGAL QUESTION THAT
YOU'LL NEVER GET TO SWIM A LAWYER AGAIN.
[00:45:01]
JASPER WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU WOULD BE, EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE GOING WITH YOUR 8% MONEY, IT IS TO TRANSFORM INTO ONE HALF THE COST OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IN JASPER OR ACE, I'M SORRY, AN ATTORNEY ABOUT THAT.YEAH, WE'LL ASK THE BOND ATTORNEY.
SPEAKING WITH YOUR LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION IS ALWAYS A GREAT IDEA.
HOWEVER, THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA GENERALLY DOES NOT INCLUDE CAPITAL MONEY FOR LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TEND TO HAVE TO FORM, FORM THEIR OWN CAPITAL, UM, PROJECTS.
JUST THOUGHT I WOULD ADD THAT JUST FOR CLEARER.
UH, WE ARE ABSOLUTELY IN CRISIS MODE AS, UH, SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE POINTED OUT.
UM, BUT I THINK WE HAVE TO MULTITASK THIS.
WE CAN'T JUST SAY THAT THE, THE ONE NEXT STEP IS CREATING A LIST.
UM, I THINK A LIST THAT'S FIVE MONTHS OLD MIGHT BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR NOW SO THAT WE CAN START AT LEAST PLANNING.
UM, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO BE TALKING WHEN WE GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS, WE NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT POLICY MOVING FORWARD, UM, SO THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CONTINUE FUNDING IN THE FUTURE OF THIS POLICY SO THAT WE CAN GET OUT OF DAMAGE CONTROL, UH, AND GET TO THE, GET TO THE, THE, THE LEFT OF THIS.
UM, BUT, UH, I, I, I THINK, UH, JUST DOING ONE THING AT A TIME IS, IS, IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
WE, WE NEED TO BE, UH, LIKE HITTING THIS MULTIFACETED.
JUST MAKE A COMMENT TO, FOR, UM, THE BEAUFORT BOARD, UH, OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT LIST FOR WHICH WE USE 8%, 8% FUNDS EVERY YEAR IS DEVELOPED BY OUR OPERATIONS COMMITTEE WITH THE, UM, WITH THE, UH, PRIORITIZING OF THE, UM, PROJECTS.
'CAUSE OBVIOUSLY, AS IT'S ALREADY BEEN SAID, THERE'RE WAY MORE PROJECTS THAN THERE'S MONEY FOR, AND THEN THE, THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE BRINGS IT, UM, FORWARD TO THE, TO THE BOARD, UH, FULL BOARD FOR APPROVAL.
SO THEY'RE KIND OF DOING THE GR THE GROUNDWORK, WHICH I WOULD SEE HERE AS THE ACE BOARD, THE THREE MEMBERS FROM BEAUFORT AND THREE MEMBERS FROM JASPER, UH, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OF ADMINISTRATORS, UH, COMING UP WITH THAT CRITICAL LIST.
AND THEN, UH, ONCE WE HAVE THE CRITICAL LIST AND THE DOLLAR AMOUNT, UH, THEN WE EACH HAVE GOTTA COME UP WITH A WAY TO HOW ARE WE GONNA FUND THAT 50% FROM OUR RESPECTIVE DISTRICTS.
DR. RODRIGUEZ WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A COMMENT.
DR. RODRIGUEZ, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
I HOPE YOU CAN, YOU CAN HEAR ME.
THAT ONE THOUGHT THAT I HAVE IS, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, UH, BUDGET TIME A ACROSS THE STATE AND IT SEEMS LIKE, UH, THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA MAY HAVE, UH, A BIT OF A SURPLUS IN TERMS OF, UH, THE ECONOMY, RIGHT? AND, UH, AND SO IF THAT IS THE CASE, I'M WONDERING IF AS BOARD MEMBERS, UH, CAN SOLICIT OUR LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION, UH, TO HAVE MAYBE A SPECIAL PROVISO OR EARMARK, UH, FOR A SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE LIKE ACE, WHICH LIKE REEFER JASPER ACE, WHICH IS SHARED, UH, BETWEEN TWO COUNTIES.
AND SO I'M WONDERING IF THAT'S A POSSIBILITY AS A THOUGHT.
THEY CAN ALWAYS SAY NO, BUT IF YOU DON'T ASK, THEY'RE NOT GONNA SAY YES.
UM, THIS, THE PROGRESSION OF THIS CONVERSATION IS VERY COMFORTING.
ACE IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT INSTITUTION IN THE LOW COUNTRY.
WE NEED TO NOT ONLY KEEP IT, WE NEED TO MAKE IT BETTER.
WE NEED TO MAKE IT PREEMINENT IN THE STATE.
UH, THIS INSTITUTION IS ONE OF THE TOP SIX THAT'S BEING CONSIDERED FOR BEING NUMBER ONE.
AND THEY'VE DONE THAT IN SPITE OF ALL THE SHORTCOMINGS THAT THEY'VE HAD TO OVERCOME.
LET'S GIVE THEM ACCOLADES FOR THAT.
NOW THE OTHER THING IS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ECONOMIC PROJECTIONS, JASPER, YOU'RE GOING TO BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST RICHEST COUNTIES IN THE STATE.
CORRECT? YOU'RE GOING, IT IS HAPPENING.
AND LEMME TELL YOU WHY, IF I MAY, THAT JASPER OCEAN TERMINAL, THE NEW PANAMA SHIPS CANNOT GO UNDER THE BRIDGE AND THEY CAN TURN ON THEIR AXIS.
THESE CAN DO LIKE THAT, WHICH MEANS THEY'RE NOW YOU SAW WHERE, UM, GEORGIA SAYS THEY'RE GONNA RAISE A BIG, SPEND A BILLION DOLLARS INSTEAD OF 500 MILLION OR THAT DOESN'T WORK, WON'T DIG A TUNNEL UNDER THE SAVANNAH RIVER
THEY HAVE TO PUT THAT JASPER OCEAN
[00:50:01]
TERMINAL CLOSER TO THE MOUTH OF THE SAVANNAH RIVER.'CAUSE THESE BIG PANAMA SHIPS ARE THE LENGTH OF THREE FOOTBALL FIELDS.
NOW IF YOU GO DOWN 17, YOU'LL SEE ALL OF THE DEVELOPMENT THAT'S ALREADY HAPPENING.
ROADS ARE COMING, RAILROADS ALREADY PLAYING, SO THEY CAN MOVE ALL THAT CARGO VERY QUICKLY.
SO I KNOW WE'RE SORT OF LIKE UNDER A CLOUD TODAY, BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO BE.
I THINK WE JUST NEED TO PLAN OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS HOW WE'RE GONNA SPEND 11 PLUS MILLION TO MAKE THIS AN EVEN BETTER INSTITUTION.
AND CTE JOBS, THEY ARE UNBELIEVABLE.
SO THAT'S, JUST WANT TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU AND THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR.
SO THE NEXT TOPIC IS JOINT BOARD DISCUSSION REGARDING THE FUTURE BASE.
AND WE'VE CERTAINLY TOUCHED UPON THIS A LITTLE BIT ALREADY, AND WE HAVE SEVERAL SUBHEADINGS, FUTURE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE, FUNDING MECHANISMS AND FORMULA PROGRAMS AND POTENTIAL LEGISLATIVE REVISIONS.
UM, WOULD, I THINK EACH BOARD FROM, FROM OUR DISCUSSION HERE TODAY IS GONNA HAVE TO GO BACK HOME AND SAY, ARE WE FULLY COMMITTED TO, UM, CONTINUING OUR SUPPORT OF ACE AND OUR CURRENT STRUCTURE IS, YOU KNOW, IN A CONTRACT OF THE 50 50 FOR THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.
AND IF SO, THEN WE EACH HAVE TO COME UP WITH HOW ARE WE GONNA FUND THOSE IMPROVEMENTS? I DON'T THINK WE CAN CONTINUE TO, UH, KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD.
IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S AMAZING WHAT THE STAFF AND STUDENTS HAVE DONE HERE CONSIDERING HOW MUCH THE FACILITY, UH, NEEDS FOR IMPROVEMENT.
WOULD ANYBODY ELSE LIKE TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS? COLONEL GEIER? I THINK WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE, UH, FUNDING MECHANISM, THE FORMULA FOR THE OPERATIONAL COST.
RIGHT NOW IT'S UH, TWO THIRDS, ONE THIRD, BUT JASPER IS NOT PROVIDING ONE THIRD OF THE STUDENTS.
THEY'RE PROVIDING ABOUT ONE FIFTH OF THE STUDENTS.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A FAIR BREAKOUT BASED ON ENROLLMENT AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT MEANS BY STUDENT, SO THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT CHANGES EVERY YEAR DEPENDING ON ENROLLMENT.
THAT'S, TO ME, WOULD SEEM TO BE THE MOST FAIR.
OR, OR PERHAPS IT WOULD BE BETTER TO HAVE A 2080 SPLIT.
THAT'S ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE GETTING RIGHT NOW IS ABOUT, YOU HAVE ABOUT, UH, 20%.
SO THAT'S A DISCUSSION AND, AND I'D REALLY LIKE TO HEAR WHAT YOU ALL THINK ABOUT THAT, MR. BELAY.
UM, SO I'M NOW CHAIR OF THE BE FOR JASPER ACE BOARD.
UM, AND WE'VE HAD DISCUSSIONS AS OUR BOARD, AS I BRING THE, THE FUNDING CONCERNS INCLUDING THE $11 MILLION PLUS.
UM, WE NOW HAVE, I THINK ABOUT 17% OF THE STUDENTS.
UH, WE TRY TO GET MOR TO COME.
UM, AND AS A, AS A BOARD, WE'VE KINDA LOOKED AT IT SAYING, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE ARE FINANCIALLY NOW, THE LAST REFERENDUM DID NOT PASS THAT EFFORT.
UH, WE KNOW THAT THE BUILDING AND EVERYTHING IS GONNA COME, UM, BUT IT'S NOT HERE YET.
SO IT WON'T HAVE AN IMPACT ON US FINANCIALLY FOR A FEW YEARS.
UH, WE'LL GET SOME OF THAT FROM, UH, IMPACT FEES AND SOME OTHER THINGS.
BUT, UM, CITY OF HARVILLE IN PARTICULAR HAS BEEN, UM, NEGOTIATING WITH THE DEVELOPERS IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH, UH, THEY'RE BEING RELIEVED OF THAT OR PUT INTO, UM, SOME OTHER KINDS OF THINGS AS TO WE WILL, WE'VE BEEN PROMISED TO GET IT SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, BUT, UM, THE FUTURE IS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, SO WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, IS IT THE, THE REQUEST I WOULD THINK FROM THE BOARD, UH, AND I'M NOT GONNA SPEAK FOR THE BOARD, BUT UM, THE REQUEST I THINK FROM, FROM OUR BOARD WOULD GO ALONG WITH WHAT, UH, COLONEL GEER HAS BEEN SAYING.
IT SEEMS UNFAIR THAT WE'RE PAYING 33% OF THE COST.
UM, FOR US, THE, UH, THE PER PUPIL COSTS ARE ABOUT DOUBLE WHAT YEAR PER PUPIL COSTS ARE FOR ACE, WHICH IN THE FAIRNESS PART, FOR, FOR THOSE OF US PAYING MORE DOESN'T SEEM ALL THAT FAIR.
[00:55:01]
KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE GO ON THE, UM, THE FACILITIES COSTS, WHETHER WE SPLIT THOSE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE 50 50.UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL KNOW IN A YEAR IF, IF WE GO AHEAD WITH A REFERENDUM AND IF THIS IS INCLUDED IN THE REFERENDUM AND IF OUR REFERENDUM PASSES BECAUSE THE LAST ONE DID NOT.
UM, WHETHER WE'LL BE IN A DIFFERENT FINANCIAL POSITION TO AFFORD ANYTHING GOING IN TERMS OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS HERE.
SO I THINK THOSE ARE A COUPLE OF OUR MAJOR, MAJOR CONCERNS.
MAYBE REQUESTS AND, AND OPENING UP FOR DISCUSSION.
ALRIGHT, MS. BOATRIGHT AND THEN MR. MOY.
SO MY QUESTION IS THIS, HOW MUCH, AND I DON'T, I I WOULD LOOK IT UP IF I HAD INTERNET, BUT HOW MUCH OF OUR REFERENDUM BUDGET WAS SET ASIDE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF BEAUFORT COUNTY CTE PROGRAMS AT MAY RIVER AT BEAUFORT HIGH? IT'S IN THE $40 MILLION RANGE.
IS IT NOT? OKAY, SO THE CONCERN I HAVE WITH AN ANNUAL ALLOTMENT RATHER THAN A FIXED COST IS, THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS.
LUO SAID RIGHT UP FRONT, THE NUMBER ONE SOURCE OF WORKERS FOR JASPER COUNTY OR COMING FROM BEAUFORT COUNTY STUDENTS.
SO THERE IS A BENEFIT, 'CAUSE THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT STUDENT BENEFIT, IT'S ALSO ABOUT COMMUNITY BENEFIT.
SO IF WE'RE, IF YOU LIVE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND YOU GO TO ACE AND THEN YOU GO AND YOU WORK AT A HOSPITAL IN JASPER COUNTY, YOU KNOW, IT'S SORT OF, TO ME THE WHOLE POINT OF DOING A DUAL COUNTY, UH, CAREER CENTER IS BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BENEFIT BOTH JASPER AND BEAUFORT COUNTY.
THE OTHER CONCERN I WOULD HAVE IS IF WE DO INVEST SIGNIFICANTLY, I KNOW UM, I BELIEVE I RECALL FROM PAST MEETINGS THAT IT'S HILTON HEAD HIGH AND BEAUFORT HIGH ARE THE TWO BIG BEAUFORT COUNTY.
IS THAT RIGHT? OR BATTERY CREEK NOW IT'S, NOW IT'S BLUFFTON.
IT BEAUFORT IS STARTING TO MAKE A COMEBACK.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S, IT'S BLUFFTON, IT HILTON HEAD AND I WOULD SAY BUFORT WOULD PROBABLY BE THIRD.
AND I KNOW BLUFF IN'S GOT A BIG CT PROGRAM THAT'S GONNA BE DEVELOPED AND I THINK HILTON HAD HIGH AS WELL WITH OUR A HUNDRED AND SOME $70 MILLION RENOVATION.
SO WE COULD SEE IN A COUPLE OF YEARS, ALL OF A SUDDEN BUFORT COUNTY'S NUMBERS DROP AND THEN YOU GUYS WOULD BE LIKE, WAIT A SECOND, WHY ARE WE ON THE HOOK FOR 50%? SO I JUST, WHAT I THINK ACTUALLY IN A LARGE SENSE IS I THINK WHAT THIS CONVERSATION SHOULD CONTINUE HERE TONIGHT TO GET A SENSE OF WHERE EVERYONE'S AT.
'CAUSE I THINK IT'S BEEN REALLY INTERESTING TO HEAR EVERYONE'S PERSPECTIVE, BUT WE GOTTA GO BACK TO OUR HOME BOARDS, FIGURE IT OUT, MAKE A COMMITMENT, AND THEN DECIDE, TRYING TO DECIDE HOW WE'RE GOING TO RE UM, ALLOCATE THE UH, OPERATIONAL FUNDING SCHEDULE AT THIS POINT, I'M NOT SURE IS AS BENEFICIAL UNTIL WE'VE MADE THAT COMMITMENT AS A GROUP AND REALLY LOOKED AT IT.
AND I DO THINK THAT THERE ARE, 'CAUSE I THINK ONE OF THE REASONS THAT JASPER COUNTY NUMBERS ARE LOWER IS BECAUSE YOU GUYS OPENED A BRAND NEW CTE CENTER.
RIGHT? NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.
WHO WANTS TO RESPOND TO THAT SPOKEN? THANK YOU.
UM, I TOTALLY AGREE AND WE HEAR EVERYTHING THAT EVERYONE IS SAYING.
ACE IS THERE NEAR TO OUR HEART.
UM, WE ARE FULLY COMMITTED IN JASPER COUNTY AND CONTINUING THE PARTNERSHIP WITH BEAUFORT COUNTY WITH FOUR ACE FOR OUR STUDENTS.
I SEE STUDENTS FROM BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY HVAC.
WE SEE STUDENTS FROM BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY OUT IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
WE SEE THE NEED, WE SEE THE GROWTH.
WE DO HAVE OUR COUNTY AND HARDY JUST APPROVED 15,000 HOMES THAT'S GONNA BE BUILT FAMILY HOMES THIS YEAR.
SO WE DO HAVE A GROWTH COMING IN.
UM, THAT OCEAN TERMINAL IS IN MY BACKYARD.
I AM SEEING WAREHOUSES EVERY DAY.
IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S A NEW ONE POPPING UP.
SO THERE'S DEFINITELY A GREAT NEED.
UM, BEAUFORT, JASPER, ACE, WE FEEL THAT IS A GREAT ASSET.
OUR, ONE OF OUR MAJOR CONCERNS IS, AS YOU SAID, WAS THE STUDENTS.
UM, LIKE OUR POPULAR PROGRAM IS THE COSMETOLOGY PROGRAM.
UM, THEREFORE WE SEE STUDENTS THAT COME FROM OUR AREA TO THAT PROGRAM.
BUT THEN WE ALSO SEE STUDENTS THAT GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND THEIR PARENTS ARE PAYING FOR THEM TO TAKE THE SAME PROGRAM THAT THEY COULD BENEFIT FROM HERE.
SO IT'S DIFFERENT PROGRAMS LIKE THAT, THAT IS A NECESSITY THAT ARE NOT BEING OFFERED AT YOUR CAPE FACILITY NOR OUR CAPE FACILITY.
SO OUR NUMBERS HAVE BEEN LOW, BUT IT WAS NOT BECAUSE WE BUILT OUR OWN CAPE FACILITY.
THERE ARE PROGRAMS HERE THAT WE ARE NOT OFFERING.
SO WE DO NEED TO GO BACK TO OUR BOARDS AND HAVE CONVERSATION ON HOW ON THE FUTURE OF PROCEEDING, WE DO NOT HAVE THE MINDSET THAT WE ARE GONNA PULL OUT OR BETTER YET SELL OUR PORTION.
THAT'S NOT AN OPTION HERE ON OUR TABLE.
UM, SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, JASPER'S ALL IN, WE'RE ALL IN.
WE SEE ALL OF THE GREAT THINGS AND THE CITIZENS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF THIS SCHOOL OUTTA THIS PROGRAM.
[01:00:01]
AROUND SINCE I'VE BEEN IN SCHOOL.UM, I HAVE FRIENDS WHO'VE BENEFITED.
SO WE NEED TO HAVE DISCUSSION ON A FIVE YEAR PLAN, GO TO THE TABLE AND SAY, HEY, SO THAT WE WILL NOT BE KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD.
WE NEED A FIVE YEAR PLAN ON HOW WE GONNA MOVE.
SO THEREFORE, IF IN FIVE YEARS THAT BEAUFORT DECIDE TO SELL THEIR PORTION TO JASPER COUNTY, BEING THAT WE OWN THE LAND
SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, WE KNOW HOW WE ARE MOVING FORWARD AND WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WHERE WE ARE GOING.
SO, UM, WE ARE NOT GONNA MAKE ANY DECISION TONIGHT.
IF YOU GO OUT AND YOU VISIT, LIKE, UM, GO TO ORANGEBURG, LOOK AT SOME OF THEIR CAPE FACILITIES.
IF YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THESE BIG TRI-COUNTY CAPE FACILITIES AND YOU COME BACK HERE AND THEN YOU'LL SEE THAT WE HAVE MADE IMPROVEMENTS, BUT WE HAVE NOT MADE THE GREAT GRANTS THAT WE NEED TO GET OUR KIDS.
WE ARE THERE, WE ARE COMPETING, WE ARE GIVING THEM A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY.
LET'S PROVIDE THEM WITH ALL OF THE RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED SO THAT THEY CAN DO EVEN BETTER.
OKAY, SO WE GREAT MINDS SITTING AT THE TABLE, BUT THERE'S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM AND IT'S FUNDING.
HOW ARE WE GONNA GET THERE? WHAT OUR PLAN IS GOING TO BE OUR CARGO GREAT CARGOES, LIKE MR. MOY SAID, WE GOTTA THINK ABOUT THEM, OKAY? AND THEIR FUTURE, IN THE FUTURE, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT YOUNGSTERS HERE, THEY HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF US
SO WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT ALL OF THAT.
UM, THIS IS GREAT RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE TO HA TO START THE DISCUSSION, BUT WE CAN'T DRAG OUR FEET, OKAY? WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PRIORITI, PRIORITIZING THE LIST, UM, GET US THAT NUMBER AMOUNT, THE DOLLAR AMOUNT WAS TOP PRIORITY.
LET'S DISCUSS IT, BRING IT TO THE TABLE, AND WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD.
UM, TALKING TO THE LOCAL DELEGATION IS AN AWESOME IDEA TO SEE IF WE CAN GET THEM TO ASSIST IN THIS.
BUT, AND WE ARE HAVING DISCUSSIONS OF A REFERENDUM, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE RESOURCES.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU ONE CRITICAL AREA IS SEEDING AND WHAT WE'RE PAYING PER PUPIL.
UM, I THINK THAT'S ABOUT COVER IT.
ALL RIGHT, WE GOT A BUNCH THAT WANNA SPEAK, SO WE'RE GONNA GO IN ORDER.
MR. MR. MOY, FIRST, MS. RILEY, MR. BOLDEN, UM, MO, IT'S BEEN SO LONG, ALMOST FORGOT WHAT I WANTED TO SAY.
UM, BUT, UM, MY THING IS MR. GERE SAID, SAID IT ALL THAT IT'S NOT, THE FORMULA IS NOT EQUAL.
WE KNOW THAT MR. DALLAS SAID ABOUT ALL THAT IS COMING TO JASPER.
WHAT, THIS IS NOT FROM THE JASPER BOARD.
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE, SINCE THE SCHOOL IS IN JASPER COUNTY, AND WE ARE GONNA BE GROWING OUT LEAPS AND BOUNDS PRETTY SOON, AND THIS IS THE AREA THAT'S WHERE ALL THE GROWTH ARE COMING, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE JASPER COUNTY PURCHASE THIS SCHOOL AND CHARGE YOU ALL FOR SENDING YOUR STUDENTS OVER HERE TO US.
AND MY THING IS, DON'T GET ME WRONG, I WANT TO SEE THIS AS A STATE OF ART MEDICAL CENTER WHERE STUDENTS CAN COME IN AND RUN THIS LIKE A REAL HOSPITAL.
BECAUSE WITH ALL OF THE SENIORS THAT ARE GROWING AND MOVING TO THIS AREAS AND FAMILIES, YOU'RE GONNA NEED A LOT OF HEALTHCARE INDIVIDUALS AND OFF OF THAT AUXILIARIES FOR THOSE JOBS.
SO I'M THINKING IF WE COULD PURCHASE THIS BUILDING AND HAVE IT IN JASPER AS OUR, AND WE CHARGE YOU ALL FOR SENDING YOUR STUDENTS TO OUR MEDICAL COLLEGE, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
MS. RILEY? I THINK I WOULD JUST LIKE TO EMPHASIZE THE FACT THAT, UM, I DO AGREE THAT WE NEED TO COME TO SOME KIND OF CONCLUSION WHEN, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO FUNDING FOR SEATS FOR OUR STUDENTS.
BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT THING FOR US IN JASPER COUNTY BECAUSE, UM, WE HAVE SOME VERY GOOD STUDENTS IN JASPER COUNTY AS WELL AS YOU HAVE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
AND AGAIN, AS MRS. GREEN SAID, WE DO NOT PROVIDE THE SAME TYPE OF PROGRAMS AT OUR KATE CENTER.
THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT FOR OUR STUDENTS TO COME HERE.
UM, AND I JUST WANT TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU HERE, THAT WE ARE INTERESTED HOPEFULLY IN MORE SEATS AND MAJOR PROGRAMS FOR OUR STUDENTS.
AND WE ARE WILLING TO WORK WITH EVERYONE.
WHEN, WHEN WE START RECRUITING, WHICH WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, UM,
[01:05:01]
A NUMBER OF OUR CLASSES, FOR INSTANCE, ARE 18 STUDENTS.WE, RIGHT OFF THE BAT, BUFORT HAS 12 AND JASPER HAS SIX SEATS.
SO WHATEVER HAPPENS, ONCE WE RECRUIT, IF THERE ARE STUDENTS FROM BUFORT OR JASPER AND THERE ARE OPEN SEATS THAT WEREN'T FILLED, WE FILL THE SEATS.
SO IF THERE ARE NINE JASPER STUDENTS INTERESTED IN A PROGRAM THAT HAS 18 STUDENTS AND ONLY SIX BUFORT, WE'RE GONNA FILL THOSE SEATS.
SO JASPER HAS THEIR, THEY'RE ONE THIRD OF OF SEATS AT EVERY PROGRAM WE HAVE.
UM, SO SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THAT THEIR, YOUR STUDENTS ARE, ARE MISSING OUT ON IS BECAUSE THEY'RE BEING FILLED, BUT THEY'RE ALSO BEING FILLED BY BEAUFORT AND BEAUFORT STUDENTS ARE MISSING OUT ON THEM.
FOR INSTANCE, COSMETOLOGY, WHEN WE BRING IN A, NO COHORT HAS 18 SEATS.
THERE'S A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS BEYOND 18 FROM THE COMBINED, BOTH COUNTIES THAT ARE INTERESTED IN THAT.
SO THOSE ARE ISSUES WHERE IF WE GET A NEW BUILDING THEORETICALLY, AND WE GET FUNDING FOR A NEW TEACHER, WE CAN, WE CAN HAVE THE STUDENTS, BUT WE ARE LIMITED BY OUR STAFFING AND SAFETY CONCERNS AND CTE PROGRAMS AND NUMBERS OF STUDENTS THAT THEY CAN WORK WITH UNDER THEIR LICENSE BY DIFFERENT THINGS.
BUT I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THERE'S AN EQUITABLE FORMULA WE USE IN THAT, THAT I TAKE VERY SERIOUS IN TERMS OF MAKING SURE THAT EVERYBODY IS SORT OF SPEAK, GETTING WHAT THEY'RE PAYING FOR FROM THE GET GO AFTER THAT DEADLINE.
AND THIS YEAR, IT'S, I THINK APRIL 12TH WHERE WE DO OUR FIRST POLL AND NOTIFY STUDENTS IF THERE'S OPEN SEAT SHORTLY AFTER THAT, WE OFFER THEM TO THE STUDENTS WHO ARE INTERESTED.
SO WE TRY TO BE AS EQUITABLE AS POSSIBLE IN, IN MAKING SURE THAT BOTH COUNTIES ARE, ARE APPROPRIATELY GETTING WHAT THEY, WHAT THEY ASKED FOR.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE, SO WE CAN, IT SOUNDS I THINK MS. RILEY WAS FINISHING THEN MS. BOLDEN, THEN MS. MITCHELL
WE'RE JUST GOING DOWN THE LINE.
SO AS LONG AS IF WE NEED TO ALSO ALONG IN THIS FIVE YEAR RANGE PLAN, HOPEFULLY THAT WE ARE GOING TO COME UP WITH THAT.
WE NEED TO LOOK FOR MORE SPACE.
BUT I SAID, YOU KNOW, EXPANDING THE PROGRAMS MM-HMM.
AND, AND JUST ON A SIDE NOTE, I HAVEN'T LOOKED AT NEW PROGRAMS BECAUSE OF THE FUNDING ISSUE IN, IN, SINCE WE STARTED MARINE TECH PROBABLY SEVEN YEARS AGO, OR EMT, PARDON ME.
EMT WAS ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO, WHICH WAS OUR LAST PROGRAM THAT, THAT WE STARTED BECAUSE OF FUNDING IN SPACE.
MS. BOLDEN GONNA ADD ON TO, UH, GUESS WHAT MS. GREEN WAS SAYING? YOUR, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR COURSES AT COSMETOLOGY, BARBERING, THOSE COURSES ARE, ARE ONES THAT THE STUDENTS WANT FROM JASPER.
YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S NOT A LOT.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT 33 STUDENTS OVERALL I BELIEVE WAS THE NUMBER THAT WAS BROUGHT TO US FOR THE MILLION DOLLARS THAT WE SPEND.
AND WE CAN'T MAKE STUDENTS TAKE WHAT THEY DON'T WANT BECAUSE IT'S AN AVAILABLE SEAT.
SO PERHAPS WE NEED TO LOOK AT EXPANDING, YOU KNOW, HALF DAYS, UH, YOU KNOW, COSMETOLOGY TAKING, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE JUST IN THE CLASSROOM.
THEY'RE DOING THEORY, AND THEN CERTAIN DAYS THEY'RE DOING THE PRACTICAL.
WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH WAYS THAT WE CAN GET THE STUDENTS TO TAKE THE CLASSES THAT THEY WANT IN ORDER FOR THEM TO COME HERE.
BECAUSE YOU, I MEAN, I DON'T WANNA TAKE CULINARY ARTS.
I WANNA BE A COSMETOLOGIST, AND, BUT THAT'S FULL CULINARY ARTS ARE OPEN.
SO I'LL STAY AT MY FEEDER SCHOOL.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE STUDENTS ARE SAYING.
AND SO SOMEWHERE WE HAVE TO LOOK AT SCHEDULING.
HOW DO WE GET OUR STUDENTS HERE? YOU KNOW, IT'S ALSO STAFFING FOR COSMETOLOGY.
WE HAVE TWO TEACHERS, AND THEY EACH HAVE, I DON'T WANNA BE THEORETICAL HERE, BUT YOU SAID 33, THEY EACH HAVE 18.
ONE HAS THE NEW STUDENTS AND ONE HAS THE RETURNING STUDENTS.
SO OUT OF THOSE, EACH 18, JASPER WOULD HAVE SIX IN THE NEW STUDENTS AND SIX IN THE RETURNING.
SO THEY WOULD HAVE 12 STUDENTS.
RIGHT? BUT WE HAVE 15 THAT WANT TO COME.
SO, SO THE BALANCE, I MEAN, SO WE ARE DEPRIVING A STUDENT OF SOMETHING THEY WANT TO TAKE BECAUSE WE'RE LIMITED BY AN AGREEMENT THAT WAS MADE 30 YEARS AGO.
I'M SAYING COMING BACK, WE'VE GOTTA LOOK AT A WAY TO REACH THE STUDENTS.
I JUST, I TOTALLY WANT TO BE FAIR.
BUT STUDENTS WILL RATHER STAY AT THEIR FEET OR SCHOOLS THAN TO COME AND TAKE SOMETHING THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO BE IN.
AND THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING WHEN I TALK TO STUDENTS AT JASPER.
SO I'D RATHER STAY AT MY HIGH SCHOOL AND THEN GO AND GO TO, YOU KNOW, COSMETOLOGY SCHOOL AFTER I GET MY HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA SOMEWHERE.
WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH A WAY THAT WE CAN SERVICE MORE OF THE STUDENTS AND NOT TO SAY ANYTHING FOR BEAUFORD, BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE DEFINITELY GETTING A GREATER PERCENTAGE AND WE'RE STILL PAYING THE 50% CAPITAL COST OR WHATEVER THE FEES ARE.
IF WE NEED TO READDRESS THAT AS A, A DR.
UH, VALIER HAS SAID, UH, MAYBE WE NEED
[01:10:01]
TO SEE HOW WE PAY PER STUDENT, EACH COUNTY, BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE A WAY THAT WE CAN BE FAIR TO THE CHILDREN THAT WANT TO TAKE A CLASS.YOU KNOW, FORMULA IS ONE THING, BUT STUDENTS OR ANOTHER, MS. MITCHELL, WE'RE GOING TO ORDER.
AND MY FIRST POINT, UH, MY FIRST QUESTION, FIRST CONCERN IS SOMETHING THAT YOU SAID, DR.
VIO, I KNOW THAT WE HAVE OUR SEATS IN EACH OF THE CATEGORIES HERE, AND YOU SAID THAT WHEN WE DON'T FILL THE SEAT IN A PARTICULAR AREA, THEN BEAUFORT COUNTY COMES IN AND FILL THOSE SEATS, RIGHT? UH, IF THEY NEED, OR JASPER.
YOU KNOW, WHOEVER'S, WHOEVER'S, OKAY.
SO NOW, WHEN, WHEN, WHEN BUFORT COMES AND FILL THE SEAT THAT JASPER DOES NOT OCCUPY, UM, OUR MONEY IS GOING TOWARD THOSE SEATS THAT WE DIDN'T FILL, RIGHT? SO IS THAT, THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS THIS, THE MONEY IS, IS I LOOK AT THE TWO THIRDS, ONE THIRD.
OKAY? AND THEN AFTER THAT, ONCE WE ACCEPT STUDENTS, WE REASSESS.
USUALLY AFTER THE SUMMER, THERE'S A FEW MORE OPENINGS.
IF THEY'RE, IF THERE ARE OPENINGS THAT SAY TWO JASPER STUDENTS MOVE, WE WOULD CONTACT, UM, BOTH HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND SAY, HEY, YOU HAVE SOME OPENINGS HERE.
YOU WANNA FILL THEM? AT SOME POINT WHEN WE GET, WE HAVE TO, I WANNA, MY JOB'S TO FILL SEATS, MY JOB'S TO EDUCATE CHILDREN.
UM, AND I LOOK AT THAT FORMULA, BUT AT SOME POINT, I HAVE TO JUST FILL THOSE SEATS BECAUSE IT GOES BOTH WAYS.
AT SOME POINT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT STUDENTS.
IF A STUDENT, SHOULD I LEAVE THAT SEAT BLANK? YOU KNOW, FOR A STUDENT WHO WANTS TO TAKE A, A PROGRAM BECAUSE IT'S OWNED BY A DIFFERENT DISTRICT, OR SHOULD I, AT SOME POINT, ONCE WE REACH THAT APPLICATION DEADLINE, WE USUALLY DON'T MAKE ANY CHANGES TILL WE COME BACK IN THE SUMMER AFTER, AFTER THE SUMMER BREAK.
BECAUSE LIKE I SAID, THERE'S A LOT OF MOVEMENT.
OUR, OUR, OUR ENROLLMENT, YOU KNOW, IS UP AND DOWN FOR THAT PERIOD.
'CAUSE KIDS WILL BACK OUT, THEN OTHER KIDS WILL BE INTERESTED.
AND THEN BY THE TIME WE GET TO THIS POINT WHERE WE'RE ENROLLING KIDS IN DECEMBER, YOU HAVE KIDS WHO SUDDENLY PULL OUT AT THE LAST MINUTE.
AND IT'S HARD TO FILL THOSE SEATS BECAUSE THEY, THE OTHER STUDENTS ALREADY HAVE THEIR PATHWAYS DETERMINED.
AND IT'S HARD TO SAY, HEY, WE HAVE A COSMETOLOGY SEAT, OR WE HAVE A, A BARBERING SEAT OR A NURSING SEAT.
BECAUSE SOME OF THOSE STUDENTS, WE, WE LET THE COUNSELORS KNOW WE'RE CONSTANTLY SENDING, USUALLY ONCE A MONTH, SENDING AVAILABLE SEATS AT ACE.
SO ALL COUNSELORS ARE AWARE AT THAT POINT, BECAUSE MY GOAL AS DIRECTOR, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, IS TO FILL THIS PLACE UP WITH STUDENTS.
OKAY? SO NOW ONE WORD I'VE HEARD HERE FROM JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY, EQUITY, THERE WE GO.
AND SO WE HAVE TO FIND SOME WAY OF DOING THAT SO THAT IF JASPER SEAT IS NOT FILLED AND BEAUFORT OCCUPIES THOSE SPACES, THEN BEAUFORT PAY FOR THOSE SPACES.
YOU KNOW? UM, THE ACE PROGRAM HAS BEEN VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN JASPER COUNTY FOR MANY YEARS.
SHORTLY AFTER THEY CAME TO THE COUNTY, THEY STARTED.
AND SO I KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF IT.
SOMEONE I THINK, UM, WAS BOATWRIGHT SAID THAT, UM, STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM HERE AND WORK IN JASPER.
THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, REALLY, BECAUSE THOSE PERSONS COULD HAVE BEEN WORKING IN SAVANNAH, COLUMBIA, WHEREVER OUR MAIN THRUST IS THE EDUCATION OF THE STUDENTS, SEEDING THEM HERE NO MATTER WHERE THEY WORK.
AND SO THAT SHOULDN'T EVEN BE A PART OF IT.
UM, I THINK EACH ONE OF US HERE FEEL THAT WITHIN OUR HEARTS OF HEARTS THAT OUR STUDENTS COME FIRST.
I THINK EACH OF US BELIEVE THAT.
SO NOW WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS COME TOGETHER BOTH BOARDS, HOW ARE WE GONNA DO THAT? HOW ARE WE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR STUDENTS GET WHAT THEY NEED? UM, WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T LOOK AT IT AS IF JASPER STUDENTS DON'T COME, BEAUFORT STUDENT COME.
WE NEED YOU OR YOUR STAFF GO LIKE THEY USED TO, TO GO INTO THE SCHOOLS, TALK TO THE STUDENTS, TRY AND I KNOW YOU TO GO DO THAT.
I KNOW YOU, I WAS IN THERE LAST WEEK.
WE'VE BEEN IN EVERY HIGH SCHOOL EXCEPT THE TH WE HAVE TWO MORE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
WE HAVE A RECRUITING SYSTEM WE FOLLOW.
AND I'VE COMMUNICATED THAT TO THE BOARD.
WE GO INTO EVERY SCHOOL I MEET WITH THE ENTIRE 10TH GRADE CLASS OF EVERY SCHOOL.
I PERSONALLY GO, I RECRUIT THOSE STUDENTS.
WE TAKE AN INTEREST FORM FROM THOSE STUDENTS RIGHT THERE BEFORE THEY LEAVE.
WHEN WE GET THAT INTEREST FORM, WE SEND A POSTCARD HOME.
WE LET THE GUIDANCE COUNSELORS KNOW SO THAT THEY'RE AWARE THAT THE STUDENT HAS INTEREST.
'CAUSE SOMETIMES THAT'S A DISCONNECT TOO, IS THE COUNSELOR AND THE STUDENT.
AND FROM THAT POINT FORWARD, WE START SAYING, WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR IGP, WHICH IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW FOR 10TH GRADE,
[01:15:01]
MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE AWARE THAT THIS STUDENT WANTS ACE ON THEIR IGP AND, AND WANTS TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION FOR ACE IN THE, IN THE, UH, UPCOMING SEMESTER OR THE FOLLOWING SEMESTER.SO WE, WE ARE IN SCHOOLS AND I'M ACTIVELY RECRUITING WHEN WE, WHEN WE'RE AT THESE SCHOOLS, WE HAVE STUDENTS THAT JUST COMPLETED.
SO FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE STUDENTS THAT COMPLETED HERE IN DECEMBER SPEAKING TO THE STUDENTS ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE.
SO THEY SEE FIRSTHAND WE HAVE NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS, MEANING FEMALE STUDENT THAT MAY HAVE BEEN IN CONSTRUCTION, TALKING TO STUDENTS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AT ACE IN CONSTRUCTION AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE.
SO THEY HEAR IT NOT ONLY FROM ME, BUT THEY'RE HEARING IT FROM THESE DIFFERENT STUDENTS WHO HAVE ATTENDED HERE AND HAVE POSITIVE THINGS TO SAY.
WE USED TO BRING OUR FIFTH GRADERS HERE.
AND SO THAT KIND OF ACCLIMATED THEM TO WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND THEY HAD TIME, YOU KNOW, OVER YEARS TO KNOW THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU STILL DO THAT.
WE, THE FIFTH GRADERS, MIDDLE SCHOOLS, THE ELEMENTARIES.
AND WE OFTENTIMES WILL GO AND SEND A, A PROGRAM OR TWO TO THEM FOR THEIR CAREER DAYS.
SO WE HAVE A NUMBER OF OUR STUDENTS, WE'LL GET IN A CARAVAN WITH THEIR TEACHER, WE'LL GET A, WE, WE'LL GET COVERAGE, AND THEN THEY'LL GO AND ACTUALLY PRE, SO OUR STUDENTS ARE PRESENTING AT THE CAREER DAYS, AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN BOTH DISTRICTS.
WE'LL KEEP GOING DOWN THE
MS. TUBER, I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION.
UM, I KNOW YOU STATED THAT THE DEADLINE, UM, FOR THE STUDENTS IS IN APRIL.
SO WHAT'S THE PROCESS WITH, UM, JUST SAY FOR EXAMPLE, JASPER COUNTY STUDENTS.
WE DIDN'T FILL OUR PARTICULAR SEATS FOR COSMETOLOGY OR EVEN, UM, THE BARBERING CLASS.
DO YOU CONTACT THOSE COUNSELORS AND TELL THEM YOU HAVE X AMOUNT OF DAYS TO RECRUIT, SORRY, STUDENTS FOR THOSE CLASSES? OR WE DON'T GIVE THEM A DEADLINE.
WHEN I SAY THAT'S THE DEADLINE, THAT'S THE FIRST POLL OF APPLICATIONS.
WE DO, WE TAKE APPLICATIONS UP UNTIL THE DAY THE SEMESTER STARTS, AND EVEN A FEW DAYS AFTER.
'CAUSE WE'RE ON, LIKE I SAID, I FEEL LIKE MY GOAL IS TO FILL THIS PLACE WITH STUDENTS WHO, WHO WANT TO ATTEND.
SO THAT'S JUST THE FIRST APPLICATION POLL WHERE WE START NOTIFYING THEM.
SO WE'RE GONNA NOTIFY THAT FIRST GROUP OF APPLICANTS IN APRIL, THAT THEY'LL BE COMING HERE NEXT JANUARY, BECAUSE WE WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO PLAN THAT OUT.
WE WANT THEM TO BE ABLE, THEIR COUNSELORS TO LOOK AT THEIR SCHEDULE.
BECAUSE WHEN THEY COME HERE, BECAUSE OF OUR SETUP, THEY SOMETIMES HAVE TO TAKE DIFFERENT CLASSES TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE ON THEIR GRADUATION REQUIREMENT.
AND THAT GIVES THEM THAT WHOLE SEMESTER HERE IN THE SEMESTER AT THE END, SENIOR YEAR TO DO THAT.
SO THAT FIRST PULL IS THAT AT THAT POINT THEN WE JUST SAY, HEY, HERE ARE THE SEATS AVAILABLE FOR YOU GUYS.
IF YOU HAVE OTHER KIDS, LET US KNOW.
WE KIND OF PUT THAT ON HOLD UNTIL THE START OF THE NEW YEAR.
SO ONCE WE DO THAT INITIAL APPLICATION PULL, WE STILL MAY BE GETTING APPLICATIONS, BUT WE DON'T REVISIT IT TILL AFTER, UM, AFTER SUMMER BREAK.
THAT WAY IT GIVES PEOPLE TIME.
BECAUSE LIKE I SAID, IF THERE'S OPEN SEATS, WE'LL TAKE STUDENTS.
I'M BY NO MEANS DO I EVER WANT TO DENY ANY STUDENT.
THAT'S NOT MY PHILOSOPHY OF WHAT WE DO.
I MEAN, WE'VE HAD VALEDICTORIANS OF HERE AND WE'VE HAD STUDENTS WHO HAVE 1.1 GPAS, YOU KNOW, AND, AND I FEEL LIKE I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL ANY OF 'EM KNOW.
'CAUSE THEY, YOU DON'T KNOW WHO'S GONNA BE THE BEST AT THEIR FIELD IN THAT AREA.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHY IT WORKS, YOU KNOW, IS THAT, IS THAT BLEND.
BUT IT ALSO GIVES THOSE STUDENTS WHO, WHO MAY NOT HAVE SUCCESS IN A TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM, A CHANCE TO SHINE AND, AND, AND BE EXTRAORDINARY.
MS. FRAZIER, UM, I HEAR YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOUR JOB IS TO FILL SEATS, IS AT ANY TIME THE SCHOOL HAS NOT BEEN FILLED TO THE CAPACITY THAT IT SHOULD BE WITH ALL STUDENTS? MM-HMM.
SO HOW OFTEN IS THAT? PROBABLY EVERY YEAR.
WE'VE NEVER HAD A HUNDRED PERCENT SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE BECAUSE KIDS BACK OUT.
AND BY THAT TIME, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD KIDS THAT BACK OUT THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST WEEK THEY START THE SEMESTER, SECOND SEMESTER, UM, WE LOSE THAT FIRST WEEK.
IT'S, I LOOK AT IT AS LIKE A COLLEGE, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE ASKING A KID TO RELOCATE TO A DIFFERENT CAMPUS, YOU KNOW, WE TRY TO GET 'EM OVER HERE AND ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO COME OVER AND TOUR THE CAMPUS.
AND WE HAVE TOURS FROM EVERY HIGH SCHOOL AS WELL THAT COME HERE.
BUT UNTIL YOU'RE ON A CAMPUS, AND YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO GET ON A BUS EVERY DAY TO GET TO YOUR FEET OF SCHOOL, GET ON A BUS EVERY DAY, GET TO ACE, GO INTO YOUR CLASSROOM, SEE THE FIELD, SEE THE CULTURE, AND ACTUALLY SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, AND, AND AN EXAMPLE I'LL USE IS BARBERING, WHERE KIDS COME IN AND THEY THINK THEY'RE GONNA PICK UP THE SHEARS THE FIRST DAY AND BE GIVING KIDS, UH, THESE GREAT HAIRCUTS.
BUT WHAT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND IS THE FIRST TWO MONTHS IS IN A CLASSROOM LEARNING ABOUT SCIENCE AND ABOUT DISEASE AND ABOUT SANITATION.
SO WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY FINALLY GET HERE AND THEY REALIZE, WAIT A MINUTE, THERE'S A LOT MORE TO BARBERING THAN, THAN MEETS THE EYE.
AND THERE, AND BY THAT POINT, UNFORTUNATELY, WE CAN SEND OUT AS MANY EMAILS TO COUNSELORS AS YOU WANT.
IT'S HARD TO GET A KID WHEN THEY'RE LIKE, HEY, WE GOT A WEEK LEFT.
DOES ANYONE WANT TO GO INTO BARBERING AT ACE? THAT'S WHERE YOU END UP WITH A KID WHO'S LIKE, I'M SO SICK OF THE SCHOOL.
WHO DOESN'T WANT TO BE IN A PROGRAM WHO ENDS UP IN A PROGRAM? BUT WE, WE ALWAYS HAVE, WE HAVE WHEN WE USUALLY WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE TO FILL ON PAPER WHEN WE LEAVE FOR THE SUMMER AFTER THAT INITIAL PULL.
SO FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVEN'T REALLY, WE'VE HAVE 200 APPLICATIONS RIGHT NOW IN HAND.
[01:20:01]
AND A NUMBER OF SCHOOLS HAVEN'T EVEN SENT THEM.A NUMBER OF SCHOOLS HAVEN'T DONE THEIR IGPS.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT, IF I HAD TO GUESS, PROBABLY ROUGHLY BALLPARK, 300 APPLICATIONS, RIGHT? IF WE LOOK AT OUR SEATS, WE'RE PROBABLY CLOSER TO 200.
NOW, SOME OF THOSE KIDS, WHEN WE, WHAT WE DO IS WHEN WE GET THOSE APPLICATIONS, THE FIRST THING WE DO IS FLUSH THEIR, THEIR TRANSCRIPTS AND SAY, WAIT A MINUTE, THIS KID PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE AT ACE BECAUSE THEY OWE THREE MATH.
THEY HAVEN'T PASSED THE MATH IN THEIR HIGH SCHOOL CAREER.
AND IF THEY'RE COMING TO ACE, THEY'RE NOT GONNA GRADUATE ON TIME.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE NOTIFY THE COUNSELOR RIGHT AWAY AND SAY, HEY, THIS STUDENT APPLIED, HOWEVER, IT'S IN THEIR BEST INTEREST TO PROBABLY FINISH AND WORK TOWARDS THE, THEIR DEPLOYMENT.
'CAUSE IF WE HAVE THEM HERE, THEY'RE GONNA GET PULLED BACK ANYWAY, BECAUSE THE PRINCIPAL'S GONNA NOTICE THAT BY SENIOR YEAR.
AND WE'LL LOSE 'EM HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEMESTER AND THEY'LL BE TAKING THREE MATH CLASSES NEXT SENIOR YEAR.
YOU KNOW, SO THE EARLIEST THAT YOU CAN TRY TO RECRUIT THEM TO COME HERE IS 10TH GRADE.
NO, THAT'S THE, WE TAKE STUDENTS IN 11TH AND 12TH.
SO THAT'S WHEN WE DO OUR FULL PUSH.
BUT WE'RE ALWAYS, LIKE, I, LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE HAVE, WE'RE OUT AT THE ELEMENTARIES, WE'RE AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS, THEY'RE TOURING US.
UM, I, I'M A BELIEVER IN BRANDING, YOU KNOW, AND THE ACE BRAND WASN'T THAT GREAT EIGHT YEARS AGO, FRANKLY, IT STUNK, RIGHT? AND SO WE'VE TRIED TO TURN THAT AROUND BY DOING THAT OUTREACH TO THE DIFFERENT LEVELS, EDUCATING THE, NOT ONLY THE STUDENTS, BUT THE COUNSELORS THAT THE CTE IS AN OPTION.
AND IF I HAD TO SAY ONE OF MY BIGGEST CHALLENGES IS COUNSELOR TURNOVER IN BOTH DISTRICTS AND MAKING SURE THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT ACE IS AND UNDERSTAND CTE.
'CAUSE WHAT YOU'RE ASKING IS TRADITIONALLY TRAINED COUNSELORS WHO WENT TO COLLEGE FOR EDUCATION AND ARE NOW GIVING ADVICE ON CAREER TO RECOMMEND CAREERS, THAT THEY'RE NECESSARILY NOT THEIR STRONG POINT.
AND I'M NOT GONNA SPEAK FOR THEM ALL, BUT A MAJORITY OF THEM WENT THE SAME PATH I DID.
I'M A CAREER EDUCATOR AND I TELL THIS TO THE STUDENTS, YOU KNOW, SO WE'RE ASKING THEM TO, TO ADVOCATE FOR US.
THAT'S WHY I TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO SPEAK TO THOSE 10TH GRADERS AND, AND EXPLAIN TO 'EM THAT FOR SOME STUDENTS, THIS IS THEIR LAST STOP.
A LOT OF OUR STUDENTS COME HERE AND THEY EITHER CONTINUE IN COLLEGE OR GO OFF FOR A DIFFERENT MAJOR.
AND SOME PEOPLE WANNA LEARN THESE SKILLS 'CAUSE THEY'RE INTERESTED OR IT'S A SIDE HUSTLE, BUT THERE'S A PLACE FOR ALL OF THOSE STUDENTS HERE.
SO WE, I THINK WE GOT EVERYBODY ON THAT SIDE THAT WANTED TO SPEAK
ONE THING WE TALKING, WE TALKING ABOUT ALL THIS.
HAVE YOU DID ANY PLAY CARDS OR ANY PLAYLETS OR ANYTHING AND PUT IT IN ALL THESE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS AND SAYING THAT WE ARE UP FOR NU ACE, IT'S UP FOR NUMBER ONE AND THE BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, SO THAT THE KIDS CAN SEE ALL THE EXCITEMENT THAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE.
SO THEY CAN SAY, OH, OH, THAT IS GOING ON AT ACE.
YOU KNOW, I, I, WE'VE SAID IT, WE'VE, WHEN I GO OUT AND VISIT, BUT I ALSO, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN ACE AWARD, BUT IT ALSO, THOSE STUDENTS FROM EIGHT DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOLS.
SO I LOOK AT IT AS, AS A KIND OF A COLLABORATIVE AWARD, BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE MY STUDENTS FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, BUT THEY'RE GONNA GO BACK.
AND THEY CAME FROM ALL THESE DIFFERENT FEEDER SCHOOLS.
SO I LOOK AT IT AS AN AWARD FOR EVERYBODY PERSONALLY.
YOU GUYS ARE SITTING HERE TALKING ABOUT SUPPORTING A SCHOOL, RIGHT? I MEAN, THIS IS, THIS IS AN AWARD THAT I THINK GOES BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS OF ACE.
IT GOES OUT INTO OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY HAS A LITTLE PIECE OF THE PIE.
AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK IS REALLY THE PRIDEFUL PIECE FOR ME, IS AS MUCH AS, YOU KNOW, OUR STAFF, I'LL SAY THIS AGAIN, IS OUTSTANDING, AND THEY'RE THE PILLARS, AND I SAID THAT WITH THE STUDENTS, BUT EVERYBODY HAS A PIECE.
THEY'RE ALL, EVERYONE'S HELP HOLDING IT UP.
AND I, AND I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT.
AND I THINK IT SHOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, A FEATHER IN EVERYBODY'S CAP, BOTH DISTRICTS CAPS AND, AND BOTH SUPERINTENDENTS AND BOTH BOARDS.
UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ONE OF THE, WE'RE, AS FAR AS I KNOW, WE'RE THE FIRST CAREER CENTER THAT'S EVER BEEN, YOU KNOW, NOMINATED FOR THIS AWARD.
AND WE'RE IN THE FINAL SIX AND WE'RE COMPETING AGAINST THE FINAL SIX BEST SCHOOLS IN THE STATE.
AND, UM, I WOULD SAY ONE OF, IT'S ONE OF THE PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL MOMENTS OF MY CAREER BECAUSE IT'S A, A COLLABORATIVE THING.
AND IT'S NOT JUST, HEY, YOU'RE A GREAT PRINCIPAL.
NO, THIS IS THE WORK OF, OF, OF A VILLAGE, YOU KNOW, AND TWO VILLAGES AND THE LOW COUNTRY, AS I SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S NOT JUST BEAUFORT OR JASPER HERE.
AND, AND THEY HAVE A CHANCE AND THEY'RE GONNA REPRESENT AND THEY'RE EXCITED.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE FUNNEST THING IS WHEN WE TALK TO THE KIDS.
BECAUSE ON A SIDE NOTE, I'M KIND OF GOING OFF TO ASK YEAH.
THIS WHOLE SIDE HASN'T SPOKEN YET.
WE'RE WELCOME TO HAVE YOUR COMMENTS, BUT WE NEED TO GO ON.
AND WE'VE GOTTA BE COGNIZANT OF TIME.
I KNOW WE STARTED LATE BECAUSE OF THE TECHNICAL ISSUES, BUT IT'S ALREADY GETTING CLOSE TO, UH, QUARTER OF SEVEN.
SO WHY DON'T, SINCE WE JUST WENT DOWN THE, UM,
LET'S START, IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEAK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO, BUT WE'LL START WITH MR. EARL CAMPBELL AND WORK OUR WAY UP.
AND I CAN'T SEE YOUR HANDS REAL WELL, SO JUST GO ONE AFTER ANOTHER.
MS. BOATWRIGHT, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TO ADD.
[01:25:01]
I'M GLAD THAT WE'RE HAVING THE CONVERSATION WE'RE HAVING 'CAUSE IT'S REALLY HELPING ME UNDERSTAND KIND OF WHAT JASPER, THE CONVERSATION YOU GUYS ARE HAVING, UM, ABOUT ACE.AND TO THE EXTENT THAT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT HOW IT'S GOING TO BE FUNDED, I CAN UNDERSTAND THE FRUSTRATION A HUNDRED PERCENT IF YOU GUYS ARE, HAVE SIX SEATS AND THREE BUFORT COUNTY PEOPLE ARE IN IT.
UM, BUT I DO THINK, ON THE OTHER HAND, AND THIS IS JUST SOMETHING THAT I'M GOING TO THINK ABOUT INTERNALLY MYSELF AND I'M SURE THE BOARD WILL TALK ABOUT, I THINK IF WE START TO GET INTO, WE HAVE THIS MANY STUDENTS AND THIS MANY SEATS, AND WE START, 'CAUSE WHAT IF FOR SOME REASON YOU GUYS DIDN'T HAVE HARDLY ANY STUDENTS, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE $3.8 MILLION THAT WAS NOT IN OUR BUDGET, HITS OUR BUDGET.
AND THINK ABOUT THE REVERSE OF THAT.
IF FOR SOME REASON, LIKE I SAID, WE'VE GOT 40 PLUS MILLION DOLLARS IN NEW KATES COMING ON.
SO ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU COULD SEE A YEAR WHERE A LOT OF BEAUFORT COUNTY KIDS WEREN'T INTERESTED, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE ENTIRE BUDGET OF ACE OR THE HUGE WOULD BE HANDED TO YOU GUYS.
I THINK THAT'S NOT THE BEST FUNNY MODEL.
I THINK THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE ONE THIRD, TWO THIRDS, AND I'M UP FOR NEGOTIATION, DON'T GET ME WRONG, BUT I THINK THE SPIRIT OF IT IS, IT'S MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL.
AND THAT'S WHAT I WAS GETTING AT WITH LIKE THE WORKFORCE AND THE STUDENTS, IS THAT, UM, I DO WONDER, AND I'LL THINK ABOUT THIS TOO, IS IF WE START TO GET INTO LIKE A TUITION BASED MODEL, WHICH IS, OKAY, JASPER COUNTY SEND OUT OF A HUNDRED KIDS, THEY SENT 20.
SO THAT'S X NUMBER OF DOLLARS.
AND IT'S LIKE, ALMOST LIKE A TUITION BASED MODEL.
I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT WORKS GOING FORWARD, UM, ON A YEAR TO YEAR BASIS.
AND I DO, I THINK WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
UM, BUT I DO UNDERSTAND THE CONCERNS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE FOR SURE.
UM, I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO, THIS IS AN AMAZING PROGRAM, AND KATE IS ONLY GOING TO GET TO BE MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT BECAUSE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN, I HAVE KIDS IN COLLEGE, I HAVE A KID THAT'S GETTING READY TO BE OF THAT AGE.
COLLEGE EDUCATION IS NOT AS GREAT A CAREER PATH AS PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS.
YOU CAN MAKE A HECK OF A LOT MORE MONEY GOING INTO COSMETOLOGY HVAC, YOU DON'T NEED, RIGHT? SO I THINK THAT OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WE'RE GONNA SEE A TREMENDOUS RE I'VE CALL IT A BLUE COLLAR RENAISSANCE, THINGS IF YOU, IF YOU ARE NOT NEEDED IN PERSON AT YOUR JOB, YOU CAN BET YOU'RE AT RISK OF A COMPUTER DOING IT FOR YOU.
BUT IF YOU CAN'T REPLACE A PLUMBER, YOU CAN'T COMPLETE REPLACE YOUR HAIRSTYLIST.
UM, SO I DO THINK THAT THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION.
WHAT I'M TAKING AWAY FROM THIS, FROM YOU GUYS, IS THAT YOU GUYS ARE COMMITTED.
UM, THE DETAILS, ONCE WE GET THAT COMMITMENT REAFFIRMED, I THINK THE DETAILS WILL FALL INTO PLACE.
SO I, I REALLY APPRECIATED HEARING DOWN THE LINE FROM ALL YOU GUYS.
THAT WAS REALLY, UM, EDUCATIONAL FOR ME.
UH, I, UH, AS ONE OF THE NEW PERSONS ON OUR BOARD, UH, I'M DEEPLY REGRETTING NOT COMING TO MORE OF THE, THE ACE BOARD MEETINGS, UH, OR ACTUALLY HAVEN'T BEEN TO ONE YET.
SO ALL THE TIME THAT YOU'VE TAKEN DURING THIS PERIOD TO EXPLAIN SOME OF THESE PROCESSES HAVE BENEFITED ME GREATLY.
UH, AND WITHOUT A DOUBT, YOUR PASSION FOR WHAT YOU DO, UH, IS THE REASON WHY THIS ORGANIZATION IS UP FOR AN AWARD.
UM, AND I ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE THE RIGHT PERSON, UH, LEADING THE CHARGE FOR ALL OF THIS WHAT'S GOING ON AND GETTING US THROUGH THIS STORM ON THIS.
UM, I WILL SAY THAT, UH, I MAYBE, UH, I'M WILLING TO BET THAT THE DATA PROBABLY DOESN'T LIE, BUT, UH, I'M WILLING TO BET THAT THE, IF WE'RE NOT FILLING SEATS, YOU ARE.
AND IF YOU'RE NOT FILLING SEATS, WE ARE, ALL THAT STUFF PROBABLY COMES OUT IN THE WASH.
UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT DOES, BUT I'M, I'M HAVING, I HAVE A FEELING IT PROBABLY COMES OUT IN THE WASH.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THOUGH, UM, IT, 'CAUSE IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP.
IF WE HAVE A DEMAND FOR A COURSE, UH, AND WE DON'T HAVE SEATS TO FILL, HOW OFTEN ARE PROGRAM ASSESSMENTS DONE SAYING THAT, OKAY, WE DON'T NEED THIS, THIS MANY INSTRUCTORS IN THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE, UH, SINCE THIS IS DROPPING AND THEN SINCE THIS IS RISING FOR THIS PROGRAM, SO MAYBE WE SHOULD MOVE SOME, ALLOCATE SOME RESOURCES AND, AND MOVE THINGS OR GET RID OF A PROGRAM THAT'S BEING UNDERUTILIZED.
WE CONSTANTLY ARE OUT, UM, ASSESSING THESE PROGRAMS. BUT ONE OF THE DIFFICULT THINGS IS WITH, WITH THESE TYPE OF PROGRAMS IS IF WE HAVE A WAITING LIST IN AUTO, UM, TECHNOLOGY TO PUT IN A NEW AUTO TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM IS A HUGE, HUGE CAPITAL INVESTMENT THAT WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T AFFORD.
I CAN'T COME TO THE BOARD BECAUSE WE HAVE MORE PRESSING ISSUES IN OTHER PROGRAMS, AND I MEAN, IN THE BUILDING, SO TO SPEAK, TO MAKE SURE OTHER PROGRAMS ARE FIT FOR OUR STUDENTS.
SO WE ARE CONSTANTLY, WE, WE ARE, WE'VE GOT RID OF A PROGRAM A FEW YEARS BACK BECAUSE THERE A LACK OF ENROLLMENT AND WE WENT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION.
UH, I TOO APPRECIATE ALL THE CANDID CONVERSATIONS THAT OUR JASPER, UM, COLLEAGUES HAVE SHARED WITH US.
IT'S BEEN VERY ENLIGHTENING TO ME.
I ALSO WOULD, UH, REITERATE WHAT TWO COLLEAGUES TO MY RIGHT HAVE SAID.
UM, I SEE IT AS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY.
I MEAN, WHAT I HEARD AS A BUSINESS GUY IS YOU HAVE MORE DEMAND AND YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN FILL THOSE SEATS, FILL 'EM, RIGHT? SO YOU FEEL THEM.
LEMME TELL YOU WHAT'S I KNOW IS HAPPENING ON THIS.
[01:30:01]
OUR COLLEAGUES, WE HAVE THE FLYERS THAT MR. DR.WE'VE INVITED HIM TO MULTIPLE PRESENTATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY, CHURCHES, SORORITIES, THE, THE, THE DIVINE NINE, OKAY.
TO SIT DOWN AND HELP THOSE KIDS UNDERSTAND THERE'S ALL THIS OPPORTUNITY AND WE DON'T JUST LEAD WITH WHAT THE CURRICULUM IS.
YOU KNOW, WHAT KIDS CARE ABOUT, HOW MUCH DOGGONE MONEY THEY GONNA MAKE.
AND WHEN I FIRST RETIRED, I WAS PRESENTING, I WAS, I'VE DONE VOLUNTEERING IN SCHOOLS FOR LIKE 30 YEARS, RIGHT? AND I WENT TO SPEAK TO THIS CLASS AND EVERYBODY, EVERY YOUNG MALE IN THERE WANTED TO BE A FOOTBALL PLAYER, BASKETBALL PLAYER.
AND HAVING PLAYED FOOTBALL A LITTLE WHILE IN COLLEGE, I SAY, WELL, HOW MUCH YOU THINK A FOOTBALL PLAYER MAKES? AND HE SAID, WELL, YOU KNOW, EMMETT SMITH JUST SIGNED FOR $35 MILLION.
WELL, THE AVERAGE TENURE OF OF A NFL FOOTBALL PLAYER, 3.2 YEARS AT $1.9 MILLION.
AND THEN 25% OF THEM ARE BANKRUPT AFTER THEY FINISH PLAYING.
SO, AND YOU READ ABOUT 'EM, IT'S SO LEAD WITH WHAT MEANS SOMETHING TO THOSE KIDS.
ONE OF THEM IS AN OUTDOORS GUY.
WE GREW UP HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, RIGHT? SO EVERYBODY STAYS OUTDOORS GUNS IN THE WHOLE NINE YARDS.
HE STAYS IN, IN THE HOUSE, HE STUDIES, HE GETS STRAIGHT A'S THE ONE WHO'S A OUTDOORS GUY, WENT CTE LEVEL, HE GOT A JOB COMING OUTTA HIGH SCHOOL, $70,000.
18 MONTHS LATER, HE'S MAKING $85,000 IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.
THE BROTHER WHO WENT TO COLLEGE FOUR YEARS LATER, THAT KNUCKLEHEAD HAS $85,000 IN LOANS.
AND SO WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE CREATED A FORMULA, AND IF YOU GOT SOMETHING, YOU WANNA WRITE IT DOWN, I WON'T BE OFFENDED.
ANYBODY WANNA TAKE A GUESS WHAT THAT MEANS? LOANS OWED DIVIDED BY FIRST YEAR INCOME.
BECAUSE IF YOU GO TO BUY A HOUSE, THEY'RE GONNA SAY, IS YOUR DEBT MORE THAN 33%? IF IT IS, YOU AIN'T GONNA GET THE HOUSE.
AND WE WANT KIDS TO START SAYING THE MAGIC NUMBERS, 25%.
IF THE LOANS YOU OWE AT YOUR FIRST JOB ARE MORE THAN 25% OF YOUR FIRST YEAR INCOME, YOU'VE TAKEN THE WRONG PATH.
BUT LET'S GET TO THE FRONT OF IT.
SO I SEE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY COMING, SO I'M TOTALLY APPRECIATIVE OF WHAT DR.
EVERY TIME WE CALL HIM, HE COMES.
AND SO I THINK IT HAS TO BE BOARD DRIVEN IN TERMS OF A LOT OF THE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION.
UM, FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, UH, I, I HATE THAT WE HAVE THESE SEATS, SEATS CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN HAVING THAT FROM THE TIME WHEN I USED TO, I USED TO BE ON, ON THIS BOARD AS CHAIRMAN.
AND TO ME THAT, THAT THAT'S, THAT SCREAMS SOMETHING ELSE.
BUT THAT'S NOT, THIS IS NOT THE TIME IN THE PLACE FOR THAT.
BUT ALSO, WELL, THIS IS ONE THING I, I WILL SAY, AND, AND, AND IN IN IN, IN TERMS OF THAT, I GO BACK TO SAY, I REMEMBER WE HAD THE SAME ISSUE WHEN WE HAD THE EMS PROGRAM.
WHEN EMS PROGRAM WAS, WAS, WAS, WAS BRAND NEW HERE, I THINK THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT BECAUSE ME BEING ON THE BEAUTIFUL BOARD, I'M GONNA TELL YOU STRAIGHT UP, I DON'T CARE WHETHER A, A JASPER COUNTY STUDENT GET IT, IT'S, TO ME IT'S BECOME IF, IF IF IF THERE'S A NEED THERE, THEN WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND WE HAVE TO ASSESS THE NEED VERSUS ONES AND THE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR STUDENTS ARE BEING SEATED IN A PROGRAM WHERE THEY CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.
I DON'T CARE ABOUT JASPER CON IS PAYING FOR IT, BE COUNTY PAYING FOR IT.
AND THEN THERE'S A STUDENT POINT.
I MEAN THAT BECAUSE WHEN, WHEN, WHEN I, WHEN I REALLY LOOK AT THIS AND I, I I, THE ONE QUESTION I SIT HERE AND I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO SAY, DRIVING OVER HERE, MY QUESTION WAS IN TERMS OF THIS IS WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW, HOW DID THIS PROCESS START WITH THE 55TH, UH, WITH THE 50, 50% AND ALSO THE SET, WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT, 80, 70, I MEAN, 80, 30%, 70% WHATEVER PERCENTILE IN TERMS OF WHAT BE KANYE PAID AND WHAT JASPER CONNIE PLAYED.
HOW WAS THAT MADE UP? WHY WAS THAT MADE UP? HOW DID WE ARRIVE AT THE WAY WE DID? BECAUSE SEE, TO UNDERSTAND IT, YOU HAVE TO LEARN THAT.
YOU HAVE TO LEARN, UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF IT.
AND ME PERSONALLY SHY TO SAY I DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY OF IT.
AND SO BEFORE, BEFORE WE START TO DO SOME, UH, TO DIG, TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO SOME OF THIS, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT AND, AND SEE WHERE WE CAN COME UP WITH A, A MUTUAL AGREEMENT TO ACTUALLY MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE
[01:35:01]
KIDS IN BOTH COUNTIES, WHEREVER WE PAY THE MAJORITY OF NIGHTS ABOUT THE KIDS IN THE SEATS AND ABOUT THIS BUILDING BEING PACKED TO CAPACITY, AND THEN WE NEED TO FIND MORE TEACHERS, THEN WE NEED TO FIND MORE, THEN WE NEED TO FIND MORE TEACHERS TO COME HERE AND TEACH THESE STUDENTS.NO STUDENT SHOULD BE ON NO WAITING LIST IN EITHER COUNTIES.
AND I, AND, AND TO ME, THIS IS A SPORT, A SORE SPOT, BECAUSE I REMEMBER A STUDENT COMING UP TO ME WHEN THE EMS PROGRAM CAME AND SHE WANTED TO BE IN THE EMS PROGRAM, AND SHE WAS FROM JA COUNTY, APPARENTLY SHE COULDN'T GET INTO IT.
I WANNA PUT, WANNA PUT THAT OUT THERE.
SO TO ME, I THINK THAT WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT ON THE WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, AND HOW MECHANISM AND WHY THE LEGISLATORS OR WHERE, WHERE IT CAME FROM.
I SEE MR. MOORE, I THINK HE HAD SOMETHING THAT, THAT, THAT WILL TELL ME THAT.
I'M GONNA GO BACK AND READ THAT AND, AND, AND, AND REVISIT THAT AND SEE, BECAUSE THE, THE, THE QUESTION BECOMES ALSO HOW AGGRESSIVELY ARE WE GONNA BE FROM THIS MEETING MOVING FORWARD? BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE THE MAGNITUDE OF WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
BUT THE QUESTION THAT BECOMES NOW IS WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S, WHAT'S GONNA BE THE NEXT STEP IN, IN TERMS OF MAKING THIS HAPPEN? THEY TOLD US THAT WE HAVE THE LI WE HAVE THE LIST ON WHAT NEED TO BE FIXED.
OKAY? HOW, HOW ARE WE GONNA DO IT? MR. NA SAID WE NEED TO DO SEVERAL THINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY.
WHO'S GONNA HEAD THAT UP? I, I, IN THIS ROOM, I JUST LEARNED THAT, THAT MR. THOMAS, THE CHAIR, I GUESS OF THE, OF THE, UH, A BOARD.
SO NOW LET GO AND PUT THIS OUT THERE.
FYI, I'M LOOKING FOR THE ACE BOARD IN TERMS OF WHERE WE'RE GOING FOR THEM TO TAKE THE LEADERSHIP ROLE, UH, BETWEEN THE TWO BOARDS TO TELL US TO FEED US, TO FIDDLE OUT INFORMATION ALSO THAT HE'S LIKE THAT DR.
VICKI WILL SAY, HE IS GONNA GIVE TO US AND TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHERE WE'RE GONNA GO AT NEXT AND, AND, AND WHAT'S GONNA BE TACKLED.
BECAUSE WE, WE, WE ABOUT TO RUN INTO A NEW YEAR AND WE'RE ROLLING FINANCES LIKE DR.
SO THEREFORE, WE HAVE SOME DECISIONS TO MAKE ON, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL.
SO THAT'S WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR.
I AIN'T GOT, I AIN'T GOT MUCH QUESTION.
I AIN'T BRING YOU A PROBLEM, NOT BRINGING YOUR SOLUTION.
WHO WENT WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW DRIVING HOME.
AND NO BABY SHOULD BE IN ANY POINT.
IT SHOULD BE AT ANY CREDIT AT THIS SCHOOL AND TELL 'EM, BE TOLD THAT THEY CAN'T GET A PROGRAM.
I DON'T CARE WHO'S PAYING WHAT.
WE'VE GOT NEAR TERM AND LONG TERM ISSUES TO DEAL WITH NEAR TERM.
WE GOT, WE GOT SOME SAFETY ISSUES.
IF WE DON'T GET SOME ELECTRICAL WORK DONE AND SOME OTHER WORK DONE, WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT.
SO WE HAVE TO IMMEDIATELY FIGURE OUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO PRIORITIZE AND, AND FIND THE MONEY AND GET IT DONE.
WE, THERE'S JUST NO EXCUSE FOR NOT DOING THAT.
I REALLY LIKE THE STRATEGIC VIEW THAT YOU MENTIONED, THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE A FIVE YEAR, 10 YEAR PLAN, THAT WE'RE GONNA FIGURE OUT WHO'S GOING TO DO WHAT.
I AM NOT CONVINCED THAT WE DON'T HAVE REDUNDANCY IN PLACES.
WE'VE GOT TOO MUCH MAYBE AUTO, AUTO MECHANICS AND, AND YET WE'VE GOT AUTO BODIES ONLY HERE AND TRY TO FIND, TRY TO GET YOUR CAR FIXED.
I'VE GOT, I'VE GOT ONE TRYING TO GET FIXED.
IT'S HARD BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE, THEY DON'T HAVE LABORERS.
AND WE ALSO HAVE ANOTHER PARTNER THAT WE, WE ARE NOT REALLY GETTING INVOLVED WITH THAT MUCH AND, AND OUR PLANNING, AND THAT'S TCL.
AND WE'VE GOT SOME DUAL ENROLLMENT THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON.
AND WE SHOULD EXPAND THAT BECAUSE THAT'S THE BEST BARGAIN THAT WE HAVE FOR OUR KIDS.
THEY CAN GRADUATE WITH AN ASSOCIATE DEGREE AND NOT PAY A DIME.
SO WE REALLY GOTTA GET OUR THINKING CAPS ON, LOOK OUT AHEAD, FIVE, 10 YEARS.
AND I THINK WE'VE GOT THE TALENT HERE TO DO THAT, AND WE'VE GOT THE RESOURCES TO DO IT.
WE JUST GOTTA MAKE IT A PRIORITY.
BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, THIS SESSION.
IT'S BEEN VERY, VERY HELPFUL FOR ME.
IT'S VERY CLEAR FROM TONIGHT'S DISCUSSION THAT, UH, BOTH BOARDS, UH, VERY MUCH SUPPORT, UH, THIS FACILITY AND THE STUDENTS THAT, UH, UH, GAIN THEIR EDUCATION HERE.
VECCHIO, I KNOW YOU, I CUT YOU OFF EARLIER.
YOUR LOVE FOR THIS PLACE IS VERY EVIDENT BY YOUR, BY YOUR WORDS.
I WAS JUST TRYING TO KEEP US MOVING ALONG SINCE WE'RE, UH, ALREADY CLOSING IN ON AN HOUR AND A HALF.
UM, I THINK IT'S BEEN VERY VALUABLE, UH, TO HEAR THE INPUT FROM EVERYBODY.
EVERYONE HAS, HAS GOOD IDEAS, GOOD INFORMATION, BRINGS SOMETHING TO THE TABLE, UH, THAT MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU.
UM, I THINK WE, WE, WE ALL KNOW THAT, UH,
[01:40:01]
YOU KNOW, WE ALL SUPPORT THIS, UH, INSTITUTION, BUT CLEARLY THE NEXT STEP IS THE MONEY THAT IS CLEARLY THE NEXT STEP.SO TO ME, IT SEEMS LIKE THE, AS I ALLUDED TO EARLIER ABOUT HOW OUR COM OPERATIONS COMMITTEE DEVELOPS THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR EACH YEAR AND FOR FIVE YEARS, 10 YEARS, AND BEFORE IT BRINGS, IS BROUGHT TO THE BOARD FOR APPROVAL, IS I WOULD THINK THE BOARD HERE WITH DR.
LAO'S HELP AND WHOEVER ELSE IN ADMINISTRATION, UH, IS NEEDED TO DEVELOP THAT.
YOU KNOW, LIKE, LIKE COLONEL GEIER SAID, WHAT ARE THE SAFETY ISSUES? WHAT'S, WHAT'S AN ABSOLUTE MUST IMMEDIATE NEED? AND THEN, YOU KNOW, GO FROM THERE.
SO WE KNOW THERE'S 11 MILLION, $11 MILLION WORTH OF, OF, UH, PROJECTS ON THIS LIST.
UH, BUT CLEARLY THE LIST NEEDS TO BE, UH, PRIORITIZED.
AND EACH BOARD NEEDS TO GO BACK AND HAVE OUR OWN DISCUSSIONS, UH, YOU KNOW, BASED ON WHAT WE'VE, UH, LEARNED FROM EACH OTHER TONIGHT.
I DO WANT TO SAY THAT IN YOUR PACKET TONIGHT, SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TAKE IT.
ARE THE THREE, UH, DOCUMENTS REGARDING THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO BOARDS FOR THIS FACILITY, THE 1975, UH, DOCUMENT IS THE ORIGINAL LEGISLATION THAT IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
IF YOU READ THE JANUARY 1ST, 2017, UM, UH, AMENDED AND RESTATED AFFILIATION AGREEMENT.
AND THEN THERE'S A FURTHER, UM, AMENDMENT TO THAT.
SO THESE ARE, ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR THE, FOR YOU TO TAKE WITH YOU.
AND AS YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LIST OF THE PROJECTS, THE FINANCIAL UPDATE, UH, ALSO IN THIS PACKET.
I WOULD LIKE IF DR. RODRIGUEZ IS STILL WITH US, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY, UM, ANYTHING DR. RODRIGUEZ? UH, JUST BRIEFLY, I WOULD JUST SAY, UH, I'M VERY GLAD THAT WE HAVE THIS SESSION.
I, I BELIEVE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH BOARDS TO DIALOGUE ON, UH, ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE, UH, IS, IS AN ESSENTIAL FIRST STEP.
AND SO, UM, I MEAN, I, I'M GRATEFUL, GRATEFUL TO HEAR, UH, EVERYBODY'S COMMITMENT FOR IT.
I THINK ACE IS A WONDERFUL FACILITY THAT PROVIDES A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR CHILDREN IN BOTH BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST, UM, I'M GRATEFUL AND EXCITED TO, TO HEAR THAT, AND I THINK IT IS JUST A GREAT FIRST STEP, UH, UH, IN THIS CONVERSATION.
UH, I, I WANT TO REITERATE EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN SAID, BUT, UM, UH, JUST THAT'S ALL THAT, THAT, THAT'S ABOUT IT.
AND WE DO HAVE OUR SUPERINTENDENT ON THE PHONE.
DR. ANDERSON, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY? I THINK I, UM, THANK YOU.
I DO, UM, WOULD LIKE TO ECHO WHAT DR. RODRIGUEZ HAS CERTAINLY SAID IN REGARDS TO THE WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY THAT EXISTS FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS.
UM, THIS IS DEFINITELY MEANINGFUL.
UM, I AM TOO GRATEFUL FOR THE DIALOGUE THAT, UM, IS UNDERWAY, AND I CERTAINLY LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONTINUED DIALOGUE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR, OUR OF OUR YOUTH.
UM, THE OTHER PART THAT I WOULD CERTAINLY LIKE TO, UM, IS TO COMMEND DR.
UM, LAO AS WELL FOR HIS WORK, AS WELL AS THE STAFF MEMBERS FOR THEIR WORK, UM, AND MOVING FORWARD IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.
UM, THE COMMITMENT THAT WE DO HAVE AS IT HAS BEEN ECHOED, I BELIEVE FROM BOTH BOARDS SPEAKS HIGHLY NUMBER ONE OF YOUR PRESENCE TONIGHT.
BUT SECONDLY, FOR, AGAIN, WILLING TO HAVE OPEN DIALOGUE AND CONVERSATION AND KEEPING THE MAIN THING, THE MAIN THING OUR STUDENTS.
AND SO, UM, WHATEVER WE NEED TO DO FROM OUR STANDPOINT, DR. RODRIGUEZ AND I DO WORK VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER.
AND AGAIN, WE ARE CERTAINLY WILLING TO PROPEL FORWARD AS NEEDED.
UM, BLESSINGS TO EACH OF YOU, AND WE CERTAINLY DO LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP IN THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL CHILDREN.
QUI, I'LL LET YOU SAY A FEW WORDS AS WELL.
I, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
I THINK YOU KNOW, IT, I, IT'S REALLY NICE FOR ME AND I'M SURE IT'S, I WANNA SPEAK FOR MY STAFF, BUT, YOU KNOW, JUST TO HEAR THE SUPPORT AND, AND, UM, RECOGNITION, IT IS FLATTERING AND HUMBLING AND, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY WE CAN, WE CAN PARALLEL THIS MOMENTUM AND KEEP GOING FORWARD BECAUSE, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO DO.
AND, UM, I THINK WE ALL ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND, AND IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE JUST LOOKING TO FIND COMMON GROUND THAT MAKES EVERYBODY HAPPY AND MEETS THE NEEDS OF THEIR KIDS.
AND I THINK THAT SHOULD BE THE FOCUS.
AND I'M CERTAIN WITH THAT WE KEEP THAT AS THE GOAL.
SOMETHING WILL GET DONE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING, AND I JUST WANNA THANK EVERYBODY FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.
[01:45:01]
STAFF A ROUND APPLAUSE.AND IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION OBJECTIONS, WE WILL, UH, ADJOURN BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT.
UH, I WE'RE, WE'VE GOT A LOT TO TALK ABOUT, AND WE'RE GONNA TRY TO TALK ABOUT IN A, ALL OF THIS IN A VERY SMALL KIND OF PRESENTATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC ABOUT WHAT WE WANT TO DO.
OKAY? UH, IF Y'ALL REMEMBER, UH, WE STARTED WORKING ON A NEW SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER OPPORTUNITY LAST YEAR, UM, BECAUSE WE KNEW, AND WE HAD KNOWN THAT TRYING TO RECRUIT LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO BE CLASS ONE CERTIFIED, WHICH IS WHAT THE STATE REQUIRED.
UH, YOU KNOW, TO BE IN OUR SCHOOLS AS SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS, WHICH ARE, IS, IS A SPECIAL, I THINK WE ALL AGREE THAT THAT IS REALLY A SPECIAL CANDIDATE, UH, THAT WE CONSIDER TO BE THAT CLOSE AND ASSOCIATION TO OUR KIDS.
UM, AND, BUT WE KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM BECAUSE OF THE SAFETY FACTORS IT CREATES, NOT ONLY IN OUR SCHOOLS, BUT WHAT OUR BUT OUR COMMUNITIES AS WELL, BECAUSE THE SCHOOL IS A MELTING POT OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT WE SERVE.
SO HAVING THAT RIGHT PERSON IN THAT JOB AND THAT ROLE TO PROVIDE SECURITY TO OUR KIDS LEADERSHIP, TO OUR KIDS, UH, AND GIVING THE CONFIDENCE TO THE STAFF THAT WORK IN THE SCHOOLS.
I MEAN, IT'S IMPORTANT TO FIND THAT RIGHT PERSON.
SO IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND A CLASS ONE OR A CLASS ONE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW, IS ONE THAT GOES TO THE ACADEMY FOR 12 WEEKS, SPENDS 12 WEEKS FOR THE MOST PART IN COLUMBIA.
WE DO SOME OF THE TRAINING HERE LOCALLY, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE, UH, HAS TO BE DONE IN COLUMBIA.
AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ATTRACT TO BE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS THAT REALLY DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP THEIR LIFE AND THEIR FAMILY TO GO TO COLUMBIA AND GO THROUGH BOOTCAMP TO BE A CLASS ONE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.
SO I HAD OUR TRAINING STAFF PUT TOGETHER A TRAINING SYLLABUS FOR A, WHAT WE CALL A CLASS THREE.
UH, AND IT WAS A CLASS THREE DESIGNATION FOR SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER.
WHAT THAT DID IS IT ALLOWED US TO CREATE A TRAINING SYLLABUS THAT WE COULD TAKE A PERSON, UM, YOU KNOW, OF, OF ANY AGE, UM, AND THAT WE WOULD BRING THEM INTO LAW ENFORCEMENT ENVIRONMENT, YOU KNOW, WITH BLUFFTON OR BEAUFORT OR PORT ROYAL OR THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE.
UH, AND WE WOULD TRAIN THEM HERE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
ALL OF THEIR TRAINING WOULD BE DONE RIGHT HERE.
UH, IT WOULD BE EIGHT WEEKS, MAYBE A LITTLE MORE THAN EIGHT WEEKS OF TRAINING.
UH, WE WOULD LIKE TO START THIS, UH, THE, OUR FIRST CLASS.
WE'D LIKE TO START IT IN JUNE.
UH, THAT WAY WE CAN GET 'EM THROUGH THE PROGRAM AND BE READY FOR DEPLOYMENT, UH, WHEN SCHOOL STARTS IN AUGUST.
UH, I, I THINK IT'S AN AWESOME PROGRAM.
WE, WE, WE SENT THE TRAINING SYLLABUS TO THE ACADEMY THAT TRAINS ALL OF OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
THEY APPROVED IT, UH, WITH THE BLESSING OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA TRAINING COUNCIL.
SO WE ARE READY TO GET THIS THING MOVING AND GET IT STARTED.
AND I THINK FOR US, WE JUST NEED TO KIND OF TELL OUR CITIZENS, YOU KNOW, WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR? UH, THE ROLE IS SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER.
IT'S A CLASS THREE LAW ENFORCEMENT DESIGNATION.
UH, IT'S A UNIFORM POSITION, IT'S AN ARMED POSITION.
UH, THEY HAVE ARREST POWERS, UH, AND THEY HAVE ALL THE POWERS OF ANY OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS, UH, THAT THEY'RE ASSIGNED TO.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK, JOE, SHERIFF? I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA, AND THANK YOU FOR TAKING LEAD ON THIS.
UM, WE HAVE FOUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN BLUFFTON THAT CURRENTLY ARE NOT STAFFED BY CLASS THREE OR HIGHER OFFICERS.
AND I THINK THAT THIS PROGRAM IS GONNA ATTRACT PEOPLE TO THESE POSITIONS, AND IT'S GONNA PROVIDE MORE OF A SECURITY BLANKET FOR OUR SCHOOLS TO INCLUDE OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
SO WE'RE DEFINITELY EXCITED ABOUT IT.
WE'RE EXCITED TO BE PART OF IT.
WHO, WHO DO WE WANT TO ATTRACT? I THINK WE'VE GOT A, WE'VE GOT AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF RETIRED MILITARY FOLKS HERE.
[01:50:01]
THEY MAY HAVE CHILDREN IN OUR SCHOOLS AND WITH THE, WITH THE PROGRAM THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER.UM, THEY'LL BE HOME WHEN THEIR CHILDREN ARE HOME, NOT IN SCHOOL.
AND, UM, AND I'VE ALWAYS SAID, YOU AND I HAVE HAD THIS CONVERSATION, SHERIFF, WE, WE NEED TO GET INTO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IF WE, IF WE WAIT UNTIL HIGH SCHOOLS WERE TOO LATE.
I'M, I'M GLAD THAT YOU TOOK THE LEAD ON IT.
I'M, I'M EXCITED TO SEE IF WE CAN GET SOME PEOPLE IN.
BUT I REALLY THINK THE YOUNG RETIRED MILITARY PEOPLE ARE, THEY'RE JUST MADE FOR THIS, YOU KNOW, AND WE'VE GONE THROUGHOUT OUR CAREERS, UH, IN THE COUNTY OF BEAUFORT, AND WE'VE HAD CONVERSATION AFTER CONVERSATION WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT SAY, YOU KNOW, I'M RETIRED, I'D LIKE TO FIND SOMETHING TO DO.
AND THEN YOU START TALKING TO 'EM, AND THEY'RE A RETIRED TEACHER, OR RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT, RETIRED FIRE DEPARTMENT, RETIRED MILITARY, RETIRED BANKERS, RETIRED, I MEAN, RETIRED, THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER.
THEY'RE STILL, STILL AT AN AGE THAT THEY COULD, UM, THEY, THEY COULD DO THIS JOB WITH NO PROBLEM AT ALL OF ANY KIND.
UM, AND THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT, THAT I'D LIKE TO SEE.
YES, I'D LIKE TO SEE, UH, THOSE THAT ARE STILL, THAT STILL FEEL LIKE THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, THAT MAYBE HAVE ALWAYS LOOKED AT LAW ENFORCEMENT AS BEING A JOB, BUT BECAUSE OF THE PAY AND BECAUSE OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE WORKING CONDITIONS AND FAMILIES AND, AND ALL THAT, THEY JUST DIDN'T WANNA DO IT.
BUT HERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO MAKE $45,000 A YEAR STARTING PAY TO WORK, BASICALLY THE SCHEDULE OF THE TEACHING AND SUPPORT STAFF OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHICH IS A PRETTY GOOD SCHEDULE.
IT IS, UH, TO HAVE BENEFITS, UH, TO BE IN THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM AND TO BE ABLE TO BRING THEIR MATURITY, UH, THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCE AND, AND, YOU KNOW, TO, TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGED KIDS WHO WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM JUST HAVING THAT OPPORTUNITY TO SOCIALIZE AND BE AROUND, UH, THESE FOLKS THAT BRING A LOT TO THE TABLE.
AND I, WE, IN OUR COMMUNITIES, YOU TAKE BLUFFTON AND BEAUFORT AND, AND IN THE COUNTY AND THEN IN PORT ROYAL, THOSE PEOPLE ARE HERE.
AND THEY'RE LOOKING FOR THINGS TO DO.
AND I JUST THINK THIS IS AN AWESOME OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO, YOU KNOW WHAT, JUST DO IT KINDA LIKE NIKE.
UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S, THE TRAINING IS, I THINK THEY'LL ENJOY THEIR TRAINING.
AGAIN, IT'S ALL DONE RIGHT HERE.
THEY, THEY'LL STAY AT HOME, THEY'LL SLEEP IN THEIR OWN BED, THEY'LL HAVE THEIR OWN PILLOW, AND THEN THEY CAN COME TO TRAINING.
AND ONCE THEY'RE CERTIFIED, UH, THEN THEY'LL START THE SCHOOL YEAR, UH, AUGUST OF THIS YEAR.
SO, I MEAN, I KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY REPRESENTS THAT OPPORTUNITY AS WELL.
YOU KNOW, SO WHAT ELSE, WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK THIS, UM, THIS PROGRAM'S GONNA DO IN TOTALITY FOR WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? I THINK, I THINK THIS PROGRAM, ONE WILL BE ABLE TO GET US OVER THE TOP.
I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET A POLICE OFFICER IN EVERY SCHOOL IN BUFORT COUNTY, WHICH IS IMPORTANT.
A POLICE OFFICER AND I, AND I, AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS.
THERE'S A LOT OF TRAINING THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS JOB.
THERE IS, AND YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT A SECURITY OFFICER.
THIS IS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, UH, THAT'S GONNA BE WELL TRAINED, UH, IN THIS.
AND I, I THINK THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT'S ATS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
AND I THINK WITH THE YOUNG CHILDREN TARGETING THE RETIREES MM-HMM.
WHETHER THEY'RE RETIRED TEACHERS, RETIRED MILITARY IS IMPORTANT.
THEY'VE GOT THE LIFE EXPERIENCE FOR THE, FOR THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
AND, AND TO GET THAT STARTED OFF.
SO
POSSIBLY A THIRD COMING ON BOARD.
SO, I MEAN, IN TOTAL, AND HERE'S THE THING, IT, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU WORK AT THE CITY OF BEAUFORT OR THE TOWN OF BLUFFTON, UH, OR PORT ROYAL OR FOR THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, YOU KNOW, WE WANT YOU TO COME TO WORK.
AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TO BE A CLASS THREE SRO, DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU GO, DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE EMPLOYED BY.
THE WORK ENVIRONMENT'S BASICALLY THE SAME.
THERE MAY BE A DIFFERENCE IN UNIFORM THAT YOU WEAR AT THE SCHOOL THAT YOU'RE ASSIGNED TO, UH, THE PAY, I MEAN, EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE BASICALLY THE SAME.
SO ALL WE WANT PEOPLE TO DO IS PUT THEIR APPLICATIONS IN, GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SIT DOWN AND EXPLAIN THE PROGRAM IN DETAIL.
AND IF YOU REALLY HAVE AN INTEREST IN IT, UH, THEN LET'S, LET'S, LET'S GET STARTED.
WHAT DO YOU THINK, JOE? YEAH, AND, AND ONE THING THAT I WANT TO HIT ON IS THIS PROGRAM IS IMPORTANT AND, AND REASON BEING IS NONE OF OUR KIDS SHOULD FEEL AFRAID GOING TO SCHOOL.
UM, THEY SHOULD BE GOING TO SCHOOL TO LEARN AND NOT WORRYING ABOUT THEIR SAFETY.
UM, AND WHAT THIS DOES IS THIS PROVIDES ANOTHER LAYER OF SAFETY FOR ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS, ESPECIALLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
UM, IT ALSO PROVIDES PEOPLE WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO MENTOR THESE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN.
AND SO, LIKE THE SHERIFF SAID,
[01:55:01]
IF YOU TRULY WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, UH, THIS IS A POSITION THAT YOU REALLY, REALLY WILL BE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.I JUST HOPE THE APPLICATION START POURING IN.
AND IF YOU GET MORE THAN, THAN YOU NEED AND, AND, AND WE NEED TO GO TO BEAUFORT OR WE NEED TO GO TO, UH, THE, THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE OR, OR PORT ROYAL, WE JUST NEED, WE NEED TO PUT THESE PEOPLE TO WORK.
WE NEED TO FILL THESE VACANCIES, UH, AND LET'S MAKE OUR SCHOOLS IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AS SAFE AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN.
AND I THINK THE UNIQUENESS OF THIS PROGRAM, THESE OFFICERS WILL BE TRAINED BY PEOPLE THAT HAVE CHILDREN IN THESE SCHOOLS.
THEY HAVE THE SAME DESIRES, THE OUTCOMES THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO I'M, I'M LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.
WELL, I MEAN, THE GREAT THING ABOUT IT IS THAT WE ARE, WE WILL BE DOING THE TRAINING TOGETHER.
IF YOU GET, IF YOU GET, IF YOU HIRE ONE OR TWO AND YOU HIRE FOUR AND YOU KNOW, AND I CAN FILL THE NINE THAT WE NEED, WE'RE ALL GONNA BE TRAINING TOGETHER.
SO THIS IS GONNA BE ONE TRAINING SYLLABUS TO BENEFIT, UH, THE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM.
I MEAN, THIS IS GOING TO BE, THIS, THIS PROGRAM IS FOR SOUTH CAROLINA AS A WHOLE.
THIS IS NOT JUST FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY.
BUT I'M EXCITED THAT WE'RE GOING TO START THIS AND INITIATE, YOU KNOW, THE SRO CLASS THREE POSITION HERE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
AND WE'RE GONNA SHOW THE STATE IT WORKS.
AND THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE TRAINING TOGETHER, SHERIFF, IS YOU'RE CREATING A NETWORK BEFORE YOU EVEN GET STARTED.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT SCHOOLS WHERE IF YOU CAN RUN INTO A PROBLEM, YOU HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE THAT YOU CAN CALL AND GET SOME ADVICE OR TALK TO THEM ABOUT THINGS GOING ON IN THEIR SCHOOL AND CURRENT TRENDS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THEIR SCHOOL.
SO IT'S A GREAT COLLABORATION OF ALL THREE DEPARTMENTS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTY GETTING TOGETHER, BECAUSE HAVING THAT NETWORK AND PEOPLE THAT YOU CAN RELY ON FOR ADDITIONAL ADVICE IS INVALUABLE.
WELL, I TELL YOU WHAT I MEAN, I WANT, I WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO, TO MAKE THOSE PHONE CALLS OR GROW ONLINE AND RESEARCH, YOU KNOW, UH, JUST THE, THE, THE CLASS THREE SRO THROUGH ALL AGENCIES.
SO I THINK LINDSEY, IF WE CAN, I MEAN, AT THIS POINT, I THINK IF WE PUT THAT INFORMATION ON THIS VIDEO FOR BLUFFTON, BEAUFORT, PORT ROYAL, AND THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WEBPAGE AND PHONE NUMBERS, UH, I THINK WE'LL HOPEFULLY WE'LL START GETTING CALLS.
DOES THAT SOUND GOOD TO Y'ALL? YES, SIR.
MY NAME IS WENDY AND I WORK HERE AT THE HILTON HEAD BRANCH LIBRARY, YOUR FAMILY AT THE CIRCULATION DESK.
AND THIS TO ME IS HOME FROM HOME.
THAT'S HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE LIBRARY.
UM, THESE PEOPLE HERE ARE MY EXTENDED FAMILY, AND WHEN OUR PATRONS COME IN, I LIKE TO MAKE THEM FEEL WELCOME AND LIKE THEIR EXTENDED FAMILY AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL GROWING UP IN ENGLAND, MY DAD AND I, EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT AFTER DINNER OR TEA, AS WE WOULD CALL IT, WOULD TAKE THE, ABOUT A MILE DOWN THE ROAD, WE WOULD GO TO OUR LOCAL LIBRARY.
AND I WAS FILLED WITH SUCH EXCITEMENT AND ANTICIPATION EVERY TIME I WENT.
I, I WAS VERY LUCKY IN THE FACT THAT MY HUSBAND GOT TO TRAVEL AN AWFUL LOT WITH HIS JOB.
AND WE WENT ALL OVER THE WORLD IN LOTS AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT PLACES AND WE GOT TO SEE A LOT OF THINGS.
BUT THE FIRST THING WE ALWAYS WENT TO SEE WAS THE LIBRARY.
EVERYWHERE WE WENT, UM, EVEN SOMETIMES BEFORE WE EVEN LOOKED AT HOUSES, WE'D GO AND CHECK OUT THE LIBRARY FIRST, BECAUSE THAT'S IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE WERE GOING TO SPEND OUR TIME.