* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY BUFORT COUNTY SESSION. YES, SIR. [Call to Order] I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION [ Executive Session] MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS. EMPLOYMENT MATTER REGARDING PERSONNEL RATIFICATION, REPORT, APPOINTMENT, APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, COMPENSATION PURSUANT TO SOUTH CAROLINA CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 30 DASH FOUR DASH 70 A ONE. RECEIPT OF LEGAL ADVICE RELATED TO SETTLEMENT OF TWO LEGAL CLAIMS COVERED BY THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE PURSUANT TO SOUTH CAROLINA CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 30 DASH FOUR DASH 70 A TWO. RECEIPT OF LEGAL ADVICE RELATING TO INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS COVERED BY THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE PURSUANT TO SOUTH CAROLINA CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 30 DASH FOUR DASH 70 A TWO. HAVE A SECOND, SECOND. SECOND BY MR. NAY. ANY DISCUSSION? YES, SIR. WHO WILL BE ADVISING US IN, IN THE, UH, IN THESE ISSUES IN EXECUTIVE SESSIONS, LEGAL CLAIMS, UH, MS. CARTILAGE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY, I, I'LL ASK FOR THOSE IN THE ROOM HERE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. AYE. ONLINE, UH, MS. FRAZIER? AYE. OKAY. MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY. THANK YOU. WE'LL GO DOWN INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION 6:00 PM WE'LL [Action as Necessary or Appropriate Regarding Matters Discussed in Executive Session] NOW CALL THE MEETING BACK TO ORDER. MADAM SECRETARY, ARE THERE ANY ACTIONS AS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE REGARDING MATTERS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION? YES, SIR. WE HAVE ONE MOTION COMING OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION. I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVE THE SUPERINTENDENT'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT LISTED ON THE AUGUST 1ST, 2025 TO AUGUST 31ST, 2025. PERSONNEL RATIFICATION REPORT A SECOND, SECOND BY MR. SMALL. ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? HERE IN THE BOARDROOM, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. AYE. ONLINE, PASTOR GORDON. AYE. UH, MS. FRAZIER FRAZIER. AYE. MS. HAY, HAY AYE. MOTION CARRIES. NEXT ITEM IS THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, FOLLOWED BY A MOMENT OF SILENCE. TION. THANK, INDIVISIBLE. THANK YOU. PLEASE BE SEATED. AS [Approval of Agenda] THE MEDIA BEEN NOTIFIED, NOW WE HAVE A SPECIAL TREAT. WE HEAD THEM. I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. MOTION. ALRIGHT. ANY DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. ONLINE, PASTOR GORDON AYE. UH, MS. SMALL, I'M SORRY. UH, MS. UH, MS. FRAZIER FRAZIER. AYE. AND MS. HAY? HAY AYE. MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY. NOW WE'LL [Student Performance – Whale Branch Early College High School Band under the direction of Mr. Gaskins.] HAVE THE PRE, THE, UH, PRINCIPAL OF WIL BRANCH EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL. GOOD EVENING. GOOD EVENING. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK IF YOU GUYS WOULD JOIN US OUTSIDE, UM, FOR OUR SOUNDS OF SEABROOK WARRIOR BAND, AS THEY ARE PRESENTING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM PARTY FANFARE AND CRAZY IN LOVE FOR A TOTAL OF THREE PIECES. GOOD. [00:13:22] EVERYBODY, [00:13:25] AND THEN THE, HEY, DR. RODRIGUEZ. READY? YEAH. OKAY. UM, [Points of Celebration] GOOD EVENING BOARD MEMBERS. I'M PLEASED TO SHARE THAT THE 2025 INEZ TENENBAUM LEADERSHIP AWARD HAS BEEN AWARDED TO DR. ALANDI THOMPSON, PRINCIPAL AT BATTERY CREEK HIGH SCHOOL. THIS AWARD NAMED FOR ANEZ TENENBAUM AND HER REMARKABLE LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE IN SOUTH CAROLINA RECOGNIZES INDIVIDUALS WHO EMBODY VISION, INTEGRITY, AND AN UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO PUBLIC EDUCATION. THIS YEAR'S HONOREE TRULY REPRESENTS THE SPIRIT OF THIS AWARD THROUGH THEIR LEADERSHIP, COLLABORATION, AND DEDICATION TO STUDENTS THAT HAVE MADE AN EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT ON THEIR SCHOOL COMMUNITY AND BEYOND. TO CELEBRATE THIS WELL-DESERVED HONOR, WE'D [00:15:01] LIKE TO SHARE A SHORT VIDEO THAT SHINES A SPOTLIGHT ON THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND THE DIFFERENCE THEY'VE MADE. REALLY WOULD LIKE TO TAP INTO EARNING A TOP EDUCATIONAL AWARD. BATTERY CREEK HIGH SCHOOL'S. DD THOMPSON HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED WITH ONE OF SOUTH CAROLINA'S HIGHEST HONORS IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP. THE PRINCIPAL HAS RECEIVED THE 2025 INEZ TENENBAUM LEADERSHIP AWARD. I DON'T DO THIS WORK TO GET THE ACCOLADES. THEY'RE ALWAYS NICE WHEN THEY HAPPEN, BUT WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD IS JUST A SENSE OF GRATITUDE AND HUMILITY, BECAUSE I DON'T COUNT MYSELF TO BE THE WORLD'S BEST PRINCIPAL. I COUNT MYSELF TO BE A GOOD PRINCIPAL, CERTAINLY, BUT I WAS IN A COHORT WITH SOME ABSOLUTELY AMAZING PRINCIPLES, AND FOR THEM TO VOTE AND DECIDE THAT I WAS THE EXEMPLAR FOR THE GROUP, THAT'S A PRETTY PROUD MOMENT. THIS AWARD IS GIVEN ANNUALLY TO JUST ONE PRINCIPAL IN THE STATE. FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF THE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE INSTITUTE, A SEVEN MONTH PROGRAM FOCUSED ON INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP, CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION. SO, SLEI IS LITERALLY A PROGRAM THAT IS RUN BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND THEY PARTNER WITH TRUIST BANK AND THEIR LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE US SOME OF THE EXACT SAME TRAINING AND EXPERIENCES THAT CEOS UNDERTAKE TO BECOME STRONGER AND MORE EFFECTIVE AND IMPACTFUL LEADERS. AND IT'S REALLY JUST BUILT TO BUILD YOUR CAPACITY AS A SCHOOL LEADER TO AGAIN, BE ABLE TO IMPACT YOUR COMMUNITY IN A MORE POSITIVE WAY. EVERYONE SHARES THE SAME VISION. THOMPSON HAS SPENT 28 YEARS SERVING OUR STUDENTS AS A SCIENCE TEACHER, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, AND PRINCIPAL. IT'S A PROUD MOMENT FOR ME AND THE DISTRICT BECAUSE IT IS BECAUSE OF THIS DISTRICT AND THE DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT THEY'VE GIVEN ME OVER THE YEARS AS I'VE BEEN ON THIS ADMIN JOURNEY. AND BECAUSE OF THE ADMIN MENTORS WHO HAVE CIRCLED AROUND ME TO HELP ME TO ACHIEVE AND SUCCEED THAT I'M ABLE TO BE THE PRINCIPAL THAT I AM. AND I JUST WANNA PAY IT FORWARD TO EITHER OTHER LEADERS OR WITHIN MY SCHOOL BUILDING. INEZ TENENBAUM SERVED AS SOUTH CAROLINA STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION FROM 1998 TO 2006 AT BATTERY CREEK HIGH SCHOOL. RON LOES, BU COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT. RIGHT. PLEASE JOIN ME ONCE AGAIN IN CONGRATULATING DR. THOMPSON ON THIS OUTSTANDING HONOR. WE'RE SO PROUD OF THEIR LEADERSHIP AND THE INSPIRATION THAT THEY BRING TO OUR ENTIRE DISTRICT. DR. THOMPSON EARNING A TOP EDUCATIONAL AWARD, BATTERY CREEK HIGH SCHOOL'S, DD THOMPSON HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED WITH ONE OF SOUTH CAROLINA'S HIGHEST HONORS. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH. UM, AND I MEAN THAT AS MANY TIMES, IF I'VE COME BEFORE YOU IN THE, IN MY TENURE AS A PRINCIPAL IN BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOLS, I MAKE IT VERY CLEAR THAT I DON'T DO THIS WORK FOR ANY TYPE OF SPOTLIGHT. SO IT'S ACTUALLY KIND OF UNCOMFORTABLE TO SEEK IT OR TO EVEN BE IN IT WHEN IT HAPPENS. BUT, UM, AS ONE OF MY MENTORS SAYS, YOU SAY THANK YOU AND YOU MOVE ON TO THE NEXT THING, UM, IN TERMS OF GREATNESS. SO, THANK YOU, FIRST AND FOREMOST. UM, THE BAR GETS SET PRETTY HIGH IN BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOLS AS FAR AS LEADERSHIP GOES. WE HAVE NUMEROUS PRINCIPALS AND FOLKS WHO HAVE MOVED PAST PRINCIPAL AND HAVE PROMOTED ON WHO HAVE BEEN AMAZING MENTORS TO ME. UM, I THANK MY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DR. COX, AND, AND OF COURSE DR. DIXON, DR. LA EVEN MICHELLE PENDER. I'M LOOKING BACK THERE, THAT ENTIRE GROUP, YOU'LL CONTINUE TO INSPIRE AND ME TO ASPIRE TO GREATER THINGS. UM, DR. DIXON, I'M ALMOST, I'VE, I'VE NOW GOTTEN A COUPLE OF THE SAME THINGS YOU'VE GOTTEN IN YOUR TENURE AND I'M, I'M NOT SURE, I THINK I'M MISSING A COUPLE, SO I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD AND [00:20:01] KEEP TRYING. BUT I MEANT EVERY WORD THAT I SAID IN THAT VIDEO. THIS WORK ISN'T FOR THE THANK YOUS, IT'S FOR THE FUTURE. THIS YEAR, I'VE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO, UM, BECOME THE PRINCIPAL OF BATTERY CREEK HIGH SCHOOL. MANY DOLPHINS, BUT ONE CREEK. AND OUR GOAL AS WE TURN THE TIDE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ACCOLADES ALSO SHOW THE SHEER POTENTIAL FOR GREATNESS THAT EXISTS IN THAT BUILDING AND IN ITS PROGRAMS. SO I'M BLESSED TO LEAD ALONGSIDE OF SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING LEADERS. I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR HAVING ME HERE TONIGHT TO HONOR THAT PARTICULAR RECOGNITION, BUT ONWARD AND UPWARD TO THE NEXT THING FOR OUR STUDENTS AND OUR FOR COMMUNITY. SO, THANK YOU. NEXT, [First Public Comments] WE HAVE PUBLIC COMMENTS AND WE HAVE RULES FOR, UH, BOARD MEETINGS AT PUBLIC COMMENTS. THE SPEAKERS PARTICIPATING SHALL READ AND FULLY COMPLETE A PUBLIC COMMENT CARD AND SUBMIT IT TO THE BOARD. EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ISSUES INVOLVING LITIGATION ARE NOT SUBJECTS TO PUBLIC COMMENT. PARTICIPATION. THE USE OF PHYSICALLY DEMANDING ACTIONS OR RESULTS, COMMENT, COMMENTS, OR CONDUCT BY SPEAKERS OR MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE ARE PROHIBITED. AND ANY BEHAVIOR THAT WILLFULLY DISRUPTS A MEETING TO THE EXTENT THAT THE ORDERLY CONDUCT OF THE MEETING IS SERIOUSLY COMPROMISED IS PROHIBITED. NO PRESENTATION BY A SPEAKER SHALL EXCEED MORE THAN THREE MINUTES. THE CHAIR WILL STRICTLY ENFORCE THIS TIME LIMIT. A SUITABLE TIMING DEVICE WILL BE EMPLOYED TO NOTIFY THE SPEAKER OF THE END OF HIS OR HER COMMENT, PERIOD. SPEAKERS SHALL NOT YIELD THEIR TIME TO ANOTHER SPEAKER. PERSONS APPEARING BEFORE THE BOARD SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THE BOARD MEMBERS ARE WITHOUT AUTHORITY TO ACT INDEPENDENTLY AS INDIVIDUALS IN OFFICIAL MATTER. NEITHER THE BOARD NOR INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS WILL RESPOND TO SPEAKERS DURING THE COMMENT PERIOD. THE BOARD CHAIR WILL DESIGNATE A LOCATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THAT'S AT THE DESK RIGHT THERE. DOCUMENTS BE PROVIDED TO THE BOARD BY A PUBLIC COMMENTER SHALL BE PROVIDED TO THE BOARD'S EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT FOLLOWING THE CO COMMENTER'S APPEARANCE PERSON, PERSON WHO HAVE NOT HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DELIVER COMMENTS PUBLICLY MAY SUBMIT WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS TO THE BOARD'S EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT. WE HAVE ONE PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THIS INITIAL PERIOD. UH, MR. CAMBRIA SPEAKING ON PUBLIC COMMENTS POLICY. GOOD EVENING BOARD, ALLOW ME TO SHARE SOME PERSPECTIVES ON YOUR CURRENT PUBLIC COMMENT POLICY. MANY WOULD SAY THAT THE POLICIES IN DIRECT CONFLICT TO SUSTAINING A SCHOOL BOARD AND COMMUNITY COLLABORATION SYSTEM UNDER THE FALSE NARRATIVE OF MAINTAINING, NEEDING RELEVANCY AND EFFICIENCY. YOUR POLICY APPEARS TO BE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO LIMIT, DISCOURAGE, AND DENY COMMUNICATION FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS. THE RESULT IS COMMUNITY DISENFRANCHISEMENT AND APATHY. CONSIDER SOME FACTS. THE UNAPPROVED AGENDAS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. A MERE 24 HOURS BEFORE THE MEETING, THE AGENDA MAY BE CHANGED AT THE START OF THE MEETING OR PRIOR TO A BOARD VOTE FOR APPROVAL. SO PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO PREPARE A TIME AND TOPIC SENSITIVE PRESENTATION IN ONE HOUR OR LESS. WHO ON THIS BOARD BELIEVES THAT THAT'S REASONABLE? OF COURSE, SOME MAY SAY, WELL, ANYONE MAY SPEAK DURING THE SECOND PUBLIC SPEAKING SESSION ON ANY TOPIC. TRUE. HOWEVER, THEY MUST WAIT ONE, TWO, PERHAPS THREE HOURS WHEN VERY FEW, IF ANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS REMAIN IN THE AUDIENCE AND EVERYONE IS EXHAUSTED, SHAME ON THE BOARD MEMBERS WHO CREATED THIS POLICY. SHAME ON EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR ACCEPTING IT AND NOT ADDRESSING THIS ADVERSARIAL, CENSORING AND UNDEMOCRATIC POLICY. THIS SCHOOL BOARD HAS THE MOST RESTRICTIVE AND REPRESSIVE PUBLIC COMMON POLICY OF ANY GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION IN THE COUNTY. HOW IRONIC THAT A BOARD OF EDUCATION [00:25:01] IS NOT INTERESTED IN LEARNING FROM CONCERNED? YES. AND AT TIMES, PERHAPS CRITICAL VOICES WHO SACRIFICE PERSONAL AND VALUABLE TIME TRAVEL SIGNIFICANT DISTANCES TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES ONLY TO EXPERIENCE A BOARD POLICY DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTED TO OBSTRUCT THEIR VOICE. PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES. PLEASE OPEN YOUR MINDS. PLEASE ENGAGE YOUR MORAL COMPASS. CHANGE THIS POLICY IMMEDIATELY. A QUOTE FROM NOAM CHOKY. THE SMART WAY TO KEEP PEOPLE PASSIVE AND OBEDIENT IS TO STRICTLY LIMIT THE SPECTRUM OF ACCEPTANCE OPINION. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION THERE. ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS? ALL RIGHT. NEXT ITEM, [Chair’s Report ] UH, IS THE CHAIR'S REPORT ON JUNE 20TH, UH, THIS YEAR, WE RECEIVED THE BOARD RECEIVED THIS SHARK TANK 2020 PROJECT, SHARK SHANK SAND SHARK, I'M SORRY, SAND SHARK 2020 PROJECT, UH, BY USCB. FOUR DAYS LATER, UH, AT A BOARD MEETING, WE MADE A MOTION, UH, ON THAT, WHICH I'M GOING TO READ TO THE PUBLIC HERE IN A LITTLE BIT. ON THE JUNE 26TH, UH, THE SUPERINTENDENT, MYSELF AND MS. BOATWRIGHT ATTENDED A MEETING, UH, AT THE, UH, USCB AREA WITH DR. PANNU AND MR. UH STEWART, GIVING SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROJECT. AT THAT MEETING, I READ THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS. WE RECEIVED A BROCHURE WITH THE INFORMATION TITLED BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER SOME TIME AGO THAT STATED, THIS PROJECT WILL BE FUNDED BY BOTH STATE AND COUNTIES. THE COUNT, THE FUNDING MECHANISM WILL DEFINE A REGION WHERE PROPERTY TAX PAYMENTS ARE CONVERTED TO FEES. THIS APPROACH DOES NOT INCREASE TAX PAYMENTS. IT CHANGES HOW THE REVENUE FROM A SPECIFIC AREA IS ALLOCATED. THE AMOUNT PROPERTY OWNERS PAY REMAINS THE SAME, BUT A PORTION OF THAT REVENUE IS DIRECTED TO FUND THIS PROJECT. APPROVAL FROM BOTH BUFORD AND JASPER COUNCILS IS REQUIRED, BUT THIS PROCESS DOES NOT NECESSITATE A PUBLIC REFERENDUM OR SCHOOL DISTRICT OPT-IN. IT WILL ALSO NOT AFFECT THE COUNTY'S ABILITY TO FUND OTHER PROJECTS. THIS CONTACT CAUSES US TO CONSULT OR CAUSED US TO CONSULT WITH OUR BOARD COUNSEL ATTORNEY FRAN HEISER, TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS PROJECT WOULD A AFFECT THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT. SHE EXPLAINED THAT SHE BELIEVES THIS WILL BE A MULTI-COUNTY INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS PARK OR MCIP, AND SHE HAS EXPERIENCE WITH THIS TYPE OF PROJECT IN SOUTH CAROLINA. SPECIFIC DETAILS ON HOW AN MCIP AGREEMENT CAN VARY BETWEEN COUNTIES, INCLUDING HOW REVENUES AND EXPENSES ARE SHARED. IT WAS SEEMED OBVIOUS THAT THIS PROJECT, THE CONSTRUCTION FUNDS, WOULD BE REQUIRED UPFRONT BEFORE FEES CAN BE COLLECTED FROM THE CONSUMERS USING THE PROJECT'S AMENITIES, SPECIFIC DETAILS OF HOW MUCH MONEY THE DISTRICT WOULD HAVE TO PROVIDE AND WHEN IT WOULD BE ASSESSED WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE AGREEMENT. A QUICK DIVE INTO THE HISTORY OF MCPS IN SOUTH CAROLINA DISCOVERED CONCERNS ON HOW THESE PROGRAMS NEGATIVELY AFFECTED SCHOOL DISTRICTS. FOR EXAMPLE, BERKELEY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS LOST $84 MILLION IN FISCAL YEARS 20 20 20 19 BECAUSE OF A MASSIVE PROPERTY TAX BREAKS GIVEN IN AN MCIP. OTHER REPORTS FOUND THAT MC IPS HAD A HISTORY OF A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND POOR SUBSIDY OVERSIGHT, AND THIS ERASED ALARMS TO THE BOARD. WE ALSO DISCUSSED HOW THIS PROJECT WOULD BENEFIT THE DISTRICT. THE ONLY LIKELY USE OF THE, THE DISTRICT WOULD HAVE WOULD BE CONDUCTING ONE OR MORE OF THE SIX ANNUAL THREE HOUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION CEREMONIES ONCE A YEAR. IN MY SEVEN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ON THE SCHOOL BOARD, ONLY TWO GRADUATIONS HAVE BEEN ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY THE WEATHER, AND SOME SCHOOL PRINCIPALS DO NOT WANT TO TRAVEL THAT FAR FOR GRADUATIONS. SO WE COULD NOT GUARANTEE THERE WOULD BE SIX GRADUATION CEREMONIES IN MAY OF EVERY YEAR. THIS DISCUSSION WITH ATTORNEY HEISER [00:30:01] OCCURRED DURING EXECUTIVE SESSION LAST TUESDAY IN SUBSEQUENT OPEN SESSION, THE FOLLOWING MOTION WAS MADE. I MOVE THE BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION NOT SUPPORT THE USE OF ANY SCHOOL OPERATIONS OR DEBT SERVICE FUNDS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANY NON-DISTRICT FACILITIES. THE MOTION PASSED OVERWHELMINGLY WITH NO NO VOTES AND ONE ABSTENTION. THE BROCHURE STATES THAT A REFERENDUM IS NOT NECESSARY. HOWEVER, A PUBLIC REFERENDUM IS HOW THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT FUNDS THE CONSTRUCTIONS TOTAL CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTS TOTALING OVER $800 MILLION BY GAINING THE PUBLIC'S TRUST AND BRINGING IN THESE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ON TIME AND ON BUDGET. SO WHY CAN'T YOU DO THE SAME AND LET THE CITIZENS OF THE TWO COUNTIES VOTE TO PUN FUND THIS PROJECT? AFTER THIS MEETING AND AFTER MS. BOAT WRITES COMMENTS, WE WERE GIVEN FEEDBACK FROM AT LEAST THREE OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT THIS PROJECT IS DEAD ON ARRIVAL. SO WE DIDN'T THINK MUCH ABOUT IT UNTIL AUGUST 26TH. I ATTENDED A, SO A SO LOCO MEETING, WHICH IS A MEETING OF THE SOUTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY, JASPER COUNTY PLANNING ORGANIZATION, WHERE THEY ASKED TO HAVE THIS MCIP BE BROUGHT BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING OF THE SO LOCO, WHICH WILL BE THIS MONTH TALKING TO THE TWO, TO THE, UH, UH, COUNCIL CHAIR AND TO OUR, UH, OUR ADVISOR FROM THE COUNTY COUNCIL, UH, TAB TABER. UH, THEY BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE A JOINT MEETING, UH, WITH THE COUNTY COUNCIL SO THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW THIS PROJECT COULD BE FUNDED AND IN THE HOPES THAT WE COULD HAVE A VOTE BY THE COUNTY COUNCIL. WE DON'T, WE CAN'T MAKE THE DECISION THE COUNTY COUNCIL DOES ON THIS PROJECT, BUT WE NEED TO PUT THIS PROJECT EITHER GO AHEAD OR NOT. GO AHEAD. AND WE PROBABLY NEED TO HAVE FRANNIE HEISER COME AND EXPLAIN TO THE COUNTY COUNCIL THE WAYS THAT MONEY IS BORROWED AND THEN MADE AVAILABLE FOR PROJECTS LIKE THIS. SO I NEED, UH, FEEDBACK FROM THE BOARD AND YOU CAN DO IT, UH, OFFLINE OR LATER ON THIS EVENING OF WHETHER YOU WOULD SUPPORT A JOINT. UH, COUNTY COUNCIL, BEAUFORT CITY CA UH, BEAUFORT SCHOOL BOARD, UH, MEETING TO DISCUSS THIS PROJECT. THAT'S ALL I HAVE ON MY REPORT. HAVE A COMMENT. GO AHEAD. IF IT DOESN'T BREACH THE PROTOCOL, YOU'VE JUST, UH, EXPLAINED MR. CHAIR. UH, I'D LIKE TO PUBLICLY STATE THAT I'M IN FAVOR OF A JOINT MEETING BETWEEN THE TWO RULING COUNCILS, UH, FOR CANDID, A CONVERSATION THAT IS, UH, UNAVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. ANY OTHER COMMENTS? SECOND, MS. MS. GORDON? I AGREE. I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO, UH, MEET WITH COUNTY COUNCIL. MR. SMITH? I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY THAT, UH, I BELIEVE THAT WE, UH, LAST TIME WE MET, I BELIEVE, HERE IN THIS BUILDING, UH, WHEN WE MET WITH COUNTY COUNCIL AND WE AGREED TO AT THAT TIME TO MEET WITH THE PUBLIC QUARTERLY, OR HOW, I'M NOT SURE WHAT WE, WE WEREN'T SURE THE ACTUAL, UM, TIMEFRAME ON IT. SO I, I THINK THAT I, I WOULDN'T SEE THAT MEETING NO OTHER DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER MEETING BECAUSE I, I WANT, LET ME BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS. I JUST DON'T WANNA GO TO COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING ABOUT THAT ONE AGENDA. I THINK THERE'S SOME OTHER O OTHER THINGS WHEN IT COMES TO OUR KIDS IN THIS COMMUNITY, UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, WE, WE HAVE ON THE TABLE THAT ARE DYING IN NEEDS OF DISCUSSION OF WHEN WE'RE BEARING YOUNG KIDS IN THIS DISTRICT EVERY SINGLE DAY IN THIS COMMUNITY. SO I BELIEVE I, I DON'T MIND MEETING WITH THEM JUST ABOUT THAT, BUT ALSO ABOUT OTHER THINGS BEYOND JUST THAT RIGHT THERE. SO I, AS A REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING, I DON'T MIND HAVING A MEETING WITH THEM AS WE, WE, AS WE'VE STATED IN THE, IN THE PAST. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY OTHER COMMENTS? OKAY. [Committee Reports] NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS COMMITTEE REPORTS, ACADEMIC COMMITTEES FIRST, MS. UH, GORDON. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UH, FIRST I'D LIKE TO THANK THE A ACADEMIC COMMITTEE, UH, . THEY PUT TOGETHER A WELL PUT TOGETHER PACKAGE FOR US TO GO THROUGH, BUT IT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION AND IT SHOWED, UM, HOW TIMELY THEY ARE AND HOW ABREAST THEY ARE. ON OUR A, UH, DURING THE AUGUST 22ND, 2025 ACADEMIC COMMITTEE MEETING, STUDENT SERVICES BROUGHT FORWARD THE FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS, [00:35:01] SS THREE, WHICH IS ASSIGNMENT OF STUDENT ER, UH, STUDENT SCHOOLS. SS FOUR ASSIGNMENT OF STUDENTS TO CLASSES. EXAMPLES ARE INTERNATIONAL BACCA, LARGE AND ADVANCED PROGRAMS. SS FIVE STUDENT ATTENDANCE, SS SIX ENTRANCE AGE, AND SS EIGHT ADMISSION OF NON-RESIDENTIAL STUDENTS. MOST OF THESE AS, UH, SS WERE UPDATES, OR, UH, INSTEAD OF SAYING INDIVIDUAL, THEY SAID PEOPLE. SO IT WASN'T ANYTHING THAT CHANGED THE, UH, SS, BUT IT WAS TO UPDATE US. IN ADDITION, INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES PROVIDED AN UPDATE ON HEALTH PROGRAMS. THIS PRESENTATION SHARED HOW BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS IS COMPLIANT TO AARON'S LAW. SC CODE SECTION 59 DASH 32 DASH 20 AND 59 DASH 32 DASH 30, PARENT G AND GAVIN'S LAW, SC CODE SECTION 16 DASH 15 DASH 4 3 0 TO ENSURE A SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS. DURING THE MEETING, BOARD MEMBERS REQUESTED THE CONTINUED USE OF EDITED RED LINE AND UPDATED ARS COMMITTEE MEMBERS AGREED TO MEET THIS REQUEST. THE NEXT ACADEMIC COMMITTEE MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2025. THE HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THAT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2025. THAT'S THE END OF THE REPORT. ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS ON THE REPORT? MR. SMITH? I'M HEARING MRS. MRS. GORDON BRING THAT REPORT ALSO, UH, IN TERMS OF IT WAS STATED, UM, OVER THE WEEKEND WHEN ALSO, UH, I, I REMEMBERED, I FORGOT, UH, WE SHOULD PROBABLY, I'M NOT SURE, I GUESS WE SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE CHAIRMAN'S REPORT, BUT ALSO OVER THE PAST WEEKEND, NOT, NOT THIS WEEKEND, BUT THE PRIOR WEEKEND, SOME OF US WENT DOWN TO THE SCHOOL BOARD CONFERENCE, UH, IN, UH, SCHOOL LAW CONFERENCE IN CHARLESTON. AND THERE WE WERE ABLE, IT WAS MENTIONED IN, IN THIS COMMITTEE MEETING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO, WE ACTUALLY SAW GAVIN'S DATA COME FORWARD FOR US WITH US THAT MORNING. UM, AND, UH, WAS HE WAS, HE WENT OVER THE GAVIN'S LAW AND HE BROKE IT DOWN FROM, FROM THE ROUTER TO THE TUTOR, FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE BACKWARDS FORWARDS, HOWEVER YOU PUT IT. UH, IT WAS VERY EMOTIONAL IN THAT TIME, IN THAT ROOM. AND IT WAS ALSO HELPING US UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE LAWS AND WHY THE LAWS WERE PUT IN PLACE. UH, AND SO, UH, THAT WAS ONE THING. I KNOW WE, WE WERE NORMALLY SUPPOSED TO REPORT OR WE COULD TELL BOARD, WE GIVE BOARD MEMBERS TO BE GIVEN A SECOND TO TELL ANYTHING THAT THEY WERE GIVEN AT THE CONFERENCE. BUT THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT STUCK OUT TO US WHEN WE WERE GOING OVER GAVIN'S LAW IN OUR COMMITTEE MEETING. AND THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT AT LENGTH, UM, A, UH, AFTER. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO REITERATE THAT AS WELL. WELL, UH, JUST COMBINE TWO THINGS IN ONE. THANK YOU. OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. GORDON. NEXT ITEM IS THE FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT. MR. DALLAS. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MET ON AUGUST 14TH, UM, AND IT WAS A VERY PRODUCTIVE MEETING. AND ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE TO DO IS IMMEDIATELY APPLAUD THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT AND THE STAFF AND THE OTHER PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH IT. UM, BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN SOME GENERAL EFFORTS TO ACTUALLY, UH, IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF REPORTS. THEY'VE NEVER BEEN BAD, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT HOW CAN WE USE GRAPHS, HOW CAN WE USE VISUALS SO THAT WE CAN SPEND MORE TIME REALLY, VERY PRECISELY SEEING WHERE THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE FOR IMPROVEMENT, UH, AND LESS TIME READING. A LOT OF VERBIAGE. VERBIAGE IS NECESSARY NOT BEING, UM, NEGATIVE TOWARDS THAT. JUST SAYING, HOW CAN WE GET TO WHERE THE CORE ISSUES ARE? SO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IS, UH, CFO, TANYA SBY PRESENTED THE MAY, MAY AND JUNE TRANSPARENCY REPORTS DISCUSSION WAS HELD, VERY OPEN CONVERSATION AND A NEW PLATFORM FOR REPORTING TRANSPORT ANALYTICS WAS INTRODUCED. NOW, THIS REPORT UNDER THIS NEW FORMAT [00:40:01] IS GOING TO ENHANCE THE READER'S EXPERIENCE WITH VISUAL GRAPHICS, WHICH WE'VE JUST MENTIONED. EMPHASIZE VALUABLE DATA THROUGH COMPARISONS. AS SOMEONE WHO IS REVIEWING PERFORMANCE, WE ALWAYS WANNA BE ABLE TO VERY QUICKLY IDENTIFY WHERE THE GAPS ARE, WHERE THE TRENDS ARE UP, DOWN, OR WHAT HAVE YOU, SO THAT WE CAN HELP PROVIDE RESOURCES IN, UH, ALLEVIATING ANY NEGATIVE TRENDS. MINIMIZE HUMAN ERROR BY LIMITING MANUAL DATA ENTRY. SO THE FEWER PEOPLE IN FEWER TIMES IT HAS TO BE INPUT, BUT CAN BE MANIPULATED BY THE SYSTEM. THAT'S A REAL, UH, EFFICIENT IMPROVEMENT, ENHANCED REPORTING EFFICIENCY, AND REDUCE SOFT COSTS BY AUTOMATING REPORTING WITH EXISTING DISTRICT SOFTWARE SYSTEMS, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT. THE OTHER POINT IS REPORTING WAS WELL, WELL RECEIVED BY THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND STAFF WILL BRING BOTH THE EXISTING REPORTS, SO THE ONES WE CURRENTLY RECEIVE, AND THE NEW REPORT TO THE NEXT MEETING FOR REVIEW. SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO COMPARE WHAT THE OLD REPORTS WERE, THE NOT OLD EXISTING REPORTS, AND WHAT THE NEW ONES WILL BE. AND WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO TAKE A LOOK AT SEEING HOW CAN WE USE THOSE NEW REPORTS IN A MORE EFFICIENT MANNER. THE ADMINISTRATION EXPECTS AN INCREASE IN THE FUND BALANCE FOR THE 20 25, 20 24 THROUGH 2025 FISCAL YEAR DUE TO VACANCIES. DISCUSSION WAS HELD, AND A STAFF WILL BRING A RECOMMENDATION TO THE NEXT FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING. THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL BE FINANCIALLY BENEFICIAL TO THE DISTRICT. UH, AT THAT DISCUSSED, AT THAT MEETING, A PRESENTATION WAS GIVEN BY THE FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS STAFF ON PROJECT MATES, WHICH IS REALLY INTERESTING. IT ACTUALLY LEAPFROGS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AND IS HAVING SORT OF A GLACIAL MIGRATION. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ACTUALLY HAVING A SOFTWARE PACKAGE THAT'S BEEN LED BY, I THINK MS. WILSON AND HER COUNTERPARTS AND OTHER, UH, UH, PORTIONS OF THE DISTRICT WHO ACTUALLY GIVE US A, BASICALLY AN, AN OPERATING SYSTEM THAT WILL BE VERY HELPFUL IN HELPING IMPROVE OUR EFFICIENCIES. THE NEW SOFTWARE WILL SERVE AS A REPOSITORY FOR ALL CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS AND APPROVALS. WE HOPE THAT THIS WILL HELP, UH, REALLY SORT OF FREE OUR STAFF UP FROM SOME OF THE CLOSEOUTS AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS THAT GO A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. THEY'VE WORKED FEVERISHLY OVER THE THREE YEARS I'VE BEEN ON THE BOARD TO ACTUALLY ALLEVIATE AND CLOSE THOSE THINGS OUT. SO OUR FINANCIALS BECOME EVEN TIGHTER. OUR FINANCIALS IN GREAT SHAPE NOW, BUT JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S THERE CONSIDERABLE EFFICIENCY ARE GAINED BY USING THIS SYSTEM. THE NEXT THING WE TALKED ABOUT WAS DEBT SERVICE UPDATE WAS PROVIDED THE RECENT 8% BOND OF 30 MILLION SOLD LAST WEEK WITH A 2.3% INTEREST RATE. THAT IS JUST A PHENOMENAL ACCOMPLISHMENT. DO NOT FORGET THAT OUR DISTRICT IS ONLY PAIRED WITH GREENVILLE IN TERMS OF OUR RATING. THE BETTER OUR RATING IS, THE HIGHER, THE LESS OUR FUNDING AND DEBT COST US. SO THAT'S A REAL GOOD THING. AND GREENVILLE IS VERY HEAVY IN MANUFACTURING, WHICH PAYS A LOT OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S FUNDS. AND SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY GOOD FOR, AND KUDOS TO THE, UH, FINANCIAL AND OPERATION AND WHOLE, UH, DISTRICT FOR THAT ACCREDIT RATINGS MAINTAINED AT THE CURRENT LEVELS OF A SMALL A ONE OR DOUBLE A, DEPENDING ON WHETHER, WHICH OPERATION YOU'RE USING. AND THE NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER THE 18TH AT 2025. SO AT THIS POINT, WE'RE GOING TO ASK OUR FEARLESS PEERLESS LEADER, MS. CROSBY, TO COME UP AND SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO IT. THANK YOU. I THINK YOU COVERED IT ALL VERY WELL. UM, UH, JUST SUMMARIZING THE, THE MEETING. AND WE HAVE A LOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO COMING UP AT THE NEXT MEETING, UM, AS FAR AS THE TRANSPARENCY REPORT AND OTHER EFFICIENCIES THAT WE'VE HAD WITH THE DISTRICT. UM, SO I WANNA GIVE KUDOS TO MY TEAM, UH, IF THEY'RE WATCHING AT HOME OR REPLAYING THIS LATER. UM, THEY ARE THE ONES THAT MAKE, MAKING ALL THIS HAPPEN. SO, UM, GREAT TEAM WE HAVE AND, UH, I APPRECIATE THEM. SO, UH, WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT MEETING. YES, SIR. ALSO, I KNOW THAT WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF THE TRANSPARENCY REPORT AND THAT I KNOW THE NEXT MEETING THAT WE, THERE WAS ONE REPORT THAT WE WILL DO THE SAME, BUT I WILL STILL ECHO WHAT I SAID AT THAT MEETING, IS THAT I, UH, AS MY GRANDMOTHER SAID, IF IT'S NOT BROKE, THEY DON'T FIX IT. SO I, I THINK THAT, UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TO ME IN TERMS OF, YOU SAID WE CAN GO TO A DIFFERENT, UH, TO THE WEBSITE AND GET THAT INFORMATION IN TERMS OF TRANSPARENCY, BUT THE LEVEL OF INFORMATION THAT WE BRING TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, WE WILL BE KIND OF, SORT OF IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT. AND HOWEVER, I DO UNDERSTAND THAT. BUT I THINK THAT THEY BOTH CAN BE BOUGHT, CAN CONTINUE TO BE BROUGHT FORWARD. UH, AND EVEN THOUGH YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT, UH, DOING, UM, [00:45:02] UH, THAT, THAT, THAT PUTTING IT ON THE WEBSITE WILL STILL, WILL STILL BE THERE, BUT I THINK THAT THAT LONGEVITY LOOKS IS MORE, IS MORE TO WHAT THE PUBLIC IS, IS USED TO. AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO FIND. AND I THINK GIVING MORE INFORMATION IS, IS GREAT. BUT I THINK CHANGING, CHANGING THE FORMATS AT THIS TIME, FOR ME, I'M JUST NOT, UM, I'M, I'M, I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT EXCITED ABOUT IT. I, I, I THINK THAT CONTINUING TO ADD, ADD TO IT AND TO JUST HAVE WHAT WE HAVE, I, I THINK, I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE GENERALLY, UM, APPRECIATIVE. I JUST WANNA SAY THAT PUBLICLY. SURE. THANK YOU. UM, EVAN, I MAY COMMENT ON THAT. UM, CURRENTLY OUR TRANSPARENCY REPORTS ARE OVER A HUNDRED REPORT, A HUNDRED PAGES OF REPORTS, PROBABLY 50 TRANSAC TRANSACTIONS PER PAGE. UM, VERY SMALL MINUTE, UH, FONT THAT IS OFTEN DIFFICULT TO READ. UM, THOSE TRANSPARENCY REPORTS ARE THEN REPLICATED IN THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS REPORT AND A CONSOLIDATED, SO THERE'S A DETAILED REPORT IN THAT. SO WE HAVE TRIPLICATE INFORMATION THAT WE'RE PROVIDING. WE'RE SUMMARIZING THAT IN, IN SOME, AND VERY DETAILED IN OTHERS. WHAT THIS DOES IS NOT REPLACE THAT, UH, TRANSPARENCY REPORT, WHICH IS REQUIRED BY THE STATE AND REQUIRED TO BE ON OUR WEBSITE, WHICH, UH, IN OUR EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES, WE CAN CERTAINLY PROVIDE A LINK TO THAT FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO LOOK AT THE MINUTE DETAILS. BUT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING IS REALLY, UH, BRINGING THINGS AT A HIGHER LEVEL FOR THE BOARD TO LOOK AT THINGS THAT HAVE LARGE VARIANCES, UH, AND IT BRINGS VALUE TO THE CONVERSATION INSTEAD OF SPENDING TIME LOOKING THROUGH ALL OF THESE DETAILS. AND WE HAVE AN ABILITY TO ANALYZE THOSE LARGE VARIANCES BEFORE WE COME TO THE BOARD AND HAVE THOSE EXPLANATIONS READY FOR YOU. SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASK THE QUESTION, IT'S ALREADY ANSWERED FOR YOU IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. SO THAT WE'RE TRYING, TRYING TO BRING SOMETHING THAT BRINGS VALUE TO THE BOARD AND THE DECISIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE ON A DAILY BASIS. SO THAT IS REALLY THE PURPOSE OF THIS, BUT WE'LL STILL BE PROVIDING IN THAT LINK. AND SO IT IS UP TO THE PURVIEW OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS, WHICH IS HOW, WHAT DIRECTION WE GO. AND WE'LL CERTAINLY BRING BOTH AT THE NEXT MEETING, BUT I THINK YOU'LL FIND THAT, UM, IT'S GONNA BRING EVEN MORE INFORMATION TO YOU TO SEE THOSE, UM, VARIANCES OR LARGE TRANSACTIONS AND THAT SORT OF THING, SO THAT, UM, FOR FOR MORE INFORMED DECISION MAKING. AND, AND, AND I DO APPRECIATE THAT HOW, HOWEVER, UH, ONE OF THE, ONE OF OUR BOARD RESPONSIBILITY IS, UH, FIDUCIARY. IT IS, IT IS FINANCES. SO, UM, I I, UM, I THANK YOU FOR, FOR BRINGING US MORE INFORMATION, BUT UNDERSTANDING THINGS, UH, AND IN TERMS OF SOME OF THE SMALL THINGS DO, DO MATTER BECAUSE PEOPLE, THEY DON'T ALWAYS ASK US ABOUT THE MINUTE THINGS. SOMETIMES THEY ASK US ABOUT THE SMALL THINGS AND UNDERSTAND HOW THE WHOLE, HOW THE WHOLE PUZZLE COMES TOGETHER, BECAUSE YOU MAY, YOU MAY HAVE ONE SECTION WHERE YOU HAVE A SMALLER PUZZLE PIECES AND YOU HAVE BIGGER PUZZLE PIECES, BUT THE WHOLE PUZZLE THAT COME TOGETHER IS, I'M SAYING THE WHOLE PUZZLE VERSUS NOT THE HALF OF THE PUZZLE. SO PAUL PIECES WILL STILL BE THERE. YES, SIR. FOR READILY AVAILABLE. AND, AND, AND, AND, AND ONCE AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I'M JUST SAYING FROM MY PER, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, I JUST PREFER IT ALL JUST TO, TO, TO COME, TO COME AS WELL. BUT ONCE AGAIN, THAT, THAT IS UP TO THAT COMMITTEE AND, UH, AND HOW, HOW, HOW THEY, HOW THEY WANT IT. BUT I'M JUST SAYING AS A, AS A MEMBER OF THE BODY THAT I JUST THINK THAT ALL OF IT COMING, COMING IS, IS, IS NOT A PROBLEM. AND, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT THE, THE PROCESS OF US UNDERSTANDING IT MOVING FORWARD. BUT THAT'S JUST, I'M JUST ONE PERSON. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MM-HMM . IT'S BOW, RIGHT? THANK YOU. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY AS SOMEONE WHO SITS ON A NUMBER OF BOARDS AND HAS TO REPORT TO A BOARD, THAT, UM, I THINK YOUR TEAM GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT IS REQUIRED. UM, I ALSO, I UNDERSTAND THE INCLINATION TO SORT OF GET INTO THE WEEDS ON THE FINANCIAL FIDUCIARY DUTY PIECE. UM, BUT WE ARE A LARGE SCHOOL BOARD, A SCHOOL DISTRICT, UH, REPRESENTING 35 BUILDINGS, 37 BUILDINGS, UH, 35 SCHOOLS, 21,000 STUDENTS. YOU KNOW, THAT'S A LOT TO KEEP UP WITH. SO I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY AS ONE MEMBER OF THE BOARD THAT I APPRECIATE AND UM, ACTUALLY REALLY ADMIRE THE LEVEL OF DETAIL YOU ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE. UM, AND JUST AS A LIFE HACK, WHAT I DO WITH THIS NOW, WHICH ANYONE CAN DO, IS YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE PDF, DROP IT INTO AN AI PROGRAM AND TALK TO IT, AND YOU CAN HIGHLIGHT THE THINGS YOU'RE INTERESTED IN IF YOU WANNA LOOK AT CERTAIN CATEGORIES. AND I DID THAT. I WAS INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT CONSULTANTS, YOU KNOW, AND I'M JUST KIND OF LOOKING AT THAT. AND IT PULLED EVERY SINGLE PERSON OUT THAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH CONSULTING. AND SO IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC INTERESTS, UM, THAT IS A GREAT USE FOR AI. UH, THE QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU IS GOING TO BE ABOUT PROJECT MATES, BECAUSE I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT IF WE'VE GONE FROM AN ABSOLUTE HEARTBURN INDUCING PILE OF PAPER TO A DASHBOARD, WHICH IS WHAT I THINK MOST OF US HAVE COME TO EXPECT. SO I AM WILDLY HAPPY ABOUT THAT. AND, UM, I DON'T WANNA GET AHEAD AND JUST BE LIKE, GREAT JOB NEXT. BUT WHAT I AM INTERESTED WOULD BE THE NEXT PHASE OF THIS, WHICH IS HOW ALL THIS DATA'S GONNA INTEGRATE BECAUSE WE USE HEY DUDE, AND SOMETHING ELSE, . AND THEN THE FACILITY ASSESSMENT [00:50:01] IS IN ANOTHER TOOL THAT'S MANAGED BY I THINK ANOTHER ORGANIZATION. SO NOW THAT WE'VE GOT ALL THIS DATA, WE HAVE MUNIS, WE HAVE, HEY DUDE, WE HAVE THESE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS, SCHOOL DUDE, , SCHOOL, DUDE, EVEN BETTER, UM, I DON'T KNOW WHY I'VE NEVER RUN INTO A TECHNOLOGY NAME I'VE LIKED, BUT IS THERE THE POTENTIAL FOR ALL OF THIS TO INTEGRATE SO THAT IF DA IF INVOICES ARE ENTERED IN ONE SYSTEM, THEY FLOW INTO THE NEXT IF PAYMENTS, IS THAT CURRENTLY BEING DONE OR IS THAT ON THE HORIZON? NOW, I'M NOT THE BEST PERSON TO SPEAK ABOUT THE INTERACTION OF, BUT WE DO CURRENTLY HAVE A FILE THAT IS EXPORTED FROM SCHOOL DUDE AND IMPORTED INTO, UH, TO THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SYSTEM IN MUNI TO CREATE THE FILE FOR PAYMENT OF, OF INVOICES. SO WE HAVE PAY APPLICATIONS THAT ARE, ARE ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION IN PROJECT MATES, UM, CODED WITH THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS AND, UM, AND THE PAY APPLICATION, THEN THE APPROVAL, MULTI, MULTI-LEVEL APPROVAL PROCESS. AND THEN WHEN THOSE ARE COMPLETE, THEY ARE TRANSFERRED INTO THE FINANCIAL SOFTWARE. SO WITH THE BACKUP AND DETAILS BEHIND THAT. SO, SO THEY MANUALLY TRANSFER, LIKE EXPORTED OUT AND THEN UPLOADED IN TYPE OF TRANSFER? I WOULD HAVE TO GET WITH MY TEAM TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW THAT FUNCTION. I DON'T, I'M NOT IN THE INNER WORKINGS OF THAT, BUT, UM, NO, WE READ WHERE YOU'RE AT. WE DON'T PRINT OUT PAPER. I CAN TELL YOU THAT. . YEAH. I JUST THINK THAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE TREMENDOUS EFFICIENCY DEVELOP IF YOU ENTER IN ONE PLACE IN THE SYSTEM, AND THAT DATA JUST FLOWS EITHER THROUGH WEB HOOKS OR THROUGH APIS OR SOMETHING, AND WE CAN START TO, TO KNIT THESE SYSTEMS TOGETHER. MM-HMM . I THINK YOU'RE GONNA SEE, UM, YOUR LIFE, THE LIFE OF YOUR TEAM GET A LOT, UH, A LOT EASIER. SO I HOPE THAT THAT IS, WE KEEP PUSHING THAT DIRECTION, WE'LL LOOK IN THAT DIRECTION. AND, UH, I, I'M ON THE RECEIVING END OF THE DATA. UH, MR. ING'S TEAM IS ON THE FRONT END OF IT, AND I'VE DONE THE MAJORITY OF THE WORK ON THIS, MET WITH MY TEAM SUPPORTING THAT AND EFFORT. UM, SO WE'LL KEEP ENCOURAGING THAT TO SEE WHAT'S EFFICIENCIES WE CAN DO HAVE BY BRINGING THOSE PROGRAMS TOGETHER. THANK YOU SO MUCH. MM-HMM . MISS MR. DALLAS. SORRY ABOUT THAT. AS EVERYONE KNOWS, I'M NOT A TECHIE, BUT, UM, TO MR. SMITH'S POINT, GOOD POINT. WE SAID WE WOULD BRING IT BACK FOR THE SEPTEMBER MEETING AND WE MAKE A DETERMINATION AT THAT TIME. SO WE'RE STILL GONNA HONOR THAT WITH DISCIPLINE, UH, AND WE CAN SEE WHAT, WHAT'S THE APPROPRIATE TIME. UH, THE SECOND THING IS MS. BOATRIGHT TOTALLY, UH, IN SUPPORT OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT INTEGRATION, HAVING MANAGED THE DEPLOYMENT OF SAP, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS TO DEPLOY. UM, THE BENEFIT COMES FROM ORGANIZATIONAL DISCIPLINE THAT ONCE YOU IMPLEMENT IT, YOU CAN ENSURE THAT PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY UTILIZING IT, NOT MAINTAINING THEIR ACCESS, UH, SOFTWARE, NOT MAINTAINING THEIR EXCEL SPREADSHEETS, THEY ACTUALLY GO INTO THE NEW SYSTEM. SO I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M VERY INTERESTED IN, IF IT DOESN'T VIOLATE ANY PROTOCOLS, IS TO HAVE MS. BOATWRIGHT GIVE US AN INFORMAL WAY OF DRILLING DOWN SO WE CAN ACTUALLY LEARN FROM IT , BECAUSE THE FASTER WE MOVE TO NEW WAYS OF DOING THINGS, THE BETTER THE EFFICIENCIES ARE. SO, NOT TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT ALRIGHT. THAT'S IT. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, ANY OTHER COMMENTS? OKAY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UH, NEXT ITEM IS, UH, LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, MR. DALLAS. OKAY. SO THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS HOW DO WE TAKE A PROACTIVE POSTURE IN TERMS OF WHAT ARE THINGS THAT AFFECT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, NOT NECESSARILY THAT ORIGINATE WITHIN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, BUT ALSO OUTSIDE. AND HOW CAN WE ACTUALLY CREATE OR MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS, RESOLUTIONS THAT WE CAN TAKE FORWARD TO ELECTED OFFICIALS OR OTHER INSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION AND HELP GET RELIEF? BECAUSE THE RAISE ZONE D FOR A SCHOOL SYSTEM IS TO EDUCATE KIDS. AND A LOT OF TIMES THINGS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT INTO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WHERE WE ARE HAVING TO TAKE CARE OF SOCIETAL ISSUES. THEY HAVE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF WITHOUT A DOUBT. BUT WE ALSO WANT TO DO A DISCUSSION OF HOW DO THOSE SOCIETAL ISSUES AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO EDUCATE KIDS AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT KIDS COMING TO OUR BUILDINGS WITH THAT MAKE IT A CHALLENGE FOR THEM TO LEARN AND BE COMPARABLE TO ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS IN THEIR PARTICULAR GRADE? SO WE'RE THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, AS YOU PROBABLY AWARE, WE'VE ALREADY BEEN ABLE TO GET APPROVAL HERE. UM, AND ON THE COMMITTEE, AT THE SCHOOL BOARD LEVEL HERE, AND ALSO AT SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION FOR THE FAIRNESS AND TESTING RESOLUTION, WHICH WILL BE VOTED ON AT THE S-C-S-B-A IN DECEMBER, WHAT THAT MEANS IS ALL FOUR OFFERING EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS [00:55:01] IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA WOULD HAVE TO TEST, WOULD HAVE TO SHOW THAT DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITIONS JUST AS WE DO. AND SO AN ENTITY WOULD HAVE TO BE ABLE, A, A PARENT WOULD BE ABLE TO COMPARE HOW WE ARE DOING COMPLETELY AND PRECISELY AGAINST OTHER METHODS OF COMPETITION. WE HAVE NO PROBLEM COMPETING, BUT WE JUST WANT IT TO BE FAIR. UH, SO THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS WE'VE DONE. AND AT THE RECENT S-C-S-B-A, WE ACTUALLY PROPOSE AT A OPEN FORUM THAT WE LOOK AT A SOLUTION OR RESOLUTION, UH, THAT WOULD BE TRUTH IN MEDIA. NOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT MEDIA, PLEASE RECALL THAT LIBEL AND SLANDER, YOU CAN STILL FILE SUITS IF SOMEONE LIES ON YOU OR THEY WRITE SOMETHING ERRONEOUSLY. SO I KNOW FIRST AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT IS SO PARAMOUNT, AND I'M A HUGE PROPONENT OF THAT. BUT THEY'VE ALSO, YOU CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN I WAS COMING UP, YOU COULDN'T SET YELL FIRE IN A, IN A, A MOVIE THEATER. SO FIRST AMENDMENT IS NOT ABSOLUTE IN EVERY SITUATION, BUT THE REAL CORE OF THE ISSUE IS, AND THEN I'LL SEND STAND DOWN, IS THAT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS NO GUARDRAILS. SO ANYTHING CAN BE SAID THAT DAMAGES YOU. AND THERE'S A VERY DIFFICULT HURDLE TO COVER, TO CLEAR, TO GET ANY TYPE OF LEGAL REDRESS. NOW, GO TO EUROPE. EUROPE HAS A GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATIONS, AND WHEN YOU SEE MICROSOFT META AND THOSE OTHERS LOSING BILLION DOLLAR SUITS IN EUROPE IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE GDPR THAT AN INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS AGG AGREED CAN FILE A SUIT HERE. YOU CANNOT DO THAT AGAINST SOCIAL MEDIA AS OF YET. SO THAT'S THE THING WE'RE LOOKING AT WITH, WITH THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE WE GIVE ALL KIDS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY POSSIBLE. THANK YOU. ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON LEGISLATIVE MATTERS? OKAY, I GO TO OPERATIONS. UH, THAT'S MR. NAY. THANK YOU MR. CHAIR. ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY READY FOR THE REAL NAIL BIDDER STUFF HERE? RIGHT? ALRIGHT. UH, FIRST UP ON, UH, THE, UH, OPERATION AGENDA IS THE WATER COAST AGREEMENT. HOWEVER, I THINK THERE'S GONNA BE SOME DISCUSSION ON THAT, SO I'M GONNA SAVE THAT FOR LAST, UH, FOR OUR BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER, THE BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MEDIA, I'M SORRY, BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL OR THE, OR THE SAC HAS REQUESTED THAT THE MEDIA CENTER, UH, BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BE NAMED IN HONOR OF MRS. VICTORIA MOODY OR MA UM, MA MOODY, OH, THERE'S TWO D'S IN THE FRONT. I'M SORRY. UH, MS. MOODY WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY MEDIA SPECIALIST LIBRARIAN FOR BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SINCE IT WAS BUILT 26 YEARS AGO. UH, AND THEY HAVE WRITTEN A LETTER IN SUPPORT, AND THERE IS A MOTION I MOVE THAT THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE RECOMMEND TO THE BOARD OF THE BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER BE NAMED. UH, YEAH, WAIT A MINUTE. I MOVE THAT THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE RECOMMEND TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION THAT THE BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER BE NAMED AFTER MRS. VICTORIA MOODY IN HONOR OF HER SERVICE TO THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AS THE BUILDING'S FIRST MEDIA SPECIALIST, AND FOR HER 26 YEARS OF SERVICE. SECOND IT. ALL RIGHT. ANY DISCUSSION DR. CARR? OKAY. ALL THOSE HERE IN THE BUILDING, PLEASE, UH, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE, IF YOU VOTE FOR IT. AYE. AYE. AYE. ALL ONLINE. UM, PASTOR GORDON. PASTOR GORDON. AYE. AYE. UM, MS. FRAZIER. MS. FRAZIER FRAZIER. AYE. THANK YOU MS. HAY. A AYE. MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY. ALRIGHT, ON FOR OUR SECOND QUARTER FOIA REPORT. UH, DURING OUR SECOND RECORD, UH, SECOND QUARTER, WE HAD 30 FOYER REQUESTS. ONLY TWO WERE DENIED FOR THE LEGAL REASONS SUCH AS CONFLICTING WITH FERPA OR WHATEVER. UH, AND WE HAD FIVE WITH ASSOCIATED COSTS. UH, THAT WILL BE ON OUR NEXT CONSENT AGENDA FOR OUR NEXT BOARD MEETING, UH, ONTO OUR CONSTRUCTION REPORT FOR THE 2019 REFERENDUM, THERE ARE 13 PROJECT CLOSEOUTS REMAINING, AND, UH, MOST OF THOSE ARE IN THE, UH, FINAL STAGES. ALL FINANCIAL REPORTS, UH, REPORT IS GREEN LIGHTS, CURRENT BUDGET IS 375,710,000 PAID AND COMMITTED FUNDS TOTAL $374,901,929. REMAINING FUNDS, INCLUDING CONTINGENCY IS $808,071. CONTINGENCY REMAINING AT THE END OF JULY IS $106,883 FOR THE 2023 REFERENDUM. ALL PROJECTS UPDATE THE REPORTING IS GREEN LIGHTS, MAY RIVER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. THE [01:00:01] TREE REMOVAL AND STUMPING SCHEDULE, UH, IS SCHEDULED FOR COMPLETION, UH, IN AUGUST. SO, UH, WE'RE, I GUESS WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT. MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL, CTE AND ROTC IS DRIED IN AND THE MASONRY IS ABOUT 20% COMPLETE. MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL, I'M SORRY, NOT MAY RIVER, UH, HILTON HEAD, ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL, PHASE ONE CONSTRUCTION, UH, AS I'M TOLD FROM THE LAST CLOCK MEETING, IS ACTUALLY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. AND PHASE TWO, THREE, AND FOUR DESIGN ARE ON SCHEDULE. UH, LET'S SEE. UM, LET'S SEE, LET'S SEE. BEAUFORD HIGH SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT DESIGN REVISED DOCUMENTS ARE SCHEDULED FOR THEIR CTE BUILDING LADY DESIGN MIDDLE SCHOOL REPLACEMENT. THE, UH, DEVELOPMENT DESIGN REVIEW OCCURRED IN JULY, AND CONSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENT HAS BEGUN. UH, THE TECH WAREHOUSE STRUCTURE IS SCHEDULED FOR DELIVERY AT THE END OF AUGUST. SO I SAW ALL KINDS OF STUFF GOING ON OUT THERE WHEN WE, WHEN WE PARK TODAY, UH, ALL FINANCIALS REPORT IS GREEN LIGHTS. CURRENT BUDGET IS 439,035,000 PAID AND COMMITTED FUNDS ARE 184,000,300 OR $683,541. REMAINING FUNDS, INCLUDING CONTINGENCY IS 254,351,459. AND PROGRAM CONTINGENCY REMAINS AT THE END OF JULY IS $11,746,970. OTHER PROJECTS, ALL MONTHLY PROJECT UPDATES. REPORT IS GREEN LIGHTS, UH, MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA. EXPANSION IS COMPLETE. UH, WHEN WE, UH, THE CLOCK DID OUR MEETING, WE WALKED THROUGH THE BUILDING. LOOKS GREAT. DISTRICT EDUCATIONAL SERVICES CENTER STEEL'S COMPLETE ROOF FRAMING HAS BEGUN. I'M SURE EVERYBODY'S CAN SEE THAT. AS WE, WE DROVE UP. IT'S MOVING FAST. UM, CONSTRUCTION, THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT HAS STARTED. FIRE ALARM SYSTEM IS PROGRESSING THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING. SHANKLIN ELEMENTARY, INTERIOR RENO RENOVATION IS COMPLETE AND ST. HILL ELEMENTARY. INTERIOR RENOVATION IS COMPLETE WITH HVAC EQUIPMENT SCHEDULED FOR SHIPMENT, UH, IN THE END AT THE END OF AUGUST, UH, FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH. GROUNDBREAKING FOR MAY RIVER ELEMENTARY IS TENTATIVELY SET TO OCCUR SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER, AND I'M SURE WE'LL BE GETTING DETAILS ON THAT FROM OPERATIONS. UM, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF, UH, RFQ FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SERVICES AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AT RISK SERVICES. FOUR, OUR CUSTODIAN. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CONSTRUCTION? YES, SIR. COULD YOU REPEAT THE PART ABOUT LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL AGAIN, PLEASE? FOR ME, LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL REPLACEMENT, THAT, UH, DESIGN, UH, THE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN, UH, REVIEW OCCURRED IN JULY AND CONSTRUCTION DESIGN HAS BEGUN UNLESS I AM MISQUOTING THAT, THAT SOUND RIGHT, MR. DEN? THE, THE ONLY THING I WAS GONNA ADD THAT WAS A REVIEW WITH STAFF. WE STILL HAVE, UH, A REVIEW COMING IN SEPTEMBER WITH THE SIC AND ANY, AND IF THERE ARE COMMUNITY GROUPS THAT WANNA MEET, WE'LL BE GLAD TO SCHEDULE THOSE AS WELL. SO WE'RE NOT DONE WITH THOSE REVIEWS YET. I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WAS CLEAR. OKAY. 'CAUSE I HEARD YOU MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT. I WAS WONDERING WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT DOES FORWARD, WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL? BECAUSE I DIDN'T REMEMBER THE BOARD APPROVING ANYTHING, SO I JUST WANTED TO BE CLEAR, CLEAR OF WHAT THAT MEAN. NO, NO, NO. THIS IS JUST REVIEWING THE PROGRESS OF THE DESIGN FROM OUR INITIAL MEETINGS WHEN WE'VE MET ANYBODY, JUST UPDATING THEM WHERE WE ARE IN THE DESIGN PROCESS. THANK, THANK YOU FOR THAT, BUD. YES, SIR. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU. REST VERY MUCH. CLEAR CUSTODIAL MAINTENANCE REPORT, CUSTODIAL FROM JANUARY TO JUNE OF 2025, UH, THERE WERE 554, UH, DISTRICT INSPECTIONS AND 2,641 INSPECTIONS. OF THOSE 3,195 INSPECTIONS, 34 WERE NON-COMPLIANT FOR CLEANING SPECIFICATIONS. 20 OF THEM, 21 OF THEM BELONGED TO A BM 11 FROM BUD GROUP AND TWO FROM INTERSTATE. HOWEVER, CUSTODIAL VENDORS SUPPORTED SUMMER SCHOOL AND CAMP PROGRAMS AND NAVIGATED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS TO BE READY FOR SCHOOL. VENDORS USED FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES TO INCLUDE NIGHT AND WEEKENDS. SO KUDOS TO OUR, OUR, UH, CUSTODIAL CREWS, UM, FOR MAKING SURE THAT OUR SCHOOL'S READY TO GO FOR THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. MAINTENANCE FROM JULY 1ST, 2024 THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2025. SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE ENTIRE LAST YEAR, 28,421. TOTAL WORK ORDERS, UH, 23,307 WERE COMPLETED AND 3,312 ARE STILL IN PROGRESS FROM JULY 1ST, 2025 TO PRESENT. WE HAVE HAD, UH, 2,544 TOTAL WORK ORDERS, 2032 OF THEM COMPLETED. SO WE HAVE 512 IN PROGRESS. UH, OUR TOP TWO CRAFT QUARTER CATEGORIES ARE HVAC AND GENERAL MAINTENANCE. UM, THERE WAS NO MONTHLY BLITZ FOR JUNE OR JULY SINCE THE, UH, THE SUMMER, HOWEVER, UH, SODEXO WILL BE, WILL TAKE OVER OUR MAINTENANCE SERVICES STARTING ON OCTOBER 1ST, 2025. AND OUR DEPARTMENT STAFF HAVE BEGUN TURNOVER MEETINGS. ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CUSTODIAL MAINTENANCE? WENT ONCE. GOING TWICE. MOVING ON. ALRIGHT, LAST THING, AMBROSE, RUN EASEMENT FOR BACKGROUND. THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE WATER CREST DEPARTMENTS HAVE MET MULTIPLE TIMES OVER MULTIPLE YEARS. THE MOST RECENT BEING AUGUST 12TH, 2025. WATERCRESS [01:05:01] DEPARTMENTS HAVE GONE THROUGH MULTIPLE DEVELOPERS WHILE THE ENGINEERING FIRM OF DAVIS AND FLOYD SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN TAKEN THE LEAD ON REPRESENTING THE PROJECT. AT THE MARCH 11TH MEETING, THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ASKED THE FIRM TO COMPLETE A TRAFFIC IMPACT ANALYSIS. THE TRAFFIC ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT THE RIGHT TURN LANES MEET, UH, THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WARRANT REQUIREMENTS, BUT NO LEFT TURNS. THE TRAFFIC MEMO IN THE PRE-READ, UH, THAT WE ALL DID, UH, DESCRIBES THE JUSTIFICATION FOR THE RIGHT TURN LANES. THE ENGINEERING FIRM HAS COMPLETED THE ONLY REQUIREMENT THAT THE DISTRICT HAS PLACED ON THE ENGINEERING FIRM, WHICH WAS THE TRA THE TRAFFIC ANALYSIS. WE ALSO ASKED THEM FOR OTHER THINGS, BUT I'LL GET TO THAT IN A SECOND. UM, AND THEY ARE AGREEING TO BUILD THE TURN LANES. THEY ARE NOW ASKING FOR APPROVAL FOR AN EASEMENT SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PROJECT. THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE HAS ASKED THE REPRESENTATIVES FOR CONCESSIONS AND OR ACCOMMODATIONS THAT WOULD BENEFIT TEACHERS. AND HE SPECIFICALLY SAID, WHAT DO YOU WANT? AND I SAID, WE WANT CONCESSIONS FOR TEACHERS. UH, THE COMMITTEE IS BEING TOLD THAT IT IS THE DEVELOPERS THAT GRANT THOSE CONDITIONS, UM, NOT THE ENGINEERING FIRM, THE DEVELOPERS. AND AS, AS OF THE MEETING ON AUGUST 12TH, THERE IS NO DEVELOPER FOR THE PROJECT. UM, HOWEVER, THE, THE FIRM REPRESENTATIVE IS ASKING FOR THE EASEMENT SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PROJECT. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO DEVELOPER THAT CAN GRANT THE CONCESSIONS. WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR, SO I'LL GIVE THE MOTION AND THEN, UH, WE CAN OPEN THE, THE, THE FLOOR FOR DISCUSSION. THE MOTION IS THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS TO THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD TO SUPPORT A FUTURE EASEMENT, ALLOWING FOR THE CONNECTION OF AMBROSE ROAD TO WK AUSTIN, BUT REQUIRING CONCESSIONS FOR LEASING TO TEACHERS. SECOND BY MS. BOATRIGHT, UH, DIS DISCUSSIONS. ITS BOATRIGHT. THANK YOU. THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT REPORT. AND I AGREE. AND WE HAVE BEEN TALKING WITH THE AMBROSE RUN PEOPLE FROM THE BEGINNING, THAT THAT IS A VALUABLE EASEMENT AND THAT, AND THEY, THE DEVELOPERS AT THE TIME WHO ARE NO LONGER THE DEVELOPERS, I THINK THEY WERE TWO DEVELOPERS AGO, WERE ON, WERE IN FAVOR OF DOING SOME SORT OF CONCESSIONS. BUT THERE'S TWO THINGS. ONE, I DON'T THINK WE GIVE AN EASEMENT UNLESS WE HAVE SOME CONCESSIONS. AND I MEAN SIGNIFICANT CONCESSIONS BECAUSE THAT IS A VALUABLE EASEMENT. THAT INTERSECTION, PARDON ME, IS ABOUT TO BE A DISASTER. I MEAN, IT'S ALREADY SOMEWHAT OF A DISASTER, BUT YOU'VE GOT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF DEVELOPMENT ON 1 72, 78 PARIS ISLAND, NOT 2 78, SORRY, ONE 70 IN PARIS ISLAND. SO I THINK THAT WE NEED TO, I DON'T WANNA PROCEED UNTIL WE GET SOME CONFIRMATION FROM DEVELOPERS. THE OTHER THING IS THAT AMBROSE RUN THAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT DOING OVER THE TOP OF WALMART, I COULD SEE THAT BECOMING A CUT THROUGH FOR PEOPLE TRYING TO AVOID THAT INTERSECTION AND KIND OF RACING DOWN AMBROSE RUN. SO THE OTHER THING I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IS SPEED HUMP BUMPS, I GUESS YOU GUYS IN THE SOUTH COLUMN SPEED HUMPS. DOES THAT SOUND RIGHT? I ALWAYS CALL 'EM SPEED BUMPS. THANK YOU. THE SPEED HUMP SOUNDS WRONG. UM, SOME SPEED BUMPS OR SOME OTHER SORT OF TRAFFIC CALMING, BECAUSE I DO HAVE SAFETY CONCERNS ABOUT, THEY SAID 3,600, UH, TRIPS FROM THE JUST PHASE ONE OF THAT APARTMENT COMPLEX. THAT TRAFFIC STUDY JUST FOCUSED ON PHASE ONE OF, OKAY, I GET IT. SORRY. I'VE GOT TECH PROBLEMS IN MY OWN, UH, JOB GOING ON. UM, SO THE ONLY WITH PHASE ONE, THERE'S GONNA BE CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC. IF THEY BUILD ALL, WHAT IS IT, 534 UNITS IN BOTH PHASES, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. UM, AND YOU'RE GONNA HAVE KIDS AND PARENTS AND, AND HILTON HEAD, UH, WHAT WE HAVE, WE'VE HAD KIDS HIT, I'VE BEEN HIT IN WAITING BLIND BECAUSE PEOPLE GET IN A HURRY AND THEY TRY TO CUT AROUND PEOPLE. SO I THINK TRADITIONALLY WHAT I'VE SEEN WHEN I WAS ON OPERATIONS IS PEOPLE COME TO THE SCHOOLS FOR EASEMENTS THINKING WE'RE JUST GONNA HAND THEM OVER. BUT PERSONALLY, I THINK IT'S THE SCHOOL BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITY TO BE EXTREMELY PROTECTIVE OF THE SCHOOL ENVELOPE. UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT PA THAT STUDENT SAFETY IS UTMOST, UM, AND THAT THOSE EASEMENTS ARE VALUABLE, UH, ASSETS ON THE DISTRICT'S BEHALF. AND SO I I WOULD LIKE TO SAY BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD WITH ANY KIND OF EASEMENT OR ANY DISCUSSION WITH THE ENGINEERS, THAT WE GET THOSE TWO ISSUES ADDRESSED. THANK YOU, MR. DALLAS? YEAH, I JUST WANNA SAY I AGREE A THOUSAND PERCENT OF WHAT MS. BOATWRIGHT JUST SAID. UM, ONE OF OUR REAL HURDLES IS, UH, ENTRY LEVEL TEACHERS HAVING ACCE ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING. AND SINCE WE HAVE A LEVER THERE, UH, WITH THAT, THAT EASEMENT THAT'S BEING PURSUED, I THINK WE USE, I THINK WE USE IT VERY AGGRESSIVELY AND WITH VERY FIRM POSITIONING AND THAT'S CLEARLY COMMUNICATED TO THEM. SO THANK YOU. GREAT REPORT, MS. GORDON. THANK YOU. UH, MR. DALLAS JUST PROBABLY ANSWERED MY QUESTION. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CONCESSIONS THAT WE'RE ASKING, UM, TO REMIND OUR CONSTITUENTS, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TEACHERS COMING IN, [01:10:01] SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UM, LIGHT BILL , YOU KNOW, UH, SO, SO THAT THEY KNOW WHAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, ASKING OF THEM. NOT JUST TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE WANT SOMETHING FOR THEM, SOME CONCESSIONS, BUT ARE THEY LAID OUT IN A B, C-D-E-F-G? THANK YOU MR. SMITH. WELL, FIRST, LET ME, LET, LET ME STOP BY SAYING THIS. UM, WHEN THEY FIRST CAME TO US, AND THIS IS NOT, THIS IS NOT THIS, THIS IS NOT, UH, PEOPLE FROM THAT AREA, UH, FIRST TIME COMING TO US AND THEY'VE BEEN ASKING US, ACTUALLY, THEY CAME TO US AND TOLD US THAT THERE WILL BE, THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A TRAFFIC STUDY. THEY TOLD US AT THAT TIME, WE, WE'LL DO TRAFFIC STUDY. OF COURSE YOU'RE GONNA DO A TRAFFIC STUDY BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT IT. YOU WANT IT? SO WHY WOULD WE DO THIS? WHY WOULD WE PAY FOR THE TRAFFIC STU TRAFFIC STUDY BEING GOOD STEWARDS OF THE PEOPLE'S MONEY? SO, SO LET'S GET THAT, LET'S GET THAT STRAIGHT COMING OUT THE GATES. LET, LET, LET'S STOP PUTTING BUTTER ON BREAD WHEN IT, WHEN IT DOESN'T NEED IT. SO LET'S UNDERSTAND THAT I'M, UH, TO WHEN WE, I'M GONNA GO AND TALK STRICTLY ABOUT FACTS. UM, THAT'S, THAT'S THE FIRST THING COMING, COMING OUT OF THE GATE WAS THE TRAFFIC STUDY THAT THEY WANTED OR THAT WE ALL UNDERSTOOD THAT POSSIBLY NEEDED TO BE TAKEN, TAKEN CARE OF. ALSO, AT THAT POINT IN TIME, THAT'S WHEN WE, WHEN, WHEN, WHEN OUR BOARD FROM A COUPLE YEARS AGO HAD OPERATIONS HAD SAID, LISTEN, WE, WE HAVE TO STOP, ALIGN PEOPLE TO JUST COME HERE AND GET THESE, UH, UM, EASEMENTS, EASEMENTS COSTS, RIGHT? IN MY COMMUNITY, THERE ARE GRAVEYARDS AND THERE ARE PEOPLE IN, THERE ARE PEOPLE HOUSES. PEOPLE HAVE TO HAVE EASEMENTS. THEY CAN'T EVEN GET TO GET TO THIS FRONT. THEIR FAMILY REMAIN REMAINS WITHOUT, WITHOUT GOING TO LITIGATION. SO THAT TELLS ME NOT ONLY AS A, AS A TAXPAYER, BUT ALSO AS STUDENTS OF PEOPLE'S MONEY, IF PEOPLE ARE PAYING FOR IT OUT IN THE CORRECT COMMUNITY, WHO ARE WE AS A BOARD TO CONTINUOUSLY GIVING, GIVE PEOPLE LEGAL EASEMENTS? WELL, THE QUESTION IS WHAT ARE WE GETTING OUT OF IT? AND WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR YEARS TIME, THAT IT IS NOT, IT'S NOW TIME THAT THIS BOARD PUTS ITS F IT PUTS ITS IT FINGER DOWN AND SAID, LISTEN, WE ARE NOT MOVING. AND NOT EVEN AN INCH, NOT EVEN A HALF AN INCH, WITHOUT BEING SERIOUS AND LETTING YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE REQUIRING ROOMS OR WE'RE REQUIRING YOU GIVE, YOU GIVE TEACHERS SPACE BECAUSE WE HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING. AND NOT JUST SOMETHING TO GET YOU PAST THE, THE CROSS LINE AND SAY, OKAY, WELL WE, WELL WE ARE DONE FOR A COUPLE YEARS. WE GIVE, WE WE'RE GONNA GIVE YOU THIS FOR A COUPLE YEARS AND THEN WE'RE DONE. AND THEN WE'RE DONE WITH IT. AFTER THAT, WE GO BACK TO LIKE AFFORD, LIKE THE AFFORDABLE HOMES, THINGS THAT PEOPLE USE. THEY COME IN YOUR COMMUNITIES COMMUNITIES AND SAY THAT WE'RE GONNA PUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND THE NEXT YEAR, YOU KNOW, AFFORDABLE HOUSING COME INTO, UH, THE, THE THE THOUSAND DOLLARS, UH, SUBDIVISION. I MEAN THE MAIN, THE MILLION DOLLAR SUBDIVISIONS. SO WW WITH, WITH THAT, WITH THAT BEING SAID, WITH THAT BEING, WITH THAT BEING SAID, WHEN THE GUY WAS IN THE ROOM THAT DAY TA TALKING TO US AND TELLING US, HE SAID, I, I ASKED HIM THE QUESTION. I SAID, SO IN THE QUESTION, IN TERMS OF YOU PROVIDING THE INFORMATION ABOUT YOU GETTING A, A HARD, AN, A HARD ANSWER ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE WILLING TO PROVIDE US ONBOARDING FOR STAFF. HE SAID, WELL, IN THE CURRENT CONVERSATION, NO. SO IN THE CURRENT CONVERSATION, THAT TELLS ME, HELL, I, I MAY JUST BE A, A AVERAGE PERSON, UH, AN AVERAGE, AVERAGE PERSON WHO GOES TO WORK EVERY DAY. BUT WITH MY GOOD COMMON SENSE THAT I GOT YOU, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S ANOTHER CONVERSATION YOU HAVE HAPPENING BECAUSE IF YOU'VE HAD THE CONVERSATION, YOU'VE HAD IT WITH SOMEBODY NOW WHO HAVE YOU HAD A CONVERSATION WITH? I'M NOT SURE. BUT WHEN YOU GO, IF YOU, BUT WHEN YOU, BUT WHEN YOU SAY THAT MY INNER SELF IS TELLING ME THAT SOMETHING HERE AIN'T RIGHT, I'M GONNA CALL IT OUT PUBLICLY BECAUSE I, I AIN'T, I AIN'T SITTING FINNA SIT HERE AND PUT BUTTER ON BREAD THAT THE BREAD DOESN'T DESERVE IT. WE HAVE TO HONESTLY SAY, IF WE'RE GONNA DO SOMETHING, WE'RE GONNA DO SOMETHING, WE'RE GONNA BE TRUE FOR ABOUT IT. SO DON'T, DON'T, DON'T COME AND SAY THAT. YEAH. HEY, HEY. AS A, AS, AS A DEVELOPER, YEAH, I DON'T HAVE A BUYER YET. BUT YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S, IT'S A, IT, IT'S A, IT'S, IT IS CON CONTINGENT UPON WHAT YOU GUYS SAY AND THEN, AND, AND ONE BREATH AND THEN SAY, OH, WELL I'M MY DEVELOPER. DON'T, DON'T, DON'T SAY, HEY, MY DEVELOPER DON'T WANT TO WANNA, WANNA BEND. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I'M NOT STANDING FOR THAT TO PUT A HOUSE ON, ON, ON, ON LAND IN BEFORD COUNTY BEFORE YOU EVEN GET A MOBILE HOME OR, OR, OR, OR YOU BILL. IT'S ABOUT 20, $30,000. SO REALISTICALLY, I'M STARTING TO HAVE REALISTICALLY FACTUAL CONVERSATION. SO IN TERMS OF THAT, I'M, WHY, WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT, MR. SMITH? BECAUSE TO ME, THINGS DIDN'T ADD UP AT THAT MEETING. SO IF WE'RE GONNA PUSH IT AND WE'RE GONNA SAY THAT WE WANT WHAT WE WANT, THEN I THINK THAT WE NEED THAT, THAT AT THE NEXT OPERATION MEETING OR AT A FUTURE OPERATION MEETING BEFORE COMING, BEFORE ALLOWING 'EM TO COME BACK, WE NEED SPECIFICALLY SIT DOWN AND DISCUSS WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, HOW, WHAT DO WE WANT AND WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE OUR, WHAT ARE WE BARGAINING FOR? [01:15:01] WHAT EXACTLY WE EXPECT? AND THAT NEED TO BE SET IN STONE POINT, BLANK PERIOD, AND NEGOTIATE FROM THERE. NOT COMING BACK AND SAYING, OH, THIS IS WHAT WE CAN DO. THIS IS WHERE WE AT, EITHER YOU HEAR OR NOTHING. SO THAT, THAT I, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT CRYSTAL CLEAR WHERE I'M AT, UNDERSTANDING IT AND GET THE, UH, HOPEFULLY THAT WAS A QUICK HISTORY, BUT THE TRUTH, STRAIGHT FACTS. THAT'S WHY I STAND OUT WITH THAT. MR. OTTING, COULD YOU, UH, ANSWER A COUPLE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE, PLEASE? OKAY. WE, WE HAVE AN ENGINEERING FIRM THAT'S DOING ALL THE ENGINEERING PLANS, BUT, BUT WE, I UNDERSTAND WE DO HAVE A DEVELOPER ON HAND, IS THAT CORRECT? THEY HAVE MENTIONED SOMEBODY THAT THEY WERE TALKING TO AS A DEVELOPER. I, TO BE HONEST, I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY. HE DID SAY, AS MR. SMITH SAID, AND MR. NA, THAT HE DID NOT HAVE A DEVELOPER, BUT HE DID MENTION TO ME LATER THAT THERE WAS SOMEBODY, I GUESS, THAT THEY'RE WORKING WITH ON IT. SO THEY WOULD NEED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I'M NOT ABLE TO ANSWER THAT FOR THOUGH. OKAY. UH, THIS IS IN, THIS, UH, DEVELOPMENT IS IN THE CITY LIMITS OF, UH, BUFORT, IS THAT CORRECT? YES, I BELIEVE IT IS, SIR. SO THEY WILL, CITY OF BUFORT WOULD HAVE TO GIVE, UH, BUILDING PERMITS AND, UH, AND WE COULD WORK WITH THE CITY ON, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THIS TYPE OF, UH, CONCESSION. IS THAT NOT CORRECT? WELL, MY, WE MAY NEED TO TALK TO OUR REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY, BUT MY THOUGHT IS WE COULD MAKE THAT PART OF THE EASEMENT AGREEMENT. I MEAN, YOU COULD MAKE THAT PART OF THE AGREEMENT ON OUR OWN. WE WOULDN'T NEED THE CITY, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE GONNA GET OUR EASEMENT, THESE ARE OUR REQUIREMENTS. OKAY. AND THEN THE CITY WOULD HAVE TO, NOW, THE CITY WOULD GET INVOLVED BECAUSE THEN THEY'D HAVE TO ABIDE BY THOSE EASEMENT AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS. OKAY. PASTOR GORDON? YEAH. UM, THANK YOU, ROBERT. WHEN I LOOK OVER THE, UM, THE MAP EASEMENT MAP THAT THEY, THAT WE HAD AT THE, UM, OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING, THE EASEMENT THAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR, AND SOMEBODY CAN CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, UM, FROM AMBROSIA RUN THAT'S ON, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF, UH, CROSS CREEK, THOSE APARTMENTS THERE, THAT'S 21. I MEAN, THAT'S, UH, PARIS ISLAND GATEWAY. SO THE EASEMENT WILL GO FROM PARIS ISLAND GATEWAY ALL THE WAY TO WK AUSTIN. THAT'S A LOT OF TRAFFIC COMING THROUGH THERE. THAT'S NOT ONLY, UM, THAT THE NEW DEVELOPMENT, BUT THAT'S THE OLD, UM, THE APARTMENT COMPLEX THAT'S THERE ALREADY, AND PLUS WALMART, UM, TRAFFIC COMING THROUGH THERE. UM, AND THEN THEY SAID THEY WANNA PUT A, ACCORDING TO DOT, THEY CAN PUT A, UM, A TRAFFIC LIGHT RIGHT ON WK AUSTIN, I GUESS ADJACENT TO WHERE THE BUSES, UM, GO IN TO THE SCHOOL TO PICK UP THE KIDS. THAT'S, I USED TO DRIVE THAT ROUTING THERE. IT WAS HECTIC WITHOUT A TRAFFIC LIGHT. SO WHEN THEY PUT A TRAFFIC LIGHT IN THERE AND BRINGING OTHER TRAFFIC, THAT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE HECTIC. SO I, I REALLY THINK THAT WE REALLY NEED TO, UM, TO STUDY THAT WELL. UM, AND MY ADVICE AND JUST, IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST ADVICE, UM, BECAUSE OF THAT, THAT WK AUSTIN ROAD, BECAUSE OF THAT SPOT RIGHT THERE WITH A TRAFFIC LIGHT, I THINK WE KIND OF NEED TO INVOLVE, UM, SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION IN THAT THEY NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SAYING YES TO THE, TO THE EASEMENT, BUT NOT MAKING THEIR SITUATION DIFFICULT. ALSO, THAT, THAT'S JUST MY ADVICE. THAT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF TRAFFIC COMING THROUGH THERE. MR. NAY? THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. UH, MS. GORDON TO, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, UM, I AM NOT THE NEGOTIATOR DUE TO OUR, UH, OUR COHERENT GOVERNANCE WE'RE THE POLICY PEOPLE. UM, I DID SPECIFICALLY MENTION, UM, A SET NUMBER OF APARTMENTS SET ASIDE, UH, AND THEN I ALSO SAID PERCENTAGE OFF OF RENT, THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT I TOLD THEM IF, IF THE MOTION PASSES, IF THE MOTION PASSES, THEN THE NEXT STEP WOULD BE TO AUTHORIZE THE SUPERINTENDENT TO NEGOTIATE. AND OBVIOUSLY I THINK THE BOARD'S WILL, IS THAT HE, UH, THE NEGOTIATIONS BE QUITE HEAVY AND, UH, QUITE, UH, DETAILED. UH, BUT, UH, DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION A LITTLE BIT? YEAH. UH, BUT SPECIFICALLY THAT'S WHAT IT WAS. UM, ANY, ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE HAVE A VOTE? READY FOR THE VOTE? ALRIGHT. WILL YOU PLEASE, UH, PUT THE MOTION UP AGAIN? I [01:20:17] YOU READ THE MOTION, PLEASE? CAN I, ACTUALLY, COLONEL, UM, I'D LIKE TO POST, UH, OFFER AN AMENDMENT TO THAT MOTION. I'D LIKE TO AMEND, UM, TRAFFIC CALMING ON, UH, AMBROSE RUN AS WELL. NOT JUST CONCESSIONS TO TEACHERS THAT, SO, UM, I DON'T HAVE IN FRONT OF ME, BUT WHEREVER SHE SAID RESTRICTING YEAH. REQUIRING CONCESSIONS FOR LEASING TO TEACHERS AND POSSIBLE TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES. CALMING, CALMING MEASURES ON AMBROSE RUN. AND WE GOTTA VOTE ON THAT AMENDMENT. I'M UNFORTUNATELY CALMING. YEAH. TRAFFIC, CALMING TRAFFIC. CALL ME TRAFFIC, CALL ME AND MOTION. WELL MAKE IT ALL BEEN FOR NOTHING. WE HAVE A SECOND CALL THEN. CALL ME. OKAY. WE NEED A, WE NEED A, A SECOND, SECOND, SECOND. SECOND FROM, OKAY, SO WE HAVE A VOTE FOR THE, UH, FOR THE AMENDMENT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE AMENDMENTS, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. HERE IN THE ROOM. AYE. AYE. AYE. THOSE OPPOSED? OKAY. THERE'S FOUR AGAINST WILLIAM SMITH, CHLOE GORDON, UH, ALFONSO SMALLS AND DAVID CARR. ONLINE. PASTOR GORDON. PASTOR GORDON. SURE. THEY UNDERSTAND IT'S JUST AMENDMENT, RIGHT? YES, PASTOR GORDON. OKAY. NOTHING HEARD. UH, MS. FRAZIER OPPOSED FRAZIER? YES. WHAT WAS YOUR VOTE, PLEASE MA'AM? OPPOSED? OPPOSED? NO. OKAY. AND, UH, MS. A SAY, AYE A IS AYE OF FIVE, FIVE AND ONE ABSTENTION FROM ISAAC, ABSENT THE AMENDMENT DOESN'T, DOESN'T PASS ALL THAT. UH, I'LL VOTE ON THE ORIGINAL. UH, MR. SMITH, MR. CHAIR, AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO TELL WILL THIS VOTE UNTIL, UH, UN UNTIL THE, THE, THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE COME TOGETHER AND EVEN COME UP WITH WHAT WE WANT, BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE. AND SO I DON'T THINK THAT WE NEED TO DO THAT BECAUSE GIVEN THIS IS, I THINK GIVING THEM THIS ASSUMPTION THAT WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD WITH THEM IS GIVING THEM TOO MUCH BREATH TO MOVE FORWARD AND TO MOVE FORWARD WITH US, WITHOUT US EVEN REALLY HAVING A SEAT AT THE TABLE. SO, AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO TABLE THIS UNTIL THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE EVEN HAVE A STABLE FOUNDATION OF WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO GIVE. DO YOU HAVE A SECOND? OKAY. SECOND. FROM DR. CARR, YOU HAVE A MO HAVE A MOTION TO POSTPONE TILL THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE GETS A CHANCE TO, UH, REVIEW THIS AND BRING IT BACK TO THE NEXT MEETING. IS THAT CORRECT? I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S ON THE DOCKET. I'M NOT SURE HOW HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE US, BUT ALRIGHT. WE CAN GET THIS ON THE AGENDA AND GET IT AND GET IT DONE. OKAY. THANK YOU. SO VOTING ON POSTPONING, UH, ALL THOSE WAIT, WAIT. DISCUSSION ON THE, YES, GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD. UH, I, I HONESTLY, I DON'T THINK THAT WE NEED TO TABLE THIS, UH, THIS, I DON'T THINK THIS IS, WE CAN VOTE THE MOTION DOWN RIGHT NOW AND KILL IT AND THEN HAVE THE COMPANY COME BACK TO US AFTER THERE'S A DEVELOPMENT ON BOARD, AFTER THERE'S A DEVELOPER THAT CAN ACTUALLY GUARANTEE THERE'S NO POINT, UH, THERE'S NO POINT IN DOING THIS. KILL THE MOTION AND THEN JUST WAIT FOR THE, THE DEVELOP FOR WAIT FOR THE DEVELOPER TO BE ASSIGNED AND THEN SOMEBODY CAN ACTUALLY COME BACK AND, AND TALK ABOUT THIS. 'CAUSE I MEAN, IT'S, UM, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK WE NEED A DISCUSSION OR I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO TABLE THIS OTHER [01:25:01] COMMENTS. YEAH, I AGREE WITH MR. NAY. I, I'M LOOKING AT WHAT'S THE STRONGEST MESSAGE? VOTE DOWN THE REMAINING, UH, UH, MOTION. AND THAT SENDS IT VERY CLEAR THAT THE WILL OF THE BOARD IS SAYING YOU HAVE TO COME IN WITH SOMETHING A LOT STRONGER, WHICH I THINK WHAT MR. SMITH IS TRYING TO ACHIEVE AS WELL. SO I THINK THOSE TWO ARE ACTUAL, WOULD YOU WITHDRAW YOUR POSTPONE? ALRIGHT. OKAY. I THINK WE'RE READY TO VOTE. I WILL WITHDRAW MY, I WITHDRAW MY MOTION TO TABLE. TO THE TABLE IT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. SO ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION SIGNIFY HERE IN THE BUILDING BY SAYING, AYE. RAISE YOUR HAND. SEE NO HANDS RAISED ONLINE. MR. UH, PASTOR GORDON. MS. FRAZIER, FRAZIER? NO. OKAY. MS. HAY. AYE. HEY. AYE. OKAY. WE HAVE ONE, ONE, I PRESS KNOWS THE MOTION FAILS, SO WE'LL HAVE TO GO BACK, BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD YEAR FOUR AT THE M PRESS RUN. AND THE LAST THING IS, IS OUR NEXT MEETING IS SEPTEMBER 9TH AT 1700. OKAY. 5:00 PM AND THAT CONCLUDES MY, UH, LAST COMMITTEE REPORTS TECHNOLOGY. MISS, MISS, UH, BOATWRIGHT. YEAH. HI. UH, HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE PRETTY QUICK. UH, WE HAD A GOOD MEETING, UH, MR. JOHAN, OUR TECHNOLOGY SERVICE OFF OFFICER PROVIDED US WITH, UH, SOME MORE GRAPHS OF, UM, SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT AND SOME OF THE CO UH, COMMON EQUIPMENT FAILURES. AND WE HAD SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT. UM, AND THEN WHAT I FIND TO BE AT A LOT OF THESE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE MEETINGS IS IT'S JUST ME AND MY ONE-SIDED PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY, TALKING ABOUT THINGS THAT I HEAR ABOUT AND SEEING THE COMMUNITY, BUT CAN'T REALLY SEEM TO, OH GOODNESS, I'M SO SORRY, WHEN, WHEN YOUR WIFI GOES OUT. UM, AND SO, AND, AND NOT NECESSARILY KNOWING HOW THE COMMUNITY FEELS, THE BOARD FEELS. UM, AND MY PERSONAL OPINION HAS BEEN THAT WE NEED TO MAKE TECHNOLOGY MORE IMPORTANT IN THE DISTRICT BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S THE WAY EDUCATION'S GOING. AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT IPADS OR, YOU KNOW, I'M TALKING ABOUT HOW DO WE TEACH TECHNOLOGY? HOW DO WE MAKE COMMUNICATION AND PATIENT ENGAGEMENT MORE, UH, MODERN AND MORE EFFICIENT? HOW DO WE CREATE EFFICIENCY AT THE ADMINISTRATIVE LEVEL? THERE'S SO MANY THINGS THAT I THINK WE COULD BE DOING, UM, AND, AND WE'LL LEAD THIS TO A MORE INNOVATIVE, MORE FUTURE FORWARD SORT OF DISTRICT. SO, BUT I DON'T WANT IT JUST TO BE ME SORT OF TALKING ABOUT IT. SO WHAT WE HAD A DISCUSSION AND THOUGHT MAYBE THE BEST THING TO DO AT THIS POINT WOULD BE TO ASK IF THERE WAS ANY APPETITE ON THE BOARD TO DO SOME SORT OF SURVEY OF THE COMMUNITY, UM, PARENTS, TEACHERS, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND PARTNERS TO SEE HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT WHAT THE CURRENT STATE OF TECHNOLOGY IS. UM, ONE OF MY, ONE OF MY OBSERVATIONS HAS BEEN WHEN I TALK TO PEOPLE, AND A LOT OF TIMES I'LL ASK THEM LIKE, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OUR TECHNOLOGY? AND THEY GENERALLY THINK THAT MEANS THE LAPTOPS THE KIDS ARE CARRYING AROUND. BUT I'M LIKE, NO. WHAT ONE OF MY PET PEEVES IS REGISTRATION, BEING A PAPER PROCESS AND BEING, YOU HAVE TO LINE UP HOURS AND TAKE HALF A DAY OFF OF WORK TO GO REGISTER YOUR KID EVERY YEAR. AND SO I'LL SAY SOMETHING LIKE, HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO PRINT AND ARE ANY OF THE PARENTS HERE, HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO PRINT A ASSIGNMENT OUT OF OUR SCHOOL LAPTOP ON A HOME PRINTER? IT CANNOT BE DONE. AND SO WHEN I TALK TO PEOPLE, I'LL SAY, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY? AND THEY SAY, OH, YOU KNOW, IT'S OKAY. AND I'M LIKE, HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO PRINT? AND THEN THERE'S LIKE, OH GOD, NO, THAT, THERE'S JUST NO WAY. YOU KNOW, I COULDN'T DO THAT WITHOUT A PHD. SO MY THOUGHTS ARE THAT WE MAY BE BRING THIS MOTION FORWARD OUT OF TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE TO SEE IF THERE'S APPETITE FOR THE BOARD TO RECOMMEND TO THE SUPERINTENDENT TO DO SOME SORT OF A SURVEY TO SEE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY THINK, AND PARTICULARLY PARENTS AND STAFF ABOUT OUR TECHNOLOGY. AND I'LL TAKE QUESTIONS. 'CAUSE THAT WAS NOT THE MOST INFORMATIVE REPORT EVER. SO YOU I'M GONNA HAVE COMMENTS BEFORE I HAVE A MOTION. IS THAT RIGHT? WELL, UM, WE THOUGHT MAYBE WE, THE MOTION SHOULD COME FROM THE BOARD IF THERE WAS SUCH AN APPETITE FOR IT'S A RECOMMENDATION THAT MAYBE WE CONSIDER DOING THIS, WOULD THE BOARD LIKE TO, AND THEN THE BOARD WOULD HAVE A MOTION IF THAT IS WHAT THE BOARD WANTED TO DO. OKAY. DOES THE BOARD WANNA DO THAT? I SEE A BUNCH OF NODDING HEADS. I MEAN, I CAN MAKE A MOTION. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO, OKAY, LET'S MAKE A MOTION. OKAY. THE TECHNOLOGY RECOMMENDS THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION DIRECT THE SUPERINTENDENT TO PROVIDE A TECHNO TECHNO TECHNOLOGY CLIMATE SURVEY. SECOND, UH, MR. SMALLS, ANY DISCUSSION? MR. SMITH? UH, ALSO, UH, JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND ABOUT UPON THIS, IT WAS ALSO, UH, WE, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT CLIQUES IN TERMS OF FINDING INFORMATION ON THE DISTRICT WEBSITE AS WELL AND, AND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FOR PEOPLE WHO MAY NOT JUST HAVE, WHO MAY NOT JUST NOT BE PARENTS, UH, IN THE DISTRICT. SO I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE, A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION IN TERMS OF IT, BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANNA MAKE IT SEEM, MAKE IT, UH, SEEM LIKE WE WERE JUST CONCERNED WITH PARENTS [01:30:01] BECAUSE WE GET TA WE GET TAX DOLLARS MONEY FROM EVERYONE. UH, SO WE TALKED ABOUT THE CLICKS AND DIFFERENT THINGS OF FINDING INFORMATION AND, AND THE DISTRICT WEBSITE. SO ALL OF THAT WOULD BE ON THE SURVEY IN TERMS OF WHETHER YOU THOUGHT OUR DISTRICT WEBSITE WAS, WAS, UH, PEOPLE'S FRIENDLY OR NOT. AND WE TALKED ABOUT HOW WE HAD CHANGED FROM OUR PRIOR, UH, WEBSITE TO THE WEBSITE NOW TO MAKING IT MORE PEOPLE FRIENDLY AND MORE, UH, QUICKER TO, TO FIND OUR INFORMATION. AND SO I BELIEVE ALL OF THAT WOULD BE, UH, WILL ENCOMPASS AND WHAT THIS TECHNOLOGY, UH, SURVEY WOULD BE. SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE TOO. SO IT, IT IS JUST NOT TO PARENTS AND ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK IS IT, IS IT, IT IS TO EVERYONE AND TO, AND IT, AND IT HAS SEVERAL, SEVERAL PIECES OF MOVING PIECES TO THIS, UH, TO THIS SURVEY. SO I JUST WANNA BE CRYSTAL CLEAR ON THAT AS WELL. I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT. I DID DO A LITTLE DEMONSTRATION 'CAUSE WE TALKED ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY, UM, USE, UH, AUTHORIZED USE, AND IT IS ON OUR WEBSITE. AND FIRST OF ALL, I WANNA SAY OUR WEBSITE'S BEAUTIFUL, AND IT IS INTERACTIVE AND IT IS, IT'S GREAT FOR, UM, PAINTING, YOU KNOW, TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT AS FAR AS IF YOU WANTED TO PULL UP CERTAIN INFORMATION. SO I GAVE A LITTLE DEMONSTRATION OF HOW MANY CLICKS IT WOULD TAKE TO FIND THE TECHNOLOGY, UH, ACCEPTABLE USE PLAN ON OUR WEBSITE. AND I THINK IT'S JUST SO MUCH EASIER TO DO, DO IT MORE SIMPLY. BUT I THINK THAT THE AREAS THAT A TECHNOLOGY SURVEY WOULD COVER WOULD BE HOW WE TEACH IT, UH, ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FROM, FROM A STANDARDIZED DATA COLLECTION. UM, I THINK THAT PARENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS A BIG PART OF THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE, UM, AS WELL AS EFFICIENCY. AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF IT. AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, IT'S BEEN REALLY HARD FOR ME TO GET MY HANDS AROUND IT BECAUSE I BROUGHT THIS UP IN THE MEETING. OUR, UH, MR. CHOHAN IS A TECHNOLOGY SERVICES OPERATOR OFFICER INSIDE THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT. IF YOU LOOK AT OTHER DISTRICTS IN OUR SIZE CATEGORY, IT'S USUALLY A CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, A CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, UM, DIRECTOR LEVEL, UH, POSITION. AND IT USUALLY INCORPORATES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS WELL AS NETWORK CYBERSECURITY AND, AND THOSE SORTS OF PARTS AS WELL. SO I, I THINK THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT, IS WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO, IN MY OPINION, IF THE BOARD'S INTERESTED HOW TO ELEVATE TECHNOLOGY, UH, ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. SO I THINK THAT'S A GOOD POINT, MR. SMITH. MR. DES? YES. UM, MY EXPERIENCE IN, IN TERMS OF DEPLOYING SOME, SOME REALLY COMPLEX, UH, SYSTEMS SUCH AS SAP IS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT WOULD LEAD IT AND HE WOULD, HE WOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, BASICALLY PULL THE RESOURCES THAT HE DEEMS APPROPRIATE. UM, ONE OF THOSE MIGHT BE A BUSINESS PERSON, NOT BUSINESS FROM OUR EXTERNAL, BUT BUSINESS WITHIN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT KNOWS ALL THE THINGS THAT HAVE TO BE PULLED TOGETHER. AND SO THAT WILL, TO WHAT MS. BOATWRIGHT IS SAYING, I THINK THAT WILL BE A WAY TO MOVE IT FORWARD SO THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT WHO'S HAS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL OF THIS ACTUALLY IS MOVING IT FORWARD WITH TIMELINES AND DUE DATES AND WHAT HAVE YOU. DR. RODRIGUEZ, DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? OKAY, ANY OTHER COMMENTS? ARE WE READY TO VOTE? ALL RIGHT. WE HAVE THE MOTION MOVE TECHNOLOGY. NO, THAT LOOKS RIGHT NOW. OH, CAN I SAY SOMETHING, PASTOR GORDON? YEAH, YEAH, SURE. UM, WHEN WE WENT, UH, WHEN WE WENT TO UP TO THE LAW CONFERENCE, ONE OF THE PRESENTATIONS WE WENT INTO WAS, UH, AI TECHNOLOGY. AND I'M TELLING YOU, WHEN I LEFT THERE, MY BRAIN WAS FRIED. UM, BECAUSE THEY TALKED GOOD ABOUT, ABOUT AI. I GUESS THEY GAVE US THE PROS AND CONS ABOUT IT. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STUCK HOME WITH ME WAS THAT FACT THERE, THAT WITH AI THERE WASN'T A WHOLE LOT OF POLICIES PUT IN PLACE, UM, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT INITIATING AI INTO, UH, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND THAT WAS MY QUESTION. THAT'S MY QUESTION. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT POLICIES AND THE DOS AND THE DON'TS OF [01:35:01] AI, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT THE DISTRICT DEVELOPS OR THE STATE, I MEAN, AS WE MOVE INTO AI, WHICH, YOU KNOW YEAH, I, I'M AGREEING WITH THAT, BUT DO WE PUT SOME OF THE POLICIES IN PLACE FOR IT AS WE MOVE FORWARD? I MEAN, THAT'S MY QUESTION AND ME ANYBODY CAN ANSWER IT. IF YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT ME TO ANSWER THAT? MR. NA, DO YOU WANNA WELL, I, I I THINK THAT'S, UH, IT'S UNTIL THE, THE STATE HAS SOME, UH, SOME LIKE CONCRETE DIRECTIVE, I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE A SCHOOL BOARD BY SCHOOL BOARD THING. UM, I'M, I'M OKAY WITH BEING A TRENDSETTER, UH, AND LEADING THE WAY IN, UH, SEVERAL THINGS AS THE, THE DISTRICT DOES. AND ONE MORE THING THAT, UH, THAT WE SHOULD TAKE ON AS A, AS A, AS A DISTRICT, AS A BOARD. UM, I'M NOT SCREWED. I'M NOT SCREWED AT ALL. UH, I TOLD MARINES FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, YOU CHANGE WITH THE COURT CHANGES WITHOUT YOU, UH, WE CAN EITHER CHANGE WITH AI, AI OR IT'S GONNA CHANGE WITHOUT US. UM, SO THAT, THAT'S MY STANCE ON IT. I, I, I'M READY TO EMBRACE IT, UM, OBVIOUSLY WITH ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS, UM, BUT, UH, THAT'S HOW WE, HOW I THINK WE NEED TO FOOL FORWARD. MR. MR. JOHAN, YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? UM, YES. UH, THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA DOES DEVELOP THE FRAMEWORK FOR AI AND IT'S UP TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT IT. AND WE HAVE ALREADY BEGUN THAT PROJECT, UH, PROCESS WITH MAGIC AI, WHICH IS OUR FIRST ENDEAVOR FOR THE DISTRICT INTO A PROCESS FOR OUR TEACHERS TO DEVELOP LESSON PLANS AND TO START OUR JOURNEY DOWN THIS. UM, AND WE'VE TAKEN, UH, ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF TO START THIS PROCESS AND MAKE SURE WE GET OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT. IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE WANT TO JUMP IN TOO FAST BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, INCONSISTENCIES WITH DIFFERENT AI PRODUCTS AND, UH, THE TYPE OF DATA YOU GET AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. SO WE'RE SLOWLY GOING INTO IT, BUT I DO SEE US IN THE FUTURE EXPANDING RAPIDLY. DR. RODRIGUEZ, YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANNA SAY? OKAY, MR, GO AHEAD. YEAH, I, I THINK WHAT MR. SHOHAN IS SPEAKING TO SORT OF REAFFIRMS WHY IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT LEAD IT WITH MEMBERS OF HIS STAFF, UH, NOT THIS RECENT SCHOOL BOARD ASSOCIATION, BUT THE ONE PRIOR TO THAT. UM, DARLINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT MADE A PHENOMENAL PRESENTATION ON HOW THEY HAVE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. SO THERE ARE SCHOOL DISTRICTS OUT THERE THAT ARE DOING IT. AND I THINK WITH THE CONNECTION AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT YOU HAVE WITHIN THE STAFF ADMINISTRATION, YOU COULD REALLY PULL ON A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE ALREADY OCCUR, AND YOU ALREADY HAVE PARTICIPATED IN SOME OF THOSE THINGS. SO I THINK, UH, TO MS. MS BOAT, RICE MOTION, THE ONLY THING THAT MIGHT, YOU KNOW, IS, IS A PART OF DETERMINING THE CLIMATE, UNDERSTAND WHAT ACTIONS AND SPECIFIC RESULTS GROW OUT OF THAT. SO IT'S NOT JUST THE CLIMATE, BUT, SO TO BE THINKING ABOUT THAT, AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE A WORTHWHILE STRATEGIC EFFORT. THANK YOU. MR. YOU READY TO GO TO THE MOTION? OKAY. THE MOTION IS THE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION DIRECT THE SUPERINTENDENT TO PROVIDE A TECHNOLOGY CLIMATE SURVEY. UH, GORDON, DO YOU HAVE A COMMENT? YOU READY TO VOTE? ALL RIGHT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? HERE IN THE ROOM, PLEASE, UH, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. ONLINE, UH, PASTOR GORDON. AYE. UH, MS. FRAZIER FRAZIER. AYE. MS. HAY A AYE. MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY. THAT CONCLUDES YOUR, THAT CONCLUDES THE REPORT. ALL RIGHT. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT, [Superintendent’s Report] EVENING BOARD MEMBERS, AS OUR TEAM COMES UP, THE STATE, UH, RELEASED, UH, RAW DATA REGARDING, UH, UM, STATE ASSESSMENTS AND SCORES RELATED TO STATE ASSESSMENTS. AND SO OUR TEAM IS HERE TONIGHT. WE'RE GONNA, UH, SHARE WITH YOU THE RESULTS OF THOSE ASSESSMENTS. I KNOW MS. BRUDER PUT FORTH, UH, UH, A RELEASE ON THAT ALREADY. AND, UM, UH, YOU'RE GONNA SEE AND HEAR THE RESULTS OF, UH, THOSE ASSESSMENTS. UM, THERE'S SOME GOOD NEWS AND THERE IS, UH, WORK WE HAVE TO DO. SO, DR. STRADDLES, THANK YOU DR. RODRIGUEZ AND THANK YOU BOARD MEMBERS FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY THIS EVENING. I BRING FORWARD MEMBERS FROM THE INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES DIVISION. I HAVE NICHOLAS FLOWERS, OUR DIRECTOR FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, DR. MONA LISA DIXON, OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE. MELISSA MURRAY, OUR DIRECTOR FOR LITERACY. AND WE WORK AS A TEAM IN SUPPORT TO OUR SCHOOLS [01:40:01] BY PROVIDING GUIDELINES AND PRACTICES FOR THE RESOURCES. I WOULD LIKE TO DRAW ATTENTION ALSO TO OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS WHO ARE HERE THIS EVENING JOINING US BECAUSE AS WE ARE THE RESOURCE AND THE BUILDING POWER FOR WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CLASSROOM, OUR TEAM OVER TO THE FAR LEFT ARE THE TEAM WHO ACTUALLY HELPS WITH THE SUPERVISION AND PRACTICES AS WELL. THIS IS A COLLECTIVE PRACTICE. IT'S NOT JUST ISD, BUT IT'S A TEAM OF WORK OF MULTIPLE DIVI DIVISIONS AND DEPARTMENTS. MRS. BERRY, IF WE CAN GO FIRST. THERE WE GO. SO LET'S GO. A QUICK HIGHLIGHT. THIS FIRST SLIDE BRINGS FORWARD TO YOU SCHOOLS THAT HAVE DEMONSTRATED 10 POINT IMPROVEMENT IN ONE OR MORE GRADE LEVELS. I WANNA BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT THE DATA THAT WAS RELEASED TODAY IS THE DATA OF EVERY STUDENT WHO SAT FOR THE TESTS IN THE VERNACULAR THAT WE USE. IT HASN'T BEEN SCRUBBED YET. IT IS ALL THE DATA. WHAT WE'LL BRING FORWARD TO YOU IN OCTOBER IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY COMPONENTS ONCE THE DATA HAS BEEN SCRUBBED, AND THE STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN IN ATTENDANCE FOR THE 45TH DAY AND THE HUNDRED AND 35TH DAY. ALL RIGHT, SO I, I WANNA BRING THAT POINT OF ATTEN TO YOUR ATTENTION AS WELL. THIS, UH, LET ME JUST BACK ONE SECOND. I'M NOT DONE TOUTING HERE. THIS HAS 18 SCHOOLS. 18 SCHOOLS HAVE GROWN 10 POINTS OR MORE. I THINK THAT IS SIGNIFICANT AND IT IS THE WORK THAT ARE TEACHERS AS WELL AS OUR STUDENTS ARE DOING IN THE SCHOOLS. THE STUDENTS ARE THE ONE WHO SITS FOR THE TEST. WE SOMETIMES FORGET ABOUT THEM. THANK YOU, MRS. BERRY. NEXT SLIDE. WE'LL GO TO SLIDE FOUR. YOU SHOULD HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF YOU. THIS IS GONNA SHOW YOU ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, SOUTH CAROLINA READY GRADE THREE. WHAT YOU ARE GONNA SEE HERE IS BUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN COMPARED TO ITSELF, STARTING FROM 2021. UH, I WILL LEAVE OUT THE VERY FIRST INVISIBLE COLUMN. IT IS CALLED THE COVID COLUMN, GOING ALL THE WAY THROUGH ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2025. I WANNA STOP FOR A SECOND. IF YOU COULD SEE RIGHT UNDER, IT SAYS GRADE LOVE, GRADE THREE, ELA, SC READY? THERE'S A KEY THERE. THAT KEY LETS YOU KNOW THAT THE DNM DOES NOT MEET THE A E IS THE APPROACHES TOWARDS EXPECTATION, WHICH IS LIKE A ROYAL BLUE. AND THEN THE GOLDISH TONE IS MEETS EXPECTATIONS OR EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS. IF YOU LOOK DIRECTLY AT THOSE LAST TWO COLUMNS, AND IF YOU ADD TOGETHER WHERE YOU LOOK AT WHERE IT SAYS 20 23, 20 24, YOU ADD THE TWO BLUES TOGETHER, IT COMES TO 46.9%. WE DO THE SAME FOR THE COLUMN OF WHERE IT SAYS 20 24, 20 25. YOUR TOTAL IS 40.3. WHAT THAT SAYS IS IN 20 23, 20 24 ARE GRADE THREE STUDENTS WHO WERE DOES NOT MEET OR APPROACHES WAS 46.9% IN THE RAW DATA AS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR WAS 40.3% RAW DATA. NOW I'M GONNA STOP AND PAUSE. LET'S LOOK AT THE GOLD. THE GOLD IS THE GOLD IS INCREASING. AND THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT WE WANNA SEE SAYS DR. RODRIGUEZ SHARED WITH YOU. THERE ARE AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT, THERE ARE AREAS THAT WE WANNA SEE GROWTH, BUT THERE'S AREAS THAT WE WANNA CELEBRATE. LET'S TAKE ANOTHER NOTE. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS LAST YEAR HAD NEW STANDARDS, NEW COMPLEXITY TO A TEST AND A NEW TEXTBOOK. YOU CAN'T ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE. LET'S ALSO TAKE INTO RECOGNITION THAT THAT IS THE SAME HAPPENING FOR MATH THIS YEAR AS WELL. NEW STANDARDS, NEW TEXTBOOK, NEW COMPLEXITY. ALSO, PLEASE MAKE NOTE THAT THE STANDARDS THAT TEACHERS NOW HAVE IN THE CLASSROOM, IT'S NOT ONLY CONTENT, BUT STUDENTS, THEY HAVE TO SHOW ON THE TEST HOW THEY USE THIS INFORMATION APPLICATION. IT'S A BALANCE. SO WE LOOK AT SLIDE FIVE AND THEN WE DO THE SAME MATH. AND LET'S LOOK AT THE LAST TWO COLUMNS. LET'S ADD TOGETHER FOR 23, 24, THE DARK BLUE AND THE ROYAL BLUE. WE HAVE 43.6. WE DO THE SAME FOR 24 25. IT IS 36.7. SO I'LL GIVE YOU THE QUICK ANSWER. IT'S AN INCREASE OF 6.9 IN THE GOLD. [01:45:03] SLIDE SIX WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE SAME LEVEL FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS. AND I WANNA PAUSE HERE TO, FOR US TO ALSO KEEP IN MIND BECAUSE AS THINGS SHIFT FROM THE STATE, THE STATE HAS THREE AREAS OF DEEP CONCENTRATION. WE RECOGNIZE THE NEW STANDARDS, BUT WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT THE STATE SHARES THEY WANT A HIGHER LEVEL OF STUDENT INDICATORS. IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S GETTING HARDER FOR STUDENTS TO SHOW THE APPLICATION OF INFORMATION. THE STATE ALSO WANTS A COMMON UNDERSTANDING ON HOW STUDENTS WILL BE MEASURED, HENCE THEIR VERY CLOSE MONITORING OF OUR ASSESSMENTS. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE STATE IS REALLY PUSHING FOR HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT ARE ALIGNED TO THE STANDARDS. AND YOU'RE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE TEXTBOOK ADOPTION PROCESS AS A GROUP. AND ON THIS PAGE, IF I CAN TOUT LAST COLUMN, YOU WILL SEE THE GOLD INCREASED 8.2%, GRADE SIX, THERE'S A 0.2% DECREASE FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR. SOME PEOPLE WOULD SAY IT'S INSIGNIFICANT, INSIGNIFICANT. BUT THEN I WILL QUESTION WHO'S THE 0.2, WHOSE CHILD IS IT? SO YES, WE HAVE WORK TO DO GRADE SEVEN COMPARED TO LAST YEAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, WE'VE INCREASED 6%. AND AS WE CONTINUE THROUGH THIS TRIENNIAL SUPER GRADE EIGHT, AN INCREASE OF 4.6. WITH THAT, I'LL TAKE YOU INTO THE WORLD OF MATHEMATICS. THANK YOU MRS. BERRY. AND AS I'VE SHARED WITH YOU ALREADY, WE NOW HAVE UNDERSTAND HOW THIS LAYOUT HAS BEEN PROVIDED FOR YOU. WE ALSO KNOW THAT THIS, THIS YEAR, I'M GIVING YOU THE PRELUDE AGAIN, NEW STANDARDS, NEW TEXTBOOK, NEW COMPLEXITY IS WHAT OUR CHILDREN WILL BE FACED WITH THIS YEAR AS WELL AS OUR EDUCATORS. AND WE HAVE A STRONG TEAM HELPING CAPACITY FOR OUR EDUCATORS. AND WE HAVE A VERY STRONG TEAM HELPING TO LEAD OUR PRINCIPALS AT THE SCHOOL SITES. SO AT GRADE THREE, WE HAVE A 2.3% INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR IN THE AREA OF MEETS AND EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS. GRADE FOUR, 4.8. I CHEATED. I DID THE MATH AHEAD OF TIME. I DO ADMIT IT. GRADE FIVE, 5.3%, GRADE SIX, WE SLID 1.8% IN MEETS AND EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS. BUT WE WERE PRETTY CLOSE IN THE AREAS OF, DOES NOT MEET GRADE SEVEN, 1.9% OF A SLIDE. BUT RESOLUTION HAPPENS WITH THE EIGHTH GRADERS, THEY INCREASED 1.8. AND I'LL BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T CELEBRATE THE WORK OF OUR SCIENCE EDUCATORS ACTUALLY ARE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS IN FOURTH GRADE AND THERE ARE SECONDARY TEACHERS AT SIXTH GRADE LAST YEAR. LET'S TAKE A NOTE. THERE WAS NO SCIENCE TEST FOR GRADE FOUR AND SIX. SO THAT IS WHY WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOUR SLIDE, IT'S A GAP IN THE MIDDLE. IT WAS A FIELD TEST TEST LAST YEAR AND IT WAS NOT, THE DATA WAS NOT USED. BUT IF YOU COMPARE TO TWO YEARS AGO, IT IS A 4.2% INCREASE. BUT IT'S REALLY NOT A FAIR COMPARISON BECAUSE WE CAN'T SAY IT'S THE SAME COMPLEXITY OF ASSESSMENT. BUT BY HUMAN NATURE, YOU WANNA LOOK AT THE DOES NOT MEETS APPROACHES EXCEEDS. AND IT'S JUST NATURAL FOR TO LOOK FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT FOR GRADE SIX. THANK YOU MRS. CUSH BERRY. IT IS A 3.1% INCREASE. SO NOW HERE COMES THE QUESTION. WE KNOW HOW WE DID TO OURSELF. WE COMPARED OURSELVES TO ONE, ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT. ARE WE GONNA COMPARE OURSELVES TO THE STATE SLIDE? THIS SLIDE RIGHT NOW SHOWS YOU A COMPARISON FROM GRADES THREE THROUGH EIGHT IN A LINK IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS. THAT IS FEW ITEMS I'M NOT MAKING EXCUSES FOR, FOR THE WORK OF OUR SCHOOLS AND OF OUR STUDENTS. BUT I DO WANT US TO MAKE NOTE. WE DO HAVE A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WHO ARE MULTI-LANGUAGE LEARNERS. THEN THAT IN COMPARISON TO THE STATE, IF I'M CORRECT, IT IS 23.6% OF 10.7. UM, AND I DON'T WANNA BE CITED ON THAT WITHOUT HAVING THE EXACT DATA POINTS IN FRONT OF ME. I ALSO WANNA [01:50:01] REMIND EVERYONE THAT AGAIN, THESE ARE OUR RAW DATA POINTS THAT I'M PRESENTING TO YOU. I CAN WALK YOU THROUGH THE MATH COMPARISON AS THAT IS IN FRONT OF YOU AS WELL. YOU GO TO SLIDE 22 FOR EACH GRADE LEVEL, FOR THE EXCEPTION OF EIGHTH GRADE, WE OUTPERFORMED THE STATE. I WILL NOT LOOK BEHIND INTO DR. DIXON BECAUSE SHE KEEPS SAYING THOSE EIGHTH GRADERS. 'CAUSE SHE WOULD'VE HAD A PERFECT LINEUP THERE. SLIDE 23, WE'LL TAKE YOU INTO COMPARISON OF OUR FOURTH AND SIXTH GRADE FOR SCIENCE. AND AGAIN, THESE SLIDES RIGHT NOW ARE US IN COMPARISON TO THE STATE. WE HAD A SLIDE OF 0.8% IN COMPARISON TO THE STATE AT FOURTH GRADE. AND A SLIDE OF 1.1% IN THE AREA OF SCIENCE FOR SIXTH GRADE ON SLIDE 25. SO AGAIN, LET'S JUST STOP, LET'S DO OUR COMPARISON. DARK BLUE ARE BASICALLY THE STUDENTS WHO WEREN'T VERY SUCCESSFUL, OUR ROYAL BLUE, IT'S EASIER TO THINK OF THEM AS THE APPROACHES. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? WHAT I'M SAYING TO YOU? AND THE GOAL THAT THE STUDENTS WHO HAD A B OR AN A OR IN THE WORLD OF B CS, THEY DO IT MORE BY GRADES THAN BY SAYING DOES NOT MEETS, APPROACHES, MEETS OR EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS. I'D LIKE US TO LOOK AT ALGEBRA AND RECOGNIZE ALGEBRA AS WE'VE SPOKEN BEFORE, AS A GATEKEEPER COURSE. IT DOES GIVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO GET EARLIER EXPOSURE TO ALGEBRA, THINKING LOGIC AND APPLICATIONS INTO HIGHER MATH CLASSES IN SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE ANALYZED TODAY. BECAUSE THIS EMBAR, THE DATA BECAME UN EMBARGOED TODAY. WE RECOGNIZE THAT THE STATE HAD 3,500 STUDENTS LESS THIS YEAR SIT FOR ALGEBRA. AND WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAD 400 MORE STUDENTS THAN THEY HAD LAST YEAR SIT FOR ALGEBRA EOC. I ALSO RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR PERFORMANCE TO THE STATE. 7.23% LESS THAN THE STATE OUTCOME. BUT WE HAD 400 MORE STUDENTS SIT FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPOSURE TO ALGEBRAIC THINKING AND GATEWAY COSTS TO HIGHER LEVEL MATH CLASSES IN BIOLOGY. WE WERE BEHIND THE STATE 5.13% IN ENGLISH TWO 1.888%. AND OF COURSE I PUT US HISTORY LAST BECAUSE WHAT IS OUR RESULT THERE? WE WERE ABOVE THE STATE BY 4.05%. AND I DO WANNA BACK UP 'CAUSE I APOLOGIZE. THAT WAS US IN COMPARISON TO OURSELVES, NOT THE STATE COMPARISON. I WAS READING ONE ONE OF THE WRONG SLIDES IN ALGEBRA AGAIN. AGAIN THOUGH IT IS A 7.06 DIFFERENCE FROM US TO THE STATE. WE HAVE A 7.06 DECREASE IN BIOLOGY. IT IS A INCREASE OF 2.38 ENGLISH TWO. IT IS A 0.93 DIFFERENCE DECREASE IN THE US HISTORY. IT IS A 2.64. SO I DO, I HAVE TO TELL IT AGAIN FOR THOSE SOCIAL STUDIES, US HISTORY TEACHERS WHO INCREASED THE 4.05 FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR ON OUR, ON OUR DATA POINTS. SO WHEN DO I TAKE YOU TO SLIDE 27? WE CELEBRATED A GROUP OF SCHOOLS IN THE BEGINNING. I WANNA CELEBRATE NINE SCHOOLS WHO HAD 20 POINTS OR MORE COMPARISON INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR IN THEIR CONTENT AREA. I WANNA BRING ATTENTION TO ONE SCHOOL IN PARTICULAR, PORT ROYAL ELEMENTARY, WHERE THEY HAD A 30.1% INCREASE IN MATH. SO THIS IS A QUICK SUMMARY OF OUR DATA POINTS. I BROUGHT INDIVIDUALS FORWARD IN CASE THERE ARE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ON THEORY. WHAT DO YOU THINK OR WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? I WILL SHARE WITH YOU THAT WE ARE GONNA STAY A CORE COURSE AT EDUCATING AND GIVING EFFICACY AND PRACTICE TO OUR STUDENTS AND GIVING OUR STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES. WE'LL STAY THE COURSE OF [01:55:01] SUPPORTING OUR EDUCATORS. WE'LL STAY THE COURSE AT GIVING OUR CHILDREN EVERY OPPORTUNITY THAT WE CAN FOR A BETTER AT PUBLIC EDUCATION. SO WITH THAT, THAT'S, THIS CONCLUDES MY PART OF THE PRESENTATION AND WE'RE OPEN FOR YOUR QUESTIONS. MR. NA. NOT, NOT THAT I'M TRYING TO AIR BAD LAUNDRY. UH, I SEE ALL THE SCHOOLS THAT WENT UP BY 10 OR 20 POINTS. THANK YOU. UH, WHAT ABOUT OUR SCHOOLS THAT WENT DOWN THAT DROPPED? AND WHAT ARE WE DOING TO CORRECT? WELL, THAT'S WHY I BROUGHT SUPPORT HERE. AND I'M NOT GONNA PUT BAD LAUNDRY 'CAUSE IT ONLY LETS ME KNOW THAT THERE'S A DELTAS FOR AREA OF IMPROVEMENT AND INCREASED WORK. ONE OF THE OVERALL AREAS THAT I WANNA BE VERY DIRECT WITH IS THAT AS A DISTRICT WE HAVE PUT INTO PLACE GIVING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT IN THE CLASSROOM TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE ALIGNING PRACTICE OF INSTRUCTION TO THE MASTERY OF THE STANDARD AND GIVING THAT TYPE OF COACHING AND BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF OUR EDUCATORS TO MEET AND UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE STANDARDS. I THINK THAT'S NUMBER ONE. AND THAT'S SOME OF THE WORK THAT HAPPENS WITH OUR INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES AT LENGTH. BUT HAVING THAT UNITY AMONGST OUR INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES IS PROBABLY THE STRONGEST MESSAGING THAT'S HAPPENING THROUGH THE INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES DIVISION, WITH THE SUPPORT OF OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS AS WELL. AND I WILL HAVE, IF YOU WOULD LIKE A MATH OR SCIENCE, UM, INITIATIVE I COULD BRING OR AN ELAI COULD ASK THE RESPECTIVE PERSON TO COME FORWARD, SIR. SO I, I MEAN WE'VE HAD, WE HAVE THESE NINE SCHOOLS THAT JUMP 20 POINTS. UM, WHAT, HOW DO WE REPLICATE THAT SUCCESS, UM, THROUGH INSTRUCTION? OR IS THAT 20 POINT JUMP LIKE PERSONALITY DRIVEN? I THINK IT'S A, IT'S A COMBINATION OF FACTORS. I MEAN, UH, WHAT YOU ALSO DON'T HAVE ON HERE ARE SCHOOLS THAT WENT UP FIVE POINTS, RIGHT? AS AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT? THERE'S SOME THAT THAT WENT UP. FIVE, SOME THAT WENT UP, TWO THAT WENT UP ONE, RIGHT? AND THEN, AND, AND SO YOU, WE JUST TRIED TO CUT OFF AT THE LARGEST NUMBERS WE COULD CUT OFF AND GET ON A SLIDE TO, TO SHARE SOME OF THE CELEBRATORY MOMENTS WITH YOU AS PART OF THIS. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE PUT IN PLACE THAT DRIVES A LOT OF THIS WORK IS, UH, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEWS AND OUR INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEW PROCESS AS THIS IS SOMETHING WE ENGAGE IN, UM, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, MULTIPLE TIMES A YEAR AT SCHOOLS. AND SO, UM, WE IDENTIFY WHAT WHAT WE'RE GONNA NEED TO DO NEXT IS, IS, UH, DIG DEEPER IN INTO THE DATA, RIGHT? THIS RELEASE TODAY. SO WE'RE, WE NEED TO DIG DEEPER INTO THE DATA AND PINPOINT THE SPECIFIC PLACES THAT ARE GOING TO GET ADDITIONAL TIME, UH, AND OVERSIGHT WITH RESPECT TO, UH, THE SUPPORT THAT WE PROVIDE FROM, FROM THE DISTRICT LEVEL. UM, AND, AND I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S HOW WE CONTINUOUSLY MOVE AND LIFT, UH, LIFT SCHOOLS FORWARD. SO IT IS GONNA REQUIRE DEEPER ANALYSIS TO PINPOINT WHAT, WHAT SPECIFICALLY? BECAUSE IN, IN SOME CASES, I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. IN SOME CASES, UH, THIRD GRADE COULD HAVE BEEN FLYING HIGH. FOURTH GRADE COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT. AND FIFTH GRADE TANK DAY, WE MAY HAVE HAD A TANK IN ONE PARTICULAR SUBJECT AREA, RIGHT? UM, AND, AND I'LL CALL OUT A A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT. A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT, UH, WAS PORT ROYAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LAST YEAR, PORT ROYAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LAST YEAR, UH, UH, UH, TANKED HEAVILY AND I THINK IT WAS FIFTH GRADE MATH, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN. MM-HMM . YOU'RE CORRECT. , YOU'RE CORRECT. YOU JUMPED RIGHT ON THAT, HUH? MM-HMM . YEAH. FIFTH GRADE MATH, UH, LAST YEAR, RIGHT? I DID. AND SO, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF SCRUTINY AND A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO IDENTIFYING WHAT THOSE ISSUES WERE AND THEN WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO ABOUT IT. WHAT'S THE REBOUND OF THAT? SO 30 POINTS OR, OR I THINK IT WAS RIGHT AROUND 30 POINTS. 30 POINTS. OKAY. SO, SO, UM, IT'S DIFFERENT IN EVERY PLACE. SOME PLACES, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE A COUPLE OF GRADE LEVELS, RIGHT? AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S OUR NEXT STEP NOW IS TO, UH, WE GOT THIS, WE'RE UP AGAINST THE CLOCK, AND SO WE GOT THIS FOR YOU. BUT OUR NEXT STEP INTERNALLY AS A SYSTEM IS TO DIG DEEPER, UH, TO FIND OUT THE KIND OF SUPPORT THAT WE NEED TO APPLY NOW TO, UH, DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. AND IT'LL BE DIFFERENT FROM PLACE TO PLAY. UM, BUT YOU BRING UP A GREAT POINT, WHICH I THINK IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US, RIGHT? WHICH IS TO LOOK AT SOME OF THIS, RIGHT? AND IDENTIFY THAT, RESEARCH IT A LITTLE DEEPER TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS SOMETHING THAT, HEY, THIS IS EASILY REPLICABLE, OR IF NOT, WE [02:00:01] NEED, YOU KNOW, WE CAN LEARN FROM IT, RIGHT? AND, UM, AND, AND WE CAN DO, UH, WHAT WE CALL INSTRUCTIONAL WALKS AT, AT SOME OF THESE SCHOOLS, RIGHT? AND, AND, AND BY AN INSTRUCTIONAL WALK, IT'S NOT JUST US, BUT IT, IT CAN BE TEACHERS, FOR EXAMPLE, OR A TEAM FROM ANOTHER SCHOOL, COME AND SEE THE SYSTEMS IN PLACE THAT ARE WORKING IN YIELDING RESULTS LIKE THAT. AND, AND THEN REPLICATE AND TRY TO PROLIFERATE THOSE PRACTICES THAT ARE YIELDING, YIELDING RESULTS. AND CHAIRMAN GUYER, I COULD MAY ALSO ADD THAT WE'RE ALSO HAVING SCHOOLS WHO WE KNOW AS YOU'RE PUTTING FORWARD DEMONSTRATING SUCCESS, OR MAYBE I NEED TO GO THERE AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH, AS A PRINCIPAL, WITH THAT SCHOOL, WITH THEIR INSTRUCTIONAL COACH, WALK THEIR SCHOOL. AND THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE AS, AS WELL, UH, I HAVE TO SAY, DEEPER PRACTICE AT THAT, NOT IN ISOLATION. SO THAT I CAN GO AND LEARN FROM YOUR EXPERT EXPERTISE AND SEE THAT APPLICATION. WHAT ARE YOU DOING DIFFERENTLY THAN ME? WE HAVE THE SAME BOOK. I, WE HAVE THE SAME STANDARD, BUT WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? AND PART OF IT IS THAT WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A FULL-TIME EDUCATOR IN THE CLASSROOM, IT DOES IT IMPACT OUTCOMES, SIR. AND I KNOW YOU WERE DRIVING TOWARDS THAT AS WELL. I'D LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT, UH, FOR ROYAL ELEMENTARIES IN MY DISTRICT OR OIL ELEMENTARY LAST YEAR WAS GRADED, UH, BELOW AVERAGE. AND TO MAKE THIS KIND OF A JUMP, UH, 30 POINTS, 30.1 IN MATH, SIR, TALKING TO THE MS GAL, THE PRINCIPAL, UH, SHE PUT ON A FULL COURT PRESS, UH, TO WORK THIS. BUT I'LL ALSO TELL YOU, THIS IS OUR SMALLEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. SO ONE OR TWO STUDENTS CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN THE OVERALL SCORE. OUR LARGER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS GOT A TOUGHER ROAD BECAUSE THEY CAN HAVE 10 STUDENTS THAT REALLY BRING IT DOWN. SO WE HAVE TO REALLY LOOK AT EACH SCHOOL INDIVIDUALLY, WHAT CHALLENGES THEY HAVE. WE HAVE DIFFERENT POVERTY LEVELS. WE HAVE D WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT OTHER FACTORS THAT WE'VE GOT TO LOOK AT WHEN YOU DO ALL THE DIGGING. I, I ALSO REALLY AM INTERESTED IN SEEING THE GENDER GAP. I'M ALSO INTERESTED IN SEEING ANY RACIAL GAP. AND WE, I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA BE WORKING ALL THAT AND, AND THAT'S GONNA BE VERY, VERY, I THINK, UH, INTERESTING TO LOOK AT THAT. AND THEN ALSO LOOK AT THE COACHING THAT OCCURRED AND HOW, HOW THAT COACHING WILL IT SUSTAIN. MM-HMM. NOW THAT'S, THAT'S THE NEXT THING IS WILL THIS COACHING SUSTAIN AND WE WILL SEE A SECOND GRADE THAT'S GOING UP HIGHER AND THE THIRD GRADE HIGHER INCREMENTALLY UP. THAT'S, THAT'S THE REAL TRUE TEST OF WHAT WE'RE DOING. AND, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO SOME MORE DATA ANALYSIS ON THIS. I THINK THE OTHER, UH, THE OTHER PART THAT AS WE DIG INTO IT, WE NEED TO GO BACK AND, AND LOOK AT TO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE, WE HAD QUITE A BIT OF VACANCIES IN CLASSROOM VACANCIES IN THE SYSTEM WISE. AND WE HAVE, UH, OUR, OUR HR TEAM HAS DONE A TREMENDOUS JOB, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER TODAY, UH, UH, AROUND THAT WORK AND, AND SIGNIFICANTLY, UH, CUT THAT. AND SO, UM, SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT THAT, THAT WE NEED TO CONVERSATION TO HAVE IN UNDERSTANDING, UH, EACH PART OF THAT DATA AS PART OF THE EQUATION. I'M GLAD THAT YOU JUST SAID THAT. 'CAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY, I WAS HEADED AT, YOU KNOW, UM, JUST, JUST, UH, THINKING IN TERMS OF THE QUESTION THAT MR. NAY, UH, BOUGHT SAYING I'LL USE FOR AN FOR INSTANCE, YOU KNOW, I'VE, I I, I MEAN I BE, I BE TO, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT A, UH, NOT A PUBLIC SECRET. UM, I GET AND, AND, AND, AND, AND UNDERSTANDING AND WATCHING THIS LAST YEAR OF HOW ADMINISTRATIVE AND, WELL, WE CAN SAY COACHES, BUT LEMME SAY, LEMME, LEMME SAY THIS. THE BUCK STOPS AT THE TOP. THE PRINCIPALS COACHES ARE MOVED AROUND. PRINCIPALS MOVED, MOVED OUT POSITIONS. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I'VE WATCHED EVEN THAT ST. HELENA WHO WAS, WHO WAS DOWN IN TERMS TERMS OF TALKING ABOUT SMALL NUMBERS OR NUMBERS, [02:05:01] WHERE THEY WERE HELEN, I THINK HELEN WAS DOWN. I JUST GIVE OUT A NUMBER OF AT LEAST 12 TEACHERS IN MY COMMUNITY, EIGHT ABOUT IT ALL, SOME LONG. BUT THEY WENT OUT AND THEY MADE, THEY MADE IT HAPPEN, YOU KNOW, UH, FROM, FROM, FROM LISTENING TO THESE NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, NOT ONLY 10 PORTION. I REMEMBER A COUPLE YEARS AGO I WAS BEING TOLD THAT SCHOOLS JUST DON'T MOVE BY THIS MANY, MANY NUMBER MOVING FIVE NUMBERS IS A, IS, IS A, IS, IS, IS A, IS A, IS IS MAYBE, YOU KNOW, POSSIBLE, BUT 10 IS A, NOW HELL, WE MOVING 20 NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, SO, SO CORRECT ME. JUST REMEMBER, CAN YOU SLIDE THAT DOWN A LITTLE BIT SO WE CAN READ THE TOP OF IT? YES. 20 PLUS POINT IMPROVEMENT IN ONE OR MORE GRADE LEVELS, RIGHT? SO THAT, THAT 20 POINTS COULD BE IN ONE GRADE LEVEL, RIGHT? RIGHT. OKAY. AND THEN THE OTHER TWO TESTED GRADE LEVELS MAYBE WERE FLAT. SO WHEN YOU THEN AVERAGE IT ALL OUT, RIGHT, IT DOESN'T COME OUT TO 20 POINTS. OKAY. YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING? RIGHT? SO WHAT WE'RE HIGHLIGHTING IS 20 IS A 20 POINT AT ONE OR MAYBE MORE GRADE LEVELS. OKAY. AND, AND, AND EITHER, UH, ELA OR MATH. SO IS THAT WHY THERE, THAT THAT WHY THERE ARE NO HIGH SCHOOLS ON HERE? UH, YEAH. THE HIGH, HIGH SCHOOLS THAT, THAT'S CORRECT. THAT'S CORRECT. OKAY. BECAUSE I WAS, 'CAUSE I WAS MY THAT'S CORRECT. IT IS CORRECT. YEAH. I WAS WONDERING WHY THERE WERE NO HIGH SCHOOLS. I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO STUDY 'EM, STUDY MY DATA MYSELF YET. YEAH. THAT, THAT'S CORRECT. THAT'S CORRECT. WELL, GIVEN THE CHALLENGE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT, UH, FOR, FOR ALL OF US, I MEAN, PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY COMMENT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THAT 20 POINTS THAT ST. HELENA GOT IN ONE, IN ONE OR, OR MORE GRADE LEVELS, RIGHT? MM-HMM . THAT'S MASSIVE. SO THAT, THAT SHOULD NOT TAKE AWAY FROM ANY OF THESE SCHOOLS. OKAY? I'M JUST, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTOOD BECAUSE WHEN WE SAY THAT IT GOES UP TWO POINTS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, RIGHT? AND THAT'S A BIG MOVE, OKAY? IT, IT IS A BIG MOVE AT TWO OR THREE POINTS OVERALL FOR A SCHOOL, RIGHT? UH, YOU, YOU MIGHT SEE THAT, RIGHT? BUT IT, BUT IT SHIFTS. THE OTHER THING I THINK IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KNOW, UM, OUR CHILDREN THAT WERE IN THE EARLIEST GRADES, OKAY, ARE SITTING IN DURING COVID, ARE SITTING IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL RIGHT NOW IN THAT TRAJECTORY, OKAY? SO THAT MEANS THAT THOSE FOUNDATIONAL YEARS ARE THE FOUNDATIONAL YEARS THAT WERE IMPACTED THE MOST. YOU CAN SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING WHEN YOU SEE ON THESE CHARTS WITH YOUR THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH, BECAUSE YOUR THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH, WERE NOT IN CLASSROOMS AT, AT, AT THAT TIME NECESSARILY, RIGHT? SO YOU CAN SEE, UH, IN ELA, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE PROGRESS THAT YOU SEE, UH, IN, IN, IN THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH. I MEAN, I'LL, I'LL TAKE YOU BACK TO, UM, THE THIRD SLIDE. NO, I'M SORRY, THE FOURTH SLIDE AS AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT? YOU CAN SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT, THAT FROM 2021 TO 24, 25, IT, IT CONTINUES TO STEP UP, RIGHT? YOU SEE THAT IN, IN THE ELEMENTARY, YOU SEE THAT IN FOURTH GRADE, RIGHT? AND THEN YOU SEE THAT IN FIFTH GRADE, RIGHT? THAT YELLOW GETS BIGGER AS YOU MOVE TO THE RIGHT ON THAT PAGE, OKAY? IN SIXTH GRADE, YOU SEE IT, BUT YOU, YOU, YOU GET TO A POINT WHERE, UH, 23, 24, 25 ARE, ARE SIMILAR, RIGHT? OKAY? YOU LOOK AT, UH, UH, SEVENTH GRADE, YOU SEE IT AND YOU SEE THE MOVEMENT STILL, OKAY? BUT WHEN YOU'RE, WHEN YOU THEN ARE LOOKING AT, UH, IF I FLIP YOU OVER TO, UH, PAGE 11, OKAY? AND YOU'RE SEEING MATH, AND HERE YOU SEE, UM, IN THREE, YOU SEE THE PROGRESS FROM 21 TO 24, 25. IN FOURTH GRADE, YOU SEE IT FROM 21 TO 24, 25. IN FIFTH GRADE, YOU SEE IT FROM 21 TO 24, 25. OKAY? AND THEN WHEN YOU GET TO SIXTH GRADE, YOU SEE, YOU SEE IT, BUT IT'S NOT AS BIG. RIGHT? IN SEVENTH GRADE, THE SAME THING SEE IT, BUT IT'S NOT AS BIG IN EIGHTH GRADE, YOU SEE IT, RIGHT? SO, SO THAT, THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING AS, AS WE MATRICULATE THROUGH, WE CONTINUE TO TRY TO RECOVER AND ACCELERATE AT THOSE MIDDLE SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS. BUT, BUT, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S PART OF, OF, OF WHAT'S HAPPENING. AND YOU SEE THAT THAT STRONGER FOUNDATION, UH, SHAPING OUT AND TAKING PLACE, AND YOU SEE THAT IN THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH RIGHT NOW. AND THAT NEXT YEAR WE SHOULD GO INTO THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, SIXTH, SO ON. AND SO [02:10:01] AS YOU SEE IT, THANK YOU, APPRECIATE IT. AND, AND, AND ALSO, UH, AND IN TERMS OF, UH, OF THESE SCORES AS WELL, AND IN TERMS OF A, OF GIVING THE PRINCIPLES, THEIR PRAISE AS WELL, AND LA I KNOW LA, SHE WAS ANOTHER ONE. DR. BROWN WAS BEATING THE HALLS IN THE OTHER CLASSES. HEY, LOOK, UM, MS. SMITH, YOU WANNA COME, COME COURT ME, I'M ABOUT TO GO IN THIS CLASS AND, UH, DO, DO SOME STUFF, UH, IN TERMS OF, UM, ENGLISH OR, OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW. UH, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE NOT, AND THEN GIVING OUT OUR CREDIT WHEN CREDIT IS DOING THAT, WE ARE GIVING 'EM OUT TO ADMINISTRATORS BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN ADMINISTRATORS WHO'VE BEEN ON THEIR TEAM AND THEY'RE BEING INTENTIONAL ABOUT MEETING AND WHAT THEY'RE MEETING ABOUT, UH, AS, AS, AS AS WELL. UM, BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF RESOURCES. UH, ANOTHER THING, AND, AND THIS IS, AND THIS IS, AND THIS IS THE KIND OF TALK I LOVE TO HAVE, AND, AND IN TERMS OF UNDERSTANDING, WE ALREADY SAID, CURRENT GUY ALREADY SAID THAT, UH, HE WAS LOOKING FOR AGENDA, UH, GENDER, MALE BY, BY SCHOOL AND, AND WHAT THOSE SCORES LOOK LIKE. BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF RESOURCES, WHAT RESOURCES ARE WE USING IN SOME BUILDINGS THAT WE, WE ARE NOT UTILIZING IN OTHERS? BECAUSE RESOURCES IS A REAL SERIOUS AREAS UNDERSTANDING VERSUS OF WHAT ONE BUILDING MAY NOT HA MAY NOT HAVE, OR WHAT ONE, ONE SCHOOL MAY, MAY NOT HAVE. I THINK THAT, THAT, THAT CAN MAKE ALSO ANOTHER DIFFERENCE IN UNDERSTANDING THESE, THESE SCORES. SO I THINK THAT RESOURCES IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO LOOK, THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT. AND HOPEFULLY THIS WILL NOT BE THE ONLY TIME THAT WE ARE DISCUSSING THIS, BECAUSE I THINK THAT IN THE, IN THE NEXT YEAR'S IN TERMS OF BUDGET, I THINK THAT THIS IS, THIS IS WHERE WE STARTED DRAWING OUR BUDGET, OUR, OUR BUDGET RIGHT HERE. AND I WATCHED, I WAS, UH, AT ONE OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS OF WHERE THEY WERE AT AND HOW THEY WERE KIND OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT DEPARTMENTS WERE DOING WHAT. AND THAT MADE ME THINK ABOUT DURING TERMS OF UNDERSTANDING THE TEST SCORES AND WHERE OUR SCHOOLS ARE IN TERMS OF WHAT RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED TO GET, WHERE THEY NEED TO GET. AND SO I, I, I THINK THAT THIS HERE, THAT THAT THIS HERE IS A PART OF THE TERMS, UH, I MEAN A PART OF THE CONVERSATION MOVING FORWARD IN TERMS OF BUDGETING. WHAT, WHAT ARE WE REALLY NEEDING IN THESE BUILDINGS? AND BEING INTENTIONAL ABOUT WHAT'S BEING BROUGHT TO US AND TOLD THAT, HEY, THIS BUILDING HERE NEEDS THIS. WE TALK ABOUT TECH, WE TALK ABOUT TECHNOLOGY NOW WE TALK ABOUT A WHOLE BUNCH OF HOST THINGS THAT NEED, BUT IT'S ABOUT THE KIDS. IT'S REALLY ABOUT THE KIDS. AND IT COMES TO THESE KIDS COMING FROM DIFFERENT WALKS AND DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, AND THERE ARE ALL THESE KIDS BEING TREATED EQUALLY. INEQUALITY, AND, AND HAVING AND HAVING WHAT THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND, UH, TO, TO UNDERSTAND THEIR LESSON TO BE THE BEST THAT THEY CAN BE. SO THAT, THAT'S JUST WHERE I, I'LL LEAVE IT AT RIGHT THERE FOR ME. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. VERY GO. THANK YOU. YEP. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU. WE HAVE NO BOARD BUSINESS [Consent Agenda] ACTION. ON THE CONSENT AGENDA, WE HAVE TWO ITEMS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA. THE JUNE 24TH, 2025 BOARD MEETING MINUTES, AND THE JULY 8TH, 2025 BOARD MEETING MINUTES. DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA? SO MOVED. SECOND. BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, SIGN. BYE. BY SAYING AYE. AYE. ONLINE, UH, PASTOR GORDON. AYE. PASTOR GORDON. AYE. UH, MS. FRAZIER FRAZIER. AYE. THANK YOU MS. HAY. A AYE. MOTION CARRIES FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS. DO WE HAVE FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS? OKAY, [Announcements] ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS? ANYONE HAVE ANY ANNOUNCE YOU HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT? UM, ACTUALLY, UH, EXCUSE ME. IT WAS, I JUST WANTED TO BRING OUT A POINT THAT WE MET WHEN WE SPOKE ABOUT IT IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION EARLIER. WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, MY MAMA SAID, YOU GIVE PEOPLE THEIR ROSES, UH, WHILE THEY'RE ALIVE. AND, UH, WHEN WE TOOK ACTION EARLIER ON THE, ON THE REPORT OF, UM, OF THE, UM, HIRING, WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S THE REPORT NOW? MY MIND GOING SO WRONG? THE, THE, THE, THE EMPLOYMENT, UH, RATIFICATION REPORT. IT WAS SET IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION BY SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT, UH, WE WANTED TO THANK THE STAFF FOR THEIR HIRING. THE RECRUITERS, THE RECRUITERS RUN ALL, RUN ALL ACROSS THE PLACE. THE PRINCIPALS WHO OUT THERE DOING WHAT THEY NEED TO DO. AND WE, WE GAVE, UH, EVERYONE GAVE HIGH KUDOS TO THE HR DEPARTMENT IN TERMS OF AN ADMINISTRATION FOR FILLING THESE POSITIONS IN THE DISTRICT AS A WHOLE, AND DR. RODRIGUEZ AND HIS STAFF. AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, UH, AND UNTIL THAT WE GIVE, UH, DR. RODRIGUEZ AND MRS. WAL, UH, PRAISE OUTSIDE OF, OF EXECUTIVE SESSION AND NOT JUST DO IT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS BECAUSE EVERYONE BACK THERE WERE SAYING THAT THEY WERE, THEY APPRECIATED AND THEY THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS GOOD. SO I JUST WANT TO, UH, I JUST WANNA BRING THAT PUBLICLY FORWARD AND TELLING THE RECRUITERS AND THEM AS WELL, APPRECIATE YOU. WE SEE, WE SEE YOUR WORK. WE THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND THANKS TO TAXPAYERS FOR HELPING US OUT WITH THAT HIKE TOO, AS WELL. THANK Y'ALL. YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT, MR. SMITH. AND, AND I KNOW MS. WALTON WOULD WANT ME TO SAY THIS, AND I WANNA SAY THIS AS WELL. UH, YOU MENTIONED IT AT THE END, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE CAPTURED IT. THE RECRUITERS [02:15:01] AND OUR PRINCIPALS DID A GREAT JOB THIS YEAR. AND, AND THEN THEIR WORK, THE WORKLOAD ON, ON BRINGING THAT IN IS CERTAINLY ON THE RECRUITERS AND, UH, UH, AND THEN OUR PRINCIPALS AS WELL. SO THAT'S WHERE, THAT'S WHERE THE PRAISE BELONGS. OKAY? NEXT, [Second Public Comments] UH, ITEM IS SECOND PUBLIC COMMENTS. WE HAVE A PUBLIC COMMENT FROM, UH, MR. MILLER. UH, THE SUBJECT IS THE BAND, CORRECT? AMOUNT OF AUTONOMY BETWEEN SCHOOLS. SIR, GOT TO BRING THE MICROPHONE. GET YOU, WE'LL GET YOU A MICROPHONE THERE, SIR. I CAN YELL. NO, THAT'S ALL RIGHT. I GOT PEOPLE ONLINE THAT NEED TO HEAR YOU, SIR. WELL, I CAN YELL THAT LOUD. THANK YOU. I, I RECALL A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, UH, THE FIRST, UH, BOARD MEETING AFTER GRADUATION, UH, SOME OF YOU HAD A COMMENTS ABOUT THE ATTO, ECONOM SAY IT, AUTONOMY OF THE CORDS THAT WERE WORN AND THAT, AND HOW THEY DIFFERED FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL. I'VE HAD THIS IN THE SUBJECT IN THE BACK OF MY MIND FOR SOME TIME ABOUT AUTONOMY. AUTONOMY. I CAN, I CAN'T SAY IT, I'M SORRY, OF, OF HOW MIDDLE SCHOOL, UH, A BAND IN GENERAL, BUT SPECIFICALLY MIDDLE SCHOOLS. THEY GET CREDIT FOR A, TOWARD GRADUATION, IF YOU WILL. BUT THE CURRICULUM, THE NUMBER OF WHAT SCALES YOU LEARN ON SEVENTH GRADE, WHAT SCALES YOU LEARN ON SEVENTH, EIGHTH, ET CETERA, THEY VARY ALL OVER THE LOT. THERE'S NO CONTINUITY ACROSS THE BOARD. WHEN I'VE BROUGHT THIS UP TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT I, I HEAR COMMENTS, WELL, WE CAN'T DO THAT. I HEAR, AND I SCRATCH MY HEAD THE FIRST TIME OR TWO AND THINK, WHY CAN'T YOU DO THAT? AND I REALIZED THEN IT IS AT THE INDIVIDUAL PRINCIPLE AND BAND DIRECTOR, THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE STANDARD STANDARDIZATION FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL. UH, SO WITH THAT SAID, I SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING. I APPRECIATE, I PRAISE WHAT THE SCHOOL IS DOING AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL WITH GIVING MORE RESOURCES TO SUGGEST THAT THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS DO THIS, FOLLOW THAT. BUT UNTIL THE PRINCIPALS AT THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS ACCEPT THAT BETTER UNDERSTANDING, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A, IT IS GONNA BE FOR NAUGH. WITH THAT, I'M GONNA QUICKLY SAY, REMIND YOU, UH, THIS SATURDAY THERE IS A PRESENTATION OR THE ALL, ALL DISTRICT SCHOOL, UH, BANDS ARE INVITED TO MAY RIVER, UH, AND, UH, YOU FOLKS ARE INVITED. THERE'LL, IT STARTS AT 10 O'CLOCK. UH, THERE'LL BE FOOD TRUCKS, UH, AND THE SCHOOL KIDS WILL CONGREGATE AFTERWARDS. AND YOU'RE INVITED. UH, THANK YOU, SIR. WE THANK YOU. WE'LL BE THERE. OKAY. THAT'S THE END OF THE AGENDA TOPICS. UNLESS THERE'S OBJECTION, WE WILL ADJOURN. I'M SORRY, SIR. , DO WE HAVE MILITARY REPRESENTATIVE? YEAH, I, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE MRS. WALLY A-A-A-A-A, UH, OKAY. ALRIGHT. THANKFUL BECAUSE SHE TREATS US VERY WELL AND SHE, UH, IS THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE MILITARY TO US. AND I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S WHY SHE WAS STILL THERE. BUT I JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND, UH, WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO FOR US AT, AT TIMES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. SMITH. OKAY. SO IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, WE WILL ADJOURN UNDER UNANIMOUS CONSENT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [02:20:13] THANKS FOR WATCHING BEAUFORT COUNTY TV. I AM MEMORY CAMPBELL, AND THIS IS BEAUFORD COUNTY MOMENTS. I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT FOOD TODAY. THE FOOD HAS BEEN A GREAT PART OF OUR LIFE IN TERMS OF GATHERING FOOD AND PREPARING THEM. OUR FOOD IS BASED ON THE LAND AND THE SEA. THE LAND FOOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN RICE. WE DON'T FEEL WE HAVE EATEN DINNER UNLESS WE'VE HAD RICE. RICE WAS MIXED WITH VARIOUS ITEMS FROM THE SEA, LIKE OYSTERS OR SHRIMP. AND WHEN THEY'RE COOKED WITH RICE IN ONE POT, WE CALL IT A RICE OR SHRIMP OR AN OYSTER PERLOW. AND THEN WE HAVE THE WATERMELONS AND THE SWEET POTATOES. SWEET POTATOES WAS ALWAYS EATEN WITH FISH AND FRESH FISH WITH GRAVY AND A SWEET POTATO. THERE IS NOTHING BETTER. OKRA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF OUR FOOD WAYS WE, WE, WE RAISE THEM AS WELL AS WE PREPARE THEM WITH SHRIMP AND TOMATOES. AND SOME PEOPLE WOULD CALL THAT A GUMBO, AND THAT'S WHAT EXACTLY WHAT IT IS. OKRA, GUMBO. AND SO ENJOY THE FOOD OF THE LOW COUNTRY BECAUSE IT'S BEEN VERY MUCH A PART OF OUR HISTORY. THIS IS EMORY CAMPBELL. THIS HAS BEEN YOUR BEAUFORT COUNTY MOMENT. TO SEE MORE BEAUFORT COUNTY MOMENTS GO TO THE BEAUFORT COUNTY LIBRARY HOMEPAGE AND CLICK ON THE LOCAL HISTORY TAB. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.