Board of Education · Regular Meeting · April 23, 2026

>> Move approval of the agenda as presented. >> Second. Been moved by Miss Byer and seconded by Miss Rogers that we approve the agenda as presented. Is there any other discussion? colleagues, I apologize for the legislative steering committee. There's a document that committee members would like switched out because the the numbers aren't exactly accurate in the document that was originally sent to me and so they've updated it and sent it to me and want to change it out. I'm forwarding that now. And it looks like the price is not marked for action, but it should be.

And that's my bad. So, we got some updated materials as well as an item that needs to be for action. Do we need to amend I say amend the agenda for those or >> I welcome that friendly amendment. Thank you. Thanks. So it's been moved by Miss Byer. Was that friendly amendment confirmed? Okay. By Miss Rogers. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed, use the same sign. It passes unanimously. Seven. No. The next item on our agenda is the board of education regular monthly meeting minutes from March 26, 2026.

Is there any other discussion? All those in favor, excuse me, any move approval of the >> I apologize. I was rolling >> for March 26th. >> Second >> been moved by Miss Rogers and seconded by Miss Harold Goff that we approve the meetings for March 26, 2026. Is there any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose, use the same sign. It passes unanimously. The next item on our agenda is general public. I'm sorry. Oh, I apologize y'all. I did.

I skipped over the superintendence update. My apologies. So, let's go back to the superintendence update. Dr. Lewis. >> All right. Thank you so much for chairst have several updates and celebrations to continue this evening as we continue to ignite the limitless potential in all of our scholars. Next slide please. April is autism acceptance month and as educators our role is critical in ensuring that every student feels seen, heard, supported and valued. Our scholars with autism bring unique strengths to our schools and it is through inclusive practices, strong staff support, and meaningful family partnerships that we create environments where every student can thrive. Thank you to our school leaders, educators, and EC team for all that you do to support our scholars. Next slide. We are well into our celebration of school library month, recognizing media coordinators and honoring the power and possibilities we present to our scholars when we put books in their hands.

Learning and literacy go hand in hand and we are certainly grateful for all who ensure that our school libraries support instruction, cultivate curiosity and allows our scholars to explore the world through books. Next slide. This month we also celebrate National Assistant Principles Week. Our assistant principles are difference makers in our schools. I know that they were honored this month by many posts on social media and many acts of care and kindness in their buildings that were shared with our APs all across DPS. we don't just celebrate them this month but every day to ensure that they know how important they are to our schools and to the the success of our scholars. their presence is certainly felt and makes a difference. Next slide.

This week is afterchool professionals appreciation week. Our after-school teams create safe, welcoming spaces where students can explore new interests, build confidence, and stay supported long after the final school bell rings. Whether they're helping with homework, leading enrichment activities, or simply being a steady, caring presence that make a real difference every day. Thank you to our community education team and all of our afterchool staff for the work that you do. Next slide. Congratulations to the City of Medicine Academy for winning the secondary magnet school of merit award of excellence presented by the magnet schools of America.

CMA received the honor at the National Conference of Magnet Schools held last week. This national recognition highlights the school's commitment to diversity, academic excellence, and curriculum innovation. We're proud of the CMA community for continuing to set the standard of excellence for Durham public schools. Next slide. In more CMA news, DPS was proud to be represented at the eggs and issues, the annual breakfast hosted by the public school forum of North Carolina, where education leaders from across the state gather to kick off the legislative session and highlight key priorities for public education.

Students from City of Medicine Academy showcased their science sidekicks program, bringing hands-on science experiments and engineering challenges to younger learners at Fyville Street Elementary and sparking curiosity early on. Next slide. During traditional calendar spring break, as was mentioned earlier, Dr. Dr. Lori Bruce and student Joseé Alamman represented DPS and the state board of education meeting and presented alongside two other school districts regarding the state success with cooperative innovative high schools and how they prepare students for life beyond high school. More students than ever across the state are earning college credit before graduation. Thank you to Dr. Bruce and Jose who was here earlier who will be attending Harvard on a full ride next fall. Thank you so much for showcasing the impact of early colleges and the value of a DPS education.

Next slide. Shout out to our Holton students who represented the represented represented at the North Carolina Skills USA state competition last week in Greensboro demonstrating their personal workplace and technical skills in a series of competitive events. Every contestant, every single contestant placed an incredible reflection of the talent, preparation, and pride. And a couple of our top finishers were Somaya Smalls for natural hair, first place, and Miles High Tower, barbering, first place., congratulations to these scholars for representing Durham Public Schools. And I think I may have found a new barber.

Next slide. Durham Public Schools was proud to welcome Senators Sophia Chitlick and representatives Veretta Austin and Ray Jeffers at Creekide Elementary for Legislators in Our Schools Week. The visit included a student-ledd tour and thoughtful conversations with school leaders, teachers, and families, offering a firstirhand look at the experiences, priorities, and opportunities shaping our schools. We appreciate the time they spent listening and engaging in support of Dorm's students. Next slide. Congratulations to Dr. Asia Cunningham. Dr. Cunningham was recognized earlier this month as a finalist for the Constantino family engagement award. She also received the community impact award for her exemplary leadership in family engagement. This is an exciting recognition and we are so proud of her achievements. Congratulations Dr.

Cunningham. Next slide. Congratulations to Curtis Walker, PE teacher at EK Pole Elementary School and also a member of my superintendent's teacher advisory council on receiving the Betsy Alden Outstanding Service Learning Award from Duke Service Learning. This honor recognizes individuals whose work reflects meaningful partnerships, reflection, and a deep commitment to community engaging learning. Through his partnership with Duke's Partners for Success program, he has created a space where relationships drive learning, students feel seen and supported, and volunteers grow alongside them. Congratulations on this welldeserved honor. Next slide.

Dr. Dr. Dedric Danner, our senior executive director of federal programs and community engagement, has been elected, yeah, has been elected to serve a second term as vice president of the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators. This organization is dedicated to advancing federal education programs nationwide. Congratulations to Dr. Danner and thank you for your leadership. Next slide. I had the amazing privilege of joining Carrington Middle School sixth graders for the during their annual Discovering Durham field trip where learning came alive beyond the classroom walls. Students engaged in reading and math through EOG style task explored behind the scenes of local businesses and draw enjoyed a true taste of Durham with visits to community spots for small treats and tokens. A special thank you to Carrington teacher Miss Amanda McCcoll whose vision, planning, and dedication continue to make this experience possible for and she's been doing this from what I understand for more than a decade. And also a huge thank you to our local businesses that literally opened their doors for our.

Scholars to take part in this learning opportunity as well as the volunteers. That's district staff that served as chaperones. board member Carter Utton participated as a chaperon. I know vice chair Rogers participated last last year and in the picture you have a grandfather of one of the scholars that that was with us in our group. So this is certainly a powerful reminder of how we can connect learning to real world experiences. You did it today. Ah okay. Pretty fun, huh? >> Yeah. Yeah.

Retired. Yeah. Yeah. So, this is excellent opportunity for us to create moments where we can carry learning, like I said, beyond the classroom walls. Next slide. Attention rising kindergarten families. Consider this your personal invitation to our countdown to kindergarten event on Monday, May the 4th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. This event will be held at the Museum of Life and Science. Join us for a fun, familyfriendly evening where you can explore schools and programs. You can also get help with registration, learn what to expect in kindergarten, and connect with DPS staff and families.

This has for years been a premier event for our rising kindergarten families, and we can't wait to welcome our new scholars. Next slide. The Sparkies is almost here. We're excited for this Oscar style awards program on May 7th at the Durham Convention Center recognizing employees across the district for their exceptional talents and leadership. At this event, we will present the DPS teacher of the year, assistant principal of the year, beginning teacher of the year, instructional assistant of the year, media coordinator of the year, EC educator of excellence, school social worker of the year, school counselor of the year, bus driver of the year, operations services employee of the year, and the spark light a award., we're certainly thrilled for this event and can't wait to celebrate with all of our amazing employees.

Next slide. All right. This is where I need your assistance., we have launched a new profile picture frame on social media to celebrate everyone who supports strong, thriving public schools. Whether you're a parent, student, alum, educator, or community member, your choice matters and your voice matters. So you can add the hash I chose DPS frame to your profile picture and let the world know that you believe in the power of public education. Please visit our website and social media to download the frame and let's let everyone know loud and proud that I chose DPS.

Next slide. During a special called board meeting on Monday, April 20th, the Durham Public Schools Board of Education voted to make Friday, May 1st an optional teacher work day. Thousands of public school educators, families, and advocates from across the state have planned together in Raleigh on May 1st for a day dedicated to public education advocacy to voice concerns about the state budget and educative pay. Again, next Friday, May 1st, there will be no school for students as it has been designated as an optional teacher work day. Next slide.

Finally, although Trump's administration's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget includes $539 million increase for special education funding aimed at strengthening idea services. It simultaneously cuts $2.3 billion in overall education funding. At the same time, proposals would eliminate approximately $890 million for English language acquisition funding that has helped district like districts like ours support multilingual learners and even promote bilingualism. As superintendent, I'm deeply concerned about the proposed federal priorities in their fiscal year 2027 budget that would significantly increase defense spending by roughly $1.5 trillion or 44%.

While offsetting those costs through a 10% cut to none defense programs, including education. So as a community, we must continue to advocate for the resources our students deserve so every child regardless of language black background has the opportunity to succeed. And as we think about our fiscal 2728 outlook here, it also presents challenges but man a manageable path forward. addressing a projected $7.2 $2 million funding reduction right here in Durham public schools. Rising costs and competitive labor pressures will require a balanced approach that combines strategic investment, operational efficiency and enrollment recovery efforts. we have want to be clear about this. We have not adjusted our formulas. we are adjusting our staffing allocations u to buildings to account for the decline enrollment. And so while me many schools will see decrease in a lotments in terms of their FTEES there are a few schools that will see a slight increase in allocation due to their programs and enrollment. I know we've been see receiving some emails from Lakewood that's one of the schools.

That will see an increase. And if you haven't taken a look at when I presented my superintendent's recommended budget, if you can go to that last page and read our chief finance officer, Jeremy Teter's letter, he does a very good job of outlining our forecast and what we're faced with and what we're doing about it for the the coming year. Durham Public Schools must remain disciplined, forward thinking, and adaptive, leveraging both short-term solutions and long-term structural changes to ensure financial stability while continuing to serve students at a high level. Next slide. I think that's all I have. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Dr. Lewis, for that update. I too got to participate in the field trip at with Carrington students today. I had a really great time., shout thank you to all of the businesses that participated. Ashley's Bakes Daily Milkshake Factory, American Tobacco, had Cookies and Cream Milkshake, had Loaf, we had, all just Nice Street Bakery, a whole host of folks that participated. So, please thank y'all. Go out and support those businesses. All right, the next item on.

Our agenda is general public comment. But before we do that, I want to make sure we introduce we have one of the students from the Superintendent Student Advisory Council here this evening. Kayla Kayla, your name is spelled wrong on here. So, what's your last name? Cabrera. Kayla Cabrera from Durham School of the Arts. Kayla is a 12th grader. Kayla plan coordinated as student council president DSA's first alumni fest raising approximately $950 in ticket sales and donation for Durham school the arts student council. She also raised nearly $300 planning and coordinating an Asian-American and Pacific Islander club potluck at DSA as the co-president. See a future fundraiser may be in her miss. Kayla is committed to NC State University for civil engineering. She's also a fourtime Eastern regional orchestra, three times honors all state orchestra, and four times Durham Allcount Orchestra student.

She's a national honor society member, tri honor society member, and key club vice president for 2025. We are so glad to have you here this evening. >> Any remarks you want to share before we get started? I do just want to say that I've enjoyed my time on the board and I've received a lot of input that helped me carry out decisions in my school as the president. So, I did find a lot of value in this role and I just want to thank you for having me here. Thank you. Throughout the evening as we're discussing items, I'll look to you just wave at me if you got something to say or I'll make sure I acknowledge you because we love to have your input in the board meeting this evening.

All right. So, next we'll have our Public Comment. Quick review of the rules before we get started. First, please state your name and if you're speaking for organization, state your name and the name of the organization. Second, speakers are going to be asked to present their comments within we'll do two minutes tonight. When the yellow light comes on, you'll have 30 seconds left to wind up your remarks. When the red light comes on, it will beep, which indicates your time is up. Complaints about named staff, students, or parents should not be voiced in open session. However, we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education, safety of students, or to the operations of the school system. Finally, board members will listen carefully and we'll consider your comments, but we do not engage in a discussion with speakers. So, the first speaker, I'm going to call multiple speakers at a time so you all can line up. The first person is Katie McGonno, followed by Patricia Russ and Michael Kuran.

And if I mispronounce your names, please correct me as you come up to the podium. We got Katie McNo, Patricia Russ, and Michael Kuran. Thank you. >> My daughter, I'll have to answer that later., so I love it that I prepare for one and now I have two. so today I was asked by a district leader to trust the process. You know that we are looking for a new principal. I was told to trust the process. it is really hard to do for me as a parent and an employee when your processes keep failing me and my children. Wallpaper was supposed to be removed over spring break from building services to my ears from our stack virtual meeting. It's happening over the summer. On March 31st, I reported a major security breach at one of your campuses. The only district leader to respond informed me that their department was not responsible for the work, but he would forward it on to the appropriate people.

The repair was completed yesterday. 18 days for a major security breach at one of your campuses. Not 18 minutes, not 18 hours, 18 days. How am I supposed to trust one of your processes when I can't trust you to keep our children safe? Trust is earned. It's not requested or from me, most definitely not freely given. I need each one of you to do your part so we as as a staff, your families, your students can begin to trust you again. And believe that safety and accountability are more than just talking points.

Thank you, Miss Sumston, and thank you, Miss Byer, for being two of the leaders who actually responded to me. I appreciate it, and you will be very missed. I see the rest of my time to Patricia Russ. >> Good evening. I'm Patricia Wesk and I am a teacher at Little River. Air filters at Little River have been changed, but facts remain. Months went by, November to March, air pushes through systems never truly clean. Last week, 2 hours of EO testing in a hallway, A10 to be exact, left me with a sore throat. That room's been empty most of the year except for monastery training. So, it's not a classroom that students are usually in. But two hours gave me a sore throat. The air holds a stench.

Reports confirmed elevated mold. Spore counts high, far past the norm. We're told to wait for summer, for change, for removal, for repair. Summer This is not just a building maintained. It is a school being neglected. So I'm asking not for more plans, not for more waiting, but for action. Inspect the HVAC. Identify the source of the humidity and the odor in a hallway. Half the classrooms are not full of students this year. Next year, those classrooms will have students in them every day. Fix it before they sit in that room for hours.

A fix. Fix it at its root. Thank you for all you do. Michael, you can come on up. I'll announce three more names. Next we have Kim Wright, Kayla Kuran, and Shad Kora. I apologize if I'm mispronouncing your names. >> Hi there., my name is Michael Kern and I seed my time to Kim Wright. >> Hi, I'm Kim Wright and I'm going to seed my time to Kayla Curran. Hi, my name is Kayla Curran and I am the music educator at Lions Farm Elementary, a districtapp appointed lead teacher in DPS, currently working on my national board certification and a taxpayer in Durham. I'm here to discuss the immediate issue of overcrowding at our school. It is clear that the district continues to not have a clear plan leading into the upcoming school years and we are asking for a seat at the table to have fully informed conversations about our spaces for the future of our programs.

Leaders in education constantly state that building relationships is one of the most important aspects of teaching. Building relationships with students can do a lot. It can help with classroom management, provide a safe space for our students, and foster a true love of learning. For four years, we have done that. For four years, Caroline Burkhouse, Louise Melo, and I have built relationships with everyone since we teach every K through five student at our school. We have fostered a love of learning, provided a safe space for our students, and yes, building relationships does help with classroom management. Our first year we had 450 students. Four years later we are at 682 students which is already over capacity according to the 9inth Street Journal stating that our building capacity is 650.

It has been made very clear that this number is expected to grow again next school year. We have the unique privilege to get to teach these students at Lion's Farm from the day they start kindergarten until the day they leave fifth grade. If we're lucky enough to teach them throughout their elementary journey, that is six years of building relationships with the same students. Our current third graders opened up the school with us as kindergarteners. We often refer to these students as our babies.

We have watched them learn and grow. These particular students will be in fourth grade next year. When they reach the fourth grade, they finally get to participate in more intricate, challenging, and robust lessons. Forcing us to teach on a cart without our designated classrooms will in no way support these lessons, and some lessons and opportunities will be simply impossible. So, these students will completely miss out and that is not equity. Of course, we will continue to provide a safe space for our students because we care and we are excellent educators, but this will not allow us to continue to foster a true love of learning and it definitely will not help with classroom management. Please be proactive about the future of our programs.

Additionally, the lack of clear direction and support around H1B visas is a deep concern for many of us in DPS. We are at risk of losing remarkable educators. Failing to have a real conversation about this matter is not simply an oversight, but is a failure to our students. We are at risk of losing the very people helping our students succeed. I look forward to your adjustments and communication towards these very important matters. Thank you. >>, my name is Shad and I'm 18 years old. Egyptian exchange student on the YAS program and I'm placed with borderless friends forever as my place with organization. I think that exchange students really help in connection between the countries and we always bring diversity in the classrooms. I remember answering the student questions about my country. Is Egypt in Asia? Do we write camels to school or do I live in a pyramid? And a lot of questions that never ends. And we always give back to our community by volunteering. I've done around 107.

Hours of volunteering since I came here. And I want to ask you we really need your help to get more slots in schools in Durham Public Schools for more exchange students and because host families are always ready to host exchange students but we really need more slots and we really need your help in this and I wanted to ask you to be the reason for another student that help him to get his dream to be true or come true and to be a bridge between cultures. And thank you so much for your time.

>> Thank you. Next, we have Pauline Meyers, Melissa Stanbury, and Morgan Whitmore.

Hi, my name is Pauline Meyers and I would like to talk a little bit about the exchange program in the schools as well from a different perspective because from the perspective of a parent and someone who has had a lot of awesome foreign exchange students from a lot of different countries. And I do want to encourage the schools to open up more slots. We have so many students who are so interested in America and so excited about it and can bring so much to this country and to this county also. So I'd like to take a minute to tell you a little bit about some of the students I have had. A couple of years ago, I had a student who was from Libya, and he came home telling me about his concerns about the students who were here from Syria, who were refugees and didn't speak English. and he put a lot of effort and concern into supporting them and helping them and helping them to understand how the.

School works and maybe to interpret a little bit for them because in Libya they speak Arabic, in Syria they speak Arabic. And one of the teachers even asked my student if he would look after these students a little bit and and help to interpret a little bit for them. So, one of the things that I actually did want to do is give a special thanks to Riverside High School and Northern High School because they are the two high schools who have supported my students.

One of the things I have found out about having students in these schools is that they learn to really love the other students, the local students, to care for them, to teach them about their own countries. And I think that adds a lot to the education system. And I want to thank you for listening and hope that you can open some more slots for us for foreign exchange.

>> Good evening, members of the board., Superintendent Lewis. My name is Melissa Stansbury. I'm a parent at Riverside High School. I'm here to request action on two crucial areas to improve and enhance our school environment. First, I'm asking for mandatory ongoing training for students and staff on our say something anonymous reporting tip system. There have been excessive lockdowns this year at Riverside causing distress to staff, students, and families. And studies show that tip lines are effective only when the school community is offered ongoing training.

Secondly, I also am a host mom and I want to enthusiastically praise the success of the international exchange student program at DPS. This year, Borderless Friends Forever, a local nonprofit exchange program, had 10 students in the school system, and they are all excelling. One student found a love of dance and participated in Evening to Shine. Another student won a swim competition. Students have performed in numerous other arts and sporting events, but due to time, I'm going to rush it along. very impressed with the dedication of these young people. A total of the 10 students have given nearly 500 community service hours. So they don't just give to the school community, they give to Durham and our county. so when they come here, they give back. it's just a testament to their maturity and example of what it means to be a global citizen within the school community. The students enrich our culture, enhance academic discussions, and act as ambassadors to their own countries. As our schools strive to foster leadership.

And prepare our students for the globalized world, having more international exchange student presence is highly effective and a positive step forward. I know public schools are facing many challenges, but this is an area that is low cost yet high reward. So I encourage the board to see the tremendous value the students provide and consider the following changes which would be to increase from four to five seats which would mirror Wake County and or to allow people to transport the student to another school if the seat is >> Thank you.

Morgan. I'm going to pause you one second. I'll call the next three. So, next we'll have Katherine Doring, Li, Lily Win, Winton or Winton, Eric Prrenshaw, Peter Crawford, Samira Welling, Welling Meer. Well, Meyer. Go ahead, Morgan. >> Okay. Good evening, board members, superintendent. My name is Morgan Whitmore. I'm a Durham resident and taxpayer and a current first-time host mom of an exchange student at Riverside High School. I'm here tonight with some a fellow host families and we believe that the global exchange is a vital asset to our schools but our current district policies are rooted in outdated financial assumptions that no longer match North Carolina law. currently DPS caps exchange students at four traditional high school citing funding concerns. However, there is there's a new era of school finance. There's an empty seat theory which applies here more than ever more than ever. DPS is currently facing a decline in over a thousand students and we have the physical capacity and the teachers already in place and adding an additional exchange student to an.

Existing class incurs a near zero additional cost to the school. the specific specifically what we are asking is for a revision of the foreign exchange student policy. Durham County requires students to be at least 16 years old and in the 11th grade. This seems to be an arbitrary barrier. US Department of State has set the eligibility age to 15. By excluding 15year-old sophomores, we are turning away highly motivated students who want to complete their exchange before intense home country graduation requirements begin. We ask that Durham align its age and grade requirements with the federal J1 standards to allow for 15y olds in grades 9 through 12. So in summary, we're asking the board to remove the arbitrary four student cap in favor of a capacitybased model for students or for schools under a 95% utilization and to lower the minimum age to 15 to align with federal standards and to add a J1 funding parody to your legislative agenda asking the state to treat these students as doiciled for funding purposes. As residents and.

Taxpayers, my household is contributing to the state and local t. >> Thank you. And if you want to email us those comments, you certainly can. Catherine, I can start. >> Yes, you can. Okay. It hasn't turned on though, so Okay. Okay. Hi. Good evening. My name is Katherine Hester Doring. I'm here tonight as a parent of a current student and a future student at Murray Massenberg Elementary and I'm speaking on behalf of all of our amazing families and especially on behalf of our most amazing art teacher, Mr. Herrera. we were here at the last meeting in April and we have not stopped coming before you whether it's in in our presence and with our creativity and art or through email because we are asking you to allow us to keep this very very special exceptional human being with us on staff at our school by agreeing to extend his visa.

We also know that you've sent us a reply to some of our messages related to our PTA president., added some further clarity about the history of international teacher agreements and DPS. What I understood from that was that these were handled on a limited basis during and after the pandemic supported by grant funding that may no longer be available and without a consistent or formalized process. And so now you all have reverted back to a process that was in place precoid, pre- pandemic. So I want to respectfully respond with three points. Oh, and I'm not going to get through them, but first, Mr. Hera was already in the process of a sponsorship extension. And so regardless of whether that process was part of a formal system, it was actively underway. And the considerate thing to do for Mr. for Herrera and for our community that relies on him is to allow it to be extended.

Second, the absence of a clear process for extending visa should not become the reason we lose excellent educators. If anything, this calls for flexibility while a stronger, more consistent policy is developed. And so my concluding point is that we urge you to consider a more balanced and measured temporary solution. adopt a temporary policy to allow teachers who are already mid-process. Thank you. And as always, Katherine, you can email the board with those additional comments if you'd like. Lily, I believe.

>> Okay. So, then Eric Peter and then Samir will be our last comment tonight. Good evening. My name is Eric Prrenshaw. I'm the parent of two scholars at Murray Massenberg Elementary School and I'm here to advocate for extending the visa for Mr. Herrera. I have a tremendous source of pride whenever I walk into the school to see the beautiful artwork on display, the murals, the creativity and talent that is nurtured there in that place. And it is something very important to me and my daughter has said specifically that Mr. Herrera helps make the world a more beautiful place and coming from a 5-year-old that's very special. so we have just had a conversation a community forum about bullying and how we can create a culture of love and respect and welcome at the school and to continue these vital conversations. it's important to have staff that are so caring and loving and can be retained for longer periods of time to continue those conversations. So, I would advocate your diligent work and.

Navigating these issues to make make possible these policies so that he may be able to stay and retain wonderful educators and human beings. And I would yield any further time to Pete. Hey folks, my name is Pete Crawford. I'm a parent of three DPS students, two of whom are at Murray Massenberg Elementary School. Again, I'm also here asking for the board to revisit policies related to teachers serving in DPS on work visas. And for Mr. Herrera in particular, retention is our best recruitment strategy in the district. If we can find budget neutral ways to keep somebody versus having to go recruit somebody else regardless of their work visa status, that's the best thing to do. And then the only things that really matter after that are the outcomes they achieve in the classroom and the trust and respect that they enjoy with parents and administrators. Mr. Herrera is an asset to our school and to the district. And we ought to not allow bureaucratic precedent or inertia to drive our.

Decisions when it comes to the most important reason res resource we have which is our teachers. And to reiterate, in an environment that we just spoke about earlier when federal funding that supports bilingual education is shrinking, Mr. Herrera is a native Spanish speaker who goes above and beyond curricular requirements to share his native language and culture with our school and it has become a part of the culture of the school and the kids expect it. so again would appreciate your consideration. Thanks for your time.

>> Hey guys, Samira Wellmire. I am the PTA president at Brogden Middle School and I'm here to speak in support of the Express Stops proposal that was presented last week. Since the district began talking about Express stops, I've heard a lot of parents speak in opposition to them, usually from the perspective that it would limit access to magnet programs and decrease equity. That makes sense if you're evaluating Express Stops through the lens of one school. However, equity is a district-wide concept, and the Express stop proposal was created with the whole district in mind. Implementing this proposal would actually increase equity across the district and provide more options for more students. It will also help DPS fulfill the commitments of growing together. As an example, I want to tell you a little bit about Brogden.

We're the only DLI middle school in DPS. And of the seven DLI elementary schools in DPS, only Club Boulevard is in our same region. But their program is still growing and they're not producing sixth graders yet. They won't till 2031. That means there's no DLI middle school in our region and none who are eligible no students who are eligible for neighborhood bus stops, i.e. Door-to-door transportation. All three of the DLI schools that currently produce rising sixth graders are located outside of Brogden's region, and they have to either use express stops at their base middle schools or get private transportation to get to Brogden. Going into this school year, Brogden's DLI program was fully enrolled, but one-third of the cohort unenrolled as the year started. and the program is currently operating at about 63% capacity. Of the families who unenrolled, 83% expressed that their decision was directly tied to the lack of transportation options. On the other hand, Durham School of the Arts is one of the schools that gets transportation.

Options. Oh, sorry. Durham School of the Arts would have limited transportation options with the switch to express stops. Currently, they get door-to-door service throughout the district. And this commitment to comprehensive transportation for DSA students comes at the direct cost of other schools and students across DPS. These aren't abstract tradeoffs. student I'll leave the rest. Thank you. That concludes our public comments for this evening. Thank you all for joining us. Right. The next item on our agenda are we have two consent items which include a budget amendment. number two and thought exchange contract.

Move approval of the consent agenda. >> Second move by Miss Rogers and seconded by Miss Buyer that we approve the consent agenda. There any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Any opposed? Please use the same sign. It passes unanimously. The next item on our agenda is attendance to strategic plan priority 2 update. I'mma pass it over to Dr. Lewis, Dr. King, assuming somebody's going to walk through that door as they're Yeah, as they're as they're coming in., as you know, board, we've we've provided a one update on our strategic plan, priority 2. This is an additional update specifically focused on, attendance. And so, we'll take a a deep dive in our attendance and talk about how we're doing as it relates to the goals that are within our strategic plan.

And we do want to take a moment to acknowledge Representative Moray in the House with us this evening. Thank you so much for your advocacy and just for being here. Thank you.

>> Hello. Hello. Okay. Good evening board chair Umstead, board members Dr. Lewis and senior administration and Durham community. I'm Chanel Sidberry. I am the assistant superintendent of continuous improvement and school supports. I'm here to provide an update alongside Dr. Maddox Perry who supervises student support services and our cog Mr. Nelson Seros from research and accountability. Our presentation is pretty clear. It's about attendance. It is in connection to our outcomes aligned to the strategic plan for priority 2 and the focus is pretty simple and complex at the same time. students cannot benefit from instruction if they are not present and in school and experienced in teaching and learning. Attendance is not about compliance for us. It is directly tied to academic achievement, graduation, and long-term outcomes., so this is about ensuring that every student has consistent access to learning, belonging, and support. I'm now going to turn it over to Dr. Lever Maddox Perry, who will walk us through the longitude no data, precoid and postcoid, as well as our aligned strategic plan strategies. Dr. Mattis.

Perry. Good evening. Thank you, Miss Sberry Barry. I wish good evening to Dr. Lewis, Chair Umstead, Vice Chair Rogers, esteemed board members, and the broader Durham community. I'm here to provide a detailed update on the status of student attendance in Durham Public Schools. As designed, this update is intended to explore what the data tells us, highlight what we're doing, also highlight what's working, and share the identified areas where we need to improve. We will also articulate our intended actions moving forward in response to the data. And Miss Barry will return with key takeaways before we engage in discussion and answer any questions. Our essential question to kind of guide the framing of this presentation is what's keeping this child from showing up and how do we solve it? Next slide, please.

Next slide, please. Compulsory attendance. This is the statute that outlines the requirement in North Carolina for attendance and it is fairly simple. Attendance is requiring required beginning at age seven and ending at age 16. The statute bans encouraging non-attendance and places an onus on parents to comply and ensure daily attendance. Next slide, please. Chronically absent. North Carolina monitors chronic absenteeism within schools and school districts. The definition of chronically absent applies when a student misses 10% or more of the school year whether the absences are excused or unexcused as long as the student has been in membership for at least 10 school days. Chronically absenteeism is all also used as an early warning indicator for academic risk.

Next slide please. Before we begin reviewing our attendance data, I want to thank our research and accountability team led by Dr. Al Royster and supported by director David Surles for compiling and completing the data slides in conjunction with our joint collaboration. Next slide, please. This slide shows average attendance rates across school years since 2018 2019. The attendance rate for 202526 shown here is only through month six reporting and is included just for comparison. Attendance has declined approximately four to five percentage points since 2018209 and has not returned to prior levels.

Please note that the attendance rate for 20192020 is artificially high because students were counted present in the fourth quarter due to COVID 19 remote learning. Overall, the trend indicates that prior strategies have not resulted in sustained improvement. To date, DPS attendance has not yet returned to preandemic levels. While there have been minor fluctuations, progress has been slower than expected. This reinforces the need for enhanced proactive strategy and a revitalized community approach to everyday on-time attendance for every child. Next slide, please.

This slide isolates the first six months of each school year, which provides a more accurate comparison to the current school year. This data suggests that attendance challenges begin earlier in the school year than generally expected. It highlights the importance of early intervention and monitoring. Using this measure, attendance shows a 1.3 percentage point improvement from the same point in the 202425 school year. This slide shows that it is a best practice to proactively focus on early identification in months one through three of the school year. Next slide, please.

This slide presents chronic absenteeism since 201819 school year. Preliminary chronic absenteeism information for the current school year is as of April 9th and is included on this slide. Rates in Durham public schools have remained elevated since the 202122 school year. The pattern reflects a sustained condition rather than a short-term change and requires a greater sense of urgency in our efforts. Research shows that districts that bend the attendance curve intervene early before absenteeism becomes chronic. Next slide, please. This slide compares chronic absenteeism in Durham Public Schools to peer districts in North Carolina. DPS is denoted using a triangle. The comparison provides context for understanding the district's data. Rates vary across districts indicating possible differences in local trends. To put this data in context, chronic absenteeism doubled nationally in the most recent years following the pandemic and remains high. Also, one in four, about 25% of all North Carolina public school students are experiencing chronic absenteeism.

Even within that context, rates for Durham Public Schools remain high. Next slide, please. This slide shows preliminary chronic absenteeism data by grade level for the current school year as of April 9th. The overall rate is 37.3%. As a reminder, compulsory attendance begins at age seven and ends at age 16, which is relevant when analyzing data for kindergarten and lower grades as well as high school grades. Next slide, please. This slide groups the same data for 25 26 into grade spans K5, kindergarten through fifth grade, 6th through 8th grade, and 9th through 12th grade.

Again, the overall rate is 37.3%. This data speaks to a need to strengthen our middle school transition and the connections between middle schools and high schools to create welcoming environments, including increasing our emphasis on high school pathway alignment to student interest and strengths, as well as more efforts around increasing student engagement. Next slide, please. This slide shows chronic absenteeism by binary gender since the 2018-19 school year and compares to the state average during the same time period. There is minimal difference between binary gender groups over the years. This suggests that our response to chronic absenteeism should not solely be differentiated by gender. That this is a district-wide issue requiring a more global response.

Next slide, please. This slide disagregates chronic absenteeism by race and ethnicity since 2018-19 school year and compares it to the state average during the same time period. In the graphic, Durham Public Schools data are noted with triangles. DPS aligns with the national and state trends which consistently shows that black, Hispanic, Latino, American Indian, and other historically marginalized student groups experience higher rates of chronic absenteeism than their white peers, even when controlling for prepandemic attendance patterns. Disparities persist and are indicative of our need to ensure culturally responsive engagement in our classrooms and throughout our school systems. These disparities reinforce our knowledge that different groups of Durham public school students perhaps are experiencing school in vastly different ways. As a positive note, Asian students have been trending downward with chronic absenteeism since 2023 24 school year. Next slide, please.

This slide focuses on chronic absenteeism since 2018 2019 for specific student groups, English learners and students with disability. English learners and students with disabilities show consistently higher rates of chronic absenteeism. This pattern is observed across multiple years of data. This underscores the need for targeted wraparound supports that focus on all v vulnerable or historically marginalized student groups. After seeing the attendance data review, we believe it is important to share how the data informs our implementation of the strategies within our strategic plan. We also believe this data compels all of us within the Durham community to develop a commitment and sense of urgency to addressing chronic absenteeism.

Next slide, please. For priority two, student well-being, belonging, and equity. Our annual performance benchmarks are established by our strategic plan. This slide provides a glimpse into implementation of the two strategies that are most pertinent to improving attendance in Durham Public Schools, attendance and student wellness. According to the research on districts that have proven to make immediate and sustainable gains in attendance across the country, the student wellness elements are vital in fueling the improvement for 2024 25 as denote as denoted on the screen. We did not meet the attendance benchmark and our current progress for 202526 shows we are still below the benchmark and need greater attention. The key takeaway incre incremental progress is not enough. We need acceleration.

Next slide please. As I delve into the attendance strategy review, I want to at this point thank members of my team led by Tama Ward Satderfield, director for student wellness and support who assisted with producing the strategies and assisted with outlining this presentation. So thank you Miss Ward Satderfield. Mi as Mi Next slide, please. As Miss Sberry Barry shared in the February priority 2 update to the board, attendance and wellness are part of a multi-year strategic commitment. Here's a glimpse of that slide. Again, our focus remains consistent, building capacity, removing barriers, strengthening systems, improved attendance follows belonging. Students come when they feel seen, safe, and supported. This is long-term sustained work, not a short-term fix. We have not yet reached full implementation. Next slide, please.

Historically, attendance work relied on punitive measures and focused more on students already in crisis. That approach has not delivered the outcomes our students need. We are shifting quite urgently to a different model. Students attend when systems are aligned, relationships are strong, and barriers are removed. This requires coordinated action across classrooms, schools, central services departments, and community partners grounded in restorative student centered practices. Next step, we are accelerating the shift to early warning systems and proactive supports. Attendance improves when we remove barriers early, not just set expectations. Next slide, please.

This slide shows what is possible in Durham Public Schools. There are 21 schools that have met the attendance benchmark to date. I want to hold this sign up because there actually are only 20 on the slide, but Murray Massenberg also met the benchmark, but was not initially colorcoded due to a rounding technical error that we discovered. We are learning from what is working at these schools prominently through our impact meeting model and we will be scaling up more and more the best practices across the district. Next slide, please.

Student wellness is directly tied to academic success, engagement, and lifelong outcomes. When students feel safe, connecting and supported, they show up. Our approach prov prioritizes daily on-time attendance through wellness strategies along to aligned to Durham Public Schools, state policy, and strengthened by our community partnerships. School social workers and professional school counselors are critical leaders in this work, working alongside their principles and administrative teams and driving both school level and systemwide supports. We are seeing progress where schools have strong foundational structures and a clear focus on students mental, social, emotional and physical health. To accelerate impact, we must ensure student wellness, attendance monitoring, and intervention planning are consistently embedded as key components in school improvement plans and MTSS processes. Attendance is addressed proactively, not reactively, through early identification and coordinated supports. The research is clear.

Punitive approaches do not improve attendance. What works is connection and problem solving that includes mentoring and trusted adult relationships, check-in and connect models, attendance teams focused on identifying and removing barriers. This is how we will move from responding to absences to preventing them. Next slide, please. As we shift our attendance strategy, the focus is clear. proactive relationship centered approaches, not reactive responses. This means strengthening attendance teams to identify risk early and act quickly. Research shows districts improve attendance when they move to early warning systems, flagging patterns within the first month. In Durham Public Schools, that means action by day two of absence for every student within a month. coordinated supports for students and specific student groups, stronger alignment with community partners. What's working currently?

Strong staff, school leadership, district leadership, and tiered support systems are in place. a more structured approach through MTSS and our standard protocols, meaningful partnerships, including culturally responsive mental health supports and targeted supports for vulnerable student groups where we must improve. We are still too reactive often instead of preventative efforts are not yet consistently aligned across schools and departments. It is much too easy to respond to the needs that are visible and often prevent us for being more proactive. Some approaches are not experienced as supportive by our families who are essential partners. The shift ahead is about earlier action, stronger coordination, and deeper partnership with families. Next slide, please.

DPS is strengthening how we respond through earlier intervention, structured monitoring, and coordinated systems to reduce chronic absenteeism. We are increasing urgency and tightening our approach by acting earlier, monitoring more consistently, aligning supports across teams. This work is happening because of the collective effort of our families, school leaders, teachers, staff, student services teams, and community partners. Now, our focus is ensuring this approach is consistent in every school for every child. Next slide, please. One way we are removing barriers and avoiding punitive responses is through our partnership with Elma B. Spalding Conflict Resolution Center. Truency mediation brings schools and families together to identify root causes and create shared actionable solutions to improve daily attendance. What you see here is that referrals increased in this school year alone over 100%.

A key message from this is that attendance challenges are driven by systemic factors, including our own practices, not individual blame. We own that and we are responsible for continually improving how we respond. Now, I'll turn it back over to Miss Sidbury to walk through what we are doing differently starting now.

Next slide, Jamie. Thank you, Dr. Mattis Perry. So, we've we have outlined kind of where we are as a district, what our trends have been., and now I'm going to talk about our key takeaways and next steps. The shift is clear. We want to move from reacting to absences to preventing them early., we that means we need to act within the first few absences instead of letting them stack up. Strengthening our tier one experiences for every student, removing barriers before patterns develop. So, attendance will improve when we act early, when we are consistent across our schools, and we have a systemwide response to chronic absenteeism. Next slide.

This slide is a nice ADA compliant Miss Cooper graphic that kind of personifies what attendance work looks like. when we say attendance our mind immediately goes to student support services because it is the owner of the data but attendance is a multiaceted multi-ep departmental commitment to improving. So this slide shows you that connection to all these other departments. If the quality of teaching and learning is not something that is exciting desirable or even on grade level to inspire students then there's going to be class avoidance which is an attendance issue. when students don't feel like them be their best selves when they don't seem see when they're not seen and heard in a school don't see themselves in the pages of the books that in the pages of the things that they're doing that creates creates a space to destabilize attendance. Reliable transportation getting on time. The complexities there also connect to attendance. how well our our communities the breakfast experience, the bus the discipline, all those things are supporting and.

Connecting to attendance as well as school leadership. the systems that are in each school, the tone of the school, all of those things and how we monitor at the school level and district level contribute to attendance as well as the the continuous improvement in school support side which is how we are identifying root causes looking at the artifacts of systems and providing support to school. So in general this is a system issue and we are responding as a system. Next slide please.

Not going to read this slide to you. In general these are not recommendations. We've had lots of things where we are providing suggestions to schools. We want to be clear that these are expectations of every school and we are also monitoring up close and personal. We will ensure early identification at of attendance concerns bi-weekly attendance team meetings with clear protocols monthly monitoring full alignment to the school improvement plan and the multi-ter system of supports. Our focus is now on consistent implementation and measurable results. Next slide please.

So our path forward is clear. I think you have heard the trend. We want earlier action, stronger system systems and shared ownership. Our commitment is to ensure that every student is present, supported and able to succeed. And we welcome any questions and and comments from the board. and we are thankful to all of our departments and all of our partners in the community that support us in supporting our students every day. Thank you. >> Thank you all for the presentation. Board members questions, comments, I'll start with Miss Heracov.

>> Thank you so much for the presentation. I have one comment and one question., one comment is around I just wanted to highlight a lens that I know the district has, but just want to reiterate about being proactive., I think something that we need to be pro being proactive right now means that we have to consider that there are more families that are dealing with unstable housing, eviction risks, situations that are causing them to move more frequently, un, you know, unstable income tax increases, higher costs of of living., and I think all of that is is deeply impacting how our families are or are not choosing to engage with attending school., we have babies that are staying home taking care of their siblings so their parents can find work., so there's there's a when we're talking about removing barriers, it's not always just the barrier of them like choosing not to engage in school because for a lot of our kids, our buildings are their safer space. So, we have to be mindful of really.

Considering what it means to remove barriers, for the populations considering all of the things that are going on right now economically. So, that's one comment., the other thing I wanted to to lift up and to ask a question about as I was looking at the presentation, I love how it lists what we're working on, you know, where we where we are, what we're moving forward, and I noticed I I didn't see any mention of our community schools model. And I'm wondering would you agree that there is a correlation with working with the community schools and how that improve approves the attendance rates because that model in and of itself is something that we are currently doing that we can strengthen you know that helps to remove barriers you know with community support so that you know children you know keeping children in the building and having resources that they need., so should the support of community schools be listed as at least something that we're doing? Should it be listed here in.

This part of the strategic plan as something that we are looking at that can help us remove some of those barriers? >>, thank you for that feedback. I will confer with administration to find to talk talk more about what that looks like moving forward. We really just speak stuck to the strategies explicitly written in the strategic plan for our updates. Thank you. >> If I could just add just just one thought to that, I think our our real focus was looking at you know really systemic kind of district-wide structures and strategies that are that are being implemented implemented. And while certainly we support and and appreciate the notion that community schools as a model certainly can help with attendance, one of the reasons it wouldn't be listed here is because obviously we have a a relatively limited number of community schools in Durham public schools at this particular moment. I think our hope, our our our desire is that as we continue to work with the community schools model, we'll.

Be able to learn and glean some strategies through that work in those schools that we'll be able to scale up in additional schools around the district. even if we aren't able to continue to expand the number of community schools in the district. >> so I understand that the community schools are only within with specific schools but I guess I'm trying to understand that is something that the district is supporting and and some of so so does that that information that we're does that reflect in the strategic plan as a strategy that we're that we're choosing or following. That's that is one of the strategies in our district.

Correct. >> I don't think it's enumerated anywhere as a specific strategy in the strategic plan, but it it certainly again is a program that we've committed to supported both with staffing and funding and and continue to work to expand across the district. But to my knowledge, I don't think it is specifically enumerated within a strategic plan. >> My interest in in asking that question is just being able to track it in that place. I love the how everything is being articulated and shifting in the model. And so I would love to see all of our strategies, you know, articulated in a way that we can can follow. Thank you.

Vice Rogers, >> thank you for this presentation and for answering all my questions that I submitted in advance. I'm not asking those questions. >> I was going to say we're ready to say them again if you're ready. >> I'm not asking those questions. I do appreciate that you didn't read us the slides and that I you know I was able to get more information by listening to you. you talked about one of the strategies being mentorship and support. I think about also the data that you shared around the referrals for the elab balding center. Appreciate that. It's not significant in comparison to our truency rates and absenteeism, but is there anywhere that y'all are tracking information about the percent of students that have mentors?

Though we are not yet tracking that as a universal expectation. just I'll speak to a school we're at today, Eastway. so they have mentors for their chronically absent students in in in connection to Central. she has her own database where she's keeping up with that. We do not have a systemic way to monitor that because not all schools have strong community partnerships. Not all schools have community partners that support attendance., and so if we want to make that as an expectation, our schools have an expectation to have community partnerships. Some of them use them for various things. And so that's why we're not in a space. Some of our schools have mentorship that they've de developed right in the school where everyone has a buddy person. So it just varies. If that's something that the board would like us to do, we can we can curate that. But right now, no, we are not doing that because we don't have a universal strategy across all our schools.

>> Okay. So that was my next question about how you're creating culture and support for schools to leverage community partners in this way and to develop community partners because everybody doesn't have them. If a school reaches out to for support, who are they reaching out to for to look for mentors for their chronically absent? They absolutely can reach out to student support services, specifically our student wellness and advocacy team, which is our count school. Oh, I'm sorry. >> Oh, get closer. I'm sorry., so I was saying they could definitely reach out to student support services specifically in the area of student wellness and advocacy. We recognize that mentorship and organizing that is a place that we definitely need to grow. We have for many years tried to to increase our ability to curate that for our schools and it continues to be an area of growth for us, but we do have some community partnerships that we can assist schools with getting in touch with and helping increase that across.

The district. Thank you. And to that same point, when students and families are experiencing chronic absenteeism, it's such a vulnerable point in their educational progress. If a family or student feels like they need support, is there a consistent way to get that at each school? or they having to talk to the home room teacher, having to talk to the grade level principal, having to have conversations with five or six different people before they actually get the support that they need. But what we find is that students will talk to their trusted adult. The system that we have in place is our attendance team and that is primarily led by our school social workers who are often one of the trusted adults in the schools. But that is the centralized person who can provide that support as well as access to all the resources that families can can obtain as wraparound services for whatever u may be their need. And are the school social workers clearly identifiable on each school's website?

I I have not checked everyone of the websites, but we all of our schools have staff directories, but I can follow up to make sure that is explicit around every student school social worker. >> Yeah, I think some of that's getting lost in the sauce. Okay. >> Especially if there's a shared social worker, etc. And there could be some intention done around that. >> Sure. >>.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then can you give a little bit more information about the greater DMA attendance summit that you had noted for this summer? Who is that for and how is that going to be communicated to everybody? It's it's a work in progress. It is an outgrowth of the work that we are doing with the new pulse mental health system that we utilize to provide even broader supports around mental and even social emotional help for our students. And it is being built by our community partnerships. So there's more information to come. right now. It is what we hope will be a way to increase, as I've said, inspire and increase the urgency within the entire community to have this discussion. We hope to bring in city, county, state, even partners to to assist with making that really meaningful and families. Definitely.

>> Great. Attended the state of the city, ran into a couple of leaders, served on juvenile crime prevention council. Has any of the attendance data, any of that work been shared with the juvenile crime prevention center council so that they can support us in this as well? >> Absolutely. Dr. Melissa Watson director of student alternatives and supports is our primary member co you know at hot member of the JCPC and I know she has shared 2024 2025 attendance data because that is the official data we usually do not share in progress data and especially not until we're sure the superintendent and the board have had an opportunity to engage with that data.

Thank you. >> I do want to respond to this notion of how are students doing if they have a mentor. what we can do is research. I know P school had a feature that will allow you to put a badge or icon on a student that you can further run reports and if infinite campus allows us to put a badge on students that within the student information system that this student has a mentor then we can be able to run report. I'm getting a thumbs up from Nelson. So we can do that. So, more to come on that.

>> And Dr. Lewis, I just want to add just one thing. I heard I think our we suggested that all schools don't have community partners. I'm afraid I might get some emails tomorrow if I don't correct that. All of our schools do have community partners. All of those community partnerships, however, are not necessarily focused around activity like mentorship, if you will. U many of those community partnerships are focused on other particular strategies and structures within the district. So, I did just want to add that that important caveat that is something that is that is actually enumerated in our strategic plan and is something that our schools have been working pretty diligently around. So, just wanted to add that detail.

>> Thank you. U Miss Byer, >> thank you. I I want to start by showing gratitude for you all for bringing this uncomfortable data forward. For acknowledging that in no way are we where we need to be with this data and with our students who are reflected behind the data. and I apologize for not getting my questions in in advance. That didn't happen for me. I'm sorry. I this is this is grim and it needs I think annual reports to the board going forward., I think we've got to continue to accelerate progress. And when I look at the list of schools that are kind of doing better, not as well as we'd want them to do., they're small high schools or there are some elementary schools typically.

And I wonder where the bulk of our numbers are probably in our big high schools and our big middle schools. And so how we can focus work in in those spaces to accelerate the gains that the the students need. I looked at some things that have been effective and I'm glad to hear about the summit community campaigns. So do we need a Durhamwide campaign about this and and Representative Mo some states have done statewide attendance campaigns? I don't know if that comes from legislation or sure they'll fund it., but I mean I these this is so so important, but it's just embarrassing for Durham to be this egregiously bad, right? I mean I wonder if as you continue to share data on student attendance disagregated by schools with the board in the future like that we actually go ahead and track staff attendance as well. I know when we looked at that years ago, we had a lot of Friday absences and you know, our adults need to model what we expect of children that.

That this is where we are Monday through Friday, bell to bell. Many Fort Brown would say bell to bell. I wonder like if you can talk a little bit about ways that we've had some struggles with our partnership with the district attorney and ways that that could be working and things that we could do better there. because I think you know elected official to elected official maybe we can help nudge things or the future board members can or do you all have any thoughts on that that or what what I will say is that what we've spoken to in the in the presentation is that research does state that you know you move towards more restorative practices and we do have conversations and partnership with our local district attorney's off office. and I know that communication has occurred interdep departmentally for years and I think that we are working within the structures that are most supportive of our families.

And I will say when during my conversations with the district attorney shortly after I arrived, you know, I understand some things happened before I got here, but she is interested in partnering and and being a thought partner as we think about some things that we can do proactively and some things that we can do a better job of in terms of supporting potentially our specifically our truent students as well. But she's offered to come talk with our principles, work with our principles., so yes, she is a will be a thought partner with us as we think about moving forward.

>> No, that's great to hear. And it sometimes it's what we call things like I know that the term truency court that we had before is very offputting when you believe in restorative work., but whatever we do to get the right folks around the table as quickly as possible when we notice that second day of missing like I'm also unclear because I've thought that we were always using ball fans early warning indicate. I thought we always had an early warning tracking system and it doesn't sound like we have or done that or cons been consistent with that. Do you have any insight on perhaps it predates?, we have not been tracking in ways that we want to track. Is that kind of what I hear you all saying in your presentation and we're going to track better. We have as a district we have inconsistent practices across our schools. they become more complex as you get into secondary., I would also say this year there's a another layer of complexity of switching over.

To IC infinite campus. The ability to create those automated letters at 36 and 10 was delayed because of our transition over to this new system and everyone getting acclimated to how to do that. We do now have that in place. We now also have a consistent way which is this the two-day letter. So a preventative proactive is not waiting to three go to two. another systemic thing that we really want to strengthen going into next year is this idea of what happens at every level. So what is the teacher level responsibility?

What is the principal level respon the attendance team and then what is the district level responsibility. I think that there were some blurred lines in terms of people what the expectations were and re-establishing who does what and when and what and how do we also monitor and adhere to lift up those best practices but also spotlight when we are being inconsistent and and meeting those expectations. I think in general we we've always had expectations the monitoring reporting and conversations around how we improve those are the things that we have adjusted this year >> and the letter goes in the mail goes in a backpack goes how >> it it is sent >> to the yeah >> it's nothing electronic >> our mail >> mailing >> right so we're not sending anything electronic in addition to that so if family is displaced, they're not going to get their mail.

They're also not coming to school. Right. Right. So, in increasing to second day our that is an outreach. It is our phone call. It is a teacher inquiring with siblings. it is finding out on that second day in a month where that student is and what perhaps could be the reason for the attendance so that you get the information sooner. we also coordinate with our school social workers remain a key component in working with our families experiencing transition or homelessness and keeping we actually have a social worker who does that work across the district.

To and we have a family engagement for our secondary schools around students who are either unaccompanied or experiencing homelessness as well. >> Yeah. I I just would encourage if we can use text or email as well in the future to actually make sure >> Oh, yeah. I don't and even like this to me strikes as like a beautiful place for a future research project with one of the area university researchers as we try to accelerate best practices. But you're saying the social worker is who takes the lead at every school.

Is that if I'm if I'm a parent, as Miss Rogers said, and and I need some help. I got a nephew that literally in Texas, they had a truency officer that went to my nephew's house. I'll out him right here. >> because teenagers were are challenging on some mornings, let's say. >> but a parent that's struggling, >> their first connection should be school social worker. I would say the student services team school-based because it may or our school social workers and our professional school counselors do a lot of co-raining and they have very distinct individual roles, but they also have outlined where their paths cross and how they can provide the best support to families. So, if our families can get to any member of their school-based student services team, they can get the support that they need. And I don't want to at all neglect to mention that our school leaders, our principles and our assistant principles are also very accessible and open to supporting our families as well because.

They support the work that's happening in their student services teams as well. And then like resources for families on why attendance matters like as part of this campaign perhaps that will be coming more robust communications and engagement with parent academy or family academy. Is that Yes. Great. I appreciate it. I look forward to cheering y'all on as you work on this really complicated issue. I will just say in September we had a really indepth professional development with our building administrators providing them guidance on the letters what's what's to happen at tier one, tier two, tier three, tier one is the teacher level, tier two is a school counselor and tier three is a school social worker. When it comes to the letters, the letters are mailed, but a copy of the letter is also given to the school social worker who may u be in contact with our Mckin Vento services that can provide that support to the families as well. all of those are, you know, reactionary. We.

Also share with the with the principles what can be done when we do a really good job of, you know, sending texts, calling people, sending letters when they don't come to school. what can we do when students do come to school? And so if little Nick King typically will miss one day just about every week. If he make it makes it to school every day, you know, for one week, I'm calling Miss King and I'm saying, "Miss King, thank you so much for sending little Nick to school. He made it to school every day this week.

Now watch this. I'm going to connect it to the academics because he made it to school every day this week. He's now mastered his two-digit multiplication. Thank you for sending him. We'll see him on Monday. Miss King will probably send him to school on Monday as well." And so from that standpoint, connecting it to the academics, the importance of attendance, not just we are a public school system that want all school students to come to school because of the compulsory attendance law. Yes. And this is why and the this is why and these are here are the benefits of students coming to school every day and on time.

>> All right. I'm go Miss Carter, Miss Chavez, Mr. Tab. Thank you so much for this comprehensive presentation. thank you for adding the comparison with other districts. That's really helpful for seeing whoever added that and is in charge of super helpful just to see the magnitude and to see I mean frankly the picture is even worse after seeing that because we are doing so much more poorly than some of our peers., thank you also for adding the, explicitly the definition of chronic absenteeism. It helps me to keep that fresh in my mind. But it also triggered in me a question that I hadn't had a chance to ask yet, which is about the role of suspensions in chronic absenteeism. And I'm curious to know the extent to which we've been exploring the reasons that we are suspending students and whether they are the best that's the best behavior management technique for that specific students needs and how that might be impacting our chronic absenteeism rates.

So thanks for lifting that up. I think in the future what you will see in our priority updates is that we will triangulate this data because they all do connect. I think what we see overall when we look at our trends in terms of discipline, we are still a striving, we are doing better in terms of restorative practices but we are still reactionary and looking to have a punitive response to student behaviors. We are still really striving towards consistent use of our SEAL social emotional learning curriculum to teach good strategies and good behaviors for students to give a replacement for the behaviors that they share. I think that what you will can recall in our priority update is that we are trending in a positive way in terms of decreasing suspension by African-American boys, black boys, black and brown boys, as well as EC students. I think I talked to Dr. Bale and and also Sashi about the the complexities of what it looks like for EC students or a AU student who is not.

Yet diagnosed and how those manifestations of those behaviors are are coded and responded to systemically. But I think that again all of the things that we we mentioned, we still have work to do., we are improving our systems and definitely improving our monitoring and accountability and also providing that supports to schools to say yes, you're on the right track or no, you are not on the right track. Here's what we want to do to support you. Here's how it looks., the the correlation is still high in terms of suspensions for students. What I can say is that the suspension trends depends on the school., and so we do still see because we are a a predominantly black and brown school district, we do see higher numbers., and it is still disproportionate to the percentages., and so that is a rooted in terms of our mindset of shifting. I think we are in year three or four of moving to restorative practices., and we're having more consistent conversations to.

As Dr. Lewis alluded to on a monthly basis in our professional learning. We are looking at our data, reflecting on our practices, but we still have work to do. Followup question on that. >> I just wanted to add to that about the days and attendance when it comes to discipline. That is something that is included when they look at reporting and look at the data. They actually get a report around the cost in instructional days as well. >> At the school level, you're saying >> at the school level. Yes. I'm sorry.

>> Just a followup on that. So if a student is suspended, are those numbers included in chronic absenteeism or No. Just to be clear. >> Okay. so absenteeism for short term any any absence anything that removes the students from instruction for the suggested period of time and it depends on the you know the day length of the day but the amount of time that you're absent from instruction whether it's through an excused absence, unexcused absence or a suspension an out of school suspension or a reassignment.

Well, a reassignment is not is the only thing that does not count towards chronic absenteeism. So, long-term suspensions do not because they're reassigned as well. We don't have true suspensions that way. >> That's helpful. Short-term suspension would go into these numbers. Long-term re which is a reassignment would mean that you would be you still attending school. You still have access to instruction. Okay. I'm sorry. >> I think I'm sorry. Thank you for pointing out even un even excused absences are counted in chronic absenteeism and so so think about on this side of CO during CO we would tell families you know at the first sign of a symptom keep your child at home and I think that has lingered and so par parents and I'm a parent too we we feel we do a really good job of sending a note when when our child is absent yes continue to do that but please also know that that's counting against chronic absenteeism and that's the reason this board passed our school calendar well in.

Advance so you can those doctor's appointments around the days that we are we are out of school. And so missing 10% of school, you're chronically absent. And so we're in school 180 plus days, 18 days doesn't seem like a lot, but it's factoring into students being chronically absent. But can I follow up on that? So parents are doing this thing where they're notifying folks at the school and to me it sort of aligns with absenteeism where they're notifying educators, data managers that their student is absent. Is the expectation that they're getting a response to those emails and those notifications acknowledgement anything because as a parent when I don't get a response >> we will follow up. That's that's in the research and accountability department. So I will definitely I got that in my notes.

>> That's helpful cuz as a parent when I don't get a response it makes me feel like you don't care if my kid is at school or not. >> And so agree I think acknowledgement of the email is in order and you seeing that reflection in your child's attendance that it was excused based on that note. We can definitely follow up to ensure that there is a response to those emails. My my other question was around it it seems like we have some understanding of what's happening for families when the students are not coming to school but we don't have a comprehensive understanding of all of the reasons right or all of the reasons that Durham has higher much higher rates of chronic absenteeism than other districts. So I'm wondering if you could tell us to to me we this means we have to operate really with more curiosity towards not just you know I always want to know what the research says in this case I want to.

Know what the people who this is most directly impacting are saying about this and so I'm wondering to what extent are you training folks that are in the schools the social workers the principles to have those in-depth conversations with families to really dig deep into what's going on for them so that then when we're solving ving at the school level and at the district level, we are using that to inform our decision making., not just what we think might work because we think we have the answers all the time, right?

>> Is that a question? >> Yes. So, how are you working with staff that are on the ground and working with families to make sure that they know how to ask the critical questions and have these in-depth conversations to get the information we need to solve for this really challenging problem here in Durham. >> Right. So part of the information that was included in the presentation around the contributing factors much of that although it comes from some of the research as you look at what's happening in our communities it also is informed by the very nature of the things that you're talking about. That is why we put it in some systemic factors that are often seen in research and they can tell us what usually happens if you and then there are also societal and community factors that we spoke to that are very unique and specific to our local community and what we're hearing from our families. Our work with the elabor conflict resolution center is all around that joint problem solving and.

Really listening to what families are saying as I start as I started the presentation. what is keeping this child from coming to school and how do we work with the family mainly to to prevent that. we also have and I I'd be remiss if I didn't add this. We have a parent liaison and there's only one but we do have a parent leaison who is often an on the grounds go find either a parent or a student if we have concerns.

Of course that is a tier three support that we have in Durham Public Schools. We would love to be able to scale that even more. who meets families where they are who is working with some of our students in detention perhaps that are adjudicated and so we're trying to as I said increase our wraparound supports for families but we do have multiple prongs of supports trying to make sure we understand why children are not coming to school and some of it is adult action particularly in the lower grades and so at that point it's really important that the wraparound services are there because the more we can support the parents and the families, the more likely what we've seen is that we have increases at the school this morning. the principal mentioned that 75% of the students for whom chronic absenteeism was identified and they were getting the mentorship and support. They improved their attendance where they no longer were being the same pace of chronic absenteeism as before. So we know that wraparound.

Services help but it is you know it is a all hands- on deck effort. >> I don't know if Mr. you said Barry or or the team if you recall some of the reasons that we heard well couple schools I went to were high school because if you look at high school data one in two students are chronically absent and some of the reasons that some of our high school students are not coming to school one that I did hear is that students have to work to perform their families >> and so that's a system issue we are providing a service from 8 to 3 but if I have to work to support my family I'm not coming to your school so as a school system how can we provide services from 8 to 3 and 3 to to account for the fact that they need to work for their families.

>> Yes. Dr. Oh, go ahead. >> I I do know when we changed to that later schedule for high school students. I remember I knew some they skipped fourth period every day because a ship would start at four o'clock, right? So I skipped fourth period to go. And so I I think too about the system issue around is there independent study? >> You could be doing three classes and not have a fourth period if you got to go to work, right? like how do we actually but if some someone needed I knew that because I was working with her outside of school but somebody needed to call the family to be like wait a minute you got to get your Chipotle okay how do we rework your schedule so that we actually work with that so I just think some of those work understanding those root causes to Miss Carter's point too backs up for us to think about systemwide what are we doing differently and acknowledging when some of the changes.

That we make as a board impact students and families in that way. >> just to speak to that yes Dr. Lewis. So, one of those things that u come up in our comprehensive high schools is around students having to work full-time jobs., it is also around being a primary caregiver for siblings and or their own children., and then also this space of being adult care for adults in the house., and then there's also this space of mental health. the students who feel certain things and and have certain needs that that make school coming to school on a daily basis complex for them without additional supports outside of the scope of what we can diagnose and provide. so there is there are a lot of complexities at high school that comprehensive high school principles have a lot of work to do to to to continue to support. It's hard at a comprehensive high schools with young children having to live their lives as adults.

>> Thank you so much for this presentation on the disegregated data. I really appreciate that. and just the energy with which you bring this. I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to, you know, seeing from a greater distance what what the implementation of these things will look like and the outcomes that we will see next year and in the coming years. I wanted to ask one clarifying question. So a student is absent if they are not present for half of the day or more or what percentage of the day?

>> One half. >> Okay. I want to name that I'm also concerned about students who are skipping school and I live near a school will go unnamed that and I see I see students in the middle of the day and so I that you know they're not always what I'm understanding is they're not always captured in this data if they stay through you know they stay for 60% of the day but they're you know maybe missing time so I I am certain that is on your radar as well, but just want to lift that up with our students who might have a little bit more agency with their mobility.

Thinking about education on the front end for parents but also for high school students. I think a lot I I guess most my time on the board about you know visiting with visiting some of the high schools about high school students who are immigrants themselves and really conveying the econ long-term economic benefits which we do a you know an awesome job with our our CTE programs and all of that you know showcasing those and it's only grown since I've been on the board but I think it would be really great to emphasize those long-term economic benefits of staying in school regardless of legal status. because a lot of kids they do, you know, they do work, they do need to work, some of them.

But also understanding what is the value of completing your high school diploma. Perhaps getting, you know, a certification beyond that., and and I'll just say this, we can't always assume people don't always have the same opportunities after high school, but there are some opportunities for all students., so I'll name that., we I had questions questions about the protocol and process when a student is absent, but I think you answered those and I'm happy that we'll be moving to the two days. as you all mentioned wanted to ask what are some of the other best practices? I'm just interested to know a little bit more about the strategies that these schools on slide 20 are utilizing other creative strategies.

>> So one of the things now I'll turn it over to Dr. Mass Perry to chime in as well. So just to speak to the students not being where they're supposed to be, I do want to shout out Jordan High School. Jordan High School through our impact meetings identified some trends of things that they want to combat and then the administration under the leadership of principal Taylor they now implement high school classroom sweeps, hallway sweeps. So they have a spreadsheet, every student's name, every student's identification number and they sweep the halls during different periods at random times of the day. They monitor that data. they're tracking one student, two students, how many times and that student has a proactive support in place for them. So that's one of the things the best practices that we see at least at a comprehensive high schools. That's a simple thing doesn't take time, doesn't take a tremendous amount of time, but it makes a tremendous amount of difference and a strong impact to students around our.

Seriousness around the priority and being in classrooms. One of the other strategies that I will will lift up is just a consistent system. So through the leadership of Dr. Mass Perry, there are lots of protocols and resources in regards to what does an effective attendance team look like., some of our schools are still expiring in terms of all of the components of that, the cadence of meeting and the type of data, the quality of the data that comes through that process. So, the best practice that I can lift up is strong systems of alignment, good clean data from our research and accountability department, and then for that school who knows that school system, that school team to sit down and say, "We know our community best. How will we respond?"

So I was speaking with one principal in the last few weeks who said, you know, we do home visits in our community and our chronic absenteeism, they don't open the door. And so I challenged him to think about think about the community you're walking in and what you look like and what that response to the community could look like. Who you think about the optics of this? So our schools are are trying the things that they they are are they have in place. what we want to do is go from more of a haphazard individual school response to look at what is having a measurable impact and scale that up.

So like I said also at I'll speak to just Eastway we were there this morning them having that mentor system and having that individual check-in with students is making a significant difference at schools. So, I think that overarchingly it's the personalized touch and care that comes from getting a phone call as opposed to a letter in the mail, having someone show up that you know and relate to that can have a conversation in a non-judgmental way about how that receives and then just supporting our staff with understanding the complexities of what families are going to. I was speaking with an individual. They said, "Well, you know, they didn't answer the door." I said, "There's a whole host of reasons why someone wouldn't answer the door. Their hair couldn't be done. The house could be dirty. I could have someone in the house I'm not supposed to, etc. Let's not assume that our that our families are trying to evade us because they don't respond to one strategy. What else can we try?

>> Thank you. I really appreciate that. >> yeah, yeah. Yeah. First, I have to add one thing. Just one I know it's 851. But I would also say, you know, for each of those schools, just an intentional focus on climate as well. We said over and over again that where people where students feel seen, supported, and that they're gaining something, that they are really a part of that community, it tends to be more likely that we'll have less chronic absenteeism. >> awesome.

Thank you. I really appreciate that., and one thing I also just want to note is, kind of with attention to climate is that I hope one day we will, track data around LGBTQ students because there is, there are trends nationally of absenteeism with, our queer and especially our trans and nonbinary students, related to heteronormative environments, anti-trans bullying, that kind of thing which of course we are experiencing on a national level right now. So, with an intersectional approach, looking at all the other identity bits and I read, thank you for the question, Vice Chair Rogers and your answer, about, DPI not having not allowing custom gender choices. however if there are creative ways to look into that data maybe not through you know in imminent cam campus but other ways on a school level I think that would be great at least to introduce that to the conversation because I know you know well it's been some time since I was in high school but there were kids who dropped out of you know didn't finish.

School because of bullying and things like that so and I knew as a teacher I knew kids who you know experienced different challenges is too that affect affected their attendance., and the last thing, probably already on your radar, Dr. Lewis, but I would love to hear the, maybe this is a great topic for the superintendent's advisory council, student advisory council, about why kids are not coming to school. The data is alarming, but I really do appreciate, your, you know, creativity and thinking about this and looking forward to positive trends for Durham overall. So, thank you.

Thank you very much. Thanks for saving me for last., and Miss Sidbury has already indicated that we're over time. So, I'll make this very quick., thank you board U member buyers for uplifting the truency because that was really my going to be my topic., so I won't, you know, have to go over that again, but thank you for uplifting that and I want us to make sure that we really, really take a serious look at that and address that. I do want to ask, and this is maybe for the board as well as for you all's, in input, what impact does our attendance policy have on student attendance?

So, just wanted you to think about that. and we're talking about attendance and then we have a policy on attendance. So, I'm curious to know if this our policy is impacting somewhere your work. Thank you for asking that question. I think it could stand a a quick look. There are some punitive language within the policy, particularly that last paragraph that I think can be addressed and maybe enhanced. I would say that's policy 4,400. Thank you. That's it.

>> Kayla, I do want to come to you. Do you have any comments? We said a lot about students and attendance. If you have any comments you want to share on this topic. >> So, you did make a lot of comments about just having that data from all the tracking, but from a student's perspective inside of the building, inside of the classroom, a lot of it goes unnoticed. So recently there was a case with a student skipping their fourth period class to go to another class and they were caught by the counselor and then they were sent to the assistant principal. Now they were only caught and directly addressed because they were still on campus but many of the students that skip are not on campus. They want they walk to the downtown area. So Durham School of the Arts is easily accessible to all these different places.

But those students aren't recorded and caught. So, how could we better keep track of our students that are not on campus within their control and kind of ensure that they're not making their way off campus in the first place. >> Excellent comments. I think all of us may have seen some students around a high school once or twice before walking around when they should be in class. That's really good, Kayla. Thank you. I'm gonna go to Vice Chair Rogers and then I'm gonna have the last comments because we need to wrap this up.

>> I'm so sorry. >> The first thing is similar to Kayla's comment. I attended DSA, experienced all that, did the things. those things. The first time I rode the city bus, I was not supposed to be leaving campus, but okay. And and I have a student at Jordan and have heard about the sweeps will ask the long-term questions on that. I my questions around that and I speak to principal Taylor about this last week is are the sweeps punitive in a way that encourages students to move off campus instead of loitering on school property where they're a little bit safer.

And how do we how are they using the information that they're learning from the sweeps to encourage students to go back into the classroom? And how is that data presented in absenteeism? Because I assume you're not reporting on each course, you're reporting on the daily attendance rates for comprehensive high schools., so that's that. I guess my other question is for Dr. Lewis is around. It's great that y'all are implementing the second absence call, right? What is the data and evidence that the the notices that are required to go out by state statute are actually going out?

And what happens when educators aren't doing those things in terms of supporting those educators and in terms of making sure those educators are prepared to support our families cuz adding another thing for them to do doesn't feel like the right thing to do when the required things aren't getting done. I think one way it can be tracked is within Infinite Campus when those attendance committees meet at at the school and they're looking at that their data and looking at interventions they can easily look and see well at six day was a letter sent then I think it also begs us an opportunity to look at how effective are those things how effective are the robocalls how effective are the letters that are sent are we seeing improvements in attendance so I think that's one way we can track that when our attendance teams looking at it was a letter sent. So in other words, we shouldn't get to the student having 20 25 absences and there's no documentation of a letter.

Sent. So I think within our infinite campus system, we can include some comments there. >> Thank you. I think my question is more about what's the process when an educator doesn't do what they're expected to do. >> I think that speaks to the what I was alluding to in terms of impact meeting. We have had expectations, we have had resources, tools and resources and now we have to be more consistent with our monitoring and reporting that out. So a part of that process is with the impact meeting which looks at are we actually number one doing the things that are expected of us and then after we do that then what is the impact of that and how do we adjust our practices there. to your point, that's going to be the overarching thing in any priority update is around how we're monitoring and holding people accountable for those expectations as well as supporting them, having ideas and uplifting best practices.

We're not yet collecting that data, but through our impact trends, it was something that we'll be able to speak to in the future. >> You're not yet collecting that data of >> in terms of did you send eight letters home? The conversation is now around are attendance teams meeting consistently is data at that heart of that and once student once schools get that in place now talk to me about what parent phone calls look like from teachers. How are we keeping up with those logs? How are we having conversations with staff who are doing those things and who are not? so we're kind of layering it in in terms of all of the things that that are supposed to be in place. There are schools who are meeting those expectations and leveraging other strategies. Now, in some places there are are not yet consistent.

>> Okay. I'm struggling because it's a compulsory attendance law and it sounds like we're not doing the things in the district a little bit to support families in following the law. And so if the state wanted to hold our family in our district accountable and they came to you and asked you for this documentation, would you have that? >> I would. It would be inconsistent. Thank you. >> We have implemented an attendance team plan verification form. That's a starting point for us to collect that data.

>> If if I what I would say is and I think I might be able to add a little clarity to the 3, six, and 10 day letters and Mr. Soros might want to add something to that. That is a collaborative effort at the school and there is tracking at the school. There is you know a collaboration with student services when they are having a professional learning around what extra supports do you need? As we stated this year it has been particularly difficult with the transition but yes it is as stated expectation and role and it is monitored at the school. We don't right now have the information based on to to share with you, but we do have that we know how many letters have gone out for each student and all that through our school social workers and data managers.

It's a benefit or not of going last because I have comments on all the comments., I really I do appreciate the honesty and transparency of which y'all brought this data forward to us today and the systems that are working and not working. It sounds like we need more alignment too across systems from student support to academics to school leadership to MRC who does graduation co like all of those folks actually working together on this efforts because even as I hear us talk tonight I'm like oh there's some slight differences as we all have these conversations and how do we make sure we're all on the same page. excited about the summit that's coming up., and so glad you have county and city partners there., that is a conversation that's come up in those different spaces. I do think about come back to this kind of root cause analysis and I know there are some things that were sprinkled through the presentation, but I'd be really interested to know,.

You know, majority of folks are work or this age group is sickness or elementary school or something with pain. I don't you know I think you all let you all do that data but it'd be really interesting to get that because I think we can throw a lot of strategies you know at a wall but without really understanding what we're solving for I think that's going to be a challenging piece and I understand some of that's already happening it seems like on a school level and the conflict resolution center conversations but I'd love us to lift that up holistically because we've got systemwide problems that you all identified and talked about earlier.

One of the other things that I'm just struggling with a little bit is that we're looking at multiple years of trend data that hasn't improved. And so I know there's things that we're tightening this year, but we're still trending in the same direction. And so what is going to be different next year and what are the other ways that we're implementing? I think about this and enrollment and retention as some of the highest measures that we need to work on because we're not going to see increases in academics if we're not even having students in schools, right? into that retention enrollment conversation. You got charters and privates that are knocking on people's doors telling them come join us, right? So, how are we also offering some of that same care for students as they're showing up? So, I don't we don't have to answer that question today, but that's what's on my mind of and what will make the data move in a different direction if some of these strategies we've been implementing.

For a little bit of time. So, I'm hearing some accountability, but I think there's more that needs to be done on that effort., and I'm wondering too if that if the strategic plan data point maybe need to be around increasing attendance rate but also decreasing chronic absenteeism because those feel they're similar but there also feels like there's some different strategies on both of those. My other part is a lot of the things we talked about is reactive. So we have talked about proactive things before around climate but also just think about rewards for attendance. So, in this community summit, what is a community's way of rewarding folks for showing up to school? How are we supporting parents who show make sure their kids get to school every day?, you know, it's an effort to get children out the door. So, what is the ways that, you know, is there a free ice cream cone on one day or something for students who've been chronically absent? Like, how are we providing some of those rewards for.

Students and families who need that?, and then I wonder at the end of this year, is there a data report then come back to the board that just talks about what we've learned this year, what we're changing, what the data says as we move into the next year because I we, you know, we can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results and and the world is changing, right? Our students are changing, the world is changing. Do we need to be offering more students, you know, Ignite access for high school if they are working full-time jobs? Like, what are the system kind of things that need to be shifting to making sure that we're supporting getting students educated?

How many students know about like, well, actually, if you stay in this coursework, I can get you your certificate. So, when you graduate, you're going straight into a career making x amount of dollars a year, right? What are those other system? you uplifted one of those middle to high school transition, but I still think what are the other kind of more systemic ways that we need to be addressing this conversation and telling parents too and helping parents navigate you know block phone numbers and all the other things that kids do when they're trying to get around those phone calls that go home. So, I appreciate the honesty and transparency. I just I think I said a lot. I don't know if there's any response to all of that, but I really this is a vital way that we need to see things improve and it's so connected to all the other things happening in our community. The conversations around pre preventing gun violence, the conversations around juvenile crime,.

Like all of this is intertwined. So, we can't do, you know, we got to do something differently so we can see rates chronic absentee decrease absentee rate increase. Sorry, I said a lot. I was just going to say, you know, on slide seven where we're looking at apples to apples months one through six through months one through six, we are actually trending up in terms of our attendance. I don't want to celebrate this is about 1.3 I believe it was when we're looking at month to month. So we're we're continuing to monitoring how our efforts that we have right now in terms of reestablishing expectations and continuing to uplift those best practices across schools, how that is having an impact. I think also I was could speak to this this thought Dr.

King and I talked about it about coming back at the end of the year reporting to the Board of Education on our impact meetings. Our impact meetings look at every aspect of school systems whether it be PLC's attendance discipline seal how they're handling all the things and so we we can come back and provide that update with regard to what we're seeing across our schools and best practices as well as things that we want to do better and differently for the next school year. And that's why I think sorry to your point around the attendance rates going up, but chronic absenteeism still feels like static. And so I just think we got to figure out how we capture both of those data points in there. because we can celebrate attendance rate going up and it should, but we also need to make sure that the chronic absenteeism is going down. Those feel like different and we don't have them highlighted in the same way in the strategic plan.

I was just going to say just to your point of that that root root cause, you know, I think chronic absenteeism is a symptom of a larger disease. Whether it's I'll take big Nick now that he's in in in high school. If he's constantly missing fourth period or skipping fourth fourth period and fourth period is his math class, is he skipping because there are some skill deficits gaps there that we need to address. That's why he's missing that class. is it there's no sense of belonging in that class or sometimes it may not be a sense of belonging in that school and so those are the things that we have to unpack one by one often say have a laser-like focus on every single student we should be able to know as sad as I hate to say this but when we look at 37% of our students chronically absent 11,000 students chronically absent and we trying to meet our academic goals that's going to be difficult and so we.

Have to look at it one student at a time and I think leveling up and really drilling down on our attendance committees and our attendance plans in each one of our buildings is the way we get there because keep in mind if we don't attendance is one of those early indicators those pull factors push factors rather in terms of students dropping out >> and I I just want to uplift it's individual and when you get to 11,000 students out there's got to be there's a system issue there's some policy things that probably need to be changed right so I want to know when I look at that 11,000 is majority of those students what is the issue right and so that are what are we doing now to put in place to address that and what community solutions. So to me it's an individual and when you got that many there's got to be a root cause analysis that I would love to see this many students for this.

This many students that this many report and I know it won't be perfect we're relying on what people are reporting out but I think that will help us think about where money needs to be allocated where resources need to be allocated where policy changes need to be made to make sure that we're encouraging students and families to come to school >> and I'll end my last comment on on this I do want to acknowledge that since 2021 specifically for our Hispanic students that chronic absenteeism was going down, but I do want to acknowledge this past November that has had a major impact on our some of our Hispanic families. And then something that you said, Chair Umstead, is that our students are changing, but has our system changed? So, I think that's a huge opportunity for us.

>> I will also just say again another shout out and thank you to our our educators, our building principles, our social workers, our professional school counselors, every single department of research and accountability. It is a team effort. yes, we're reporting this data, but as I mentioned, a lot of factors contribute to attendance. And we want to continue to have a multifaceted approach including students mental health, SEAL, quality teaching and learning as well as strong protocols for monitoring and supporting attendance as we move forward. So, thank you.

>> Thank you. We went way over time, but this was a really important presentation. So, we appreciate y'all being here and all the comments that are made and the work that's being done. We're looking forward to some updates and some improvements coming soon. The next item on our agenda is our legislative stirring committee priorities. I'm going to pass it over to Vice Chair Rogers who is leading up this committee to talk us through. Oh, great. The slide deck is up.

I don't even know where to start. Thank you all for this time. our legislative steering committee has been meeting has come up with this idea of better than basics legislative priority recommendations. And so if you'll go to the next slide I need compared to where we are. Somebody going to try to read that anyway. So the slide talks about the initial goals that the steering committee came up with to develop the legislative agenda. They wanted clear talking points that were connected to student outcomes. they want to be able to engage directly with state and local legislators and support us in our advocacy efforts.

They wanted clear and simple messaging and research with evidence with links and they wanted one to three priorities where we've been doing five or six or whole one pages and they want us to be able to develop some visuals to go along with that work. And so we came up with three priorities that we'll see in the next slide., I put together a little diagram that shows up on the next slide and shows the overlap of improved student outcomes, how each of these reaches into improved student outcomes. And then on the next slide, you see the list of committee members. Thank you everybody for your participation and for your work on this and for showing up. And then on the next slide, we go more in depth into the fully funded public K12 instruction to reach adequacy in North Carolina as our initial priority.

Each title has a link that has a one pager and links to the data that supports the request. And so, you know, there's a request to protect local funding authority, making sure our locals can still do what they need to do to support K12 educa p public education in Durham. Prioritize public over private funding. Fund the full cost of instruction. Enable fair local revenue options., they would like to be able to do some progressive taxation that Durham can't currently do or counties can't currently do. They would like to revisit charter funding requirements and invest in long-term stability that includes a climate action funding of a climate action plan for future capital needs. So all that would fully fund public K12 instruction.

And then the next slide support every learner talks about reducing take removing the EC caps and changing the model. It's supportive of the EC weighted model that Superintendent Mo Green is advocating for. remove the 10% cap for ELLL students and remove the 4% cap for AIG students and then look towards moving to an overall weighted student funding model for long-term investment in students to support every classification every subgroup of learner. The next slide is the invest in educators demand real accountability and protect public education. It starts to take us from school letter grades talks about a moratorum on the opportunity vouchers and is attentive to making sure that there is accountability at all schools that are taking public money taxpayer dollar for districts charters and voucher private schools that accept the voucher. And so the goal in this in putting together these three priorities and naming them the way they are is so that each member of the steering committee can reach out to their rural counterparts and have intense conversations about adopting.

The same priorities to talk to their delegation because it's not our delegation that's the problem when we think about the stuff that's not happening in Raleigh. And with hope that they would adopt similar priorities and be able to find similar data for their districts. On the next slide, we talk about next steps. The next meeting of the legislative steering committee is April 28th, 2026. Miss Smith is working on getting us a room, but it'll be here in Fuller from 4:30 to 6:00. We're going to invite members of the delegation to give us an opportunity, and I've had some conversations with Representative Hawkins and Senator Murdoch about how we have productive conversations with our rural counterparts.

So people at the foundation will be able to go to foundations that support rural school districts. PTA leaders will be able to go to and talk to intelligently talk to folks in the rural counterparts in their PTA spaces about how this works. so we want to talk discussion of strategy. There's also a desire to have a conversation about political education tactics and how we can engage our community, our local community members and further understanding the impact of sending your students to charter schools and impact of using opportunity vouchers to attend private schools on local funding and D public schools at large. And so the request is for the BOE to schedule a delegate breakfast in May.

Legislative I'm sorry general assembly does not meet on Fridays and Representative Hawkins has shared that he would prefer that we try to schedule it on a Friday morning because they have a delegate session during that time and they could use that for that and then if we get approval on the priorities we'd like to send them to public affairs to create graphics that we all including our legislative steering committee members can use to share our messaging and Joy and I are here to Miss Herog and I are here to answer your questions and comments and hear your thoughts.

Thank you, Miss Heragoff and Vice Chair Rogers for all your work and to the stern committee who's been working diligently on this., I'll pass it to Miss Byer. So, such gratitude to you all for leading this work. It's been I was able to attend one of the conversations and it's been such a robust positive space for a variety of Durham stakeholders and families and to come together and work on this together. And you've got done a remarkable job in just two meetings, right? Two., one question I had was on one of the you talk about opportunity voucher program on one the third point and also on the first point and so there there's a little bit of inconsistency in the language and I feel like it would be good to make sure that those are aligned. One of them talks about pause or phase back the expansion of voucher programs until public schools are funded and the other says enact a moratorum which is my preferred language. but I I thought you might want to.

>> yep happy to adjust the intent in the priority one was to talk about the funding of it. The intent in priority three is to talk about the accountability scheme. any ideas around how to modify or mirror the two or disconnect them? I mean, I don't think we should have vouchers in North Carolina at all. So, I would just say end the expansion, end the voucher program. That's what I would say in the first one. But, you know, that's how much I hate vouchers., and then the other one I would go with the moratorum. I would just call I would be consistent what you call them. So they're opportunity scholarships or there I like to call them school vouchers because I think they use the term opportunity scholarship to make them more palatable.

So I would just I love the moratorum language. I don't know that was just one thing that popped out at me. Okay, we'll modify the first if everybody's okay with that. We'll modify the first priority to name the moratorum and use the language on school vouchers instead of opportunity scholarship. Is that what you're asking? Am I getting that right? I think so. My brain went to another thing that I saw on there that I was going to bring up in a minute. So, >> it's I would push back just a little bit on the opportunity scholarships. And while certainly that they're school vouchers because opportunity scholarships are what they're called, we're talking about using this language to go talk to other folks about it. It would be nice that they're we're speaking the same language. Not saying I agree, but just if I'm talking to somebody in a different county, I want to make sure that we're speaking the same language.

Yeah, that was the the other comment that I similar comment and that some of our counties might not share our same progressive lens. And so I think some of this language even with just pause or phasing back, we're trying to get something that they will that we can convince them to go alongside us with., and so I think that was some of the conversation that we had that I heard in the in the meeting is that, we want to do it, but we also we want to bring them along.

And so some of this language I feel was was suggested to to encourage that. >> All right., Miss Carter would add on that point. I think >>, just to say I was I opportunity scholarships also. And yet I think I really like the focus on the pro the root of the problem here is what you have in the the two different slides that they prevent the fund adequate funding for public schools and that there's not accountability, transparency and student outcome measures. And if you focus on that then you again there's a possibility of bringing other people along that might not be like and more like might not be down with the total moratorum or but they they can get behind accountability and transparency and school funding. I I just like that goal of just trying to be able to partner with others that might not be traditional partners in this advocacy effort.

Miss Bar, before I come back to you, Mr. Travis, do you have something on this point as well? Miss Chavez, >>, I wanted to comment just that, I understand a moratorum to be temporary. So, I don't know if you all talked about that, which a lot of times it can lead to a full ending, but that would be just a you know, a thought for me. I like the phasing out option honestly because while opportunity scholarships now primarily benefit white middle class to wealthy families, I believe definitely There are still some poor working-class students and you know who may or may not be students of color who may be reliant upon them for the school that they're in and a phasing out would allow a shift for their family over time., so I haven't thought about it at length enough to say I just like the option of the two., and I do like the the ore more more of the ore language to talk with other, rural districts, other.

Districts in general. I really like that idea and I think whatever language would expand conversation rather than narrow it. I would be in favor of that while getting at the same aim. >> I do want us to move along here. So do you I don't know if that provided you any clarity Rogers. >> That does provide clarity. Are we can we get an agreement on the top three on the priority names and language there and the intent of the priorities by the end of the conversation?

That's all. All right, let's actually start there. Are we good with the top three? I love the top three yet there's pages of requests underneath the top three. So, are we good with the top three folks? Yes, Mr. Okay. So, you got that consensus, but then we'll keep talking about the things underneath that. Miss Byer. So, I did look at NCSBA's language and they do use opportunity scholarship. So, it probably is wise to be consistent. The on the last slide, the last bullet, the statewide study on the growth and impact of single operator charter school networks. I wonder if that bullet could just stop there rather than to ensure responsible expansion because in that notion it makes it seem like we support expansion of these statewide networks and that yeah maybe that doesn't bug anybody else but that one it bugged me but I did when it bugged me I thought about the people that we're talking to about And I wondered if the intent of that was to implement some sort of.

Accountability plan when the state approves new charters, but I'm open to whatever y'all want. So her question is about the impact of single operated charter school networks ensure responsible expansion makes it seem like we're okay with expanding charter networks. >> Mrs. Carter., could you just change that to to ensure that any expansion is done responsibly or something that makes it clear that expansion's not necessarily necessarily going to happen? But if it is, it needs to be done in a responsible way. Would that get to the heart of what y'all had intended while still.

Yours? That does feel similar to me, but I don't know., any other comments? Mr. Rob, did you have something? >> I was wondering if we needed a a motion. >>, I think so, but I think there might be a couple more comments before Kayla, I know you're getting ready to go. Did you have any comments on our legislative agenda before you head out? No, I currently do not. But I just want to thank you for having me here and I enjoy listening to all your thoughts.

>> Thank you for hanging out with us late on a Thursday night. We appreciate it. I did have a few comments very different under the support every learner. Okay, hang on. Can we >> Okay. >> Can I make a suggestion on the >> Sure. Commission a statewide study on the growth and impact of single operated charter school networks to ensure if expansion is necessary it is done responsibil responsibly.

Okay, keep going. My different comments were under support every learner. We talk about remove the cap, but we don't actually say how we want them to be funded, like how we want ELLL students to be funded or how we want AIG students to be funded. You just say remove the cap. So, I wonder if there's a second part of that to say fund at the level within the school system or fully fund, you know, the percentage matches the percentage and I don't know what the answer is, but we talked about removing the cap. We just need to insert what we actually want to see there.

Yep., so that was a conversation also and if you look at the document that's linked in the title it speaks to some of that but overarchingly to move to a weighted model so that students in each district get what they need which is the last bullet point. So it's weighted. So if you have even if people are students are twice identified if you have identified 18% of your students as AIG, that support would be there. >> That's not as clear in this written report. So, I would just make it clear.

>> Okay. >> The weighted formula is explicitly talked about under explicitly talked about at the end, but the other two just say remove cap. So, I would just figure out how to make that feel explicit throughout. Okay. Thank you. >> And I'm wondering if y'all had discussions around some of the studies that the legislator has already done about weighted formulas. Okay. Cuz pulling some of that data might be interesting for this, too. Yep. I email I think I email it to y'all. If I didn't, I'll email it.

But somebody brought in documents for it. Any other questions or comments? You said this is for action tonight. So that's we would make a motion append pending the amendments and suggestions that we offer to Stephen. >> Yep. And I will send those over but basically the top three so that we can get the information to OPAI fully funding.

Okay. Can you share that? >> I'm gonna take a stab at this motion. If that's all right, we're ready. >> So, pending the suggestion suggested edits we've discussed today, I move that the Board of Education approve the following legislative priorities proposed by the legislative committee, which seeks to improve student outcomes by fully funding K12 instruction, supporting every learner, investing in educators, and showing evidence of real accountability to protect public education. Second. >> It's been moved by Miss Galloff, seconded by Miss Byer. Is there any other discussion?

All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Use the same sign. It passes unanimously. >> Thank you all. Thank you again, Vice Chair Rogers, Miss Herog for your leadership. All right. The next item on our agenda is we have a policy committee update. That's just for information. And then we have a relationship with law enforcement policy 5120. >> I'll pass it over to Dr. Pitman. Yes, I believe. >> Are we ready for the mic itself? Good evening. Good evening, Chair Armstead, Vice Chair Rogers, and members of the board. Dr. Lewis.

>> So this evening, the revisions to policy 5120, the relationship with law enforcement are being presented for discussion and action on second reading. As we all know, this revision process has been extensive, spanning several months, and has included an in-depth policy committee meetings, board discussions, and input from a wide variety of stakeholders, including our community, the superintendent's principal advisory, superintendent, student advisory councils, cabinet, our legal counsel, additional district staff, as well as our law enforcement partners. Following the work session on March the 12th, the policy committee continued refining the policy, incorporating the feedback provided by the board.

And additionally, in the intervening weeks, a representative group of principles and district staff have also worked together to review the proposed revisions in preparation for the April 13th policy committee meeting. And those represented included principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, as well as our assistant superintendent, Dr. Kesha Rogers at the middle school and assistant superintendent, Dr. William Logan, as well as, district personnel, Mr. Barnes, Dr. King, Mr. White, and our security, our new executive director of security, McClody Binham.

At the April 13th committee meeting, we also included with for our policy committee board members key staff members to support the discussion and provide continued input. And those members included our executive director of safety and security Binham, our executive director of auxiliary services, Mr. Anthony Wright. Again, Dr. William Logan joined us, Mr. Kenneth Barnes, principal, Susan Taylor, and our superintendent, Dr. Lewis. So as a result the result of that work the revised policy that is included in your board packet this evening is in several forms. One we did include a track changes version and that is the version from which we'll be lifting up and highlighting the key changes for our attention as well as there is a clean copy prepared.

There is also a highlight document that lifts up key revisions that that those are the talking points that I'll be sharing through the track changes version. So through those documentations hopefully we'll be able to highlight the major points. Before we get started I do want to acknowledge joining us this evening we have Mclidy Binham and Mr. Anthony White who will be with us throughout the subsequent discussion or questions that may arise. So at this point we're going to pull up the track changes version of the policy and I'd like to lift up just the major points that have now we are at consensus and I'll go through each section of the policy as we go. So the opening paragraph the major point of clarification that has been reached is just a clarification of the term principle to mean principle or designate for consistency throughout the policy.

Then if we roll down to section D on the next page, there are some key sub items I'd like to lift up. In D3, there was a request that we clarify the procedures for student questioning, including that parents would or guardian would be notified. There is guidance in there about how to manage a time critical or a time-sensitive situation. And the requirement is now named in policy for the principal to be present if notification of a parent or guardian was not possible.

Scrolling down a little further, still under section D, but items six and seven, the policy now strengthens the expectation in D6 that we would be avoiding embarrassing the student in front of teachers or peers. In D.7, students would be separated during law enforcement interactions such that questioning would be in a private area, removed from observation or contact from others. And under D7, a clarification of the role of the administrator involvement during questioning such that the principal would be present during questioning.

Section F. This is our section that has now been named the federal law enforcement for immigration related matters under section F3 information requests that are made by if an information excuse me this refineses the procedures regarding if a principal asks for information that the officer's name title contact information and copies of warrants or legal documents would be provided. Under F3, what a school should do if there what is the appropriate response when no warrant would be present. And under F4 outlines when the district would consult legal counsel.

Scrolling to F-15. This aligns our procedures with the established school safety standard response protocols for our schools to manage in the event that law enforcement is on our campus. And then finally under section I for training there was a directive request that we'll see in here the November 2025 board resolution is lifted up in explicitly including training for all school personnel on responding to immigration related requests clear referral protocols and protection of student rights. So again, I welcome to the question response area, Mr. Binham, Mr.

White. They're available to answer questions and I'll pass it back to the chair of the policy committee, Miss Jessica Carter Odden or to the board. Thanks so much, Dr. Pitman. I appreciate the way that you've outlined the most recent a summary of the most recent changes. and just very excited to have this policy here today. As you named, we've gotten this is an example of a policy that's we've not only put lots of work into, but we've gotten feedback from so many different many hands have been in this. And I think it makes it a stronger policy because we've gotten feedback from staff that are on the ground in schools, in our classrooms, administrators in schools, safety and security, legal team, sheriff's department, families that are going to be could be impacted by this and had lots of robust conversation with folks and made edits in response to different folks feedback and who who am I missing? Oh, students also superintendent student advisory council. So, I think yeah, I'm excited to hear what other.

Board members are thinking at this point. And yeah, I'm proud of this version and think it's going to be it's going to strengthen our ability to keep all of our schools and all of our students safe and build partner better partnerships with law enforcement. So, thanks, >> Miss Byer. So, I'm so appreciative of the work that's gotten us here and hope that we can resolve this entirely tonight., so we can move on to the other policies that are waiting., under F one, I think we need to insert in the in F1 in that first sentence that we're asking them to report to the school district's main office, not the school's main office. I think that was the intent. No, I think we were trying to actually get them out of the main office rather than Am I remembering that entirely wrong?

Why do we want them in the I I thought we were trying to push them downtown. Anything to do with immigration, it is like make it clear from the jump that it goes downtown, not into a school. >> Yeah. I think we were trying to not push them downtown for fear of our principles getting into a confrontation with them saying, "You can't come in here. you have to go downtown. I think that was part of the the conversation not wanting to put our principles in that standpoint of saying because it also aligns with our current guidance of the report to the school main office. The principles will work with our identified individual here at the district office to determine if if it is a valid judicial sign warrant and then our law enforcement officers will will show up there as well. We didn't want to create a sense that if they do if this is written in policy, one can interpret that when they do show up at the school.

That they've been cleared because they went downtown first. And that's and that's certainly not the case. And then I think the overarching part of the conversation was we know that federal law enforcement are probably not going to read this policy, probably not going to care what's in this policy, but we wanted to make sure that it aligned with our current procedures and not put our principles in that uncompromising position where they're saying no, you have to go downtown and law enforcement officers will say no, I'm staying here.

I I get that, but I really thought we were actually trying to say immigration is ne never should start at a school. Our preferred thing is for them or immigration offices officers except in exigent services to contact and then report not to the school's main office. You don't necessarily want them to go to the front office at Hillside. You'd rather them come and clear stuff with you. I'm maybe I'm just totally wrong. I just really really thought we had gotten it to the place where we wanted it coming your way.

I know we don't want the conflict. I totally get that we don't want the conflict, but to write it in here that that it seems like we've written something that is conflicting with itself in policy language. So, >> and we'll just reiterate this is this is our current guidance and aligns with our current practice should immigration officials show up at our schools. I I mean I can be I can be wrong all by myself. I just really thought we had resolved it that that we actually wanted to be explicit that we wanted them to actually not come to schools like don't come to schools. It doesn't have anything to do with schools.

>> You are correct in your remembrance of the discussion and that that was our the and then Dr. Lewis's explanation is where the the discussion ended up because there will be no way that the school or personnel would be able to manage where they begin their touch point with the district and often it is at the school level and I've asked Mr. Bayham to be at the ready just a normal practices how that unfolds if that would be helpful but there was extensive conversation.

>> Yeah. No, I remember the conf the the the like we don't want a conflict. I got I got that. I just didn't I thought we were being pretty explicit from the jump that actually it shouldn't be in schools. It shouldn't be in schools, by the way. It shouldn't be in schools, you know. So, yeah, I think I'm remembering both of these things, an intensive conversation around this agreement that we don't want them in schools and Dr. Lewis's feedback on it. I wonder if we could I mean I also don't want them in schools and in other places of the policy we set about expectations even though we don't think they're going to follow them but we put them in policy to state this is what we want. so we could here also state that they are supposed to contact the superintendent's office and present to ad you know to central office but then clearly also state how principles and other school administrators need to respond if they don't do that because I.

Just want this to also be clear guidance for those that are on the ground so they're not confused about what to do if and when they do present at schools. So I'd be open to that as some kind of a middle ground to both protect our administrators but establish a clear expectation that it is our preference that they start with central office. Don't know how others feel about that but >> may I make a suggestion in reading the the provision sort of alto together I think it talks about that immigration officers shall contact the superintendent's office etc and report to the main office before visiting a school.

I think the rest of this provision is just about before visiting a school. Whereas if you're reporting to the main office, you're already in the school. And so what if you just took out report to the school's main office? Just say before you even arrive, we expect that you make contact with someone and have a conversation on the phone. Because then the rest of this talks about what to happen when they what happens when they show up. >> Yeah. And that may have been why it confused me, especially because it says report to the school's main office before you visit a school, which is like a don't go there, but if you're there, go to the office. I mean, yeah.

So, if it just said you're supposed to contact the superintendent or principal before visiting a school, and that's what this provision is about, and then what happens when they show up physically is covered in the rest of it. Forward. Any thoughts or consensus around those shifts? Miss Carter, it looks like you're ready to say something. I was going to say that feels comfortable to me and I was curious to know if anybody disagrees with that or could show a thumbs up, thumbs down, or share thoughts around it.

Miss Chavez, you have comment or Okay, go ahead. On this one, on this >> Yes. I just wanted to hear from Dr. Louis, your thought on this on that edit? I just wanted to hear your thought on that. >> I was going to point it to keep want to call you detective B. You still are detect. I'm sure you serve plenty of warrants, right? And so how does how does this sit with you in terms of I know this is about the federal immigration. any feedback >> and can you introduce yourself for everyone who's welcome to your first meeting?

>> Oh, here we go., I am MLA Bonham., I appreciate, you all having me here, of course., the new executive director, safety and security. I do have some feedback on this and I was kind of brought up to speed within my last two weeks about this. And I have, you know, of course, been on several ones and dealing with ICE and the whole immigration. what I will say is usually once federal agent law enforcement period come to the school I would say the administration probably wouldn't want and probably wouldn't differentiate between if this is ICE sheriff's office police department so by time they even entered they are already in the school by time you even think about this because they used to just letting law enforcement within the school. So to say, you know, they need to go down to the district prior to usually they're already in the school because you're just going to invite law enforcement in and the principal, secretary, most likely they see a uniform, some type of.

Uniform, they kind of put them all together in one. So when we're looking at it, they're already inside the school. So if we saying go talk to the district by now we're saying get out of my school which the confrontation is now starting to build. We're telling them get out of my school you need to go to the district and they're already in the school at this point. so I would say you know I did say you know you kind of want to keep your administrative out of being in confrontational situations and trying to tell a federal agent or any law enforcement what you need to do.

Those things and it kind of puts them in a compromising situation because ultimately the federal agent know what they can and cannot do when it comes into it. most administration wouldn't be able to tell and understand if this is a valid warrant, if it's not a valid warrant, if it's an administrative warrant just for reasons to be deported or is actually a arrest warrant. All those things come into play and when you're kind of putting it in the administrative hands right then to make these decisions and have kind of compromising altercations you know it kind of put him in a situation where resist delay and obstruct comes into play and all these different things where they have to answer to this. So, yeah, I would say, you know, kind of saying going to the district level, they already in the building is kind of null and boy, >> even if it is a signed judicial warrant, which we've given them examples of, you know, from a principal standpoint, if they show a signed judicial warrant,.

And we have in here, you still have to report to the district office, will they leave at that point? >> Probably not. they have certain policies they have to to go by but ultimately if it's a signed warrant they have reasonable belief that this person is here and most of the time u when it comes to warrants they already did their due diligence and their homework in as to you may not even know that on your campus they may already actually looking to see if this individual is walking into school so they already kind of have done the intel and that's the reason why they there because they had done the intel already prior to even coming to the school to be honest.

>> And that's where the conflict comes in with our current guidance is that you know we've trained the principles you know here's an example of a signed judicial warrant you send that in to the district office or attorneys to to verify if it is indeed one. So now we're saying you know seems like whether you have an addition or not still report to the district office. Colleagues questions thoughts feel like that might bring up more questions for me but I know we've been working on this policy for a while but.

I'm going to go to Mr. Tab because it seems like he's ready. Thank you. So, just in listening to the conversation, I want to be clear that board member buyers, you're saying that you don't want them to go to the school. You they need to go to central come to central office. And what Mr. Botm, you are saying is that once they get to the school, they're at the school and it's no need for them or they probably not going to leave the school to come go to the central office. I just want to be clear. Make it simple.

>> What I'm saying is at this point usually once they're at the school the administrative saying, you know, it's it's not a a a poster saying, "Hi, I'm ICE and I'm not Durham PD. I'm not the sheriff's office. I'm not this." you know, and they're usually by time you even figure out that they are, you know, ICE, they're inside the actual facility already. What I'm saying? So, by now, what we're saying we're we're going to do is tell them you need to leave and go down to the district when they are already inside the building.

That's what I'm saying. >> And the conversation has been that Dr. Lewis, not Just be just want to be clear that you were and the team were okay with them being at the school, but it was Miss board me by it was your understanding that they would go to central office and that's what we're just trying to clean up. Is that is that accurate? >> I I think that's accurate. I think that's that language is mirrored in here twice. It's for the federal law enforcement officers and then it's mirrored again with this immigration issue. I guess what I'm really hear feeling a conflict with is we're telling them not to come but we're also telling them to report to the main office like so the Senate seems to be in conflict with itself. Am I and I may be the only one that is struggling with that. and I don't want to make it harder for our principles. I want it to be crystal clear.

Like and maybe the word report in there. You should report to those school office. Well, that's kind of telling them where to show up. That verb itself, I don't know. I just maybe I maybe just need to see how it plays out. >> Miss Carter, >> I agree with you, board member Byer, and I think I heard that our attorney did as well. And so I'm wondering if we could just remove that clause and report to the school's main office before visiting the school and if that would clear things up to where it says the expectation is they go to superintendent's office. But then all the following language is what happens if they do go to the school.

School staff shall immediately notify the principal. The principal should be the primary point of contact and what the principal should do. So then it's clear that like we're saying you should be going and you could I guess change shall to should. Like you should go to the superintendent's office, but then there's clear language there to state say they just show up at the school. We're not saying turn them away. We're saying if they show up at the school, here's now clear guidance for what the principal does. And I think the problem the the confusing part here that board member buyer's naming is and report to the school's main office before visiting a school because we just said they should go to the superintendent's office.

>> Well, I I will say my read of it is that they should contact the superintendent's office and I I agree with the staff that sending them on a goose chase around town is not going to put anyone in a good light. But so yeah, I would one option would be to just say take out report to the school's main office. So it's contact the superintendent's office before visiting a school. >> Then number two gives the school staff direction if they show up to the school.

>> And then I'll argue the other point which I don't want to keep belaboring this one word, but we do want something that as much as possible holds them in the office. rather than dispersing them out. So that was the other reason it referred to the main office like we were all the stuff was supposed to go on in the main office. They weren't supposed to be going down the halls. They weren't supposed to be interacting with general student body. So maybe anyway and maybe this is the best we can do. I don't know. Just I I also certainly think it's fine to keep it the way it is.

>> You say it one more time. >> Yes. The way it's drafted here, I think, is also fine. We're just looking for options. >> Other questions or comments on this language?, we have a proposal to leave it just as it is. Also, proposal to remove the report to the school's main office., I'm looking at my colleagues. If you would like to keep language as it is, if you can give me a thumbs up. I just want to note that the immigration officer shall remain in the administrative office is already in number five.

>> In number five, what five? Which five? F5. I'm okay either way. I do think I hear what board member buyer flagged about it potentially being confusing. So if we think that we take it out and it's already named below in number five clearly that they need to stay in the administrative office while the principal does the things. Okay just to comment on that like yes it's in five I think just in a order of operations having it in the front would just be helpful so people kind of know.

I think generally speaking, principles are probably going to say, "I need you to come in a conference room and sit down so I can do all the things I need to do, but I understand why we want to keep that clear in policy." So, I just want to check again. Are we hearing that folks want to keep it as it is? I saw yes. Okay. So, I see three thumbs up. So, that means there's not a full consensus there. Is there a recommendation to do something different?

M Chavez, >> can we read the sentence? If we add the contact, >> contact the superintendent's office. >> What how would we change it? That's what I'm saying. Can we >> for this dubis recommendation is what you're asking? >> Yeah. >> Can you say what your recommendation was? And it would read, "Immigration offers shall accept an exigent circumstances. Contact the superintendent's office, school principal, or other appropriate school administrator before visiting a school." Then it becomes about advanced notice. >> Give a thumbs up to that.

>> Can I add another one that may be even more helpful?, immigration officers shall accept an extinguent circumstances contact the superintendent's office or other district school administrators before visiting a school. It takes the school office out of it. It takes the school principal out. I like that because then in two it says exactly what's supposed to happen if they appear at the school site. And it also says that in number three and it kind of goes into what happens then, but it starts off very clearly stating that the expectation is they contact the superintendent or district first.

But we also would need to track change that up in the u in the other portion. Are we asking for both? Right. So in the under D, local, state, federal law enforcement for non-school related matters also has similar language. Are we asking to change in both or we also just asking the change in F? Just so I can be clear. I >> think just >> just an >> I think just F because our local law enforcement may contact the SRO may contact the principal.

>> I agree. I do think it's different. F. All right. So, Dr. Lewis, can you read that one more time? >>, immigr immigration officer shall except in extended circumstances, contact the superintendent office or other district administrators before visiting a school. >>, board members, are we good with that change? Colleagues. >> could we add then just in that second bullet, principal shall notify immigration officers, school staff should immediately notify principles and it could be officers are to remain in the front office or remain out of sight of students or something along those lines in that second line >> like move number five up and add it to number two.

>> Yes. Or you can move it up or or just add the. Maybe not the whole thing because it's while the principal collects information reviews. Yes, maybe. Yeah. What about a number two? The principal shall shall ask the officers to remain outside or in the main office. Sounds great. >> And immediately notify the blah blah blah. >> Yes, colleagues. >> Yes. All right. Sounds good. Hold on. Let me write it down.

Working it out as we go along. Tonight in the second reading, >> would you like the principal shall ask the officers to remain outside or in the main office and immediately notify the superintendent? I like the wording, but I guess what I'm trying to get at is compromising your administrative staff, tell someone to get out., I guess that's try not to compromise the staff in being in positions to tell someone to get out of their building, you know, a federal agent and they have reasoning to be, you know, to be there. I guess that's what I'm trying to get at.

>> Yeah. I think it's I think we're concerned that folks wouldn't have reason to be there. They're just there because. And then I think that's you know, we're not telling you to say get out. What I'm saying is, you know, I need you to step outside while I do my due diligence on my end to make sure that we follow the processes and procedures >> or wait right here. >> Wait right here. >> Step outside wait office. Yeah. I think it's a you know, we I have to do my due diligence.

I have rules I need to follow. I need you to stay right here. Which also, you know, probably need support from other folks. But I think living in a time where the rules and expectations aren't being followed, I think it's we want to be as clear as possible. And if that helps on the back end and in someone's case, like we want to be really clear on what's going on. All right. Any other comments, questions, concerns? Miss Chavez? Just want to say as we talk about different strategies for keeping our kids in schools, hopefully this strengthening this policy will be will be one that only further supports our attendance., I wanted to look real quick at D five, D7.

This piece was added with the exception of the principal who must be present during the questioning as provided in section D7 above, but I believe that's supposed to say D3. I believe that's right. Okay, that's a typo. So, okay, just adjusting that. And then the parallel to that below F12 to that section not this not the part I read but the section where it says questioning by immigration officers should be conducted in a private room or area removed from observation by or contact with other students and school personnel., we don't have a piece around principles being able to be in the room with a student who would be questioned for the F immigration enforcement part.

But can we remove the and school personnel piece so that it would not preclude the possibility of a principal being present in that questioning of a student and just I guess building off of that is there is there a reason why we wouldn't allow principles? >> I think you you do have it. It's under It's above under number nine. In cases where the parent cannot be reached, the principal must be present. >> Okay. I thought I read it earlier and then I couldn't find it. Okay. So, Okay. So then in that case can the language of F12 mirror D7.

With the exception of the principal like or and other school personnel with the exception of the principal who may be quant may be present during the questioning as provided in section F9 above. Oh,.

>> I think that's I think that's good. But you're changing the you're taking the one from seven above and replicating it, but you're changing the must to May. Is that correct? That's Yeah. I think that's >> Do you need me to repeat it at all? >> Folks need that repeated or >> Okay. >>, go ahead. Repeat it. >> Looks like Mr. White has something to share. >> Mr. White, you have to mic the microphone, sir. >>, good afternoon everyone. Good evening. If you want to add principal, I just would ask if you can add and designate in the event that the principal is away from the campus.

>> Yes. I think we had the section above that didn't we have the section above that clarifies that principal means or designate throughout. Okay. So again that would be going back and forth with a private room or area removed from observation by or contact with other students and other school personnel with the comma with the exception of the principal comma who may be present during the questioning as provided in section F9 F.9 above. Period. Comments on that. All right. Any other changes we want to propose?

Motion to approve with the amendments that we've made tonight. Make a motion that we approve policy 5120 for second reading with the amendments made tonight. Second. >> It's been moved by Basher Rogers, seconded by Mer Golf and Miss Carter Autton. Any other questions? >> I do check on Dr. Pitman. >> Yes. Are you good? Okay. All right. You still right. >> I do have one question. What happens after we pass this policy? How is that communicated with staff, families, etc.?

I think we will take a look at this policy and see where revisions need to be made to our existing guidance and and make those revisions and we can have some additional conversations as it relates to because we typically don't communicate with families when we pass a policy. So we maybe just have some additional conversation what that communication looks like. yes and well we don't traditionally it might be something for us to consider especially as the policies that are impacting families right and students and then how do we also communicate that in a way that's accessible I think to families and students our policy legal ease is can be complicated and so how do we do it in a way that just feels easy so people understand any other comments miss buyer yeah I I think one of the most important things that is a small sentence in here that we added and wrestle with how to say was that is it F-15? Oh, ginormous policy. Standard response protocols will be followed if immigration officers.

Appear at a school site or are otherwise present on or near school property. And I think that notion alone is going to be helpful for our families to know quickly that that's new and what that might look like. That that I think is really really a critical improvement. Thank y'all. >> Go. >> I'm speaking real green on this, but I like how we had the key policy revisions and it was bulleted, you know, kind of simple language like that. I think that's something that can easily be pulled and a suggestion might be to do it through social media or on the website, you know, have a place on the website where it's just a a notice policy. such and such such and such check out the key policy amendments or something like that just so that you know something simple right any other comments discussion all those in favor say I >> I any oppose do the same sign that passes unanimously all right the next item on our agenda is.

For information only so we have grants gifts and donations item on our agenda is a close session. >> Move that we go into close session for the reasons stated in the agenda. >> Second. >> Been moved by Miss Heroff and seconded by Miss Ber that we go into close session for the reasons stated on the agenda. Is there any other discussion? All those in favor, excuse me, say I. >> Any oppose? You same time. We're now moved into close session. Passes unanimously. good night everyone who's streaming. We will not come back to the live stream after close session.

Thank you.