[00:00:01]
CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY BEAUFORT COUNTY.
[Call to Order]
5:00 PM AND WE'RE GONNA CALL THIS MEETING OF THE BEAUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.UH, IT'S BEING HELD AT HILTON HEAD ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER, 55 WILBORN ROAD IN HILTON HEAD ISLAND.
UH, PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES PER SPEAKER AND ON BUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND SCHOOL RELATED TOPICS.
CITIZENS WISHING TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC COMMENTS CAN DO SO IN PERSON OR VIA PHONE.
THERE ARE TWO SCHEDULED PUBLIC COMMENT FORUMS DURING EACH BOARD MEETING.
THE FIRST IS A 30 MINUTE SESSION NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING, LIMITED TO TOPICS ON THE BOARD MEETING AGENDA.
THE SECOND IS A 15 MINUTE SESSION, WHICH TAKES PLACE PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT, BUT NO LATER THAN NO LATER THAN 9:00 PM REST, REQUEST TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC COMMENTS VIA PHONE WILL BE ACCEPTED ELECTRONICALLY, AND YOU CAN FIND THE, UM, BU BOARD OF EDUCATION PUBLIC COMMENT FORM ON OUR WEBSITE.
PLEASE SIGN UP USING THE PUBLIC COMMENT FORMS 24 HOURS FROM THE DAY OF THE MEETING.
REQUESTERS WILL RECEIVE A PHONE CALL DURING THEIR RESPECTIVE FORUM, PUBLIC FORUM TIME, AND SHOULD BE READY TO SPEAK.
CITIZENS DESIRING TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON MUST FILL OUT A PUBLIC COMMENT CARD THAT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE BOARD CLERK UPON ARRIVAL IN THE EVENT THE BOARD HAS NOT FINISHED ADDRESSING ALL ITEMS LISTED ON THE SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2025 AGENDA.
THE BOARD WILL RECONVENE AT 6:00 PM ON SEPTEMBER 17TH, THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY TO FINISH AGENDA ITEMS, MADAM SECRETARY,
[Executive Session]
UH, DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION? YES, SIR.I MOVE THAT THE BUFORT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
RECEIPT OF LEGAL ADVICE REGARDING PURCHASE OF PROPERTIES IN SOUTHERN BUFORT COUNTY PURSUANT TO SOUTH CAROLINA CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 30 DASH FOUR DASH 40 A FIVE.
DISCUSSION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO SECURITY PLANS PURSUANT TO SOUTH CAROLINA CODE ANNOTATED 30 DASH FOUR DASH 20 C AND 30 DASH FOUR DASH 70 A THREE.
WE HAVE SECOND, SECOND, SECOND BY DR. CARR.
ANY DISCUSSION? ANYBODY ONLINE? I THINK WILL'S SAYING HE'S GOT A QUESTION.
MR. SMITH, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? IS THAT WHAT HE SAID? HE'S IN THE HALLWAY.
IS UH, MS. ROBERTSON GONNA BE ON? YES, SIR.
UH, SARAH ROBERTSON AND THEN OF COURSE I THINK WENDY CARTILAGE WILL BE ONLINE.
SARAH, SARAH ROBERTSON AND WENDY CARTILAGE WILL BE.
THAT'S TOO BAD I COULDN'T GET IN.
YEAH, WE HAVE, UH, TWO PEOPLE, TWO ATTORNEYS THAT WILL BE ADDRESSING.
DID YOU GET THE NAMES? DID YOU? SARAH ROBERTSON.
SARAH ROBERTSON AND WENDY CARTILAGE.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? WOULD YOU LIKE TO, TO, UH, DID YOU GET TO SEE WHAT'S GOING TO BE DISCUSSED IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION? YES.
WILL, ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH US BEING DISCUSSED? I'M JUST GONNA ABSTAIN.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF, UH, GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE.
WE WILL NOW GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.
[Action as Necessary or Appropriate Regarding Matters Discussed in Executive Session]
BACK TO ORDER.MADAM SECRETARY, DO WE HAVE ANY ACTIONS FROM THE EXECUTIVE, UH, SESSION TO CONSIDER? UH, YES, SIR.
WE HAVE ONE MOTION COMING OUT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVED THE SUPERINTENDENT TO NOTICE.
I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVED THE SUPERINTENDENT TO ISSUE A NOTICE OF INTENT TO PURCHASE A PROPERTY ON A IN SOUTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? ONLINE? DO WE HAVE MS. UH, IS MS. GORDON ONLINE? YES.
[00:05:01]
DO WE HAVE MS. MS. MS. GORDON, PASTOR GORDON, ARE YOU, UH, ARE YOU LINE MR. SMALL? MS. T, HOW WOULD YOU VOTE ON THE, UH, THE MOTION? AYE.I DON'T HEAR ANYTHING FROM, UH, MR. SMALL OR, UH, PASTOR GORDON OR MS. GORDON.
[Approval of Agenda]
APPROVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE AGENDA.ANY DISCUSSION? ANY DISCUSSIONS? OH, OH, MR. SMITH? YES, SIR.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO PULL OFF THE, UM, SECOND QUARTERS OF THE, UM, ON, UH, FOR, FOR YOU ON, ON THE, UH, CONSENT AGENDA.
YOU, YOU, YOU WANNA BRING IT UP? UH, AND BOARD ACTION? YES, SIR.
AND ANY OTHER, ALL THIS ONE RIGHT HERE? JUST GO WITH THE BOARD BUSINESS ACT.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE.
UH, ANYBODY ONLINE? MR. UH, MS. GORDON, PASTOR GORDON, OR, UH, MR. SMALL? UH, I SEE CHLOE GORDON IS AN I.
UM, I, I SEE AN I FROM, UH, MR. SMALL PASTOR GORDON, I AND PASTOR GORDON AS AN I.
[Pledge of Allegiance, Moment of Silence, Statement of Media Notification ]
A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, MOMENT OF SILENCE.I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE I THE FLAG OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TWO REPUBLIC FOR WITCHES STANDS.
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
PLEASE REMAIN STANDING FOR A MOMENT OF SILENCE.
MS. CUSH BARRY IS MEETING, IS THE MEDIA BEEN NOTIFIED? THANK YOU.
[Student Performance]
THE STUDENT PERFORMANCE FROM MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL.DO THEY WANT US TO GO OUTSIDE? OKAY, LET'S GO OUTSIDE.
LISTEN TO MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL BAND,
GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
DR. RODRIGUEZ, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US OUT HERE THIS EVENING.
I'M PROUD TO PRESENT THE MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL SILVER SOUND MARCHING BAND, WHO WILL BE PERFORMING TWO PIECES FOR US THE EVENING.
UH, ONE IS TALKING OUTSIDE OF YOUR NECK, AND THE OTHER IS PANTHEON FROM THEIR FIELD SHOW, WHICH THEY'LL BE PERFORMING QUITE OFTEN THIS YEAR, UM, AS AN OPA WINNING BAND, AND STRIVING FOR THAT HONOR FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA BAND DIRECTOR ASSOCIATION YET AGAIN, UH, THIS BAND IS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MS. DEB HAMNER, AND I AM PLEASED TO PRESENT TO YOU THE MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL SILVER SOUND MARCHING BAND.
[00:12:38]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THANK YOU, UH, HAVING US TO PERFORM, UH, THIS EVENING.I ALMOST SAID THIS MORNING, AND IT'S DEFINITELY NOT MORNING ANYMORE.
UM, ANY WORDS, MS. HAMNER? THANK YOU SO MUCH.
I HOPE YOU, I, I'M GLAD THAT SOME OF YOU CAME OUT TO THE SHOWCASE THE OTHER DAY, THE OTHER WEEKEND.
WE'RE GONNA BE DOING THE FIRST ACTUAL COMPETITION ON THIS SATURDAY, UM, IN GRANITEVILLE.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
I WONDER IF IT JUST AUTOMATICALLY, GUY, IF I MAY, UH, WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE SOMEBODY TO THE BOARD.
UM, JUST OUT HERE, THE GENTLEMAN WHO WAS SPEAKING AND INTRODUCING THE MAY RIVER BAND, MATTHEW BENNER IS OUR DISTRICT DIRECTOR OF, UH, FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS.
AND SO, UH, IF YOU'D COME, UH, UP FRONT, I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR BOARD.
UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO HELP LEAD ALL OF THE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS, UH, DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE DISTRICT IN BUILDING UP OUR PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
[00:15:01]
AND BUILDING UP THE SKILLS AND THE, UH, OUTPUT OF OUR STUDENTS ACROSS THE BOARD NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE BROAD, ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL.UM, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING THE TIME TO GET TO KNOW ALL OF THE TEACHERS AND ALL OF THE STUDENTS ACROSS THE ENTIRE DISTRICT AND ELEVATE, UH, THEIR LEARNING AND ELEVATE, UH, WHAT THEY'RE ABLE TO DO IN THE ARTS, SO THAT, THAT IS SOMETHING, WHETHER IT'S A CAREER OR JUST A HOBBY OUTSIDE OF, UH, THE WALLS OF THEIR SCHOOL BUILDING SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN PURSUE.
WHAT INSTRUMENT DO YOU PLAY? I'M A PERCUSSIONIST.
PLEASE DON'T HOLD THAT AGAINST ME.
WHATCHA TALKING ABOUT? WELL, I, I MEAN, I PLAY A LOT.
I HAD TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY EVERYTHING, BUT MY PRIMARY IS PERCUSSION.
YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO HEAR ME PLAY FLUTE.
[Points of Celebration]
THIS EVENING, UNDER POINTS OF CELEBRATION, WE BEGIN WITH AUGUST STUDENTS OF THE MONTH.AND SO, UM, AS WE CELEBRATE AUGUST STUDENT OF THE MONTH, THE CHARACTER TRAIT FOR AUGUST WAS FRIENDSHIP AND KINDNESS.
FRIENDSHIP IS DEFINED AS THE EMOTIONS OR CONDUCT OF FRIENDS, THE STATE OF BEING FRIENDS.
KINDNESS IS DEFINED AS THE QUALITY OF BEING FRIENDLY, GENEROUS, AND CONSIDERATE.
THE AUGUST STUDENT OF THE MONTH FOR NORTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY IS ALEJANDRO MARTINEZ YAMAS, AN EIGHTH GRADE STUDENT AT ROBERT SMALLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY.
AND HERE, I BELIEVE TO INTRODUCE, UM, ALEJANDRO IS, UH, PRINCIPAL BRADLEY TERRANCE.
BUT I DON'T SEE HIM AT THE MOMENT, SO I'M WONDERING IF THERE MIGHT BE CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC.
SO WE'LL, WE'LL MOVE ON TO, TO THE NEXT ONE, AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE RECOGNIZE HIM IF HE'S UNABLE TO MAKE IT AT, AT THE NEXT ONE AUGUST.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH FOR SOUTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY IS JACKSON MILLER, A SOPHOMORE AT MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL.
AND HERE TO INTRODUCE JACKSON IS PRINCIPAL KORAN WEBB.
I AM GOING TO, UH, I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF INTRODUCING MR. JACKSON MILLER.
I ASKED JACKSON'S, UH, TEACHER TO SHARE A FEW WORDS ABOUT HIM AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR OTHER STAFF MEMBERS.
SO, IF YOU DON'T MIND, UH, I'M GONNA SHARE A FEW WORDS ABOUT JACKSON.
JACKSON IS A STUDENT AND OUR, UH, EMPLOYABILITY CREDENTIAL PROGRAM AT MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL.
JACKSON HAS BEEN DESCRIBED BY BOTH STAFF AND PEERS AS A FRIEND TO ALL.
HIS KINDNESS IS CONTINUALLY DISPLAYED IN ALL SITUATIONS.
JACKSON IS NON-JUDGMENTAL AND ALWAYS LOOKS FOR OTHERS, AND ALWAYS LOOKS TO HELP OTHERS.
JACKSON IS A YOUNG MAN WHO HAS INTEGRITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING, HAS PATIENCE WITH HIS CLASSMATES, AND EXEMPLIFIES TOLERANCE OF ALL.
JACKSON ALWAYS REACHES OUT TO OTHERS TO INCLUDE THEM IN HIS ACTIVITIES.
JACKSON GENUINELY LIKES ALL PEOPLE AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO BE KIND TO EACH OTHER.
HE IS ADVENTUROUS AND LEADS OTHERS TO TRY NEW THINGS.
JACKSON IS A MEMBER OF THE FCA CLUB WHERE HIS PASSION FOR GOD IS CONTINUOUSLY ON DISPLAY.
I DO HAVE ONE OTHER THING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO READ VERY QUICKLY IN REGARDS TO JACKSON.
JACKSON IS A LIGHT THAT SHINES EVERYWHERE HE GOES.
HE'S GENTLE, KIND, AND THE MOST LOYAL FRIEND.
HE LOVES WITH ALL HIS WHOLE HEART AND CARES DEEPLY FOR OTHERS.
HE HAS OVERCOME SO MANY OBSTACLES SINCE THE DAY HE WAS BORN, AND NEVER DOES HE LET ANYTHING GET IN HIS WAY.
HE'S TENACIOUS IN HIS EFFORTS TO BE, TO BETTER HIMSELF, AND THE WORLD IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE WITH HIM IN IT.
SO THAT LAST STATEMENT ACTUALLY CAME FROM MOM.
MOM IS ALSO, MOM IS ALSO A PARAPROFESSIONAL AT, UH, MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL IN ONE OF OUR EXCEPTIONAL LEARNERS CLASSROOMS. SO I COULD NOT GO WITHOUT ASKING MOM TO SHARE A FEW WORDS ON JACKSON AS WELL.
WHO ELSE KNOWS HIM BETTER THAN MOM? AND SO AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO BRING MOM, DAD, JACKSON, UH, ANY FAMILY MEMBERS, STAFF MEMBERS THAT ARE PRESENT TO COME UP AND CELEBRATE JACKSON FOR THIS AWARD.
I COULDN'T THINK OF A MORE DESERVING STUDENT FOR THIS TRAIT.
[00:20:35]
NEXT POINT OF CELEBRATION THIS EVENING IS INNOVATION AND NUTRITION EDUCATION AWARD.I'M HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE DISTRICT WELLNESS COMMITTEE RECENTLY WON THE INNOVATION AND NUTRITION EDUCATION AWARD FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
AND HERE TO TELL US MORE ABOUT THE AWARD ARE EMILY GRAY, COORDINATOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH, AND COLLEEN WARE REGIONAL NUTRITIONIST WITH THE NUTRITION GROUP.
UM, WE ARE JUST HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT A, AN AWARD THAT WE RECEIVED ON BEHALF OF THE WELLNESS COMMITTEE FOR THE DISTRICT.
UM, COLLEEN IS WITH THE NUTRITION GROUP, AND I'M THE PE COORDINATOR.
AND TOGETHER WE SORT OF TAG TEAMED OUR EFFORTS TO, UM, APPLY FOR THIS AWARD ON BEHALF OF ALL THE SCHOOLS AND THINGS THAT ARE, THEY'RE DOING, AS WELL AS WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE, UH, CAFETERIA.
UM, AND THERE'S THE LETTER THAT WE RECEIVED AS WELL AS THE, UH, CRITERIA FOR THE AWARD.
I WAS JUST GONNA SHARE WITH YOU, WHEN I ASKED FOR SOME FEEDBACK FROM THE PERSON WHO KIND OF FACILITATED OUR APPLICATION, UM, I FELT LIKE THIS, WHAT SHE SAID BACK TO US IN AN EMAIL WAS FITTING.
SO SHE SAID, UM, I THINK WHAT I LOVED ABOUT YOUR AWARD SUBMISSION IS THAT IT SHOWED DEEP PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS THE PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS THE DISTRICT.
THE NUTRITION EDUCATION EFFORTS DON'T JUST LIVE WITHIN THE NUTRITION SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
THE AWARD DESCRIPTION ILLUSTRATES PARTNERSHIP AND IMPLEMENTATION ACROSS DIFFERENT ENTITIES WITHIN THE DISTRICT, SCHOOL LEVEL STAFF, EXTERNAL PARTNERS, PARENTS IN THE PE DEPARTMENT.
THIS ISN'T JUST A ONE-TIME PROGRAM, WELLNESS OR NUTRITION EDUCATION IS EMBEDDED IN YOUR DISTRICT.
AND THIS AWARD REALLY HIGHLIGHTS THE WORK YOU HAVE PUT INTO BUILDING THIS CULTURE THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
SO I FELT LIKE THAT WAS A, A GOOD SUMMARY.
SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO COLLEEN.
UM, SO AS PART OF THE NUTRITION GROUP, UM, OUR GOALS EVERY MONTH ACROSS THE DISTRICT AND EACH SCHOOL IS TO DO NUTRITION EDUCATION.
AND THAT CAN VARY BETWEEN, UM, BARRIER VEGGIES, WHICH THE KIDS CAN MAKE THEIR OWN SALADS.
WE HIGHLIGHT DIFFERENT WELLNESS WEDNESDAY RECIPES, UM, TRY IT TUESDAY ON DIFFERENT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES THAT STUDENTS MIGHT NOT BE ACCUSTOMED TO.
UM, AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, WE REALLY JUST WANT THE STUDENTS TO HAVE EXPOSURE AND, UM, AS MUCH NUTRITION EDUCATION AS POSSIBLE.
THAT CONCLUDES OUR POINTS CELEBRATION THIS EVENING.
[Chair’s Report]
WE ARE, HAVE REACHED OUT TO THE COUNTY COUNCIL, UH, TO HAVE A JOINT MEETING TO DISCUSS THE, UM, MULTI-COUNTY INDUSTRIAL PARK INITIATIVE FROM USCB.ARE YOU A BOARD? ARE YOU CHAIRMAN'S REPORT? WE'RE DOING, WE MISS PUBLIC COMMENTS.
I, OKAY, I'LL DO THIS AND I'LL GO, I'LL GET THE PUBLIC COMMENTS.
UH, WE'VE GOT MS. CUSHEN BARRY SENT OUT TO BOARD MEMBERS, UH, THREE SUGGESTED DATES.
SEPTEMBER 24TH, SEPTEMBER 30TH, AND OCTOBER 1ST.
UH, PLEASE CONTACT, UH, YEAH, SHE, IT WAS SENT OUT AT 10, 10 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING ON EMAILS.
NO, I SENT IT TO COUNTY COUNCIL.
YOU HAVEN'T, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET.
SO WE'RE KINDA ANNOUNCING IT NOW.
UH, WE KNOW OCTO SEPTEMBER 24TH, UH, SEPTEMBER 30TH OR OCTOBER 1ST.
AND ALSO IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE YOU WANT TO HAVE ON THE AGENDA, MR. SMITH, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU HAD SOME OTHER TOPIC THAT YOU WANTED TO TALK.
IF YOU COULD GIVE THAT TOPIC, UH, TO MS. CUSHEN BARRY AND OTHER BOARD MEMBERS, IF THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO, UH, DISCUSS IN THAT MEETING, UH, PLEASE GET THAT TO MS. CUSHEN BARRY.
[00:25:01]
AS SOON AS WE GET, UH, FEEDBACK FROM THE COUNTY COUNCIL, UH, WE'LL GET IT OUT TO EVERYBODY.[First Public Comments]
GO BACK TO WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO GO FOR THE FIRST PUBLIC COMMENTS.THE FIRST PUBLIC COMMENT, UM, MR. CAMBRIA, UH, YOU WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IS ON THE AGENDA TODAY.
SO I THINK YOU KNOW THE RULES AND YOU CAN START WHEN, UH, WHEN YOU GET UP THERE READY TO GO.
IT BRINGS ME NO PLEASURE TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS THIS EVENING.
OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO PROVIDE THE BOARD WITH HIGHLY RELEVANT AND EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CONCERNS ON THE AC ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY STUDENTS IN SEVERAL ACADEMIC AREAS, INCLUDING THE ALGEBRA AND OF COURSE EXAM PROGRAM.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE BOARD HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE IMMUNE TO DATA AND FACTS.
ANY ATTEMPTS TO QUESTION THE DISTRICT'S INCOMPLETE OR AMBIGUOUS REPORTS ARE CHARACTERIZED AS FALSE, INVALID, AND THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO SPEAK UP ARE CLASSIFIED AS TROUBLEMAKERS CRITICS OR UNINFORMED.
BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT IS LOCATED IN THE SECOND WEALTHIEST COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
IT'S EMBRACED AND SUPPORTED BY A COMMUNITY THAT HAS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED PUBLIC EDUCATION.
IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, THE COMMUNITY HAS SUPPORTED TWO BOND REFERENDUMS IN EXCESS OF THREE QUARTERS OF A BILLION DOLLARS.
THE BIGGEST IN STATE'S HISTORY, SALARIES INCREASES FOR STAFF, ADMINISTRATORS, AND THE SUPERINTENDENTS HAVE BEEN PROVIDED RANKING THEM IN THE TOP FIVE IN THE STATE, AN INCREASE IN THE OPERATING BUDGET OF MORE THAN 25% WHILE STUDENT ENROLLMENT HAS DECREASED.
WHEN IT'S TIME TO ASSESS OUR STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE AND TEACHERS' EFFECTIVENESS, WE MEASURE OURSELVES WITH THE STATE AVERAGE.
LET ME REMIND YOU THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DEMAND BETTER.
MY QUESTION TO YOU IS SUCCINCT.
WHO AMONG YOU IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING TO ADDRESS THIS PANDEMIC? WHICH BOARD MEMBERS WILL SHOW THE ETHICAL AND MORAL COURAGE TO DEMAND MEANINGFUL CHANGES IN ATTITUDES, APTITUDES, AND CULTURE, WHICH OF YOU'LL MANDATE TANGIBLE STEPS TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF COMPLACENCY AND STAGNATION? YOU CANNOT CONTINUE TO AVOID FACTS AND DATA TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THOSE RESPONSIBLE FAILURES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DATA AND FACTS WILL ONLY CONTINUE TO PERPETUATE AND INCREASE THE BROAD DIVIDE IN OUR SCHOOLS.
AN ATTACHMENT TO MY REMARKS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A SNIPPET OF DATA.
WITH YOUR PERMISSION, THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION THERE.
ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS? ALRIGHT, I'LL GO ON TO THE NEXT ITEM ON
[Committee Reports]
THE AGENDA.AND THAT IS COMMITTEE REPORTS LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
THE, UH, LEGISLATIVE, EXCUSE ME, LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MET ON AUGUST 13TH, AND, UH, WE HAD THE, UM, FIRST OF WHAT WE CALL AND IS KNOWN IN THE AREA OF INNOVATION AS IDEATION, WHICH MEANT WE ACTUALLY WERE HOLDING A COMMITTEE MEETING TO HAVE NO CONSTRAINTS ON WHAT WAS DISCUSSED, BUT WITH SOME GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WE WANTED ALL OF OUR PARTICIPANTS TO THINK ABOUT THINGS THAT AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO EDUCATE OUR STUDENTS THAT OCCURS OUTSIDE OF THE FENCES OF OUR SCHOOL BOARDS.
I MEAN OUR SCHOOL, UH, BOUNDARIES AND WHAT CAN WE DO IN TERMS OF LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS TO CREATE A MORE SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENT LEARNING.
NOW A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY, WELL, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WE HAVE TO BE CANDID ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN SOCIETY.
WHEN I FIRST WENT TO COLLEGE IN 1973, THE MALE FEMALE RATIO WAS 60% MALE AND 40% FEMALE.
THAT SAME INSTITUTION TODAY IS 40% FEMALE AND 60%, YOU LOOK AT CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE PERCENTAGE OF TWO PARENT HOMES WHERE, AND I'M NOT BEING PEJORATIVE ABOUT HOW YOU DEFINE THE DEFINITIONS OF THE MEMBERS OF THOSE TWO PARENTS.
I'M JUST SAYING REARING A KID IS A CHALLENGING JOB.
AND BACK IN THE DAY WHEN THERE WAS A SPLIT OF DUTIES AND A MALE OR FEMALE OR WHATEVER THE COMBINATION IS, COULD BE, AGAIN, WE, I THINK SOME POINT WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE NEED TO BE FOCUSED ON WHAT HAPPENS WITH KIDS BETWEEN THE AGE OF BIRTH AND COMING INTO KINDERGARTEN OR EITHER INTO OUR SCHOOLS.
THAT IS A HARD REALITY AND IT'S A HARD CONVERSATION TO HAVE.
BUT IF WE REALLY WANT TO PROPEL ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE EXPONENTIALLY, WE HAVE TO, I THINK, PERFORM
[00:30:01]
AND INFORM THE PUBLIC AS TO THE ROLE THAT THEY PLAY.NOW, A FEW PEOPLE KNOW THAT BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS SOME PROGRAMS THAT ARE TRULY PHENOMENAL.
THREE YEARS AGO BEFORE JOINING THE BOARD, I HAD NO IDEA.
THE FIRST ONE IS PARENTS AS TEACHERS.
SO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ACTUALLY HAS TEACHERS WHO GO INTO THE HOME AND HELP PARENTS UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE THEIR ROLE AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE LEARNING OF THEIR KIDS.
THAT IS A PHENOMENAL CONCEPT, PHENOMENAL CONCEPT.
AND THE SECOND ONE IS EXTENDED LEARNING CENTERS.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE SEEN IS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, WE HAVE THE BENEFIT OF ENGAGING INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE WILLING TO SET UP LEARNING CENTERS BEFORE SCHOOL, AFTER SCHOOL, WEEKENDS, HOLIDAYS, WHEN KIDS MAY NOT BE GETTING ANY TYPE OF EDUCATION.
SO THE IDEATION WAS LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE THAT, WHICH MEANT IT WAS FREEWHEELING.
WE HAD 11 DIFFERENT IDEAS TO GIVE YOU SOME OF THE IDEAS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT.
UH, IS THAT, UH, WE JUST TALKED ABOUT TWO OF THEM.
A LOT OF RESEARCH IS SAYING THAT KIDS IN THE ATTRACTION AND ENSLAVEMENT BY THE TECHNOLOGY ROBS THEM OF TWO THINGS.
ONE, FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND INTERPERSONAL INTERACTION ABILITIES.
AND THOSE THINGS ARE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL AS YOU GO THROUGH LIFE.
UNLIKE SPORTS WHERE IF I'M FASTER OR BETTER, OR SCORE MORE POINTS, IT'S VERY CLEAR, EASY TO SAY YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT PERSON NEXT TO YOU.
WHEN YOU GET INTO LARGE SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS, IT IS NOT ONLY YOUR ACADEMIC TALENT, YOUR PHYSICAL ABILITIES, IT IS ALSO YOUR INTERPERSONAL, YOUR PSYCHOLOGICAL, YOUR EMOTIONAL, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
SO THE IDEATION WAS TO GET THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO LOOK AT THINGS THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY PURSUE.
MAY NOT HAVE BEEN TRADITIONAL, MAY NOT BEEN THE TYPE OF THING THAT WE NORMALLY WOULD LOOK AT, BUT THEY AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO RAISE THE SCORES.
AND THAT'S NOT A COP OUT, THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE.
WE ACCEPT NO EXCUSES, BUT IT IS REALITY.
AND WE AS A DISTRICT ARE LOOKING AT HOW DO WE TARGET AND START LOOKING AT THINGS, NOT ON THE START, IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING, BUT HOW DO WE LOOK AT THINGS THAT ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT THE, IN, AT THE, UH, BIRTH OF THE HUMANS AND HOW DO WE GO FORWARD? SO WE HAD A SECOND ONE, UH, LAST WEEK.
AND WE GOT ANOTHER LIST OF PROBABLY ABOUT 10 ITEMS THAT, UH, THE CHAIR WAS SICK, SO HE COULDN'T PUT TOGETHER THE, UM, THE, UH, COPY OF IT.
YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS PRIOR TO THE NEXT MEETING.
SO PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AND SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR INPUTS TO ADD.
WE ARE VERY SOLICITOUS OF THOSE, AND WE WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH CULLING THOSE IDEAS, AB UH, ABIDING BY ALL PROTOCOLS AND REQUIREMENTS, BUT MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN PATCH THEM, PACKAGE THEM.
SO AS WE GO FORWARD, BEFORE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RECONVENES IN JANUARY, 2026, THERE ARE BILLS THAT ARE, THERE ARE IDEAS THAT ARE BEING SORT OF FORMULATED AMONG PEOPLE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE GET SOME OF OUR IDEAS INTO THAT CON THAT CON THAT, UH, CONVERSATION.
SO MR. CHAIR, WE WILL BE HAVING, UH, ANOTHER MEETING, WHICH WILL BE ANNOUNCED.
AND, UH, WE ARE VERY THANKFUL FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO PUT UP SOME REALLY AMAZING IDEAS AND THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC IN TERMS OF THE AGENDA BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? UH, THANK YOU.
UM, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE TAKE UP THE PIECE ABOUT SCREEN TIME, BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT, THE DATA ON SCREEN TIME, BUT IT'S, IT'S A NUANCED DISCUSSION BECAUSE THERE'S SCREEN TIME AND THERE'S SCREEN TIME MM-HMM
AND I THINK I DON'T WANT THE PUBLIC TO HAVE THE IDEA THAT WE'RE GOING TO START CUTTING DOWN ON THE ONE-TO-ONE OR REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, BECAUSE I THINK WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT IS MORE THE APPROPRIATE USE OF TECHNOLOGY.
AND I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE AND MR. SHAN TALK AND LOOK AT THAT DATA AND SORT OF BREAK IT DOWN, UM, A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, IF THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
AND THEN, UM, THE SECOND QUESTION I HAVE IS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, WE HAVE TALKED AND, UH, COLONEL GUYER AND I HAVE TALKED TO, UH, SPOKEN IN FRONT OF COUNTY COUNCIL ABOUT SAND SHARK ARENA, WHICH IS OUT IN THE PUBLIC.
AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS.
I WAS WONDERING IF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN MAYBE TALKING TO SOME OF OUR LEGISLATORS ABOUT SUPPORT FOR THAT, MAYBE DOING SOME ADVOCACY.
I WAS TALKING TO A GROUP OF FAIRLY INFLUENTIAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND THEY ASKED ME A QUESTION.
I SAID, HAVE YOU GUYS HEARD ABOUT SAND SHARK? AND THEY SAID, OH YEAH, SOUNDS GREAT.
AND I SAID, HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT HOW THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT PAYING FOR IT? THEY SAID, NO IDEA.
SO I THOUGHT MAYBE THIS WOULD BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO REACH OUT, UH, TO SOME OF THEM.
WE ABSOLUTELY WOULD TAKE THAT ON.
AND SOME OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN.
UH, THAT, THAT IDEA HAS BEEN BASICALLY BOILING FOR ABOUT A YEAR.
AND IT'S UNFORTUNATE THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ONLY LEARNED ABOUT IT PROBABLY 45 DAYS AGO.
AND IT HAS SOME, IT, AS IT'S PROPOSED CURRENTLY
[00:35:01]
HAS SOME FINANCIAL IMPACT, NEGATIVE IMPACT ON US.AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PROPERLY FUNDED CONTINUOUSLY SO THAT THE JOE AND JANE, JOE AND JANE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND WE'RE FIGHTING TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT AND, AND EDUCATE YOUR KIDS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE? MR. SMITH, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING? UM, I WAS, I WAS GONNA SAY, UH, AS WELL IS THAT, UM, I THINK THAT, UH, ALSO WE, WE, THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS MENTIONED IN ONE OF OUR OTHER MEETINGS THAT, UM, MR. UH, IN THE PROCESS OF, UH, OF WHAT THE SAND START CONVERSATION WE TALKED ABOUT TOO, ABOUT ALSO POSSIBLY HELPING OUT IN TERMS IN TERMS OF, UH, ASKING OUR LEGISLATORS SOME FOR SOME ASSISTANCE, UH, WITH, WITH ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE DIS THAT THE DISTRICT, UH, MAY, MAY HAVE.
SO I, I THINK THAT, UM, THE, THE, THE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT THIS LEGISLATION COMMITTEE IS DOING AND THE, THE DOORS THAT WE'RE KNOCKING ON IS, IS DIFFERENT.
AND I WANT TO PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND, AND I WANT TO, UH, COMMEND A LEVER TO COMMEND THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AS A WHOLE FOR MOVING THE MARKET AND ACTUALLY, UH, UH, NOT PASSING THE BUCK AND NOT BEING AFRAID TO TAKE ON THINGS THAT WE, WE HADN'T IN THE PAST IN TERMS OF GETTING IT DONE.
IS IT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? NO, NO, I'M JUST SCRATCH MY ELBOW.
UH, I LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE MEMBERS OF THE, UM, LEGISLATIVE, UH, COMMITTEE, WHICH ARE MS. BOATWRIGHT, UH, MS. HAY, UH, PASTOR GORDON AND MS. CHLOE GORDON.
THE CONVERSATION IS UNLIMITED.
UM, AND, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS TO ACTUALLY ADD COMMENTS AND INPUT.
ALRIGHT, LET'S GO TO OPERATIONS.
HEY, UH, FIRST UP, HILTON HEAD ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL LACROSSE FIELD NAMING THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
REVIEWED AND RECOMMENDED APPROVAL FOR THE NAMING OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL LACROSSE FIELD.
AFTER THE LATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR MR. JOE MONIER, HONORING HIS 20 YEARS OF SERVICE.
UH, THE SIC FORMER REQUESTED THE NAMING AND THE LETTER OF SUPPORT IS SUBMITTED WITH OUR PRE, UH, PRE-READ STUFF AND ADHERES TO POLICY, UH, OS 28, WHICH GOVERNS THE POLICY, THE PROCESS.
UH, SO THERE IS A MOTION YOU WANNA, IT'S UP TO YOU.
I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ACCEPT THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION TO NAME THE HILTON HEAD ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL LACROSSE FIELD.
AFTER, AFTER MR. JOE MAIER IN HONOR OF HIS SERVICE TO THE HILTON HEAD ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL'S ATHLETIC PROGRAM FOR 20 YEARS.
AND, UH, THIS DISCUSSION, MAIN DISCUSSION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR IN THE ROOM SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE.
UH, MS. GORDON? MS. GORDON? SHE'S MUTED.
MR. SMALL HAVE THOSE, I'M SORRY.
MR. SMITH IS GOING TO ABSTAIN ON THAT VOTE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. GO AHEAD.
THE NEXT THING THE, UH, OPERATIONS DISCUSSED WAS, UH, UPDATE TO OS 41.1 TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.
KEY TAKEAWAYS ARE THE DEFINES DRIVER REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING LICENSING AND BACKGROUND CHECKS.
RICK STRIKES PERSONAL VEHICLE USE FOR TRANSPARENT STUDENTS AND ACCEPT, UH, ACCEPT IN EMERGENCIES, STRENGTHENS ACCIDENT INCIDENT ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISCIPLINARY MEASURES.
UPSTATE UPDATES CDL DRIVER COMPLIANCE TO ALIGN WITH FEDERAL TESTING REGULATIONS AND CLARIFIES TAX TREATMENT OF COMMUTING AND DISTRICT VEHICLES.
WE ALSO, UH, BROUGHT FOR US A NEW, UH, OS T 43, THE AUTOMATIC EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS, UM, UH, ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION.
UH, THIS ESTABLISHES PROCEDURES FOR A ED ACQUISITION, PLACEMENT, AND EMERGENCY RESPONSES.
OUR KEY TAKEAWAYS WHERE THAT AEDS WILL BE INSTALLED AT DESIGNATED AREAS ACROSS THE DISTRICT, ACROSS SCHOOLS, MONTHLY INSPECTIONS, LOGS, AND REQUIRE AND REPAIRS REQUIRED EMERGENCY USE PROCEDURES AND STANDARDIZED, UH, TO BE STANDARDIZED DISTRICTWIDE AND PERSONNEL TRAINED TO AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION STANDARDS.
WE JUST HAD A CONSTRUCTION UPDATE TWO WEEKS AGO.
UH, SO I'M GONNA SAY THAT WE'RE STILL SPENDING MONEY.
UH, BUT, UH, THE ONLY THING THAT CHANGED FROM 2019 IS THAT WE'RE DOWN FROM 13, UH, UH, CLOSEOUTS TO 11 CLOSEOUTS SLOWLY CHIPPING AWAY AT THAT.
UM, 2023, WE'RE STILL SPENDING MORE MONEY.
[00:40:01]
A 42.5% OF FUNDS COMMITTED AND PAID.UH, AND LET'S SEE, ON TO, THAT'S ABOUT IT AS FAR AS WILLOW RUN PROPERTY GOES.
UM, UH, I'M GONNA SKIP THE, THE WILLOW RUN PROPERTY HVAC SYSTEM.
SO WE HAD A NICE, UM, WE HAD HAD A NICE PRESENTATION ABOUT OUR HVAC SYSTEMS. UH, MR. DEN CAME UP, UM, BASICALLY, UH, GAVE US SOME, SOME STATISTICS AND SOME OTHER THINGS ABOUT OUR HVAC SYSTEM.
UM, WHICH EVEN BEING ON OPERATIONS FOR THREE YEARS NOW, I STILL, UH, EM BOGGLED BY SOME OF THE, THE INFORMATION OUT THERE.
UH, INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS TOTAL MORE THAN $273 MILLION.
UM, HVAC, UH, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR, FOR $42 MILLION OF THAT, AND ABOUT $28 MILLION OF THAT WAS URGENT.
UM, WHAT I DIDN'T REALIZE IS WE HAVE OVER 1500 HVAC UNITS IN THE DISTRICT, UH, WHICH IS MIND BOGGLING IN MY, IN MY OPINION.
AND, UM, THE, THIS WHOLE, UM, RACKET OF, OF, OF COOLANT, R 20 TWOS BEING PHASED OUT.
ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE TO BE COMPLIANT BY 2030.
UM, THERE'S MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT ARE GONNA BE OUT THERE ON THE TABLE THAT ARE GONNA HAVE TO BE ACCOUNTED FOR AND SPENT, AND BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
BUT REST ASSURED, UM, UH, MR. OTTING AND OUR OPERATIONS, UH, DEPARTMENT HAVE A PLAN, UH, WHICH WAS, UH, UH, SUPPORTED AND I GUESS INITIATED BY OUR PRIOR OPERATIONS COMMITTEE HEAD.
UH, SO, UH, I GUESS, UH, SOON WE'LL BE GETTING AN UPDATE ON, UH, WHAT THAT PLAN IS, UH, SO THAT WE CAN GET, UH, COMPLIANT BY 2030.
AND THEN, ALL RIGHT, SO I THINK WILLOW WON.
WILLOW RUN, UH, WAS THE LAST THING.
UH, AS FAR AS THE, THE WILLOW RUN PROPERTY, UH, IT'S BEEN UP AND DOWN, UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT MAY NOT BE AWARE, BUT, UH, WE'RE BACK IN, UM, UH, NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TOWN OF BLUFFTON, UH, AND THINGS ARE MOVING FORWARD AGAIN.
QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS FOR OPERATIONS CONCERNS.
MR. SMITH? UH, THERE ARE A COUPLE THINGS I JUST WANTED TO, UM, HIGHLIGHT.
I THANK YOU AS A VERY, UH, THANK YOU MR. CHAIR, UH, FOR, UH, YOUR GREAT, UM, PRESENTATION ON, ON, UM, WHAT HAPPENED, BUT JUST WAS A COUPLE THINGS THAT I WANTED TO, UH, BRING, BRING, UH, I WANT TO BRING OUT CLEARLY, BRING CLEARLY TOO.
UM, THE, UM, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE DISTRICT VEHICLES AS WELL, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE BEING A NEW COMPANY COMING TO THE DISTRICT, AND WE TALKED ABOUT THE DISTRICT DECALS GOING ON ALL THE VEHICLES BECAUSE MY MAMA SAID, WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER.
SO, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT IF IT WAS, IF WAS DISTRICT DEC, BECAUSE ON GOING ONE VEHICLE, THEY NEEDED TO GO ON ALL VEHICLES SO THAT ALL THEY ALL CAN BE, UH, RECOGNIZED.
AND THAT, AS I WAS COMING UP HERE, I WAS, UH, LOOKING AT THE SHERIFF CARS.
AND I NOTICED TOO, NOW THAT THEY WERE, THEY DIDN'T USED TO HAVE NUMBERS ON 'EM.
NOW THEY HAVE 2 64 OR FIVE WHATEVER, B WHATEVER.
SO I GUESS, SO, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S ANYTHING OR YOU KNOW EXACTLY, UH, WHO THAT IS.
SO, UH, UH, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND, AND ALSO WE TALKED ABOUT THE NEW CONTRACTOR COMING ON AND, UM, JUST, JUST, JUST THIS WEEKEND I WAS IN LOWS AND ONE, AND, AND SOMEONE CAME TO ME AND THEY WERE TALK, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE, UH, THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE DISTRICT HAS.
UH, WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE DISTRICT, A NEW COMPANY TAKING OVER AND WHAT THAT COMPANY HAVE DONE.
UH, A GUY, UH, BASICALLY TOLD ME THAT THEY WERE, SO, THEY WERE TOLD ALREADY THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO THEY WERE NOT KEEPING.
AND SO IN, IN THIS CONVERSATION, UH, WE WERE, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE CONTRACT OF THE, THE MOR NOT JUST THE MORALE, BUT ALSO THE, THE LEVEL OF WHAT WE EXPECT.
AND I HEARD THE, I HEARD COLONEL GEIER, UH, SPOKE SO ELEGANTLY THE OTHER FRIDAY MORNING AT THE, UH, TEACHER'S ASSOCIATION BREAKFAST OF THAT WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TAKING CARE OF FACILITIES AND THAT WE'RE GOING TO TAKE CARE OF SU UH, SUCH THINGS AS THE AIR CONDITIONER, SO ON, AND, AND, AND THOSE THINGS.
AND FROM WHAT I WAS, FROM WHAT I GOT, WHAT I GAVE WAS DEFINITELY A CONCERN THAT WE, I BOUGHT IT UP IN THE, YEAH, I BOUGHT IT UP IN THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, AND I WANTED TO BRING IT UP HERE TOO, FOR THE RECORD.
ONCE AGAIN, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE NOT SELLING THE CONTRACTOR AT THIS POINT, YOU KNOW, UH, WHO, WHO TO HIRE, WHO TO FIRE.
BUT ONE THING I WILL SAY IS THAT WE ARE, AS A BOARD, WE'RE GONNA EXPECT THESE POSITIONS TO BE FULL.
ONE OF THE CONTRACT, A CONTRACT IS A CONTRACT.
AND THIS AIN'T HOW WE HOLD TEACHERS AND THE SUPERINTENDENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR DOING THEIR JOB.
I IMAGINE WE'RE GONNA DO THE SAME THING WITH, WITH, WITH THIS, UH, CONTRACTOR, BECAUSE FROM MY SIDE, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO THIS CONTRACTOR HAS TOLD THAT THEY ARE NOT COMING INTO THE DISTRICT.
I MEAN, THEY, THAT THEY, THEY'RE GONNA BE LET GO AND, AND THEY'RE NOT KEEPING THEM UNDER THIS NEW CONTRACT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT OUT.
I SAID, I SAID THAT AT THAT MEETING.
I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT, THAT WE GOT THAT OUT HERE AGAIN AS WELL.
SO I'M WANTING TO, I'M PUTTING THE CONTRACT OR WHOEVER I'M PUTTING 'EM ON NOTICE FROM MY SEAT, FROM WHERE I STAND, UM, BEING MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE ARE USING TAXPAYERS' MONEY AS AS, UH, AS WE, AS WE, AS WE SHOULD.
ANOTHER THING WAS THAT, IS THAT, UM, THE, UM, THE PLAN, THE OLD, THE OLD CHAIR OF THE
[00:45:01]
OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED THAT THEY WERE GOING, THAT, THAT THE AIR CONDITIONERS OR, OR, OR WHATEVER, THAT THERE WAS A PROCESS, BUT THE PROCESS WAS NEVER BROUGHT TO THE COMMITTEE, IS WHAT I'M UNDERSTANDING.THAT HE WAS, UH, MR ING IS, IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE PROCESS OF BRINGING THAT, UM, OF, OF, OF BRINGING THAT PLAN AND WHAT THAT PLAN WHY LOOK LIKE TO WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, AND HOW, AND HOW, HOW, HOW WE ARE, HOW, HOW, HOW THE DISTRICT IS GOING TO UNDERTAKE THAT.
BECAUSE THAT, THAT IS A VERY, VERY SERIOUS SITUATION IN, IN TERMS OF TYPE SITUATION.
THAT'S A VERY, IN, IN TERMS OF US PREPARING FOR NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET AND UNDERSTANDING THE MONEY THAT'S GONNA COST AND WHAT THAT PROCESS IS.
I THINK THAT AS SOON AS WE HAVE THAT IS VERY, UH, I'M NOT SURE MY, HOW MY COLLEAGUES, HOW MY COLLEAGUES FEEL ABOUT THAT, I THINK IS IT, IT, IT WOULD BE MORE HELPFUL SO THAT GOING INTO THE NEXT YEAR THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND AND DIGEST HOW WE'RE GOING TO, UH, DIGEST THIS, THIS, THIS NEW BUDGET FOR THE COMING FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR.
BECAUSE, UH, THIS IS A, THAT, THAT'S GONNA BE A MAJOR CHANGE OVER TO SOME DEGREE, WHICH IS NO, WHICH IS, I GUESS, NO, NO DIFFERENT THAN OTHER THINGS IN THE DISTRICT.
BUT I JUST WANT THE EARLIER THAT WE HAVE IT, THE MORE WE GIVE IT, THE MORE TIME WE WILL HAVE TO PREPARE FOR IT AND TO UNDERSTAND AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT, WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT, PUT THOSE COUPLE THINGS OUT THERE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OUR NEXT MEETING IS GOING TO BE MOVED FROM OUR NORMAL MEETING DAY OF OCTOBER 7TH, IF WE WERE ON THE SECOND TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, UH, OCTOBER 15TH.
SO, UH, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS THAT HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL, SAC, CAN ATTEND THAT MEETING THAT IS ALSO ON THE SEVENTH.
SO WE'RE, UH, OPERATIONS COMMITTEE IS MOVING TO OCTOBER 15TH.
[Superintendent’s Report]
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.UH, BOARD MEMBERS THIS EVENING, UH, WE HAVE DR.
STRATOS AND WE HAVE, UM, A COUPLE OF MEMBERS OF DR.
STRADDLES TEAM WHO ARE OUT THERE DOING FANTASTIC WORK IN OUR SCHOOLS.
THEY WANNA, UH, SHARE SOME INFORMATION WITH YOU REGARDING INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT IN, UH, LANGUAGE ARTS AND INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT IN MATH.
AND GOOD EVENING BOARD MEMBERS AND GOOD, GOOD EVENING CHAIR GEIER.
I DO WANNA TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE TWO MEMBERS FROM OUR INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICE DIVISION, WHO YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH, DR.
MONA LISA DIXON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AS WELL.
JOINING ME THIS EVENING IS OUR DIRECTOR FOR LITERACY, MELISSA MURRAY.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT THEY ARE PART OF MY TEAM, BUT EACH ONE OF THEM HAVE THEIR OWN DYNAMIC TEAM BY WHICH WHO CONDUCT WORK THAT THEY ARE DRIVEN TO.
IF WE CAN GO TO THE PRESENTATION, TO THE FIRST SLIDE, I'D LIKE TO, TO WALK YOU THROUGH QUICKLY, A FEW ITEMS BEFORE WE GET INTO THE SUPPORT AND THE WHY OF THIS MEETING.
IF YOU COULD PAUSE RIGHT THERE.
SO, AT OUR LAST BOARD MEETING, UM, AS WE SHARED SOME PRELIMINARY DATA POINTS, SO OF OUR DATA THAT IS EMBARGOED, EMBARGOED AT, WITH THE STATE QUESTION CAME FORWARD AS TO WHAT ARE THE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES AND SUPPORTS IN ORDER TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND, AND IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING.
THIS DIAGRAM IN FRONT OF YOU RIGHT NOW IS ACTUALLY CREATED BY ONE OF OUR MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM, OUR SCIENCE, UM, COORDINATOR, FELIPE DE SILVA.
I WANNA WALK YOU THROUGH IT BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY DRIVES THE WORK THAT WE DO.
IT IS OUR MODEL FOR LEARNING AT THE VERY TOP DS A STANDS FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
THAT IS OUR WORK, THAT IS OUR TARGET, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AS WELL, OF THOSE WITHIN EACH DIVISION AT THE DISTRICT.
OUR WORK IS DRIVEN BY THE DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN, THAT IS A DSP.
AND THAT DSP SUPPORTS OUR SCHOOL RENEWAL PLANS AND WHAT LIES IN BETWEEN.
THAT IS THE HEART OF THE WORK.
AND THE VERY CENTER IS OUR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MODEL THAT BOTH THESE DIRECTORS BEHIND ME WILL SHARE INFORMATION WITH YOU.
AND TO THE ONE SIDE TO THE RIGHT IS MTSS OR MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM FOR SUPPORT FOR ACADEMICS, AS WELL AS A MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM FOR BEHAVIOR, WHICH DURING THIS ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR, YOU WILL HEAR MORE FROM, AS WE BRING FORWARD OUR DIRECTOR, UH, MICHELLE SACKMAN, WHO IS CHARGED WITH THAT INITIATIVE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH STUDENT SERVICES.
I'D LIKE YOU TO TAKE A MINUTE AND ALSO PAUSE THAT.
BUT WHAT SUPPORTS OUR DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN ARE THESE FOUR PILLARS, STEWARDSHIP, AND PART OF THAT CAME UP EARLIER IN CONVERSATION AMONGST YOU BOARD MEMBERS.
WHAT IS OUR STEWARD RESPONSIBILITY, OUR OWNERSHIP OR INTEGRITY OF PRACTICE ENGAGEMENT? HOW DO WE ENGAGE COMMUNITY, FAMILY, AS WELL AS HOW ARE WE ENGAGING OUR STUDENTS AT LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT? AS I SHOWED WITH YOU IN THE PRIOR SLIDE, THAT IS OUR DRIVING FORCE.
AND THEN THE SUPPORT THAT WE PROVIDE.
AND A LOT OF THAT IS THE WORK THAT IS PROVIDED THROUGH INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES.
[00:50:01]
YOUR RIGHT, IT SHARES WITH YOU TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATIVE QUALITY, THAT IS A GOAL IN OUR STRATEGIC PLAN.2.1, BUILD A DISTRICT WIDE CULTURE OF PRIDE, TRUST, AND RESPECT.
AND TWO WORDS THAT I'VE SAID TO YOU, BOARD MEMBERS, AND I WANNA REITERATE THEM, EFFICACY AND AGENCY.
WHAT IS MY EXPECTATION AND WHAT IS THE AGENCY THAT THE STUDENT HAS FOR LEARNING? AND THEN AS YOU LOOK TO THE BOTTOM, AND YOU'LL HAVE RECEIVED MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THIS, THIS AREA, THE OE 12, PART OF OE 12, OUR OPERATIONAL EXPECTATION IS TO ENSURE THAT TEACHERS PARTICIPATE IN COLLABORATIVE LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION AND STUDENT LEARNING.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN THIS OVER TO MELISSA MURRAY, WHO IS OUR DRIVING FORCE WITH HER TEAM FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, OR AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, HER FOR LITERACY.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THIS HIGH LEVEL VIEW OF OUR STRATEGIC SUPPORT TO SCHOOLS.
ON THE LEFT IN THE BLUE BOX, YOU WILL SEE THAT FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, WE HAVE CREATED CURRICULUM MAPS THAT TAKE THE HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ADOPTED FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND PACE THEM OUT ACROSS THE 180 DAYS OF INSTRUCTION.
TO ENSURE FOCUS AND OUR FOCUS ON OUR SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE AND CAREER READY STANDARDS, WE ALSO TOOK A VERY STRATEGIC APPROACH TO, TO CHANGE TO THE CHANGES WITHIN THE 2024 STANDARD FROM THE 20 20 20 15 STANDARDS.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, AS ITS DISTRICT VOCABULARY AND WRITING STANDARDS ARE A CURRENT AREA OF FOCUS, OUR DATA FROM A VARIETY OF ASSESSMENTS ARE SHOWING THAT STUDENTS NEED ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE WITH THE STRANDS.
AND VOCABULARY ALSO REPRESENTS A BIG SHIFT FROM 2015 STANDARDS TO THE 2024 STANDARDS.
PREVIOUSLY, EXPECTATIONS FOR VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION,
OUR ADOPT MATERIALS DO HAVE THE NEEDED LESSONS IN THIS SUPPORT IN THIS TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTION, AND WE ARE MONITORING THIS WITH DATA.
IN ADDITION, BOTH VOCABULARY AND WRITING HAVE ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL QUESTIONS ON SC READY AND THE EOC BASED ON THE NEW TEST BLUEPRINTS PUBLISHED AND SHARED BY THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO THE OTHER AREA OF THIS.
SO ALL OF OUR WORK IS GROUNDED IN THE RESOURCES SHARED WITH US FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, INCLUDING OUR STANDARDS, OUR ALIGNMENTS, AND OUR TEST BLUEPRINTS.
SIMILARLY IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, RUBICON ATLAS SUPPORTS EDUCATORS IN LESSON PLANNING THAT ALIGNS WITH STATE STANDARDS.
DATA ANALYSIS HAS POINTED US TO THE FOCUS ON FLUENCY, NUMBER SENSE AND FRACTIONS WITHIN MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION.
WE ALIGN OUR WORK WITH THE 2025 SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE AND CAREER READY MATHEMATICS STANDARDS.
LIKEWISE, WE PROVIDE ASSISTANCE WITH LESSON PLANNING AND SCIENCE FOR THE 2021 SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE AND CAREER READY, UM, STANDARDS, SCIENCE STANDARDS WHERE ARE DATA ANALYSIS.
IT HAS US FOCUSING ON ENERGY IN FOURTH GRADE WAVES IN SIXTH GRADE AND STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES IN BIOLOGY ONE, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES AND TEST BLUEPRINTS FOR SOUTH CAROLINA READY AND END OF COURSE, ASSESSMENTS GUIDE THIS ALIGNMENT, ENSURING CONSISTENCY AND SUPPORTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
NEXT SLIDE FOR ME, MISS, UM, CUSH BERRY.
SO THESE NEXT FEW SLIDES, WE'RE GONNA TAKE YOU THROUGH, UM, A BIG PICTURE VIEW OF HOW WE PLAN THE PATHWAYS FOR SUPPORT.
SO YOU'LL NOTICE THE VERY FIRST AREA WE'RE SEEING JANUARY, 2025.
WE WANTED TO START THERE TO ILLUSTRATE THAT WE START PLANNING FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR.
SO IN THE 20 24, 20 25 SCHOOL YEAR, JANUARY, WE ARE NOT ONLY MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE MEETING OUR GOALS AND OUR TARGETS FOR THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, WE'RE PLANNING AHEAD FOR WHAT IS NEEDED FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR.
AND AS THIS FLOWS THROUGH INTO FEBRUARY, WE'RE GONNA BE IMPLEMENTING ACTION STEPS BASED ON THE DATA THAT WE ARE RECEIVING.
UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE COULD BE DOING SOME BIG UNIT PLANNING AS A DISTRICT TO SUPPORT ALL OF THE SCHOOLS.
WE ALSO DO WHOLE AND SMALL GROUP SUPPORTS FOR PLANNING AT DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.
WE HAVE DATA CONFERENCES, UM, AND INSTRUCTIONAL DATA MEETINGS STRATEGICALLY PLANNED BASED ON SCHOOL NEEDS.
AND THEN THAT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO LEAD US INTO MARCH WHERE WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO MONITOR OUR IMPLEMENTATION STEPS.
WE'RE GONNA DEVELOP, LIKE, SO FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE WERE TALKING
[00:55:01]
ABOUT UNIT PLANNING, NOW WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND WE'RE MONITORING THAT PLANNING AND THE WORK THAT WAS DONE.UM, AND THEN WE'RE ALSO CHECKING TO MAKE SURE THAT IS ALIGNING TO THE DATA THAT WE'RE RECEIVING FROM THE BENCHMARKS THAT THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ASKS US TO GIVE OUR STUDENTS THREE TIMES A YEAR.
WE ALSO ARE STRATEGICALLY GOING INTO SCHOOLS, DOING CLASSROOM VISITS TO MONITOR INSTRUCTION.
SO CONTINUING ALONG THIS PATH, APRIL IS A GOOD TIME TO REVISIT THE TEST BLUEPRINTS AND STANDARDS AS BOTH DR. DIXON AND I MENTIONED THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RESOURCES ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF OUR WORK.
UM, AND SO, BUT THERE ARE STRATEGIC TIMES WHERE YOU NEED TO BRING THAT BACK TO, TO THE FRONT AND CENTER TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS CONSISTENT UNDERSTANDING FOR ACROSS ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
SO WE USE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVISIT IT WITH INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS AND, UM, LITERACY COACHES, NUMERACY COACHES.
THIS IS WHEN OUR THIRD AND FINAL BENCHMARK FOR THE YEAR WOULD'VE HAPPENED.
SO AGAIN, THAT HAPPENS THREE TIMES A YEAR FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
UM, AND THIS ONE IS WHAT TIES UP THE 20 24, 20 25 SCHOOL YEAR.
WE CAN SEE WHERE WE ARE GOING, BUT IT ALSO IS CONTINUALLY ALLOWING US TO DETERMINE WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS.
AS DR. DIXON AND I BOTH MENTIONED, WE KNEW COMING INTO THIS 20 25, 20 26 SCHOOL YEAR, THE AREAS THAT WE NEEDED TO FOCUS ON BASED ON THIS ONGOING DATA AND THE WORK THAT WE ACCOMPLISHED THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
MOVING INTO THIS YEAR, JUNE IS THAT TIME WHERE WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WRAP ALL OF THAT UP.
WE GET TO REALLY REFLECT ON WHAT HAPPENED THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
SO IN THIS CASE, THE 20 24 20 25 SCHOOL YEAR, WE'RE ANALYZING DATA, WE'RE ANALYZING OUR SCHOOL VISITS.
WE START TO FINALIZE THE WORK TO SEE WHICH GOALS WE HAVE ACHIEVED, WHERE WE ARE IN OUR ACTION STEPS, AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE CARRIED OVER INTO THE 20 25, 20 26 SCHOOL YEAR, HOW WE WERE GONNA PRIORITIZE THAT AND WHAT IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE ACROSS OUR DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.
AND AS YOU KNOW, WE CONTINUE THAT WORK IN JULY.
SO IN JULY, WE ARE FINALIZING OUR PLANS FOR THE 20 25, 20 26 SCHOOL YEAR.
WE ARE WORKING AS A DISTRICT LEVEL TEAM TO COMMUNICATE PLANS WITH EACH OTHER TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS CONSISTENCY OF OUR GOALS, UM, AND TO ALIGN INSTRUCTION AND BE READY FOR WHEN ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS COME BACK IN AUGUST.
SO WE GET TO SHARE THESE PLANS WITH OUR EDUCATORS AND LEADERS AND WE PRIORITIZE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEM.
SO WE MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR TO SPEAK TO OUR INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS AT SCHOOLS, TO OUR COACHES, TO OUR INTERVENTIONISTS, UM, AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SPREADING THAT DISTRICT-WIDE MESSAGE THAT WILL SUPPORT THEIR SCHOOL RENEWAL PLANS THAT DR.
THIS IS ALSO WHERE OUR AD MINIS BEGIN.
UM, SO THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US AS A TEAM TO COME IN FROM THE DISTRICT TO GO INTO EACH INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL AND TO ANALYZE THE DATA TOGETHER AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE IN ALIGNMENT WITH OUR GOALS AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL DOWN TO THE SCHOOL LEVEL BASED ON, UM, THE BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT, SEPTEMBER, THAT'S WHERE WE ARE NOW.
WE HAVE BEGUN INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS, WHICH YOU PROBABLY HAVE HEARD ABOUT.
THIS IS WHERE TEAMS GO INTO SCHOOLS AND WE DO CLASSROOM VISITS IN GROUPS TO ENSURE THAT WE SEE TRENDS THAT WE'RE MONITORING PROGRESS.
SO WE GET TO LOOK AT THAT DATA SIDE OF NUMBERS FROM THE ASSESSMENTS, BUT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT IT THROUGH THAT INSTRUCTIONAL LENS WHEN IT'S IN THE CLASSROOMS. WE ALSO ARE STARTING OUR INTERVENTION INTERVENTIONIST TRAININGS.
WE HAVE STARTED OUR COACHING TRAININGS.
SO THERE IS TRAININGS EMBEDDED THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR THAT SUPPORT OUR INSTRUCTORS AND EDUCATORS.
AND IN THE CASE OF ELA, YOU PROBABLY HAVE HEARD WE ARE NOW ALL PART OF A LETTERS TRAINING TOO.
SO THAT IS AN ONGOING PET PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
THIS LEADS US INTO OCTOBER WHERE WE'RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT OUR BENCHMARK DATA, BUT WE'RE ALSO STARTING TO PULL IN OUR COMMON ASSESSMENTS.
SO THESE ARE THE ASSESSMENTS BASED ON OUR UNITS OF INSTRUCTION THAT ARE TIED TO OUR STANDARDS.
WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT THESE ALIGN AND THAT THEY'RE STILL TELLING US THE MESSAGE THAT WE NEED TO SEE OR DO WE NEED TO MONITOR AND ADJUST.
SO YOU SEE, EVEN WE'RE ALWAYS WORKING OUR ACTION STEPS.
WE'RE ALWAYS WORKING OUR DATA.
ALL OF THIS LAYERS UPON EACH OTHER MONTH AFTER MONTH.
BUT WE HOPE YOU KIND OF SEE THAT IT'S JUST THIS VERY STRATEGIC WAY THAT WE'RE TRYING TO TACKLE, UM, TO ENSURE THAT ALL STUDENTS ARE HELD TO MASTERY OF THE STANDARDS, BUT WE SUPPORT THE SCHOOLS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE AND HAVING A CONSISTENT MESSAGE AND NOVEMBER IS A GREAT TIME TO START REFLECTING AND ADJUSTING.
SO IN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ALSO MEANS CONTINUOUS REFLECTING AND ADJUSTING OF OUR PACING TO HIGHLIGHT OUR STRENGTHS, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE HIT MEETING ALL OF OUR STANDARDS TO SUPPORT AND PROGRESS MONITOR THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ON TARGET WITH OUR INSTRUCTION OR ANY POSSIBLE
[01:00:01]
RETEACH PLANS.AND THEN THAT LEADS US INTO DECEMBER WHERE WE WOULD HAVE OUR NEXT BENCHMARK.
UM, AND THIS IS TO HELP US CONTINUE TO MONITOR THAT PROGRESS.
SO WE WOULD'VE ALREADY HAD ONE IN AUGUST.
WE'RE HAVING OUR NEXT BENCHMARK IN DECEMBER.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S THAT SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION APPROVED ASSESSMENT THAT WE MUST DO.
AND THEN THIS NEXT SLIDE, I'M TAKING YOU BACK TO JANUARY, AND THIS IS FOR THE FUTURE JANUARY, 2026.
ALRIGHT, SO WE WILL CONTINUE THIS WORK AND STRATEGICALLY NAME AND CELEBRATE GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR NEEDS AND ADJUST OUR ACTION STEPS AS NEEDED.
AND WE DO THIS AS A LAYERED APPROACH WITH CERTAIN PIECES ACROSS THE ENTIRE DISTRICT, LIKE CONSISTENT INSTRUCTIONAL STAN EXPECTATIONS FOR STANDARDS.
WE ALSO CONSISTENTLY SUPPORT OUR LEADERS, COACHES, AND INTERVENTIONISTS.
AND THEN WE WORK TO SUPPORT INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AT SCHOOLS.
ALL OF THIS WORKS WITH SCHOOLS, EDUCATORS, STUDENTS AND COACHES, LEADERS, AND DATA ENSURES WE ARE CONSISTENTLY MONITORING OUR INSTRUCTION TO REFINE AND TO BEST MEET THE STUDENT'S NEEDS WHILE EXPECTING ALL STUDENTS TO SHOW MASTERY TO STANDARDS.
COLONEL GEIER, UH, MR. DALLAS, MS. BOATWRIGHT, AND OTHER BOARD MEMBERS.
THIS IS A GRAPHIC THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN BEFORE, UH, THIS GRAPHIC.
MOST OF YOU SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH THIS GRAPHIC FROM OUR DIRECTOR OF READINESS, MS. ASHLEY GOUL, WHO ORIGINATED THIS, UM, MODEL IN FEBRUARY OF 2021.
THEN WE DID A LITTLE BIT OF TWEAKING AND, UM, SEPTEMBER OR JULY OF 2021 WITH MS. WALTON FOR OUR PADE FOR OUR PRINCIPALS.
NOW WE'RE BRINGING IT BACK TO YOU, SEPTEMBER, 2025.
THE BUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT PRESENTATION HIGHLIGHTS THE CRITICAL WORK OF THE A TEAM THAT IS OUR LITERACY TEAM'S NAME, AND THE MATH TEAM IS CALLED THE EXTREME TEAM AS CENTRAL TO DRIVING INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE AND ADVANCE IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
WE HAVE THE PLEASURE OF DISCUSSING WITH YOU FOR THE NEXT FEW SLIDES DETAILING HOW THESE TEAMS COLLABORATIVELY ENGAGE IN DATA ANALYSIS, INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT, AND CAPACITY BUILDING TO ENSURE HIGH QUALITY TEACHING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE DISTRICT.
OUR EFFORTS ARE INTEGRAL TO THE DISTRICT'S CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MODEL AND STRATEGIC PRIORITIES.
THE A TEAM AND THE EXTREME TEAM DEMONSTRATES A STRONG COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING COLLABORATION THROUGH INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS, MONITORING MEETINGS, AND THROUGH DATA ANALYSIS.
WE WORK CLOSELY WITH INSTRUCTIONAL, INSTRUCTIONAL AND LITERACY AND NUMERACY COACHES AS WELL AS ACADEMIC INTERVENTIONISTS TO BUILD THEIR CAPACITY AND PROVIDE THEM WITH ACCESS TO EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND STRATEGIES.
THIS TEAMWORK ENSURES THAT EDUCATORS HAVE THE RESOURCES AND SUPPORT NECESSARY TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES.
MS. CUSH BERRY DATA ANALYSIS REMAINS A CORNERSTONE OF OUR WORK.
OUR TEAMS METICULOUSLY REVIEW SCHOOL-WIDE GOALS, STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA, AND LEADERSHIP PRACTICES TO IDENTIFY OUR STRENGTHS AND AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT OR OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH.
THIS ONGOING DATA-DRIVEN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROCESS ENABLES THE DISTRICT TO MAKE TARGETED DECISIONS AND IMPLEMENT FOCUSED INSTRUCTIONAL INTERVENTIONS.
WE DEDICATE OURSELVES TO THIS REFLECTIVE CYCLE ENSURING THAT INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES REMAIN RESPONSIVE AND EFFECTIVE.
MS. CUSH BERRY COACHING PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE IN TRANSLATING DATA INSIGHTS IN CLASSROOM IMPACT THE A TEAM AND THE EXTREME TEAM.
WE LEAD EFFORTS TO SUPPORT COACHES AND ENHANCING TEACHER CONTENT, KNOWLEDGE AND INSTRUCTIONAL SKILLS.
OUR FOCUS IS ON BUILDING THE COACH'S CAPACITY TO ENHANCE TEACHER CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND IMPROVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF PROPELLING STUDENT OUTCOMES.
MS. CUSHING BEAR BY PRIORITIZING DEVELOPMENT GROWTH.
WE EMPOWER BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT EDUCATORS TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION ACROSS ALL TIERS.
TIER ONE, INSTRUCTION, TIER TWO AND TIER THREE, ENSURING THAT ALL STUDENTS RECEIVE APPROPRIATE AND INFECTIVE SUPPORT.
COLLABORATION ACROSS THESE TIERS FOSTERS A UNIFIED APPROACH TO INSTRUCTION AND INTERVENTION.
FURTHERMORE, THE DISTRICT PROVIDES KEY INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES, INCLUDING MATH AND READING TEST BLUEPRINTS TO ALIGN TEACHING WITH STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS.
THESE TOOLS STRENGTHEN TEACHER'S ABILITY TO DELIVER RIGOROUS INSTRUCTION AND PREPARE
[01:05:01]
STUDENTS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS.AS MY COLLEAGUE, MS. MELISSA MURRAY HAS STATED, OUR TEAMS CONDUCT TARGETED MINIS AND DATA CONFERENCES WITH OUR PRINCIPALS AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAMS. THESE DATA CONVERSATIONS SERVE AS A PLATFORM TO HAVE INSTRUCTIONAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT POINTS OF CELEBRATION, OPPORTUNITIES OF IMPACT AND GROWTH, AND NEXT STEPS TO EXPLORE AS A TEAM.
SO WE ALL LEAVE WITH AN ACTIONABLE STEP TO ASSIST THE SCHOOL IN ACHIEVING THEIR INTERIM GOALS.
WITHIN OUR EDUCATIONAL ECOSYSTEM, WE RECOGNIZE THAT WORK WE DO NOT ONLY IMPACT THE SCHOOLS, BUT OTHER DIVISIONS WITHIN BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AS THEIR WORK IMPACT US.
THIS IS THE REASON WE COLLABORATE WITH HUMAN RESOURCES, INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES, STUDENT SERVICES AND FINANCE IS A TESTAMENT TO OUR DEDICATION IN SUPPORTING OUR SCHOOLS AND BUILDING COLLECTIVE EFFICACY NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE OUR GOALS.
THE GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS ILLUSTRATES BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES, STRATEGIC COMMITMENT TO CONTINUOUS INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT THROUGH COLLABORATION, DATA INFORMED DECISION MAKING, COACHING AND RESOURCE ACCEL ACCESSIBILITY.
THE A TEAM AND THE EXTREME TEAM EXEMPLIFIES THE DISTRICT'S RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE, WORKING TOGETHER TO BUILD EDUCATOR CAPACITY AND DRIVE IMPROVED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
THIS COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK POSITIONS BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT TO SUSTAIN HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTION AND FOSTER MEANINGFUL PROGRESS ALL FOR ALL LEARNERS NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE AS WE MARCH TOWARDS THE MARK OF 75, 75, 92.
SO THIS LINK ACTUALLY CAN BE CUT AND PASTE FOR YOU TO ACCESS SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED TO YOU TO THE STATE WEBSITE.
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF EDUC OF EDUCATION PROVIDES A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF RESOURCES, BUT I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS I WANNA BRING FORWARD IS, UM, SUPERINTENDENT ELLEN WEAVER SHARED YESTERDAY, OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE OUR TEACHERS WITH HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL THAT IS ALIGNED TO THE STATE.
AND I DO LIKE TO SHARE THAT AS WELL.
AND THAT IS SOME OF THE WORK THAT OUR DIVISION DOES IN DETAIL AT THAT POINT.
THAT IS A CLOSE OUR DIVISION'S PRESENTATION.
STRADDLE, I'D LIKE TO ASK, UM, MELISSA MURRAY, IF SHE WOULD STEP FORWARD AND SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT LETTERS AND LETTERS TRAINING.
I KNOW, UH, THOSE WHO HAVE ATTENDED, UH, SUPERINTENDENT WEAVERS, UM, UH, SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS IN THE PAST, UM, AND CERTAINLY YESTERDAY HAVE HEARD ABOUT LETTERS AND LETTERS TRAINING.
AND SO, UM, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A, A BRIEF UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE ON THAT.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
UM, I DON'T, I, YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD FROM, UM, SUPERINTENDENT WEAVER THAT LETTERS IS A TWO YEAR COMMITMENT FOR EACH OF THE SCHOOLS.
SO CURRENTLY 11 OF OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS HAVE ALREADY FULFILLED THE TWO YEAR COMMITMENT, THE EXCEPTION.
ARE ANY NEW TEACHERS, K THREE THAT HAVE COME INTO THAT SCHOOL? THEY ARE, THEY WOULD NOW AUTOMATICALLY BE ENTERED INTO LETTERS, UM, IN A DIFFERENT COHORT FROM ACROSS THE DISTRICT.
AND THEN WE, OUR OTHER SCHOOLS ARE IN YEAR TWO OF THE TWO YEAR COMMITMENT.
UM, BUT IN THIS MOMENT WE HAVE ABOUT 750 EDUCATORS SOMEWHERE IN THE LETTERS PATH OF LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION.
UM, AS A STATE, THEY ALSO MADE IT OPTIONAL FOR FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE TEACHERS TO OPT IN, UH, TO DO LETTERS TRAINING.
AND I ESTIMATE WE HAVE ABOUT 50 TEACHERS THAT CHOSE TO DO THAT, WHICH IS VERY COOL.
UM, IN ADDITION, THEY ALLOWED SPECIAL EDUCATION MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS TO OPT IN AND IN FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, WE ACTUALLY HAD 23 EDUCATORS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL OPT IN TO TAKE THIS.
SO WE GET OUR OWN COHORT RIGHT HERE, WHERE THEY COME TO US, UM, BECAUSE WE HAD ENOUGH EDUCATORS THAT CHOSE TO BE PART OF THIS TWO YEAR COMMITMENT FOR LETTERS TRAINING.
UM, I WAS A PART OF THE VERY FIRST COHORT IN THE WORK.
IT IS A LIFT FOR THE TEACHERS.
THEY ARE PRACTICING IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. THEY'RE TAKING QUIZZES THEY HAVE TO READ, AND THEY GO TO FOUR PDS A YEAR THAT ARE, BUT OVERALL, THE FEEDBACK HAS BEEN WONDERFUL.
AND WE'VE SEEN THE TRANSLATION FROM THAT PD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INTO OUR CLASSROOMS. SO I'M REALLY PROUD OF ALL OF THE EDUCATORS IN THEIR WORK.
UH, WHAT LETTERS IS TO THE RETURN OF PHONICS? DO WE HAVE ANY PROGRAM THAT IS SIMILAR TO THAT FOR MATH? I'M GONNA BE A PRELUDE TO THAT AS I FEEL THE PRESENCE OF DR. DIXON
[01:10:01]
BEHIND ME.SO WE HAVE OGAP, WHICH IS ONGOING ASSESSMENT PROGRAM THAT IS ACTUALLY TRAINING ME, THAT'S BEEN EXECUTED HERE WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
WE HAVE, ARE ACTUALLY AHEAD OF THE CURVE ON THAT, SIR.
UH, ON MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE STATE IS ALSO LOOKING INTO THAT AS A METHOD, METHOD OF INSTRUCTION, BUT NOT ONLY A METHOD, BUT DEEPENING THE TEACHER'S CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN KEY MILESTONES WITHIN MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING.
AND WE HAVE ABOUT HOW MANY SCHOOLS? I JUST SIGNED ANOTHER CONTRACT TODAY TO BE VERY DIRECT WITH YOU.
SO WE ARE BUILDING THAT CON CONCEPT KNOWLEDGE, DEEPENING YOUR ABILITY AS AN EDUCATOR TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH OF FRACTIONS, PROPORTIONS, STATISTICS, PERCENTAGE.
THOSE ARE THE BASIC MATH STEPS, LIKE OUR ALPHABET.
ALPHABET IS WORDS, WORDS TO SENTENCES, SENTENCES TO PARAGRAPHS.
AND WE ARE BUILDING THAT CAPACITY AS WELL FOR OUR EDUCATORS.
I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DOES NOT HAVE A CONTENT SPECIFIC AREA AS SECONDARY DOES.
SO YOU TAKE ELEMENTARY, RE YOU SIT FOR ENGLISH, MATH, SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, BUT NOT 36 CREDITS IN A CONTENT AREA AS A SECONDARY EDUCATOR DOES.
WHICH MEANS UNLESS YOU HAVE A PREDISPOSITION FOR MATH, YOU'RE NOT GONNA GO TO THE DEPTH AS MAYBE SOMEONE STANDING BEHIND ME MAY HAVE GONE.
SO OGAP IS HELPING TO FILL THAT GAP, SIR.
MAY AS THEY SAY, UM, OGAP IS THE LETTERS FOR MATH, FOR MATH.
SO LIKE WE DID, I PRESENTED IT, I THINK LAST YEAR TO YOU GUYS ABOUT OGAP AND IN THE SPRING.
UM, ABOUT IT AND HOW IT HAS CHANGED THE MINDSET FOR SOME OF OUR EDUCATORS TEACHING MATH TO KIDS.
AND NOT SAYING THAT THEY DON'T LIKE MATH, BUT LOOKING AT MATH AS A DIFFERENT WAY AND THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT GO ALONG WITH IT.
SO REALLY WORKING ON THE FOUNDATIONS AND THEY HAVE ADDITIVE, MULTIPLICATIVE FRACTIONS AND PROPORTIONALITY THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT TO, LIKE SHE SAID, SHE JUST SIGNED ANOTHER CONTRACT AND SHE'S GETTING READY TO SIGN SOME MORE.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE IN-DEPTH INFORMATION.
UM, AND I MIGHT PUT YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT WHAT'S YOUR, WHAT'S THE BIGGEST THING YOU'VE LEARNED? POSITIVE THING THAT'S COME OUT OF THIS PROCESS OVER THE LAST YEAR? PLUS, I'M GONNA START THAT.
I'VE SEEN A SHIFT HAPPENING WHEN IT WAS WHAT WE SIT, WE LOOK, WE REVIEW STUDENT WORK, WE MONITOR THE DETERMINED MASTERY.
IT IS BECOMING A NATURAL PRACTICE.
THE NEXT SHIFT THAT I'M SEEING IS THE AVAILABILITY AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT TO DO NEXT TO HELP THE LEARNER.
THAT IS PROBABLY A, JUST SAYING THAT TO YOU, DR. CARR IS SIGNIFICANT.
IN OTHER WORDS, SHIFT IS HAPPENING.
AND I, AND I HAVE TO MAKE NOTE OF THAT TO OUR EDUCATORS, OUR SCHOOL LEADERS, AND OUR TEACHERS TELLING THEM THANK YOU.
THE FLIP SIDE OF WHAT IS THE BIGGEST HURDLE OR BARRIER THAT YOU'VE CONFRONTED IN THIS PROCESS? CADENCE OF CHANGE IN ALL TRUTH AND SHIFTING IN CULTURE.
AND DR. RODRIGUEZ HAS SAID THAT MORE THAN ONCE TO US AS A GROUP AND AS A, AS A BOARD.
YOU KNOW, CULTURE WILL EAT ANY TECHNOCRATIC PRACTICE ANY DAY THAT SHIFT IN CULTURE AND THE CADENCE.
UM, MR. SMITH, UH, COULD YOU ELABORATE? WHEN YOU SAID CADENCE HAVE CHANGED, WHAT, WHAT DO YOU, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? TALK TO ME ABOUT THAT.
I WANT IT NOW, BUT YOU MAY NOT BE READY FOR THAT.
I HAVE TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHY YOU NEED TO CHANGE MAYBE TO THIS OTHER MO MODEL OF DELIVERY OF INSTRUCTION MAY HELP THE STUDENTS IN YOUR CLASS LEARN DIFFERENTLY.
I HAVE TO BE ABLE TO HELP YOU REALIZE AND BE REFLECT AT YOUR PRACTICE IN ORDER THAT YOU RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE TEACHING ALL STUDENTS NOT JUST PART OF THE CLASS.
SO THAT'S WHAT I MEAN BY THE CADENCE.
MY EXPECTATION, MY EFFICACY MAY BE A LITTLE HIGHER, BUT I'M GONNA GET YOU THERE ON THAT PATHWAY TOGETHER.
AND OUR TEAM IS REALLY WORKING AT THAT.
MR. SMITH HELPING LEAD OUR COACHES.
WE HAVE PHENOMENAL COACHES AT THE SCHOOL SITES AND EDUCATORS WHO WANT EVERYTHING FOR THEIR TEACHERS.
AND I'LL SAY THIS, AND, AND I HATE TO PUT WORDS IN THE MOUTH WITH DR. DIXON, SHE MAY SAY IT BETTER, BUT TEACH IT'S ONE TEACHER WHO ACTUALLY TWO, 'CAUSE YOU HAD IT FOR ELA, WHO ARE RELUCTANT AT THE SHIFT, ARE COMING BACK AND SAYING THANK YOU.
AND I'M TALKING ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY.
[01:15:01]
SO THOSE OF YOU HAVE BEEN IN THE BUSINESS WORLD UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS, THE MOMENTUM, AND IT IS HAPPENING.I, SO IF THAT HELPS ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, SIR.
WELL, I ACTUALLY, I JUST WANTED TO HEAR WHAT THOSE, WELL, AFTER HE ASKED THAT QUESTION, I WANTED TO, YOU KIND, KIND OF DIGEST IT AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE SAYING.
UM, UH, THANK YOU FOR THIS, FOR THIS INFORMATION.
BUT, UM, I THANK YOU FOR THIS INFORMATION.
I, I APPRECIATE, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL HARD, HARD WORK.
UM, IN, IN TERMS OF, YOU, YOU SPOKE ABOUT COACHES.
WHAT DO, WHAT DO THAT LOOK LIKE AND HOW REGULAR DO YOU, UM, HOW REGULAR DO, DO Y'ALL MEET WITH THE COACHES AT, AT, AT THE DISTRICT? WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? LADIES, GO AHEAD.
WE ARE, WE HAVE COACHES IN OUR BUILDINGS, UM, AND WHAT WE MEET WITH THEM MONTHLY MM-HMM
SO EVERYONE COMING TOGETHER, FOLLOWING THAT STUDENT-CENTERED COACHING MODEL, AT THE CORE OF THAT IS THAT WE, UM, ENSURE THAT OUR INSTRUCTION AND OUR GOALS FOR STUDENTS IS ALIGNED TO THOSE, TO OUR STANDARDS AND INDICATORS.
SO WHEN WE GET THOSE LEARNING TARGETS, THEN THE COACHES KNOW, HOW DO YOU WORK WITH THE TEACHER TO KNOW WHAT STUDENT WORK WE'RE GONNA LOOK FOR? HOW ARE WE GONNA KNOW THAT ALL STUDENTS HAVE MET THAT MASTERY? SO WHEN WE MEET TOGETHER, PART OF IT IS JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE ALL ARE ON THE SAME PAGE OF HOW YOU DO THAT COACHING WORK.
IN ADDITION, OUR WORK TOGETHER IS CONSISTENCY ACROSS WHAT DOES INSTRUCTION LOOK LIKE FOR ALL FOURTH GRADERS, ALL EIGHTH GRADERS, ALL 12TH GRADERS, 12TH GRADERS.
UM, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF OUR STANDARDS AND INDICATORS OF OUR HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, WHEN THEY SHOULD BE USED, HOW IT'S ALIGNED, AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE USED, AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE USED.
UM, AND SO THE BEAUTIFUL PART IS OUR WORK IN SCHOOLS HELPS DRIVE THE AGENDA FOR THE COACH MEETINGS.
BUT THEN IN ADDITION, WE ALSO MEET WITH THEM INDIVIDUALLY.
WE HAVE CERTAIN COACHES THAT ARE IN COACHING CYCLES WITH US MM-HMM
UM, AND OUR TEAMS TO SUPPORT THEM IN A, IN A WAY THAT HELPS SUPPORT TEACHERS.
SO WE'LL DO SIDE BY SIDE OBSERVATIONS, WALKING IN CLASSROOMS MM-HMM
OR WE'LL DEVELOP ASSESSMENTS WITH THEM, OR WE WILL U UNIT PLAN ALONGSIDE THEM.
UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THAT JUST DEPENDS ON THE WORK THAT WE SEE IN SCHOOLS AND IN OUR MEETINGS TO SEE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, WHAT NEEDS TO THE NEXT STEPS THAT WE NEED TO EXPLORE.
NOT ONLY DO WE DO THAT, WE HAVE, UM, POWER HOURS WITH OUR COACHES WHERE WE MAY MEET WITH THEM MONTHLY.
SO NOT ONLY DO WE MEET WITH THEM MONTHLY AS A GROUP, BUT WE ALSO MEET WITH THEM, UM, WITH THE POWER HOURS.
AND LIKE MY COLLEAGUE SAID, MELISSA SAID THAT WE ALSO GO IN WITH THEM, UM, SIDE BY SIDE TO LISTEN TO THEM, TO WORK WITH THEM, WORK WITH THEM WITH THEIR PLCS TO HELP THEM WITH THEIR, UM, TEACHERS, STUDENTS.
WE GO DO LEARNING WALKS WITH THEM.
UM, WE ALSO, UM, WILL SIT DOWN WITH THEM AND PLAN OUT.
SO WE WILL HAVE EVERYTHING OUT ON THE BOARD FOR THEM.
SO IT'S NOT JUST MELISSA AND MYSELF, BUT HER TEAM, THE A TEAM, WHICH IS CHRIS HANNAH AND EVEN RYAN COPELAND, MY TEAM, WHICH IS SHARON MCMAHON, UM, RACHEL ROTH, FELIPE, ANDRE SILVA, AND JEFF BASS.
SO WE REALLY WORK WITH ENSURING, MAKING SURE THAT THE COACHES, OUR TEACHERS STAY ON THE, THEIR PATH, THEIR PATHWAYS, BUT THE GUIDING WITH THE PACING GUIDES.
SO WE MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE HAVE 180 DAYS OF INSTRUCTION, AND THAT WE ARE VERY STRATEGIC AND TARGETED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH OUR COACHES.
AND TO ADD, WHICH MEANS IN COACHES MEETING FROM MONTH TO MONTH, WE ACTUALLY ASK THEM TO BRING BACK STUDENT WORK MM-HMM
SO WE CAN MONITOR THAT TOGETHER.
SO IF YOU WERE, IF WE MIGHT HAVE DONE IT WITH YOU IN YOUR SCHOOL, BUT THEN WE'RE ALSO BRINGING IT BACK AS A COLLECTIVE TEAM TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE ANALYZING TOWARDS YEAH.
THE SAME COMMON GOAL FOR STUDENTS.
I, ONE MORE QUESTION JUST TO, I I LET HER GET IT.
UM, IN, IN, IN TER IN, IN TERMS OF THAT, YOU MENTIONED, Y'ALL TALKED ABOUT THE SCHOOL RENEWAL PLAN.
I, UM, AND, AND I WAS KIND OF, WHEN I, WHEN Y'ALL TALK ABOUT COACHES, I WAS KIND OF LISTENING INTO HOW Y'ALL IN TUNE THAT BECAUSE I, I, I DO THINK THAT IT'S A GR A GREAT THING TO BRING YOUR COACHES TOGETHER AND HOW YOU TALK TO THEM ABOUT HAVING A DIS A DISTRICT, DISTRICT-WIDE, UH, MECHANISM, BUT ALSO IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF SCHOOL RENEWAL PLAN.
BECAUSE, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S ONE THING, UM, UH, PRINCIPAL COLEMAN TAUGHT ME COMING OUTTA THE GATE, MR. SMITH, YOU CAN'T BE MY BOARD MEMBER IF YOU DON'T KNOW MY SCHOOL RENEWAL, UH, RENEWAL PLAN.
SO MY, MY QUESTION TO YOU, TO Y'ALL IS, UH, HOW ARE YOU INCLUDING THAT INTO THE, OH, LET'S GO FIRST AND THEN YOU CAN HIT IT.
WE GONNA, WE GONNA VOLLEY, WE GONNA VOLLEY, I'M GONNA BUMP IN.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO WITH OUR COACHES, AND I KNOW THAT MELISSA, BOTH OF US, WE, WE HAVE WHAT WE CALL PRE COACHING MEETING WHERE WE SIT DOWN TOGETHER.
UM, OUR COACHES, EVEN THOUGH SHE'S ELA NUMERACY, THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT ARE
[01:20:01]
CROSSED.SO WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT SCHOOL RENEWAL PLAN, WHEN WE HAD OUR ISD DAY IN JULY, WHEN WE MET WITH OUR, UM, INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAMS, DR. WEBB WAS THERE WITH HIS TEAM, UM, OTHERS, WE HAD THEM, THEY HAD TO GIVE, SET THEIR GOAL.
SO THEY HAD TO SET WHAT IS YOUR INTERIM GOAL FOR THIS YEAR.
THEN THEY HAD TO BRING THEIR SCHOOL RENEWAL PLANS, UM, TO OUR FIRST MEETING SO THAT THEY KNOW AS COACHES, AND THAT'S ONE OF THEIR BRING BACKS TO REFLECT ON THAT SCHOOL RENEWAL PLAN, TO SEE WHERE THEY ARE LISTED IN THAT SCHOOL RENEWAL PLAN.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE AND WHAT ARE THE BRING BACKS OR THE EVIDENCE THEY HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE DOING THAT WORK.
DID I SET IT UP FOR YOU? OH, YEAH, YOU DID.
SO TO HELP YOU TO CLOSE WITH THAT, TO UNDERSTAND IT, THE WHEEL THAT WAS BROUGHT UP, ONE OF THE SECTIONS WAS ON INTEGRATION.
SO LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SRP AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF THAT TO THE DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN.
THE DISTRICT NOW HAS A COMMITTEE THAT WORKS IN DETAIL TO BRING FORWARD, TO ALIGN THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING AND TO MONITOR THE EVIDENCE OF SRPS AS WELL AS OUR DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN.
SO WE'RE WORKING, WE'RE MONITORING, AND WE DO REVIEW EVERY SRP IN DETAIL.
IT'S NOT AN ARBITRARY DOCUMENT.
SOMETIMES THEY'RE SENT BACK FOR ADDITIONAL WORK.
SOMETIMES THEY HAVE TO HIT THE MARK.
IT'S CALLED EFFICACY HIGH EXPECTATIONS.
FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT CADENCE OF CHANGE SOUNDS LIKE A TOM PETTY SONG.
SO, I MEAN, THAT'S JUST LIKE, IT'S LIKE A POEM.
I KIND OF FEEL LIKE SEEING IF A STUDENT WILL COME WRITE A SONG BASED ON TEST SCORES CALLED CADENCE OF CHANGE.
UM, SO MY BACKGROUND IS IN HEALTHCARE DATA, RIGHT? BUT WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT, 'CAUSE I LOOKED IT UP, THE WORD DATA IS MENTIONED 33 TIMES IN THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, HEALTHCARE DATA AND EDUCATION DATA IS MODERATELY SIMILAR IN THE SENSE THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO QUANTIFY HUMAN SERVICES, RIGHT? IT'S NOT A BUSINESS, IT'S NOT A, A BUDGET, IT'S NOT A CAR ASSEMBLY LINE.
AND SO THERE'S A GREAT BOOK BY DONATELLA MEADOWS, UM, CALLED SYSTEMS THINKING ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO TRY AND GATHER DATA AND MAKE ASSESSMENTS ON, UM, BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. SO, BUT WHAT I THINK IS INTERESTING ABOUT THIS CONVERSATION AND, AND THE PERENNIAL DISCUSSION ABOUT TEST SCORES AND BENCHMARKS, AS I UNDERSTAND, JUST QUICK CLARIFICATION, ALL THE DATA MENTIONED HERE IS TEST SCORE DRIVEN, RIGHT? THE SC READY, WHAT OTHER, WHAT OTHER DATA ARE YOU INCLUDING IN THAT, IN THIS 33 MENTIONS OF THE WORD DATA, SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY WALKING INTO PARTY, THE EVIDENCE THAT'LL COME FORWARD IN OUR ACADEMIC COMMITTEE FOR OE 12.
SO PART OF THE DATA ALSO UTILIZES THE INSTRUCTIONAL COMPONENT, WHICH MEANS, SO AS WALKTHROUGHS ARE CONDUCTED AND YOU GO INTO THE CLASSROOMS AND WE ARE ABLE TO MONITOR, THIS IS THE STANDARD.
WE PULL UP THE STANDARD, WE IDENTIFIED THE COMPLEXITY OF THE STANDARD, BUT IS IT BEING TAUGHT BY MARY, BREAKING IT DOWN FOR THE STUDENTS? OR IS IT BEING TAUGHT BY MARY HANDING OUT PAPER FOR STUDENTS JUST TO DO WORK? AND THEN SWITCHING OVER FROM A HANDOUT TO A QUIZ? IS MARY TAKING THE TIME AS AN EDUCATOR TO CIRCULATE, IDENTIFYING SOME SUMMATIVE ERROR THAT YOU'RE MAKING IN YOUR MATHEMATICAL COMPUTATION, PAUSING THE CLASS, BRINGING YOU BACK TO ATTENTION TO THE BOARD TO SHOW YOU WHERE YOUR ERRORS ARE.
THAT'S THE DATA THAT WE'RE ALSO MONITORING THAT CLASSROOM INSTRUCTIONAL COMPONENT CRITICAL.
AND, AND IF I JUST BUILD WITH THAT, AND AS WALKTHROUGHS ARE CONDUCTED, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS TEAMS ARE TRAINED AT IS GOING UP TO THE STUDENT AND ASKING THE STUDENT WHAT THEY ARE LEARNING.
BUT THEN, IS THAT SO, OH, SORRY, GO AHEAD.
UM, I THINK PART OF WHAT YOU'RE ASKING THOUGH IS, I MEAN, THIS IS, THIS IS ZEROED IN ON, YOU KNOW, ELA AND MATH AND INSTRUCTION, BUT I THINK PART OF WHAT YOU'RE ASKING IS MAYBE OTHER DATA RELATED TO EXPERIENCES AND, UH, ATTENDANCE.
AND ATTENDANCE IS, IS IS SOMETHING WE WANT TO, THEY CAN'T GET CAPTURE TOO.
AND LEMME JUST MAKE A QUICK ANALOGY, WHICH WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS BECAUSE I THINK THAT TEST SCORES ARE A DATA POINT IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, SO I WANNA TAKE US BACK 30, 40 YEARS AGO, AND WE STARTED DOING STANDARDIZED TESTING.
AT THAT TIME, DIABETES WAS TREATED BY A SIMPLE, YOU BASICALLY PEED ON A STICK AND IT GAVE YOU A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF YOUR A1C, AND YOU ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY.
I WAS BLINKING AT ME LIKE, WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH THIS? SO IT WAS A SNAPSHOT IN TIME OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING RIGHT THEN AND THERE.
AND IT WAS ACTIONABLE AT THAT MOMENT, BUT IT DID NOT TELL THE STORY OF THAT PATIENT.
WAS IT TYPE ONE? NOW THEY HAVE MANY TIMES NOW, TYPE TWO, TYPE 1.5, UH, HOW OLD IS THE PATIENT? WHAT DID THEY JUST EAT? WHAT WERE THEY JUST DOING? DO THEY HAVE AN INFECTION? AND SO AS WE'VE EVOLVED DIABETIC TESTING, WE NOW HAVE BASICALLY A SYSTEM INSIDE THE BODY THAT IS CONSTANTLY MONITORING IN REAL TIME AND RESPONDING IN REAL TIME.
[01:25:01]
PERSONALIZED.AND THAT'S WHERE I'M KIND OF DRIVING THE, THE DIABETES ANALOGY.
THESE STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE FINE.
BUT IF WE CAN'T CROSS, CROSS-REFERENCE THEM IN REAL TIME AGAINST EACH INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS, AND I DON'T THINK WE'RE DOING THIS ATTENDANCE BEHAVIOR, UH, DIET, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CULTURE OF, OF THE CLASSROOM THAT TIME, HOW DOES THE TEACHER FEEL ABOUT HIM RIGHT NOW? HOW DID THE TEACHER FEEL ABOUT HIM AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR? HOW DID HIS SECOND GRADE TEACHER FEEL ABOUT HIM? YOU KNOW, A WHILE AGO, THAT LEVEL OF DATA, EDUCATION'S NOWHERE CLOSE TO CAPTURING, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT WHILE THIS IS AN IMPORTANT SNAPSHOT AND YOU GUYS ARE GETTING THE FEEDBACK AND WE'VE GOT THE CHART AND YOU'RE GOING IN, YOU'VE GOT A TIMELINE, IT'S ALL MAPPED OUT.
I DO THINK THAT IT, AS WE GET BETTER WITH TECHNOLOGY NOT TO BE A TECHNOCRAT AND DATA TO START LOOKING AT THE IMPACT OF ALL THESE OTHER VARIABLES, UM, MR. DALLAS MENTIONS IT ALL THE TIME.
THERE ARE A LOT OF EXTERNAL VAL VARIABLES THAT AFFECT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
AND IF WE ARE ONLY BEING DRIVEN, AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF PRESSURE ON SCHOOLS TO DRIVE THE BUS BASED ON THIS ONE SNAPSHOT LIKE AN A1C AND NOT INCLUDING ALL THE OTHER DATA, IT'S GONNA BE A LOT HARDER TO GET THE BUS WHERE WE'RE GOING.
SO I GUESS THAT'S WHERE I'M GOING IS I HOPE AT SOME POINT, NOT YOU GUYS, BUT SOCIETY AS A WHOLE DEEMPHASIZES THESE AS A DATA POINT IN A CONSTELLATION OF IMPORTANT DATA POINTS THAT WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO CAPTURE AN INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS.
STRATOS, WHAT WAS AT THE HEART OF OUR SENIOR STAFF CONVERSATION YESTERDAY? I HEARD TWO THINGS MENTIONED IN HERE THAT WERE CERTAINLY AT THE HEART OF THAT CONVERSATION.
NUMBER ONE, ATTENDANCE AND NUMBER TWO, SYSTEMS, DISCIPLINE, SYSTEMS SYSTEM AND INTEGRATED WORK SYSTEMS THINKING.
AND, SORRY, IF I MAY YOUR SECOND SLIDE.
I WAS TRYING TO DRIVE YOU TO THAT UNDERSTANDING THE MTSS FOR BEHAVIOR, THE MTSS FOR ACADEMICS, WE NOW HAVE PERSONNEL WHO'S ACTUALLY BRINGING THAT COMPONENT AND BUILDING THAT CAPACITY AT THE SCHOOL SITES.
SHE'S SITTING IN CHILD STUDIES AMONGST ALL OUR SCHOOLS IN THE SYSTEM BUILDING THEIR CAPACITY TO DO THAT.
THIS INTEGRATED APPROACH SAYS WE'RE LOOKING AT MARY WHO'S NOT MEETING PERFORMANCE, BRING MARY'S ATTENDANCE TO THE TABLE.
SHE'S BUILDING PROTOCOLS OF PRACTICE FOR MUCH MORE INTEGRATED LOOK FOR YOU COLLECTIVELY AS ADULTS TO UNDERSTAND MARRIED A CHILD.
AND BY THE WAY, BOARD, YOU HELPED MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
SO, UM, WHEN I FIRST RECEIVED THIS PRESENTATION, I DID NOT QUITE FULLY UNDERSTAND IT.
I DON'T HAVE AN EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND, BUT I REACHED OUT TO DR.
STRATUS AND SHE TOOK THE TIME TO ACTUALLY EXPLAIN SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN RAI REAR RAISED HERE.
AND I WAS VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THAT.
FOR ME, IT IS SYSTEMS THINKING.
AND YES, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S ABSOLUTELY ACUTELY LEVERAGED IN THE BUSINESS ARENA.
SO IT CAN'T BE EPISODIC INTERVENTION.
IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT GOES ALONG FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THE PERSON.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CULTURE THAT ELIMINATES FEAR.
A LOT OF KIDS COME FROM BACKGROUNDS WHERE THEY IMMEDIATELY SAY, WELL, I CAN'T DO MATH.
BUT WHAT I SAW IN THIS SYSTEM IS YOU ARE DEVOTING SO MANY RESOURCES, COMING AT IT FROM SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT I THINK YOU ARE MELTING THAT BELIEF.
WELL, I JUST AM NOT, I'M BORN, I CAN'T DO MATH.
SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING MATHEMATICIANS AND PHYSICISTS AND ENGINEERS I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED CAME FROM PLACES THAT THEY WENT TO SCHOOL UNDER TREES OUT IN THE SAVANNAH, LITERALLY.
BUT THEY COME INTO A LARGE CORPORATION, AND OVER TIME THEIR COMPETITIVE WITH MIT, STANFORD, UK, ALL THESE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS, RIGHT? AND SO WHAT I SEE IS YOU ARE REALLY DEVOTING A LOT OF ATTENTION AND RESOURCES TO IT.
AND THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND IT'S GOING TO BE EFFECTIVE.
I THINK AS A BOARD, WE ARE COMMITTED TO IT, AND MS. BOATWRIGHT RAISES SOME REALLY GOOD POINTS, RIGHT ABOUT IT BEING VERY COMPREHENSIVE.
SO SHE KNOWS IT AND OTHERS KNOW IT.
UM, MS. HAY, MS UH, UH, FRAZIER.
OTHERS KNOW IT WHO'VE HAD BACKGROUNDS, BUT IT, IT WAS VERY FASCINATING TO BE TAUGHT THAT AND LEARN THAT FROM YOUR RESPONSES.
MS. HAY, MS. HAY, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT, MS. FRAZIER, ANYTHING, UH, ONLINE? UH, PASTOR GORDON, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING, ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? NO, NO QUESTIONS.
UH, MS. GORDON, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES.
AND I WAS SITTING HERE, UH, AS AN EDUCATOR LISTENING AND, UH, LISTENING TO THE MOVING PARTS AND, AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
I ONLY HAVE, I, I HAVE ONE QUESTION BECAUSE
[01:30:01]
WE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE, UH, ADULTS IN YOUR WORLD, YOU KNOW, YOUR, UH, TEACHERS AND YOUR TRAINERS AND YOUR, YOU KNOW, WHAT ABOUT THE STUDENT? SO IF WE'RE GOING TO MOVE OUR STUDENTS FORWARD, OKAY, TO I IMPROVE THEIR MATH SKILLS AND, AND IMPROVE THEIR TEST SCORES, WHICH WE TRULY WANT TO DO, HOW WILL THIS IMPACT THE STUDENT? I, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND GIVING OUR TEACHERS EVERYTHING THAT THEY NEED, ARMING THEM, BUT WHEN THEY GO INTO THE CLASSROOM, HOW ARE THEY PREPARING THE STUDENTS? WHAT IS YOUR, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING? UH, 10 POINTS, 50 POINTS, UH, IMPROVEMENT DAILY.THINK THAT GOES BACK TO BUILDING THAT CULTURE WHERE THAT STUDENT HAS THE CONFIDENCE.
AND ONE OF YOU SAID THAT THE TRUST IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN THAT CLASSROOM OR TAKE THE RISK AT LEARNING ONE OF THE PROGRAMS, MS. GORDON AS WELL, THAT WE SHARED WITH YOU AS ABBOTT, WE'VE SEEN THAT THE ABBOTT PROGRAM HAS ACTUALLY PROVIDED STUDENTS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN, AT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AS WELL AS THEY DEVELOPED THEIR SELF-EFFICACY OR THE A FOR ABBOTT THAT ADVOCATE ADVOCATING FOR THEMSELVES, RIGHT? VIA, VIA INDIVIDUAL DETERMINATION, REALLY BUILDING THAT CULTURE BACK.
AND THAT'S ANOTHER COMPONENT THAT THIS, OUR WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE WORK WITH STUDENT SERVICES, OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS AND OUR LEADERSHIP FROM THE TOP, IS BUILDING THAT CULTURE THAT A STUDENT HAS A SAFE PLACE TO TAKE RISKS AT LEARNING.
I'M KIND OF SOUNDING A LITTLE BISH, UH, AS THE RISK TAKERS, BUT IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT, AND THAT IS BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT TO THE STUDENTS AS WELL.
AND I THINK PART OF THAT, AND I'LL GO BACK TO CONVERSATION YESTERDAY, PRESENTED BY SUPERINTENDENT WEAVER, THE DIMI DIMINISHED AMOUNT OF TIME, AND AS MS. BOATWRIGHT HAD SAID ON TECHNOLOGY, BUT ON CELL PHONES, BEING ABLE TO HAVE THAT NOT AS ACTIVE IN THE CLASSROOM IS RESULTING WITH THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING FOR THE STUDENT IN A SAFE PLACE AS WELL.
LET ME GET OTHER PEOPLE HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO TALK YET.
UH, MR. SMALL, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD? UH, HAVE TO SAY MR. SMALL? OKAY.
I, I HAVE A, I HAVE A COMMENT.
UM, WE'VE MENTIONED STUDENT ATTENDANCE AND, AND THAT IS A, A STUDENT SERVICES MISSION.
I THINK THAT'S GOTTA, THAT'S GOTTA BE WORKING.
THEY DON'T, THEY'RE NOT IN CLASS.
ALL THESE GREAT PLANS DON'T MEAN ANYTHING, SO WE GOTTA GET 'EM IN CLASS.
UM, I'M CONCERNED, UH, ALSO ABOUT THE ESOL STUDENT, AND I'M CONCERNED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, A MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST FOR A-E-S-O-L STUDENT.
UM, IF YOU'RE NOT, IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ADJECTIVE AND AN ADVERB, IT'S VERY HARD TO MAKE A DECISION, WHICH IS THE CLOSE ANSWER AND THE RIGHT ANSWER.
AND THAT IS, THAT IS A CHALLENGE.
AND, UH, I, I DON'T THINK THE STATE REALLY APPRECIATES THE IMPACT THAT HAS, AND WE HAVE TO WORK THAT HARD.
LASTLY, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT STUDENT OWNERSHIP OF THEIR PERFORMANCE.
I, I REALLY DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT WE DON'T GET RESULTS UNTIL AFTER THE SCHOOL YEAR IS OVER WITH.
AND SO WHEN I GO INTO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS JUST BEFORE TESTING, I SEE SIGNS UP, TAKE WORK HARD FOR THIS TEST FOR YOUR SCHOOL.
I SEE THAT ALL OVER IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
I DON'T SEE THAT MUCH IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS OR HIGH SCHOOLS.
YOU GOT STUDENTS THAT ARE, ARE A LITTLE MORE, UM, NOT ENGAGED, AND THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T GET GRADED ON THIS, YOU KNOW, THE END OF END OF COURSE, EXAMS IN SOME CASES NOW, THE ADVANCED PLACEMENT DO, BUT OTHERS, OTHER TEST SCORES COME OUT AFTER EVERYBODY'S GONE.
THE TEACHER DOESN'T HAVE THOSE STUDENTS ANYMORE.
THEY'RE ON THE NEXT GRADE OR WHATEVER.
I, I JUST, NOW, I, I DO SEE IT IN THE LEADER IN ME SCHOOLS WHERE, WHERE THEY DO, WHERE THEY DO FOCUS
[01:35:01]
ON, YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR, UH, ACADEMIC SUCCESS.BUT I STILL THINK THERE'S AN ISSUE OF BUILDING OWNERSHIP FOR THESE TESTS BECAUSE WE, GIVEN THE END OF THE YEAR, I'M JUST GONNA MARK IT DOWN AND GET OUT OF THE, GET OUTTA HERE.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, NEEDS TO BE, I THINK, ADDRESSED MR. SMITH.
WELL, UH, YOU DEFINITELY TOOK SOMETHING, UH, WELL, OBVIOUSLY YOU TOOK IT, BUT YOU BROUGHT UP A POINT THAT I WAS GOING, I WON'T HARD ON, BUT I WOULD JUST SAY THAT IN THE, IN THE, IN THE, IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF ATTENDANCE, IF OUR ATTENDANCE IS THAT BAD, AND I'M KIND OF BEATING THE DEAD WHOLE, I'VE SAID THIS, I'VE, I'VE SAID THIS, THEN WE JUST DID A BUDGET THE SAME WAY WE TALKED ABOUT GETTING THAT STUFF FOR THAT, FOR THOSE AIR CONDITIONERS IN THAT LAST CONVERSATION.
IF SOME SCHOOLS NEED TWO, UH, TWO SOCIAL WORKERS TO GET THE KID, TO GET THE KIDS HERE TO BE ABLE TO GO AND KNOCK ON DOORS, OR TO BE ABLE TO HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE, THEN, THEN, THEN, THEN THAT, THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
BECAUSE IT, IT IS NO WAY WE CAN'T, THAT YOU CAN TELL ME THAT WE CAN'T SEE, SEE, UH, WE CAN'T GET THESE KIDS TO SCHOOL.
THAT'S ABOUT THE CULTURE AND THE CLIMATE.
I SAID, YOU KNOW, IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WHEN I WAS GOING THERE, IF YOU DIDN'T COME TO SCHOOL, DR.
LAVERNE, LIBBY DAVIS WAS CALLING YOU, HEY, LOOK HERE AT STACIA, I KNEW YOU AIN'T COMING TO WORK, BUT WHY THAT BABY HOME? I'M SENDING SOMEBODY COME PICK HIM UP IN HIGH SCHOOL.
UH, I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL A COUPLE DAYS.
CALVIN WHITE, WILLIAM, WHERE YOU AT? WHY, WHY YOU NOT HERE? SO SOME OF THAT IS CULTURALLY DRIVEN.
SO TO ME, I, I, I, I WANNA SAY IT'S KIND OF A, I I TAKE IT AS KIND OF A, I DON'T SAY THE EXCUSE, BUT WE HAVE TO TAKE EVERY ELEMENT AWAY FROM THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF SAYING THAT, OH, WE CAN'T GET KIDS TO SCHOOL.
WE, WE, WE GOT SEVERAL COACHES WHO, WHO DREW DRIVE BUS TO TRIPS, JUMP ON.
WE, WE GOT BUSES THAT SKIRT IN, SCHOOLS, IN HIGH SCHOOLS, JUMP ON THE BUS, GO KNOCK ON THE DOOR, CA HEY, WHY DIDN'T COME? WHY DIDN'T I COME TO SCHOOL? HEY, WHAT CAN WE DO? WE HAVE WRAPAROUND SERVICES IN THIS, IN THIS, IN THIS DISTRICT.
UH, THE, THE, THE NEXT THING IS, UH, IS THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, I LOOKED AT THIS, UM, YOUR SAMPLE ON NUMBER 15.
I I WAS I AT YOUR, UM, THIS, UM, THIS, THIS WHEEL, UM, ON THIS WHEEL IN TERMS OF, I ASKED YOU A, A, A HOST OF, OF PLANS IN TERMS OF THE, OF HOW, HOW REGULAR YOU MEET WITH YOUR COACHES.
I ASKED YOU ABOUT THE RENEWAL PLAN, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EDS? BECAUSE, AND I, I TAKE THAT PAGE OUT OUT OF THE BOOK OF, UH, ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES, UM, DAVID SCRIPTURE.
I REMEMBER WE WAS ABOUT TO HIRE EDS.
AND I'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, JUST A COUPLE PEOPLE HAVE SAID SOME THINGS IN, IN TERMS OF EDS.
SO IF THE EDS, ONCE AGAIN, IF THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT Y'ALL ARE DOING, AND THEY'RE NOT A, A PART, A PART OF A PART OF WHAT Y'ALL ARE DOING, THEN, THEN THAT, YOU KNOW, I, I I I, I, I JUST SEE A LOT, A LOT, A LOT GOING ON WHILE I'M TALKING, UH, IN, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF THE EDS.
I WANNA KNOW HOW THEY ARE BECAUSE HOW THEY ARE, WHAT INTEGRAL PART ARE THEY PLAYING IN TERMS OF, OF, OF, OF THIS PLAN? BECAUSE AT SOME POINT, IT'S GOOD FOR Y'ALL TO GO IN.
IT'S GOOD FOR Y'ALL TO HAVE PUT THOSE THINGS IN, AS MS. BOATWRIGHT SAID.
BUT WHAT, WHAT PART IS THE EE PLAYING IN TERMS OF THIS? BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE SAY, WELL, EDS HAVE A DIFFERENT PLAN FROM, FROM THE, UM, FROM, FROM THE AC ACADEMICS DEPARTMENT.
SO I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
H HOW, HOW IS IT WORK? HOW IS IT WORKING TOGETHER? WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, AND HOW? BECAUSE IT, IT, THAT WAS ONE OF OUR CONCERNS WHEN I WAS WITH A BOARD MEMBER, ONE OF THE BOARDS WHEN WE GOT EDS.
AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE CONCERNS THEN.
AND APPARENTLY IT'S STILL A CONCERN IN THE DISTRICT.
THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, MR. SMITH.
UM, SO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ISD DEPARTMENT.
UM, WE HAVE MONITORING MEETINGS EVERY FRIDAY.
WE PARTICIPATE IN INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEWS TOGETHER.
WE HAVE AN ACADEMIC CABINET WHERE WE MEET TOGETHER AND WE TALK ABOUT THE SCHOOLS.
WE TALK ABOUT OUR SUPPORT SCHOOLS, WE TALK ABOUT OUR SYSTEMS THAT WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER.
ALL THE EDS ARE INVOLVED IN THE SCHOOLS.
THEY SIT IN ON PLCS WITH THE COACHES, UM, WITH OUR DISTRICT STAFF.
UM, THEY ALSO PARTICIPATE IN GOING INTO CLASSROOMS, DOING OBSERVATIONS, HAVING DISCUSSIONS.
IT'S A CONJUNCTION AND A SUPPORT THAT WE ALL WORK TOGETHER.
SO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS, WE KEEP, THEY HAVE THE SAME OBSERVATIONS THAT WE DO, UM, THAT THE SUPPORT DOES WITH ISD.
UM, WE SIT DOWN, WE MEET WITH OUR SCHOOLS, WE TALK ABOUT OUR, OUR SUPPORT SCHOOLS THAT WE HAVE.
UM, AND, AND WE WORK OUT A PLAN TOGETHER OF HOW WE'RE GONNA SUPPORT THOSE SCHOOLS AND SUPPORT THE PRINCIPALS AND SUPPORT THE TEACHERS.
SO THEY'RE IN THE CLASSROOMS, THEY'RE WORKING WITH TEACHERS, THEY'RE WORKING WITH PRINCIPALS, THEY'RE WORKING WITH COACHES.
THEY'RE DOING ALL OF THE WORK ALONGSIDE OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING.
AND MELISSA MURRAY, UM, MONA LISA, D DIXON.
SO IT'S, IT'S A CONJUNCTION, IT'S A COLLABORATIVE
[01:40:01]
EFFORT.WE'RE ALL IN THIS TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR KIDS.
WE'RE ALL IN THIS TO DO WHAT IS NEEDED TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS.
SO WHILE THEY WORK ON AN ADMINISTRATIVE SIDE, WORKING WITH THE ADMINISTRATORS, THEY'RE STILL, UM, AT THE TABLE WITH, WITH ISD, UM, EVERY DAY.
WELL, I'M, I'M HOPING, BECAUSE WHEN WE FIRST GOT THE EDS, THE, THAT IT WAS, UH, TOLD TO US IN, IN TERMS OF THE EDS, BASICALLY WAS, WAS SUPPORTING THE EDGE, ONE OF THE EDUCATION COMPONENTS OF WHAT THIS LOOKED LIKE.
AND SO I WAS, AT SOME POINT IN TIME, I'M LOOKING FOR THEM TOO, TO COME THE SAME WAY HOW Y'ALL GAVE US A A IN AND A DEEP DIVE OF WHAT THE, THAT DEPARTMENT IS DOING.
I'M LOOKING FOR THEM TO SHOW US HOW THAT WE'RE GETTING THE BANG FOR OUR BUCK IN TERMS OF, OF THEM AS WELL, IN TERMS OF HOW THEY ARE INTENTIONALLY GOING TO MEETINGS AND HOW THEY'RE INTENTIONALLY GETTING INTO THE DATA AND HOW THEY ARE BEING ANALYTICAL AND INTENTIONAL UPON WORKING WITH YOU GUYS AND HOW, HOW Y'ALL ARE GETTING, GETTING IT DONE TOGETHER.
'CAUSE I MEAN, THAT, THAT, THAT QUESTION IS, IS OUT THERE.
AND I'VE HAD PEOPLE HAVE ASKING ME THAT, WELL, WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING THEM? OR DA DA DA.
SO, I MEAN, I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING IN TERMS OF THIS TODAY TOO, TO COME ALSO TO UNDERSTAND HOW ARE THEY PLAYING AN INTEGRAL PART OF WHAT IS GOING, OF WHAT IS GOING ON FROM ACADEMICS? BECAUSE I KNOW, I KNOW I SEE ACADEMIC OUT THERE AND I SEE THE COACHES OUT, BUT I JUST WANTED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT INTEGRAL PART ARE IN TERMS OF EDS IS ARE, ARE THEY KICKING? ARE THEY KICKING AND SHOOTING SOME JUICE TO IT AS WELL? THANK YOU.
WE, WE CAN, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT.
WE CAN, WE CAN COME FORWARD AND, AND DISCUSS THAT.
BUT I WOULD NOT LOOK AT IT AS THE SUPPORT JUST FOR ISDI THINK IT'S ALL OF OUR PEOPLE THAT ARE WORKING FROM THE DISTRICT OFFICE, THAT'S STUDENT SUPPORT, THAT IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS, WHILE THEY'RE PRINCIPAL SUPERVISORS, THEY'RE INVOLVED IN DIGGING INTO THAT DATA WITH THE PRINCIPALS, WITH THE COACHES, WITH THE SCHOOL STAFF, WITH ISD, WITH STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES.
SO IT, IT'S EVERYBODY WORKING TOGETHER.
AND THAT'S THE PART OF SYSTEMS THINKING THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A SCHOOL, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SPECIFIC STUDENTS, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO MOVE STUDENTS AND UP AND, AND MOVE OUR SCHOOLS UP A LEVEL, IT'S EVERYBODY.
IT TAKES EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, YOU KNOW, AND WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR WRAPAROUND SERVICES FROM STUDENT SERVICES, UM, BRINGING IN WHO WE NEED TO SETTING AT THE TABLE, MAKING THOSE DECISIONS OF WHAT IT IS THAT THE KIDS NEED AND WHAT IT IS THAT THE SCHOOL NEEDS AND WHAT THE PRINCIPAL NEEDS TO, TO, TO SUPPORT THEM.
SO IT'S EVERYBODY WORKING TOGETHER.
WE CAN HAVE A SPECIFIC PRESENTATION FOR YOU FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LENS, IF YOU WOULD LIKE THAT.
BUT I WILL SAY THAT IT'S A COLLABORATE, A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT, UM, AND IT'S WORKING WITH ISD AND IT'S, IT'S, IT'S HAVING THOSE DISCUSSIONS EVERY SINGLE DAY IN THE SCHOOL.
I, I KNOW THAT DR. DIXON AND, UM, DR.
LEVI, THEY SIT AT MINIS ALL THE TIME.
THEY'RE IN OUR MONITORING MEETINGS THAT WE HAVE EVERY FRIDAY WHERE ALL DEPARTMENTS ARE SETTING THERE.
WE'RE GOING OUT INTO THE SCHOOLS, WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT IT TAKES, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE CLASSROOMS. WE'RE DOING THOSE OBSERVATIONS.
WE'RE COMING DOWN AND SETTING TOGETHER WITH THE PRINCIPAL AND THE SCHOOL STAFF SAYING, OKAY, THIS IS WHAT WE SAW TODAY.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO OVER THE NEXT THREE WEEKS BEFORE WE COME BACK AGAIN? AND THEN WHEN WE COME BACK IN THREE WEEKS, WE LOOK TO SEE WHAT THE IMPROVEMENTS ARE, WHAT ISSUES THAT WE STILL SEE.
WE MAKE A PLAN, WE COME BACK AGAIN.
IT'S A CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE, AND IT'S ALL HANDS ON DECK.
THE BOARD HAVE THE APPETITE FOR THAT ACADEMICS, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT DR. RODRIGUEZ, THEN Y'ALL CAN BRING THAT BACK.
AND I PRAY THAT THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE, THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE OUT THERE DOING.
ANY, ANY, ANY ALIBIS? ANYBODY WILL? ALRIGHT.
STRADDLES, UH, THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM, A WONDERFUL PRESENTATION THIS EVENING, UH, AT THIS MOMENT UNDER OTHER MATTERS, UH, WANT TO INTRODUCE TO YOU OUR, UH, TEACHER OF THE YEAR, AND I'M GONNA ASK HER TO INTRODUCE THE TEACHER OF THE YEAR THAT WAS JUST NAMED, BUT I'VE ASKED THEM EACH TO, UH, SHARE A FEW THOUGHTS WITH YOU.
UH, AND SO MS. UH, LAURA VAN HORN, IF YOU WOULD COME FORWARD.
COLONEL GEIER AND THE REST OF THE BOARD.
I AM THE MOST RECENT BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR, AS OF LAST FRIDAY.
WE HAVE A BRAND NEW ONE YOU'RE GONNA HEAR FROM HERE IN JUST A SECOND.
UM, I WILL SERVE THIS YEAR AS THE LEADER OF OUR TEACHER, DISTRICT TEACHER FORUM.
UM, SO LAST YEAR I SET AS A MEMBER AND LEARNED AND OBSERVED AND, UM, GOT, KIND OF GOT TO KNOW THE ROPES UNDER APRIL BRYANT, OUR PREVIOUS, UH, BEAUFORT COUNTY TEACHER OF THE YEAR.
AND THIS YEAR I WILL LEAD A DISTRICT TEACHER FORUM WHILE ALLIE SORT OF FILLS IN THAT ROLE.
UM, BUT I'M A FIRST GRADE TEACHER IN OUR ADVANCED ACADEMY AT BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY.
AND, UH, THE ADVANCED ACADEMY OF BLUFFTON IS ONE OF OUR SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS AT, UH, IN THE DISTRICT.
AND THAT'S OUR, ONE OF OUR SCHOOL CHOICE.
UM, THE REASONS THAT OUR, OUR PARENTS AND, AND FAMILIES CHOOSE US, UM, IT'S A WONDERFUL POSITION TO BE IN.
UH, THE ADVANCED ACADEMY IS A GREAT,
[01:45:01]
A GREAT FEATURE, UM, AT BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY, AND I'M PROUD TO BE A PART OF IT.I'M NOT A BEAUFORT COUNTY NATIVE.
I SPENT MY FIRST, MM, THIS IS YEAR 38, SO I SPENT MY FIRST 32 IN TEACHING IN, UM, MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, WHERE I TAUGHT KINDERGARTEN AND SECOND GRADE.
NOW, UM, I WANTED TO SPEAK, DR. RODRIGUEZ ASKED ME TO SPEAK JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, SORT OF THE HOT TOPIC OF RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION.
UM, SORT OF WHAT BROUGHT ME HERE, I WON'T LIE.
IT'S A, I WAS LOOKING ALONG THE COASTLINE AND IT HAD TO BE SOUTH OF AT LEAST WINSTON SALEM, PROBABLY.
THAT, THAT, THAT WAS MY, WAS MY LOOK.
AND, UH, I WANTED TO COME SOMEPLACE AND CONTINUE TO TEACH.
BUT THE, THE BEACH WAS CERTAINLY A DRAW.
UH, ONE OF THE REASONS SOUTH CAROLINA WAS AN ATTRACTION TO ME WAS THEIR SUPPORT FOR A NATIONAL BOARD OF CERTIFIED TEACHERS.
I'VE BEEN A NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER SINCE 2007.
UM, I'M DOING THIS ONLY MY 20TH YEAR, AND I'M IN MY MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION YEAR.
I'LL BE RENEWING THIS YEAR FOR THE NEXT FIVE.
UM, I LOOK TO SEE THAT BEAUFORT COUNTY HAD SUPPORTED THAT AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL, WHICH WE DO.
UM, IT'S ONE OF MY POINTS I'D LIKE TO BRING FORTH AS, AS BEING DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR IS, UM, WINTER NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER.
ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THEY ASK IS THAT YOU TAP SOMEONE ELSE.
AND SO I'VE WORKED, UM, VERY INTENSELY WITH OUR SUPPORT PROGRAM IN WEST VIRGINIA.
OUR, OUR, UM, STATE DEPARTMENT SUPPORTS A COHORT.
UM, AND I GO BACK AND I'M ONE OF THE FACILITATORS AND I STILL MENTOR TEACHERS THERE.
I'D LOVE TO SEE US EXPAND THE MENTORSHIP AND COHORTS HERE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
UM, JUST TO THROW A COUPLE QUIZ QUICK STATISTICS AT YOU TEACHERS, UM, STUDENTS IN CLASSROOMS OF NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS, CONSISTENTLY THROUGH NATIONAL DATA, UH, SHOW ABOUT AN ADDITIONAL MONTH'S WORTH OF LEARNING THAN TEACHERS, UH, WHO ARE NOT NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED AND OUR OWN SOUTH CAROLINA.
SARAH, OUR CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL RECRUITMENT, REV RECRUITMENT, UH, RETENTION AND ADVANCEMENT, UH, DID A STUDY THAT SHOWED THAT, UM, NATIONAL BOARD TEACHERS ABOUT A THIRD MORE COMPARED TO, UM, IN OTHER TEACHERS, UH, STAY IN THE CLASSROOM.
SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT A THREE TO ONE RETENTION RATE FOR NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS.
UM, IT'S ONE OF THE BEST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTS I'VE EVER DONE.
IT CHANGED THE WAY I THINK ABOUT TEACHING IT, PUT IT PUT LETTERS BEHIND MY NAME, BUT IT DID MORE THAN THAT.
IT, IT, IT MADE ME, I I WAS SORT OF FACED AT THAT TIME AS WHETHER I WAS GOING TO TAKE AN, UM, ADMINISTRATIVE ROUTE, MY MASTER'S IN ADMINISTRATION, AND IT REALLY WASN'T WHAT I WANTED TO DO.
EVEN AFTER 38 YEARS, I HAVE, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO LEAVE.
THE CLASSROOM AND NATIONAL BOARD MADE ME FEEL LIKE THE PROFESSIONAL THAT I WANTED TO BE.
UM, IT INCREASED MY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT TEACHING, INCREASED MY KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS, UM, AND JUST REALLY HAS BEEN A CHANGE.
AND I'D LOVE TO SEE US IN BEAUFORT COUNTY CONTINUE, UH, TO SUPPORT AND, AND EXPAND THAT PROGRAM.
UH, DR. RODRIGUEZ AND I MET THIS SUMMER, AND THIS IS, UM, I, I MEAN, I GUESS A SMALL THING, NOT A SMALL THING.
UM, I'D LIKE TO SEE US HAVE FREE BEACH PARKING FOR TEACHERS.
UH, I, I'M NOT GONNA, I'M NOT GONNA LIE.
UM, I ESTIMATE, I KNOW HE'S GONNA LAUGH AT ME, BUT I SAID, IT'S A SMALL THING THAT I THINK IS AN EASY THING TO MAKE HAPPEN.
UM, AND AS WE LOOK AT YOUNG TEACHERS COMING INTO BEAUFORT COUNTY, WE LOOK AT YOUNG TEACHERS STAYING.
WE LOOK AT OLD TEACHERS TRYING TO STAY.
UM, I, I THINK IT'D BE A NICE TOKEN.
AND COLONEL GUYER AND I TALKED ABOUT IT, AND AGAIN, IT SOUNDS LIKE A SMALL THING, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S A BIG THING TO MAKE HAPPEN, UM, THAT I'D LIKE US TO SEE.
UM, I'D LOVE TO, UM, I, I'M, I'M HAPPY AND PROUD TO BE A BEAUFORT COUNTY TEACHER.
I'M VERY PROUD TO BE, TO REPRESENT AS DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR, UH, THE SALARY INCREASES THAT YOU ALL HAVE GIVEN US THE SUPPORT IN THE CLASSROOMS. COLONEL GEIER AND I TALKED FRIDAY AT THE LUNCHEON.
UM, THERE JUST REALLY ISN'T, I, I MEAN, I CAN'T SAY WE WANT FOUR, WE'RE WELL SUPPLIED FOR THE CLASSROOMS, UM, HAVE SUPPLIES OUR, OUR SUPPLY CHECK THAT WE GET.
ADDITIONALLY, THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRANTS.
UM, IT JUST, WE, WE REALLY HAVE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES HERE.
AND I, I TRY TO TOUT THAT TO OUR YOUNG TEACHERS AND, AND, AND MAKE THAT OWN.
I I THINK IT'S, IT'S, UH, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF ONUS ON, UM, THOSE OF US WHO ARE HERE TO DO RECRUITMENT, RE AND RETENTION.
I, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE NEED TO SHOULDER, UM, AS WELL.
SO THANK YOU AGAIN, UH, FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
AND I'D LIKE TO PASS THE MICROPHONE AND INTRODUCE ALLIE GALLAGHER, WHO AS OF FRIDAY IS OUR BRAND NEW BE NEWPORT COUNTY TEACHER OF THE YEAR.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME TODAY.
I AM VERY EXCITED TO BE THE 25, 26 DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR.
I ACTUALLY STARTED AND HAVE HAD MY ENTIRE TEACHING CAREER HERE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, I STARTED 16 YEARS AGO AT ROBERT SMALLS MIDDLE SCHOOL IN ROOM J 12 IN THE OLD BUILDING.
AND I, AFTER FIVE YEARS TRANSITIONED AND MOVED TO MCCRACKEN MIDDLE SCHOOL, WHICH IS WHERE I AM NOW.
I'M AN EIGHTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER.
AND AT ROBERT SMALLS MIDDLE SCHOOL, I WAS A SEVENTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER.
I REALLY LOVE WORKING, UM, AT BUFORT COUNTY
[01:50:01]
SCHOOL DISTRICT BECAUSE OF THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT I'M ABLE TO BUILD WITH MY STUDENTS EVERY DAY I COME TO THE CLASSROOM AND I HAVE A LIST OF STUDENTS FROM THE PAST 16 YEARS THAT HAVE CHANGED ME AS A PERSON, HAVE MADE ME A BETTER PERSON.AND I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT BUILDING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE STUDENTS, THOSE FAMILIES, AND MAKING THAT CHANGE.
I COME TO WORK EVERY DAY BECAUSE OF SEEING THEIR FACES, TALKING TO THEM, MEETING THEM WHERE THEY ARE, AND SEEING THEM AS PEOPLE.
AND I TRULY BELIEVE THAT TEACHING IS A HEART CALLING, AND THAT IS WHY I DO IT EVERY SINGLE DAY.
UM, AND THAT'S WHY I COME BACK EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
I ALSO HAVE HAD SO MUCH SUPPORT AS A BUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT TEACHER FROM MY ADMINISTRATORS, EVEN AS A YOUNG TEACHER.
I HAD GREAT ADMINISTRATORS AT ROBERT SMALLS MIDDLE SCHOOL AND AT MCCRACKEN WHO HAVE ALLOWED THE YOUNG TEACHER TO TAKE THE RISK TO DO THINGS THAT MAYBE, YOU KNOW, I JUST WANTED TO TRY OUT AND SEE.
AND I WAS SO THANKFUL TO HAVE THAT SUPPORT.
NOW I HAVE, UM, AN ADMINISTRATOR NOW WHO IS AMAZING AT MCCRACKEN MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND IT'S TRULY PUSHES AND REALLY WANTS ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM.
AND I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT HAVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS AND HAVING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE FAMILIES SO THAT I CAN REALLY TEACH WITH URGENCY AND TEACH WITH INTENTION AND USE DATA-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION TO MOVE THOSE KIDS FROM WHEREVER THEY ARE, TO WHEREVER WE WANT THEM TO BE.
EVEN IF THAT STUDENT IS IN AN HONORS CLASSROOM, WHETHER THAT STUDENT IS MAYBE NEEDS A LITTLE EXTRA SUPPORT WHEREVER THEY ARE, I WANNA MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE.
AND AS DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR, I REALLY HOPE THAT MY VOICE CAN BE TEACHING WITH URGENCY AND INSTRUCTION AND DATA DRIVEN BY BUILDING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS AND HELPING THOSE TEACHERS.
AND I REALLY HAVE BENEFITED FROM THE COACHING CYCLES THAT DR. DIXON AND MS. MURRAY AND DR.
I HAVE GREAT COACHES IN MY BUILDING, AND I'VE HAD THEM OVER THE LAST 16 YEARS, AND IT'S HELPED ME BUILD MY CRAFT.
I HAVE AMAZING MENTOR TEACHERS IN BUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT I CAN STILL, THEY'RE STILL IN BUFORT COUNTY AND I CAN STILL CALL THEM.
AND SOME ARE RETIRED, SOME ARE NOT.
THAT THEY HAVE REALLY HELPED ME BECOME THE TEACHER THAT I AM TODAY.
AND I WOULDN'T BE THOSE, THE TEACHER THAT I AM TODAY STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU WITHOUT MENTIONING THOSE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MADE ME THE PERSON THAT I AM, THE STUDENTS, THE FAMILIES, THE MENTORS, THE ADMINISTRATORS, ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO REALLY HAVE HELPED ME, ENCOURAGE ME TO BE A BETTER PERSON AND HELPED ME TO BE THE PERSON THAT I AM.
AND THERE'S NOWHERE ELSE I WOULD REALLY RATHER BE THAN BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND TOMORROW YOU'LL FIND ME IN ROOM EIGHT 13, NOT J 12, BUT I'LL BE IN EIGHT 13 TOMORROW.
AND I AM JUST SO PROUD TO BE THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR.
DO WE HAVE ANY COMMENTS? OH, WAIT.
COME BACK, COME BACK, COME BACK.
ANYBODY HAS SOME COMMENTS? SARAH ATE YOU.
I'M SO EXCITED TO STEP IN THIS NEW ROLE OF GROWTH FOR ME.
WELL, UH, AS ONE, I CAN SEE WHY YOU WERE SELECTED AND
YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT, UM, I WON'T SAY FIGUREHEAD.
THAT'S, THAT'S NOT A, THAT'S NOT A REALLY ACCURATE THING, BUT IT, YOU ARE THE, YOU ARE THE PICTURE OF THIS DISTRICT.
TEACHERS ARE OUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET.
AND OUR JOB IS TO GIVE YOU THE RESOURCES THAT YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL FOR OUR CHILDREN.
AND, UM, WE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE.
I HAVE ONE OF THE NEW AIR CONDITIONINGS.
WE HAVE SOME BOARD BUSINESS ACTION.
[Board Business Action]
WE HAVE A DONATION FROM, UH, BLUFFTON RUSH FOUNDATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $9,000 FOR UPDATE AND ADD ATHLETIC SIGNAGE TO MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS.WHO'S GONNA TELL US ABOUT THAT? ANYBODY? ANYBODY FROM MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL? MR. WEBB WAS JUST HERE.
UM, I DID WONDER WHAT ATHLETIC SIGNAGE MEANT.
YEAH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SIGNAGE IS.
WELL MAYBE WE'LL BE LOOKING FOR SOMEBODY FROM MAY RIVER.
WE'LL GO, WE GO ON TO THE OTHER ITEM,
[01:55:01]
AND THAT'S A DISCUSSION AND RECOMMEND A MOTION FROM OPERATIONS FOR THE GREEN SPACE DONATION.I'LL MAKE A MOTION THAT WE, THAT WE, THAT WE ACCEPT IT.
I JUST THOUGHT I READ THE ONE THAT'S, ROBIN'S GOT READY TO GO.
DO YOU WANT ME TO MAKE THE MOTION THAT ROBIN HAS? THAT'S WHAT CAME OUT OF OPERATION SUE? YES.
IS THAT RIGHT? DOES WORK? YEAH, GO AHEAD.
LET'S, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A DISCUSSION AFTER WE READ THE MOTION.
UM, I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AUTHORIZE A SUPERINTENDENT TO NEGOTIATE A CONTRACT AND BRING BACK TO THE BOARD FOR APPROVAL.
NOW WE'LL HAVE SOME DISCUSSION.
MR. NAY, YOU WANNA START? UH, YES.
UM, A FEW WEEKS AGO, UH, THE GREEN SPACE, UM, COMMITTEE FOR THE COUNTY CAME TO THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE AND, UH, PRESENTED AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, BASICALLY DONATE SIX ACRES OF LAND ADJACENT TO LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL.
UM, WE ASKED THEM, UH, TO BASICALLY COME BACK WITH SOME MORE INFORMATION AND THEY CAME BACK THIS LAST WEEK AND PRESENTED US, UH, WITH ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE INFORMATION.
UM, THERE, THERE'S DEFINITELY DISCUSSION ABOUT IT.
UM, AND AGAINST IT, OR FOR AND AGAINST IT, MR. DAVIS, UH, FROM THE BEAUFORT COUNTY GREEN SPACE COMMITTEE AND, UH, ETHAN JAMES AND ONE OF THE REAL ESTATE REPRESENTATIVES CAME AND DISCUSSED THE WHOLE THING.
UH, IT'S A SIX ACRE PARCEL ADJACENT TO LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL.
THE POTENTIAL PURCHASE PRICE THAT IS NOT INCURRED BY US, UH, IS $2.2 MILLION.
THE LAND IS, UH, IS CURRENTLY UNDEVELOPABLE LAND.
SO THE, THE WHOLE POINT OF THE GREEN SPACE IS THAT IT REMAINED UNDEVELOPED OR MINIMAL DEVELOPMENT.
UH, IT WAS NOT, UH, HAS NOT BEEN DECIDED NOR DISCLOSED OR EXPLAINED HOW MUCH DEVELOPMENT IT IS, BUT IT'S MEANT TO BE GREEN SPACE.
SO I'M ASSUMING NOT MUCH DEVELOPMENT AT ALL.
THERE WERE A COUPLE CONCERNS, UH, CONCERNS OF OWNERSHIP.
UM, WHY, THE WAY I UNDERSTOOD IT AS THE, THE HEAD OF THE COMMITTEE WAS THAT GREEN SPACE IS GOING TO BE BUYING IT AND GIVING IT TO US.
THEN IT WAS EXPLAINED TO ME THAT GREEN SPACE IS ACTUALLY BUYING IT FOR THE COUNTY, AND THEN THE COUNTY IS GIVING IT TO US BECAUSE THE COUNTY DOESN'T WANT IT.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE POTENTIAL BENEFITS.
UM, THIS PREVENTS, UM, COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, UH, IN THAT AREA BECAUSE IT'S UNDEVELOPABLE LAND, IT PROVIDES ADDITIONAL SECURITY FOR THE SCHOOL THAT'S NEARBY.
AND, UH, IT'S A PASSIVE GREEN SPACE FOR THE SCHOOL.
UH, IT WAS ALSO BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT MAYBE WE CAN USE IT FOR GARDENING THINGS OR, UM, PICNIC AREAS OR WHATEVER ADJACENT TO THE SCHOOL MAY BE EMERGENCY ACCESS, UM, AND POSSIBLE, UH, AGRICULTURAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, SO THERE, THERE'S ARGUMENTS FOR, UM, WHICH OBVIOUSLY PREVENT THE FURTHER COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE AREA.
CONTINGENT TO THE SCHOOL PROPERTY MAINTAINS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND PROVIDES ADDITIONAL SAFETY BUFFER FOR THE SCHOOL.
BUT THERE'S ALSO KEY ARGUMENTS AGAINST, AND THEY WERE LIABILITY.
UH, THE SCHOOLS TAKING ON PROPERTY THAT WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING WITH.
WE CAN'T MAKE ANY MONEY OFF OF IT.
UH, IF THE GREEN SPACE SEES US AS A STEWARD OF COUNTY SPACE, NOW WE'VE CREATED A PRECEDENT THAT ANYTIME THE THE COUNTY WANTS GREEN SPACE, THEY CAN JUST GIFT IT TO US.
UH, AND, UM, THE, THE WHOLE VAGUE USE OF, UH, THE VAGUE CASE OF USE BEYOND WALKING, HIKING, THE PICNIC TEAM, WHICH WAS IN THERE JUSTIFICATION.
IT'S NOT CLEAR WHAT THE DISTRICT WOULD ACTUALLY DO WITH THE LAND.
I MEAN, OUR, IF, IF, IF THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS REALIZE THAT IT'S GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, THERE AND IT BELONGS TO THE SCHOOL, ARE THEY GONNA WANT US TO PUT A, A PLAY, A PLAYGROUND ON IT OR MAYBE, UH, A WALKING CIRCLE, HIKE, CIRCLING CIRCLE? 'CAUSE IT'S ONLY SIX ACRES.
SO I I BUT IN THE JUSTIFICATION THAT THEY GAVE US, WHICH WAS ONLY PAGE FIVE OF A FIVE PAGE DOCUMENT, IT SAYS IT AT THE BOTTOM PAGE, FIVE OF FIVE PAGES.
UH, WE, WE SPOKE ABOUT THE OTHER FOUR PAGES AND THEY KIND OF MOVED AROUND.
IT NEGOTIATED AROUND OR NAVIGATED AROUND COMING UP WITH THOSE EXTRA FOUR PAGES.
BUT I WILL SAY, UM, MR. SMITH SPOKE, UH, THE, THE LAND ACTUALLY, UH, SITS IN HIS, HIS AREA, UH, AND HE'S, HIS, HIM AND HIS CONSTITUENTS ARE IN FAVOR OF IT.
UM, SO THAT BEING SAID, THAT'S UH, THAT'S UH, I THINK I COVERED PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING.
I'M SURE MR. SMITH HAS SOME OTHER COMMENTS.
WELL, LEMME START BY SAYING THIS TONIGHT.
THE FIRST THING WE DID WHEN WE CAME OUT TONIGHT, WE TOOK A VOTE, RIGHT? THAT VOTE WAS THE WHAT? BUY SOME LAND.
AND, AND, AND, AND, AND THAT LAND WE BOUGHT IS PROBABLY TO DO THE SAME THING THAT, THAT, THAT THIS GREEN SPACE IS DOING.
IT'S PROTECTING OUR SCHOOL AND PROTECTING THE KIDS, THE, THE THE KIDS, THE MANY KIDS THAT WE HAVE IN THIS DISTRICT.
BECAUSE THE GREEN SPACE NOT ONLY ARE, NOT ONLY ARE THEY DOING US A HUGE FAVOR IN SAVING ON, ON THE TAX DOLLARS, BUT THEY ALSO, BUT THEY ALSO, THERE WAS PROPOSED A RESTAURANT.
[02:00:01]
BUSINESSES THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED IN THIS SAME, IN THIS, IN THE SAME LAND.SO THE GREEN, UH, THE GREEN SPACE IS ACTUALLY MOVING TO HELP CURE THE COMMUNITIES APPETITE.
BECAUSE ON, ON, ON THAT MONDAY NIGHT OF LAST WEEK, I WAS JUST, IF ANY OF YOU ARE FOLLOWING COUNTY COUNCIL, YOU'RE FINDING OUT THAT THE PEOPLE HERE ARE SAYING, LISTEN, STOP CUTTING THE TREES.
SO WHAT THEY DID WAS THEY GAVE US ANOTHER TOOL AND OUR TOOL BELT SAID, HEY, LOOK HERE.
YOU, YOU AND THE KIDS CAN DO SCIENCE PROJECTS.
EVEN AT E EVEN AT, AT SCHOOLS.
I GO TO, I GO TO CERTAIN, CERTAIN SCHOOLS.
THERE ARE CERTAIN TEACHERS AND KIDS, THEY'RE OUTSIDE WALKING.
THIS IS A WHOLE NATURE TRAIL RIGHT BY RIGHT, RIGHT ADJACENT TO OUR SCHOOL.
SO DO MY CONSTITUENTS WANT IT? YES.
MY CONSTITUENTS HAVE STATED THAT THEY HAVE, THAT THEY ARE, THAT THEY ARE CONCERNED THAT YES, YOU KNOW, ALL WHAT'S GONNA DO WITH THAT PROPERTY.
AND THEN ALSO RIGHT THERE, RIGHT, RIGHT THERE, UH, WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, THE COUNTY IS TALKING ABOUT CHANGING THE ENTRANCE TO THIS, TO THIS, TO THE, THAT THAT'S IN THIS ADJACENT TO THE SAME PROPERTY UPON, UPON HOW WE GET IN AND OUT, OUT OF THE SCHOOL.
THAT IT TOOK PEOPLE HALF OF THE DAY OUR KIDS WERE DELAYED PAPER ABOUT TWO, PROBABLY ABOUT MAYBE TWO OR THREE HOURS EVEN GETTING HOME, GETTING OUT OF GETTING OUT OF, OFF, OFF THE PROPERTY TO GO HOME.
SO TO ME, WHEN WHEN WE LOOK AT WHY, UH, THE ADVANTAGES VERSUS DISADVANTAGE, THEY, THEY'RE NOT CHARGING US ONE DIME FOR THIS PROPERTY.
UH, SOME PEOPLE WANNA SAY THERE'S, THERE'S A LIABILITY, HECK THERE'S A LIABILITY JUST DRIVING ON, ON, ON, ON THAT ROAD, ON THAT ROADWAY CLOSE TO THE SCHOOL POINT BLANK PERIOD.
SO THERE, THERE, THERE ARE, THERE ARE TON OF LIABILITIES.
BUT WHEN YOU WEIGH IN THE, IN THE BALANCE BEING NEED VERSUS WANT, I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS SOMETHING, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IS A NO-BRAINER.
IT'S GOING TO HELP THE KIDS IN THE COMM IN THE COMMUNITY.
IT'S GOING TO, IT IS GOING TO CREATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL.
SO YES, I'M, YES, I'M GOING TO SUPPORT MY CONSTITUENTS AND I'M GONNA VOTE FOR IT.
I'M HOPING THAT EVERYONE ON THIS BOARD, THAT THAT, THAT WE VOTE FOR IT BECAUSE THIS, THIS PROPERTY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS ANY OTHER PROPERTY THAT WE, THAT WE LOOK AT IN THIS DISTRICT TO BE, TO BE UTILIZED FOR OUR STUDENTS TO GROW.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS? I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING LOUD, WRONG, MISS.
I WAS IN THAT MEETING AS WELL AND I, I SHARE MR. NA'S CONCERN.
I I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A FREE SIX ACRE PARK.
I DON'T THINK THAT'S THE ISSUE.
THE THING IS, AS HE POINTED OUT, THIS IS AN UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION.
EVERY OTHER FEE, SIMPLE PURCHASE THAT IS BEEN MADE BY TAXPAYERS MONEY HAS GONE TO THE, EITHER THE MUNICIPAL COUNTY, IN FACT, THE ONLY THREE THAT I COULD FIND SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO ARE ALL ON HILTON HEAD.
AND IT WAS A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COUNTY.
BUT WHAT MR. NAY TRIED TO GET TO IN HIS VERY REFRESHINGLY DIRECT AND CANDID WAY WAS WHY WOULD THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TAKE THIS ON? THEY, UH, THEY TALK ABOUT IT BECOMING A PARK THAT'S GREAT FOR THE COUNTY.
THE COUNTY KNOWS HOW TO DO PARKS.
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO DO PARKS.
WHEN I BECAME A NO ON THIS WAS WHEN WE PRESSED FOR, UH, AN ANSWER AS TO WHY THEY WANTED THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
THEY SAID IN THIS MEETING THAT THIS DEAL IS CONTINGENT ON THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TAKING OWNERSHIP OF THE SIX ACRES.
I JUST WANT AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THIS IS AN UNUSUAL ARRANGEMENT.
AND UH, THE COMMENT WAS, THE WORDS COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH DON'T SOUND LIKE A GOOD PARTNER.
AND I, YOU KNOW, I WAS REALLY, UH, OFFENDED BY THAT BECAUSE WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS OF SOMETHING, WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, WE ARE REPRESENTING A CONSTITUENCY, I WOULD EXPECT THEM TO COME AND SAY, HERE ARE THE REASONS.
BASICALLY WHAT THEY SAID WAS, WE WANNA BE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SCHOOL.
WE ARE OBVIOUSLY DEFAULT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COUNTY COUNCIL 'CAUSE WE'RE ALL MANAGING RESOURCES.
I HAVE SOME CONCERNS THAT WE'RE NOT ADDRESSED.
NUMBER ONE, SCHOOL USE IS DIFFERENT THAN GREEN SPACE USE, AND THERE IS GOING TO BE CONFLICT.
UM, WE DO NOT, WE PRIORITIZE, I'M NOT SURE IF WE DON'T ALLOW USE DURING SCHOOL HOURS, BUT WE DON'T ALLOW PEOPLE TO FROLIC ON SCHOOL PROPERTY DURING SCHOOL HOURS.
THAT IS IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION WITH GREEN SPACE, WHICH IS UNFETTERED PUBLIC ACCESS.
SO I'M NOT SURE HOW WE'RE GONNA RESOLVE THOSE.
I WILL VOTE IN FAVOR OF THIS IF I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY THE MECHANISMS, HOW THEY WANT THIS TO WORK.
BUT TELLING ME THAT JUST, AND IT ACTUALLY WASN'T DIRECTED AT ME EVEN, BUT JUST TELLING OUR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS BASICALLY TO STOP ASKING QUESTIONS.
'CAUSE THAT'S NOT WHAT A GOOD PARTNER DOES.
I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A HIGH PRESSURE SALE.
SO IT PROBABLY IS A, THERE'S PROBABLY A GREAT EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THEY WANT TO BUY THIS AND GIVE IT TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AS OPPOSED TO BUYING IT AND MANAGING IT AS A COUNTY.
THEY JUST DIDN'T PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.
[02:05:01]
AND SO, UNTIL I GET CLARIFICATION ON WHAT THIS ARRANGEMENT WOULD ACTUALLY ENTAIL.THE OTHER THING WE GOTTA THINK ABOUT BEYOND LIABILITY, WE HAVE MALPRACTICE, NOT MALPRACTICE, SORRY.
WE HAVE, UM, WE REQUIRE INSURANCE, UH, TO HAVE A FAC, YOU KNOW, A FARMER'S MARKET THERE, YOU WOULD HAVE TO GET INSURANCE.
WE DON'T ALLOW ALCOHOL ON SCHOOL PROPERTIES.
WE HAVE A LOT OF SEPARATE RESTRICTIONS, AND WE ALREADY STRUGGLE TRYING TO GET THAT IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE COUNTY DOESN'T BUY IT AND KEEP IT AS A NICE PARK NEAR THE SCHOOLS, WHICH THEY DO WITH LIKE OSCAR FRAZIER PARK IN, UM, BLUFFTON, RIGHT ADJACENT TO MC RILEY.
YOU KNOW, WE CAN HAVE A PARK NEXT TO A SCHOOL AND IT WORKS GREAT.
I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE SCHOOL HAS TO BE IN CHARGE.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS? I, LET ME, UH, LET ME MAKE A COMMENT.
UM, I WAS APPROACHED, UH, BY ABOUT THIS, ABOUT SIX, EIGHT MONTHS AGO, UM, BY, UH, COUNCILMAN DAVID BARTHOLOMEW.
HE REPRESENTS, UH, THAT DISTRICT WHERE THAT PARK IS LOCATED OR THAT PIECE OF PROPERTY IS LOCATED.
HE SAID, YOU KNOW, WOULD THE SCHOOL DISTRICT BE INTERESTED IN, UH, ACQUIRING THIS LAND? AND I SAID, WELL, I HAD THE SAME ISSUE ABOUT, WELL, WHAT'S THE LIABILITY? WHAT'S THE USE? AND SO ON.
SO I, I WENT AND ATTENDED A MEETING WITH THE GREEN SPACE PEOPLE.
AND THESE ARE A BUNCH OF FOLKS THAT ARE VOLUNTEERS.
THEY COME TOGETHER AND THEY'RE INTERESTED IN PRESERVING AND PROTECTING, UH, THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND SO THEY, THEY HAVE THE, UH, UH, PASSION OF A TREE HUGGER, UH, NOT BEING THAT, NOT BEING PEJORATIVE.
UM, THEY, THEY SAID THAT WE WANT TO GIVE IT TO, TO THE COUNTY.
AND THE COUNTY SAID, YOU KNOW, WE THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA, BUT WE, THAT'S A PIECE OF PROPERTY THAT'S NOT, UH, ADJACENT TO ANY COUNTY PROPERTY OR ANY COUNTY ENTITY EVEN CLOSE BY THERE.
AND SO WE WOULDN'T HAVE, UH, A EYES ON IT OR EVEN BE AROUND IT VERY OFTEN.
AND, BUT YET, IF WE GOT IT, OUR PUBLIC WOULD SAY, WELL, WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING WITH THIS.
AND SHE SAID, UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THE PROPERTY.
SO, UH, MR. ROTTING AND I WENT OUT AND WALKED THE PROPERTY AND DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.
THIS IS, UM, ALONG, I THINK IT'S, UM, UH, WHAT IS IT, NAME OF THAT DRIVE? UM, THE, THE, UH, WHAT IS IT? COUGAR.
COUGAR DRIVE IS A ROAD YOU TAKE OFF OF SEA ISLAND PARKWAY AND GO AND WAIT AND PICK UP YOUR KIDS.
AND I DID THIS FOR FIVE YEARS FOR TWO GRANDSONS STANDING, GETTING IN LINE AND GOING THROUGH THERE, PICK 'EM UP AND BRING THEM OUT.
UM, THIS PROPERTY IS, AS YOU ENTER OFF OF SEA ISLAND PARKWAY, YOU SEE THE WOODS THAT IS THE DIS THE SCHOOL'S PROPERTY, AND ON THE LEFT SIDE IT WITH THE WOODS THAT ARE THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION.
AND I, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT, WHAT IT WAS THERE FOR.
I, IN FACT, I KIND OF THOUGHT IT WAS PART OF THE PROPERTY, ALL OF THE SCHOOL.
SO WHEN I WENT OUT THERE AND WE WALKED THE GROUND, IT'S A SHORT WALK FROM THE SCHOOL.
IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S A, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED, A HUNDRED YARDS OR, OR MORE.
AND THERE IS, IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS SIX ACRE PLOT, THERE'S ABOUT A, UH, I'D SAY AN ACRE AND A HALF.
JUST, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT ANYBODY'S BEEN TAKING CARE OF IT, BUT THERE WASN'T A LOT OF WEEDS OR, OR GROWTH UNDERGROWTH, ALTHOUGH THE WOODED AREA HAD, HAD NOT BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, HAD SOME OF THE UNDERGROWTH TAKEN OUT, BUT NEITHER HAD OUR SIDE THAT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OWNS HAD IT.
SO, UH, I TALKED TO THE PRINCIPAL, WHAT WOULD YOU USE IT FOR? SHE SAID, I'D LOVE TO HAVE IT.
SHE SAID, I'D LOVE TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THE KIDS OUT.
UH, YOU KNOW, I SEE THIS AT, UH, ROBERT SMALLS, UH, IS HAPPENING TOO.
UM, UH, UH, BRADLEY, UH, TERRANCE RUNS THE KIDS OUT IN THE BIG OPEN FIELD OUT IN FRONT OF, UH, ROBERT SMALLS AND JUST RUNS 'EM OUT THERE FOR A WHILE.
JUST GET 'EM A LITTLE SUNLIGHT, LITTLE EXERCISE, AND BRINGS THEM BACK IN FOR CLASS.
SHE SAID I WOULD DO THE SAME THING.
I WOULD ALSO, I SAID, IT'D BE A GREAT PLACE, UH, TO PUT A GARDEN IN, LIKE THE GARDEN AT WILL BRANCH MIDDLE SCHOOL.
IT COULD BE DONE IN THAT MEADOW AREA THERE.
THE NEIGHBORS AND THE, THE PEOPLE.
[02:10:01]
UH, LADIES ISLAND.I ASKED HIM, WHAT, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT? I SAID, OH, I'D RATHER HAVE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OWN THAT THAN HAVE IT JUST BE, UH, I DON'T NEED ANOTHER, UH, BUSINESS THERE AND I DON'T NEED, SURELY DON'T NEED ANY KIND OF, UH, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT THERE.
SO IT'S, IT'S A PERFECT, PERFECT POSITION FOR IT.
WE, WE LOOKED AT WHAT WOULD IT COST TO MAINTAIN IT NO MORE THAN WHAT IT COSTS TO MAINTAIN THE WOODS ON THE WEST SIDE OR EAST SIDE OF THE, OF THE, THE ROAD.
UH, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO RUN A MOWER OVER THERE IN THE MEADOW, MAYBE ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR AT ALL.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S VERY LITTLE COST.
THERE'S VERY LITTLE ACCESS FOR SOMEBODY TO COME IN AND MISUSE IT.
THE COUNTY IS, UH, MR. BARTHOLOMEW WAS VERY EXCITED ABOUT, BOY, YOU KNOW, WE COULD HAVE A FARMER'S MARKET THERE.
I SAID, WELL, IF YOU HAVE A FARMER'S MARKET THERE, YOU'D HAVE TO COORDINATE IT WITH THE PRINCIPAL.
AND, AND IF THERE'S A BILL THAT HAS TO BE PAID FOR CLEANUP OR SOMETHING, YOU, THE COUNTY WOULD HAVE TO STAND FOR IT.
WE CAN, WE CAN HAVE AN, UM, A, UH, MOA ON JOINT USE, WHICH IS WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE COUNTY A LOT RECENTLY, ESPECIALLY AT ROBERT SMALLS WHEN WE WERE TEARING DOWN THE SCHOOL AND WE HAD TO USE THE ATHLETIC FIELDS OVER THERE AT, UH, UH, NO, ABSOLUTELY.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS, AND THIS WAS A SIMPLE REQUEST, I THINK, FROM THE COUNTY TO TRY TO PARTNER WITH US.
AND I, I, AND I, I WAS AT THAT MEETING AND I WAS APPALLED THAT WHAT HE SAID.
UH, BUT THAT WAS, THAT WAS A, A TREE HUGGER AND TREE HUGGERS SOMETIMES, UH, SPEAK BEFORE THEY THINK, I THINK THIS IS A GOOD, UH, A, A GOOD IN, IT'S NOT AN INVESTMENT, IT'S A GIFT.
WE DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING FOR THIS.
SO I THINK, AND DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANNA SAY? YES, SIR.
ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS OF THIS AREA IS THAT SO MANY PEOPLE COME FROM CONGESTED AREAS IN TERMS OF TRAFFIC, IN TERMS OF REALLY JUST SORT OF BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO GET FROM ONE PLACE WITH EASE.
UH, A LOT OF PEOPLE MISS THE, UH, GREEN ENVIRONMENT, WHICH HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BIG ATTRACTIONS OF THE SOUTH, AND THAT PEOPLE ARE MOVING HERE BECAUSE OF THAT.
SO I SEE WHERE THAT SIX POINTS, THREE ACRES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD LIE IN ITS NATURAL STATE INTO ETERNITY, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU.
UH, AND IF YOU ARE GOING INTO THE, OUR SCHOOL, WHEN YOU ARE ACTUALLY ON SEEING ALL THAT WOODED AREA, I COULD NOT TELL WHERE THE DELINEATION IS BETWEEN THE SCHOOL WOODS AND THIS PARCEL HERE.
SO I THINK THAT'S THE STATE THAT'S GOING TO STAY IN.
WE MIGHT, YOU KNOW, CONSIDER SAYING WE'RE NEVER GONNA DEVELOP, WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE A, UH, FLEA MARKET OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
UH, JUST LET IT STAY AS IT IS.
AND I THINK THE LAST POINT I WOULD MAKE IS, I THINK IT'S, IT'S REALLY A KUDOS, A BIG WIN FOR US, THAT THE COUNTY IS WILLING TO FACILITATE THE PURCHASE AND FLIP IT AND GIVE IT TO US BECAUSE OF HOW YOU, YOU COLLECTIVELY, THE DISTRICT AND THE PUBLIC HAVE BEEN EXECUTING SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT YOU'VE UNDERTAKEN OVER THE LAST 6, 5, 6, 7, 7 YEARS.
SO I, I, I'M, I'M A PRO FOR IT.
I TRUST THAT IT WILL NOT BE DEVELOPED, AND I THINK WE CAN, UH, MAKE SURE THAT THAT HAPPENS IF IT'S UNDER OUR, OUR LEADERSHIP.
UH, WE HAVE SOMEBODY ONLINE THAT WOULD LIKE TO, HEY, SOMETHING TO SAY YOU HAVE, IS HE ON, UH, ZOOM? JAMES IS ON MR. MR. JAMES, PLEASE.
UH, FOR, FOR THE BOARD, PLEASE.
I AM THE APPLICANT OF THE GREEN SPACE APPLICATION THAT WAS PRESENTED, AND REALLY THE PERSON WHO HAS BEEN, UH, BRINGING THIS, UH, TO THE FOREFRONT, UM, FOR, AS MR. GUYER NOTED, UH, PROBABLY THE LAST, UH, AL ALMOST COMING UP ON A YEAR, TRYING TO, UM, UH, PRESENT THIS, THIS APPLICATION AND, AND, AND PROJECT TO MULTIPLE DIFFERENT ENTITIES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED, UH, SPEAKING WITH A FEW OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS OF BUFORT COUNTY, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THE BEST, THIS, THIS, THIS PROPERTY RUNS
[02:15:01]
CONTIGUOUS WITH LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL.AND THAT LADIES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL WAS CURRENTLY, UH, GETTING READY TO UNDERGO A COMPLETE REDEVELOPMENT WITH A NEW TRAFFIC SIGNAL COMING IN AT THE CORNER OF THIS SITE.
THERE WAS ANOTHER PARCEL THAT HAD RECENTLY PURCHASED.
I'M ALSO WITH CHARTER ONE REALTY AND A LICENSED REAL ESTATE BROKER REPRESENTING THE OWNERS.
UH, AND, AND ALSO THE APPLICANT.
UH, REALLY JUST THE TIMING OF THIS WITH THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SCHOOL WAS, WAS WHERE WE SAID, OKAY, COULD THE SCHOOL USE THIS PROPERTY FOR REDEVELOPMENT? COULD THEY USE THE ADDITIONAL SPACE FOR, UH, OTHER FACILITIES OR BALL FIELDS AS THEY WERE GOING THROUGH THE, THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW SCHOOL? IT WAS DETERMINED THAT AT THE TIME THE SCHOOL WAS NOT INTERESTED IN ACQUIRING, REALLY PURCHASING THE LAND, UH, THAT THEY WEREN'T IN A, A CAPACITY TO DO THAT.
AND, AND IT WAS, IT WAS TURNED DOWN, UM, THEN IT WAS RECOMMENDED.
WELL, IF WE CAN, IF WE CAN GO THROUGH THE GREEN SPACE TAX, UM, APPLICATION AND HAVE THE GREEN SPACE COMMITTEE PURCHASE THIS LAND AND DONATE IT TO THE SCHOOL, WOULD THAT MAKE SENSE? SO, SO AS, AS WE, WE LOOK AT ALL THE DIFFERENT AVENUES OF, OF HOW THIS COULD GO, REALLY, THE REASON WHY WE'RE HERE TODAY IS BECAUSE EVERYBODY WHO'S IN FAVOR OF THIS, IT JUST MAKES SENSE FOR THE SCHOOL TO HAVE IT.
I DON'T THINK TURNING THIS INTO A, UH, COUNTY PARK OR MAINTAINED PARK, YOU KNOW, OR BY THE COUNTY, IS NOT INTERESTED IN PUTTING A PARK AT THIS LOCATION.
IT JUST MAKES PERFECTLY GOOD SENSE FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO, TO, TO OWN IT.
UM, MR. NA, YOUR, YOUR CONCERNS WITH THE APPLICATION, WE'RE MORE THAN HAPPY TO, TO GET YOU THE FULL APPLICATION.
I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT HAVING THAT AT THE LAST COMMITTEE MEETING.
UH, WE HAD JUST DETERMINED THAT THE, THE ONE PAGE HAD THE MOST INFORMATION ON IT.
MOST OF THE OTHER WAS JUST, UM, MINIMAL INFORMATION ABOUT, UH, ABOUT THE PROPERTY.
HAPPY TO GET YOU THE FULL SET OF THAT.
AND I THINK WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR TODAY IS JUST AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, KIND OF BEGIN THE NEGOTIATIONS.
WE'VE BEEN AT THIS FOR A YEAR AND HAVING A, A CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THREE DIFFERENT ENTITIES.
BEAUFORT COUNTY, BEAUFORT COUNTY, GREEN SPACE, AND BEAUFORT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS BEEN VERY CHALLENGING OF GETTING ALL THE KIND OF THINGS IN MOTION OF, OF, OF THIS.
SO WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IS, IS, UH, YOU KNOW, A, A VOTE TO, UH, TAKE THIS TO THE NEXT STEP.
UH, MS. VOTE WRIGHT, AND THEN I'LL, DR. RODRIGUEZ, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.
SO, ACCORDING TO THE GREEN SPACE, FIRST OF ALL, ACCORDING TO THE GREEN SPACE'S OWN PROBLEM, I, I AM IN FAVOR OF THIS LAND IN A SENSE.
I THINK IT'S NICE, AND I DON'T WANNA SEE A MCDONALD'S OR, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS ACTUALLY ADVERTISED IN ZILLOW AS HAVING A BILLBOARD AVAILABLE.
SO I, I GET THE CONCEPT, AND, AND MR. JAMES, I'M NOT OPPOSED TO IT, BUT HERE'S THE QUESTION I REALLY HAVE ABOUT, I MEAN, COST AND ALL THIS IS ONE THING, ACCORDING TO THE GREEN SPACE PROGRAM, IT'S NOT, THIS WILL BECOME A FUTURE PASSIVE PARK THAT IS MANDATORY.
ALSO, PUBLIC ACCESS IS REQUIRED.
HOW WILL THAT WORK? ESPECIALLY, 'CAUSE AS MR. DALLAS SAYS, YOU CAN'T REALLY DELINEATE WHERE THE COUNT THIS, THIS SIX ACRES WOULD END, AND THE SCHOOL PROPERTY, IF WE HAVE TO GRANT PUBLIC ACCESS AND IT BECOMES A PARK, HOW ARE WE GONNA MANAGE THAT? UH, IF WE TAKE ON OWNERSHIP OF THIS PROPERTY? I MEAN, I WOULD JUST SAY YOU PROBABLY HAVE TO PUT A FENCE UP OR SOMETHING THAT WOULD SEPARATE, UH, ACCESS FROM THE PARK TO THE SCHOOL.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE SOME KIND OF BARRIER LIKE THAT, THAT WE WOULD, THAT WE WOULD PUT UP.
I WOULD IMAGINE, UH, UNLESS THAT GREEN SPACE, UH, IN ITS, UH, IN ITS NATURAL, UH, STATE, UH, IS, IS IS A BARRIER TO TS, YOU KNOW, TRESPASSING ONTO A CAMPUS, WOULD WE BE ABLE TO TREAT IT DIFFERENTLY, UM, THAN OTHER, WOULD WE BE ABLE TO EXEMPT IT FROM THE OTHER FACILITY USE? BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A DIFFERENT CATEGORY, RIGHT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
SO IF WE DON'T, WE DON'T ALLOW PUBLIC ACCESS TO SCHOOL PROPERTY DURING THE SCHOOL DAY.
IT IS REQUIRED BY THE GREEN SPACE OF THE PUBLIC, HAVE UNFETTERED ACCESS.
WOULD WE CREATE A SEPARATE CATEGORY FOR A GREEN SPACE PROJECT WHERE WE WOULD ALLOW UNFETTERED PUBLIC ACCESS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS SCHOOL OWNED PROPERTY? I WOULD IMAGINE, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU'D HAVE TO SEPARATE IT IF, IF, IF, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE A FENCE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IF THERE WAS THE POSSIBILITY TO, TO ACCESS THE CAMPUS FROM THERE.
UM, BUT THAT SOUNDS MORE OF, UM, UM, UH, UH, I THINK YOU'RE, I THINK YOU'RE DELVING MORE INTO A LEGAL QUESTION OR AN ATTORNEY QUESTION, UH, THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO GET SOME, SOME INFORMATION ON, ON THAT.
[02:20:01]
IT'S A DEAL BETWEEN US AND THE OWNERS THROUGH GREEN SPACE AND THE PROPERTY COMING TO US VIA THE COUNTY, UH, THAT MEANS WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUT RESTRICTIONS ON IT LEGALLY, AS PART OF THE SAYING THAT, OKAY, IN ORDER FOR US TO TRIGGER THIS DEAL, EXECUTE THIS DEAL, WE ARE NEVER GOING TO DEVELOP IT.WE'RE NEVER GONNA ALLOW A PARK ON IT.
AND THEY HAVE TO COME BACK TO US AND SAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THIS LITTLE THING AS MS. BOATRIGHT IS ALLUDING TO THAT SAYS, EVEN THOUGH YOU DON'T WANT IT, WE COULD DO IT.
SO I THINK AS LONG AS WE CAN PUT THAT INTO THE CONTRACT, I THINK THAT'S A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S IRON FENCED AND, AND NEVER DEVELOPED.
BECAUSE, AS SHE SAID, GOING DOWN THAT ROAD, YOU CAN'T TELL THE ONE FROM THE OTHER.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE, WE WOULD HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, IF THIS WAS APPROVED BY THE BOARD, UH, THE SPECIFICATIONS, UH, OF THAT, OF THAT CONTRACT WOULD HAVE TO DELINEATE THE WISHES OF THE BOARD WITH RESPECT TO THAT PROPERTY.
UM, AND THEN YOU WOULD NEED AN ATTORNEY TO, TO, YOU KNOW, I THINK TO DETERMINE IF THERE ARE ANY REGULATIONS, UH, AROUND THAT, OR ANY LANGUAGE IN A CONTRACT THAT WOULD, UH, UM, THAT WOULD DO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
UH, FIRST OFF, LEMME STOP BY SAYING THIS.
I WOULD HATE FOR US TO, AS A BOARD
WE SAY WE WANT TO HAVE GOOD COMMUNICATION WITH THE PEOPLE.
WE TALK ABOUT STUDENTS LEAVING THE DISTRICT AND THIS, THAT, AND ALL, ALL THE OTHER THINGS.
AND HERE WE HAVE SOMEONE WHO'S TRYING TO BE A GOOD PARTNER, WHO'S TRYING TO HELP US MAKE GOOD UTILIZATION OF ANOTHER COMPONENT TO BE A TOOL IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, AND, AND, AND LET, AND LET ME, LET ME GIVE YOU THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THIS.
WE SAID THAT, WELL, WE KNOW THAT WE BEEN TALKING BEFORE, WE, WE MEET WITH COUNTY COUNCIL NOW, WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN HAVING MEET WITH COUNTY COUNCIL.
EVERY DOLLAR DID, UH, YOU CAN SAY QUARTERLY, ANNUALLY, ONCE, OR WHENEVER.
THEN WE JUST TALKED ABOUT NOT LONG AGO, MOA, WITH THE RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND, AND SHARE, UTILIZE UTILIZATION OF OUR, OF OUR FACILITIES.
SO IF WE WANT TO, IF WE, IF WE SAY ON ONE HAND, HEY, WE WANT, WE WANT TO WELCOME THE COMMUNITY, WE WANNA BE GOOD COMMUNITY PARTNERS, AND WE WANT TO WORK WITH YOU.
AND THEN WE SAY, ON THE OTHER HAND, WE, WE LOOKING FOR THE, WE'RE LOOKING FOR, WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE, THE, THE, THE, THE, THE FAKE PLAY, OR WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE, THE, THE, UH, WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE, THE PULL OUT, PULL OUT THE BOOK WE WE'RE LOOKING FOR, I GOT YOU MOMENT, OR, OR THE, THE FAKE.
WHERE'S THE SWEET AT? OR, AND USING FOOTBALL, WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE FAKE PLAY? SO EITHER WE WANT TO HAVE A COMMUNITY RELATIONS WITH PEOPLE, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE GREEN SPACE, THE GREEN SPACE BASICALLY SAID THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PRINCIPLES OF GREEN SPACE, GREEN SPACE SAID THIS, WE WANT TO GIVE THE SPACE TO THE MOST RESPONSIBLE PERSON.
THEY'RE LOOKING AT US AS A GOVERNMENT ENTITY WHO IS RESPONSIBLE.
THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF GREEN SPACE.
SOMEONE WHO WILL BE TRUE TO IT, AND WHO WILL UPHOLD IT.
WHAT BETTER PERSON, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT BETTER, UH, GOVERNMENT ENTITY THAN THE PERSON NEXT TO IT, WHICH IS THE SCHOOL.
SO I, I JUST WANNA, I JUST WANNA POINT IT OUT BECAUSE I'M, I'M, I'M HEARING THIS, AND, UH, HOW I, I JUST HEAR THE DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS IN THE, IN THE, AND THE QUESTIONS, EAR, EAR EARLY.
WE DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE THAT ON, ON, ON THE OTHER, UH, P PIECE OF PIECE OF LAND THAT, THAT, THAT WE, UH, VOTED ON EARLIER.
SO I THINK TO START THE, THE PROCESS AND UNDERSTANDING THIS, YOU KNOW, IT, IT, IT, IT AIN'T, UH, I DON'T THINK IT TAKES A, A ROCKET SCIENTIST.
AND ALSO, LET ME, LET ME ADDRESS THE PART ABOUT THE GUY SAYING THAT, UH, YOU, THAT, THAT WE WERE NOT, UH, ABOUT BEING GOOD NEIGHBORS.
HELL, I'VE HAD BOARD MEMBERS WHO TELL ME, UH, I'M ABOUT BEING GOOD PARTNERS.
OH, YOU ASK TOO MUCH QUESTIONS.
SO Y'ALL SHOULD TAKE A PAGE OUTTA YOUR OWN BOOKS AND THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU ASK ME THAT QUESTION, OR WHEN I'M ASKING A QUESTION OR TALKING, AND YOU GETTING P****D OFF, PUT THAT SAME ENERGY THERE.
AND, AND THE GUY WASN'T REALLY P****D OFF.
HE JUST SAID, LISTEN, WE'RE JUST TRYING TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS, AND WE, AND WE ARE, AND WE'RE BRINGING IT TO YOU.
HE DIDN'T HAVE THE ANSWER THEN.
AND HE KEPT GIVING ANSWERS AND GIVING DIFFERENT THINGS AND SAYING, LOOK, HERE.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR A YEAR, WE WANNA BRING TO SOME TYPE OF RESOLUTION.
SO I I, I, I DIDN'T TAKE IT AS TOLL.
HE WAS BEING TOTALLY DISRESPECTFUL.
HE JUST SAID, LOOK, HERE, WE'RE TRYING TO BE GOOD N****S AND NEIGHBORS, AND, AND WE'RE BRINGING IT TO Y'ALL.
I, SO, I, SO I, I JUST WANNA, I JUST WANNA PUT THOSE TWO POINTS OUT THERE.
SO WHEN WE STOP, YOU KNOW, GOING IN AND TALKING ABOUT HOW
[02:25:01]
PEOPLE ASK, HELL THINK ABOUT HOW WE TREAT EACH OTHER OR HOW, HOW, HOW, HOW, HOW WE TALK ABOUT HOW Y'ALL TALK ABOUT ME SOMETIME WHEN I'M TALKING.AND Y'ALL FEEL THAT WAY, Y'ALL BLOWING AND DOING THE THINGS THAT YOU DO.
I THINK WE CAN, UH, CALL THE QUESTION.
A GREEN SPACE IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
SO SOMEBODY'S GETTING A $2.25 MILLION, YOU KNOW, TAX DEDUCTIBLE, UH, BENEFIT, WHICH WE'RE NOT SEEING, UM, BUT BY THE COUNTY OFFLOADING IT TO US, UH, THEY'RE RELIEVING THEMSELVES OF ALL THE LIABILITY THAT GOES ALONG WITH HAVING PROPERTY, WHICH NOW WE HAVE TO HAVE UN ACCESS TO.
UH, AND THEN, UH, THEY ALSO, BY GIVING IT TO THE, THE PROPERTY, GIVING IT TO US, AS WE MENTIONED, UH, UM, MY COLLEAGUE MENTIONED ABOUT MOVING THE, THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AROUND THERE, ALL THE COUNTY HAS TO DO IS COME TO US FOR A HANDSHAKE, AND THEY GET EASEMENTS AND RIGHT OF AWAY TO, TO MOVE THAT STUFF AROUND.
SO THEY, THEY DON'T HAVE TO PAY, UH, A PRIVATE PERSON, UM, MARKET VALUE FOR, FOR EASEMENTS OR RIGHT OF WAY.
THEY CAN JUST COME TO US AND GIVE US A HANDSHAKE, SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER, BE ON THEIR WAY.
UH, SO THEY GET THAT BENEFIT FROM US.
AND WHAT DO WE GET? WE GET TO MOW IT.
ALRIGHT, WE'LL CALL THE QUESTION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING, AYE.
WE HAVE THREE, FOUR, I THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME LANGUAGE IN THIS.
WE'RE NOT GONNA AMEND THE MOTION.
SO WE HAVE, UH, AN EYE FROM DR. CARR FROM, UM, DALLAS, MR. DALLAS, MYSELF, UM, MR. SMITH.
AND ONLINE, MR. UH, PASTOR GORDON, I THINK ALFONSO SAYS, I, WHO, WHO WAS THAT FROM? ALFONSO SAID, ALFONSO SAID I MM-HMM
AND PASTOR GORDON, MS. GORDON.
I CAN'T HEAR YOU PUT PASTOR GORDON.
WE DON'T HAVE, WE DON'T HAVE EITHER CHLOE OR PASTOR GORDON.
YOU GOT MS. A, MS. BOATRIGHT AND MR. NA, MS. FRAZIER AS, UH, SOMEBODY SAID SOMETHING, SHE'S, PASTOR GORDON SAID, AYE.
CAN YOU CALL, UH, MS. GORDON? UM, MS. LEE SAID THE THREE OF, OH, HE SAYS, AYE.
OKAY, SO WE HAVE MS. FRAZIER IS, IS ABSENT.
FRAZIER, FRAZIER SAYS I WITH THE CORRECT LANGUAGE.
SO THAT GIVES US 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, I AND THREE NAY.
MOTION VARIES, BUT WE, WE DO NEED TO, UH, WORK THE, UH, LANGUAGE.
AND SO I THINK THERE'LL BE A FINAL, WHEN, WHEN THE CONTRACT OR TITLE GETS TRANSFERRED, THEY'LL HAVE TO COME BACK TO THE BOARD AND THAT THOSE ITEMS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.
[02:30:01]
DO WE HAVE ANYBODY FROM MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL? NO.UH, BASICALLY IT'S A DONATION TO THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM VALUES $9,000.
THE, IT'S A MONETARY GIFT THAT THE WILL BE USED TO UPDATE AND ADD ATHLETIC SIGNAGE TO MAY RIVER CAMPUS.
BLUFFTON, UH, BLUFFTON RUSH FOUNDATION IS A, UH, I BELIEVE IT'S AN ATHLETIC, UH, SOCCER PROGRAM, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY.
DO WE HAVE ENOUGH TO VOTE ON THIS OR DO WE NEED TO GET SOME MORE INFORMATION? HAVE IT COME UP WELL, HOW IT'S SPENT OR WHAT SIGNAGE IS PUT UP? YEAH.
SO, UM, AT THE, AT THE SCHOOL CENTER, RIGHT, THIS IS A GIFT TO THE, TO THE SCHOOL AND TO THE CAMPUS.
SO ADMINISTRATION AT THE SCHOOL, UH, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.
AND THEY GENERALLY HAVE, UM, UH, SPECIFIC, UH, CRITERIA FOR THE SIZE OF THE SIGNS AND, AND, AND WHERE THEY'RE ALLOWED TO BE PLACED.
I MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ACCEPT THE DONATION FROM BLUFFTON RUSH FOUNDATION IN THE AMOUNT OF 9,000 FOR UPDATES AND ADD ATHLETIC SIGNAGE ON MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS, SECOND BY DR. CARR.
ALL THOSE IN THE, IN THE BOARD.
EVERYBODY HERE ONLINE, PASTOR GORDON, MS. GORDON AND LEAH FRAZIER.
LOOKS LIKE PASTOR GORDON SAYS I A I SEE IT.
HAVEN'T HEARD FROM MS. FRAZIER.
AND CHLOE, I THINK YOU'RE LOOKING, SAYS AYE.
WE GOTTA DO THE SECOND QUARTER FOIA REPORT SEPARATELY.
[Consent Agenda]
HAVE THE SECOND QUARTER FOIA REPORT BROUGHT TO BOARD BUSINESS ACTION.SOMEONE HERE TO ANSWER, TO ANSWER FOIA FOIA REQUEST.
HOW YOU DOING? GOOD, GOOD, GOOD EVENING.
UH, IF YOU WOULDN'T, UH, IN THE FUTURE, COULD YOU, UH, NUMBER THE PAGES? YEAH, SURE.
UM, ON THE LAST, ON THE LAST PAGE BACK HERE IS THERE'S A, THERE WAS A FOUR REQUESTS, UH, ON, UH, 6 25, 22, UH, 2025, AND THERE WAS THE TOP THREE, UH, SCORES.
AND THEN I SEE THAT, THAT, UM, THEY DIDN'T PAY, BUT IT SAYS THAT REQUESTS, UH, REQUEST INFORMATION WAS SENT.
WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? ARE YOU SAYING IT SAYS THEY DIDN'T PAY, BUT WE SENT INFORMATION? YES.
I SAID, WHEN IT SAYS MONEY, IT SAYS ZERO, BUT IT SAYS THAT REQUEST INFORMATION, UH, SENT.
LET ME ASK MS. GODLY, DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONE HE'S REFERRING TO? THERE WAS NO AMOUNT THE REQUESTED INFORMATION, THE, THERE, THERE WAS NO COST ESTIMATE FOR THAT ONE.
BUT WHEN I'M LOOKING AT IT, THEY LOOK LIKE, LIKE THEY ARE ASKING QUESTIONS BASED UPON THE SCORES OR BASED UPON THE INFORMATION FROM, UH, OR THE BREAKDOWN OF THE TOP THREE.
AND IN, IN TERMS, IN TERMS OF A, UM, OF A, UM, UM, WHAT DO YOU, WHAT DO YOU CALL IT? NINE ONE ONE? I, I FORBID, YES.
SO, SO, SO I'M JUST SAYING THAT THAT'S, THAT'S PROBABLY SOME VITAL INFORMATION.
AND, AND, AND I, I KNOW THAT'S, THAT, THAT SOME PEOPLE DO HAVE A, UM, A, A ISSUE OUR DISTRICT, BECAUSE THEY, THEY, THEY FEEL THAT THEY CAN'T GET WORK IN OUR DISTRICT.
AND SO I'M JUST WONDERING, I SEE THAT, I'M JUST CONCERNED I SEE SOMEONE THAT'S WHO'S, WHO'S FOOL FOR YOU THAT INFORMATION.
AND THEN I NOTICED THAT THAT'S NOT THAT THEY, THAT THEY DIDN'T NOT PAY FOR IT.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT WASN'T AN ERROR THAT WE DIDN'T, THAT WASN THAT WASN'T A PRINTED ERROR BECAUSE I, I, I KNOW OTHER PEOPLE PROBABLY WILL STILL COME AND REQUEST THAT INFORMATION AS WELL.
SO WE, WE DO GIVE OUT RFP INFORMATION.
UM, OUR PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT PULLS THAT INFORMATION FOR US.
IT'S A VERY COMMON FOYER REQUEST FOR DISTRICTS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO GET THAT.
UM, AND IT JUST DEPENDS IF IT IS AN EXTENSIVE, UM, POLL, WE DO CHARGE IF IT'S MORE THAN, YOU KNOW, HOUR, HOUR AND A HALF.
BUT USUALLY IT'S, I'LL LET MOLLY SPEAK TOO, BUT IT'S, IT'S USUALLY PRETTY, PRETTY QUICK TO PULL THOSE THINGS.
BUT WE DO HAVE TO GO IN AND REDACT PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.
SO WE DO, YOU CAN LOOK AT OUR FO WEBPAGE AND SEE LIKE THERE'S LOTS OF RFPS THAT ARE PROVIDED.
[02:35:01]
I, BUT THE THING, THE THING I SAID I WANNA SAY AGAIN, IS THAT, THAT, THAT TRIGGERED ME WAS WHEN I WAS READING IT, IT, IT SAID, IT SAID ZERO AND I WAS JUST EXPECTING A, A, A COMPANY OF THAT SIZE TO BE ABLE TO PAY SOMETHING.I MEAN, OR, OR, OR YOU KNOW, OR, OR MAYBE I WAS THINKING MAYBE YOU, IT IT MAY HAVE, YOU MAY HAVE MISSED IT OR SOMETHING.
AND, AND IN TERMS OF, I DON'T WANT NO ONE COMING BACK AND SAY, WELL LOOK HERE, Y'ALL IN CHARGE SO AND SO, BECAUSE I DO UNDERSTAND THAT FOIA IS IS IS PUBLISHED ON THE WEBSITE YEAH.
FACE THE COST OFF OF THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT IT WOULD TAKE TO PULL THAT INFORMATION.
SO PROCUREMENT TELLS US THIS WOULD TAKE AN HOUR TO PULL OR TWO HOURS TO PULL, AND THEN WE BASE THE COST OFF OF THAT TIME THAT THEY GIVE US.
SO FOR, FOR THAT SPECIFIC REQUEST, IT MUST HAVE TAKEN THEM LESS THAN AN HOUR TO PULL THE INFORMATION.
SO THAT'S WHY THERE WAS NO COST.
AND, BUT YOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN.
LIKE WE TRY TO BE VERY, VERY CONSISTENT WITH EVERYBODY.
AND AS MS. GODLEY SAID, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THE KIND OF THAT TIMEFRAME AS THE REFERENCE POINT.
YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THAT? NO, THAT'S IT.
THAT WAS, SO I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND PULL THAT BACK INTO THE CONSENT AGENDA.
SO WE HAVE ONE MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.
IS THAT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU? YEAH, THAT'S NO PROBLEM.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA? I'LL MAKE THAT MOTION.
MR. SMITH, DO I HAVE A SECOND? MS. HAY? AYE, ANY DISCUSSION? ALRIGHT, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PLEASE SIGNIFIED BY SAYING AYE.
AND THAT'S EVERYBODY HERE DO AND WE HAVE MR. SMALL IS THAT ALFONSO IS AYE LAY AYE, GORDON, PASTOR GORDON IS AN I.
AND MS. BOATWRIGHT IS NOT HERE, BUT THE MOTION CARRIES.
[Future Agenda Topics]
AND FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS.UM, UH, MY ESTEEMED COLLEAGUE OVER THERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU MENTIONED, UH, SOMETHING ABOUT BEING PREPARED FOR THE, UH, THE NEXT GENERAL SESSION COMING UP IN JANUARY.
IS THERE ANY WAY THAT WE CAN GET AN UPDATE OF ALL THE, ALL THE PROPOSALS AND BILLS AND WHATEVER THAT, THAT, THAT WE ENDORSED OR OPPOSED, UH, THE LAST TIME WE VOTED ON ALL THOSE THINGS, THERE'S A WAY TO GET AN UPDATE ON WHERE THOSE THINGS THAT WE EITHER OPPOSED OR SUPPORTED ARE STANDING RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE GO INTO THE NEXT SESSION.
ARE YOU SAYING THE, THE, UH, AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY LEVEL, CAN WE GET THAT? YEAH.
YES, WE CAN FIND THAT, ABSOLUTELY.
YOU WANT BRIEF, A BRIEF ON THAT? YEAH, PLEASE.
I MEAN FOR, FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AND THEN COME BACK AND REPORT.
UH, THE SUPERINTENDENT'S EVALUATION, I, I, WHEN, WHEN, WHEN ARE WE GETTING TOGETHER TO FINALIZE THAT? THAT'S, WE'RE FIGURING THAT OUT AFTER THIS MEETING.
BECAUSE I THINK THAT WE ARE THAT, THAT WE ARE IN THE STATE OF EMERGENCY OF GETTING THAT DONE, UH, IN, IN TERMS IN TERMS OF OF OF TIME AND OF MY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE OF BEING A BOARD MEMBER AND GOING OVER THAT AND UNDER UNDERSTANDING WHAT, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE SO WE CAN COME UP WITH SOME TYPE OF AGREEMENT.
THAT'S ONE THAT ALSO, UM, IT WILL BE THE SAME EVALUATION THAT IT IS EVERY YEAR.
I THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING A MEETING AND I'M TALKING ABOUT THE, THE, THE ACTUAL, UH, TOOL FOR HIM FOR THE NEXT, FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR, THE NEXT YEAR.
SO, BUT, BUT THAT, THAT, THAT COULD, THAT COULD CHANGE, BUT WE'RE REQUIRED TO GIVE HIM THAT OR WITHIN A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME.
AND I, AND THIS IS NOT MY FIRST TIME MENTIONING THAT BECAUSE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS TOOL, AND SO I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE, I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE VERY PUTIN FOR THIS BOARD TO LOOK OVER THAT TOOL AND DECIDE AS A BOARD, NOT AS A GROUP OF PRIVATE GROUP OF PEOPLE, WHETHER WE WANNA KEEP THAT TOOL OR NOT.
AND I'VE MADE THAT PUBLICLY THAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR US TO HAVE THAT MEETING TO ACTUALLY TAKE ACTION ON THAT.
SO I'LL, I'LL JUST, I'LL JUST, I'LL JUST LEAVE THAT THERE.
AND THE SECOND THING IS, UM, FUNERAL IN SCHOOL.
IN SCHOOL AND PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND IN FUNERAL.
WHAT? IN SCHOOLS? FUNERALS IN SCHOOLS.
FUNERALS IN SCHOOLS TO HAVE THEM OR TO, THAT'S YEAH, WE WE DISCUSSED IT.
MS. FRAZIER HAS PUT TWO IN CHAT.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND HER TEACHER TOPICS.
SHE HAS SCHOOL ASSIGNMENTS TO BOARD MEMBERS.
FULL ASSIGNMENTS FOR BOARD MEMBERS.
[02:40:02]
YEAH.MEMBERS ASSIGNED TO CERTAIN ATION ON THE OCTOBER 7TH MEETING.
THE OCT AS A, IF IT'S THE MEETING THAT I THINK SHE'S REFERENCING, IS IT, IS IT THE SIC MEETING MEETING? WELL, SHE'S CONCERNED.
SHE SHARED IT WITH ME WHILE SHE WAS SITTING HERE.
HER CONCERN IS THAT WE ALSO HAVE A BOARD MEETING SCHEDULED THAT EVENING.
WE DO WHAT IS THE CONFLICT ON OCTOBER 7TH WITH THE SIC? OH, THE SIC.
THERE'S AN SIC AND A BOARD MEETING THAT NIGHT.
THAT'S THE BOARD'S REGULAR SCHEDULE MEETING.
WHAT SCHOOL'S? SIC MEETING? I'M NOT SURE THAT LADIES ISLAND MIDDLES ISLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL.
OH, THAT'S THE ARCHITECTURE MEETING ON OCTOBER 7TH.
THAT'S WHERE THEY HAVE THEIR STANDARD.
BUT, UM, CHANGING THAT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON THE SEVENTH FOR THAT MEETING, WE WEREN'T CHANGING THE SCHOOL.
I THINK THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S, IT'S AN ISSUE.
I DON'T THINK WE CAN, WE CAN GO AHEAD MR. RODING.
I THINK WHAT HE'S SAYING IS THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING'S NOT CHANGING, SO WE NEED TO CHANGE THE OTHER MEETING.
WELL, THAT WOULD BE UP TO THE SIC OF COURSE, BUT THERE'S A LITTLE CONFUSION THERE ON THE, UM, UH, I THINK ON THE OPERATIONS MEETING WE TALKED ABOUT MOVING IT TO THE 14TH.
IT WOULD'VE ANYWAY BEEN ON THE 14TH IS THE WAY IT ENDS UP, BECAUSE THERE WASN'T A MEETING ON THE FIRST.
IT WAS THE MEETING WILL BE, THE BOARD MEETING WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR THE SEVENTH OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE 14TH.
THE SIC MEETING HAPPENS TO BE SCHEDULED THE SAME DAY AS THE BOARD MEETING.
SO THE SIC WOULD HAVE TO MOVE THEIR MEETING IF, OR SOMEONE WOULD NEED TO TALK TO THEM.
THAT'S THEIR NORMAL SCHEDULED SIC MEETING.
WELL, SOMETIMES IT FALLS ON AN OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
I KNOW IT'S ALWAYS ON A TUESDAY AND SOMETIMES IT FALLS, I GUESS OBVIOUSLY ON A BOARD WE'LL REACH OUT TO OKAY.
[Announcements]
ANNOUNCEMENTS.DO WE HAVE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS? I DO.
UM, I WANTED TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE, PEOPLE MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW THAT SEPTEMBER IS SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH.
UM, WE ACTUALLY, OR I HAVE A FRIEND WHO'S A BUSINESS OWNER LOCALLY.
HIS MOTHER WORKS FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND MANY OF US HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH LOSING SOMEONE TO SUICIDE.
THERE IS A WALK IN SHELTER COVE ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH.
IT IS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION.
AND THE WALK SERIES IS CALLED OUT OF DARKNESS COMMUNITY WALKS THE CHECK-IN BEGINS AT 1:00 PM AND THE WALK BEGINS AT TWO.
WE WOULD LOVE EVERYONE TO BE THERE IF THEY'RE ABLE.
ALSO, THERE, THERE'S THE BEFORD COUNTY YOUTH CONFERENCE THAT'S, I BELIEVE THIS IS, UH, PROBABLY ABOUT 30 SOMETHING ODD YEARS THAT WE, THAT THEY, THEY HAVE ALL THE TIME EVERY MONTH IN SEPTEMBER.
UM, THEY, THEY WELCOME BOARD MEMBERS AT SOME, AT SOME POINT IN TIME TO THE, UH, COME AND MEET THE KIDS.
AND THAT WA THAT WILL BE, UH, THAT WILL BE, UH, THIS SAT THIS SATURDAY, UH, OVER AT U-U-S-C-B STARTING FROM NINE, FROM NINE O'CLOCK TO TWO O'CLOCK THIS AFTERNOON.
SO LOOKING FOR ALL THE, ALL THE STUDENTS.
THIS IS A FREE CONFERENCE FOR STUDENTS.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO GO TO THIS CONFERENCE.
[Second Public Comments]
COMMENTS AND WE HAVE MISS GINA JOHNSON.AND MISS GINA JOHNSON IS GOING TO TALK, UH, MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS INITIATIVES ON SCHOOL CAMPUSES.
GOOD EVENING, MR. CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, SUPERINTENDENT, STAFF AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
I'M A PARENT OF A SENIOR AT MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL.
I'M ALSO THE CEO OF A MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE, MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING PRACTICE LOCATED IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
I FIRST WANNA THANK THE BOARD FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO OUR STUDENT SUCCESS AS WELL AS THEIR WELLBEING.
IT IS MY GOAL TODAY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO SHINE THE LIGHT ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF OUR STUDENTS AND THEIR NEEDS IN THIS AREA.
I WANNA RECOGNIZE THE BOARD FOR THE ACTIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAKEN, SUCH AS PUTTING CRISIS PHONE NUMBER HOTLINES ON STUDENT ID BADGES, AND OPENING UP SCHOOLS TO ORGANIZATIONS LIKE NAMI AS A PARENT OF A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WHO LIVES WITH A DHD, THE INATTENTIVE TYPE.
AND AS OF AS THE CEO OF A MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE, I SEE FIRSTHAND HOW CRITICAL MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT IS, ESPECIALLY IN OUR SCHOOLS, NOT JUST DURING A CRISIS, BUT LONG BEFORE ONE DEVELOPS.
WE CANNOT WAIT FOR STUDENTS TO FALL APART BEFORE WE ACT.
MANY OF THEM ARE STRUGGLING QUIETLY
[02:45:01]
WITH ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, A DHD OR TRAUMA, AND OFTEN DON'T KNOW HOW TO ASK FOR HELP.THEY MAY NOT FEEL SAFE DOING SO, OR THEY DON'T SEE ANY CLEAR PLACE TO GO.
WHEN WE MISS THESE EARLY SIGNS, THE CONSEQUENCES CAN BE TRAGIC.
HERE IN SOUTH CAROLINA, SUICIDE IS NOW THE THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR YOUTH AGES 10, 10 TO 24.
THERE ARE NOT, THESE ARE NOT JUST NUMBERS.
THESE ARE STUDENTS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS, CLASSMATES AND FRIENDS.
SO HOW MANY COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH EARLIER INTERVENTIONS AND MORE SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS? SO WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? WE CAN RECEIVE, WE CAN CONTINUE TO GIVE OUR TEACHERS ONGOING TRAINING WITH STUDENTS THAT ARE ON IEP AND 5 0 4 PLANS.
OUR TEACHERS HAVE A LOT ON THEIR PLATE.
UM, AND THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS ABLE TO ADDRESS OR RECOGNIZE OR PAY ATTENTION TO THESE STUDENTS WITH THESE SPECIAL NEEDS.
SO WE CAN UTILIZE YOUR EXISTING ORGANIZATIONS THAT YOU HAVE WITHIN THE SCHOOLS TO SUPPLEMENT, UH, THE HELP THAT THE TEACHERS NEED IN THIS AREA.
UM, OF THE IEPS, THE 5 0 5 OH FOURS, WE CAN CREATE DEDICATED SAFE SPACES WITHIN THE SCHOOLS WHERE STUDENTS CAN GO WHEN THEY FEEL EMOTIONALLY OVERWHELMED.
PLACES THAT ARE STAFFED BY TRAINED, TRUSTED ADULTS, EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT COUNSELORS.
USE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TO IDENTIFY AND TRAIN TRUSTED STAFF MEMBERS, TEACHERS, COACHES, LIBRARIANS, OFFICE STAFF WHO CAN SERVE AS ACCESSIBLE POINTS OF CONTACT FOR STUDENTS IN DISTRESS.
USE YOUR SCHOOL EVENTS LIKE FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL GAMES TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS AND NORMALIZE ASKING FOR HELP.
YES, THE DISTRICT HAS TAKEN STEPS TO PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT THROUGH LICENSED COUNSELORS AND THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS MORE THAT CAN BE DONE.
AND I JUST WANNA STRESS TO THE BOARD TONIGHT, THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR STUDENTS BEFORE THEY'RE IN CRISIS.
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IS NOT JUST A STRATEGY, IT'S A RESPONSIBILITY.
SO LET'S GIVE OUR STUDENTS THE KIND OF ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY DON'T HAVE TO BREAK DOWN IN ORDER TO BE HEARD.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR YOUR CONTINUED LEADERSHIP.
THE BOARD WEEK IN BEFORE LAST WAS THE BAN ALL COUNTY BAN, AND THE BOARD WAS WELL REPRESENTED.
I APPRECIATE ALSO SUPERINTENDENT, ATTENDING.
I WANNA APOLOGIZE PERSONALLY, I DID NOT REALIZE I WAS SITTING IN THE MIDDLE SECTION 50 YARD LINE UP NEAR THE PRESS BOX, AND I DIDN'T SEE YOU FOLKS, OR I WOULD'VE GONE INTO THE PRESS BOX AND HAVE THE ANNOUNCER ASK YOU TO STAND.
I APOLOGIZE TO YOU WILL TO YOU VICTOR, MR. BOATRIGHT AND COLONEL GREER.
I, I, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR, IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU FOLKS TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE PARENTS THAT YOU ARE WORKING AND FUNCTIONING AND TRYING TO MAKE THINGS COME TOGETHER.
I, I, I HONESTLY FEEL BAD THAT I WASN'T ABLE TO, TO HAVE YOU ANNOUNCE.
DO WE HAVE ANYBODY ON, UH, PHONE CALL? IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTION, WE WILL ADJOURN WITH UNANIMOUS CASSETTES SO MUCH.
THANKS FOR WATCHING BEAUFORT COUNTY TV.
I'M EMORY CAMPBELL AND THIS IS YOUR BEAUFORT COUNTY MOMENT.
[02:50:01]
FOR UNA.WE GLAD WANNA COME FOR WHY THAT'S GULLAH.
THE GULLAH LANGUAGE IS A MIXTURE OF ENGLISH AND AFRICAN WORDS.
AND WHAT I SAID TO YOU WAS, HOW ARE YOU DOING? UNA? WAS YOU IN THAT SENTENCE? I'M GLAD THAT YOU CAME TO HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY.
THE COLOR LANGUAGE CAME OUT OF WEST AFRICA MIXED WITH ENGLISH, AND IT WAS SPOKEN THROUGHOUT BEFORD COUNTY AND THE LOW COUNTRY BY AFRICAN AMERICANS UP UNTIL RECENTLY WHEN OUR POPULATION HAS CHANGED, SO THAT WE NOW SPEAK MORE LIKE OHIOAN.
BUT THE LANGUAGE HAS AFRICAN WORDS.
YETI MEANS TO HEAR, UNA MEANS YOU.
BIDI IS FOR CHICKEN, CUDA IS FOR TURTLE.
SO THOSE WORDS MIXED IN WITH ENGLISH HAVE MADE THE GULLAH LANGUAGE A UNIQUE LANGUAGE.
UH, SOME PEOPLE CALL IT A PATOIS.
AND WE FIND GULLAH LANGUAGE BEING SPOKEN THROUGHOUT THE LOW COUNTRY.
TO SEE MORE BEAUFORT COUNTY MOMENTS, GO TO THE BEAUFORT COUNTY LIBRARY HOMEPAGE AND CLICK ON THE LOCAL HISTORY TAB.