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WE'LL NOW CALL THE BUFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORK SESSION OF AUGUST 23RD, 2024 TO ORDER.
THOSE PRESENT ARE INGRID BOATWRIGHT, COLONEL GEIER, MYSELF, ANGELA MIDDLETON, VICTOR A EARL CAMPBELL.
AND, UM, PARTICIPATING REMOTELY IS ELIZABETH HAY.
AND ACCORDING TO THE NEW SAFETY AND SECURITY GUIDELINES, BAGS, BACKPACKS AND PURSES ARE PROHIBITED BY THE PUBLIC AT THE BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETINGS.
THIS MEETING IS BEING LIVE STREAMED BY THE COUNTY CHANNEL, AND IS ALREADY MENTIONED, IS BEING CONDUCTED VIA HYBRID VIDEO CONFERENCING.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES PER SPEAKER ON BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND SCHOOL RELATED TOPICS.
CITIZENS WISHING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PUBLIC COMMENTS CAN DO SO IN PERSON OR VIA PHONE.
THERE'LL BE ONE PUBLIC COMMENT FORUM DURING THIS BOARD MEETING.
THE 30 MINUTE SESSION IS LIMITED TO TOPICS ON THE BOARD MEETING.
JENNA, REQUEST TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC COMMENTS VIA PHONE WILL BE ACCEPTED VIA EMAIL.
THE DAY OF THE MEETING FROM EIGHT TO 8:30 AM REQUEST SHOULD INCLUDE THE SPEAKER'S NAME, PHONE NUMBER, AS WELL AS TOPIC AND MUST BE EMAILED TO THE EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO THE BOARD.
ROBIN CUSHING BERRY AT ROBIN, WITH A Y CUSHING BERRY AT BEAUFORT K12 SC US REQUESTERS WILL SUBSEQUENTLY RECEIVE A PHONE CALL DURING THEIR RESPECTIVE PUBLIC FORM TIME AND SHOULD BE READY TO SPEAK.
CITIZENS DESIRING TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON MUST FILL OUT A PUBLIC COMMENT CARD THAT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE BOARD CLERK UPON ARRIVAL.
NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS TO APPROVE THE AGENDA, AND I NEED TO MAKE, UH, TWO, UH, CHANGES TO IT UNDER EXECUTIVE SESSIONS, UH, FOR BOTH ITEMS COVERED BY THE ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE PURSUANT TO SOUTH CAROLINA CODE AND ANNOTATED 34 70 A TWO SHOULD BE STRICKEN FROM BOTH OF THOSE ITEMS. THESE ARE SECURITY MEASURES AND THEREFORE THEY ARE EXEMPT FROM PUBLIC DISCUSSION.
SO, COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE MAKE THE MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION? I MEAN, EXCUSE ME, TO, FOR, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA.
SECOND THE AGENDA WITH THOSE CHANGES.
AND MS. MIDDLETON SECOND THE, THE, UM, MOTION.
ONLINE GO ALPHABETICALLY, PLEASE.
OKAY, SO THE MOTION IS APPROVED 7 0 1.
SO OUR FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS TO HAVE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
PLEASE REMAIN STANDING FOR A MOMENT OF SILENCE.
THE MEDIA WAS PROPERLY NOTIFIED.
NO PUBLIC COMMENTS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED.
SO WE'RE ONTO THE ANNUAL WORK PLAN.
BOARD MEMBERS, YOU CAN SEE IN YOUR PACKET YOU HAVE A COPY OF THE ANNUAL WORK PLAN.
WE BRING THIS, UH, FOR APPROVAL, UH, EVERY YEAR.
AND, AND THEN IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, UM, WE HAVEN'T HAD A CHANGE IN A FEW YEARS, BUT WE DO HAVE TWO CHANGES THAT I WANT TO, UH, BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION.
ONE, UH, IS THE ADDITION THERE IN MAY OF THE HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS, UH, THOSE HAVE TO BE DONE, UM, I BELIEVE BEFORE, UH, JUNE OR JULY.
UH, AND, AND SO THIS, THIS WILL GET IT IN THERE IN MAY AND, AND WE'LL BE AHEAD OF THE GAME.
UM, THEN IN SEPTEMBER, UM, YOU SEE OE 12 INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM.
UH, WE REPORT, WE'VE BEEN REPORTING IN JULY.
STRATOS THAT, UH, WE MOVE THAT, UH, FURTHER DOWN THE LINE INTO SEPTEMBER.
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THOSE ARE THE ONLY, UH, THE ONLY CHANGES THAT, UH, THAT WE HAVE ON THIS ANNUAL WORK PLAN.SO I, I HAVE THE PRIOR WORK PLAN HERE FROM SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2022.
AND I SEE ALSO, SO IS THIS JUST AN OVER, UH, I GUESS YOU'D SAY A OVERSIGHT? SO UNDER MAY, WE HAVE OE FIVE FINANCIAL PLANNING AND THE BUDGET CERTIFICATION, BUT I DON'T SEE OE FIVE ON HERE.
WHICH YEAR WAS THAT? UM, THE LAST TIME WE APPROVED THIS SEPTEMBER OF 22.
AND THE ONE BEFORE THAT IS JANUARY OF 22.
AND WE, AND ON BOTH OF THOSE, OE FIVE IS LISTED UNDER THE MAY BUSINESS SECTION.
BECAUSE I DON'T SEE IT LISTED ON HERE AT ALL.
AND IT SHOULD BE, UH, SO I'M LOOKING AGAIN, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T SEE OE FIVE, SO IT'S PROBABLY JUST AN OVERSIGHT AND YEAH.
AND THAT WOULD BE, UM, STILL STAYING UNDER, UNDER.
AND WHEN, WHERE, WHEN DID YOU HAVE IT? YOU HAD IT IN MAY? YEAH, THE, THE TWO MAYS IT WOULD BE WITH THE HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS.
SO THE FIRST, THE FIRST, UM, BUSINESS MEETING, I'M THINKING THAT, UH, WHEN IT WENT IN THERE, UH, THE HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE OVERRODE THE, UH, SO IT SHOULD BE IN THERE.
SO WE ADD BACK UNDER MAY BUSINESS SECTION, LET SEE HERE.
ONE WOULD BE HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS, AND NUMBER TWO WOULD BE OE FIVE OE FIVE FINANCIAL PLANNING.
YEAH, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.
YOU'RE GOOD ON THAT DATE, RIGHT? YEAH, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED WHEN WE TYPED IN HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
IT, YEAH, IT ELIMINATES WHAT WAS THERE.
OE FIVE, THE FIRST MAY BUSINESS SESSION.
GUS, DID YOU SAY THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE? NO, I WAS JUST COMPARING IT
AND THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I SAW THAT LIST.
I JUST LOOKED LIKE IT EVEN LEFT OFF.
I THINK IT'S, IT'S BECAUSE, UH, LIKE I SAID, ON AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU TYPE THAT IN, THAT'S PROBABLY, UH, IT JUST OVERWROTE IT.
SO ANOTHER THING
IS THAT WHAT WE WANT ON THE YEAH, IT SHOULD BE, UM, I THINK IN FEBRUARY, BECAUSE PART OF IT IS, ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANT TO DO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE A TSI SCHOOLS IS, UH, IF WE HAVE DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION AT THAT TIME, WE, WE PREFER TO SHARE THAT DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION.
AND SOMETIMES THE DIAGNOSTIC IS TAKEN IN DECEMBER AND UH, AND THEN WE WOULD HAVE IT IN JANUARY, BUT SOMETIMES WE TAKE IT IN JANUARY WHEN WE COME BACK.
AND THEN WE WOULDN'T HAVE IT AVAILABLE FOR THAT CONVERSATION.
SO THEN WE NEED ADDED BACK THE QUARTERLY, UM, REVIEWS YEAH.
OF, 'CAUSE I HAVE IT IN MIND ON, UH, ON FEBRUARY.
BUT IT ALSO PREVIOUSLY WAS UNDER APRIL.
I MEAN, THERE'S SUPPOSED TO BE MULTIPLE TIMES THE OTHER NO, BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY, THEY NO LONGER HAVE, THE STATE NO LONGER HAS THAT OKAY.
I WAS TRYING TO DO WHAT YOU DID, WHICH WAS COMPARE, BUT WE DON'T, I CAN'T DO THE SEARCH FUNCTION IN DILIGENT LIKE WE USED TO BE ABLE TO DO.
AND SO YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE DATE.
'CAUSE I'M NOT CERTAIN WE DIDN'T APPROVE ONE IN 2023.
IT SEEMS LIKE WE DID, BUT I COULD BE CONFUSED.
OH, WELL MAYBE THIS DATE'S WRONG ON HERE THEN.
BUT RIGHT NOW WE GOTTA FIGURE THAT OUT BECAUSE IF I WANNA GO BACK AND LOOK AT SOMETHING, I HAVE TO LIKE KNOW THE THING AND THEN I'M PICKING THROUGH ALL THE MEETINGS AND THEN GOING THROUGH THE AGENDA.
SO I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO DO ALL THAT.
WHICH TIES INTO MY QUESTION ON THIS WORK PLAN.
'CAUSE I DID TRY TO SEARCH, UM, BASED ON THIS WORK PLAN, DID WE DO OE UH, NINE AND OE SEVEN THIS SUMMER? OR THERE WAS MOVED 'CAUSE LIKE IN JUNE, OE SEVEN ASSET PROTECTION, I DON'T SEE THAT WE DID THAT, BUT I CAN'T SEARCH.
AND I JUST, I LOOKED AT THE TWO JUNE BUSINESS MEETINGS.
SO MY POINT BEING A, WE MIGHT HAVE DONE 'EM AND I JUST COULDN'T FIND THEM.
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BUT NOTHING CAME UP.OR B IF WE'RE, IF WE DIDN'T DO THEM AND WE'RE TAKING THE TIME TO APPROVE THE WORK PLAN, THEN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING 'EM.
ROBIN, WHEN YOU, WHEN I ASKED YOU, THIS IS THE ONE YOU GAVE ME SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2022.
SO MAYBE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE 23.
'CAUSE I ASKED YOU WHEN THE LAST ONE WAS.
YEAH, SEVEN THINK PROGRAM REALLY.
SO THEY ASK WHAT I'D LIKE, IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO THAT IS AS WELL, 'CAUSE I THINK A GREAT PLACE FOR THE ANNUAL WORK PLAN AND FOR THE FACILITIES ASSESSMENT AND FOR THE CIP WOULD BE IN THAT DOCUMENT LIBRARY, SORT OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO ANNUALLY.
THAT, SO WE CAN GO BACK AND FIND THEM IF WE NEED TO REFERENCE THEM RIGHT NOW, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYTHING IN THE DOCUMENT LIBRARY, BUT I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY USEFUL.
IF IT'S WE'RE NOT USING IT OR THEY NEED TO ADD IT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT FEEDBACK TOO TO THEM.
SO THIS IS A REQUIREMENT TO BE APPROVED BY THE BOARD, UM, PER OUR GOVERNANCE, UH, POLICY MANUAL.
SO COULD WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS WITH THE ADDITION OF OE FIVE FINANCIAL PLANNING ON ADDED TO THE FIRST MAY BUSINESS SEC SESSION UNDER HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE ELECTIONS? YEP.
VICTOR MADE THE MOTION SECOND BY EARL CAMPBELL.
SO THE MOTION CARRIES SEVEN ONE AND IT IS APPROVED 7 0 1, RIGHT? YES.
7 0 1 1 ABSTENTION SMITH, UH, EARL.
SO VICTOR MADE THE MOTION, EARL SECOND IT.
NOW WE'RE ON TO DISCUSSION OF THE FUTURE DESC OFFICE.
SO THE, THIS NEXT ITEM, UM, HERE, AND I HAVE, UH, ROBERT AND CAROL HERE IN CASE THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS ALONG THE WAY.
BUT THIS WAS, UH, AN AGENDA ITEM I THINK THAT, UM, BOARD MEMBERS PLACED ON FUTURE TOPICS.
AND SO ADDED IT TO THIS AGENDA.
WE'RE BRINGING IT, BRINGING IT FORWARD FOR DISCUSSION BECAUSE, UH, THIS FACILITY HAS, UH, SOME WORK THAT HAS TO BE DONE, RIGHT? AND SO THE QUESTION IS, UM, THERE'S BEEN SORT OF DISCUSSION BACK AND FORTH ABOUT, UM, HOW MUCH TO DO, UH, HOW MUCH, HOW MANY DOLLARS TO SPEND ON IT, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
AND SO, UM, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE IN A HOLDING PATTERN ON SORT OF GETTING ANYTHING DONE.
AND SO WE'D LIKE TO KIND OF, AND IT'S ON THERE AS A FUTURE TOPIC.
WE WANTED TO, UH, INITIATE, UH, I THINK THE DISCUSSION SO THAT, SO THAT YOU WOULD HAVE A CHANCE AS A BOARD TO HAVE THAT DIALOGUE AND, AND SORT OF BRING TO SOME CONCLUSION SO WE CAN GET STARTED ON SOME OF THE WORK THAT THIS FACILITY, UH, IS GONNA NEED.
SO, UM, MS. BOATWRIGHT BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT IN THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE BACK IN FEBRUARY, UH, ROBERT, UH, PRES OR HE AND HIS STAFF PRESENTED, UH, A, UH, I THINK IT HAD FIVE DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR THE DISTRICT OFFICE.
ARE YOU, COULD WE, COULD THAT BE PRESENTED RIGHT NOW FOR THE BOARD AND NO, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, JUST SO WE CAN THEN MOVE FORWARD WITH, UH, THINKING ABOUT IT AND COMING UP WITH A DECISION.
'CAUSE THE WHOLE BOARD HAS NOT HEARD THAT.
UH, DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE? IT'S, YEAH, RIGHT NOW, I DON'T MIND.
IT'S SIX TOLD, BUT I'VE GOT A PAPER COPY HERE.
BUT, UH, IF ROBIN, IT WAS THE FEBRUARY OPERATIONS MEETING.
THAT WAS YOUR COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.
IF YOU GO TO THE FEBRUARY 13TH, UM, OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING IN DILIGENT
FEBRUARY 13TH, 13 OF THIS YEAR.
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SEE, CAROL, DID YOU DO THIS PRESENTATION? DO YOU WANNA DO IT? OKAY.
SO IF YOU GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE, THIS WAS JUST A HISTORY OF THIS BUILDING OF KIND OF, UM, WHAT GOT US HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE AS FAR AS THE DISTRICT OFFICE AND KIND OF, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS THE, ORIGINALLY THE BATTERY CREEK HIGH SCHOOL.
UM, WHICH IT WAS ABANDONED IN 1991, UH, BACK IN THE MID TWO THOUSANDS.
UM, THE DISTRICT PERSONNEL WERE ALL SPREAD OUT.
UH, IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH ADULT ED AT KING STREET, THAT WAS THE DISTRICT OFFICE ALONG WITH, UM, OH, WHAT'S THE STREET WHERE THE, UH, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WHERE BUROUGHS AVENUE.
THE OLD BURROWS AVENUES WHERE, UM, UH, UH, RIVERVIEW USED TO BE.
AND NOW THAT'S, UH, HOLY TRINITY.
AND THEN THERE WERE OTHER LOCATIONS AS WELL.
SO ONE OF THE REASONS THAT THIS BUILDING W WAS USED WAS IT WAS BIG ENOUGH TO BRING US ALL TOGETHER TO HAVE ALL DEPARTMENTS IN HERE BECAUSE THERE WAS A CONCERN OF SILOING OF DEPARTMENTS.
AND SO, UM, RENOVATIONS STARTED IN 2009, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE IN HERE TODAY.
SO IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, ROBIN KIND OF JUST WENT THROUGH WHAT IS GOOD.
SO, KIND OF WHAT I TALKED ABOUT.
TH THIS BUILDING IS ABLE TO HOLD US ALL.
THAT'S ONE OF THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGES OF IT.
AND THIS BUILDING IS ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FEET.
UM, IF YOU TAKE OUT RIGHT CHOICES, WHICH IS ABOUT 18,000 OF THAT.
SO IT'S A LITTLE OVER 80,000 SQUARE FEET IS USED FOR DISTRICT OFFICE SPACE.
AND ACTUALLY, WE ACTUALLY HAVE DISTRICT OFFICE PERSONNEL IN SOME OF THE CLASSROOMS IN RIGHT CHOICES RIGHT NOW.
'CAUSE WE'RE, WE'VE OVERFLOWED, UH, SOME OF OUR SPACES.
AND, AND THAT'S ONE OF OUR ISSUES.
NOT ONLY IS THIS BUILDING, UM, AGING, IT'S ALSO WE'RE OUTGROWING IT AS FAR AS OUR SIZE, ROBIN AND HERE.
SO, YOU KNOW, UM, AGAIN, STAFF ALL IN ONE BUILDING.
BUT WHAT ELSE IS GOOD? OUR BOARDROOM IS HERE.
THIS OBVIOUSLY IS NOT THE, YOU KNOW, WAS NOT MEANT TO BE A BOARDROOM, BUT IT FUNCTIONS WELL AS ONE.
WE ALSO USE THIS LOCATION AS TRAINING.
AND ONE OF THE BIG BENEFITS ARE THE PARKING LOTS, BECAUSE IF WE HAVE THIS ROOM FULL WHEN YOU'VE BEEN HERE, THE PARKING LOT OF STAFF AND DISTRICT OFFICES HERE, THE PARKING LOTS ARE FULL.
SO WE HAVE LARGE PARKING LOTS THAT CAN HANDLE A LARGE EVENT LIKE THAT.
UM, I MEAN, YOU, I DON'T NEED TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS.
UM, IT IS, YOU KNOW, OUR TECHNOLOGY, UH, NOX CENTER IS HERE, SO IT'S ONE OF TWO.
THE OTHER ONE, THE BACKUP IS AT MAY RIVER.
UM, BUT OUR HUB FOR TECHNOLOGY IS BACK IN THE CORNER THERE.
AND WE HAVE A GENERATOR LARGE ENOUGH TO RUN THAT TECHNOLOGY ALONG WITH HAVING A COMMAND CENTER.
SO OUR GENERATOR HERE RUNS FOOD SERVICE, UM, UH, COOLER FREEZERS BACK HERE CAN RUN OUR DISTRICT, UH, UH, NETWORK CENTER AND CAN RUN A LITTLE BIT OF HVAC AND LIGHTS AND POWER AND STUFF.
SO LIKE WHEN WE HAD HURRICANE MATTHEW, WE WERE, UH, HUNKERED DOWN BACK THERE IN THE TECHNOLOGY CENTER AND OUR OFFICES, BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES WHERE YOU COULD HAVE POWER AND AIR CONDITIONING ACTUALLY AT THAT TIME.
SO WHAT IS BAD IS THE NEXT ONE? UM, SAFETY AND SECURITY.
UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS RECENTLY.
I KNOW WITH SOME MEETINGS WITH OUR STAFF AND THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE HAS TALKED ABOUT IT.
BUT, UM, THIS BUILDING DOES NOT HAVE ALL THE SECURITY ITEMS THAT SAY ONE OF OUR SCHOOLS HAD ONE OF THE BIGGEST CON NOW ONE OF OUR BIGGEST CONCERNS IS OUR FRONT ENTRANCE AND HAVING THAT SECURED.
BUT AS A BOARD, YOU'VE APPROVED THAT.
SO WE ARE UNDERWAY WITH THOSE PLANS, AND, UM, AS SOON AS WE CAN MOVE, WE MAY BE ABLE TO MOVE INTO CONSTRUCTION AS EARLY, AS EARLY NEXT YEAR, UH, OR LATER THIS YEAR.
WE, WE, WE CAN CHECK THAT ONE OFF.
UM, THE OTHER ITEM YOU SEE ON HERE IS THE, WE'VE
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TALKED ABOUT THIS AS WELL.THE DE FIRE, UH, DEPARTMENT HAS REQUIRED IF WE DO ANYTHING TO THIS BUILDING, OR THEY'VE ASKED US TO PUT, UH, A HYDRANT LOOP AROUND IT BECAUSE THERE ARE NO FIRE HYDRANTS IN THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
AND SO THEY'VE PRETTY MUCH, THEY'VE BEEN ASKING US TO DO THAT.
AND ALSO, OSF HAS TOLD US IF WE DO ANY KIND OF RENOVATION, LIKE UPFRONT, WE HAVE TO SPRINKLER THIS BUILDING.
UM, THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT AT A TIME WHERE A SPRINKLER OFFICE SPACES AREN'T REQUIRED.
AND SO THEY, ANYTHING WE DO, THEY'RE GONNA MAKE IT SPRING IT UP TO CODE.
UM, AGING BUILDING SYSTEMS, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS ARE THE HVAC SYSTEM IN THIS BUILDING, SPECIFICALLY THE SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE, HR AREA, UH, ISD AND, UM, UH, COMMUNICATIONS AND LEGAL.
THOSE HAVE BEEN SUPERINTENDENTS FOR YEARS, INCLUDING THE ONE I HAVE TODAY HAVE PUT IT OFF.
SAID, DON'T PUT MONEY IN THAT NEED TO FIX THINGS IN SCHOOLS FIRST.
UNFORTUNATELY, THOSE SYSTEMS ARE IN THEIR MID TWENTIES, WHICH IS ABOUT AS LONG AS YOU'LL EVER GET OUT OF A SYSTEM.
AND SO THOSE, THOSE NEED TO BE REPLACED ALONG WITH THE FINANCE AREA.
THE, THE CENTRAL HUB OF THIS BUILDING HAS WHAT'S CALLED, UM, BEARABLE FLOW REFRIGERANT SYSTEMS. UM, IT'S REALLY HIGH TECH, VERY EFFICIENT SYSTEMS. UH, THEY'RE, THEY WERE DONE WHEN THIS BUILDING WAS RENOVATED.
SO THEY'RE IN THE 15-YEAR-OLD, UH, KIND OF RANGE, BUT THEY ARE FAILING AND UNFORTUNATELY, UH, THEY'RE NOT EASY TO REPLACE.
SO VARIABLE FLOW REFRIGERANT JUST BASICALLY MEANS THERE'S MULTIPLE PIPES THAT GO TO UNITS.
AND SOME UNITS CAN COOL AND SOME UNITS CAN HEAT IF YOU NEED TO, AND THEY KIND OF SHARE THE SAME LOOP, AND THAT'S VERY EFFICIENT WAY TO DO IT.
UM, AND IT ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO HAVE OFFICE CONTROL, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, IN SMALL AREAS, WHICH IS REALLY GOOD, BUT IT IS FAILING AND HAS BEEN FAILING FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
WE'VE REPLACED THE, UH, COMPUTER BOARDS IN THAT MULTIPLE TIMES A YEAR SOMETIMES.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, THE MANUFACTURER DOESN'T MAKE 'EM ANYMORE AND DOESN'T SUPPORT THOSE PARTS.
SO IT'S, WE'RE GETTING TO THE POINT WHERE WE CAN'T GET PARTS FOR 'EM.
WE'RE BUYING 'EM ON EBAY AND OFF USED UNITS.
SO THAT HAS TO STOP AND WE NEED TO REPLACE THOSE.
THE BAD THING ABOUT THOSE IS, UM, UNFORTUNATELY WITH ALL THAT PIPING, IN ORDER TO REPLACE 'EM, WE HAVE TO TEAR OUT ALL THE CEILINGS AND REDO ALL THE PIPINGS WHEN WE PUT NEW UNITS IN.
UM, OTHER THINGS WE HAVE HERE NOTIFYING ENTRANCE, WHICH Y'ALL HAVE, UH, FUNDED THAT.
SO NOW WE WILL HAVE ONE ONCE THAT'S BUILT CHILD FIND IN THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
THAT'S, WE HAVE TO, WHENEVER THE KIDS COME FOR CHILD FIND WITH THEIR PARENTS, THEY HAVE TO GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS BUILDING ALL THE WAY TO THE BACK IN ORDER TO GO TO CHILD, FIND NO SECURITY FOR NIGHT MEETINGS.
THERE'S NO WAY TO LOCK OFF THIS AREA.
UM, SO YOU COULD JUST COME TO A MEETING HERE AND NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE REST OF THE BUILDING.
OF COURSE, RESTROOMS NEED TO BE UP, UM, UPDATED.
AND THIS ROOM IS NOT OPTIMAL FOR, UH, A BOARDROOM.
SO IF YOU'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO HERE WE GET INTO THE OPTIONS, THE, WHAT WE CALL THE DO NOTHING OPTION.
AND WE CALL IT THE DO NOTHING OPTION BECAUSE ALL WE'RE GONNA DO IS MAINTAIN THE SYSTEMS IN THIS BUILDING, REPLACE ALL THE HVAC, UM, THAT'S $18 MILLION.
UM, THAT DID INCLUDE THE, ALL THE FIRE HYDRANT, UH, WORK THAT WE NEED TO DO.
AND THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM, WHICH IS IN THE, UH, MONEY YOU HAVE ALREADY APPROVED FOR THE SECURED ENTRANCE.
SO THAT WAS APPROXIMATELY $5 MILLION.
SO YOU CAN, TODAY THAT 18 MILLION WOULD BE 13 MILLION.
YOU'VE ALREADY APPROVED FIVE OF IT.
SO ANY QUESTIONS THERE? GOD, QUESTION.
I, I FEEL LIKE I'M TALKING TOO MUCH, SO, YES, MA'AM.
SO, UM, AND WOULD THAT INCLUDE THAT 18 MILLION OR THE LEFT OF NOW 13, UH, THE PLUMBING SYSTEMS FOR THE CHILD FIND OR PLUMBING THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING OR WHAT? UM, UH, WHAT'S THAT? OH YEAH, IT IS NOT, IT'S NOT, WE'RE NOT RENOVATING THE RESTROOMS. SO, UM, IN THE, WHERE WE, WHERE WE, UH, AS WE GET TO LATER OPTIONS WHERE WE MODIFY IT, WE, THE PLAN IS TO TEAR OUT THOSE RESTROOMS AND COMPLETELY REDO THE PLUMBING.
'CAUSE AS YOU NOTICE, THERE, THERE ARE PLUMBING ISSUES WITH THE CHILD, FIND RESTROOMS AND A COUPLE OTHERS IN THIS BUILDING.
SO THIS WAS AN OPTION OF BREAKING US UP AND GOING TO OTHER RENTAL, UH, SPACES.
WE, UH, AS FAR AS COST FOR RENTAL,
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I ACTUALLY CAME PREPARED.WE DID LOOK IN FOR THIS MEETING INTO WHAT RENTAL SPACES WOULD CURRENTLY COST.
UM, I'VE GOT CURRENTLY, UM, AND ACTUALLY WE DID A SEARCH.
WE USED, UH, BAKER WILKINS, YOU KNOW, AND HE SEARCHED ALL COM COMMERCIAL, UH, SPACES THAT ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE.
THE LARGEST ONE IS THE CARE CORE BUILDING, UH, THAT YOU'RE PROBABLY, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE IN BLUFFTON AT 31, UH, THOUSAND SQUARE FEET.
UM, ITS RENTAL COST IS JUST UNDER $800,000 A YEAR.
NOW, THE PROBLEM WITH RENTAL AND IS THAT, THAT'S AN OPERATIONAL EXPENSE THAT WILL COME OUT OF YOUR OPERATIONAL BUDGET AS COMPARED TO PURCHASING OR RENOVATING OR ANY KIND OF CAPITAL EXPENSE, WHICH WOULD COME OUT OF YOUR CAPITAL BUDGET.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE I, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT, I'LL BE GLAD TO.
BUT AFTER THAT 31,000 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING, THERE'S A 27 AND A 16.
SO THERE'S REALLY NO COMMERCIAL SPACE OUT THERE EQUIVALENT OF THIS ENTIRE BUILDING.
AND AND I SAY THAT JUST 'CAUSE IF WE DID MOVE EVEN TO THE CARE CORE BUILDING, YOU STILL HAVE TO HAVE THIS BUILDING.
'CAUSE WE ALL CAN'T FIT IN CARE CORE.
UM, WE'RE 80,000 SQUARE FEET RIGHT NOW.
AND SO IF WE WENT INTO A 30,000 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING, YOU KNOW, OVER, YOU KNOW, HALF TO TWO THIRDS OF US ARE STILL GONNA BE HERE.
SO WE STILL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING HERE.
SO MY QUESTION
WELL, IT'S JUST WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING, I MEAN, THERE'S, AS WE ALL, AS IT'S BEEN ELUCIDATED ALREADY, THIS BUILDING IS MORE THAN 50 YEARS OLD AND IT WASN'T, IT WAS DESIGNED FOR A SCHOOL, NOT FOR BUSINESS OFFICES.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF WASTED SPACE IN HERE.
AND THAT'S JUST BECAUSE IT, IT EXACTLY THAT IT, IT WAS A SCHOOL AND IT WAS, IT'S MORE THAN 50 YEARS OLD.
SO I DON'T KNOW, IT SEEMS LIKE A HUNDRED.
IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF, I GUESS YOU'D SAY UNUSABLE SPACE HERE THAT'S NOT USED.
IT'S NOT THAT YOU AREN'T TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE BUILDING, IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT DESIGNED THAT WAY.
SO HOW, WHERE DO YOU, CAN YOU, I GUESS, GET A BETTER ESTIMATE OF WHAT SPACE IS NEEDED FOR THE CURRENT STAFF? IT JUST SEEMS LIKE IF YOU HAD A NEW BUILDING, IT WOULD BE DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY AND PERHAPS IT COULD BE MUCH SMALLER SQUARE FOOTAGE IS WHAT I THINK.
BUT, UH, SO WHAT I WOULD, IN, IN THE LATER VERSIONS, WHEN WE GET TO THAT, WE, UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT RENOVATING THIS BUILDING, ONE OF OUR, UH, THINGS WE WERE LOOKING AT IS TAKING ALL THE SPACE WE CAN OUT OF.
THIS IS NOT BEING USED SUCH AS THAT FRONT HALLWAY THERE THAT'S HARDLY USED, THAT'S GONNA BECOME OFFICES.
UM, I MEAN, 'CAUSE WE HAVE OUTGROWN WHAT WE HAVE.
AND YES, WE ARE NOT MAXIMIZING, IF WE'RE IN 80,000 PLUS SQUARE FEET, WE'RE NOT MAXIMIZING IT.
BUT WE ARE ALSO HAVE OUTGROWN WHAT WE HAVE.
WE NEED IN THIS CONFIGURATION MORE THAN 80,000 SQUARE FEET, OR WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO USE ALL OF THAT AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
BUT A MODERN BUSINESS USE COULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, SMALLER OFFICES, UM, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO CAN WE SQUEEZE, WE WE'RE GONNA NEED THE SAME NUMBER OF OFFICES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT I'LL TAKE, MY OFFICE COULD BE SMALLER.
I MEAN, YES, YOU CAN SQUEEZE THINGS DOWN.
UM, DOES THAT MEAN WE'RE GONNA DROP FROM 80,000 TO 30,000? NO.
CAN WE GO FROM 80,000 TO 75, 70? MAYBE? I, I HAVEN'T DONE THAT STUDY, BUT IT'S, IT, IT'S GONNA BE CLOSE TO 80,000.
HOW ABOUT THAT? UM, BUT I CAN DO THAT STUDY, BUT I HAVE NOT.
UH, SO THE OPTION THREE WAS BUILD A NEW BUILDING.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE COST THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW IS, UM, IF WE WERE LOOKING, I HAD A HUNDRED THOUSAND, UH, SQUARE FEET WOULD BE ABOUT $50 MILLION.
AND THAT'S JUST BUILDING COST.
UM, NOT IF YOU, YOU KNOW, THAT'S JUST BASIC OFFICE BUILDING, NOT NECESSARILY FANCY BOARDROOMS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO I'D CALL THAT A MINIMUM COST FOR A NEW BUILDING.
WHAT'S THAT? OH, AND, AND, WELL, A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FEET KIND OF DOES INCLUDE RIGHT CHOICES, BUT WE WOULD HAVE TO, OR IF WE SEPARATE FROM THAT, WE HAVE TO FIND THEM A SPACE OR DO SOMETHING HERE.
MR. SMITH? UM, I HAVE A QUESTION.
LET'S, UH, LET'S BACK UP TO THE RENOVATION OF THIS BUILDING.
WE'VE JUST TALKED ABOUT WHAT WE CALL
[00:30:01]
THE DO NOTHING OPTION, WHICH IS JUST REPLACING HVAC.WE REALLY, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO RENOVATION YET.
ALRIGHT, WHICH, UM, IS THE NEXT SLIDE? UH, WE GAVE A COUPLE DIFFERENT OPTIONS.
SO THE COST ESTIMATE WE GOT FOR DOING THIS ENTIRE BUILDING ALL AT ONCE, STARTING IN, YOU KNOW, IF WE SIGNED A CONTRACT AND GAVE IT ALL, WOULD BE ABOUT 20 MILLION.
UM, IT WOULD TAKE THREE YEARS.
UM, THE REST OF THAT, YOU KNOW, IT SAID WE HAD FIVE TO 7 MILLION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE HAVE 8 MILLION, WHICH INCLUDES THE 5 MILLION WE NEED TO SPEND ON THE FRONT AREA OR AROUND 5 MILLION THAT WE NEED TO SPEND.
UM, SO, UM, YEAH, OF THAT 20 MILLION, WE HAVE EIGHT, I GUESS YOU'D SAY.
SO WE'D HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER 12.
BUT REALLY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, IS THE, THE PHASED RENOVATIONS.
'CAUSE WE'VE ALREADY KIND OF STARTED THAT.
WE'VE, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE APPROVED PHASE ONE, WHICH IS THE SECURED ENTRANCE AREA, THE SPRINKLING OF THE BUILDING AND THE FIRE LOOP AROUND THE BUILDING.
UM, AGAIN, THIS SPREADED, WE, WE LOOKED AT A PHASE WHERE WE HAD FIVE PHASES SPREADING IT OUT OVER FIVE YEARS.
AND LET ME JUST, AND I, I'LL JUST STOP RIGHT THERE.
BEFORE WE GET INTO IT, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? ANY ANY, ANY, YEAH, ANY OF THOSE? YEAH, WHATEVER YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT.
HOW MUCH MORE OF THE PRESENTATION? WELL, I COULD GO GOOD, MIKE.
I DO HAVE QUESTIONS, BUT I WAS GONNA WAIT TILL THE END OF THE PRESENTATION, SO I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE PRESENTATION YOU, YEAH, NO, THE LAST THING IS JUST THE PLAN, PHASING PLAN FOR RENOVATING THE BUILDING.
UM, SO, UH, AND IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, ROBIN.
WELL, THE, THESE ARE SOME OF OUR GOALS THAT WE HAD.
UM, I'LL JUST READ THROUGH 'EM, YOU KNOW, REPLACE HVAC CONSOLIDATE DEPARTMENTS TO IMPROVE FUNCTIONAL EFFICIENCY.
UH, FINANCE IS PRETTY CONSOLIDATED.
UH, TECHNOLOGY'S PRETTY CONSOLIDATED, BUT WE WANNA BRING EVERYBODY'S DEPARTMENT INTO THEIR OWN PART OF THE BUILDING.
NEW SECURED ENTRY VESTIBULE, WHICH YOU'VE ALREADY APPROVED, BOARDROOM IMPROVEMENT, SOUND FLOW.
AS MUCH AS WE CAN DO WITH THIS SPACE THAT WE HAVE, WE WANNA GET RID OF THIS
SO, UM, SO THAT THIS HVAC UNIT DOESN'T BLOCK THE VIEW OF THOSE IN THE BACK.
UM, RESOLVE BUILDING CODE ISSUES.
A LOT OF THE RESTROOMS RIGHT NOW ARE NOT A DA COMPLIANCE COMPLIANT, UH, NEW SPRINKLER SYSTEM, NEW FIRE ALARM SYSTEM, SAME THING.
THE FIRE ALARM IS OLD AND OUTDATED, HARD TO GET PARTS.
NEW LIGHTING, BUILDING, UH, FINISHES, WINDOWS, NEW WINDOWS, UM, WILL HELP WITH, UM, UH, INSULATION AND ALSO THE APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDING AND NEW CAMERAS WITH UPGRADED TECHNOLOGY.
SO THAT, THAT WAS OUR GOAL OF WHAT WE WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH.
AND WHAT YOU HAVE AFTER THIS, I'M NOT GONNA GO IN THIS IN GREAT DETAIL, BUT IT'S A PHASING PLAN.
AND THE FIRST PAGE SHOWS ALL THE DIFFERENT COLORS.
EACH COLOR REPRESENTS A DEPARTMENT, UM, AND, AND A PHASE BASICALLY.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE LOOKING AT IS WE'RE GONNA GIVE EACH DEPARTMENT A, A MAIN ENTRANCE WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, A RECEPTION TYPE AREA AND, AND, UM, SIGNAGE SO THAT IT'S CLEARER WHERE PEOPLE ARE.
SO IF YOU'RE GOING TO THE SUPERINTENDENT, UH, YOU'LL KNOW WHERE THAT'S LOCATION.
OR IF YOU NEED TO GO TO HR, IT WOULD SAY HUMAN RESOURCES.
AND YOU'D HAVE A WAITING ROOM AND ALL OF HR WOULD BE IN THAT AREA.
UM, WE ACCOMPLISH THAT PARTIALLY BY TAKING OVER THE, WHAT WE CALL THE, UH, WELL, THE STORAGE AREA.
IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE HIGH BASE STORAGE AREA THAT'S IN BETWEEN THE SUPERINTENDENTS IN HR, THAT WOULD BECOME OFFICE SPACE.
SO RIGHT NOW THAT IS STORAGE, UM, WHICH WE WOULD, AND IT'S NON-CON CONDITION SPACE.
SO IT WOULD BECOME CONDITIONED OFFICE SPACE.
UM, SO THE REST OF IT IS GOING THROUGH THE PHASINGS, UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO GO INTO A DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF HOW EACH PHASE WORKS, I'LL JUST STOP THERE AND TAKE QUESTIONS.
AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS UP.
'CAUSE I DO THINK MY INTENTION WITH THIS IS BE TO NOT UNINTENTIONALLY END UP IN THE DO NOTHING PLAN.
'CAUSE $23 MILLION IS WHAT WE SPENT ON ROUGHLY ON BEAUFORT ELEMENTARY AND HILTON HEAD MILL.
IT'S A BIG PROJECT AND WE SHOULD KIND OF HAVE A PLAN AND A DIRECTION, UM, AS EVERYONE KNOWS, I THINK I, I DO, I KNOW, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S NOT SUPPORT FOR RELOCATING TO A MORE CENTRAL LOCATION, BUT I
[00:35:01]
DO THINK WE ARE, UM, IGNORING THE RISK OF DISENFRANCHISING A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MY DISTRICT OR IN THE SOUTH OF THE BROAD BY NOT HAVING ANY DISTRICT PRESENCE, HAVING IT ALL SOLIDLY OVER HERE.SO I THINK THAT'S A CONSIDERATION.
I KNOW WE HAVE MAINTENANCE AT MC RILEY, WE HAVE A BACKUP KNOCK.
THERE IS A DEPLOYMENT MODEL HERE, RIGHT, THAT, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, THE TECH, I FORGET THE TERM TECH COACHES, UM, YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE SOMETHING PEOPLE THERE WHERE THEY DON'T NECESSARILY, IF THEY'RE GENERAL JOB IS, IS SOUTH ABROAD.
IF THEY'RE TENDING TO HILTON HEAD AND MAY RIVER AND PRITCHARD V, THEY DON'T NEED TO START HERE NECESSARILY.
SO I THINK THERE IS, I, I AM A FAN OF EVERY DEPARTMENT BEING TOGETHER, BUT I ALSO THINK IT'S WORTH, AS WE THINK ABOUT THIS, HOW WE, UM, MAXIMIZE OUR EMPLOYEES SORT OF USE OF THEIR TIME.
AND I MEAN, HONESTLY, WHAT 65% OF OUR STUDENTS AND SCHOOLS ARE OVER, YOU KNOW, AN HOUR'S DRIVE.
'CAUSE I DROVE IT TODAY AND ONE 70, I DUNNO IF YOU SAW IT WHEN YOU CAME IN, ONE 70 WAS BACKED UP, 2 78 WAS BACKED UP.
IF I HAD BEEN GOING THE OTHER DIRECTION, IT WOULD'VE BEEN AN HOUR AND A HALF.
I, I WAS GONNA BRING UP THAT POINT.
DO YOU THINK THAT'S GONNA STAY THAT WAY WITH SUN CITY, MARGUERITA, VEL, ALL THE DEVELOPMENT ON ONE 70 AND ALL THE DEVELOPMENT, THE 3000 APARTMENT COMPLEXES ARE PUTTING ON ONE 70? I MEAN, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THE GROWTH ON ONE 70 THAT THE COUNTY IS LOOKING AT WHEN THEY START TALKING ABOUT THE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION PLAN IN THE NEXT 10 TO 20 YEARS, TO ME, IS MIND BLOWING.
THEY'RE EXPECTING THE TRAFFIC ON ONE 70 TO BE THREE TIMES WHAT IT IS TODAY, WHICH I CAN'T FATHOM.
BUT THAT IS WHAT THE COUNTY IS GE, THEY'RE LOOKING AT THE EXPANSIONS OF ONE 70 IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE THAT.
SO, UM, THAT'S PART OF THEIR LONG-TERM PLAN.
I CAN JUST TELL YOU TODAY THAT THE TRAFFIC GOING THAT WAY IS MUCH WORSE THAN COMING THIS WAY.
I DIDN'T, I DID NOT EXPERIENCE MUCH THAN MY TRAFFIC, AND IT STILL TOOK ME 55 MINUTES DOOR TO DOOR TO GET TO THE DISTRICT OFFICE.
SO IT'S NOT A SMALL COMMUTE, BUT I DO THINK IT'S GOING TO GET WORSE.
AND IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE TO START HERE AND THEN GO AGAINST TRAFFIC IF YOU NEED TO.
IF YOU ARE IN A, A ROLE THAT REQUIRES GOING TO SCHOOL SOUTH ABROAD, IT'S JUST GONNA BE, I THINK IT'S GONNA BE BECOME A NIGHTMARE.
NOT, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY PART OF THE DISCUSSION, BUT I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE A CONSIDERATION, UM, IS THAT WE ARE GOING TO GET MORE ISOLATED FROM THE DISTRICT OFFICE JUST BECAUSE OF THE TRAFFIC AND NOT FOR NOTHING.
BUT I MEAN, YOU KNOW, SEVEN YEARS LATER, HILTON HAS STILL DOESN'T HAVE A BRIDGE.
SO I DON'T COUNT ON THE COUNTY COUNCIL IMMEDIATELY RESOLVING THE IMP YOU KNOW, THE IMPENDING TRAFFIC PROBLEMS. MM-HMM.
BUT EVEN BEYOND THAT, TO, UH, DR.
GLAD'S POINT, THIS IS A 1971 HIGH SCHOOL, I THINK 80,000 SQUARE FEET IS A LOT OF SQUARE FOOTAGE FOR 230 EMPLOYEES OR 240 EMPLOYEES.
UM, EVEN WITH BREAK ROOM, WE'RE GONNA GET A TECHNOLOGY, A WAREHOUSE ON SITE THAT'S GONNA HAVE STORAGE.
SO THAT'S GONNA FREE UP SPACE.
UM, THE PROBLEM WITH AN 80,000 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING HAS GOTTA BE SECURED AIR CONDITIONED.
THE ROOF GETS TO BE $10 MILLION TO REPLACE PAINTING.
AND I KNOW MY AIR CONDITIONING BILL HAS ALMOST DOUBLED, UM, IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
SO AS WE THINK ABOUT, OKAY, WE'RE GONNA KEEP GOING AND WE'RE GONNA REMODEL AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE 80,000 SQUARE FEET IF WE NEED IT, THAT'S ONE THING.
IF WE DON'T, THAT IS A LONG, AN ONGOING EXPENSE THAT I THINK ALSO WE NEED TO CONSIDER AS WE LOOK AT ALL THESE OPTIONS.
SO, UM, THOSE ARE JUST KINDA MY INITIAL COMMENTS.
THEY REALLY, REALLY QUESTIONS.
UM, COLONEL GEIER, WE NEED A CRYSTAL BALL.
UH, WE NEED TO, UH, TRY TO GUESS WHAT WE'RE GONNA LOOK LIKE IN 10, 15 YEARS BEFORE WE MAKE ANY DECISION ON WHAT WE DO HERE.
WE DON'T WANNA BUILD A WHITE ELEPHANT HERE THAT WE 10 YEARS FROM NOW LOOK BACK AND SAY, BOY, THAT WAS STUPID.
I MEAN, THAT, THAT'S NOT AN EASY THING TO DO.
MY BELIEF IS, AND WE'VE BEEN TOLD ABOUT GROWTH IN BLUFFTON IS STILL GOING TO CONTINUE, BUT IT'S GONNA START TO TAPER OFF BECAUSE WE ARE LOOKING AT PURCHASING THE LAST PIECE OF REALLY GOOD LAND TO PUT ANOTHER BIG SUBDIVISION IN.
SO WHERE'S IT GOING TO IS ALL OF A SUDDEN THE GROWTH GONNA STOP IN BEAUFORT COUNTY BECAUSE BLUFFTON IS PRETTY WELL FILLED OUT.
THERE'S NOTHING HILTON HIT'S NOT GONNA GROW.
SO WHERE'S THE GROWTH GONNA BE? WELL, I BELIEVE THE GROWTH IS GOING TO BE IN THE BURTON AREA
[00:40:01]
UP TO THE WHALE BRANCH.THERE'LL BE SOME IN LADIES ISLAND.
SO I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IN 10 YEARS, WHERE IS THE CENTER OF GRAVITY FOR SUPPORT OR EDUCATION, PUBLIC EDUCATION IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
I STILL, I DON'T, I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE GROWTH HERE, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S EVER GOING TO MATCH THE GROWTH IN THE BLUFFTON AREA.
UH, SO I REALLY THINK THE DISTRICT OFFICE SHOULD BE CONSOLIDATED.
I AGREE WITH YOU TOTALLY ABOUT THE SPACE ISSUE.
I I'VE SEEN STAFFS NOT AS BIG AS, OR BIGGER THAN THIS IN A MUCH SMALLER, UH, EDUCATION THAT THE, UH, THE STAFF HEADQUARTERS FOR CITY UNIVERSITY OF SEATTLE, SEATTLE HAS ABOUT THE SAME SIZE.
AND IT'S IN ONE BUILDING IN BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON.
AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO HERE ARE A LOT OF SPACE AVAILABLE, RIGHT? CHO RIGHT CHOICES IS NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
THAT'S ABSOLUTELY NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
IT NEEDS TO BE CENTRALIZED BECAUSE WE HAVE RIGHT CHOICES, KIDS COMING ALL THE WAY FROM HILTON HEAD TO HERE.
THIS BOARD MEETING NEEDS TO BE CENTRALIZED.
THERE'S NO REASON FOR THE BOARD TO BE HERE.
THE BOARD MEETINGS HERE, IT SHOULD BE IN THE BLUFFTON AREA, CENTRALIZED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
THE STAFF NEEDS TO BE IN THE SAME BUILDING.
THAT'S, THAT'S ABSOLUTELY GIVEN.
BUT, AND THEN WE GOTTA LOOK AT WHEN WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO HAVE THE FUNDS TO DO SOMETHING MAJOR, OBVIOUSLY FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE ANY, ANY FUNDS TO DO ANYTHING MAJOR.
SO WHAT DO WE DO IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? AND THEN WHAT DO WE DO IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS? WE HAVE A, A VERY DIFFICULT THING TO, TO DO.
AND THAT'S TO PREDICT THE FUTURE AND TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T PUT MONEY INTO A PLACE THAT WE LOOK BACK ON AND SAY IT'S A MISTAKE.
AND WHAT, WHAT DOES THIS PROPERTY LOOK LIKE AND FUNCTIONALITY IN 10, 20 YEARS? I HAVE SERIOUS DOUBTS ABOUT WHAT IT SHOULD BE.
I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE BACK TO BE AT A SCHOOL, MAYBE NOT IN THIS BUILDING, BUT IN A, A DIFFERENT SCHOOL.
'CAUSE I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED IN 10, 20 YEARS.
ANOTHER SCHOOL RIGHT HERE, WHEN YOU LOOK AT, UH, THE MAYOR OF BUFORT TALKED TO US, UH, TALKED TO THE GROUP I'M IN AND SAID THAT THEY HAVE OUR DATA SHOWING THAT THE POPULATION OF BEAUFORT AND THE SIDE, THE CITY LIMITS OF BEAUFORD WITH ALL THE AREAS THAT THEY HAVE ANNEXED THAT HAVEN'T BEEN BUILT UP YET, WILL, WILL GO UP TO 5,000, 5,000 MORE PEOPLE.
SO THAT'S GONNA SAY THERE'S GONNA BE MORE DEMAND FOR SCHOOLING IN THIS AREA.
SO I, I, I DON'T HAVE THE SOLUTION.
I, I WISH I DID, BUT WE'VE REALLY GOTTA HAVE A, A VERY GOOD PLAN AND ONE THAT'S FLEXIBLE AND ONE THAT'S ADAPTABLE TO GROWTH AS IT HAPPENS.
AND, AND WE, FRANKLY, WE'VE GOT FIVE, FOUR OR FIVE YEARS BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO DO MUCH ELSE.
SO MAYBE WE NEED SOMETHING INERATIVE TO, TO KEEP THIS PLACE GOING AT A, AT THE MAX AT THE MINIMUM COST SO THAT IN FIVE YEARS WE CAN LOOK BACK AND SAY, OKAY, THIS IS WHERE WE NEED TO GO AND THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
EARL, UM, THE PROPERTY AT OKEE, HOW MUCH PROPERTY IS THAT? SO REMEMBER WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF SWAPPING PROPERTIES.
OUR PROPERTY WAS, UM, JUST UNDER 20 ACRES WITH WETLANDS.
IT WAS A BUILDABLE PROPERTY THAT IS ABOUT 15 OR LESS.
WE'RE SWAPPING THAT FOR A 30 ACRE PIECE OF PROPERTY.
SO WE WILL HAVE, WHEN THAT DEAL IS FINISHED, A 30 ACRE PIECE OF PROPERTY, 30 ACRES OF PROPERTY.
SO WOULD THAT BE LARGE ENOUGH TO PUT A BUILDING TO, TO ANSWER SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE ARE HAVING? YES.
THIS PROPERTY, IF I REMEMBER, IS A LITTLE OVER 20 ACRES, 25.
SO YOU COULD DO EVERYTHING WE WERE
[00:45:01]
DOING HERE ON A 30 ACRE PIECE OF PROPERTY WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM.UM, SOME WHAT, 10 YEARS AGO, I THINK IT WAS MAYBE A LITTLE BIT LONGER.
UM, THEY TALK ABOUT MOVING THE DISTRICT OFFICE, UH, SOUTH OF ABROAD.
AND, UM, IT WAS A LOT OF KICKBACK FROM COUNTY COUNCIL ON THAT.
AND I'M THINKING THAT IF YOU TRY TO DO IT AGAIN, IT'S GONNA PROBABLY BE THE SAME THING BECAUSE THEY'RE SAYING THEIR MAIN BUILDING IS IN BUFORT.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING I CAN THINK ABOUT.
I'VE, I'VE SAT BACK AND LISTENED TO THIS CONVERSATION AND, UM, I'VE COME TO THE REALIZATION OF A COUPLE THINGS.
UH, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE STATE HOUSE, LET'S START THERE.
THEY MOVED IT FROM GREENVILLE TO COLUMBIA.
NOW, LET'S LEAVE THERE AND COME, LET'S COME TO BEAUFORT.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT BEAUFORT COUNTY, DAVE TALKED ABOUT MOVING THE SHERIFF OFFICE TIME AFTER TIME.
THEY TALKED ABOUT MOVING THE COURTHOUSE.
THE COURTHOUSE IS PUT THERE FOR A REASON.
FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, YOU, YOU JUST CAN'T UP AND MOVE THAT LIKE THAT A A AS, UH, AS A, AS A COUNTY.
THERE'RE DIFFERENT RESTRICTIONS.
SO WHERE ARE YOU GOING AT MR. SMITH? SCHOOL BOARD? THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
I MEAN, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ARE ALL, ALL MAIN FACILITY IS WHERE EVERY MUCH, PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ELSE IS AT, YOU KNOW, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING STAFF THE SPACE THAT THEY NEED, I BELIEVE WE, WE CAN DO THAT.
AND I BELIEVE THAT, THAT, THAT WE'RE SERVING THEM, UH, IN TERMS OF SAFETY AND SECURITY, UH, THE SAFETY AND SECURITY, UH, MEASURE THAT WE JUST TOOK TO PUT IN PLACE.
BUT IN TERMS TO SAY THAT WE ARE NOT HAVING STAFF IN CERTAIN PLACES THAT THEY HAVE TO DRIVE FROM HILTON HEAD AND STUFF LIKE THAT, UM, THAT'S WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR.
THAT'S THE JOB THAT YOU SAID THAT YOU WANNA COME HERE AND YOU WANNA WORK.
NO ONE IS MAKING IN THIS, AND I'M NOT THROWING PUNCHES, I'M JUST SAYING IN, IN GENERALLY, WHICH IS TRUE, WHEN YOU GET YOUR JOB ASSIGNMENT, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU SIGN UP AND YOU SIGN SOME SOMEPLACE WHERE IT'S CONVENIENT FOR YOU.
AND WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE CAN'T JUST CHANGE BECAUSE WE THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, IT'S, UH, WE, WE WANT TO, WE WANT TO CATER.
WE WANNA KID, EVERYBODY NEEDS, 'CAUSE WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
WE, WE, WE ARE A DISTRICT AND ALSO IN, AND, UH, IN TERMS OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES COMING FROM HILTON HEAD AND IN, IN DIFFERENT AREAS, THEY MAY ADDRESS THAT AS WELL.
ONE THING I DO KNOW ABOUT, LET'S USE TECHNOLOGY FOR INSTANCE.
WE HAVE TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE WHO WORK IN TECHNOLOGY, THEY'RE HOUSED IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN THIS DISTRICT AT DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.
WE HAVE SOMEONE IN TECHNOLOGY AND PROBABLY ABOUT EVERY SCHOOL, EVERY SCHOOL IN, IN THIS DISTRICT.
SO WE ALREADY HAVE THOSE POSITIONS OUTSOURCED IN DIFFERENT BUILDINGS THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
SO YOU ARE GIVEN AN OPTION IF YOU LIVE ON THAT SIDE OF TOWN, TO WORK ON THAT SIDE OF TOWN, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANNA DO.
SAME THING WITH SOCIAL WORKERS, SAME THING WITH NURSES.
WE HAVE POSITIONS THAT ARE CREATED THAT IF YOU WANNA WORK ON CERTAIN SIDES OF TOWN, THAT YOU DO HAVE THAT OPTION.
SO LET, LET'S LET, LET'S CLARIFY THAT.
LET'S PUT SOME, LET'S PUT SOME RESPECT AND GET A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING ON THAT FOR THE PUBLIC.
UH, IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF THE BOARD MEETINGS, IF WE, WE ALREADY, WE ALREADY TAKE THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD.
WE ALREADY GO TO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AND WE HAVE A MEETING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWNS.
YOU HAVE SOME DISTRICTS WHO EVEN HAVE THIS TYPE OF, EXCUSE ME, THIS TYPE OF SPACE TO HAVE A MEETING IN.
YOU HAVE SOME DISTRICTS WHO STRICTLY GO TO HAVE THEIR MEETINGS IN HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARIES.
BUT WE'VE BEEN ABLE, BUT CONVENIENTLY OUR TAXPAYERS HAVE ALLOWED US TO HAVE THE FACILITIES TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE MEETING HERE.
SO LET'S NOT TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED.
BECAUSE IF WE WANT TO, AND IF WE WANT TO GO AND HAVE THOSE MEETINGS OVER THERE, THEN WE CAN GO TO THE, WE CAN GO TO OUR HIGH SCHOOL ON HILTON HEAD IN BRUTON AND HAVE, AND HAVE MEETINGS LIKE, LIKE OTHER, LIKE OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS DO.
THAT'S WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO DO.
BECAUSE THE OTHER NIGHT WE WENT OVER THERE AND WE HAD A MEETING.
I DIDN'T SEE MUCH PEOPLE FROM, FROM, FROM THAT AREA WHO, WHO, WHO, WHO, WHO, WHO CAME IN AND SAY, OH, THERE WAS A COUPLE PEOPLE, BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THEY'RE BEATING THE DOOR DOWN.
SO, YOU KNOW, I, I WANT TO BE A GOOD STEWARD
[00:50:01]
OF SPENDING TAXPAYERS MONEY AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR AND WHAT AND WHAT WE'RE DOING AND MAKE, AND MAKING SURE THAT WHEN WE ARE LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD AS, AS, UH, AS SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SAID UP, I'VE SAID UP HERE THIS MORNING ALSO SAY, HELEN ISLAND IS GROWING, CORRECTION.SO AIN'T JUST, AIN'T JUST BEAUTIFUL AND BLUFFING, SAY HELEN ISLAND AND LADIES ISLAND IS GROWING LADIES ISLAND BUSTING THROUGH THE SEAMS RIGHT NOW.
THAT THERE, THERE WAS A GUY LAST WEEK WHO WAS, WHO WAS TRYING TO PUT ABOUT THREE OR FOUR APARTMENT COMPLEXES IN LADIES IN LA IN LADIES ISLAND.
SO WE ALL HAD, WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS GOING ON.
WE HAVE TO MAKE CAREFUL DECISIONS.
AND FYI, ANOTHER ELEPHANT IS WE HAVE A LOT OF CHARTER AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS THEY'RE DEVELOPING RIGHT IN THIS AREA TOO.
SO WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL HOW WE'RE SPENDING TAXPAYERS MONEY BECAUSE WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT, THAT WE'RE
SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF VARIABLES OUT THERE THAT WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT.
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, SOMETIMES EVERYTHING DON'T NEED TO BE FIXING BILLING AND BILLING AND BILLING AND BILLING AND BILLING TIGHT QUITE, TO BE QUITE HONEST WITH YOU, I'M KIND OF TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT SPENDING TAXPAYER MONEY AND BUILDING THINGS, OR THERE'S A NEED VERSUS ONE.
I WANTED TO WAKE UP THIS MORNING AND DRIVE AND DRIVE TO WORK IN A, A, A BRAND NEW MERCEDES, BUT GUESS WHAT,
BUT I GOT UP AND I WAS, GOD BLESSED ME TO DRIVE WHAT I DROVE AND I GOT TO WORK THIS MORNING.
SO THAT'S JUST, THAT'S JUST MY MESSAGE ON THAT.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING CAREFUL AND RATIONAL DECISIONS WHEN IT COMES TO TAXPAYERS MONEY AND WE UNDERSTANDING WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE HAVE.
AND WE'RE NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, THINKING UPON, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN POCKETS.
EVERY KID EVERY DAY IS WHAT WE ARE HERE TO SERVE.
UM, I JUST WANTED SAY THAT I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A SPACE STUDY DONE BECAUSE I AM OF A STRONG BELIEF THAT WE WOULD FIND THAT WE DIDN'T NEED, UM, 80,000 SQUARE FEET FOR THE STAFF AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A STUDY DONE, UM, TO FIND OUT WHAT IS ACTUALLY NECESSARY BEFORE WE WOULD MOVE FORWARD WITH ANY TYPE OF PLAN.
UM, MR. GUY, I AGREE WITH YOU TO, TO AN EXTENT, UH, ABOUT THE, THE CRYSTAL BALL.
UM, ALTHOUGH, UH, IN SO MUCH AS THAT WE NEED TO POSITION OURSELF TO BE READY WHEN CHANGE HAPPENS.
UM, HOWEVER, ONE IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH.
UH, WE, WE DON'T HAVE, WE DON'T HAVE THE CRYSTAL BALL AND WE WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO SEE IN THE FUTURE LOOKING AT, JUST LOOKING AT THE DATA THAT WE HAVE OUT OF OUR, OUR MASTER PLAN THAT I BRING TO EVERY ME MEETING.
UH, OUR ENROLLMENT, UH, HAS NOT, WE'RE STILL A THOUSAND SHY OF PRE PANDEMIC ENROLLMENT AND OUR, WE'VE HUNG AROUND 21 5 FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS.
UH, NOW WE ARE EXPECTING GROWTH BECAUSE WE'VE HEARD ABOUT, UM, THE PORT COMING IN AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF.
AND WE KNOW THAT, UM, ONE 70 THROUGH OUR OWN ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE, UH, ONE 70, UM, CORRIDOR IS GOING TO EXPAND.
UM, SO I THINK WE NEED TO BE PREPARED, UH, TO CHANGE.
UH, HOWEVER, UM, I, I, I, UH, THE, THE, THE, THE COMMENT THAT YOU MADE ABOUT THE INCREASING STAFF IS, IS TROUBLESOME.
UH, IF OUR ENROLLMENT HASN'T CHANGED, WHY WOULD WE HAVE MORE AND MORE STAFF? BUT THAT'S NOT A CONVERSATION FOR THIS.
UM, BUT, UM, I THINK DOING NOTHING, UH, IS, IS IS INVITING, UM, SOME, SOME HARDSHIP IN THE FUTURE.
UH, IT'S, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
UM, I THINK, UM, IF, IF ANYTHING, JUST DOING A LITTLE BIT NOW AND A LITTLE BIT NEXT YEAR AND A LITTLE BIT NEXT YEAR, UH, WILL HELP ALLEVIATE THE PAIN IN THE FUTURE.
BUT IT'S EITHER GONNA BE PAIN NOW OR PAIN LATER.
I WOULD, UH, SAY PEOPLE HAVE MADE SOME REALLY GOOD POINTS.
I ESPECIALLY AGREE WITH, UH, MY COLLEAGUES, UH, INGRID, UH, DICK AND VICTOR, I THINK, UH, WHO DO WE SERVE? WE SERVE THE STUDENTS.
YES, WE HAVE TO, WE'RE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE TAXPAYERS, BUT FOR YEARS NOW, THE STUDENTS HAVE BEEN WEIGHTED SOUTH OF THE BROAD, FAR MORE THAN NORTH OF THE BROAD AND, UH, YOU KNOW, COMMUTING.
IT, IT'S, IT'S, UH, YEAH, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW WE HAVE TO COMMUTE IF YOU, IF YOU DON'T WORK IN THE SAME TOWN THAT YOU, YOU LIVE IN, AND BLUFFTON IS ENORMOUS.
I MEAN, BLUFFTON, THEY HAVE LOTS OF, UH, AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, INCORPORATED AS PART OF THE TOWN.
BUT I LIVE IN A PART THAT'S UNINCORPORATED
[00:55:01]
BLUFFTON AND IT'S, IT'S NOT REAL RURAL.UM, SO THE ACTUAL SIZE OF BLUFFTON IS, UH, VERY BIG BEYOND THE, THE, THE AREAS THAT ARE CONSIDERED WITHIN THE TOWN LIMITS.
UM, I THINK WHAT, UM, MS. HAY SAID, UH, I THINK PROBABLY THE FIRST STEP WOULD BE TO, UH, DO A STUDY, AND I WOULDN'T SAY AN EXPENSIVE STUDY OR A REAL DETAILED STUDY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT WITH A CONSULTANT, GIVE US, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS A STATE-OF-THE-ART BUILDING FOR A STAFF.
THAT IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF SQUARE FOOTAGE ARE WE TALKING ABOUT FOR THE STAFF THAT, THAT WE HAVE? BECAUSE I, I DO THINK WE HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD AND YEAH, WE DON'T HAVE THE CRYSTAL BALL AS COLONEL GEIER SAID, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE, UH, THINGS ARE MORE HEAVILY WEIGHTED, UH, IN TERMS OF OUR STUDENTS AND HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS SOUTH OF THE BROAD.
AND AS WE ALL HAVE, UH, POINTED OUT, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUTING PART OF, OF, UH, THE COUNTY IS, IS NOT LIKELY TO GET BETTER IN THE NEXT, UH, FIVE OR 10 YEARS.
IT'S LIKELY TO GET WORSE OVER THE NEXT FIVE OR 10 YEARS.
UM, AND THEN AS, UH, MR. CAMPBELL BROUGHT OUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT WE AND, AND ROBERT RESPONDED THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS PROPERTY IN OKEE, THAT WOULD CERTAINLY, UM, SUFFICE FOR A, FOR A BUILDING THIS SIZE, AND YET WE PROBABLY DON'T NEED A BUILDING THIS SIZE.
UM, AND I, MY, I DO NOT FAVOR PUTTING MORE AND MORE MONEY INTO THIS BUILDING.
I FAVOR JUST DOING WHAT'S NECESSARY TO KEEP IT GOING FOR NOW UNTIL WE HAVE A REASONABLE PLAN.
AND, AND THE FUNDS, WHICH AS I THINK COLONEL GUYER AND OTHERS HAVE POINTED OUT, ARE LIKELY NOT AVAILABLE TO US FOR A FEW YEARS SINCE WE'VE, YOU KNOW, PASSED TWO GINORMOUS REFERENDUMS IN, UH, TOTALING THREE QUARTERS OF A BILLION DOLLARS SINCE, SINCE 2019.
AND THOSE FUNDS ARE, HAVE TO BE USED THE WAY THEY WERE ADVERTISED TO THE VOTERS WHEN THEY VOTED.
SO THEY CANNOT BE USED FOR THIS TYPE OF THING.
SO, UM, SO DR. RODRIGUEZ, I'D LIKE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK
UM, ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS IS THAT IN THIS FACILITY, RIGHT? UH, I HAVE TO HEAR FROM, FROM, UH, FROM OUR STAFF THAT WORK AND FUNCTION IN THIS FACILITY.
OKAY? AND, AND SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT THEY SHARE, BECAUSE I MEET WITH THEM MONTHLY IN HERE, RIGHT IN THIS ROOM, AND I TALK WITH THEM MONTHLY.
UM, AND DIFFERENT THINGS COME UP FROM TIME TO TIME.
UM, THERE ARE SOME SAFETY AND SECURITY MEASURES OKAY.
THAT I'M, I'M NOT GONNA BRING UP HERE.
UM, THAT'S FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION SOMETIME, UM, THAT HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED, UM, POSSIBLY BEYOND OR PROBABLY BEYOND, UH, EVEN WHAT, UH, WHAT WAS APPROVED AT THAT JUNCTURE.
UM, I THINK SECONDLY, YOU KNOW, UM, THERE ARE JUST SOME PHYSICAL RELATED ISSUES WITH THE, UH, WITH THE PLANT THAT, THAT HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED, THAT ROBERT SAID THAT HE GOT FAILING SYSTEMS. AND, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M A GUY.
I DON'T NEED MUCH, ME PERSONALLY, I DON'T NEED MUCH.
I, I'M, THAT'S HOW I ROLL, RIGHT? SO THAT'S WHAT OUR KIDS WOULD SAY.
BUT, UM, AND I THINK WE HAVE A TEAM THAT IS VERY, VERY SELF-SUFFICIENT LIKE THAT, RIGHT? UM, I WOULD, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PERSONNEL MATTERS OR, OR THE PERSONNEL, UH, ENROLLMENT, NOT ENROLLMENT, UM, STAFFING, ONE THING I THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW IS, IS THE FOLLOWING UNDER MY ADMINISTRATION FOR SURE, UH, THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, BASED ON A STATE REPORT THAT THE STATE PUTS OUT, SPENDS FEWER DOLLARS AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL IN PERSONNEL AND, AND DOLLAR SPENT, UM, THAN ANY OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE STATE.
IN ADDITION, UH, I, I WOULD SAY A CAVEAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT, UH, I, I, I WOULD, I WOULD, I WOULD, THAT'S THE WAY IT'S BEEN, AND I WOULD KEEP US NOW, I WOULD SAY WE'RE WITHIN, UH, UH, I WOULD SAY WITHIN THE TOP THREE.
OKAY? AND, UH, BOTTOM THREE, EXCUSE ME.
THE REASON I BRING THAT UP IS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S
[01:00:01]
SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOOK AT THE OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM, RIGHT? UM, I USE IT IN, UH, SOME MILITARY FORMAT, UH, MAYBE TO HELP, UH, IN MY, IN MY EXPLANATION.SO, UH, IN THE FIRST IRAQ WAR, RIGHT? UH, DONALD RUMSFELD, NOT DONALD RUMSFELD, COLIN POWELL STRATEGY OF OVERWHELMING FORCE, RIGHT? IS ONE OPTION IN TERMS OF HOW YOU SUPPORT SCHOOLS DURING THE SECOND, THERE'S A, A, A SHIFT IN THAT APPROACH, RIGHT? DONALD RUMSFELD'S APPROACH, I THINK WAS, UH, UH, MORE TARGETED STRATEGIC STRIKES, UH, NAVY SEALS, THE, THE SMALLER TEAMS, UH, THAT SORT OF THING, RIGHT? WHEN I GOT HERE, WE DID AN EFFICIENCY STUDY, IF YOU REMEMBER.
AND IN THAT EFFICIENCY STUDY, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS HIGHLIGHTED WAS THAT THE SYSTEM FROM THE DISTRICT LEVEL WAS VASTLY UNDERSTAFFED TO CARRY OUT THE WORK TO SUPPORT, UH, SCHOOLS.
AND WE HAVE, UH, MODERATELY ADJUSTED ALONG THOSE LINES, UH, UH, TO, TO ACCOMPLISH, UH, THE SUPPORT TASKS THAT WE HAVE.
I, I, I THINK THERE ARE STILL NEEDS IN TERMS OF THAT SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS, BUT I, I, I DON'T THINK IT'S A HUNDRED PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T NECESSARILY THINK IT'S 50 PEOPLE, BUT IT'S A STRATEGIC PLACEMENT OF SOME ADDITIONAL, UH, POSITIONS AND PERHAPS AN ADDITIONAL DEPARTMENT OKAY.
THAT, THAT, THAT WE DON'T NECESSARILY CURRENTLY HAVE.
UM, BUT WE'RE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE AT HOW WE APPROACH THIS.
THIS IS WHY I DON'T JUST BRING IT BACK AND SAY WE NEED, RIGHT? UM, SO THERE ARE, THERE ARE SOME PHYSICAL ISSUES WITH THE PLANT, YOU KNOW, IS, IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF AN ADDITION, SOMETHING THAT REQUIRES, UH, 20,000 SQUARE FEET? NO, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST SAYING THERE ARE SOME ADDITIONS WITHIN OUR STAFFING THAT I THINK WE, WE PROBABLY STILL NEED, UH, UH, TO HELP PUSH FORWARD AND MAXIMIZE, UM, PERHAPS WHAT WE COULD BE DOING.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THE FACILITY IS THERE, THERE ARE THINGS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN TO THE FACILITY TO KEEP IT RUNNING, TO KEEP WHATEVER.
I, I JUST NEED, UH, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GONNA DO A SPACE STUDY, YOU KNOW, WE CAN DO A SPACE STUDY AND WE CAN, WE CAN SEE WHERE THAT YIELDS, BUT WHEN THE SPACE STUDY COMES BACK AND YIELDS WHATEVER IT YIELDS, ARE WE GONNA BE READY TO MOVE? BECAUSE, BECAUSE I GOT STAFF IN THIS BUILDING AND I CAN'T KEEP, UH, NECESSARILY KICKING IT DOWN THE ROAD, THERE ARE THINGS THAT, THAT WE DEFINITELY NEED TO ADDRESS ALONG THE JOURNEY OF WHATEVER THAT IS, RIGHT? UM, WHEREVER WE'RE GONNA END UP.
UM, SO MY, THO THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS, REALLY.
I MEAN, I, THIS FACILITY HAS NEEDS, UH, THINGS THAT, THAT HAVE TO GET DONE.
UM, AND I THINK IS YOUR POINT, YOU KNOW, LET'S, LET'S GET SOME OF 'EM DONE, THEN WE CAN LOOK AT WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE DONE AND WE'LL GET SOME OF THAT DONE.
AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, NOBODY HAS A CRYSTAL BALL.
SO THIS IS JUST, JUST MY THOUGHTS.
I MEAN, UH, IN TERMS OF THE GENERAL CONVERSATION THAT'S BEEN THERE.
ALL RIGHT, MS. BOATRIGHT, AND THEN MR. SMITH, THANK YOU.
I THINK THERE'S SOME CONSENSUS THAT WE NEED TO OBVIOUSLY KEEP THIS BUILDING GOING, AND WE DON'T WANT STAFF.
AND I SAID THAT TO ROBERT, I SAID, WHATEVER.
WE WANT IT TO BE A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR, FOR THE STAFF.
NOT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE MOST BUDGET AIRLINE VERSION OF THE BUILDING WE CAN HAVE.
BUT I DO THINK IN ADDITION TO NOT HAVING A CRYSTAL BALL, WHICH I LIKE THAT ANALOGY FOR THE POPULATION GROWTH BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS UP IN THE AIR WITH BEAUFORT COUNTY RIGHT NOW IN, IN GENERAL.
BUT THE OTHER THING, I THINK WE, IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE TIME TO REALLY LOOK AT THIS BEFORE WE MAKE A MAJOR COMMITMENT, AND WE'RE JUST GONNA KIND OF KEEP THINGS GOING.
I WAS GONNA CALL HIM OUT, BUT WHEN HE COMES BACK, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF CHANGES GOING ON.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, THERE'S A LOT OF CHANGES IN THE TECHNOLOGY OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN HOW WE USE SKILL BUILDINGS, YOU KNOW, UM, THINGS THAT WE CAN PUT IN LIKE VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS, VR I MEAN, MARK, I'M SORRY, I WAS JUST TEASING WHEN YOU WALKED OUT, YOU
LIKE, I, I APPROVED YOUR E HALL PASS
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THERE ARE SOME, SOME INNOVATIVE AND INTERESTING THINGS GOING ON OUT NATIONWIDE IN TERMS OF, AND I WILL THROW OUT ONE THING THAT I AM PERSONALLY ENAMORED OF.
UM, IF WE WERE TO AT SOME POINT TALK ABOUT CENTRALIZING AND WHATNOT, AND
[01:05:01]
EVERYONE'S HEARD, BUT LEXINGTON TWO DID SOMETHING RECENTLY WHERE THEY BUILT A FIF FOR $52 MILLION.THEY BUILT A 15, UH, PER 1500 PERSON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER WITH TWO LEVELS THAT WILL HOLD 1500 PEOPLE.
IN ADDITION TO WHICH THEY, IT HAS BREAKOUT SPACES, IT HAS CONFERENCE ROOMS, IT HAS A TWO STORY BALCONY.
AND THEN THEY BUILT THE, UM, DISTRICT OFFICES ON THAT.
NOW, THAT MAY NOT BE AN OPTION, BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS AN INTERESTING CONCEPT BECAUSE ANOTHER THING THAT I THINK WE DO NEED TO THINK ABOUT HERE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AS WE LOOK MAYBE DOWN FOUR YEARS IS, YOU KNOW, DO WE HAVE, UM, A CONVOCATION SPACE THAT WE COULD USE BECAUSE THE GRADUATIONS OUTDOORS IS, IS TOUGH EVERY SINGLE YEAR IN ONE PLACE WHERE, UM, THAT COULD HAPPEN.
DO WE NEED LIKE PERFORMING ARTS? DO WE NEED, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY, UH, CONFERENCE THAT WE HAVE THAT SHOULD ATTRACT PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO COME HERE AND HEAR ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND RIGHT NOW, THE, WHEN I'VE GONE TO IT, IT'S LIKE IN LITTLE CLASSROOMS DO OVER TCL.
WHAT IF WE HAD A FABULOUS, YOU KNOW, IN ADDITION TO A DISTRICT OFFICE THAT ACCOMMODATED EVERYBODY, A FABULOUS SPACE WHERE WE COULD HOST, UH, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WE COULD HOST UNITED NATION FINALS, WE COULD HOST THE DECK COMPETITION.
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE THAT CAPABILITY CURRENTLY, UM, IN THE DISTRICT.
SO I JUST WANNA SAY, NOT IN ADDITION TO THE CRYSTAL BALL ABOUT POPULATION GROWTH AND, AND THE BALANCE OF ENROLLMENT AND COMMU AND WHATNOT, IS TO REALLY THINK ABOUT ARE THERE SOME INNOVATIVE AND NOT JUST BUILD A BUILDING THAT WE'VE HAD THAT LOOKS LIKE BUILDINGS EVERYWHERE ELSE FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS, BUT HOW, WHAT ARE WE GONNA LOOK DOWN THE ROAD 10 OR 20 YEARS? WHAT DOES EDUCATION LOOK LIKE? UM, 'CAUSE I DO SUSPECT IT WILL BE LOOK AT LEAST SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT.
I'M GLAD YOU WERE BACK FOR THAT.
UM, MR. SMITH, UM, I, I DO AGREE WITH THAT.
UH, HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, MY, MY, MY QUESTION IS, UM, IF WE KNEW THAT THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN IN NEED OF THIS FOR SO LONG, WE JUST CAME UP WITH A REFERENDUM.
WHY WASN'T THIS A PART OF REFERENDUM? I MEAN, I, I JUST DOES, AS, UH, MR. OTTING MENTIONED, THE VERY FIRST THING I DO IS KIDS FIRST.
SO WHAT WE NEEDED AT SCHOOLS FIRST, THAT'S, THAT WAS WHAT HAD TO HAPPEN.
BUT THAT, THAT'S, THAT, THAT'S, THAT ANSWER IS NOT REALLY, AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, RIGHT, WE DIDN'T JUST DESIGN THE REFERENDUM HERE, RIGHT? RIGHT.
WE GOT COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT IN THE DESIGN OF THE REFERENDUM.
AND, AND THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT CAME OUT FROM COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO PRIORITIZE FIRST, UH, IN TERMS OF, OF, OF WHAT WAS NEEDED, RIGHT? SO REMEMBER, THEY, THEY LISTED AND LAID OUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT WAS 980 SOME MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF NEEDS THAT THEY IDENTIFIED AND BEYOND THAT 980 SOME MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF NEEDS.
THEN WE SAID, PRIORITIZE THAT.
SO WAS THIS, WAS THIS, WAS THIS IN, DID, DID, WAS THIS ONE OF THE AGENDA ON, ON, ON, ON, ON THE, ON, ON ITEMS ON THAT LIST? THE REASON WHY I'M ASKING THAT IS BECAUSE REMEMBER NOW I DO YEAH.
AND I HAVE ATTENDED SOME OF THOSE MEETINGS.
SO I I DO UNDERSTAND THE WORK, THE COLLEGES HOURS THAT GO IN AND HOW THAT PROCESS WORKS.
SO I'M JUST ASKING, THEY, THEY VISITED SCHOOLS.
SO I'M JUST ASKING IF WE KNEW THIS THEN.
MY, MY, MY QUESTION IS, BECAUSE THIS BUILDING IS THE HEARTBEAT OF THE DISTRICT, UH, AND OF, OF WHERE THAT WORKS, SOME OF, SOME OF THAT WORKS COMES FROM, SO, SO I'M, SO I'M JUST ASKING A, A PART OF THAT IS THIS BUILDING, JUST THIS BUILDING IS KIND OF, IS JUST, WELL, NOT KIND OF, IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS ANY OTHER BUILDING IN THE FUNCTIONS OF RUNNING THIS DISTRICT THAN ANY OTHER BUILDING.
AND THEN IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE, SO I GUESS, SORRY, HE WAS SHAKING HIS HEAD IN THAT IT WASN'T.
SO MY, MY, MY QUESTIONS IS, IF, IF NOT, IF NOT, IF NOT, THEN WHY NOT? I MEAN, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
WELL, PARTIALLY BECAUSE WHEN THEY, THEY VISITED, UH, SCHOOLS AND THEY LOOKED AT SCHOOLS, AND THAT WAS THE PRIORITY FROM THAT COMMITTEE RIGHT OUT OF THE GATES IS, IS WHAT WE NEED IN SCHOOLS.
AND THAT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE PRIORITY, RIGHT? THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WHAT HAPPENS IN HERE ISN'T IMPORTANT.
THAT WE DON'T WANT SAFETY FOR PEOPLE IN THIS BUILDING.
THAT WE DON'T WANT AC THINGS FOR PEOPLE IN THIS BUILDING.
RIGHT? YOU ALWAYS HAVE SCARCITY, ALWAYS HAVE SCARCITY, UNLIMITED NEEDS AND UNLIMITED WANTS, LIMITED RESOURCES ALWAYS, RIGHT? ALWAYS, WHICH REQUIRE DECISIONS TO BE MADE.
OKAY? AND SO THOSE COMMITTEES IN PRIORITIZING THEIR WORK, SOME OF THE DECISIONS WERE, WERE FOCUSED ON WHAT WAS NEEDED AT SCHOOL SITES.
RIGHT? THAT DOESN'T TAKE AWAY THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NEEDS IN THIS OTHER FACILITY THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, ISN'T THE CASE.
RIGHT? SO, SO WE STILL HAVE NEEDS, AND IT'S NOT LIKE AS
[01:10:01]
A BOARD, UH, WE HAVEN'T SHARED THAT THERE ARE NEEDS IN THIS FACILITY, RIGHT? WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT OPENLY IN COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND THERE REGULARLY THAT THERE ARE NEEDS IN THIS FACILITY, RIGHT? SO WHILE IT'S NOT ON THE REFERENDUM, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE ARE OTHER, THERE AREN'T OTHER MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH THAT.RIGHT? AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S IN ESSENCE WHERE WE ARE.
AND I DO HEAR YOU AND, AND, AND, AND IN SAFETY SECURITY, BECAUSE FOR THE PUBLIC, WE HAVE, WE HAVE, UH, GAVE, WE HAVE, UH, PLACED THE, UH, THE NEEDS THAT WAS ON THE, UH, MET THE NEEDS THAT, THAT WAS ON THE AGENDA FOR, UH, SAFETY AND SECURITY NEEDS.
BECAUSE I TOO HAVE HEARD FROM, HAD HEARD FROM, UH, CON THE DISTRICT EMPLOYEES.
AND THEY, AND THEY SAID THAT, THAT THAT WAS A BIG, I A BIG DEAL.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THE BOARD, WE DID, UH, WE DID RESPOND TO THEM, AND WE DID PUT THAT ON THE AGENDA, AND WE DID PUSH THAT OUT.
THE 5 MILLION ALSO IN TERM, IN TERMS OF THAT WE, IN TERMS OF THEM BRINGING THESE DIFFERENT ISSUES, WE HAVE RESPONDED TO THESE ISSUES.
AND, AND WE, AND WE HAVE, UH, CON WE HAVE, WE HAVE, UH, AND LEVELED UP WHEN IT COMES TO SAFETY AND SECURITY, BECAUSE THAT HAS TO DO ONE OF THE DISTRICT PRIOR PRIORITY, UH, THE ISSUES.
SO WE, WE DID RESOLVE THAT ONE.
WELL, AND, AND, AND, AND IN TERMS OF WHAT WAS BROUGHT TO US YES.
IN TERMS OF WHAT WAS BROUGHT TO US.
UM, MR. KIM, LET'S SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO THIS CONVERSATION.
TRU WAS HERE, SHE WANTED TO CHANGE THIS WHOLE BUILDING.
UM, AND BOARD MEMBERS AT THAT TIME, JUST, THAT'S TOO MUCH MONEY BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT HERE ANYMORE.
WE STILL HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.
SO I HOPE THAT 10 YEARS FROM NOW, WE DON'T, YOU DON'T HAVE SAME CONVERSATION.
UH, AS FAR AS, AS A PLACE FOR GRADUATION, UH, SOME YEARS AGO, A DEVELOPER WANTED TO BUILD A PERFORMING ARTS CENTER IN BEAUFORD COUNTY, BUT NOBODY WOULD SUPPORT HIM.
SO, UH, FOR THAT TO HAPPEN, THAT'S NOT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT RESPONSIBILITY.
BUT I THINK SOMETIMES WE NEED TO LISTEN AT WHAT GOES ON AT COUNTY COUNCIL AND LISTEN TO SOME OF THESE DEVELOPERS.
'CAUSE THE GUY, HE WANTED TO BUILD A PERFORMING OUR CENTER, BUT COMMUNITY WOULD NOT SUPPORT HIM.
AND IT'S, I THINK THAT 10 YEARS FROM NOW, YOU'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THING.
WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS IN TERMS OF CONTINUE? BECAUSE WHAT I DON'T WANNA DO IS TWO YEARS FROM NOW BE LIKE, WE SHOULD REALLY LOOK INTO
YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I THINK WHAT WE'VE SAID, WHAT I TAKE AWAY FROM THIS IS THAT THERE IS, UM, SUPPORT FOR LOOKING LONGER TERM AT WHAT OUR OPTIONS ARE.
SO ESSENTIALLY IT'S ONE OF THOSE BRING BACK OPTIONS TO US KIND OF THING, BUT IT'S NOT ANYTIME IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE.
UM, AND THEN THE, IN THE INTERIM PERIOD, DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
KEEP THE BUILDING, YOU KNOW, NICE FOR THE, I MEAN, I GUESS, NICE, ADEQUATE, WHAT ARE WE GONNA SAY FOR THE EMPLOYEES? I MEAN, AS BEST AS WE CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, KEEP THE AC ON AND THE POWER ON, ET CETERA.
BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WOULD BE JUST SORT OF UP TO YOU GUYS TO SAY, CAN YOU WORK ON SOME THOUGHTS, OPTIONS, DIFFERENT THINGS, OR SHOULD WE HAVE SOMETHING GOING ON IN OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, LIKE KICK IT TO OPERATIONS COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE TO PUSH THAT WORK FORWARD? BECAUSE IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING, WE'LL BE BACK HERE IN A YEAR.
UM, VICTOR, PLEASE, UH, JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS.
UH, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE HAD A SPACE STUDY STUDY DONE ON THIS SPACE? HAVE WE, SO LIKE, PRIOR TO THE, THE PLANS THAT YOU JUST PRESENTED AND WE PRESENTED BACK IN FEBRUARY, UH, WAS THERE A SPACE STUDY DONE? OR IS IT LIKE, OKAY, THIS IS JUST WHAT WE THINK WE WANT OR NEED? UM, I MEAN, I, WE, WE, I THINK THIS WAS BASED ON OUR NEEDS.
I THINK THIS WAS, THIS IS WHAT THIS IS, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE, RIGHT? YEAH.
AND THESE ARE THE NEEDS WE HAVE.
HOW DO WE RECONFIGURE IN HERE, RIGHT.
UH, TO, TO GET WHAT WE WANT OR NEED, I GUESS I SHOULD SAY, NOT WANT WHAT WE NEED OUT OF, OUT OF WHAT WE'VE GOT.
UH, THAT'S NOT A REALLY A, A REAL BASE STUDY, RIGHT.
THAT'S JUST US TRYING TO DO WHAT WE CAN DO WITHIN WHAT WE'VE GOT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
SO, UM, I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE DIRECT THE SUPERINTENDENT TO HAVE A SPACE STUDY DONE WITH AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT, UM, FOR THE PURPOSE OF,
[01:15:01]
UH, FUTURE EXPANSION OR REVISION OF THIS AREA.SO, SO YOUR MOTION IS TO JUST BE LOOKING AT THIS CURRENT, AT THIS CURRENT SPACE FACILITY HERE.
HOW DO WE MAXIMIZE USE OF THIS SPACE? OKAY.
ARE WE CURRENTLY, AND DO THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE MAXIMIZING THE USE OF THIS SPACE.
AND THEN WE WAS SECOND BY COLONEL GEIER, ROBERT
WHAT I WILL SAY IS THAT WHAT THE PLAN THAT WE HAVE IS THAT, UM, THAT IS A PLAN THAT IS A SPACE STUDY.
'CAUSE HE WENT AROUND, MET WITH ALL THE DEPARTMENTS ON WHAT THEIR NEEDS WERE AND MAXIMIZED THIS SPACE.
WAS IT WITH AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT? YES.
THAT I'M, MAYBE IT WASN'T CLARIFY MY QUESTION THEN.
WHAT I, I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT I WAS ASKING.
WHAT I THOUGHT Y'ALL WERE ASKING IS IF WE DID A NEW SPACE, WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE IF WE CREATED SOMETHING FROM NEW, FROM SCRATCH? AND SO WE CAN DO THAT.
BUT MARK, UH, BACK HERE, MARK COLE'S AN ARCHITECT, AND HE JUST TOLD ME REAL QUICK, WELL, A RULE OF THUMB IS THAT FOR EVERY PERSON, YOU NEED 250 TO 300 SQUARE FEET.
SO FOR 250 PEOPLE, THAT'S A MINIMUM OF 62,500, OR A MAXIMUM OF 75,000.
NOW, THAT WOULDN'T INCLUDE A BOARDROOM.
THAT WOULDN'T INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY.
SO REAL QUICK, YOU'RE AT 80,000 SQUARE FEET.
SO WE, THAT'S JUST OFF THE TOP OF THE HEAD.
BUT, SO WHAT A STUDY WOULD BE FOR A NEW BUILDING IS WE, WE'VE ALREADY DONE WHAT OUR NEEDS ARE SPACE WISE.
NOW WE'VE SHOEHORNED THEM INTO THIS.
THE QUESTION WOULD BE HOW SMALL CAN YOU MAKE IT? YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE OFFICES ARE BIGGER THAN, SO YOU, YOU MAY GET CLOSER TO 70,000 SQUARE FEET THAN 80, BUT YOU'RE, AND WE CAN DO THAT, BUT THAT'S WHERE IT'S GONNA END UP.
SO, UM, VICTOR, SINCE THAT'S THE MOTION ON THE TABLE, BUT I AGREE, I, I DIDN'T UNDERS FROM WHAT VICTOR ASKED, I THINK WE GOT A ANSWER THAT WE WERE SURPRISED.
WELL, THIS IS ALREADY DONE BASED ON, ON, YES.
SO IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE, VICTOR, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE CORRECT.
WE NEED TO REPEAT THAT SINCE IT HAS BEEN DONE.
RIGHT? 'CAUSE I UNDERSTOOD IT THE WAY YOU DID, AND YOU'RE OKAY WITH THAT.
SO LET'S NOT HAVE THAT MOTION.
'CAUSE IT'S, IT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE.
AND IT WASN'T CLEAR THAT THAT'S WHAT THE, SO THE OTHER OPTION WOULD BE, UH, TO POTENTIALLY, WHAT, WHAT, UM, ROBERT JUST, UH, SUGGESTED OR, OR MENTIONED IS TO HAVE A, A, A STUDY FOR A NEW BUILDING.
UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT'S THE, BUT I THINK WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY WHEN WE KNOW WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO EXECUTE THAT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.
YOU KNOW? AND, AND CERTAINLY THINGS CAN CHANGE, AND YOU GAVE US A, A, A ROUGH ESTIMATE, UM, BY THE ARCHITECT OF HOW MUCH SPACE IS NEEDED.
MR. SMITH, UM, AT THIS POINT, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD SEND IT TO THE SENATE, BACK SENATE TO THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, AND LET THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE CONTINUE TO FIGURE OUT IN TERMS OF, ALONG WITH MR. OUTING, UH, TO GO TO THAT, GO, TO GO TO GO THROUGH THIS LIST AND SEE WHAT WOULD BE CONDUCIVE TO BRING BACK TO THE BOARD.
BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT THEY KIND OF HAVE AN IDEA OF WHERE THEY WOULD WANNA START IN TERMS OF, THEY'VE HEARD A LOT OF, SOME OF WHAT WE SAID TODAY, UH, AND WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE.
AND SO I THINK THEY HAVE AN IDEA NOW OF WHAT AS WHAT WE'RE EXPECTING AS BOARD MEMBERS AND, UH, SOME INFORMATION TO KIND OF HELP THEM TO FIGURE OUT NEEDS VERSUS WANTS, WANTS VERSUS NEED IN THE BALANCE BEAM.
SO I, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD SEND IT TO THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE AND LET THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE BRING, BRING US SOMETHING BACK AT THIS POINT.
I, I THINK, 'CAUSE I THINK WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME THIS MORNING ON THIS, AND I THINK THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT IT WOULD, IT WOULD, IT WOULD, IT WOULD.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE COMMITTEES.
I THINK IT WOULD SERVE AS BEST IN THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE AT THIS TIME.
THAT'S WHAT I'M, THAT'S WHAT I'M PROPOSING.
UH, DR. RODRIGUEZ, UM, I THINK I WOULD SAY I'M NOT EXACTLY CLEAR ON WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU WOULD WANT US TO DO, BECAUSE EVEN WITHIN THE DISCUSSION HERE TODAY, THERE'S A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, SO I DON'T, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD ASK MY TEAM TO GO BACK AND DO AT THIS JUNCTURE.
RIGHT? WELL, WELL, UH, IF YOU WANT THEM TO SORT THAT OUT IN OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN SORT THAT ON OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
BUT I JUST WANNA BE CLEAR, I'M NOT, I'M NOT CLEAR.
OR I CAN'T GIVE THEM DIRECTION.
I GO BACK TO, UH, I BELIEVE WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY GO TO OPERATIONS, I BELIEVE THAT I, THE, THE, THE, THE CHAIR OF THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE WOULD BE ABLE TO, ONCE THEY, ONCE, ONCE, ONCE, ONCE YOU'VE SEEN THIS MEETING AND, AND, AND ASKED TO LOOK, LOOK, LOOK AT THE CONVERSATION THAT TOOK PLACE THERE, I'M SURE THAT THEY WOULD CUT THAT.
THAT'S WHAT THEY DO WITH OPERATIONS.
THEY COME UP WITH A PLACE WHERE THEY, WHERE THEY WOULD NEED TO START.
AND, AND, AND THAT, THAT'S THE TABLE THAT'S, THAT'S USUALLY COME UP TO WHO, WELL, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, AND HOW.
AND I BE, THE CONVERSATION WILL START THERE FROM BEING SOMEONE BEING KNOW, BEING FORMULA ON THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, THAT THAT'S WHAT WE DO IN OPERATIONS
[01:20:01]
COMMITTEE.SO I BELIEVE THAT, AND, AND I SAW YOUR STAFF SHAKING THE HEAD AS, AS IN THOUGH THEY UNDERSTOOD WHERE, WHAT SOME OF THE CONCERNS WERE AND, AND HOW TO MOVE FORWARD.
SO, I MEAN, MAYBE YOU CAN HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH THEM, BUT I BELIEVE THAT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE WOULD BE THE, WOULD STILL BE THE PLACE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION AND FIGURE OUT WHAT PROPOSAL, WHAT THE NEXT STEP THEY WOULD WANNA BRING US, BRING US, UH, BRING, BRING TO THE, UH, FULL BOARD.
UM, MS. DO, RIGHT? I HAVE AN IDEA I THINK WE SHOULD SEND TO OPERATIONS.
AND I THINK WHAT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE CAN START DOING IS LOOKING AT WHAT OTHER DISTRICTS ARE DOING, WHAT THE OFFICE SPACE IS, UM, AT DIFFERENT SIMILAR SIZED DISTRICTS, HOW WE, THEY HAVE TWO STORIES AND JUST START BRINGING, HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS THAT THE BOARD CAN LISTEN INTO.
AND AT SOME POINT IN SIX MONTHS OR A YEAR, WE MIGHT HAVE A CLEAR DIRECTION FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT TO START INVESTIGATING, BUT MAYBE WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS HAVE THE CURRENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE DO SOME GROUNDWORK, AND I CAN MAKE A MOTION TO THAT EFFECT, IF THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
THAT WOULD BRING CLOSURE TO THIS TOPIC.
THE, I HAVEN'T EVEN MADE IT YET.
THAT IS NO, I, I DON'T, I DO LIKE THE, UH, IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU SAID EAR EARLIER ABOUT THE FACILITIES AND THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX AND NOT JUST BUILDING THE BILL BUILD WITH, WITH INTENTIONS OF HOW ALSO WE CAN, UH, HELP OUT THE COMMUNITY.
BUT, BUT, BUT ALSO ULTIMATELY WE'RE SERVING, WE'RE SERVING THE DISTRICT AS A WHOLE AND EVEN THE COUNTY.
I, I THINK THAT THAT'S, THAT'S UNIQUELY DIFFERENT.
DISTRICTS AND DISTRICT, DISTRICT OFFICES HAVE SPACE WHERE THEY CAN ACTUALLY HAVE EVENTS AT, YOU KNOW, HOW ABOUT THIS? IS ANYBODY OPPOSED TO HAVING IT GO TO OPERATIONS? NO.
SO LET'S, AND THE, UM, REPRESENTATIVE TODAY THAT'S HERE FROM OPERATIONS IS VICTOR.
AND HE HEARD OUR CONVERSATION, AND I THINK THAT'S GOOD.
THERE'S A, IT'S, IT'S THE LOW COST, NO COST OPTION.
WELL, PRETTY MUCH
TO TRY TO SEE WHAT AS THE OTHER DISTRICTS ARE DOING IN THE AREA AND WHAT THEY'VE INCLUDED OR DECIDED NOT TO INCLUDE IN THEIR BUILDINGS, ET CETERA.
AND I THINK WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS AND WE DID BRING THIS FORWARD, UH, THROUGH, UH, A BOARD MEMBER REQUEST TODAY, BECAUSE IT HADN'T COME OUT OF OPERATIONS, UH, IN THE SIX MONTHS THAT IT HAD BEEN DISCUSSED.
SO I THINK IT WAS A GOOD DISCUSSION.
R MARK, ARE YOU BEHIND ME? COME BACK.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TECHNOLOGY FEES.
ROBIN, IF WE COULD START WITH THE, UH, DISTRICT TECHNOLOGY FEE SCHEDULE.
UM, AND AT THAT TIME, THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH THE CONSENSUS FOR FEES THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS WERE CHARGING.
WHAT WE'VE SEEN SINCE COVID STARTED IS THAT A LOT OF THESE SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE STARTED RAISING THEIR FEES.
WE'VE SEEN A LOT GO TO 25 30 AND EVEN UP TO $35 PER YEAR FOR THE FAMILIES TO PAY.
WHAT I BROUGHT TO YOU IS JUST A SMALL SPATTERING OF OUR, WHAT, 70, I'M SORRY, 86 OR SO SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
UM, THESE WERE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT HAD IT PROUDLY STATED ON THEIR WEBSITE.
ONE THING I CAN SAY IS A LOT OF DISTRICTS DO NOT LIKE TO PUT FEES ASSOCIATED WITH STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ON THEIR WEBSITES.
UM, BUT WE ARE VERY TRANSPARENT, SO WE'VE ALWAYS DISCLOSED ALL THAT INFORMATION TO YOU.
SO THE CHEAPEST, UH, DISTRICT IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA RIGHT NOW IS KERSHAW COUNTY, WHICH HAS ABOUT, I WANNA SAY 12,000 KIDS THAT CHARGE $10 A YEAR.
UM, SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH THESE TECH? THESE FEES WE COLLECT.
SO EVERY DOLLAR WE COLLECT FROM FAMILIES COMES TO THE DISTRICT AND GOES RIGHT BACK IN THE PROGRAM.
WE REPAIR DEVICES, WE REPLACE DEVICES THAT ARE DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR.
WE BUY ACCESSORIES, OUR CHARGERS, UM, BAGS.
ALL THOSE ITEMS ARE, THE SMALLER ITEMS ARE PRETTY MUCH CONSUMABLE.
WE HAVE STUDENTS THAT LEAVE EVERY YEAR.
THEY MAY RETURN THEIR MAIN DEVICE, BUT THEY DON'T GIVE YOU THE CHARGER BACK.
UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED, WHY ARE WE GETTING CHARGED $50 FOR A CHARGER?
[01:25:01]
I CAN GO ON AMAZON AND GET A CHARGER FOR THAT DEVICE FOR $19.AND I HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH PARENTS EVERY YEAR.
THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THAT THE DEVICE THAT COMES FROM THE MANUFACTURER IS GUARANTEED BY THE MANUFACTURER.
IT'S IEEE RATED AND GUARANTEED TO MEET THE STANDARDS.
ANY OTHER DEVICE YOU BUY OFF, UH, AMAZON HAS NOT GONE THROUGH THE ELECTRICAL CERTIFICATIONS TO GUARANTEE.
AND THEY HAVE FOUND THAT SOME OF THESE DEVICES OVERHEAT CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE DEVICE AND CAN POTENTIALLY START FIRES.
AND THAT'S ONE REASON WHY WE ONLY USE OEM CHARGERS AND PRODUCTS WITH OUR DEVICES.
UH, THAT'S ONE THING THAT HP WILL ALSO SAY THAT THEY WILL VOID OUR ACCIDENTAL DAMAGES, WHICH WE ALLOW ONE PER STUDENT PER YEAR THROUGH A PLAN THROUGH HP THAT WILL BE VOIDED IF A DIFFERENT CHARGER IS USED.
SO IN THE 12, IN THOSE 12 YEARS, WE HAVE NOT RAISED PRICES.
UM, OUR NEIGHBOR RIGHT NEXT DOOR AT JASPER COUNTY IS CHARGING $35
SO WE'RE SEEING THAT NUMBER GO UP.
RIGHT NOW WE COLLECT ROUGHLY ABOUT 400,000 A YEAR.
THAT IS NOT ALL IN THE TECHNOLOGY FEE.
THAT NUMBER ALSO RELATES TO THE DAMAGES, THE LOST CHARGERS.
AND AS THOSE FAMILY PAYS, THAT MONEY COMES INTO THAT COUNT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AND THEN MAINLY AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WE DIVVY OUT MOST OF IT THROUGH THE REPAIRS BECAUSE A LOT OF KIDS WILL HAVE DAMAGES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, BUT THEY WON'T REPORT IT.
THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING IN TROUBLE.
SO THEY DON'T, WE DON'T GET TO SEE IT UNTIL AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, WHICH PUTS A HAMPER ON US BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH MORE THAN WE EXPECTED DAMAGES.
SO ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE'VE BEEN, UM, WE HAVE TWO FACILITIES, ONE NORTH OF THE BROAD HERE AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE, AND ONE SOUTH OF THE BROAD AT BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WHICH OUR PROVIDER APPLIED DATA, WHICH IS A SUBCONTRACTOR FOR HP, HAS PROVIDED TWO TECHNICIANS.
THAT'S A GREAT ADVANTAGE TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT BECAUSE MOST SCHOOL DISTRICTS TAKE THOSE DEVICES AND THEY MAIL 'EM OUT.
THEY TAKE SO A WEEK OR SO TO GET TO THE PER TO THE REPAIR FACILITY.
THEY THEN REPAIR 'EM, AND THEN THEY GET MAILED BACK.
SO THAT COULD TAKE THREE TO FOUR WEEKS.
WE CUT THAT TIME IN MORE THAN HALF BY HAVING THESE PEOPLE ON HAND THAT CAN EASILY DO THIS FOR US.
SO THAT'S BEEN A GREAT ADVANTAGE, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE'VE STAYED WITH HP.
UM, BECAUSE SOME OF THE OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS WILL NOT PAY TO HAVE PEOPLE IN, IN, UM, IN-HOUSE FOR US.
AND THEY WANT TO DO THE, THE, THE SHIP OUT, WHICH CAUSES A LOT MORE TURMOIL FOR US.
UM, WE FIND THAT AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR THAT WE JUST GET INUNDATED WITH A LOT OF KIDS.
THEY RETURN THEIR DEVICE, THEY DON'T GIVE US THE CHARGER BACK, THEY MAY NOT GIVE US THE BAG BACK, UM, AND THEY LEAVE THE DISTRICT.
UM, WE CAN PUT A FINE ON THAT CHILD'S ACCOUNT, BUT THAT CHILD IS NO LONGER IN THE DISTRICT.
THERE'S NO WAY TO, IT'S AGAINST THE LAW TO HOLD THEIR TRANSCRIPTS OR ANYTHING.
SO THERE'S NO, UH, MEDIATING FACTORS ON THAT PARENT RE RETURNING THAT CHARGER OR EVER COMING BACK WITH THOSE FEES.
SO BASICALLY, THO THOSE DOLLARS ARE ALL SELF-CONTAINED THROUGHOUT THE TECHNOLOGY FEE PROCESS.
THE SECOND DOCUMENT I GAVE YOU WAS BASICALLY OUR REPAIR PRICES.
I DIDN'T KNOW IF Y'ALL REALLY WANTED IT.
UM, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER PROCESS.
AND, AND PRICES ARE GOING UP EVERY YEAR.
UH, THE MANUFACTURERS HAVE DECIDED THAT THEY DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT, UH, SAY SEVEN YEARS AGO, YOU COULD BUY JUST THE LCD SCREEN OR JUST THE DIGITIZER, OR JUST THE WEBCAM.
NOW THE MANUFACTURERS ARE SMUSHING ALL THOSE DEVICES OR, UH, COMPONENTS TOGETHER AND MAKING YOU BUY A LUMP SUM ITEM.
AND THAT'S THE REASON FOR THE 3 89.
IT IS A WEB, IT'S A LCD SCREEN, IT'S A DIGITIZER, IT'S A WEBCAM AND THE MOUNTING BEZEL.
SO WHAT USED TO COST US ABOUT A HUNDRED DOLLARS PER ITEM HAS NOW TRIPLED IN PRICE BECAUSE IT'S A ALL-IN-ONE ITEM, AND MOST OF THE MANUFACTURERS ARE GOING THAT WAY.
YEAH, I I'M, I'M READY FOR IT.
SO YOU SAID THAT YOU, THE $20, UH, FEE HASN'T, UH, BEEN RAISED SINCE IT WAS INITIATED AND WENT, WHAT YEAR WAS IT? THAT WAS, UH, 2012.
WE, WE REALLY STARTED THE PROGRAM IN 2011, BUT IT WAS MORE OF A PILOT AT SOME OF OUR MIDDLE SCHOOLS.
SO IT DOESN'T SEEM, WHEN YOU, OKAY, SO WE HAVE 400, YOU SAID YOU, YOU END UP COLLECTING ABOUT 400,000, NOT JUST FROM THIS FEE, BUT ALSO FROM DAMAGED, UH, YES.
AND THEN, SO, AND WE HAVE 21,500
[01:30:02]
STUDENTS, SO THAT'S ONLY LIKE $2 A STUDENT.AM I DOING THE MATH RIGHT? UM, LIKE, OH, 20.
YEAH, THAT WOULD MAKE MORE SENSE.
SO IS IT, SO ARE WE, EACH YEAR, ARE WE SHORT IN, IN, IN BEING ABLE TO REPAIR THESE OR NO, IT'S PRETTY MUCH HOLDING STEADY.
UM, I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY FEE, ALTHOUGH I DO THINK THAT SOME DISTRICTS ARE OFFERING AN OPTIONAL INSURANCE POLICY.
WHICH I WOULD NOT BE OPPOSED TO OFFERING.
IF YOU HAVE A ACCIDENT PRONE, YOU KNOW, SEVENTH GRADE BOY, I WOULD PROBABLY BUY THAT ALL DAY LONG,
UM, BUT MY CONCERN, I THINK THE CONCERN THAT'S BEEN RAISED TO ME BY PARENTS AND THE FRUSTRATION IS THE REPLACEMENT COSTS, AS YOU MENTIONED, OF LIKE A POWER COURT, BUT A 400 MIC, THE COMPUTER THAT I'M WORKING ON RIGHT NOW COSTS LESS THAN THE REPAIR COST OF A NEW SCREEN.
SO I GUESS THE APPLE IPADS, IF YOU LOOK ROBIN, OH, THAT'S, IS IT ON? YEAH, THAT'S $300.
THE HP X 360, WHICH IS ALSO A TABLET.
AS I UNDERSTAND, IS IT A CHROMEBOOK? 'CAUSE NO, IT IS NOT.
IT IS A FULL WINDOWS 11 LAPTOP.
BECAUSE WHEN I LOOKED IT UP, TRYING TO FIND, THERE'S SEVERAL MODELS.
THERE IS, THERE'S A, A, SOME ARE MADE ON THE CHROMEBOOK PLATFORM AND OTHERS ARE MADE ON THE WINDOWS.
AND WE USE WINDOWS, OBVIOUSLY.
IS THERE, SO MY QUESTIONS ARE THIS, ARE THE CHROMEBOOKS THAT MUCH BETTER THAN, OR NOT THE CHROMEBOOKS, SORRY, THE HPS THAT MUCH BETTER THAN DOING SOMETHING LIKE A CHROMEBOOK OR AN IPAD FOR THE KIDS.
NUMBER TWO IS, UM, I THINK THE ONE THAT YOU BOUGHT, YOU SAID WAS BECAUSE THEY'RE RUGGED.
WHAT I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE THIS, IS THE BREAKAGE RATE OF THOSE.
'CAUSE I KNOW WHAT THE NATIONAL AVERAGE IS FOR ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND SO I WOULD ANTICIPATE IF WE'RE PAYING THAT MUCH MORE THAN A CHROMEBOOK OR, YOU KNOW, THE WINDOWS VERSION OF, UM, ARE WE GETTING THAT, THAT, THAT VALUE OUT? UM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS FOR BREAKAGE IS THAT OUR STUDENTS DO NOT, DOES NOT CARRY THE LAPTOP IN THE BAG.
WE PROVIDE, THEY CHOOSE TO LEAVE IT AT HOME.
AND THEY THROW, THEY STICK IT IN THEIR BOOK BAG.
WHAT'S THE FIRST THING A KID DOES WHEN HE WALKS IN THE CLASSROOM? HE THROWS HIS BOOK BACK DOWN.
SO YOUR BOOK BAG'S BEING THROWN DOWN SEVEN TIMES A DAY JUST INSIDE THE SCHOOL BUILDING, NOT COUNTING WHEN THEY GO TO THE BUS STOP.
AND TO BE CLEAR, THEY'RE NOT SPONTANEOUSLY BREAKING.
BUT THE QUESTION IS, ARE WE GETTING BANG FOR THE BUS, ON THE BUS, $300 ADDITIONAL COST FOR THE MORE RUGGED VERSION? IS IT A LOWER BREAKAGE RATE THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE? I GUESS THAT'S MY QUESTION.
UM, WE, WE ARE PROVIDING THE DAMAGE OR PREPARING THE DAMAGE RATE FOR THE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE FOR SEPTEMBER.
UM, SO I DO NOT HAVE THOSE NUMBERS WITH ME TODAY, BUT I CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE INSURANCE.
UM, OF COURSE, I LIVE IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, SO, UM, THEY DO THINGS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.
THEY MAKE YOU BUY THE OTTERBOX FOR THE IPAD, THEN THEY MAKE YOU PAY $60 A, OH, I'M SORRY.
THEN THEY MAKE YOU PAY $60 A YEAR FOR A THIRD PARTY INSURANCE.
WITH THAT THIRD PARTY INSURANCE, THERE'S STILL A CAP.
SO THE FAMILY WOULD HAVE TO PAY LIKE $90 IF THEY CRACKED THE SCREEN OF THEIR LAPTOP FOR EACH OCCURRENCE.
UM, AND THAT'S, UH, ALSO A PLAN IN SOME OF THE AREAS IN, UH, SOUTH CAROLINA, IS THAT THEY'RE OFFERING SOME KIND OF THIRD PARTY INSURANCE.
UM, SOME DISTRICTS DO IT TWO WAYS.
THEY SAY, HEY, IF YOU PAY OUR TECHNOLOGY FEE, YOU GET ONE DAMAGE FREE, AND THEN YOU PAY FOR THE NEXT.
UM, AND THEN THEY SAY, IF YOU DON'T PAY THAT TECHNOLOGY FEE, YOU PAY THE WHOLE PRICE.
OTHERS ARE SAYING, HERE, USE THIS THIRD PARTY, $60 A YEAR INSURANCE.
SO IT IS A OPTION, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S THE BEST OPTION FOR SOME OF OUR FAMILIES.
UM, BECAUSE IT, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, $60 PER KIDS.
SOME OF OUR FAMILIES HAVE THREE, FOUR CHILDREN.
YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN TURNS INTO ALMOST $200 A YEAR COMPARED TO 60.
SO IT, BUT IF YOU BREAK ONE SCREEN, YOU COME OUT 200 BUCKS A HEAD
UM, SO WE HAVE LOOKED AT IT, BUT WE JUST, UH, UH, AFTER LOOKING THROUGH SOME OF THE PLANS, WE DIDN'T KNOW IF THAT WOULD BE WHAT, UH, THE FAMILIES OF BUFORT COUNTY WOULD WANT.
SO IT'S BEEN, UH, UH, HARD TO LOOK AT.
I'M SORRY, WHAT WAS THE OTHER? WELL, I DO HAVE ONE MORE.
DO YOU MIND IF I HAVE ANOTHER, GO AHEAD.
OH, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COST OF A IPAD OR CHROMEBOOK COMPARED TO THE WINDOWS DEVICE? YEAH, YEAH.
SO THE, ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY WE DONT GO IPAD IS BECAUSE IF WE WENT IPAD, THEN WE'VE GOTTA PUT LABS BACK IN ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS, BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF OUR BUSINESS SOFTWARE THAT WILL NOT RUN ON IPADS.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF OUR PROJECT LEAD THE WAY SOFTWARE.
[01:35:01]
THAT WE UTILIZE THAT WE'VE GONE TO THE ONE-TO-ONE MODEL AND GONE TO A BETTER ONE-TO-ONE MODEL TO GET AWAY FROM THE LABS, BECAUSE AS WE ALL KNOW, LABS ARE NOT AS UTILIZED AS THEY WERE 10 YEARS AGO.AND JUST TO CLARIFY, MY POINT IS THIS LENOVO THINKPAD THING, WHICH I BOUGHT MY SON FOR COLLEGE, AND I, I'M NOT NICE TO IT.
I MEAN, I DON'T PITCH IT ACROSS THE GYM FLOOR, BUT I MEAN, I'M, I'M ROUGH WITH IT.
SO THIS IS A FULLY FUNCTIONAL WINDOWS COMPUTER.
UM, AND SO MY QUESTION IS, WHY ARE WE PAYING $700 FOR AN HP WINDOWS BASED COMPUTER? AND AGAIN, THE ANSWER IS BECAUSE IT'S, UM, RUGGEDIZED RUGGED.
I WANT TO, I WANT TO CHALLENGE THAT AND MAKE SURE IT IS INDEED RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT, UM, YEAH.
BECAUSE I'D BE INTERESTED TO SEE SOME OF THE, YOU SAID YOU FOUND SOME DATA BECAUSE I'VE FOUND VERY HARD TO RESEARCH ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE UNITED STATES DAMAGE RATE ON DEVICES, BECAUSE THAT'S ONE OF THOSE ITEMS THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS REALLY DON'T PUBLICIZE.
I'LL GIVE YOU MY SOURCES FROM PERPLEXITY AI.
STRATAS IS THERE, UM, DO MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS NEED A LAPTOP? I UNDERSTAND.
I UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL KIDS DEFINITELY NEED IT, BUT DO MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS AND COULD MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS OR, OR EVEN UH, SIXTH, SEVENTH GRADERS NEED A LAPTOP VERSUS AN IPAD? YOU KNOW, I'M GONNA HAVE TO SHARE THE ANSWER WITH THAT, WITH MARK, ONLY BECAUSE THE OPERATIONAL COMPONENT OF THE SOFTWARE, BUT THE UTILIZATION OF THE SOFTWARE IN THE CLASSROOM SHOULD BE FOR THE PURPOSE OF SMALL GROUP AND PRECISE INSTRUCTION SHOULDN'T BE FOR THE PRE PREDOMINANT TEACHER OF TEACHING.
SO THE ANSWER TO THAT IS, YES.
THEY NEED TO BE UTILIZED IN A MANNER THAT WE PRESCRIBE TO OUR SCHOOLS SMALL GROUP.
I MAY NEED AN ADDITIONAL SKILLS IN NUMERACY FOUNDATIONS OF TENS, RIGHT? THERE'S SOFTWARE THAT WE USE, MATH IXL, THAT'S, UH, YOU CAN ASSIGN ME SO THAT I CAN IMPROVE ON MY, AT MY NUMERACY.
THE DIFFERENCE OF THAT HAS TO LAND TO HOW MUCH VIDEO IS IN THAT SOFTWARE.
AND FOR THAT, I HAVE TO THEN TURN TO THE EXPERTISE, UH, MARK.
UM, BUT I HAVE TO ALSO SHARE, IREADY IS A PROGRAM THAT WORKS FROM K THROUGH EIGHT FOR US IN THE MIDDLE GRADES.
IT'S UTILIZED FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AS ONE OF OUR INTERVENTIONS.
WE HAVE READING PLUS, WHICH IS AGAIN, ANOTHER READING INTERVENTION TOOL THAT WE USE.
SO WE DO HAVE A DEPENDENCY FOR THEM, BUT THEN MY EXPERTISE STOPS WHEN IT COMES TO WHICH TOOL TO LAND AT.
I, I THINK, JUST AS MARK IS COMING UP, ONE OF THE OTHER PIECES SEVERAL YEARS AGO, AND IT COULD HAVE CHANGED BY NOW, BUT SEVERAL YEARS AGO, UH, IREADY DIDN'T FUNCTION ON AN IPAD AS AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT? SO, UM, THE ADVANTAGE TO A LAPTOP IS THAT, YOU KNOW, MOST EVERYTHING WILL FUNCTION ON THAT VERSUS YEAH.
UH, AN IPAD THAT MIGHT BE LIMITED.
YOU HAVE A LOT MORE OPTIONS WITH A WINDOWS DEVICE.
UH, APPLE'S KIND OF LIMITED TO WHO BUILDS APPS FOR APPLE.
CHROMEBOOK'S A LITTLE LIMITED BECAUSE YOU'RE USING AN ANDROID OPERATING SYSTEM THAT, OOPS, SORRY.
I ALWAYS LIKE TO LEAN BACK WHEN I TALK.
LEAN IN
UH, MOST CHROMEBOOKS HAVE VERY LIMITED VID VIDEO DRI, UM, VIDEO CARDS.
SO THEY CAN'T DO A LOT OF YOUR COMPLEX, UH, NOT EVEN A GOOD SPREADSHEET.
YOU START GETTING REAL, REALLY FAR IN A SPREADSHEET ON, UH, ON A ANDROID DEVICE, AND IT'S GONNA CHOKE UP A LITTLE BIT.
UM, IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF THE, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY ALSO IN, IN TERMS OF, UH, THAT THE, UH, THAT QUESTION, I WOULD ALSO THINK, UH, IN TERMS OF E-LEARNING DAY OR SOMETHING THAT THE, SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE, I THINK IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE, BE MORE VALUABLE TO HAVE A, A KID WITH A LAPTOP THAN THE, UH, I IPAD IN TERMS OF RESOURCES AND, AND WHAT, WHAT THEY CAN, THEY CAN AND CANNOT BE ABLE TO DO.
UM, IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, UH, THREE YEARS, WE'VE STARTED EVERY SCHOOL YEAR WITH A HURRICANE, RIGHT? UM, AND UNFORTUNATELY THIS YEAR WE COULDN'T USE, UH, THE, THE, UH, E-LEARNING DAYS, BUT IN THE PAST, IT'S REALLY SAVED MAKEUP DAYS FOR THE DISTRICT BY BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT.
SO I WAS JUST WANTED TO PUT PUT PUT THAT OUT, PUT THAT OUT THERE.
BUT, UH, ALSO, UM, AND, AND, AND IN TERMS OF, OF OUR FEE, I WANNA SAY, UH, ACTUALLY KUDOS TO OUR DISTRICTS BECAUSE I THINK WE'RE RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE AND WE'RE, AND WE'RE IN A SAFE PLACE.
[01:40:01]
TO, UM, THE, THE POPULATION THAT, THAT, THAT WE SERVE, AND IN TERMS OF THE RESOURCES THAT WE, THAT WE'RE GIVING TO THE COMMUNITY, BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE, IF WE JUST SAID THAT IN TERMS OF, I'M SAY ALONE, BUT, BUT I, I, I'LL JUST SAY, I THINK, I THINK WE'RE RIGHT.WE'RE RIGHT, RIGHT WHERE WE NEED TO BE ON THAT.
AND, AND, AND ALSO, AND ALSO I APPRECIATE THIS, UH, I APPRECIATE THIS, UH, PRESENTATIONS BECAUSE, UH, JUST A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, ME AND, UM, ONE OF, ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES, WE WERE AT A GRADUATION, ACTUALLY A COUPLE OF OUR CO MY COLLEAGUES, WE WERE AT A GRADUATION.
AND I, I DIDN'T WANNA GIVE KUDOS TO THE, I WAS, I DID HEAR THE PART WHERE YOU, UM, SAID THAT, UH, ABOUT THE 10 TERMS TO THE KUDOS TO THE PRINCIPALS, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE DO HAVE SOME PRINCIPLES WHO DON'T PLAY ABOUT GETTING THAT MONEY IN TERM IN TERMS OF, UM, IF, IF YOU TEE UP TECHNOLOGY, THEY, THEY DON'T PLAY LIKE ONE, ONE, FOR INSTANCE, ONE SCHOOL.
IF YOU DON'T, IF YOU DON'T PAY THAT YOUR, YOUR TECHNOLOGY FEE, YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T WALK ACROSS THE STAGE FOR GRADUATION.
AND WE, WE, WE, WE'VE SEEN THAT.
THIS MUST HAS BEEN AN UNFORTUNATE, BUT WHAT WE'VE SEEN THAT HAPPEN.
SO WE DO KNOW THAT SOME SCHOOLS ARE NOT PLAYING, AND THEY ARE MAKING SURE THAT STUDENTS ARE PAYING, THEIR PARENTS ARE PAYING THEIR TECHNOLOGY FEES.
AND THEY, EVEN AT THE HIGH SCHOOL, I'VE HAD A, A COUPLE PARENTS CALL ME JUST THIS YEAR HERE, AND THEY HAVE TOLD ME THAT, UH, THE HIGH SCHOOL HAS TOLD THEM THAT THEY HAVE SOME TECHNOLOGY FEES THAT THEY NEED TO PAY AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL, AND THEY HAD TO GO AND, AND GET ON A PLAN.
SO I DO WANNA GIVE OUT, GIVE KUDOS OUT TO THE, TO THE PRINCIPALS WHO ARE, WHO ARE STEADILY WORKING TOGETHER ON THAT, AND WHO ARE MAKING SURE THAT WE GET THESE TECHNOLOGY FEES FROM, FROM THESE, FROM THESE PARENTS.
SO I JUST WANT TO, I JUST WANNA SHOUT THEM OUT FOR THAT AS WELL.
UM, ONE OTHER REASON WHY WE, WE USED TO BE K THROUGH TWO ON IPADS, UM, AND WE MOVED THAT DOWN TO ONLY K AND ONE IS BECAUSE SOME OF THE STATE'S CHANGES IN TESTING AT THIRD GRADE REQUIRES, REQUIRES MORE WRITING AND TYPING.
UM, SO WE CHANGED IT TO SECOND GRADE, STARTING TO GET A LAPTOP SO THEY COULD START DEVELOP SOME OF THOSE TYPING SKILLS BECAUSE WE'RE MOVING AWAY LESS AND LESS FROM HAVING TYPING LABS IN A LOT OF OUR SCHOOLS.
I THINK THAT, UH, UH, CONCLUDES THIS SESSION.
AND WHILE WE HAVE A FIVE MINUTE BREAK, UH, BEFORE WE GO ONTO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM, SO JUST FIVE MINUTES FOR BATHROOM.
THAT WAS PROBABLY THE MOST USE USEFUL THING I TOOK IN HIGH SCHOOL.
ON AUGUST 24TH, 2020, BEAUFORT COUNTY COUNCIL GAVE FINAL APPROVAL TO AN ORDINANCE THAT CHARGES A UNIFORM USER FEE TO HILTON HEAD ISLAND PROPERTY OWNERS.
THIS IS TO COVER THE COST OF LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES.
THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE PROVIDES TO THE TOWN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND ANNUALLY, THE FEE WILL APPEAR ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND PROPERTY ON TAX BILLS AS HHPF HILTON HEAD POLICE FEE.
IF YOU'D LIKE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT THE HILTON HEAD ISLAND UNIFORM SERVICE FEE WEBPAGE AT WWW.BEAUFORTCOUNTYSC.GOV.
HURRICANE SEASON RUNS THROUGH NOVEMBER 30TH.
WE ARE PREPARED ARE YOU HAVE AN EVACUATION PLAN AND PRACTICE IT WITH EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY.
HAVE A FIRST AID KIT, EMERGENCY SUPPLIES AND MEDICINES PACKED AND READY TO GO.
AND MAKE SURE TO HAVE ENOUGH TO LAST FOUR TO FIVE DAYS.
REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR PETS.
DON'T LEAVE THEM BEHIND TIED UP OR LOOSE.
COUNTY ORDINANCE CONSIDERS THAT ABANDONMENT.
DOWNLOAD THE SOUTH CAROLINA HURRICANE GUIDE FROM THE BEAUFORT COUNTY WEBSITE AND SIGN UP FOR EMERGENCY ALERTS AT NICKEL COM AND BEAUFORT COUNTY SC GOV.
FIVE MINUTES IS UP
AND OUR NEXT, UH, TOPIC, UH, IS THE MAKEUP DAYS FROM THE STORM.
GOOD MORNING, MADAM CHAIR AND BOARD MEMBERS.
I HAD THAT OPPORTUNITY TO SAY, MARK'S NOT HERE, BUT THANK YOU FOR STARTING THAT CONVERSATION ON VIRTUAL DAYS.
UM, IN YOUR PACKAGE, YOU SHOULD HAVE TWO DOCUMENTS.
ONE IS OUR CURRENT 24 25 CALENDAR.
THE SECOND DOCUMENT IS A MEMORANDUM FROM THE STATE WITH REGARD TO E-LEARNING, OR THEY MAY REFER TO IT AS VIRTUAL LEARNING.
I ADDED THAT SECOND DOCUMENTS AS A POINT OF REFERENCE TO THE RECOMMENDATION THAT I'LL BE BRINGING FORWARD TO YOU, DR.
[01:45:01]
QUADS.IF WE LOOK AT OUR CURRENT CALENDAR, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED TWO EMERGENCY DAYS THAT CAN BE UTILIZED WITHIN FIRST SEMESTER.
THE FIRST ONE IS DECEMBER 23RD.
THE SECOND ONE IS JANUARY 6TH.
I STATE WITHIN FIRST SEMESTER PURPOSELY BECAUSE SECOND SEMESTER FOR STUDENTS WILL START JANUARY 8TH, 2025.
THE STATE ALLOWS US AS AN E-LEARNING SCHOOL DISTRICT TO HAVE OUR MAKEUP DAYS BE VIRTUAL.
SO THAT IS A PROPOSAL THAT I'M BRINGING FORWARD.
I WANT US TO RECOGNIZE AS PER MEMORANDUM, WE HAVE FIVE E-LEARNING DAYS THAT WE MAY BE UTILIZED.
THIS WOULD TAKE TWO OF THEM, AND THEY WILL STILL COUNT AS OUR EMERGENCY MAKEUP DAYS.
GUS, I BRING THAT FORWARD
SINCE WE'VE APPROVED THE CALENDAR YES.
AND WE'RE ALREADY AN E-LEARNING, UH, APPROVAL THROUGH THE STATE, I DON'T THINK THE BOARD HAS TO IMPROVE ANYTHING.
IT'S JUST YOU'RE NOTIFYING THE BOARD AND NOTIFYING THE PUBLIC THIS IS WHAT WE PLAN TO DO.
SO ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS? THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR.
I ASSUME DR. RODRIGUEZ, THAT, OR, AND DR.
STRATOS, THAT, UH, I THINK THE SOONER SOMETHING IS SENT TO, TO ALL THE PARENTS ABOUT THIS, THE BETTER.
NEXT, UH, OPENING DAY STRATEGIC GOALS PRESENTATION.
UH, SO, BUT SOMEBODY'S GONNA LET ME IN.
SO WANTED, WANTED TO, UM, AS WE GET STARTED TODAY AT THE OPENING DAY FOR, UH, FOR STAFF AT BLUFFTON HIGH SCHOOL, I HAD DONE A PRESENTATION FOR STAFF REGARDING, UH, OUR STRATEGIC PLAN,
[01:50:01]
SOME OF THE GOALS THAT ARE THE OUT LONG-TERM OUTCOMES THAT ARE BUILT INTO THAT STRATEGIC PLAN.AND SO, A REQUEST FROM A BOARD MEMBER WHO WAS THERE WAS THAT WE DO THAT FOR THE WHOLE BOARD.
SO THE WHOLE BOARD HEARS, UH, THAT PRESENTATION AS WELL.
SO THIS IS, UH, THIS IS IT HERE.
WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT BEAUFORT COUNTY.
THERE'S A STORY SORT OF BUILT IN HERE ALONG THE JOURNEY SO THAT, UM, SO THAT, UH, WE CAN KIND OF RELATE BACK AND FORTH A LITTLE BIT.
UH, BUT OUR STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, AND THAT, UH, IS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, RIGHT? HAS, UM, UH, SOME SPECIFIC LONG-TERM OUTCOMES.
AND SO WHAT I, WHAT I DID WAS I, I, I SHARED WITH OUR, UH, STAFF AND EMPLOYEES THAT WERE AT THAT MEETING KINDA WHERE WE ARE.
SO LET'S, LET'S FIRST SORT OF TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT, WHAT OUR DATA SHOWS AND SC READY DATA, AND THEN OUR EOC AND OUR GRAD RATE DATA.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT'S UP ON THE BOARD RIGHT NOW, AND YOU CAN SEE, UH, YOU CAN'T TELL A LONG-TERM TREND ON HERE, BUT THIS IS THE MOST RECENT.
SO THIS, THIS, UH, THIS IS BUILT ON 2023 DATA RIGHT HERE FROM THE LAST SC READY, LAST DOC, LAST GRAD RATE THAT CAME OUT.
AND THEN, UM, THERE'LL BE SOME TRENDS THAT I'LL SHOW YOU FROM SOME PRIOR YEARS, UH, IN THIS PRESENTATION.
BUT, BUT IN ADDITION, UH, KNOW THAT WHAT THE 2024 DATA, UH, THAT IS GOING TO COME OUT IN OCTOBER, OKAY? THE FINAL 24 DATA THAT'S GONNA COME OUT IN OCTOBER, ESSENTIALLY SORT OF SETS THE BASELINE FOR OUR NEXT FIVE YEARS AND THE TRAJECTORY THAT WE'RE GONNA BE AIMING.
BUT SINCE WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT DATA, I JUST SORT OF USED 2023 TO KIND OF KICK OFF THE CONVERSATION.
'CAUSE OUR LONG-TERM OUTCOMES ARE LAID OUT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO KICK OFF THE CONVERSATION ON THAT.
AND SO, YES, CAN YOU JUST DEFINE ML, MULTILINGUAL, MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS? WHAT'S THE DEFINITION OF PROGRESS AND WHAT'S THE DEFINITION OF PROFICIENCY? WELL, ON, ON WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE, UM, LET ME GO BACK.
SO THE STATE HAS, UH, A, A, A REPORT THAT THEY PUT OUT.
THIS IS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE STATE'S REPORT CARD THAT COMES OUT IN OCTOBER.
SO PROFICIENCY IS MEETS AND EXCEEDS, RIGHT? AND, AND THEN PROGRESS, UH, IS DIFFERENT PROGRESS IS WHAT THEY DO FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT YEAR.
OKAY? BUT IT'S NOT, BUT IT'S NOT, UH, UH, SO THIS, WHAT YOU SEE THERE IS ML PROFICIENCY, WHICH IS WHAT THEY REPORT OUT IN THE REPORT CARD, OKAY? SO THE PROGRESS IS, IT WOULD BE AN INDIVIDUAL STUDENT, HOW MUCH THEY'VE HAD GROWTH OVER THE, THE, IT IT TAKES YEAR OVER YEAR.
IT TAKES ALL THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS, RIGHT? AND THEN, AND THEN THEY PROVIDE YOU, UH, A SCORE.
SO I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MOUNTAIN HIKING IN THIS FOR A SECOND, BECAUSE THAT, THAT'S SORT OF, UH, UH, LEADS INTO WHERE WE'RE HEADED IN OUR STRATEGIC PLAN.
AND IT'S PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
SO THIS SUMMER, UH, I GOT A CHANCE TO GET OUT WEST AND WENT OUT TO, UH, WASHINGTON AND DID SPEND A LITTLE TIME DOING A LITTLE MOUNTAIN HIKING.
AND SO THERE'S MOUNT RAINIER IN THE BACKGROUND OF THAT PHOTO.
AND SO ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU WANNA MAKE SURE YOU'RE DOING WHEN YOU'RE GOING ON A HIKE THAT MIGHT BE SOMEWHAT OF A STRENUOUS HIKE, IS MAKE SURE THAT YOU CHECK YOUR GEAR RIGHT? AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE TOOLS AND THE RESOURCES YOU'RE GONNA NEED WITH YOU ALONG YOUR JOURNEY.
OKAY? AND SO, UH, AND IF YOU'RE HIKING, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FIRST AID KITS, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT LIKE GPS AND MAPS, AND YOU WANT THE RIGHT SHOES.
YOU WANT A BACKPACK TO CARRY ANY EQUIPMENT YOU NEED OR, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, UH, FOR THE JOURNEY, RIGHT? SO KIND OF NO DIFFERENT IN, WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS CHECK OUR GEAR.
PART OF OUR GEAR IS ALSO OUR STUDENTS IN OUR CASE, RIGHT? AND SO THIS IS A PARTICULARLY INTERESTING SLIDE BECAUSE, UH, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS KINDERGARTEN READINESS ON TRACK FOR SECOND GRADE, ON TRACK FOR THIRD GRADE, UH, IN ELA AND IN MATH.
OKAY? AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DID WAS I, I PLACED THAT RED BAR THAT YOU SEE GOING UP AND DOWN ON THE, ON THAT GRAPH, AND THAT RED BAR IS THE COVID YEAR.
[01:55:01]
OKAY? SO THAT'S 2020, ALL RIGHT? AND THERE ARE NO, NO ASSESSMENTS, UH, IN 2020, OKAY? BUT, UM, NONETHELESS, RIGHT? WE HAVE SOME PRIOR ASSESSMENTS AND WE HAVE SOME ASSESSMENTS AFTERWARDS.SO YOU CAN SEE WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE NAVY BLUE LINE, UH, IF YOU WILL, RIGHT? THAT'S THE KINDERGARTEN READINESS.
AND THAT IS WHERE OUR KIDS ARE COMING IN TO KINDERGARTEN AND, AND THEIR READINESS SCORE, OKAY? THEY USUALLY TAKE THAT IN AUGUST, UH, OR EARLY SEPTEMBER, AND WE GET A KINDERGARTEN READINESS, UH, SCORE FOR THE STUDENTS.
BUT WHAT'S PARTICULARLY INTERESTING TO ME IS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ORANGE LINE, THAT'S ELA ON TRACK FOR GRADE TWO, AND THEN YOU LOOK AT THE, UH, BLUE LINE THAT SAYS MATH ON TRACK FOR GRADE TWO, RIGHT? AND THESE ARE THIS INFORMATION THE STATE DOES REPORT ON, RIGHT? SO, SO ONE OF THE THINGS YOU CAN SEE IS SORT OF A, A LITTLE FLATNESS, RIGHT? BUT AFTER 21, YOU SEE THAT WE BEGIN A PRETTY STEEP TRAJECTORY AND A PRETTY STEEP CLIMB IN THAT READINESS FOR THOSE NEXT GRADE LEVELS, WHICH MEANS TO ME THAT ONCE WE GET THEM IN KINDERGARTEN, WHAT WE'RE DOING IN KINDERGARTEN AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IN FIRST GRADE IS STARTING TO PAY DIVIDENDS BECAUSE WE'RE SEEING IT IN THEIR PREPARATION FOR SECOND GRADE AND WHAT WE'RE DOING THERE, WE'RE SEEING THAT IN THEIR PREPARATION FOR THIRD GRADE, RIGHT? AND SO YOU SEE THAT, THAT TRAJECTORY AND THAT MOVEMENT IN A PRETTY, PRETTY STEEP CLIMB THAT YOU SEE THERE.
OKAY? SO THAT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE THOSE STUDENTS WILL BEGIN, WILL BE MATRICULATING THROUGH YOUR TESTED GRADES.
THEY'RE GONNA BE MATRICULATING THROUGH THIRD GRADE, THROUGH FOURTH GRADE, THROUGH FIFTH GRADE IN THE YEARS AHEAD, RIGHT? AND IN ADDITION, UM, THE, OUR STUDENTS THAT HAD THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT THROUGH THE COVID EXPERIENCE, RIGHT? WE'RE SEEING WE'RE GONNA SEE THEM AS WE CONTINUE TO RACE TO ACCELERATE THEIR RECOVERY IN LANGUAGE ARTS.
WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE WAY PAST THE PRE PANDEMIC SCORES IN MATH.
WE'RE STILL GETTING THERE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND SO WHAT WE SEE HERE IS ACTUALLY THAT I THINK THOSE STUDENTS WERE NOT IN SCHOOL.
NOW, SOME OF THESE STUDENTS WERE NOT IN SCHOOL DURING THE PANDEMIC EXPERIENCES, RIGHT? BUT AFTER THE FACT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE MATRICULATING INTO, INTO OUR SYSTEM, AND THE OTHER ONES ARE EITHER RECOVERING OR MATRICULATING OUT ON THE BACK END OF THE TESTED GRADES.
OKAY? SO YOU WANNA KNOW YOUR ROUTE.
THAT'S THE OTHER THING YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE OUT MOUNTAIN HIKING, RIGHT? SO LAY OUT YOUR MAP, LAY OUT YOUR PLAN AS TO WHERE YOU'RE TRYING TO GO.
THIS IS, UH, SC READY AND EOCS.
AND SO WHAT YOU CAN SEE IS THAT THIS IS, THIS TELLS THE, THE STORY, I THINK ON SORT OF THE RECOVERY PIECE, RIGHT? THE ORANGE LINE IS SC READY MATH.
AND WHAT, WHAT I SEE HERE IS THAT YOU SEE, YOU SEE IT ALL MAKING PROGRESS, BUT THAT MATH PROGRESS IS VERY SLOW, RIGHT? IT'S VERY, VERY SLOW.
UH, AND I THINK THIS, THIS PAST YEAR SHOULD EVENTUALLY, WHEN THE OCTOBER FINAL DATA COMES OUT, SHOULD SHOW SOME PROGRESS, UH, THAT'S GONNA JUMP UP A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE'LL WAIT TILL OCTOBER TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT ACTUALLY PLAYS OUT.
BUT THEN YOU CAN SEE IN ELA, FOR EXAMPLE, RIGHT? YOU CAN SEE THAT OUR SYSTEM HAS MOVED STEADILY UPWARDS, AND IT HAS HIT OUR HIGHEST SCORES IN DISTRICT HISTORY ON THE CURRENT STATE ASSESSMENT IN MATH.
YOU SEE ON THE EOCS, THAT'S THE AREA THAT WE'RE ZEROED IN ON TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BECAUSE THAT IMPACT, THAT TRAJECTORY IS NOT A GOOD ONE.
AND THAT'S ONE THAT WE NEED TO SHIFT, OKAY? AND THEREFORE, ONE OF THE THINGS I'VE DONE IN ORDER TO FOCUS IN AND FINE TUNE ON THAT ALGEBRA, UH, DR.
MONA LISA DIXON IS, UH, WHO HAS, UH, LOTS OF MATH EXPERIENCE
[02:00:01]
AND LOTS OF MATH BACKGROUND, UH, AND PARTICULARLY AT THE EOC AND MATH LEVEL, RIGHT? SHE'S ONE THAT I'VE, I'VE PULLED AND SAID, THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO FOCUS ON SYSTEM-WIDE FOR US.AND, YOU KNOW, SHE'S BUILT HER TEAM, OR SHE'S BUILDING HER TEAM, AND SHE HAS, UM, UH, A GAME PLAN ALREADY LAID OUT, UH, THAT WORKS THROUGH ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL TO HELP ACCELERATE THAT ORANGE LINE, BUT TO HELP THAT BLUE LINE SHIFT IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.
SO I'M, I'M EXCITED ABOUT THAT PLAN AND THE WAY THAT'S HEADED.
UH, THE OTHER THING ON EOCS, WHEN YOU'RE, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EOCS IN, IN THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL, UM, ARE STUDENTS WHO TAKE A ALGEBRA IN THE ELEMENTARY, ELEMENTARY, I'M SORRY, IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, RIGHT? UH, SOME STUDENTS ARE TAKING THAT IN SEVENTH GRADE.
SOME STUDENTS ARE TAKING THAT IN EIGHTH GRADE, RIGHT? SO THEY'RE NOT REALLY SHOWING UP IN YOUR NINTH GRADE DATA BECAUSE YOUR NINTH AND YOUR 10TH, UH, YOUR NINTH GRADE DATA, RIGHT? YOU NOW, YOU'RE, NOW YOU'RE WORKING WITH THE STUDENTS WHO, WHO IT IS THE ACCELERATED STUDENTS THAT ARE TAKING IT IN SEVENTH AND EIGHTH.
SO, SO THEY'RE NOT IN THE EQUATION IN THE NINTH GRADE, RIGHT? IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
OKAY? SO SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE CLIMB AHEAD, IT CAN APPEAR TO BE OVERWHELMING.
AND SO THAT'S WHY ONE OF THE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO IS YOU HAVE TO CHUNK UP THAT TREK.
AND YOU'VE GOTTA, YOU'VE GOTTA REALLY, UH, PLAN YOUR ROUTE SO THAT YOU ARE, YOU ARE HAVING CHECK MARKS ALONG THE WAY, RIGHT? TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ON PATH, YOU'RE ON TARGET, BUT YOU HAVE SET CHUNKS AND GOALS ALONG THE WAY SO THAT YOU'RE NOT JUST LOOKING LIKE I GOTTA GET FROM HERE TO WAY UP THERE, RIGHT? OKAY.
AND SO WE DO THE SAME THING IN CLASSROOMS, RIGHT? WE SET UP BENCHMARKS, WE SET UP, UH, UH, MIDYEAR, UH, UH, DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENTS, RIGHT? A, YOU'RE CHECKING TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT PATH, AND THEN YOU SET SOME YEARLY GOALS.
THAT'S HOW YOU'RE CHUNKING YOUR JOURNEY TO GET FROM HERE TO THERE, OKAY? SOMETIMES IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE, RIGHT? BUT EVERY TURN HAS THE POTENTIAL TO INSPIRE FOR MORE.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS IN CLASSROOMS, THERE IS ROOM FOR CELEBRATION ALONG THE JOURNEY, AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE THOSE CELEBRATIONS BECAUSE IT'S THOSE MILESTONES WHEN YOU HIT THEM THAT, UH, BRING ALIVE THAT, THAT OPPORTUNITY TO INSPIRE AND TO SEE WHAT IS POSSIBLE IN EACH AND EVERY CLASSROOM EVERY DAY.
AND SO HERE, HERE, HERE ON OUR, ON OUR CLIMB IN MOUNT RAINIER, UH, WE, THERE'S A MOUNTAIN GOAT, RIGHT? LIKE, SERIOUSLY, RIGHT? AND SO, SO YOU'RE, YOU'VE GOT THESE SNOW FIELDS UP THERE, RIGHT? AND YOU GOT MOUNTAIN GOATS, AND YOU'VE GOT ALL KINDS OF OTHER ANIMALS.
ANYWAY, THE POTENTIAL IS THERE TO INSPIRE ALONG THE WAY.
BUT HERE'S THE OTHER THING, RIGHT? YOU HAVE TO STOP AND CELEBRATE WHAT IS RIGHT IN EVERY SINGLE JOURNEY, OKAY? IN EVERY SINGLE JOURNEY.
WHEN I SAW THIS, I THOUGHT, I DON'T KNOW, THAT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF THE LORAX, RIGHT?
BUT TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED BEHIND ME.
AND THERE'S THE OPPORTUNITY TO CELEBRATE IN EVERY PATH ON THE JOURNEY.
AND THE SAME IS TRUE IN OUR CLASSROOMS, RIGHT? THE JOURNEY AND THE CLIMB WE HAVE SET IS STEEP, AND WE KNOW IT.
I DESCRIBED IT TO YOU AS BOLD AND AUDACIOUS IN THE GOAL, OKAY? OUR SYSTEM SERVES MORE THAN DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS THAN THE ENTIRE STATE.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT THE STATE SERVES, IT'S 10%.
OKAY? THAT CAN BE STEEP BECAUSE STUDENTS HAVE TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE AND IT TAKES THREE TO FIVE YEARS TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE, YET THEY HAVE TO TAKE THESE ASSESSMENTS, EVEN IF THEY'RE ONLY HERE FOR A DAY, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE TO STOP AND CELEBRATE THE PROGRESS BECAUSE IT IS WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING IN THE WORK WITH EVERY STUDENT.
[02:05:01]
IN THE JOURNEY.YOU GOTTA CHECK YOUR MAP REGULARLY AND MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS REGULARLY.
CHECK ON YOUR TEAM, WHOEVER'S CLIMBING WITH YOU, RIGHT? YOU DON'T WANNA LEAVE A MAN BEHIND, OR A LADY OR A KID, IN MY CASE,
BUT WHEN YOU COMPLETE THE HIKE, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY THE ACCOMPLISHMENT.
AND SO WHEN WE GOT TO THE TOP, THIS IS THE VIEW.
AND WAY IN THE BACK WAS MOUNT ST.
HELENS AND MOUNT ADAMS OVER TO THE LEFT, WHICH I DON'T THINK IS VISIBLE, BUT, BUT YOU CAN GET THERE.
IT'S A TOUGH HIKE, BUT IT'S THE RIGHT ONE.
WELL, OUR DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN, AND I EXPECT EVERYBODY IN OUR SYSTEM TO KNOW IT.
THOSE ARE THE TARGETS WE'VE SET.
IT'S A STEEP, BOLD, AUDACIOUS CLIMB.
BUT THAT'S WHERE WE WANT TO GET RIGHT IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND SO I SHARED THIS WITH OUR STAFF AND, AND OUR EMPLOYEES, AND EVERYWHERE I GO, NOW, SOMEBODY YELLS FROM SOMEWHERE 75, 75, 92, I COULD BE IN THE MIDDLE OF WALMART AND SOMEBODY'S YELLING ACROSS THE AISLE.
I RAN ACROSS ONE OF OUR TEACHERS AT TARGET THE OTHER DAY, AND THEY WERE GETTING THEIR SUPPLIES, AND THEY'RE PUSHING THEIR CART, AND SHE'S LIKE, 75, 75, 92.
THAT'S THAT, THAT, BUT THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT.
YOU WANT EVERYBODY KNOWING WHAT THE TARGET IS, RIGHT? AND WE SAID THROUGH OUR STRATEGIC PLAN THAT THE PILLARS AND THE STRATEGIC PILLARS WE'RE GONNA FOCUS IN ON IS SUPPORT HIS ENGAGEMENT, ITS ACHIEVEMENT AND STEWARDSHIP, RIGHT? IN OUR JOURNEY, WITHIN EACH OF THOSE, THERE ARE VARIOUS, AND THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, BUT THERE ARE VARIOUS COMPONENTS.
SO STUDENT READINESS, AND I JUST SHOWED YOU SOME OF THE INFORMATION ON KINDERGARTEN COMING IN, SOME OF THE INFORMATION ON SECOND GRADE READINESS, THIRD GRADE READINESS, RIGHT? STUDENT READINESS FOR THE JOURNEY IS IMPORTANT.
EARLY CHILDHOOD, UH, COMES INTO PLAY HERE QUITE A BIT.
TEACHER ADMINISTRATOR QUALITY, RIGHT? OUR PREPARATION OF OUR EMPLOYEES, RIGHT? OUR ABILITY TO HIRE HIGH QUALITY EDUCATORS AND HIGH QUALITY ADMINISTRATORS IS IMPORTANT IN THE JOURNEY IN THE CLIMB.
I'M NOT GONNA READ ALL OF 'EM, BUT, UH, BUT YOU CAN SEE, UM, THAT THIS TOUCHES UPON VARIOUS COMPONENTS THAT ARE IMPORTANT IN THE JOURNEY.
CAREER READINESS, MULTI-TIERED SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE, UH, AND, AND DOWN THE ROAD, UH, IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS, UH, THAT'S A PRESENTATION I WANNA BRING FORWARD TO YOU IS ON MULTI-TIERED SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT, BECAUSE THAT IS, UH, ABOUT HOW WE GET OUR STUDENTS THAT ARE NOT ON GRADE LEVEL HEADED TOWARDS GRADE LEVEL, OKAY? UH, THE ARTS IS ON HERE.
WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THE ARTS, UH, AND, AND FINE ARTS.
AND SO MUSIC AND ART AND, UM, LOTS OF DIFFERENT COURSE, LOTS OF DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR KIDS TO ENGAGE THROUGH THE FINE ARTS, UH, WHICH ENRICHES THE OVERALL CURRICULUM AND EXPERIENCE OF THEIR PROGRAM, RIGHT? FOR SURE.
UM, STEWARDSHIP, RIGHT? UM, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY TODAY, UM, AND JUST, I'M NOT GONNA READ IT ALL, BUT THERE, AND THERE'S MORE THAN THIS.
AND EACH OF THESE DEVELOP FURTHER, RIGHT? SO THE NEXT PIECE IS HOW TALL IS THE TASK, RIGHT? IN 2023, THIS IS WHERE WE WERE.
AND ULTIMATELY IN 20 29, 75, 75, 92 IS WHERE WE WANNA BE.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT, EVEN THOUGH ONCE THE SCORES COME OUT IN OCTOBER, THAT'LL BE OUR BASELINE TOWARDS OUR CLIMB.
SO I'LL READJUST THESE NUMBERS AT THAT TIME, BUT, BUT IT'S A 20 POINT CLIMB, 20.4 CLIMB IN ELA.
IT'S A 33.4 CLIMB IN MATH, AND IT'S A 4.8 IN GRADUATION RATE IMPROVEMENT, OKAY? THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
[02:10:01]
DOWN FROM THE HIKE THIS SUMMER AND I GOT DOWN TO THE BOTTOM, UM, STOPPED AND JUST HAD THIS BEAUTIFUL VIEW AND PICTURE SITTING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.SO I TOOK THIS PHOTO AND NOTICE THAT IN THE BACKGROUND RIGHT? IS THE MOON SITTING BACK THERE AND, AND HERE I'M IN THE SUMMER IN THE MIDDLE OF MY HIKE.
AND WHAT COMES TO MIND IS 75, 75, 92, AND HOW FAR, JUST HOW FAR THAT HIKE AND THAT CLIMB IS, IS FOR US.
AND SO, IN THE WORDS OF KENNEDY, YOU KNOW, WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? WE DO IT BECAUSE WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON IN THIS DECADE AND DO THE OTHER THINGS.
NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD, BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING, RIGHT? SO WE SET OUR GOALS HIGH AND YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SEE, UH, AND WE WANT TO GO FOR IT, RIGHT? AND I, AND I WAS TELLING OUR, OUR STAFF, I SAID, FOR ANY OF YOU, AND THIS IS THE SAME FOR YOU, ANY OF YOU HOPELESS ROMANTICS THAT ARE HERE, RIGHT? UH, WHEN THE MOON IS OUT, RIGHT? AND YOU MIGHT BE IN HILTON HEAD ON KAGEY AND WALKING THE BEACH WITH YOUR SPOUSE OR SIGNIFICANT OTHER, OR YOU ARE IN BOSTON AT THE MAY, AT THE WRIGHTS FAMILY PARK.
AND, AND WHILE YOU'RE THERE, YOU, YOU, YOU'RE ENJOYING THE BEAUTIFUL VIEW IN THE MARSH IN THE EVENING.
OR MAYBE YOU'RE IN BEAUFORT ON THE WATERFRONT, RIGHT? AND YOU LOOK OUT AND YOU LOOK UP ACROSS THE SKY AND YOU SEE A BEAUTIFUL FULL MOON JUST LIKE WE HAD THE OTHER DAY, RIGHT? WELL, I DON'T WANNA RUIN IT FOR YOU, I APOLOGIZE IN UP FRONT, BUT WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE IS I WANT YOU TO SEE 75, 75, 92
AND WE GOTTA PREPARE FOR OUR TRIP, RIGHT? AND FOR US, UH, WE WANNA LAUNCH AND FLY TOWARDS OUR TARGET, WHICH WE DID, UM, COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, RIGHT? AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT EVERY MISSION ENCOUNTERS CHALLENGES.
WE KNOW THAT EVERY MISSION ENCOUNTERS CHALLENGES.
WE WILL BE NO DIFFERENT IN THIS JOURNEY, BUT WE RELY ON OUR SYSTEMS TO HELP OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES.
PLCS ARE IMPORTANT SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE THAT'S PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES WITH PLANNING, COMMON PLANNING, PROGRESS MONITORING ALONG THE WAY.
MTSS IS AN IMPORTANT PART TO GET KIDS ON TRACK.
INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEWS, IF SOMETHING WE'VE PUT IN PLACE THAT WE DO AT SCHOOLS AND MASTER BOARD ANALYSIS.
AND THESE ARE TOOLS, UH, AND, AND SYSTEMS THAT WE PUT IN PLACE IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING OUR STUDENTS, UH, WITH WHAT THEY NEED, THAT WE'RE SUPPORTING OUR TEACHERS WITH WHAT THEY NEED IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS PUSH FOR THIS, THIS HEAVY CLIMB.
SO, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE, BUT, UH, THIS IS FROM APOLLO 13, AND I'M PROBABLY GONNA HAVE, UH, YEAH, I KNOW.
WHY ISN'T IT GOING AWAY? IS THE VOLUME NO, POSSIBLY IN THEATERS.
WELL, THAT'S MY VOLUME SITUATION.
UPSTAIRS HANDED US THIS ONE AND THEY GOT IT COME THROUGH.
WE GOTTA FIND A WAY TO MAKE THIS, THIS FIT INTO THE HOLE FOR THIS, THIS USING NOTHING BUT THAT, THAT LET'S GET IT.
FILTER COFFEE, YOU CAN SEE IN HERE THAT EVERYBODY JUMPS IN TO MAKE IT WORK.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT'S GONNA TAKE.
IT'S GONNA TAKE MORE THAN JUST THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND WHEN I GO AROUND TOWN SPEAKING AND COMMUNICATING WITH MEMBERS IN THE COMMUNITY, I'M GONNA LET 'EM KNOW WHAT OUR TARGETS ARE.
BUT I'M GONNA LET THEM KNOW THAT WE NEED THEM IN THIS JOURNEY BECAUSE IT'S GONNA TAKE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.
WE'VE GOT TO PUSH IT, PUSH IT TO THOSE LEVELS, OKAY? AND THAT'S GONNA BE, UH, REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT.
[02:15:11]
OKAY? NO, THERE WE GO.SO JUST LIKE WE DID ON OUR HIKE, YOU GOTTA MONITOR YOUR JOURNEY.
YOU GOTTA MAKE SURE YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT PATH.
THE SAME THING IS TRUE ON THIS MISSION, RIGHT? WE'VE GOTTA MONITOR OUR PATH, MAKE A MISSION PLAN, USE DIAGNOSTICS ALONG THE WAY, SET TARGETS, CHECK ON OUR PROGRESS, ADJUST COURSE WHEN NECESSARY, RIGHT? THOSE ARE ALL THINGS WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO.
THIS IS A VIDEO CLIP OF, UM, WHEN WE ACTUALLY LANDED ON THE MOON.
'CAUSE I THINK WE'VE SEEN THOSE BEFORE.
UH, BUT ACCOMPLISHING THE MISSION IS WHAT OUR OBJECTIVE IS.
THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO.
AND FOR US, THIS IS OUR MOONSHOT MOMENT AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM, THIS IS OUR MOONSHOT MOMENT, RIGHT? PUSHING TOWARDS THAT 75, 75, 92 AND INCORPORATING ALL THE ASPECTS OF THAT STRATEGIC PLAN TO INCLUDE THE ARTS IS SOMETHING WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DO.
IT'S OUR OPPORTUNITY, BECAUSE AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU HAVE EARLY LITERACY IMPROVING.
YOU CAN SEE KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE TRAJECTORY IS IMPROVING.
FOURTH GRADE, WE'RE SEEING THE MOVEMENT THIRD AND FOURTH, RIGHT? YOU HAVE OTHER GRADES WHEN YOU'RE SEEING THE MOVEMENT.
BUT, BUT MY POINT IS THAT THERE IS A MATRICULATION COMING THROUGH OF STUDENTS THAT WE'RE PREPARING IN THAT JOURNEY THAT ARE ALREADY DEMONSTRATING HIGHER LEVELS THAN WHERE WE WERE BEFORE.
OKAY? EMPHASIS ON MATHEMATICS IS ESSENTIAL.
FOCUSED ON IMPROVED ATTENDANCE IS SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA BE PUSHING HARD.
I CAN ALREADY SEE, UH, I BELIEVE THAT OUR ATTENDANCE, UH, STUDENT ATTENDANCE, UH, HAS IMPROVED, UH, LAST YEAR DURING THE COURSE OF LAST YEAR.
SO I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT, SIGNIFICANTLY.
I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PIECE.
UH, AVID IMPLEMENTATION IS SOMETHING WE HAVE IN OUR MIDDLE SCHOOLS, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT GRADE LEVEL FOR AVID, BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT GETTING KIDS FOCUSED ON ACHIEVING THEIR HIGHEST POTENTIAL BY SETTING GOALS, UH, AS PART OF THEIR ACADEMIC WORK, AND THEN TARGETED SUPPORT AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL.
SO FOR US, WE'RE T PLUS 11 DAYS, NOT T MINUS.
SO I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE AT THIS TIME BEFORE I BRING MARY UP TO DO THE NEXT ONE.
COLONEL GEIER, UH, MR. SMITH AND I AND CARLTON, UH, DALLAS, UH, ATTENDED THIS AND WAS IN THE GYMNASIUM AT, AT BLUFFTON HIGH SCHOOL, PACKED TO THE CEILING.
HE STARTED OUT WITH CANDACE GLOVER.
OUR, OUR, UH, FAMOUS PERFORMER ON, UH, AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, OR WHATEVER THEY CALL, UH, AMERICAN IDOL, I GUESS IT IS.
AND SHE GAVE FANTASTIC, UH, PERFORMANCE, OBVIOUSLY, THAT SAID TO, UH, YOU COULD LOOK IN THE AUDIENCE AND YOU LOOKED AROUND, YOU SAID, HOLY SMOKES.
WHERE DID THEY GET, HOW DID THEY GET THAT GUY OR THAT GAL THERE? AND THIS IS FOR REAL, PERFECT.
IT WAS A PERFECT PERSON, THE PERFECT WAY TO START IT OUT.
AND THEN I LISTENED TO THIS PITCH, AND, UH, I WAS UP IN THE FRONT.
SO I KIND OF, DURING THE PITCH, TURNED AROUND AND WATCHED THE AUDIENCE, AND THEY WERE FOCUSED.
AND IT REMINDED ME A LOT OF MY MILITARY, UH, TRAINING AND BACKGROUND.
WHEN THE ARMY GETS A MISSION, YOU GO OUT AND DO, DO WHAT WE CALL THE FIVE PARAGRAPH FIELD ORDER, VERY STRUCTURED OF HOW IT'S DONE.
AND THEN YOU BRIEF THAT TO YOUR SUBORDINATES, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE TANK LEVEL FROM, UH, DIVISION BRIGADE, BATTALION PLATOON COMPANY, DOWN TO THE TANK.
AND YOU START OUT AND YOU SAY, THIS IS A SITUATION WHICH HE LAID OUT.
THIS IS THE MISSION WHICH HE LAID OUT.
AND THEN YOU SAID, ONE THING THAT WE STARTED, UH, ADDING INTO THIS PROCESS ABOUT 30 YEARS AGO, THIS IS THE COMMANDER'S INTENT.
[02:20:01]
HAPPEN IN GENERAL TERMS. SO YOU, AS THE PEOPLE THAT NEED TO EXECUTE THIS PLAN, KNOW WHAT TO DO.'CAUSE I KNOW WHAT DR. RODRIGUEZ WANTS ME TO DO.
NOW, HOW DO YOU GET TO THAT? THAT'S UP TO YOU.
AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT EVERYBODY IN THAT ROOM LEFT THAT MEETING KNOWING WHAT THE SUPERINTENDENT WANTED THEM TO DO.
AND HE TOLD THEM, IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
AND OH, BY THE WAY, YOU INNOVATE.
YOU HAVE FREEDOM TO INNOVATE, TO ACCOMPLISH THAT MISSION.
IT WAS ABSOLUTELY, AND MR. SMITH, I THINK YOU SAID THAT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY INSPIRING.
AND SO AFTER SEEING THAT, I SAID, WELL, YOU KNOW, THE BOARD NEEDS TO KNOW THAT.
AND THAT'S WHY I, I ASKED TO HAVE THIS PRESENTATION.
WE HAVEN'T SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE.
UH, I'VE BEEN TO THE OTHER, UH, OPENING CEREMONIES, UH, PREVIOUSLY THIS WAS DIFFERENT AND IT WAS SET UP PERFECTLY, AND YOU GET A LOT OF CREDIT FOR THAT.
I, I THOUGHT I WAS THE MAIN EVENT.
AND THEN CLARE, UH, AND CANDACE GLOVER SHOWED UP.
UH, SO I GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU, OR, AND, OR MARY.
SO WHY DO YOU, WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT MATH IS JUST, YOU KNOW, LAGGED SO MUCH BEHIND THE ELA? IS, DO YOU HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THAT AS EDUCATORS? YEAH.
YOU KNOW, I THINK HERE, HERE'S WHAT'S INTERESTING TO ME.
FOR YEARS, FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, READING LAGGED BEHIND AND MATH WAS, WAS WHAT DROVE EVERYBODY'S RATINGS.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT SCHOOL RATINGS, OKAY? UM, EVERYBODY WAS SCORED HIGHER IN MATH.
AND I THINK OVER TIME, DISTRICTS BUILT THEMSELVES IN A WAY TO ZERO IN ON READING, RIGHT? AND SO, SO THIS IS PART OF THE EQUATIONS.
'CAUSE I THINK THERE'S A FEW THINGS HERE.
SO, READING SYSTEMS WERE BUILT, STRUCTURES WERE BUILT IN ORDER TO SUPPORT READING IMPROVEMENT AND READING INSTRUCTION.
OKAY? MATH HAD WHAT IT HAD, RIGHT? AND THERE WASN'T ALWAYS A LOT OF ADDITIONAL, UH, EMPHASIS PUT THERE.
I MEAN, YOU HAVE, YOU HAD CURRICULUM PEOPLE IN THE DISTRICT OFFICE THAT SUPPORTED MATH, BUT YOU MIGHT HAVE ONE WHERE YOU MIGHT HAVE FOUR IN THE DISTRICT OUR SIZE OR FIVE FOR READING, RIGHT? INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES THAT SUPPORT, UH, IN SCHOOLS.
YOU ALWAYS STARTED WITH INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES FOR READING.
YOU, YOU DIDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE, UH, E ENOUGH TO HAVE INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES FOR MATH PANDEMIC COMES WELL BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, OKAY? YOU SEE A MAJOR SHIFT IN MATH CURRICULUM AND MATH INSTRUCTION.
AND IT GOES FROM BEING, UH, WHAT WE WERE ACCUSTOMED TO WHEN WE WENT TO SCHOOL, WHERE IT WAS, YOU KNOW, MEMORIZE YOUR MATH MULTIPLICATION TABLES, ALL OF THESE THINGS, RIGHT? THAT WE, WE DID.
RIGHT? UH, WHICH MAKES YOUR MATH FLUENCY A LOT QUICKER, WHICH MAKES YOUR RIGHT.
UH, UM, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR BASIC MATH FACTS ARE, ARE RIGHT AT THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE.
'CAUSE YOU'VE MEMORIZED THOSE THINGS AND, AND YOU KNOW THEM, RIGHT? AND IT SHIFTS.
AND THE STANDARDS SHIFT FROM A FOCUS ON THAT, RIGHT? PARTICULARLY IN THE EARLY STAGES, EARLY AGES TO, UH, ALL OF A SUDDEN IT'S A THINKING CURRICULUM, RIGHT? OVERNIGHT.
AND, AND THAT WAS A MAJOR SHIFT FOR, UH, FOR TEACHERS.
THAT WAS A MAJOR SHIFT, UH, FOR PARENTS.
IT'S BEEN A MAJOR SHIFT FOR PARENTS.
PARENTS STILL TODAY ARE LIKE, YOU KNOW, SINCE YOU CHANGED MATH, RIGHT? WE'RE YOU DON'T REALLY CHANGE MATH, RIGHT? MATH IS MATH, IT'S ALWAYS RELIABLE, RIGHT? BUT THE APPROACH TO MATH HAS CHANGED, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK, UH, PART OF MATH INSTRUCTION THESE DAYS IS IN THE USE AT THE EARLY AGES ESPECIALLY, IS IN THE USE OF MANIPULATIVES, RIGHT? WHERE KIDS CAN GET THEIR HANDS ON THINGS.
AND, AND, AND, AND THAT'S PART OF THE MATH INSTRUCTION, RIGHT?
[02:25:01]
UH, HERE COMES THE PANDEMIC, RIGHT? AND, UH, THINGS CHANGE RIGHT NOW.NOW THEY'RE TELLING US, YOU KNOW, DON'T PUT MATH MANIPULATORS OUT THERE BECAUSE YOU CAN SPREAD THIS OR SPREAD THAT, OR KIDS ARE SEPARATE AND THEY'RE NOT WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
UH, THAT, THAT, THAT IS WHAT GOT HIT THE HARDEST ACROSS THE NATION, RIGHT? THAT'S NOT THE ONLY EXPLANATION, RIGHT? THERE'S GOTTA BE WAY MORE THAN THAT TO IT.
OKAY? BUT, BUT THOSE ARE FACTORS AT THE EARLY AGES FOR SURE.
THAT THAT DEFINITELY DEVELOP SOME PROBLEMS IN.
AND THEN, AND THEN THE OTHER PIECE IS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE EXPERIENCED IT TOO, RIGHT? AND PARTS OF OUR, OF OUR COUNTY, 80% OF FAMILIES CHOSE TO GO VIRTUAL AND 20% CHOSE FACE-TO-FACE.
AND THEN THE OTHER PART OF THE COUNTY, 80% CHOSE TO COME FACE TO FACE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND 20% STAYED VIRTUAL.
RIGHT? AND SO YOU HAVE THAT, THAT IMPACT MATH INSTRUCTION.
UM, VIRTUAL IS, YOU KNOW, MIGHT BE FINE AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S HARDER, A LOT HARDER AT THE EARLY GRADES AND MIDDLE GRADES, OKAY.
SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S, IT'S NOT ONE THING.
I THINK IT'S A MULTITUDE OF THINGS THAT, THAT SORT OF LAND THERE.
AND THEN NATIONWIDE, I MEAN, IT IS, IT'S BEEN A DECADE WORTH OF IMPACT IS WHAT, UH, THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION SAID AT THAT TIME, RIGHT? AND OR IN THE ASSESSMENTS AFTER, RIGHT? AND, UH, I SEE OUR RECOVERY, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S A BUMP SORT OF FLAT.
I THINK WE'RE GETTING READY TO SEE A BUMP, AND I WANT TO, I WANT TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT AND, AND, AND HAVE PUT SOME THINGS IN PLACE HERE AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE TO SUPPORT SCHOOLS IN MATH INSTRUCTION.
SO BEEFED IT UP, UH, SO THAT, UH, WE HAVE THAT, THAT, THAT SUPPORT IN THEIR PLANNING OF LESSONS, YOU KNOW, WHEN MATH CHANGED, SO TO SPEAK, RIGHT? PLANNING FOR MATH LESSONS HAD TO CHANGE.
OKAY? AND THAT TRANSITION HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN, HASN'T, HASN'T, I'M GONNA SAY HASN'T BEEN THE SMOOTHEST FOR PEOPLE, RIGHT? OVER THE YEARS.
AND I THINK THAT HAVING A SYSTEM THAT SUPPORTS PLCS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE FOR MATH, SO WE CAN DO THE KIND OF STRATEGIC PLANNING THAT IS NECESSARY, YOU HAVE TO THOSE STANDARDS.
IF YOU READ THE STANDARD ONE DAY, WE SHOULD DO THAT ONE DAY.
I SHOULD BRING YOU ALL THE STANDARDS TO READ AND, AND, AND, AND NOT, WE'RE NOT TAKE ALL OF 'EM.
WE'LL JUST TAKE ONE, RIGHT? BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA READ AND YOU'RE GONNA SAY, YEAH, WOW.
WHAT DO I DO WITH THAT
AND THEN YOU HAVE THINGS WITHIN THOSE STANDARDS.
AND SO YOU HAVE TO DECONSTRUCT WHAT THAT STANDARD MEANS.
OH, AND BY THE WAY, IT'S NOT JUST DECONSTRUCTING IT AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO INSTRUCT ON IT, BUT IT'S ALSO AT WHAT COGNITIVE LEVEL DO I HAVE TO INSTRUCT? BECAUSE AT WHAT COGNITIVE LEVEL IS THE EXPECTATION FOR THAT PARTICULAR STANDARD, RIGHT? UH, IT'S A LOT, YOU KNOW? AND SO IT'S NOT JUST ONE THING, BUT I THINK THAT IS WHAT HAS THOSE THINGS TOGETHER, UH, ARE, ARE PART OF WHAT HAS AFFECTED MATH THE MOST.
AND THAT, THAT'S WHY THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
YOU KNOW, AND I THINK, UH, RESEARCHERS ARE STILL FIGURING IT OUT.
UM, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S, AS, AS A PROFESSIONAL, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I SEE.
AND YOU NEED TO KIND OF KNOW WHY DID THAT HAPPEN TO, TO EXECUTE THE IMPROVEMENT.
UM, THE DISTRICT CAN PUT IT A LOT OF, UH, PROGRAMS IN PLACE, BUT IF PARENTS, UH, HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY ALSO, UM, THERE WAS AN ARTICLE THIS WEEK IN THE PAPER ABOUT PESCOS, AND THE ARTICLE SAID THAT SCHOOL HAVE FAILED OUR STUDENTS SCHOOL.
UH, AND, AND I THINK WE, WE NEED TO COUNTER THAT BECAUSE, UM, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHERE THIS DISTRICT CAME FROM, UM, AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MEDIA AND THE COMMUNITY KNOWS THAT, SEND OUT THAT, THAT MESSAGE TO THEM.
BECAUSE THE DISTRICT HAD PUT SOME, SOME VERY GOOD PROGRAMS IN PLACE.
BUT IF PARENTS DOES NOT BE, IS NOT RESPONSIBLE, THEN WE GONNA STILL BE AT THIS LIKE
[02:30:01]
10 YEARS FROM NOW.UM, A LOT OF OUR YOUNGER STUDENTS, AND THEY FIRST DAY THEY GET TO SCHOOL, THEY'RE ALREADY TWO AND THREE GRADES BEHIND ALREADY.
AND THAT'S NOT BECAUSE OF THE DISTRICT PROBLEM.
THAT IS BECAUSE PARENTS, THANK YOU, MS. BOATRIGHT.
UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY I, TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT, CONCEPT, I FEEL LIKE I'M GONNA HAVE TO HIT THE TRAVEL BUDGET TO GO TO MOUNT RAINIER TO REALLY
GET A HANDLE ON WHAT YOU'RE, UM, BUT I, WHAT I WILL SAY, I LOVE THE IDEA OF EMPOWERING TEACHERS AND SAYING, HERE'S THE GOAL, LET'S DO IT.
MY QUESTION IS, SOME ARE GONNA BE MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN OTHERS.
AND, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, YOU GOTTA FIGURE OUT, WAS THIS PERSON MORE SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO HAVE A GROUP OF STUDENTS THAT WERE REALLY ATTENTIVE VERSUS SOMEONE, YOU KNOW, WHO'S GOT A GROUP OF KIDS WHERE THEY'RE NOT SHOWING UP AND, YOU KNOW, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU'VE, UM, YOU KNOW, ACCOUNT FOR THAT CONFOUNDING VARIABLE, BUT I THINK IT'D BE REALLY IMPORTANT AS WE EMBARK ON THIS TO SORT OF START SEEING, HEY, THIS IS WORKING.
YOU KNOW, AND THIS IS SOMETHING SO THAT WE CAN THEN AT SOME POINT, REPLICATE.
SO YOU KIND OF WEED OUT THE STUFF THAT ISN'T AS EFFECTIVE YES.
SO HOW ARE WE GONNA, HOW ARE YOU GONNA DO THAT? YEAH.
WELL, I DIDN'T PLANT THAT QUESTION, BUT, YOU KNOW, EARLIER TODAY I WAS SITTING HERE AND I WAS TALKING ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME MISSING PIECES IN THE DISTRICT COMPONENT THAT I THINK WE NEED TO SUPPORT SCHOOLS, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE.
AND I REALLY DO THINK THAT, UM, WE SHOULD HAVE A RESEARCH EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT DEPARTMENT, WHICH WE DON'T HAVE.
AND I THINK THAT, AND, AND, AND I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BUILD IN, UH, NEXT YEAR, RIGHT? AS WE, AS WE MOVE INTO IT.
BECAUSE WHAT THAT DOES IS I CAN SAY, OKAY, INVESTED X NUMBER OF DOLLARS IN THIS, RIGHT? ARE WE PAYING DIVIDENDS HERE? RIGHT? ARE WE SEEING RETURN ON INVESTMENT ON THIS? AND WE CAN DO PROGRAM EVALUATIONS ON THINGS IN A MANNER IN WHICH, UH, IS, IS, IS INDEPENDENT FROM THOSE RUNNING THOSE PROGRAMS. YET YOU CAN SEE WHETHER WE ACTUALLY HAVE RETURN ON INVESTMENT OR NOT.
WE CAN, WE CAN EITHER TWEAK, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS, AND CHECK IT AGAIN, OR WE CAN REPURPOSE THOSE DOLLARS INTO SOMETHING ELSE IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN PEOPLE LOSE JOBS, THAT MEANS THEIR JOBS CHANGE, RIGHT? UH, BUT IN ESSENCE, IT ALLOWS US TO MAKE MORE STRATEGIC AND MORE TARGETED DECISIONS.
I MEAN, WE'VE BEEN BUILDING DIFFERENT THINGS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OFFICE, BUT THIS IS ONE THAT I THINK WOULD BE OF VALUE, UH, TO THE SYSTEM, UH, AS WE, AS WE'RE MOVING FORWARD.
THE OTHER THING I THINK IS TO, IS TO ALSO, UH, LOOK AT AN INCENTIVE, UH, COMPONENT AS WELL, UH, UH, FOR EDUCATORS IN TERMS OF HOW, UH, HOW STUDENTS ARE DOING.
SO AS A FOLLOW UP TO THAT, 'CAUSE THAT IS VERY EXCITING.
UM, 'CAUSE I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE THINGS WE'RE TRYING, IF WE DON'T HAVE DATA TO SUPPORT WHAT WE'RE DOING, IT'S REALLY HARD TO COMMUNICATE THAT.
AND YOU'RE NOT REALLY IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM.
BUT WHAT I WILL SAY IS, I THINK IN INTEGRAL TO THAT DEPARTMENT IS WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, WE'VE GOTTA BE CAPTURING THE DATA FROM POWERSCHOOL.
YOU KNOW, SO WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO TRACK LATE ARRIVALS YEAH.
SO WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, OKAY, THIS CLASSROOM'S HAVING A PROBLEM, BUT THEN YOU LOOK AND YOU REALIZE THAT 80% OF THE STUDENTS HAVE HAD FIVE OR MORE LATE ARRIVALS.
SO I THINK THAT, I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE ON INTEGRATING POWERSCHOOL AND, AND DOING THE DATA COLLECTION, BUT IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE A RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, WE NEED TO SUPPORT THAT WITH A ROBUST DATA COLLECTION.
AND TO BE CLEAR, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT A 40 PERSON, UH, RESEARCH EVALUATION ASSESSMENT.
IT'S DATA COLLECTION YOU CAN DO WITH ONE.
BUT I'M, BUT I'M, BUT I'M, UH, BUT I DO THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO, UH, WE NEED TO DO AS A NEXT STEP TO MOVE OUR SYSTEM FORWARD, BECAUSE THEN YOUR DECISIONS BECOME MORE TARGETED.
YOUR DECISIONS CAN BECOME MORE STRATEGIC, UH, WITH THAT INFORMATION.
YOU KNOW, EARL SAID SOMETHING ABOUT SCHOOLS, AND OUR SCHOOLS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB.
SO, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SOMETHING I, I TALK ABOUT WHEN I GO AROUND IN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL.
THAT LAST YEAR, 2023, WE HAD $56.6 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIPS THAT OUR STUDENTS EARNED.
14 ASSOCIATE DEGREES THAT THEY EARNED WHILE THEY WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL.
29 CAREER CERTIFICATES FROM TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF THE LOW COUNTRY,
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FIVE DUAL ASSOCIATE'S DEGREES 50, UH, STUDENTS ENLISTED IN MILITARY SERVICE.NINE, UH, NINE, UH, I'M SORRY, FOUR NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP FINALISTS, UM, 85, UH, PALMETTO FELLOWS RECIPIENTS.
WE HAVE STUDENTS ATTENDING MIT WE HAVE STUDENTS ATTENDING HARVARD, YALE AIR FORCE ACADEMY, US NAVAL ACADEMY, UH, THE ARMY ACADEMY, UH, DUKE, DARTMOUTH, USC, CLEMSON CITADEL, UH, LOCALLY, OUR STUDENTS ARE EXCELLING AND THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO PLACES.
WE'RE JUST LOOKING TO GET MORE TARGETED AND TO DO MORE, YOU KNOW, SO, MR. SMITH, WELL, UM, I'D LIKE TO SAY, UH, CONGRATULATIONS.
FIRST OFF, UM, WE'RE NOT ONLY CAPTURING YOUR AUDIENCE, BUT ALSO SETTING A BOLD GOAL AND MAKING, MAKING SURE THAT EVERYONE KNEW THAT, UM,
UM, EVERYONE LEFT OUT OF THERE KNOWING, AND WITH A MORALE THAT, LISTEN, 75 7 5 92, I HAD A PRINCIPAL TELL ME,
NOW, UM, WHEN THOSE PARENTS CALL YOU, UM, LOOK HERE.
LIKE, JUST SAYING, SO I, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU CALL THE PHONE, WELCOME.
I CAN HELP YOU MAKE SURE THAT'S YOUR PICK LINE.
I SAID, YOU WANT ME? YES, YOU NEED TO TELL, LET THE PARENTS KNOW WHEN THEY CALL AND COMPLAIN.
LET THEM KNOW WHAT THE GOAL IS FIRST, AND THEN, THEN HAVE THE CONVERSATION.
I SAID, I'M, I'M GONNA DO WHAT YOU SAID.
BUT, UH, AND IT JUST, I SAID THAT TO SAY IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU HAVE, IF YOU HAVE PRINCIPALS OUT THERE SAYING, HEY, LOOK HERE.
IN OTHER WORDS, THAT WAS, THAT WAS A NICE WAY OF TELLING ME, LOOK, WHEN THOSE PARENTS ARE COMPLAINING, YOU LET THEM KNOW THAT I HAVE A GOAL AS A LEADER OF THIS BUILDING THAT I'VE BEEN CHARGED WITH, THAT I HAD, THAT I HAVE TO MAKE AND MAKE SURE THAT I MAKE IT.
I WON'T CALL, I WON'T SAY WHO SAID IT, BUT THAT PERSON WAS DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT, ABOUT, ABOUT THAT.
AND I, AND, AND I RESPECT THAT.
NOT ONLY HAVE I HAVE, I HAD THEM, JUST LIKE YOU SAID, I'VE HAD OTHER PEOPLE WHO TELL ME THAT, HOLLER IT OUT TO ME.
AND I BEGIN TO, YOU KNOW, TELL PEOPLE, HEY, THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S THEME IN THIS DISTRICT.
AND, UM, IT IS GOOD TO KNOW THAT WE HAVE A MARK THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE AIMING TO MAKE.
AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERY, LIKE YOU SAID, THAT EVERYONE GET ON, GET ON, GET, GET INVOLVED, AND EVERYONE GET ON BOARD.
BECAUSE THE, AS YOU SAID, WE, WE'VE ALREADY BLAST OFF.
AND I THINK THAT IS, IS IS GREAT TO KNOW THAT WE'RE SERIOUS AND WE'RE TO BE STRATEGIC ABOUT IT.
UM, MY, MY, MY, MY QUESTIONS, THIS IS, UH, IN TERMS OF, WELL, YOU KIND OF ANSWERED IT IN TERMS OF WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, UH, THEY ELSE, THEY, THEY MAY NEED TO, UH, BE TO GET TO IT.
I, I JUST HOPE THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS, THIS IS, THIS IS A SERIOUS, THIS IS A SERIOUS THING.
AND, AND THIS IS A COMMUNITY EFFORT.
NOT, NOT, NOT JUST A DIS DISTRICT EFFORT, BUT A COMMUNITY EFFORT AS ONE.
EVERY KID, EVERY DAY MUCH IS, IS, IS, IS, IS WHAT WE'RE, IS WHAT WE ARE INVOLVING INTO, WHAT IS IT GONNA TAKE TO GET THIS DONE? BECAUSE IT DOES, IT DOES TAKE A VILLAGE, AND YOU ARE, UH, YOUR MESSAGE WAS SINCERE.
AND EVERY, AND LIKE HE SAID, EVERYONE WHO LEFT THAT PLACE WAS TALKING ABOUT IT.
LIKE IT WAS A, LIKE, IT WAS A DISTRICT CHANT.
I THINK THAT THAT WAS THE MOST I'VE SEEN OUR, OUR DISTRICT AS A UNIFIED, AND I, I WON'T EVEN SAY UNIFIED, FRONT UNIFIED, KNOWING WHAT THE GOAL WAS THAT MM-HMM.
I DEFINITELY DO APPRECIATE THAT.
AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO SET THOSE, SET THOSE GOALS, HIGH PUSH 'EM, GET 'EM EXTREMELY HIGH.
BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL WHEN WE ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO START ON THAT FRIDAY, THAT WAS AT, UH, ONE OF THE SCHOOLS AT FIVE 30 IN THE MORNING, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN MEDIA REPORTERS WANT TO DO INTERVIEWS ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
SO STANDING THERE IN THE FRONT, AND WE DID A FEW ROUNDS OF INTERVIEWS, LIVE INTERVIEWS, AND THEN A LITTLE BIT LATER WE DID SOME MORE.
SO YOU KIND OF HANG AROUND IN THAT SPOT UNTIL, UH, TILL THEY'RE DONE.
AND, UH, BECAUSE THEY CATCH YOU FROM TIME TO TIME THEY BRING IN.
AND, UH, SO ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR LINE STARTS LINING UP, YOU KNOW? AND SO I KNOW THAT OUR PRINCIPALS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES.
AND THE TEACHERS THAT WERE THERE WERE, HAVE ALREADY BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.
AND FRONT OFFICE STAFF WHO WERE THERE, UH, HAVE BEEN TALKING, AND BUS DRIVERS WHO WERE THERE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT.
BECAUSE IN THE CAR LINE, AS I WAS LEAVING AND GETTING INTO MY CAR TO HEAD OUT TO, TO ANOTHER SCHOOL TO VISIT THAT MORNING, UH, SOMEBODY YELLED, DR. RODRIGUEZ, 75, 75, 92.
SO PARENTS ARE, IT'S FILTERING OUT THERE, WHEN I GO AROUND DOING, UH, COMMUNITY MEETINGS, THAT IS A, GONNA BE A, A, A MAJOR POINT BECAUSE I AM GONNA SAY, YOU KNOW, WE NEED EVERY POSSIBLE SUPPORT
[02:40:01]
PIECE THAT'S OUT THERE TO GET THERE.YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST, IT'S THE WAY IT IS.
YOU KNOW? SO WE ALL, IF WE CAN UNITE, IF WE CAN ALL GET BEHIND IT, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, UH, OUR, OUR CHANCES OF HITTING OUR TARGET AND OUR GOAL ARE BETTER.
SO, MR. GUYER, I WOULD REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU, YOU KNOW, TO REPACKAGE THIS A BIT AND GET OUT TO EVERY SERVICE CLUB AND LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW THIS.
AND, AND IT'D BE WORTH A, A, A PIECE IN THE PAPER, LOCAL PAPER SAYING, THIS IS WHERE THE DISTRICT'S GOING.
WE, WE NEED TO GET IT OUT THERE.
SO THAT COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT DON'T HAVE KIDS IN SCHOOL UNDERSTAND, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY READ ALL THE NEGATIVE STUFF THAT COMES OUT ABOUT SCHOOLS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND, AND I THINK THIS WOULD BE GO A LONG, LONG WAY INTO NOT ONLY INFORMING THE PUBLIC, BUT ALSO GET PUBLIC TO SAY, HOW CAN I HELP? YEAH.
THEY JUST NEED TO HAVE A TARGET FOR THEM.
SINCE OUR, UH, LUNCH IS HERE AND OUR, THE YEARLY LIGHTS OUT FOR TURTLE WILL TAKE A 30 MINUTE LUNCH BREAK, APPROPRIATE LOWS IN NEW HATCH, DO THE, UM, IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT LEVEL.
SO OUR TURTLE PATROL RANGE FOR 30 MINUTES, SO WE'LL RECONVENE OUR TURTLE POPUL EACH NESTING SEASON.
BE SURE TO CATCH LIGHTS OUT FOR TURTLES ON COUNTY SOCIAL MEDIA, THE COUNTY CHANNEL, YOUTUBE, AND GAS STATION TV TO LEARN MORE.
HEY, PARENTS, IT'S PROM AND GRADUATION SEASON.
THINK YOU'RE DOING YOUR KIDS IN THEIR FRIENDS A FAVOR BY HOSTING PARTIES ON YOUR PROPERTY.
THINK AGAIN, IF A PARTY HAPPENS ON YOUR PROPERTY AND YOU AREN'T HOME STILL YOUR PROBLEM.
PARENTS WHO HOST LOSE THE MOST.
WHAT DO YOU LOSE YOUR HOME JOB, CHILDREN, REPUTATION, BUSINESS, AND YOUR MONEY.
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN FINES AND LEGAL FEES.
WHAT'S THE MESSAGE YOU'RE SENDING TO YOUR CHILDREN?
THIS IS THE BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORK SESSION OF AUGUST 23RD, 2024.
WE HAVE JUST COMPLETED OUR LUNCH BREAK, SO WE WILL CONTINUE ON THE AGENDA NEXT ON OUR AGENDA.
OTHER PRELIMINARY ACADEMIC RESULTS? DR. RODRIGUEZ.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND BOARD MEMBERS.
I BRING FORWARD A SUMMARY OF THE CURRENTLY RELEASED STATE ACCOUNTABILITY DATA.
I FIRST WANNA SHARE THAT THE, THAT DATA POINTS PRESENTED TODAY THAT ARE, THEY HAVE BEEN RETURNED FROM THE STATE.
I WANT US TO RECOGNIZE THAT THESE DATA POINTS REFLECT EVERY STUDENT WHO SAT FOR STATE REQUIRED ASSESSMENTS AND IS NOT THE FILE AS DR. RODRIGUEZ REFERRED TO EARLIER, THAT YOU WILL SEE IN OUR ACCOUNTABILITY DATA POINTS TO YOU ONCE THE DATA IS EMBARGOED.
RIGHT NOW, THIS INCLUDES ALL MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS, ALL STUDENTS WHO THEY MAY HAVE ARRIVED THE DAY OR ROLE THE DAY BEFORE AN ASSESSMENT.
AS I GO FORWARD WITH SHARING THIS.
LET'S NOTE THAT THE ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IS A REQUIREMENT FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THAT WAS PUT INTO PLACE IN 1998, REVISIONS IN 2017.
AND SINCE 2017, THE STATE HAS PUT FORWARD NUMEROUS WA WAIVERS TO DATE, THEY HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED UNDER THE LEGISLATION.
THIS FALLS UNDER TITLE 58 DASH 18 100 REQUIREMENTS FOR A PERFORMANCE-BASED ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM WAS ESTABLISHED.
AND WITH THAT, I WILL START FOR A SLIDE.
AND IF YOU COULD PAUSE HERE A SECOND AS I TAKE YOU INTO JUST A, A SHIFT WITH A FEW UNDERSTANDINGS.
NUMBER ONE, I WANT YOU TO LOOK AT THESE STEPS AS A DISTRIBUTED ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL OR CURRICULUM OR,
[02:45:01]
AND OR INSTRUCTION.AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT, LET'S BUILD ON THE CONVERSATION.
DR. RODRIGUEZ STARTED WITH MATH, EACH YEAR BUILDS ON THE NEXTS.
ACADEMIC GRADE LEVEL IS AN IN ISOLATION.
WHEN IT COMES TO ACCOUNTABILITY.
THE GREATEST PLACES THAT YOU WILL SEE THIS HAPPENING IS IN BIOLOGY AND US HISTORY.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, OUR SCIENCES AND OUR US HISTORY CONSTITUTION, HENCE THE SIGNIFICANCE, IMPORTANCE OF OUR TEACHERS IN THE EARLY GRADES, TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES, AS YOU MAY KNOW IT, AND OR SCIENCE.
SO DISTRIBUTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY.
THAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF SHARING THIS WITH YOU BECAUSE THERE WAS A PROGRESSION OF OUR STANDARDS.
I WANT YOU TO ALSO RECOGNIZE AS WE GO THROUGH THIS, AND WE HAD THAT CONVERSATION EARLIER WITH REGARD TO BUILDING THAT CREATIVITY.
SOME OF THE LANGUAGE YOU'LL HEAR US USING IN OUR DIVISION DURING THIS ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR FOR CREATIVITY IS AUTONOMY.
WHAT FIDELITY, I WANT YOU TO BE CREATIVE AT YOUR WORK, BUT THERE'S A FIDELITY OF PRACTICE TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE TEACHING TO THE RIGOR AND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE STANDARDS.
MAY WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE? THANK YOU.
THIS RIGHT HERE GIVES YOU AN OVERALL OF THE DISTRICT TREND DATA FROM 2021 THROUGH 2024 RESPECTIVELY FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATH.
IF YOU DO AN OVERALL QUICK ANALYSIS, IT'S AN 8.7 INCREASE FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AT A 3.6 INCREASE FOR MATH.
AND THIS IS FOR GRADES THREE THROUGH EIGHT.
SO WHENEVER WE SEE SE READY, LET'S ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND IT'S FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY GRADE LEVELS ARE THREE THROUGH EIGHT.
WE DID NOT HAVE A SCIENCE TEST THIS PAST YEAR.
SO I WANT US TO, IF YOU UNDERSTAND, THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T SEE A COLUMN FOR SCIENCE.
AND I'D ALSO LIKE YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, THIS PAST YEAR WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW STANDARDS AND A NEW TEXTBOOK ADOPTION.
A LOT OF WORK HAD TO GO INTO THAT ROLLOUT BECAUSE THIS ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR, OUR STUDENTS WILL BE ASSESSED ON NEW STANDARDS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS.
AND THE SAME TIME THAT ELEMENTARY TEACHER NOW IS TEACHING NEW STANDARDS FOR ELA, ALSO RECEIVING TRAINING AND WORKING ON A NEW TEXTBOOK ADOPTION FOR MATH.
SO WE HAVE SOME CHALLENGES TO GIVE SUPPORT TO OUR EARLY GRADE TEACHERS.
'CAUSE NOW THEY'RE GONNA BE HAVING A TRANSITION.
TECHNICALLY THEY'VE HAD TRANSITIONAL YEARS TO CONSECUTIVE YEARS IN A ROW.
THIS BREAKS DOWN OUR CURRENT PERFORMANCE ONCE AGAIN, OF ALL STUDENTS IN THE DISTRICT FROM DOES NOT MEETS, APPROACHES, MEETS, EXCEEDS.
AND THE LAST COLUMN OBVIOUSLY IS MEETS OR MEETS AND EXCEEDS.
AND I DO APOLOGIZE, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEETS AND EXCEEDS ON THE TITLE.
OUR NEXT SLIDE, SAME UMBRELLA.
AND OF COURSE, EXAM, WE'RE LOOKING AT TRENDS AS WE DID.
I PROVIDED YOU FOR SC READY FOR MATH AND ENGLISH.
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT WE'RE HAVING A CONTINUAL PROGRESSION OF GROWTH ACTUALLY FROM OUR SC READY AS WELL IN OUR EOCS.
BUT I DO WANNA BRING TO LIGHT TO AREAS 2024 ENGLISH TWO.
AND IN OUR US HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION, WE HAD A SLIGHT DROP AS WELL.
BUT IF YOU RECOGNIZE WITHIN OUR DISTRICT, THANK YOU, MRS. CUSHIER, YOU CAN GO AHEAD.
WE ARE MEETING THE NEEDS OF A LARGER ACADEMIC DIVERSE POPULATION.
AND I USE LANGUAGE ACADEMIC DIVERSITY, AND OUR DATA POINTS HAVE NOT BACKED OUT STUDENTS WHO ARE NON-ACCOUNTABLE.
SO IS IN THE SLIDE WHAT OUR SC READY, E, LA.
UM, THIS IS OUR END, OF COURSE, OUR DISTRICT SUMMARY.
[02:50:01]
NOTE THE SECOND FROM THE LAST COLUMN.THESE ARE OUR TARGET COLUMN FOR OUR 75, 75 FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND OF COURSE EXAMS. BECAUSE OUR STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL IS WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR STUDENTS EARNING AN A THROUGH A C.
I ALSO WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT A D IS CONSIDERED PASSING.
WE'RE SHOOTING FOR A, A THROUGH C, A, B, AND CS.
THIS SLIDE IS JUST A SLICE OF THE COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS.
THESE ARE THE RESULTS FOR WIND TESTING.
YOU'LL GET THE TOTAL COMPOSITE SCORES IN OCTOBER, BUT THIS WAS RELEASED FROM THE STATE ON THE 16TH OF AUGUST.
SO I WANNA JUST PRESENT THIS TO YOU AS WELL.
AND WHILE WE'RE LOOKING AT THE COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS, I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU A QUICK REMINDER FOR COLLEGE READINESS.
STUDENTS MAY EARN A 20 OR HIGHER ON THE A CTA ONE 20 OR HIGHER ON THE SAT ON AN AP EXAM, A THREE OR HIGHER IB EXAM OR, OR HIGHER.
AND ALSO AT THE OPPORTUNITY OF DUAL ENROLLMENT, TWO COURSES, SIX CREDIT HOURS, OR A C OR HIGHER ON CAMBRIDGE.
AND I WANNA BRING ATTENTION TO THE CAMBRIDGE.
IT MUST BE AN ALIGNED ASSESSMENT OF WHAT THE STATE HAS APPROVED.
SO THE THINKING SKILLS COURSE THAT MANY OF OUR, UM, ASSESSMENT THAT MANY STUDENTS MAY SIT FOR.
THAT ASSESSMENT DOESN'T GIVE US THE ACCOUNTABILITY POINTS WE WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN FOR ACCELERATED.
AND WE'RE WORKING VERY CLOSE WITH OUR HIGH SCHOOLS TO FOCUS AT DIFFERENT ASSESSMENT THAT WOULD BE TIED TO THE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE COURSE THAT IS GIVEN BY CAMBRIDGE AND ON CAREER READINESS FOR YOUR EDIFICATION.
AND WE UNDERSTAND CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION WHERE A STUDENT DOES THREE COURSES AND INDUSTRY PASSES AN INDUSTRY CERTIFICATION, OR THERE ARE STATE APPROVED WORK-BASED LEARNING OR ON THE CAREER READINESS AS YOU SEE ON THIS, THE WIN TEST THAT THEY EARN A THREE OR HIGHER AS A, OF A 31 OR HIGHER, OR FOR A SPECIAL EDUCATION POPULATION THAT THE STUDENT HAS COMPLETED WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE HIGH SCHOOL EMPLOYABILITY CREDENTIALS.
AND I BELIEVE THAT WOULD COMPLETE THE SLIDE PRESENTATION BOARD MEMBERS.
COLONEL GUYER, I HAVE A QUESTION AND A REQUEST.
UM, THE FIRST, THE QUESTION IS, ARE ALL THESE TESTS MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS? NO, THEY'RE NOT.
MAY I EXPAND? SO IF WE GO BACK TO THE EOCS, IF POSSIBLE, I'LL USE THAT AS A LANDING PLACE ON E ON ENGLISH.
TWO STUDENTS MUST SIT FOR WORD, WORD, AND YES, THEY WILL DO A MULTIPLE CHOICE RESPONSE TO THAT.
THERE ALSO HAVE A COM, 16% OF THAT ASSESSMENT IS TIED TO A SURVEY.
WHERE FOR SE READY, SAME DESIGN WHERE THEY'LL HAVE READING PASSAGES, MULTIPLE CHOICE.
THEY'LL ALSO HAVE TO DO A CLO CLOSE SENTENCE.
AGAIN, IT'S SELECTION OF BY MULTIPLE CHOICE FOR GRAMMAR.
AND 20% OF THAT ASSESSMENT IS TIED TO AN ESSAY.
AND THE, UH, THE MULTIPLE, HOW THE MULTIPLE CHOICE, THAT'S A NARRATIVE AND WRITTEN PART.
CAN THEY DO THAT ON THEIR LAPTOP OR DO THEY HAVE TO DO IT BY PRINTING IT OUT? SO ANOTHER VERY GOOD QUESTION.
THE STATE PREFERS THAT ALL ASSESSMENTS ARE CONDUCTED ELECTRONICALLY.
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF STUDENTS WHO HAVE AN IEP WHEN ACCOMMODATION FOR A HARD COPY MAY BE PROVIDED.
OKAY? UH, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR ME TO, UH, SEE A COPY OF SOME SAMPLES OF TESTS? SO I CAN TAKE, I CAN SEE HOW THE TESTS ARE STRUCTURED AND HOW, HOW THEY'RE PRESENTED JUST TO SAMPLE, UH, IF THEY'RE, DO THEY HAVE PAPER COPIES OR CAN YOU PRINT PAPER COPIES? OR DOES IT HAVE TO BE ELECTRONIC IN 2018? THERE ARE A FEW TESTS EXAMPLES PROVIDED, BUT IS NOT THE FULL TEST.
THEY DO, OUR SOUTH CAROLINA DOESN'T RELEASE THE FULL TEST.
THEY RELEASE THE TEST BLUEPRINT THAT IT TELL YOU WHICH CONTENT, KNOWLEDGE
[02:55:01]
AREAS, AND COMPLEXITY.AND THEN WE WAIT FOR THE RELEASE OF QUESTIONS FROM A TEST BANK.
AND THEY HAVE BEEN RELEASED UP TO, TO 2018 THAT ARE NOT REFLECTED TO THE COMPLEXITY OF WHAT STUDENTS ARE SEEING NOW, LET'S SAY IN A MATH CLASS, WHICH IS MUCH DEEPER WORD PROBLEM, SIR, THE REASON I ASK FOR THAT IS THAT I HAVE A CONCERN, ESPECIALLY ABOUT OUR MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS TAKING MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS.
THAT'S THAT, UH, RELY ON THE STUDENT'S VOCABULARY TO KNOW WHAT MAKES A RIGHT ANSWER, WRONG ANSWER, AND SO ON.
AND I'D JUST LIKE TO GET A FEELING OF, OF THE STRUCTURE OF THAT SO I CAN UNDERSTAND, UM, THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE, ESPECIALLY WITH OUR, OUR MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS AND FROM OUR OTHER STUDENTS THAT JUST DON'T HAVE THE, UH, READING A GRADE, THE VOCABULARY AND THE, AND THE WORD SKILLS TO BE ABLE, THEY COULD ANSWER THE QUESTION IF IT WAS, YOU KNOW, PHRASED DIFFERENTLY OR SIMPLER OR WHATEVER.
BUT, UM, THAT'S MY, MY CONCERN ABOUT TESTING IS, UH, TOO OFTEN I THINK OUR TEACHERS ARE TEACHING HOW TO TAKE A TEST RATHER THAN HOW TO LEARN THE SUBJECT.
YOU KNOW, IN A MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST, YOU HAVE FOUR OPTIONS, TWO OF WHICH ARE OBVIOUSLY WRONG, TWO OF ONE'S CORRECT, AND ONE'S CLOSE TO BEING CORRECT.
AND IT MAY BE AN ADVERB OR AN ADJECTIVE THAT MAKES THAT, UH, CORRECT OR NOT CORRECT.
AND I JUST WOULD LIKE TO GET A FEELING AND BY SEEING SOME SAMPLES MM-HMM,
I'LL HAVE, UM, STAFF PULL TOGETHER AND GO THROUGH THE BOARD OFFICE AND COLONEL GARDNER, ALL DIRECTNESS, IF YOU LOOK RIGHT THERE IN THE FIRST COLUMN, ALGEBRA, BIOLOGY, ENGLISH, THE US CONSTITUTION HISTORY, TECHNICALLY, ALL THESE TESTS ARE NOW DESIGNED AS A READING TEST WITH STUDENTS.
OKAY? SO IF I'M A STUDENT, EVEN A NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING STUDENT WHO MAY NOT BE AT GRADE LEVEL, I MAY STRUGGLE A LITTLE HARDER THAN YOURSELF WHO IS AT OR ABOVE GRADE LEVEL AT HOPEFULLY NAVIGATING
AND THAT ANALYSIS WE'VE ALREADY STARTED DOING WITHIN INSHOT TO TAKE A, A LOOK AT WHERE STUDENTS ARE IN READING TO OUTCOMES AND OTHER ASSESSMENTS.
GOT A QUESTION OR, OR QUESTIONS MAYBE PLURAL.
SO, UM, AS DR. RODRIGUEZ ALREADY MENTIONED TODAY, ALGEBRA ONE CAN BE TAKEN IN MIDDLE SCHOOL BY ADVANCED STUDENTS.
I ASSUMED ENGLISH TWO COULD ALSO BE NO, NO.
GEOMETRY CAN, YEAH, GEOMETRY, OKAY.
BUT, BUT YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW THAT THE STATE, UH, IS IN THE PROCESS OF REVAMPING THE PATHWAYS FOR MATHEMATICS, RIGHT? SO RIGHT NOW THE CURRENT PATHWAY IS ALGEBRA, ALGEBRA ONE, RIGHT? GEOMETRY ALGEBRA TWO, RIGHT? UH, PRE-CALCULUS, SO ON AND SO FORTH.
THEY'RE GONNA START GEOMETRY, ALGEBRA ONE, ALGEBRA TWO, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
UH, WHICH MEANS ALL OF THE ASSESSMENTS ARE GONNA CHANGE.
ALL THE GRADE LEVEL STANDARDS ARE GONNA CHANGE.
ALL THAT IS COMING NEXT YEAR ON 2025.
MRS. CARY, MAY YOU GO BACK TO THE FIRST SLIDE A SECOND.
SO ON THE ONE WITH THE STEPS, MA'AM.
IF YOU LOOK RIGHT NOW AT SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADE, DR.
QUADS, THAT'S WHERE THE INFORMATION FOR PRE-ALGEBRA ACTUALLY HAPPENS FOR OUR STUDENTS TECHNICALLY, WHO ARE ON A GENERAL PATH THAT'S NOW HAS, IS GONNA HAVE TO CHANGE IN ORDER FOR STUDENTS TO HAVE A LITTLE MORE DEPTH OF PRE-ALGEBRA.
BECAUSE THOSE OF YOU WHO RECALL FOR YOUR GEOMETRY CLASS, CAN YOU DE PROB CAN YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM WITHOUT ALGEBRA IN GEOMETRY A THEOREM? SO THAT IS PART OF WHAT DR. RODRIGUEZ HAS WRITTEN NOW.
SO THEY'RE REALIGNING THE STANDARDS TO MEET THE NEW PATHWAY THAT THEY, THEY ARE DESIGNING.
AND YOUR QUESTION WITH REGARD TO ALGEBRA ONE, IT'S ALGEBRA ONE HONORS AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
THEY CAN TAKE ENGLISH, ONE STATE HAS YES, MA'AM.
SO, AND THEN ON ON THESE, SO THIS WOULD BE, UH, A FEW SLIDES AFTER THAT WHERE YOU HAVE THE END OF COURSE OF EXAMS, THE BCSD TREND DATA.
SO, UM, SO THE ALGEBRA ONE EACH YEAR, DOES THAT INCLUDE, DOES NOT INCLUDE THOSE ADVANCED MIDDLE SCHOOLERS TAKING IT? IT DOES IN THESE NUMBERS.
THESE ARE A BIG EVERYONE WHO SAT FOR THE TESTS.
OKAY? NOW, THOSE STUDENTS WHO SAT AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, YEAH, THOSE SCORES ARE NOT GONNA SIT WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL IS COMING ACCOUNTABILITY HERE, THEY'RE GONNA GO WITH THE COHORT OF GRADUATE.
WHEN THEY GRADUATE, THE STATE HAS SHIFTED TO A DIFFERENT
[03:00:01]
ACCOUNTA ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL.ALL RIGHT? SO YOU'RE GONNA SEE A SHIFT HAPPENING IN OUR ALGEBRA REPORTING.
IT STARTED WITH LAST YEAR'S NINTH GRADE COHORT.
SO YOU YOU'LL SEE THAT HAPPENING IN ABOUT TWO MORE YEARS, WHERE THAT MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH WILL START BEING WITH THAT GRADUATING CLASS OF 2027.
I WANNA SAY IF I'M CORRECT, RIGHT? RIGHT NOW IT IS EMBEDDED FOR THE YEAR THAT THEY SAT THE TEST.
BUT THAT IS NOT THAT IT'S BEING SHIFTED.
AND THAT'S WHY THEY TOOK ALL ALGEBRA TESTS.
EVERY ALGEBRA TEST THAT WAS TAKEN LAST YEAR IS GONNA BE REPORTED ON THE OUTCOME OF THE EMBARGO DATA COMING OUT IN OCTOBER.
THEY DID, THEY'VE DONE A TOTAL CHANGE.
SO WHAT, SO I'M NOT GRASPING WHY THEY WOULD DO, I MINE IS NOT THE QUESTION WHY MINE IS JUST A DO OR DIE.
MAKE SURE WE ARE READY FOR THIS.
AND I'M BEING VERY HONEST WITH THAT, SARAH.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF, UH, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DEBATE OVER IT AMONGST, UH, MATH TEACHERS ACROSS THE STATE THAT, BUT THE GROUP THAT THEY PULLED TOGETHER, I GUESS MADE THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THAT.
AND, AND SO THEY'VE, THEY'VE SHIFTED FORWARD, BUT NOT ALL, NOT ALL MATH TEACHERS ARE ON BOARD WITH THAT.
BUT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE, YEAH.
IS THE EDUCATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE FOR, WITH REGARD TO THE ACCOUNTABILITY COMPONENT AND THEN THE DECISION WITH MATH WAS, IS, HASN'T BEEN DIGESTED WELL BY MANY.
SO, SO THIS ALGEBRA ONE THIS YEAR ON THIS, ON THIS, UM, SLIDE WOULD INCLUDE, UH, MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING IT.
AND IT WOULD ALSO INCLUDE, COULDN'T IT INCLUDE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ARE, LET'S SAY, A YEAR BEHIND IN MATH, TAKING ALGEBRA ONE LATER THAN WHAT WOULD BE THE NORMAL SEQUENCE? IS THAT CORRECT TOO? YES, BECAUSE THIS IS ALSO OUR LAST YEAR OKAY.
OF THE FOUNDATIONS MATH AND THE INTRO TO MATH THAT WE SAT FOR BOTH THOSE COURSES AND WERE SUCCESSFUL.
YOU WOULD SIT FOR THE ALGEBRA ONE EOC THAT IS NOT ALLOWED ANYMORE AFTER 2025.
AND AS WE GO INTO NEW SHIFT, AS DR. RODRIGUEZ IS SHARING, AND WE AS A SYSTEM HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH THAT MODEL.
WHICH MEANS A GREATER EMPHASIS FOR THE MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH INITIATIVE TO MAKE SURE THEN THAT SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADE WE'RE TEACHING WHAT NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT IN ORDER TO HAVE THE READINESS FOR THAT ALGEBRA EOC.
THEN KEEP, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE MY KIDS WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL, UM,
SO WHAT YEAR IS TYPICALLY BIOLOGY ONE OFFERED? WHAT, WHAT YEAR? WHAT ARE THE STUDENTS? ARE THEY, UH, WELL, IT DEPENDS, AND I, AND I MEAN THAT WITH THE GREATEST RESPECT BECAUSE AS A LANGUAGE LEARNER, SOME SCHOOLS, LIKE THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, SOME OF THE STUDENTS TO SIT AS A JUNIOR.
LET'S WAIT TILL WE HAVE A LITTLE MORE.
YOU, YOU'RE COMING IN, YOU'RE AN ACCOUNTABILITY MULTILINGUAL STUDENT.
YOU'RE GONNA BE AN ACCOUNTABILITY MULTILINGUAL STUDENT STUDENT BECAUSE OF MY ACCESS SCORES SHOWS THAT I AM ACQUIRING ENGLISH.
THAT SCHOOL MAY CHOOSE AND GIVE THEM BIOLOGY AT A JUNIOR YEAR.
AND HOW ABOUT IF THEY'RE A NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER? GENERALLY 10TH GRADE.
HOW ABOUT US HISTORY? WHAT YEAR IS THAT U US HISTORY? GENERALLY AS A JUNIOR.
AND OUR RECOMMENDATION IS THE UTILIZATION OF THE WORLD HISTORY AS A PRECURSOR TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE AGE OF REV, UM, REVOLUTIONS IN ORDER THEN TO BUILD ON OUR US HISTORY.
THAT IS OUR RECOMMENDATION TO THE SCHOOLS.
IT'S FUNNY HOW THE PENDULUM GOES BACK AND FORTH BECAUSE WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL, LONG TIME AGO,
AND US HISTORY WAS GIVEN AS A NINTH GRADER WORLD HISTORY AS A 10TH GRADER.
AND BIOLOGY ONE AS A 10TH GRADE.
THANK YOU
SO LEMME ASK HIGH SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS, UH, MATH SCORES AREN'T INCLUDED IN THIS DATA, CORRECT? YES, THEY ARE, SIR.
SO AL ACTUALLY, ALGEBRA ONE IS THE ONLY ACCOUNTABILITY MATH FOR HIGH SCHOOL THAT WE HAVE, SO YES.
AND THIS, RIGHT, I, BECAUSE I GUESS I LOOKED AT THIS, AT THIS GRAPH AND, AND, AND I WAS GONNA SAY, IT LOOKS LIKE THOSE SCORES ARE IN THERE, BUT I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE BEFORE I MAKE MY COMMENT, OKAY.
SO W WITH WITH THAT, WITH THAT, WITH THAT BEING SAID, WHEN, WHEN I LOOKED AT THE, WHEN I LOOKED AT IT, I LOOKED AT CERTAIN SCHOOL, UH, SCHOOLS.
WELL ACTUALLY I LOOK, WHEN I LOOK AT, I LOOK AT ALL THE SCHOOLS DO, DO WE KNOW HOW MANY STUDENTS SCORED PERFECT.
[03:05:01]
ON, ON, ON, ON THE ALGEBRA TEST IN EVERY, IN EVERY SCHOOL.UM, I, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I DON'T KNOW, WHAT I CAN'T TELL YOU IS, UM, JUST THE OTHER DAY I SIGNED A STACK OF CERTIFICATES BY THAT.
SO FOR STUDENTS WHO SCORED PERFECT SCORES ON ANY, UH, OF THE ASSESSMENTS, RIGHT? SO IT WASN'T JUST ALGEBRA, RIGHT? IT WAS ANY ASSESSMENT, ANY GRADE LEVEL FROM LAST YEAR, RIGHT? AND, AND, AND WHILE SAY THAT IS BECAUSE I LOOKED AT IN TERMS OF, AND IT WAS JUST, UH, IT WAS, UH, IT WAS INTERESTING WHEN, WHEN, WHEN, UM, UM, SO ONE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS BROUGHT UP, UH, ABOUT THE AL ALGEBRA SCORES, BECAUSE MY QUESTION WAS KIND OF SAYING, UH, WAS KIND OF IN THE SAME, BECAUSE NORMALLY WE WOULD BE LEADING IN MATH SCORES.
AND WHEN I, WHEN I, WHEN I, WHEN I LOOKED AT 'EM AND I WAS READING, LOOKING OVER SCORES, THE, OUR MATH SCORES IN THE ALGEBRA WASN'T AS GOOD AS I WAS EXPECT EXPECTING.
BUT WHEN DOC, WHEN YOU GAVE US THE EXPLANATION THAT RE THAT KIND OF RESONATED AND KIND OF MADE SOME, IT MADE, IT MADE SENSE BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FOCUSED TOWARDS THE E-E-E-L-E-L-A.
SO THAT, THAT KIND OF GAVE ME A LITTLE MORE, A LITTLE, A LITTLE MORE, ALL RIGHT.
GET, GET, GET UP OFF, OFF, GET UP OFF THE AREN YOUR FRUSTRATED BOX AND YOU KNOW, UH, THAT GAVE ME A LITTLE MORE MOTIVATION TO, TO, TO, TO, TO, TO, TO HELP GET PAST IT.
BUT I WAS JUST CONCERNED BECAUSE WHEN I WAS JUST LOOKING OVER, I STARTED, I STARTED OUT WITH A COUPLE COUPLE SCHOOLS AND I STARTED LOOKING AT IT AND ALL OF THEM, AND ALL OF 'EM KIND OF HAD A, KIND OF HAD A BASICALLY LOW SCORE.
AND I, I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW WHAT THESE SCORES WERE, BUT I WAS JUST SAY THAT I WAS, I WAS SHOCKED THAT I WAS EXPECTING MORE STUDENTS IN THE MATH AREA TO KNOCK IT OUT THE BOX THAN WHAT, THAN, THAN, THAN THAN WHAT I SAW.
BUT I, BUT TO HIS, TO HIS, UH, UNDER TO HIS, UH, EXCUSE ME, MY TONGUE TO TIME, TO HIS EXPLANATION AND KIND OF GIVING SOME OF IT COULD KIND HELP SOME OF IT, BUT IT WAS, IT WAS JUST CONCERNING AND ALARMING TO ME.
SO, MR. SMITH, AGAIN, I WANNA CAUTION US, THESE ARE RAW DATA FILES THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT, RIGHT? WE RECOGNIZE THAT OUR ALGEBRA ONE HONORS ADMINISTERED AT THE MIDDLE GRADES, THOSE ARE OUR TOP 7% WITHIN THAT SCHOOL.
BUT ACROSS THE BOARD, RIGHT, THESE ASSESSMENTS ARE ALL STUDENTS WITHIN THAT SCHOOL.
THEY HAVE NOT DONE THE, WHAT WE SAY, SCRUB THE DATA
WOULD THAT THEY DO SCRUB IT AND, UM, IT'S IN ORDER TO BRING FORWARD THE ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT, RIGHT? SO YOU COULD ALSO, WE COULD HAVE A VIEW AT THAT IN OCTOBER.
BUT YEAH, I WAS JUST, UH, OKAY.
WELL, YEAH, I'LL JUST, I'LL JUST LEAVE IT THERE.
SO, MADAM CHAIR, IF I MAY JUST BRING ONE QUICK NOTE AS HELPING TO BUILD A LITTLE OF THIS FOR OUR STUDENTS, I'D LIKE TO SHARE THE OPPORTUNITY THAT THROUGH THE LOW COUNTRY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, WE HAVE BEEN AWARD AWARDED, UM, $2.3 MILLION OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD TO HELP FOR EXTENDED LEARNING SITES.
SO THAT ACTUALLY WAS JUST RELEASED.
WE HAD A MEETING EARLIER THIS MORNING.
I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FOLLOW UP 'CAUSE I'VE BEEN IN HERE WITH, UM, POTENTIAL SITES FOR CONTINUUM.
I RECOGNIZE THAT THAT'S NOT AT THE SAME OPERATIONAL COURSE THAT WE HAD HAD OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.
BUT WE ARE GONNA WORK IN TANGENT WITH OUR POTENTIAL SITES TO SEE HOW WE COULD PARTNER TO MAINTAIN SERVICES AND KEEP GROWTH WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS.
AND YOU'LL NOTE THAT ON OUR ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT, MA'AM, AS, AS I RECALL, THE EXTENDED LEARNING SITES WERE ABOUT 600,000 OVER THE COURSE OF, I BELIEVE A YEAR, MA.
SO THAT WOULD BE MA'AM, LIKE 3.6 MILLION FOR YEAH.
SO WE ARE ACTUALLY AT 2.34 AND RECEIPT THAT WE'VE BEEN AWARDED WAS JUST GONNA GIVE US ABOUT 460 $800,000 PER YEAR.
SO IT'S ABOUT 140 OFF FROM WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AN PERSON WE'RE VERY GRACIOUS.
THIS IS VERY THANKFUL THAT THEY'RE SO GENEROUS WITH THEIR YES.
THEIR GRANT, IS THAT WHAT WOULD BE A GRANT? YEAH.
AND I WANNA THANK MARY AND HER TEAM 'CAUSE THEY'VE BEEN IN, IN HOT PURSUIT OF THIS AWESOME.
SINCE WE KNEW ESSER WAS GOING AWAY.
THIS WAS KIND OF OUR, UH, SUSTAINABILITY FOR, FOR A LITTLE BIT LONGER, YOU KNOW? THAT'S GREAT.
AND I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THA I THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UH, THAT'S VERY REFRESHING ME.
'CAUSE I JUST HAD SOMEONE CALL ME ON YESTERDAY AND WAS ASKING ME, WELL, UH, WHEN ARE THE SITES GONNA START BACK? OR IS IT, I TOLD, I SAID, WELL, I DON'T, I AIN'T HEARING NOTHING.
I SAID, UH, I ACTUALLY, I WAS GONNA ASK FOR AN UPDATE WHEN SHE ASKED FOR, I WAS GONNA ASK FOR AN UPDATE ON THAT TODAY.
SO, SO YOU READ, YOU, YOU CLOCKED MY MIND ON IT.
AND I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND, UM, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THEIR LISTENING.
WE, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT AND YOU NOT TO BE BEGGING, BUT WE CAN, YOU, WE CAN KEEP IT COMING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN KEEP THOSE PROGRAMS GOING ON BECAUSE THEY'RE VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN, IN WHAT WE DO ON A DAY,
[03:10:01]
ON DAY-TODAY BASIS IN THIS DISTRICT.ALL RIGHT, MADAM SECRETARY, DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION? YES, MA'AM.
I MOVE THAT WE MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION OF BUS ROUTES AND THE DISCUSSION OF THE SAFETY AND SECURITY PLANS FOR BOARD MEETINGS.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? ALL RIGHT.
UM, VICTOR NAY SECOND, THE MOTION.
I DON'T HAVE MY ALPHABET CORRECT TODAY.
ALL RIGHT, SO THE MOTION CARRIES, UH, UNANIMOUSLY.
WE'LL NOW GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION DOWN THE HALLWAY FOR THOSE THAT ARE HERE, THE BLACK TRUCK HEY, CHRISTINA FROM ACCOUNTING.
HEY, I USED TO DATE A GIRL NAMED CHRISTINA.
AND THEN SHE DUMPED ME FOR MY BEST FRIEND.
YOU WANNA SEE SOME PHOTOS OF THEM THAT I TOOK? I DON'T, I THOUGHT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BUDDY.
WASN'T OVERSHARED AGAIN? YEAH.
HEY, YOU'RE GONNA GET BACK TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN.
DOES THAT MEAN I'M GONNA GET BACK WITH CHRISTINA? NO.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF REPEATING THE SAME THING FOR 75 YEARS, YOU MIGHT BE SMOKEY BEAR.
ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT WILDFIRES.
THING IS, THERE'S A LOT MORE TO SAY, LIKE, IF YOU'VE EVER FOUND YOURSELF BURNING YARD DEBRIS AND THEN WALKING AWAY, WELL, YOU MIGHT BE STARTING A WILDFIRE.
SO, FOR THE LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS, GO TO SMOKEY BEAR.COM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WILDFIRE PREVENTION.
THE BOARD WAS JUST AN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND NOW WE ARE BACK IN PUBLIC SESSION.
AND MADAM SECRETARY, DO WE HAVE ANY ACTION AS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE REGARDING MATTERS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION? YES, MA'AM.
MADAM CHAIR, I MOVE THAT THE BUS ROUTES FOR THE START OF THE 20 24, 20 25 SCHOOL YEAR BE ACCEPTED AS PRESENTED.
UM, ANGELA MIDDLETON MADE THE MOTION, EARL CAMPBELL SECOND THE MOTION.
ANY DISCUSSION REGARDING THE BUS ROUTES? ALL IN FAVOR, AYE.
AND ONLINE WE'LL GO ALPHABETICALLY, PLEASE VOTE.
SO THE, THE, UH, MOTION FOR THE BUS ROUTES IS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY? UH, SEVEN ZERO.
I THINK THAT CONCLUDES OUR WORK SESSION AGENDA FOR TODAY.
AND IF WE HAVE, UH, NO OTHER BUSINESS, WE CAN ADJOURN BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT.
AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT ATTENDED.