Board of Education · Regular Meeting · April 25, 2024

2024 monthly meeting is now in session at this time we wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone who's joining us this evening in person and online the purpose of this meeting is to inform our parents staff and constituents about the work aligned with our mission to embrace educate and Empower every student to innovate serve and lead tonight the administration will be presenting information to keep you up to date on the business of the district and our strategic plan the interpreters for tonight are Vanessa paa Ramirez and Marty Ramirez thank you all for taking the time to join us the first item on our agenda is a.

Moment of silence we do have had some violence in our community unfortunately and it's impacted young people so I would love to keep those students those families and our community think about them in this moment of silence.

Thank you the next item on our agenda is celebrations I'm going to pass it over to senior executive director Sheena. Cooper thank you chair Umstead good evening board members superintendent Moore DPS colleagues and Durham community one of the highlights of our monthly Board of Education meetings is showcasing our outstanding students and Educators tonight is no different our honores this evening represent elementary middle and high school excellence and hail from all corners of our community our lineup this evening includes our April student of the month followed by DPS is Science Olympiad and battle of the books participants not on your pricey but also being recognized this evening our members of the superintendent student advisory Council we will then present our teacher and employee of the month at this time please welcome Andrea Ruby assistant principal at CE Jordan High School to PR to present our April student of the month good evening esteemed members of the school board and the DPS Community my name is Andrea Ruby I serve DPS as an.

Assistant principal at Jordan High School it is my privilege to stand before you today to introduce our outstanding DPS student of the month Miguel Antonio Mato Perez Antonio was nominated by his ESL earth science teacher Mr Dale whose glowing recommendation truly highlights Antonio's exceptional qualities and contributions to our school community and he is the embodiment of our sore values supporting fellow Falcons optimizing opportunities appropriately responding and respecting the community Antonio has undoubtedly proven himself to be a star student this year he consistently demonstrates diligence and commitment to his studies Antonio's punctuality preparedness and enthusiasm for learning are exemplary sore values that set him apart from his peers Beyond excelling academically Antonio exhibits heartwarming kindness and Leadership his willingness to support fellow Falcons irrespective of language barriers reflects his genuine desire to ensure that everyone grasp the content he adeptly leverages his pure strengths ensuring that Collective goals are met with efficiency and Excellence as his administrator I am immensely proud to witness the positive impact Antonio has made within our school Community his.

Contributions enrich our school environment and I'm eager to see the remarkable Endeavors Antonio will undertake Beyond high school he is sure to graduate on time with options gracias Antonio Jordan high schools please join me in congratulating Miguel Antonio Mato Perez in this well-deserved recognition as our DPS student of the month. Congratulations Antonio please step forward we are so very proud of you and we are thrilled to acknowledge your accomplishments this evening and we are certain that your future is very bright we'd like to present you with a few items tonight to commemorate this occasion first you get a student of the month.

Certificate we have for you a DPS spark pin this is presented to people who exemplify the core beliefs of Durham public schools we hope that you wear it proudly our friends from triangle e cycling want to make sure that you are prepared for all of your academic Endeavors so they are presenting you with a laptop this evening and now I'd like to welome I know that's a big one at this time please welcome Chris Rivera Director of Finance and operations for the Durham public schools foundation for a very special presentation to Antonio.

The Durham Public Schools thank you I you stay the Durham Public Schools Foundation is dedicated to supporting and championing our DPS students families and staff we are proud ongoing sponsors of DPS teacher of the year DPS Building Services Employee Appreciation DPS convocation and this year DPS student of the month program DPS Foundation believes that every child deserves well-funded Community centered Public Schools rich in materials human resources and programming that supports the development of the whole child we fight for those schools day in and day out in partnership with DPS and we raise funds to do that work and to distribute it to those efforts dpsf sees our students of the month as examples of our Durham community and what happens when a combination of resources reach students families and School staff staff we want to support your continued growth Antonio and we hope that we'll use this $500 gift card to further your educational passions whether they be academic arts college I think you're looking at Durham dermtech or or electric.

We're very proud of you in public schools please got.

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At this time please welcome Liz Moffett director of math and science for our Science Olympiad. Acknowledgements good evening superintendent Moore members of the board I'm very excited to represent our Science Olympiad competitors for the 2024 season the Durham Regional Science Olympiad tournament is one of 30 Science Olympiad tournaments in North Carolina this year with 18,000 students participating in 75 counties the North Carolina Science Olympiad is the largest Science Olympiad program in the country these tournaments are rigorous inter Scholastic competitions that involve different Hands-On interactive challenging and inquiry-based events that are well balanced between the various disciplines of biology earth science environmental science chemistry physics engineering and Technology Durham Public Schools hosted two Regional tournaments this spring we would first like to acknowledge Dr Emma RM and Amanda Bowers are two science curriculum Specialists who served as directors of these Regional tournaments they worked very hard to organize and execute these amazing events that serve students from across the triangle region middle and high school teams competed in the division B and C tournament on.

February 24th students competed against 14 middle and 18 high school teams from the region one Middle School hosted a team Rogers her Middle School coached by Andrew Shaq they also allowed students from the school for Creative Studies and brog in Middle School to compete with them Lucas goome Lucas Gomez a student from school for Creative Studies won first place in an event called Reach for the Stars this achievement qualified him for the state tournament where he placed eighth overall six high school teams also competed including Middle College High School coached by Allison tson Riverside School coached by McKenzie Chestnut Durham School of the Arts Co coached by Kristen Justice and JD Clement Early College High School coached by Jennifer David Jordan high school's team coached by mat mattye Evans featured students Gretchen error (not a name) and JJ Thorton who won first place in microe Mission this Victory qualified for them them for the state tournament where they placed fourth overall Hillside High School coached by Eric Chaplan competed at the Greensboro.

Tournament on the same day elementary school teams competed in the division a tournament on March 9th students competed against 13 elementary schools from the region EK Poe coached by Rachel Horton achieved fifth place overall in that tournament teams also participated from Forest View coached By Zoe Bodner Lakewood coached by Heidi Mills and Sophie Hatcher Peters and lions Farm coached by Samantha Delver and Megan Lewis and Coach Megan Lewis from Lions Farm is here here tonight to represent her school because they were awarded the sportsmanship award that is given to the team that represents the values of sportsmanship throughout the the competition events so these achievements showcase the hard work and dedication of students and coaches across Durham in the field of science and we congratulate them all on their success and support their continued excellence in future competitions.

Have your moment thank you.

Congratulations again to all of our Science Olympiad competitors at this time I'd like to welcome Heidi Perez secondary literacy integration specialist for our Battle of the books recognitions lots of student honors this. Evening good evening superintendent Moore Madame chair and members of the board staff and community members for sharing this space and time with us you know reading can spark empathy creativity and passion in all of our learners the North Carolina Battle of the books program is a reading engagement effort of the North Carolina School library media Association students at participating schools read books from a list list established by the state battle the books committees and then comp beete in Quiz Bow style tournaments to test their knowledge of these books here in Durham Public Schools we Empower all schools to participate in this literacy enrichment Opportunity by providing Fe books transportation and District coordination for all elementary middle and high schools that choose to participate tonight we celebrate our district Battle of the books winners dur public school's.

Elementary Battle of the books Champions were was Southwest Elementary School they had went on to Regional competition where they placed first in the Region 3 competition no one was able to be here from Southwest tonight the Middle School Battle of the books Champion is gian's Middle School we have the coach and several team members here today so we'd like to recognize them.

That way.

The Durham public schools high school battle of the books Champions are Durham School of Arts and we have their coach here and several of the members Miss.

Kina e.

Thank you Miss Perez and congratulations to our Battle of the books winners next we have our superintendent student advisory Council presented this evening by Dr Debbie Pitman assistant superintendent for specialized Services thank you M Cooper and good evening members of the board superintendent Moore tonight is my pleasure to introduce to you this evening the me members of the superintendent student advisory Council and to recognize them for their dedication and service this year these members met quarterly to provide valuable input on issues and to discuss CH the challenges facing our students and our community they have served as advisors on a wide range of topics including the Chromebook distribution and Care Wellness days College and Career promise dual enrollment the growing together initiative work-based learning internships paid internships and soon will be assisting us with input on the superintendent search our students were forthright honest and transparent about what could be done to make Duran Public Schools the best that it can be for every child we are grateful to each member of this.

Council which represented all of our high schools throughout our district if I may we want to thank our high school principales for recommending such outstanding young people to represent their schools and their families parents Caregivers for the support of these meetings and for raising such un outstanding young people some of our parents are with us this evening to join us in this celebration and representation recognition so we thank our parents at this time it's my pleasure to introduce each member that we able to be here this evening some were not but we will call each name of the students that are with us this evening by High School alphabetically to to walk the red carpet so at this time first I'd like to recognize Dean Shazad from City of Madison Academy and from Early College Taren Melvin from Hillside High School Tabitha Morant from Durham School of Technology Kayla Graves from ignite Online Academy Julia Jackson from Lake excuse me Lake View was represented but they were not here this evening from Jordan High School.

Megan Michaels from Southern High School an wind and from the school for Creative Studies a face you will recognize Abigail.

Hedg e.

Our final recognitions tonight are our teacher and employee of the month please welcome Michelle Hayes executive director of talent acquisition and employee recognition to the. Podium good evening chairman Umstead members of the board superintendent Moore and cabinet members every month a teacher and an employee non teacher is nominated for teacher and employee of the month these individuals exemplify greatness tenacity perseverance and Leadership and they are nominated based on the theme of that month this evening we are going to recognize our April teacher and employee of the month our teacher of the month is sponsored by North Carolina Central University's tennis program the TS side chapter of Omega SciFi Fraternity Incorporated and DCL Consulting LLC and our employee of the month is sponsored by the office of human resources for our April teacher and employee of the month the theme is restoration this is the individual who is skilled at helping others teachers staff students Community Etc restore their Joy their energy or their smiles that may have been challenged during a.

Difficult time this individual is always focus on the good and his or her energy lights up a room we're going to recogn our teacher first then our employee our April teacher of the month is Amy. Nicholls Amy Nichols third grade teacher from Hillandale Elementary School is always checking in on people she willingly supports her team and other great levels she always has a smile and regardless of the issue Amy always has a positive Spin and plans to keep moving forward I must say we all need an Amy Nichols in our lives coach Lawson and his tennis team did surprise Miss Nichols the other day at hillindale elementary school and I would like for him to have some comments long time no see I know good evening everyone yes and so we would like to thank principal bloom also for recognizing Miss Nichols and yes the North Carolina Central University men's tennis team did coordinate a surprise for Miss Nichols and hopefully you enjoyed that visit yes and on behalf of DCL.

Consulting LLC would also like to present you with it check just in recognition again of your extraordinary work so congratulations again. At this time we will she will get a spark pin along with a d dur Public Schools Tumblr and walk the red carpet.

We we take. Picture all right once again congratulations our April employee of the month is Michael Stevenson from oakrow elementary school and he is their restorative practice coordinator. Mr Stevenson effectively affectionally known as coach Mike is Oak Grove's restorative practice coordinator students and family love to see him every day in the carpool line smiling and lifting the spirits of anyone he comes in contact with this year he spearheaded Oak Grove's partnership with the Police Athletic League for soccer basketball and cheerleading which has an evitably boosted the morale of the entire school we are the elementary school soccer Champions and play second in the basketball championship he is also the coordinator for our we are Kings program staff and students love to see our Kings every Monday dressed up and helping out in the carpool he also served on the committee with do and I to help coordinate the first annual we are kings and queens March Madness basketball tournament our students and staff showed up and showed out once.

Again with our great morale and cougar Spirit as we became the inaugural tournament champions he proactively checks in with students and staff facilitates small groups ufli intervention instruction on a daily basis serves as an active member of our PTA provides duty-free lunch for teachers is a part of the mtss leadership team for student support support and is a warm F smiling face that oak grow families look forward to seeing every day Mr Stevenson Mr Stevenson lights up a room with his Irreplaceable presence and for sure will leave a longlasting impression last but not least Mr Stevenson was voted Oak Grove staff member of the Year by his peers congratulations to Michael Stevenson for being named during public school's April employee of the month.

Have your spark pen and your DPS Tumblr you can just walk the red.

Carpet this concludes our celebrations this evening. Thank you Miss Cooper and thank you to all the folks who came and all the celebrations was excellent the next item on our agenda is the superintendent update I'm gonna pass this over to superintendent Moore good evening Madame chair members of the board and DPS Community I'm delighted to offer an update this evening on the ongoing efforts throughout our district a contingency of Hillside High School students presented and attended the mayor's state of the city address on April 9th Civics literacy and AP Government teacher Francis starn told us that these students won the Civic Action Project which is required by all Civic literacy students at Hillside each semester students identify and research a problem facing our community related to gun violence housing climate change education and criminal justice then they develop and propose a solution to fix it the ideas include installing rain gardens around the city to combat climate change creating more structures at Hillside to create connections between teachers and students and revamping Durham's eviction diversion.

Program to help families facing eviction congratulations to sophomores Destiny Monroe Ashanti Bellamy Reagan roads Junior's Cara Livingston Nia shans Dorian vaugh and Elijah slokum on their inspiring work the Career and Technical education department hosted its annual senior hiring Fair on April 17th High School seniors from across the district attended to network and explore various error (not a name) options with local employers entry-level positions apprenticeship military options and training certificate programs special thanks to our CTE team for curating experiences like this for our students also thank you to our local business partners for participating and engaging our students and connecting them with employment opportunities kudos to the southern School of Engineering energy and sustainability trade students who built a tiny house for the district's Hub Farm staff trades teachers Ben rathnau and colleague Christopher Kart par are giving students a firsthand Taste of the design and construction process with on the job experience they're also building work desks for the staff to use in the house this is a unique experience for.

Our students and one that enhances their education and supports their career aspirations Duran Public Schools was honored to welcome state representatives Zack Hawkins and Ray Jeffers to Lions Farm Elementary for the second annual North Carolina bring your legislator to school day it is always a pleasure to have our state legislators in our school to see our students and Educators in action as they continue the important and necessary work of advocating for our Public Schools also this month Deputy superintendent Nicholas King presented an overview of the district work and achievements to the Durham Regional Association of Realtors about 35 Realtors attended the event and Dr King fielded a number of questions we sincerely hope the opportunity expand this opportunity expands our Realtors awareness and pride in our district and that they will serve as ambassadors of our excent excellent public education services tomorrow tomorrow is Wellness day in our district DPS began offering Wellness days for students last year based upon feedback from our most important stakeholders our students Wellness Day activities are designed to.

Create additional opportunities to enhance the sense of belonging create additional opportunities to teach and model seal competencies increase awareness of available social emotional and mental health supports and to demonstrate care and responsiveness tomorrow is also an early release day for students we are providing several virtual offerings for employees tomorrow afternoon as a part of Wellness day thank you to our student Support Services Department for their leadership and spearheading this day for our students next week our families will receive an email with a link to complete the district's family engagement survey we encourage All Families to complete the the brief survey as it will help our schools plan meaningful engagement for next school year year spring brings with it a packed agenda as we begin our annual season of celebrations we will name our 2324 DPS teacher of the year on May 2nd during a special celebration and thank our outgoing teacher of the year jiara Davis for her superb representation of the noble profession of teaching and DPS DPS will salute its retiring.

Employees on May 16th DPS kicks off graduation season in just a few short weeks full details are available on the website dpsnc.net this concludes my remarks this evening thank you so many things happening in our district right now she went through those remarks agenda review and approval is the next item on our agenda you repeat it one more time Miss valaris move approval of the agenda second it's been moved by Miss valadar seconded by Miss Rogers is there any other discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed please use the same sign it passes unanimously the next item on our agenda is the Board of Education monthly meeting minutes for March 21st approval of the monthly minute meeting minutes from April 21st 2024 from March 21st March sorry March 21st second been moved in properly second is there any discussion I think there are a couple adjustments that need to be made to these minutes so I want to ask if we can maybe move this to our next agenda item.

Just to catch a couple of typos on these all right so it's been moved in second it we'll need to I'm Sorry Miss V did you have something to add on there I I think it's it's more of a clarification of of one of the votes for me that's just that's just the the last vote I think what I'll do is I'll work with Miss Smith and we'll revise these and then bring her back all right but this motion is on the floor to pass a minute so we'll need to vote this down to be able to vote it to move to the next meeting all right I think you can have a motion to table it to the next meeting I'd like to make a motion to table these minutes to the next meeting second it's been moved by Miss travez to table the minutes to the SEC to the next meeting it's been seconded by Miss VOD darz is there any other discussion all those in favor say.

I I any oppos please use the same sign it passes unanimously all right so the next item on our agenda is general public comment all right a quick review of the rules before we get started first please St your name and if you're speaking for organization please St your name and the name of the organization second speakers are asked to present their comments in a specified time we'll ask for three minutes tonight when the yellow light comes on you have 15 seconds left to start winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep and that indicates that your time is up complaints about names staff students or parents should not be voiced in Open session however we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to the public education regard to public education safety of students or to the operation of the school system finally board members will listen carefully and consider your comments but we do not engage in a discussion with the.

Speakers the first speaker is and I'll call a group of speakers at a time we have Eva hery Matt copac an Von Holly and an zerilla.

You can begin okay yeah thanks good evening my name is Eva Army and I would like to seed my time to Matt. Copac good evening hello I'm Matt copac here representing Durham for DSA and when we last came before you we asked you to pause work on the move to the new campus to assess another potential option for remaining and and engaging with the community and I'd like to thank you for meeting with us for hearing us for your concerns about cost about the needs for our elementary schools and staff for your thoughtfulness across the range of issues facing the district in this decision and for taking time to assess the improve option for DSA if necessary we hope we will still consider pausing the process to give this process enough time and we also hope there will be an opportunity for Community engagement once the budget figures are ironed out we believe engagement will show that people want to prioritize our elementary schools and that the majority of our teachers students staff and residents.

Love having DSA where it is but on the assessment it's not easy to challenge long-standing assumptions like the idea that remodeling will always be more expensive but you and the staff did it getting down from an initial estimate of $370 million to at this point $183 million is a big Improvement and we think that a more detailed analysis will show even lower costs to improve DSA in place remodeling is never easy but keeping DSA in place and saving money can have so many benefits for our school system as a next step we ask the staff to keep working towards the apples to app's comparison of cost between the new campus and improving in place if you look at page 84 in your packet under the improve option you'll see that code upgrades and limited suited parking are listed as cons even though they were included in the budget at $82 million and $13 million respectively within that over $183 million estimate and for the parking it'll have 60 more spots.

Than currently that exists on site athletic facilities are showed as a pro for new construction but they aren't included in the high level 241 million estimate for the new building and I think it's important to be clear that currently there are no tennis courts planned either way for those who are thinking about tennis courts I'd say if the athletic fields and other bid alternatives are important to you as a board and staff it's important that we reckon with those upfront and consider that the total cost at this point would be at least $256 million for the new campus not the $241 million number quoted in terms of the main building for the improve option you can always come back to the up Upper Floor later you don't need it to have the capacity the school needs now but it can always be renovated for expanded enrollment if that is deemed a priority by this board this is not Pie in the Sky we've consulted School Architects planners engineers and Builders many who stand.

Ready to assist if called upon we believe your decision to take more time to assess the improve option is going to allow DPS to address multiple constituent needs at the same time and so we thank you for taking time to assess we hope you will consider the pause if needed we hope you will perform the community engagement and we thank you for your continued focus on this and for your time this evening thank you thank you next Ann Von Holly and Ann z z zerilla and Von Holly and I se My time to John haj's couple so an you do have to seed your time to the person after you yes I'm sorry my name is an Von Holly and I see my time.

To thank you so next up John Hodes CLE weren't sure whether we'd have one minute or three so I'm not going to going to need all the time that was seated I assure you thanks I'm John Hodes couple former DPS parent current DPS grandparent and a city planner who cares deeply about making all of our schools great places to learn I want to thank superintendent Moore for meeting with us two weeks ago I feel we're starting to make progress on looking at an improved DSA concept but I think the summary you're going to see later in your agenda does not yet seem to represent an accurate and balanced look at what the concept can do not only for DSA but just as importantly for the 2022 Bond elementary schools that would have their funding redirected to build a new DSA so so to us the Apples to Apples is as much about the elementary schools as it is just the two DSA campuses remember the improve option is.

Not just a renovation of some of the spaces at current DSA it involves new purpose-built construction to allow many inadequate spaces to no longer be used for instruction and therefore not need to be renovated at least until later if you want to expand enrollment which will remain an option improving a current site always presents challenges that bulldozing and building on a Greenfield site doesn't but the engineers and Architects we have talked with stress that Greenfield sites typically involve surprises of their own we know that improving DSA will be hard but we believe it can also be better we feel pretty sure that improving DSA will not cost as much as assumed nor require a temporary decrease in enrollment nor take as long as asserted the design and permitting for the school proper can occur while the parking deck is built now you'll discuss next year's budget later in the meeting pausing DSA while advancing the elementary schools can demonstrate to the Board of County Commissioners that DPS is looking at hard choices to address.

County financial constraints in a way that simply seeking more money for the 2022 Bond schools cannot dsa's issues parking access security building performance they're solvable and at reasonable cost any renovation costs are ones that DPS will incur even if DSA moves when you reuse the campus for which no funding exists it would have to compete with the defunded elementary schools and all your other needs so please continue to refine and share the details of your assessment and importantly actively engage the community so those who prefer to move and those who prefer to improve and fund the elementary schools can all have their voices heard we would welcome the chance to present at a future work session if you'd be willing or or any other way that can that can help clarify the costs the impacts the benefits thank you thank you next we have Christy Clen followed by latata Huggin.

Hagin hello Chris Clen physical therapist so thank you for your time appreciate you putting the frequently asked questions and the other information on the board for or on the website but it is frustrating that that came out so late so between IEPs and seeing kids and trying to drive back and forth to get things done I feel like we've scrambled to try to look at something to come up with some questions so anyway that's here nor there now but in general one thing that we appreciate y'all hearing us last week about requesting an EC supplement but Dae is asking that that be for all people that work with students in the EC Department not just teachers and IAS so related service providers therapist nurses anyone that that's student facing and be included in that as far as the compensation studies for classified pay and looking at the examples that were given of those different positions it was hard to look at in terms of it was just random.

Steps so it was difficult to try to know exactly what that means for employees and going through it if I think I understand if I take the reclassification percentage that's provided and I multiply that times the step I had for last year that seemed to come up with the amount in the four examples that were given so if I do my background to find it and I did that correctly then I think I know how to calculate where I should be but looking at the the list that were given there were 28 we could compare heel study what we got in October to now some of them we couldn't because the names were different it didn't match up but in the 28 we could compare 75% or less than what heel recommended by an average of 440 less per month some of those going up to 8900 994 less per month for some positions so if Hill did research as was said in the proposal online to get to that and then.

Personal experience was used to change it not sure how we're dropping by a thousand a month in the ones we can look at that doesn't feel very market-based in this area not only we competing with schools but we're competing with hospitals and other entities around that's the nature of it so we would like that to be considered sorry I'm like I said I'm scattered I got here just not too long ago what else was on there looking at the four examples that were given in the presentation for the data manager and interpreter and those things I still don't have a good understanding I'm out out of time but of how when you get to the max in those examples it was about one percentage.

Point Thank thank you thank you Christy thank you latata Higgins is.

Next good evening everybody I am representing myself and my daughter who attends Northern High School she is in ninth grade I have sent sent a detailed email to everyone sitting here I was not aware of the rules of this evening I had something prepared but I'm having to revise that entire dialogue while I was sitting there but I would urge you all to please read what I have sent you thank you Natalie buers for responding swiftly that did give my family and my daughter some ease at this time but I'm just going to read what what I wrote quickly the issue that I would like to speak of right now is racism in the sports teams in during public schools and the way that these incidents should be handled by coaches and athletic directors my personal experience recently is that it is not taken seriously and great harm physical and emotional can and has taken place most recently at my child's School Northern High School where my where my daughter plays.

Softball as a DPS parent I am not confident and feel failed by my child's School coaches and principles to protect against racist attacks amb bigotry my daughter is an exceptional student athlete but as I explained she is a student first all of these athletes should be reminded and the coaches really need to be reminded that these are young women young children and one day they will be out in this world and be representing all of us the focus should never be a trophy a championship not allowing children to express themselves and and quieting them in order to win a game or in order to keep silence I just really want to say that I am extremely hurt and bothered by the way this was handled for my daughter and for her one teammate who spoke up against these this hate speech towards my daughter and she was also threatened her do her teammate and her mother were both threatened when her daughter spoke up against this about what was said to my daughter this.

Situation is out of hand it was out of hand my daughter is suspended and taken off of the team for her part in the physical situation that happened afterward but this all could have been prevented and I please urge you to take my email seriously to reach out to the other parent and to figure out exactly what happened wrong here thank you thank.

You that concludes our public comment the next item on our agenda is is the consent items before we move on though I do want to just make sure a member of the administration can follow up with Miss Hagen's on those concerns okay I see a head notot so that means yes all right so we have our consent items which are next there are multiple items listed here that the board members have had an opportunity to review in advance board members move approval of the consent agenda items a b c d e f g and H second been moved by Miss berer seconded by Miss Rogers is there any other discussion all those in favor please say I I I any opposed use the same sign it passes unanimously the next item on our agenda is the Board of Education legislative agenda we did have an opportunity to send a draft out and we talk about a draft in our work session and wanted to bring it back made a few edits based on.

Conversations with the Durham delegation but wanted to bring back to make sure everyone had an opportunity to. Review I apologize it's not in board do well maybe we need to move this item to the next agenda to the next meeting then I. Apologize it's all right so we'll have the table if I'll take a motion to move this into our next meeting the term legislative agenda to the next meeting second moveed by Miss vodar second by Miss Chavez that we move this agenda item to our May 9th I believe work session any other discussion all those in favor say I I I any opposed use the same sign it passes unanimously all right our next item will be an operational Services New DM school of the arts project I'm gonna pass it over to Miss Moore as Mr Fred Davis makes his way to the podium the and he may say some of this I apologize if I'm saying it for you the item this evening is an.

Action item that he'll talk about as a part of his presentation but because of the community input and the other folks that have been emailing and advocating we thought it was important to provide the board with an update with some numbers and additional information were reframed as needed as a as a part part of the context as we move forward with this other piece that is requiring action this evening U for some Demolition and abatement at the new DSA site which would have to happen anyway so I'll let turn it over to Fred thank you Miss Moore good evening board members cabinet staff as Miss Moore indicated we're here today to approve the GMP which is for de Demolition and abatement on the new DSA site just for context the demolition there are four buildings on the current site which will be demoed and abated they will futur future house by dur medical for testing and so we want to make sure that once we start the groundbreaking and Foundations there's no hazardous.

Materials found on that site so that's the purpose of of this first GMP one thing that we discussed in the subcommittee meeting is that due to the work of Kate services and Bal for batty mon teeth and W build we've been able to say approximately $200,000 in what we estimated for this first GMP going forward and that is U because of the time that we've taken to start this project early get subcontractors in to understand the Scopes this work kudos to them on to saving us money we believe that as we continue this process of the new construction we will be able to save sign significant amount of money that those funds could be Mis appropriated to other projects Within the bond so just want to make sure we state that and so at the end of this presentation there will be an action item for approval of the total amount of GMP which is $325,800.

Next slide please so in 2019 the district set out to make sure how our schools were being maintained and we did a 2019 facility conditions assessment that assessment ranks all of our buildings based on their adequacy their life expectancy of the built environment both internal and external and from there a priority ranking is set I want to make sure and clear that the priority ranking has been established based on whether or not it needs to be replaced renewed U or demoed and so DSA was at the highest ranking not based on who went to that school but the conditions of the school and the age of the school and so that's what made up that priority order it is in the board's discretion if they wish to change that priority at any time but the current priority order is set by the current conditions of our six million building portfolio so just want to make sure that it's clear and so from that we've established where we wanted to use County funding to help our.

Building portfolio in 2021 we went through a third party at the time we are set for a renovated DSA that cost around1 133 million however with Administration and superintendent error (not a name) we wanted to look at how we could stay within our strategic plan and increasing capacity and that could be done on a new Greenfield site and so the new DSA will increase our capacity which is in line with our strategic priority goal five and in January of 2022 we went through a public process that did are qualifications for our design team or Brian AIS and Perkins and will we also selected a construction manager at risk early on in the project to give you benefits of why bringing on a contractor could save us on money and in time in March of 2022 we just did that selection and then we began the process from June of 2022 through November 2023 with numerous meetings with stakeholders those who lived in the surrounding area of the new site as well as Administration lead department.

Heads Athletics Corp curriculum all providing input that brought us to where we are now where we are about 60% in construction documents and then in December of 2023 the board approved us to move further into the design process which is called construction documents which allows us to refine the design make sure it's constructible make sure that we can save where we can and value engineer where possible next slide please so here's where we are in may we will start with site demolition which is before you today in June we'll bring back a early site package which is more detailed making sure we start Mass grading of trees and any other elements that are on the site currently and in July we'll bring the total building package so that we can start October with the groundbreaking next slide please so as Miss Moore stated we did want to take a brief moment to further develop an understanding of how we got here again we did show on previous iterations a cost of 133.

Million but once the board approved us to move to a a new construction the numbers for the new construction in comparison to old numbers of 2020 seem to be almost of a hundred million and so we acknowledged that we did not provide enough information and so we went back to see how much would would a renovative option be at this current state as you may be aware we're in a very inflated cost on all things and so we wanted to see what 133 would actually be in this day and age and just to piggyback at the time it was 133 for renovation it was around 180 190 for new construction so it's never been whether or not new construction was cheaper than renovation it was that the program needs of DSA and and the capacity needs far way greater than staying on the current site however we did look at some pros and cons admonishing that this is a historic site it is a very rich Community and we think that is a.

Positive so much so that we plan to continue that Community Field with additional Services as well as Innovative programs at a later date for DPS but with a new construction you will get true state-ofthe-art facilities true education suitable programming again a new concert hall adequate spaces many of you may have walked through the halls of DSA there are spaces that are not suitable based on state standards and based on a Arts curriculum which is the purpose of Durham School of the Arts next slide please so we've gone through a couple of iterations couple of costs by our contractor which is licensed in the state of North Carolina and our architect which is licensed in the state of North Carolina to put true numbers to what we believe a modified new construction would be now I will say that in dialogues with communities some of the costs that you see on this board may or may not be absolved with funding from the county however we have not had a conversation with the.

County on whether or not they would provide us additional funding for those items that you see here and so just quickly going through a parking debt on the site around 12 million the link of the building as you see all of these numbers as a total of $183 million currently right now the budget that we have set forth for the new construction is around 198 the 241 is total construction cost right so when you have a new construction versus renovation you have other things like FFN so you have furniture equipment those are things that you would not necessarily get in a renovated you would use the same furniture that you currently have and so that is a cost-saving measure however with new design and new spaces comes new adequate furniture and so we believe that those costs will be beneficial to the total project just keeping in line with the total project renovate it new you see that there's a difference in a Delta of around $10 million but that $10.

Million will be spread over the next six to seven years next slide please and so we know working on projects here the timelines that we've had historically site design U lay down areas keep in mind that the option of renovating a staying put would require us to one reduce the capacity we currently have over 1,00 students if you can imagine spending 183 million you would need to find places for these students and since the district currently doesn't have the swing space necessary for these students we would have to reduce the capacity in order to maintain safety and the timing of this project next slide please and so with that I'll take any questions that you may have regarding what's before you today again we are here seeking approval for the Demolition and abatement for a total of 32581 thank you and if I could just provide one footnote that that Mr Davis did mention the the numbers for the cost of renovating the existing DSA we did obtain through Contracting.

With our third party Consultants so that we would sort of have that third party look at what that cost is thank you m Moore board members questions or comments thank you Mr Davis for that. Presentation hello M travez all right thank you for this presentation and mo moving us forward I did share a couple of questions with you today that you've already answered but I'd like you to share a little bit more for the public one about the about Transportation which I have asked you or buses which I've asked you about before but just to get a little bit more detail there is conversation that we would not be able to H have any kind of to the bus plans till 2040 so I'd like you to just speak on that about the how we might if we would be able to to get bus access even though it is a small percentage of our students at DSA currently who use the bus from the data that you all presented us last time.

But yeah if you could just speak to that Miss Chavez when you say bus what you what kind oh sorry the school bus not or sorry not the city bus the city bus access our school buses will go to the yeah briefly that 20 240 plan is set out by development and so as stated in the email I'm sure that we could work with the city and county data service once that development happens to understand the number of trips and the need that that is provided to move that priority list up faster so as we are making improvements to the road with the new site we would then be in dialogue with the city and county transportation department as we did with Northern High School installing a bus stop in close proximity to that school thank you that's good to know that we have that flexibility regardless of the or we don't ourselves exactly but in collaboration that flexibility is is achievable and then the other thing was what would cost to.

Renovate DSA the current building if we do move forward with the new building but we need to use the existing building can't let it just sit there it would need to be renovated somehow for a new purpose so could you speak a little bit to how we would address that we've we've placed in our 10year CIP a rough Odo magnitude around 10 to 12 million that's currently in our CRP it has not been determined what the purpose will be and therefore it's not been determined how much of that1 to1 million will be needed and at what time I think the the answer here is that there I mean I've heard all these ideas that have been floated around about what could be done with the existing DSA once students are out and there's an ability to go in and all in School programming a partnership with a community stakeholder group that could use the space needed space for administrative type needs in the district we we're I think we're housing.

Some people out at the old Northern right now because there's not not enough space so there's a couple of other Innovative programs in the district that that need a home so I think there's a number of things that have been put out there and I think really the 10 to 12 million that's that's projected in the 10-year plan could go up or down depending on I would say more likely up depending on what you choose to do out there because in particular if you were going to put students there you would have to make changes that make the spaces suitable for students so but those decisions are before us and I and I do understand I think it creates some anxiety for people in the community to not have those defined sort of options already in place I do believe that the I mean the board has already determined that that we're moving forward with the new DSi DSA site that's that's where your vote currently is and that's why you continue to see things.

Being brought before you for it if it barring a change in that it actually does then free up staff to be more intentional and deliberate about bringing forth options for what you would do at in at the existing DSA site moving forward yeah thank you that makes a lot of sense and and those are all my questions I I just wanted to say this has been something that we've had a lot of conversation about over the last few months we you know we've had lots of people you know advocating and it's really as someone who didn't originally vote on the choice to move DSA I had to kind of study the the options in a different way to to look at you know where I landed on the on the decisions that we're making now and for me I think that with the cost comparisons knowing that it does cost more to to move but it's it's also not substantially more than it would cost to renovate I still think it makes sense.

To move forward I'm also concerned with the length of time that it would C or that it would take to renovate and our students have to be you know relocated are adjust or like kind of moved around like you were saying and I'm concerned with the conditions of the current school and also knowing that renovation costs are going up for the other for the elementary schools as well so it's been something that we've given a lot of consideration but thank you for all the information that you've provided us I am ready to move forward with this action item thank you thanks Miss Chavez other board members.

Miss Rogers go ahead never mind I I do want to say thank y'all for doing the work I was on the board we made this original decision and thought the consultant came and did a presentation we were able to compare you know on on campus or move students off campus and renovate and then a brand new site and I remember feeling like ah I don't want the school to move but when we did on looked at all the different options the ability to not have to have students in construction zone to try to figure out swing space and then I think about what's offered in the new building that cannot actually fit on the current site like there's some opportunities that students will have that will have better art spaces that we couldn't configure in the current site I think the idea DSA has a weit list every year so the opportunity to have additional seats at that school something that's a plus for me and I do I believe that we will put the.

Resources that we need to make sure students can get to different Arts programs if they have to get on activity bus or get down to downtown Durham I think that's going to be we can make that work and so I know this is a shift and this is a change we don't know yet what will happen in the old site I think the question around the elementary schools is still one that we need to figure out and I think in working in collabor ation with our County we can do that as costs of renovation have gone up for Durham school of the arts I also bet the cost of renovation for some of the elementary schools has also going up and so we might need to have revisit that conversation anyway so those are some of the reasons why I want to support this and we've also heard from students and from families who said we are ready to move to a new site we are excited about what is can be offered.

There and I think that we're going to see something that's going to be stateof thee art I'm going ask one more question I didn't send this you in advance but I know you all have been working on HVAC systems and the current site and I just there's some been issues this week it's taken time to fix those can you just describe like why it takes some time to fix HVAC at Durham School of the Arts based on that kind of current state of the building we've had emergency meetings where we had to approve money to work on the system there so that'd be helpful if you could just talk a little bit about that yes so the the T building which we experienced a loss of of power due to a recent storm was designed and constructed in 2008 and unfortunately whether you know that's relatively new in our portfolio however adequate preventative maintenance over the course of the last couple of years from our predecessors did not ensure.

That we could quickly respond to an event such as this we know that a new building with adequate preventive maintenance would alleviate some of those Tim taes that we experience and and honestly a two- week turnaround believe it or not is pretty quickly in a public institution when there are checks and balances that we have in place as well as getting material is still a delay in this current construction Market and so with the caveat of just po maintenance over the years as well as just the current construction and maintenance Market that we in is a reason why it took roughly around 10 business days to get that school back up and running but we're excited that it is cooling very appropriately now we had an email from the teacher and the principal saying thank you for our kudos to our Building Services team for responding as quickly as possible I'm I'm going to go down a rabbit hole here for just a minute is not specifically specific.

To DSA but to the age of our school buildings we are I believe since I've been here sourced parts from old schools in other counties and expedited those parts here because those systems don't exist in places where you can actually get replacement parts and and signing things to get them get it done so that that is a a common thing and I think that there are a lot of needs that we we need to pay attention to as we move forward thank you Miss Moore any other conversation board members or motion to approve this Miss V I'm.

Sorry I just wanted to acknowledge the conversations that have been happening in community and some of them a little more formalized with advocacy around DSA and some of them just a little more diffus in terms of people who have attended DSA in the past or currently attend DSA or at some point would like to attend DSA so it's very Broad and I just want to situate this conversation contextually with between the folks who have been a part of DSA the folks who are currently now at DSA and and the folks who in the future will be a part of that school community and this decision that we're making tonight is having an impact on all all all all three but mostly the current and future class of DSA and so I just want us to think about the future students that we have and their ability to be a part of a school community that centers the Arts and Science because that's what we've done with growing together and also has adequate an adequate space.

To learn now as I say that I'm also understanding that a lot of the advocacy around DSA has also been about the changes that are happening in Durham at such a fast pace and gentrification and all these forces that make downtown such a Bastion of wealth and kind of take the spirit out of you know child's laughters and all that I really appreciate these sentiments being shared with me concerned that in the future that space is going to become developed it's going to become part of development and I think that those conversations those points are all valid and I think that we as a community need to make sure that during Public Schools buildings continue to be places of learning or places conducive to education and never fall into the forces of it is prime a prime property in downtown and being downtown the way it looks and the way it continues to look it's it's becoming part of the the Bastion of developments that are happening all over Durham so I think.

That all those points are super important and I appreciate folks bringing that to us now I appreciate also superintendent Moore saying that we have in 2021 maybe might have been 20 20 21 that we did the vote to actually build a new DSA so that vote has already been done to build a new site now the vote today will bind that new school to the homestead location I mean pretty much it's it's it's mentioning Duke Homestead Road site with montith construction so the way it reads is New Durham school ofth arts project at Duke Homestead Road site with montith construction bafford BD joint venture in association with the right build International so that that that vote does make that connection as some Advocates have said that you know we said a new school but we didn't say where that question about where doesn't look like there's any other property available we've had this property for over a decade and so I just wanted to highlight and thank folks for bringing these concerns I think that.

Ultimately we understand it's a 100-year old building and we commend the H 100th class of of Durham High School that is celebrating their H 100th celebration and we'll do so in the current building in the cafeteria of Durham School of the Arts and so I sit with all of that to say that this decision in this vote I'm taking all that into account I'm taking all the advocacy and all the conversations and I'm also thinking about the current the past current and future students that are going to be able to enjoy learning in a school thank you mrar any other comments or em motion Adam chair I'd like to offer a motion to approve the Demolition and abatement project for the new DM School of Arts with mon tee construction B for BD joint venture and association with right build International second been moved by Miss Roger seconded by miss berer any other discussion all those in favor say I I any oppose use the same sign it passes.

Unanimously thank you thank you Mr Davis the next item on our agenda is the comproller update or CH I do believe that the the controller Mr Crutchfield is joining us virtually so he he's going he should be presentation is popping up hopefully I'll hear his voice soon Mr Crutchfield let us know when you are there make sure you're.

Unmuted text him a few minutes ago.

He's texting him again.

Not letting him unmute he says I don't know I ain't doing it for him I will work on it back there I see them doing some things behind the. Screen thank you to the public for awaiting us we navigate these these IP challenges.

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Unmute Madam chair can we take a recess yeah that's so let's take a a 10-minute recess while we work on this thank you.

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Testing okay try it now say something now Carrie are you doing tonight it's a little bit of a feedback but I little feedback yeah okay so you can can you mute can you mute your computer like so we're not hearing that I I can turn the volume down and I that works okay. So all right say testing testing one two three. Testing okay Mr Crutchfield can you hear us yes I can thank you all right we're back from our recess going to put together some text and make this work I'm pass it over to Miss Moore thank you jermad our the com controller Carrie Crutchfield is back this evening he's going to provide an update and additional information on the classified salary schedules that he has worked on he has provided the actual schedules I think at this point there he I'm going let him go through his presentation I know there's a number of question questions based on what he presented last time and what he's presented this time and some of the.

Outstanding questions that staff have that we'll be able to I think work through and then determine next steps let me turn it over to Mr Crutchfield go ahead Carrie good evening Madam chair board members and superintendent Moore I hope you can hear me now we can okay very good if I could see the presentation.

Okay thank you very much I just wanted to go over four topics that you talked about at your March meeting and give you some updates those four topics are comparisons to your to my recommended ranges for DPS revised recommended range maximums implementation examples and next steps so next slide comparisons The Hil study did an excellent job of researching pay ranges of various local and Regional entities to develop their recommended market rate pay pay ranges I have not tried to duplicate any of those efforts I have analyzed what they have recommended is their ranges and I've used those ranges for the most part only making a few tweaks when I my experience indicated that that might be needed so next slide but since the March meeting I did compare my recommended ranges for various comparable job categories to those of Lake County Public School System I think that they are one of if not the primary competitor for your employees also their cost of living is very similar I think to Durham.

County and like I said since Hil did study lots of of or did research on lots of market-based pay in the area it didn't surprise me when the range minimums for the vast majority of the comparable job categories were not far off from the recommended ones for Durham Public Schools they ranged from 4% lower than DPS to 4% higher than DPS there were just a couple of outliers one far than DPS and one far more than DPS that that did not make sense to me and it the way County range is definitely were not best practices for those two job categories so I did ignore those the way County Public School System range maximums also ranged from 40% to 45% higher than the minimums and if you will recall my original recommendation for DPS was 40% 40 to 50% ranges are best practices in most cases these days so I was pleased to see that Wake County was in that range as well next slide please the two categories that were the.

That DPS was lower or the 4% or slightly more than 4% lower than Wake County were instructional assistance and EC assistance and those are two categories that I was a little concerned about also in terms of The Hil rankings so I am revising my recommendations for those two job categories moving them each up one pay classification next slide please I reviewed in terms of revised range maximums I did get a copy of your current pay rates as of the market March payroll and I reviewed all current pay compared to my original maximums in the lower pay classifications due to the previous range compression no current pay was even close to exceeding my recommended maximums in the higher pay class classifications however a few very experienced employees pay would exceed the originally proposed range maximums and some of those pay classifications next slide please again based on the the review of Wake County Public Schools and the review of the the pay that's currently being provided to Durham Public Schools.

Employees I have revised all pay range maximums to be at least 45% above the range minimums which allows most of your experienced employees to fit easily within the ranges in a few cases I did have to expand the range maximums in my recommendation as much to as much as 50% higher than the minimums and then in two cases I had to expand the range maximum in my recommendation F to 55% higher than the range minimum so those are those are that's what I've done the majority of the range maximums in my proposal now are 45% above the minimums there are five or six of the pay ranges that are between 45 and 50% higher than the maximums than the minimums and then two of the C of the pay categories the range maximum is 55% higher than the range minimums there is one other outlier you do have two employees that were paid as much as 80% above the range minimum they you know they have more than 40 years of experience.

Each at this point I would recommend freezing their pay instead of trying to to put the maximums up as high as 80% above the minimums which would not be a best practice next slide please so my recommended implementation for all employees in each new pay grade is the higher of their March 2024 pay which is 2022 23 pay plus 11% or their 2022 23 pay plus the new pay grade reclassification percentage and in the following slides I've given you two examples ex where the 11% is the greater of the two and I've given you two examples where the reclassification percentage is the greater of the two first example instructional assistant 2022 23 grade 56 IIA step two this the 2022 23 pay was $2,727 per month March 2024 is 11% higher than that $3,000 even using the 7.41% reclass percentage for the new recommend recommended pay range for instructional assistance that amount would be $2,929 per month therefore the $33,000 is the higher of the two before any legislative increase next slide please data.

Manager this is an elementary school data manager and I am by the way using real examples in these examples I'm not identifying people but I am using real employees an elementary data manager 2022 23 grade 59 step 32 this is a very experienced person their 2022-23 pay was $3,939 per month their March 2024 pay is $4,375 cents per month which is 11% higher their reclass percentage for the new pay grade for the grade 59 data managers is 8.03% when that's added to the 2022 23 pay the monthly amount goes to $4,255 84 cents again the 11% March 2024 pay is higher so the the recommendation would be the $ 4,372 185 cents per month before any legislated increase next example is an interpreter 2022 23 grade 64 step 38 again a very experienced employee $4,795 40 per month pay in 2223 the 11% added to that for March of 2024 is $.

53228 this pay group grouping has actually the highest reclass percentage of any of the pay groupings of 18.31% added that added to the 2022 23 pay rate would yield $5,673 44 per month which is much higher than the 11% pay so that would be the recommendation before any legislated increase but assuming that funding is obtained to be able to cover the additional increases and the final example an IT technician 2022 23 grade 67 step 12 $3,939 per month pay in 2022 23 the March 24 2024 pay of $437 85 is the 11% ad the 15.55% reclass percentage for that pay grouping would yield a monthly pay of $455 to9 that is higher than the March 2024 pay and would be my recommendation before any legislated increase and again assuming that funding is obtained to cover the additional increases next slide please several next steps I'm I'm thinking about one you could go ahead and approve pay ranges in concept at this meeting or a subsequent meeting before the end of the year or you.

Could wait until the funding level is known make any necessary adjustments which I would be glad to help you with and then make do final approval of the pay ranges and an implementation plan next slide please in the mean time I plan to in collaboration with the DPS staff help them prepare individualized 20242 projected salary intent forms for all classified employees the final salary intent forms would be sent to All classified employees based on the board's final approval of the 2024-25 salary schedules I'm also planning to provide no later than May 2nd a draft of a salary Administration policy and procedures to be reviewed by staff and and legal for board consideration and just a footnote on that I will have that done much earlier than May 2nd I have worked on it some since I did this presentation and I should have it ready by early next week and then the staff definitely needs to continue to do some internal reviews of and decisions on some specific historical pay practices every.

District I've ever worked with has had a lot of history behind ways that some employees are paid and DPS is no EX ception they they have some things that probably need to be corrected they have some things that need to be reviewed and and maybe revised but that's a process that we'll be looking at individual employee pay next next slide okay that's it so I'm sure there are questions. I think I just want to take a moment to explain what we're looking at what the attachments are as well the ranges that Mr Crutchfield is proposing is the minimum that a position would earn and the maximum that a position would earn And he as he has stated the differential between those minimums and maximums is now 45% for most 40 between 45 and 50 for some and they were couple that were 55% in terms of the minimum to the maximum it does not the schedules that he has provided for every job classification do not show for example what a person is.

Paid in year 10 or what a person is paid in year 15 or what a person has paid in year 25 but that's something that you can create from within the mins and the maximums to determine where you will place employees and I and I believe in Mr error (not a name) F's estimation that that the exercise to divide into 30 steps or so the ranges minimums to maximums is for the purpose of where you place employees and then parallel to that discussion and and Carrie please correct me if this is not correct parallel to that discussion and this could be part of a salary Administration policy the board would need to determine what do you want to do every year after that the board has this board has historically provided a step increase for all employees when they went from one year to the next and it was sort of built into the salary schedule those steps were there when you create the steps to do this schedule you could continue to.

Follow those if you wanted to that's ABS that would be in practice with what you've done before you could choose to use those steps as you create them to place employees and then determine a different way to the board may want to contemplate raises every year for employees it's kind of it's a little bit six of one half dozen of the other because either way what you have to do is determine do we want to either through the way that we create the schedules and the policy say we will do these raises every year or do you want to do it through board action every year as a part of the budget development process and in both cases either case staff would need to determine what the cost is of implementing that from one year to the next and is there a need to ask for additional dollars to to fund that I think in the past you have not seen on a yearly basis a request for additional.

Funds to pay the the steps that that employees were being granted and I believe that it's been managed through attrition retirees people leaving younger staff that sort of thing and it may actually have been costing the district more year over-year some years maybe some years not and it was sort of just absorbed into the budget I think as a best practice it is better to calculate what you believe to be the cost of every single person staying with DPS for another year and determining whether or not that is an amount that needs to be asked for and you may find after a few years that you see a Cadence to what that looks like and you can make decisions a little bit differently but I think at least to begin with you must calculate it and determine whether or not funds are available regardless of whether you do it within a policy that says you're paying everybody as they move up each year and it's within your.

Policy or if you do it as a part of the budget development process every year either way it'll be part of the budget development process but if you do it you know some years if you put it in policy you may say it's it's more like a 1% every year or 08 or something like that that it's been or you could say that it's going to be 1% that we do every year and just do it as a part of your either way you have to do it as part of the budget development process if you're going to ask for the funds and I think that part of the reason that it is evolved to the practice of not using steps in most counties in North Carolina is really the history of a lack of legislative pay increases and an inability of districts to move move on pay raises locally the recent $15 an hour that was done by the state for everybody as a minimum and all the compression that that caused in.

Districts because in a year that might be a tight budget year where the board might see we cannot honor this step you create a lot of ill will and you are smack right back in salary compression again because you're freezing people so Mr Crutchfield did all that make sense to you yes I just I just want to point out that at the last meeting I I said that my recommendation would be not to have steps within the ranges that's right because it locks the board in for several reasons but for one it locks the board into a certain amount each year and I definitely would prefer that your policy say that your intent is to provide an experience increase every year subject to funds available and then you can determine what what rate and you can always Implement new hires by a percentage above the range minimum and you can always Implement standard pay increases as a percentage above current pay which I think is is simpler and easier and and much easier to.

Manage I think it also speaks to those years where there may be an opportunity to do more than what you've put in your steps than than what you've proposed and the and then of course the years where maybe you you can't depending on how you're you're going back and forth so but that's the I'm I'm hoping that between the two of us you're we're explaining what it what it looks like Miss Moore before we open up to discussion superintendent Moore can you explain a little bit about the relationship of this to our budget to October ber in the state budget yeah so and that's I'm I'm going to assume that this question is related to the folks who are emailing and saying when am I going to know how much I'm going to be paid next year a completely legitimate question and one in particular because of the past year that is important for people to really understand the budget development process the $8.8 million that we are requesting of the.

Commissioners well we're requesting 26 million as as of right now of the Commissioners that may change in the next discussion but in that proposed budget request 8.8 million is towards implementing raises for this classified salary schedule the short answer when somebody wants to know is how do I know what I'm going to be paid next year well on July one it is technically the same as what you're getting paid right now because that's what it is every year every year salaries don't change until October November and then you're retroed to July 1 and the reason for that is the Cadence of how the Commissioners finalize their budget which is much sooner than the legislature finalizing their budget the legislature is just now going back into short session Wednesday next Wednesday this this this past wday okay yeah so you cannot finalize salary schedules until you know what the legislature has done so and and when the legisl and I'm I'm hearing that the legislature might increase the raises that they've.

Proposed in the banial budget which is a great thing except there that it makes our local budget ask higher right or the local funds that are needed will be higher because it'll be more than what we've projected because we've projected based on what they've already approved but that's a great problem to have those problems you want to figure out and they may pass laws that have fiscal impact as well so so we need to wait until the legislature is done and then we we know what the Commissioners will have given us where where they stand by the middle to end of June we'll see when the legislature finishes as soon as the legislature is finished then staff have to get to work figuring out based on what the county has given us based on what the legislature has done where are we what's the recommendation what do we keep what do we go do we add more do we have to pull something back and the final decision on what those salary.

Schedules look like is made by the board and it is usually in September or October in a good year December or January in a bad year and and then the pay would be retro to July 1 that is the normal Cadence so the the short answer to what does my paycheck look like for next year is we know for sure that it'll be what it is right now beginning July 1 and but the 3% that the legislature has already said they're going to give you we will not Implement until we know for sure that it's not more or changed in some way shape or form and and so when those salary schedules are adopted by the board hopefully in the early fall all pay will be retro to July 1 as it always is and that is a normal Cadence that will follow every year I think one thing that's important just to highlight from that is these are all proposals pending the requests from the county and what we receive from them pending.

What legislation happens and what we make that decision in the fall so just to kind of put the context for that decision Miss berer I see your hand thank you so thank you Mr Crutchfield for bringing this and bringing this quickly I'm H I'm having some deja vu all over again so how can we be reassured that the 8.8 million that we're going to ask for and we're going to receive from the Commissioners will be enough to fully fund these overdue raises for staff that between you and Miss oo and superintendent MO like I know y'all have modeled and remodeled but I would love some assurance that that's enough money to get everybody taken care of I think what I would say is it's enough funding based on the current models and current employees that we have if there's a shift in those employees if they get older they get younger then then there's a shift in the amount but I believe it is in a Range that definitely allows us to move.

Forward with the current Staffing that we have in place based on what this proposal is and again if there were changes that that drove it higher you would the we would know that before the board adopted salary schedules for next year I believe that may have been part of the miscommunication and the modeling that didn't work this past year and I and I appreciate you asking that question I do believe there was some sense that there might have been needs for additional funds and there were it was work to try to identify those funds but it it didn't all it did not all happen in the same time and I think that what this board would demand and would need to know is before you adopt those salary schedules next year to to have those assurances that the funds that are identified are sufficient at at this time we believe that they are based on on the stuff that Mr Crutchfield has looked at and G has looked at and and we have.

Reviewed as a followup to that is that even with the shifts and changes that we saw here Mr crvi we do believe that even with the shifts and changes it should work right because those are just maximum difficult years you're actually going to have some salary slippage when more experienced employees resign or retire and lesser experienced employees are hired with this implementation it could be even more pronounced that that the new hires will be coming in at a lower pay than the than the employees they're replacing so and that we don't want that frankly we don't want the salary slippage and we don't want to lose our folks are we depending on our decision our discussion tonight are we at the point though that we could get those letters to folks those individual letters so that they could see what to expect and maybe even say if we get the 8.8 this would be a one-year plan and even go ahead and give them a number if.

It had to be a two-year plan I mean have y'all thought those things through as far as getting folks the information is individualized yeah so I think if the board approves in concept it does not have to be a formal approval this evening but approves and concept of the minimums and the maximums for the sake of moving forward with creating these salary forms we staff can do that that's what we're prepared to do and we are hoping that the board will say use the mens and Maxes you're not locking into these mens and Maxes but use the mens and Maxes to create those salary projection forms then we can do that and it's in and you know assuming that the entire 8.8 million is available that would be one the the the probably the far right amount in an employees projection statement if you were to divide it into two parts if it needed if you wanted to make it a two-year sort of thing if that's where the board landed I think you.

Could we could possibly put that as an additional column or ask folks to divide what whatever the difference is between what their salary is now and and what we're proposing that that difference would be half or if we show the raise amounts maybe they would you know they could have that but I think there would be ways to calculate that yeah and I don't I don't want to do that in a two-year thing I want to go and I know this board wants to get whatever folks need but I just wondered if that information would be possible because I saw that answer in the FAQs as well yes Miss Lewis yeah I'm not quite sure where you end it when you said if it's possible what I'm thinking is if we were not to get the hold amount of what we're asking for could we go ahead and put that step in there so that people could see what it would be in a two-year increment if we.

Were to get four million instead of 8 million I I feel like those things are possible my question would be is it more confusing to staff and I I don't have an answer to that but there's a like you could have this or this or this pending a decision that we don't know about and won't know about till October considering where we've been in this last year I I think that's a question for staff to explore and hopefully get engagement from our employees and our Educators because I just don't want more confusion and I understand why we want to do it I wanted to do it and I don't want to make it a confusing situation so I just that we might need to think and mold that over a little bit more yeah for for sure I one of the answers made me think that it's kind of if we don't get it in its entirety then it's a linear right it's a is that is that it's all pending board.

It's all pending depending whatever amount the the whatever amount we have from the Commissioners the board determines how much of it goes to classified there's there's the almost 7 million that we don't have a choice about that the with the legislative increases that insurance rate increases the retirement rate increases that's almost 7 million that we don't have choice about and then any amount beyond that the board determines how much of it would be applied towards the classified salary schedules the intent that we are modeling on is that the full amount is provided so that we model on the full.

Amount I information to employees without creating extra confusion and that is a delicate balance and and so yeah I definitely want to work with your staff and and try very hard to have less confusion and more good information but it's it there's so many ifs SS and buts that that that's a very delicate thing to do because I I feel like this would be the qualifier on that final column that shows the implementation based on the the the schedules that Mr Crutchfield the mens and Maxes that he's recommending they will be a qualifier that says this is your projected pay if we are fully funded by the Commissioners and there is no additional legislative impact.

Right and and the legislative raise should be on top of these amounts as well well right the 3% and I definitely don't want to create any confusion on that either I don't want to project a rate that the general assembly might give because I I have in my 38 years I've guessed what they've Pro what they end up passing only a couple of times yeah and I don't think we want to cause more confusion by sending out letters that say this could be it and then we may or may not we don't know where we're going to land and that that feels almost similar where we were before Miss Rogers Caron I think yeah thank you all for this presentation and for so much of that clarification my question now is about us approving this in concept if we were to approve this model in concept would we be able to see a better model of yeah I use not the right word totals and bands of employees on.

Certain at certain pay points once the Border Board of County Commissioners have approved their budget would we be closer to the correct model if we approve it in. Concept I think a approving it in in in concept allows us to move forward with creating the individualized projected salary documents and it is a projection anticipating full funding anticipating no additional impact from legislature that's that and what we would have to I mean you'd have to create behind the mins and the max Maxes you'd have to create how you're going to place the employees so that that that piece would need to be created so that you're placing the employees based on their years of experience which I think this board has committed to and and wants to make sure it's implemented as a part of that any new salary schedule in terms of how you place them so then you've already got that you have that information you can see it thank you yeah what that's exactly.

What I was trying to get at what are the advantages of going ahead and approving it in concept as opposed to the disadvantages of approving something that we might be uncertain about but that's where we are in this process Miss Cardon I just wanted to clarify further that when if we were to put out the before we can put out the salary in 10 forms and project what somebody's salary is going to be this board has to then make another decision which is where to place people that would not be tonight is that right or am I I think that that's that would be staff work because we would create for lack of a better term the steps between the mens and the Maxes that Mr Crutchfield is proposing and we would use the current years of experience of a staff member to place on that but per Mr crutchfield's examples there are some places where the placement on the schedule and their current years of experience might be.

More or less than they are currently making but no employee will make less than what they are making this year next year no matter what and it should be at least 3% higher because of the legislative raise that's already in place so a person who has 10 years experience who based on Mr crutchfield's Ms and Max's would be making more on the new schedule with 10 years of experience would see on their projected pay step stub that new higher salary a person who with 10 years experience in the category on Mr crutchfield's men's and Max's was making is less than what they're currently making with the 11% that was recently given would keep the 11% what they recently given and then you would add to that the 3% that we already know the legislature is coming so I guess the shortest way to say this is everyone's getting 3% no matter what but some will get more depending on where they fall in the men and Maxes of schedules okay so.

Yall would approve the schedules or y'all would create the schedules and we you don't need board approval of the schedules we're not actually creating we're creating proposed salary in projection forms based on mins and Maxes but those mins and Maxes well I mean I I Tech technically at some point the board would need to approve that those M though schedules it's the movement between them and how people it's the movement between them and no actually you can't approve those schedules until you know what the money is that you have right Mr Crutchfield yes all we're asking for is that you approve the concept of having the the salary study minimums and maximums the the job category placements moving from your old pay grades to these new job category grades and then allowing us to do Implement a projection of either their current pay or what the reclassified pay would be whichever is.

Higher okay so you're deciding where to place them on the schedule and then later we have to develop board policy that determines how people move across the years whether it be steps or whether it be percent increases board policy that's required there correct so sorry as you were saying that Mr grutchfield have you you all yet modeled the 1300 impacted or classified employees or two 20200 however many are impacted by these and Maxes have you modeled to see how what percentage of folks are going to stay and get the 3% is and how many are actually going to move significantly hopefully because of these new schedules and we have the raw data I have plugged I have plugged that if then scenario into every single employees current status based on a spreadsheet that Miss oo created so it would be a very simple task to determine how many of the 1300 would be at the 11% and how many would be above the 11% I have not done that math but it's a.

It's easy to do. No I think you could bring that back yeah I was just hoping that it would be a lot of people getting significant raises and and so I thought that on a percentage basis would be helpful as we move forward additional questions Miss vodar thank you Mr Crutchfield for the analysis and bringing the lower and higher bands pretty much the the structure that you think is is feasible for this District anticipating that 3% or whatever it's going to be that we have to account for I think what I'm sitting here with is because one of my colleagues brought to mind the big painful lesson we just had about even the question about the number that we're going to be asking the county for which is 8.8 million and any variability with that which you explained really well about you know it's still going to be within that range I think my concern right now is that doing taking action tonight on something that is not yet feasible for a.

Lot of employees doesn't feel Fair and I also understand the practicality of approving the structure the idea the concept tonight so that the rest can be formulated but I think that the omen is on us this time and from now till forever to be very clear about what is happening even if it might be intuitive for folks to look between a minimum and a maximum and feeli figure they're going to fall somewhere between those two points but the admission that we didn't have a good number the first go around when we Tred to implement the salary study that ended up being a different number and that there was so much confusion and people got letters that they made plans on and anything about letters going out to our employees with without all the clarity of a projected like the letter needs toble this is a projection and it's not it's not confirmed until we figure out the money we're getting from the county figure out the money we're getting from the state so.

The letters all that needs to be very clear it's a projection but I think like taking action I I'm not convinced that we have to take action tonight I feel like I'm not convinced that we need to take action in order to even formulate that I think the the whole concept can be built out with granular granular data that is beyond just the concept but actually how what that looks like where books are going to lie in within those ranges it might take a little bit of time I don't know how much time it'll take but that's just where I'm sitting right now just as a as a point of understanding the the concept of pay ranges is not the same as approving these pay ranges the the concept of pay ranges are saying for the purposes of modeling we're using these minimums and these maximums to determine these projections but the actual adoption of pay ranges and schedules would need to come later but we cannot model it it would be we're not we.

Can't model we cannot create projections statements for employees without having at least the mens and the maxim maximums and then dividing between so not approving the pay ranges in concept does not staff can't proceed with creating projected pay checks project the steps because there's nothing to project on can I get a can I ask a clar clarifying question I think that where I'm with is communication we have communicated to the community we have communicated to the community that we have a concept of where what are the ranges so we've already put forth that communication we gave a couple of examples folks said they they want to see more examples and I understand that but based on on the even the concept right now I I I don't think that voting or not voting on it tonight will re I I understand that if we vote on it tonight then then it's concrete and people can Project based on that but knowing what those boundaries are like we already know the milu of.

Where we are and I think that projections can still happen with with u modeling that is going to use that information I understand the technicality of vote but I I just feel like there's a way to to there's a way to to do that second step if if if our admins felt like you know that's something that they they're ready to do I mean ultimately this is this is what we're working with the ranges that you gave us the 40 45% to 50% maybe some people be 55% those are things we can work with I think those are things that can be modeled because it's already information that has been shared I I mean I think staff can absolutely without any board vote take these pay ranges and men's and Maxes and create the documents we're talking about we we could do it without any board vote but I think that the the only you know one of the negatives or potential pitfalls of that would be.

The I guess what is what are we deferring what is it that what is the decision that's being deferred is the the decision that's being deferred that you don't want to use pay ranges you don't want these pay ranges do we know that already I think that's your discussion Miss do I just have a followup I I'm gonna tell a story I'm going to take three minutes and somebody time me I don't want to take more than three minutes I'm going to tell you a story the story that happened is that we for many years heard from classified staff I want to shout out instructional assistants but there it was not it was also everyone else who told us we need to raise our classified staff years of compression in Justice and we wanted to do justice but we got a consultant and they brought a plan for us that did not include everybody I I'm going to walk that back they brought a plan to us that included recommendations for for part of our.

Staff but when it came to private years there was still more work to do we it was on us right to make sure that all of it was robust and there was a number that was given to us that was supposed to cover classified plan it did not actually the accounting was not on point with that and we sent out letters based on we we did all these these communications to people that really got people really upset letters that went out because we did a vote and that vote essentially locked that in even if we didn't know what the impact would be we locked ourselves in through a vote and and so I I'm so sorry but like this vote tonight even if it seems menial it seems like it's based on a concept it's not locked in even if even if it seems that way because of the level of stress and uncertainty that people have encountered it is on us to make sure that everything is Crystal Clear I'm talking to the.

Level of granular detail where we are building the infrastructure that is saying people will be paid between this band and this band and that might mean you fall somewhere in between you might fall you know if you're an interpreter you might be here you might be there I mean there's all kinds of variabilities I think exposing the plan or like showing kind of more of that granular detail is is at least what I feel like the community is owed and it it it it it's the omen is on us it's hard on us I understand because making projections on things that haven't been approved I understand process I understand that efficiency and process matter but in this case there's hurt and there's lack of trust and that's where I'm saying there's nothing precluding us from taking the model further into the granular pieces and and that's all I have to say I don't think that there's any agenda to say that the work that has been done is not legit I would I would.

Not do that to our Administration I know they've been working really hard on this and I'm not saying that to Mr Crutchfield I have thanked you publicly before for stepping in and helping us with this we need help and I thank you for helping us I just feel like we need to build this out and show people to the level of how it'll impact them thank you Miss Vadar I think the the question for us tonight is is approval of in concept or waiting right we have the decision to wait Miss car Aon I appreciate all of those comments I wanted to clarify if we it sounds like if we vote on this tonight it's allowing youall to move forward and model so that we can see more and our staff can see more and but it is not binding the it is not binding the minimums and maximums even is that correct or does it bind the minimum Max it does not bind the minimums and maximums we're just talking about the.

Concept of salary ranges right so that feels not so scary to me because I do feel like I would like some more time to be able to look at this I was trying to compare the the other districts in the compensation study to the ones that are in here and so far it does look good not all of them are in there that I was interested in but so I'd like to hear like look at that more before we finalize everything but I do I would like this board to have more information and I want to give that to our staff so that they can start making even preliminary plans I do think we should be very cautious about as we've many of us have noted about how we word that that because I really don't want folks to feel that we're going back on our word but if we can put it out there in a way that's clearly communicates that this is pending funding from these different sources then I would be in.

Favor of. That Mavis so I want to comment on this discussion and I have maybe a question one question so I think what Miss vtis is talking about is accountability and and the hyper need for accountability at this at this moment so a question is what does a vote bind us to if we could still change things like what does that what would be we be voting exactly to. Do I don't want I don't want to get tied up in the the the vote thing actually because the this could be not a vote it could be just a thumbs up to say proceed with the modeling doesn't it doesn't have to be a formal approval of anything it could be just a thumbs up to say yes proceed with the modeling based on the information you have right now create more detail you know we could certainly give you a a draft of what one of these would look like before we send it out so that you you can take a.

Look at it as well that that's on you it does not have to be a formal vote I don't believe I think it just can be a thumbs up on proceed with the modeling I think what staff is asking for is direction right so if yes we like the men's and the MS or actually can you go look at these other job descriptions and see if you can shift those mens and Maxes like it's the direction and then I think the the next piece of this it because we're almost talking about these two decisions that are intertwined together is how do we administer the pay year after year after year and that policy is coming after that so I think we need to make sure that we're clear on what direction do we want to give to staff I mean we were they're men's and Maxes on the previous schedules we just didn't look at it in the same way right but are we saying this looks good for.

Now proceed and we can change it later we have lots of good news from lots of good places we might relook at those men's and Max and say is there opportunities to move based on what we see here but we do need to give staff direction we need to give them feedback on what we see here and what shifts or changes we might want to see these are all only classified yes Miss bu so I oh I'm sorry Miss traveis I just wanted to say where the documents are posted though they're in the actually the budget discussion if folks are looking for the documents rather than in the so the attachments there's lots of them there and the one I'm looking at the most is Boe number 19 the one that has the max maximum and minimum stuff okay that's helpful I feel comfortable with a thumbs up to give direction and I also wanted to ask oh and say thank you Mr Crutchfield for working on this and yeah just really appreciate the.

Detail that's been presented so far what is the range of years between a Min and a Max I see on some of our salary schedules on our website that it it goes from 0 to 33 plus but what would be the range that you would say should go between those years that gets at a question that was asked earlier and then also like if someone has beyond that like 40 45 years what where do they and I just want to clarify that steps do not equal years I'm looking at Dr L for that I think we equate them to the same thing but they do not mean the same thing and so we need to be mindful of that but I do think that the the best practices ranges between minimums and maximums between 40% and 50% mathematically that would allow you to have 30 one and a half% steps that would fall within those minimums and maximums and you know in in places other than than school systems in North.

Carolina very very few entities will provide experience increments of more than 30 years so you know that's that's just a a little bit of best practices information thank you and that's helpful and then when we talk step Don't equal years don't steps equal years well in DPS that is all well Dr Len answer that question that's but you're talking about past if we're talking about future we need to create a policy on what do we want to do right got so in the future it can be everyone is placed here and there's a percent that the board decides every year you get additional 5% stat that's what we're including in our budget proposal we're I'm I'm just making up numbers okay J just making up numbers for examples y'all but let's say that that's what we're going to include in our budget proposal we go to the county and we say County and so wherever you got placed this year people no they just get additional money on top of that.

Right and it's it wouldn't be as clear as a step right but that's the policy piece that comes next around how do we want to administer the the schedule or not the schedule excuse me administer pay in our district Dr was I do want to say that like I told you last year in the past DPS steps have not been consistent percentages they've been all over the board so a year for a teacher for an instructional assistant has not been worth as much as a year for somebody in a higher classification so one of the the goals in my mind is to have you have a policy that makes sure that that a year or or a whatever you call as credit is consistent no matter where you fall in the the pay classifications thank you and I would just also add not only the concept of what we do moving forward but also historically if you look specifically at years of experience that has not necessarily been consistent over time.

And so as we're we're we're taking hard Lessons Learned and we're moving forward we want to modify our language about a step equaling a year okay thank you specifically thank you for clarifying all of that and and working on the consistency piece and we're we'll continue to do that so that we have a consistent way of having recognizing steps the other thing I just wanted to note and this is the Q&A document I appreciate all the questions asked by my colleagues and there's one about the demographics of classified staff and I just want to note this information that of the classified staff 67% are black 15% are Hispanic and or Latino Latin and so that is 80% of our staff that are people of color 1% Asian 177% white and 74% just about 34s are female and and so what that says to me is that our classified staff is largely black women and women of color and so I want to note that when we're talking about raising the salaries of.

This group of employees and how important that is and we do need to have this we do need to fund this this needs to be funded and so I am excited to move forward with this and do look forward to seeing the giving the thumbs up here so we can move forward with the modeling and see exactly what it will look like thanks Miss Rogers I do look forward to the modeling and I look forward to the discussion that we'll have if we don't get all of our ask because what makes me the most nervous is how we scale this and I know that's it's going to take a lot of time for us to figure that out and I appreciate the work that y'all are putting in to get that done but like I'm really nervous about what scaling this looks like yeah I'm G to jump in ask a few questions and I think to your point Mrs Rogers I'm like staff let's really consider how do we want to what this if.

We and I was the one that asked for the individual letters but should we do that not being clear about where people might fall right it's all pending this that might just say the board is working to increase staff salary or inre classified staff salaries and we're fighting for this and more information to come I don't I don't know the answer but I think we need to think about that carefully Mr Crutchfield in your proposal for staff members who when we do this modeling they are above so we're going to I'm trying to find the example that you gave this you're going to freeze people well no no no no that those foot I'm talking about like example number three not the 40 years people but example number three where that staff person no actually I'm sorry we're going to example number two there a data manager that the 11% over the 2023 2022 2023 was actually higher than in this proposal so would that person stay at the higher and then whatever the salary.

Administration that we do go on top of that because or would that person end up getting Frozen knowing that in the past we've had people freeze and that was not a a good thing no no the the 11% or the greater the greater of the 11% or the reclassification percentage is only for placing somebody within the range all regular salary increases or experience increases approved by the legislature or the board would go on top of that okay that's helpful for me to hear and then as new people come into the district we would have kind of policy that would help know where to place folks on the schedules and if I am new but I would fall into this same category as someone else who was here for the 11% all things equal except I'm new to the district and the person other person had been in the district for a time period would there be a mismatch in their salary does that question makes sense completely understand your question okay and is something that.

Every district has dealt with forever okay is trying to strike the balance between you know how how you have paid folks historically versus how you're bringing people in who are new and I think that's What your HR Director was trying to tell you is that that's not always been consistent that that and and I think every district has varied in that in Winston Sal for Scythe we had we've had as much as four different criteria for how we bring new employees in and I don't think you need to hamstring your staff completely if they need to change because each market can be different I if you if you're having trouble getting qualified employees you can't hamstring your staff by saying they only get this much credit for their experience but if you but but you what you do is you set it policy and then you change it when it it's deemed necessary you change your policy not a.

Practice thank you Mr crvi that's that's helpful I think there was another question over to my left Miss I just Mr Crutchfield I don't have a question I just my understanding is that this concept proposal this model is is for classified staff but there's a subset that we made different decisions on I just want to bring it back to context that coordinators and directors in the past we did a separate vote for for that and I just want to sorry be clear this concept that you're building is not for coordinators and directors they were dealt with in a different vote 7% is what we decided to vote on for and directors but if I'm wrong this is your time to also I just want to I just want to make bring that into context that there's classified staff that are coordinators and directors who got a 7% increase and yeah this proposal is not for your coordinators directors or other administrators it's just for your classified staff yes thank you Mr.

Crutchfield I have one more question I know there were some folks who did not see their job titles listed in the list that we have and there probably are some of the specialized kind of positions that we have within DPS if they have questions about where they may fall what their mens and Maxes may be what how should they go about getting those questions answered so I'm I'm going to assume that if we are creating the projection forms they will see the title that translates to what their current title is based on the new framework that Mr chfi is proposing we'll have to we'll have to do that crosswalk I would just add one piece also is keep in mind we have a lot of work that we're doing an HR to streamline job titles that is something else that has been all over the place and so the key is the alignment of those salary grades and our employees can also expect as we move to syllogist to see some changes in that naming.

Protocol so that we can align and gain some other efficiencies between the work that we do in HR and finance thank you any other questions for board me from board members comments there consensus that we would like the district to move forward with modeling on these I've seen lots of Thumbs Up people took that very seriously all right so there's thumbs up and I just want to note I think you hear our board wrestling with these decisions and and wanting to make sure we get into the details to do this right because we do believe it's important to pay our folks we know that we've been under the market rate for a long time and this will help us move in the right direction and we know it's still not everything that we need yet and we know it's also a proposal pending budget decisions from our our future budget conversation we're getting ready to have the county and the legislator so I think we're in a complex time and we're wrestling with a.

Lot of complex decisions I just want to appreciate y'all for the rich discussion Miss Lewis so I I did want to appreciate Mr Crutchfield in this presentation as well these pay ranges knowing that it's not a blanket approach and really looking at the individual job descriptions and classifications thank you superintendent Moore for even just outlining these are the steps and some of them are interrelated right interm so where we are again given direction to the staff to do the modeling is the next step that's happening I want to know where are we going to land with the letter there's a letter proposal are we making a decision about that right now there will be no letter I think maybe where we're Landing is we need to see what it looks like and be sure that we're good with the clarity of the language and what it shows before we send anything out and that that includes the board do you think it would be helpful for folks to see I know these aren't.

Steps and these aren't years and these aren't anything but more you could walk it at a 10 and a 15 and a 20 or does that make it feel like Steps too much right there's going to have to be a mechanism to take the men and Maxes and place folks and so that'll have to be something that people can see I mean I I I think that would be helpful because people know what they have now they will be able to do some of I mean we might even be able to walk them through how to find themselves on that well what I'm hoping we can show is and this is what you guys asked for last time if I remember correctly 2223 2324 as of October based on the previous implementation 23 24 based on the March decision that was 22 23 Plus 11 and then the fourth column would be the model based on the mens and the Maxes that M error (not a name) has proposed so they could see.

The movement of what unfortunately may be for most people ups and downs in the last. Year my last comment sorry Mr error (not a name) go ahead I do think it's important to understand that the way I have proposed to implement every Elementary School data manager who is currently in a Grade 59 would be treated exactly the same as the one data manager in my example the the reclassification percentage is the same whether you have one step or 38 steps and the 11% is the same whether you have one step or 38 steps so there is no difference in the implementation rationale and Logic No matter how many years of experience you have within a pay grade but didn't we have so many people that were at a hold harmless kind of situation or have we this will address that because it'll take the years in in terms of how they get placed on the schedule this should address that because they'll be placed based on a schedule and then move forward in in in.

Accordance with whatever ends up in a salary Administration. Policy I just want to tie this back to the legislative agenda I'm so glad that we're going to have a little more time but I think it's important to Thank The Advocates and and also thank the people in the community who have you know realize like we I hear it all the time we're going to lose certain specialized roles because we're not competitive including industry and and and there's a whole different ball part ball game that is being played with the school systems and education in general under value under payment so I think the advocacy definitely is needed especially around what's happening from the state legislature and also what's happening at the county but I want to bring back the example that there was a state of appropriation for nurses in Academia so if you were in University setting then there was a special percentage I believe it was like you know 10 or 12% and it was given to hire.

Nurses in Academia and I'm just saying like if they could do that for Academia I mean we need we need this to happen to nurses in the school system who are feeling like they're not getting paid enough to work in a school system and we our kids need every single specialized role that we have in DPS so just bringing it back to context about advocacy at all levels including Federal too I didn't hear any discussion today about men's and and maximums but I do hope in between now and our next work session if you do have additional feedback that you send that to Mr Crutchfield and maybe as a part of that presentation we can open it up at first to talk about discussion on men's and Maxes and any shifts that we might need to make there and then move into the policy proposal I also think it might be helpful that the polic proposal brings examples of what this would look like for the board because what I'm hearing.

Too is we need some really concrete examples here's a chart here's how this would move this is how this would look in a way that can help us make sure we can make meaning of it and also I think would help the public make some really good meaning out of of what we're working with all right we can move forward thank you all so let's go to the next thank you Mr error (not a name) have a good evening thank thank you all right so the next item on our agenda is a budget discussion adoption and potential adoption of our budget Miss superintendent Moore good evening again so if we will go ahead and move on to the desired outcome slide tonight the board will receive and review some questions submitted regarding the proposed 2425 budget I did provide these in a manila folder for everyone because some of you like to write on stuff and there are numerous documents attached online so everybody can follow all of it online and everything that.

We're going to be talking about is is available online but I made a copy just in case you want to write on it after we discussed the Q&A one of the things that we agreed to after the last meeting was that the board members could send questions and that staff would create a document that is the Q&A from the board that is also publicly U posted and available for everyone to see the questions that were asked and the responses we'll go through those we're we've sort of chunked them and we'll go through them based on those categories and then I want to just really open it up for the board to discuss any changes or revisions that you may want to make as in the 2425 proposed budget the intent for that would be to then entertain a motion or a vote from the board to adopt the DPS board proposed budget for 2425 and that would be incorporating any revisions or Chang ches based on the discussion that happens and alignment of.

Board members and then we'll review the timeline and next steps and what happens after that Ready set go next slide so let's go through the Q&A the vast majority of the questions were about compensation so because that is really the focus of this presentation so when we think about the questions you know some of this we've sort of addressed already through our conversation this evening but I want to just you know bring it back through the options for how to move forward details still have to be ironed out might the 8 million be too much or too little so what I outlined earlier is once the board adopts a proposed budget we move forward but we have to wait until the legislature completes their work and we see the impacts on the budget from legislative action to then bring to the board proposed salary schedules and that's usually around September or October after staff has done the work of incorporating the impact of legislative changes and within the additional local dollars that we.

Might get from the Commissioners that is a normal Cadence and based on in particular what the legislature does and or what the Commissioners are able to provide the 8 million might be enough might not be enough but then we still would work within the total system budget and allocations determined how to move forward there were several questions about comparison to districts neighboring districts and other districts there's a link in the Q&A to the hill study that did these comparisons across a number of pages and job classifications that data is still pretty relevant it was 22 23 data a few folks have moved a little bit here and there but that's the closest and more most comprehensive data we have right now specific question about the minimum wage in the district the minimum wage in DPS is $17 an hour and there are a few categories in that $17 an hour range sub before and after school care group leaders and then CNS Subs so.

A question about how to formally determine whether to move to a classified scale scale that works on percent increases rather than steps that would be part of the salary Administration policy that we're bringing forth on in next in I think we even said here it would be probably September so I mean not September May 9th so it incrementally if we don't like if if we decided we did not have regardless of how much we get from the Commissioners or what happens with the legislators we do not have 8.8 million to fully Implement as we have planned then it's actually pretty simple as Mr Crutchfield said you take the amount that you can Implement and reduce the percentages of the raises by by to fit within that amount it is it is not actually that difficult to do and and hopefully we don't have to do it question number six increasing the maximum for pts OTS or any other categories to get them closer to competitor districts so he did revise.

The maximums and the mens in his presentation from the 40% that he had initially proposed to now 45 or 50 in some cases up to 55 but he does not believe that it really increases the 8.8 million that we put in place because there weren't any caps put on employee pay when we did it does the $8 million implementation include an EC differential for IAS and the answer is yes it does they are on a different scale than regular Ed IAS there was a request to see some examples that is in an attachment as well that attachment is actually in two parts and so because the way that Mr Crutchfield presented the mens and Maxes didn't lead them themselves well to lend themselves well to doing a straight comparison so what you see in the attachments is a scale that shows 2223 2223 plus the 11% and then the hill and then the 22 23 plus 11% and then there's a separate document that shows the mins and the Maxes and the categories for.

Mr Crutchfield to to try to do some comparisons there I think if we if since staff is going to go back and do the work to look at what steps look like in for 30 steps between mens and Maxes you'll have once we get that done they'll actually a better ability to do those comparisons the cost and this is some requests that were made during the budget hearing specifically $200 per month for ESL teachers that estimate is around $192,000 based on a current Staffing of 96 teachers 200 per month for EC teachers and teacher assistants So based on the current assignments for EC teachers and this was teachers only and we heard about that in public comment today as well teachers only 287 teachers that cost is $762,000 and then the classified EC the IAS are th those are dealt with in the classified salar study with the differential in which classification there are in I do not believe that it's $200 a month but it is it is in the.

Differentiation happens there it is obviously it would be more than $762,000 if the board were to include all staff that touch students with exceptional that are part of exceptional children services some of those categories are also part of the classified schedule so I I think you know you'd have to look at are you talking about classified schedule that touch students having the $2 200 an extra $200 a month Beyond what's in the classified schedule or are you only talking about certified staff or that are paid not even certified that's the wrong term to use staff that are on the teacher salary scale that would be looking at the extra $200 a month and and that would be Beyond just ec teachers so that number would go up if you want to broaden the scope of who is included in that addition $500 per teacher for the supplement meaning $1,300 increase in supplement versus $ 800 so to increase the $1300 annual was 4.93 Million as opposed to 3155 million and that is an increase of.

About 1.8 million from what is in the current proposed budget and then how many other North Carina districts offer Master's pay for teachers well just one right next door Chapel Hill carboro is seriously considering it but it is actually just one I'm on question 13 now this one was we couldn't answer without some additional work of all the positions on the slide when we're talking about how many people work in DPS how many are full-time and how many are parttime the the the the the way our data input entry and software Works doesn't make it easy to pull this data without printing out the the lists of all of our 3,000 some employees or almost five or six, include everybody and then go line by line and and figure out whether the assignments are full-time or part-time it also happens because people are split funded they're across more than one location so though it makes it very hard to pull the data based on the existing software the and input data entry that we.

Have so give me a few months no more time and and we would get it done so there were some questions about reducing positions and increasing others and I think this was I I this one of the board members I had a a little bit of clarification about this question today most of the positions in the district are allocated through some type of an allotment formula there is some work that needs to be done on allotment formulas and I think we need to create an allotment manual for the district that provides more consistency and transparency around how schools earn positions so we are working on that but we've made some steps this year quite frankly because of the budget situation we're in to begin that work and and and that means for example doing things like ensuring that schools are being staffed based on what they've earned with the existing allotment form formulas eliminating positions beyond allotments that have been granted either historically or through requests in the past and this is causing some heartburn.

But we've got to we've got to implement the formulas we have and then determine the path and the funding that is available for anything beyond that and that has not been a structure that has been well- defined so I think that an allotment manual that includes input that reflects funds available that provides the level of transparency so everybody can see what every school gets and how they get it and why they get it will be very helpful and and we just don't have that yet so and and I think in particular like when you look at EC programs those like not all programs are in all schools and so and sometimes the needs how much you how many adults you have with students who are identified as EC can depend on what's in their IEP as well so so in that in those cases you don't always have formulas and then I'll just say like another example with with elll you know elll is capped in terms of the.

Amount of funding that you get and AIG is capped theer based on the amount of funding that you get you know EC has a little more flexibility because in addition to the cap there are other sources of funding that can help fund EC positions like Medicaid reimbursement dollars those kinds of things but there are in most cases there are formulas and in some cases the formula are driven by ADM the number of students and in some cases the formulas are driven by caps from which you then divide the number of students that you have the question that was asked earlier about the demographics of classified staff you see that in the chart there the 1.5 million for building repairs and Renovations what would it cover so folks this is everyday normal maintenance HVAC Chillers repairs trailer decks the things that happen that need to be done what happens now is you you're you're putting out fires and the money runs out before the fires are put out so you know as I've said here.

We're requesting an additional 1.5 million to be added it really that needs to be like a 1.5 million request for the next three years or so and then depending on the age of the buildings what happens with future Bond programs etc those numbers could change as well as well but the projection we had initially was around $4 million maybe a little more would be needed to meet the needs of what we are currently seeing in a year we have been able to do more in the last couple of years because of Esser funds and those funds will no longer be available but the needs are still there the the question about projected revenues being down it really that is the reflection of the eser funds going away and then there were questions about do we need to keep doing one to one especially K1 and and younger students and K3 so we are actually having conversations about whe whether or not we need to move back towards things like an option like classroom carts you.

Know every two to three classrooms has a cart and and and moving those around based on needs and planning for them rather than having the expectation that every child at every grade level has a device I think it's it's important to note that the costs that are are mentioned here for the replacement of one: one there there are not funds identified to replace the current one: one that we have in District regardless of grade level so I think now is a really good time to talk about whether or not we want to maintain the onetoone especially in the younger grade levels and and we've got a lot of feedback from schools about whether or not that's necessary you know take them home don't take them home put them in the backpack they disappear show up on Craigslist somewhere so with that nice DPS logo on the front and so but joking aside we are in fact looking at whether or not we need to maintain one to one especially in lower grade levels and we.

Don't have funding to replace as needed in the higher grade levels did I mention that our the focus in our budget ask is compensation however the need to look for continual funding for technology needs in the district year aftere funding is a pressing need anticipated budget asks for 2526 if all of you all will take your magic eightball out and shake it with me we do believe that there may be some initiatives and best practices around discipline we're bringing a presentation to the board on some discipline data sometime in the next month or so that happens annually and I think what you will see in the numbers will beg that we take a look at what kinds of programs and initiatives we may need to put in place and how those would need to be resourced in order to achieve the types of outcomes quite frankly reductions that we need in some of our discipline data as well as the the the Black and Hispanic student achievement plan that has been slowly.

Plotting along we owe we owe the board an update on that as well there is a NeverEnding need for curriculum materials and resources the amount I think it is about $67 per per student per year that the state funds textbooks with and and instructional resources is insufficient to meet that need laptop purchases and you see that we called it the modified Ono one posture because we're not sure what that will look like continued focus on facility and maintenance needs continued focus on compensation needs where we don't know where we're going to end up in the next in this budget cycle so I don't think that is a focus that will go away anytime soon we do need to review Esser initiatives one of the one of the questions that was asked by the board was to have a little bit more clarity on the Esser positions that were being Sunset you do have an attachment as a part of this item that shows by categories the positions that are being.

Sunset based on the Esser funds going away I do think because there there wasn't like one position that was established as a need districtwide that was given to everybody schools were able to ask for things based on what their needs were and so you see varying positions in there I think a review of the types of of positions and uses of the essr funds that was done by the schools needs to be done in the next few months to determine if there is something that was that is worth doing and asking and expanding maybe and having a strategy around is it for all elementary schools is it for K12 is it for these schools or for this need and and that has hasn't been done and I and and now I'm going to say something that would make some people really angry but I have to say it as part of this that is better doing the review of how the Esra funds were used determining the impact.

Of the decisions that were made and then being strategic about how you move forward with what you want to continue is better than trying to find the funds to continue what's already being done because we haven't assessed it. And then slide five is related to that as well positions that will not continue in the 2425 school and I you know so I talk a little bit here about the the the fact that we're asking schools to look at their actual earned allotments to not rely on positions Beyond formula to not request positions that haven't been earned we need a baseline around where we are and then establish policy procedure structures for additional and funding for additional positions that would have to be locally funded couple of other questions towards the end how to not lose necessary support for Student Success again this is I think this was really a question tied on to really the loss of eser dollars and the things that are that were being done by schools but what.

We have communicated to schools right now and Central Services is look at current Staffing current vacancies current programming to determine if there are greater efficiencies that can be accomplished within the resources we already have which is work that is continual and should happen all the time and that is and and that is something that we're asking our our schools to do as well if they are no longer able to ask for a an additional position or to implement a conversion that in the past has been allowed but is no longer allowed and I'm not sure if folks recognize that I think it was maybe five or six years ago maybe maybe a little longer the legislature actually passed legislation that restricts most conversions like you cannot convert an IIA to a teacher position it must be used as an IIA however Durham has allowed a number of conversions since that law passed and you can only address those converted positions by using local funds so you're straining your local funds and not fully.

Utilizing your state allotments we need to fully utilize our state allotments don't give them a dime back not a penny right and then a question about pre seats we are anticipating here that there would be three classrooms at maray massenberg for and it's actually. 54 seats because it's 18 per classroom we are requesting 45 of those 54 seats from Durham prek and if Durham whatever number and the request that we have made in our budget ask is for about $760,000 that reflects the full funding for the the 54 seats at Murray massenberg if during prek whatever number of slots during prek is able to provide based on our ask that will reduce that $760,000 ask we have asked for 45 if we were to get all 45 that ask would go from 760,000 to 70 some, was it 716 yeah 76,000 to about 70,000 to about 10% of that but if we do not receive the entirety of the 45 slots that we're asking for then there's you know sliding cost.

There we are also adding Little River monory Elementary and that will be also a combination of prek and kindergarten students so that one's a little bit different because it's the monor. Model yes just a question of clarification for the Little River that is adding the prek the allotments for title one and the allotments for EC are those so are are these seats in addition to the those allotments from Title One and I'm just wondering if it's in addition to or is it that those classrooms are EC and Title One Little River is not Little River would not I'm gonna let Deb answer that question right Little River will be filled through the lottery so it'll it'll be the allotments that are there will be a mix of based on lottery can you explain that a little bit what comes in through the lottery unlike the other other prek programs we intentionally set up 15 seats for what we call typically developing students and three reserved in those title one programs for EC slots.

So that we're creating an inclusive environment and we have more control over that unlike a lottery yeah are you ask what the funding sources for Little River monor I'm I'm I'm more concerned about the the distribution yeah so it's it's more I I know that there's different funding but I was I was what is that ratio looking like so 15 and but then the the EC would be three three seats yes the and that Blended model is one that more and more prek classrooms are going towards because it provides an opportunity to have more students in a prease setting and it allows for students with special needs to also be in a setting with typically developing peers which is a part of what is expected through IEP and child.

F that's the Q&A the documents that were attached if there are any questions about any of those primarily it was documents to help understand what was in the the the classified salary pieces and then the Esser positions so and if we can go back to the presentation back to the money slide as I keep calling it the local funding request right now it this reflects what is the superintendent proposed budget and at this time I'd like to sort of open it up to any Q&A about or board discussion quite frankly for additional questions about changes or modifications to what's in the proposal thank you superintendent Moore I know yall already board members questions comments before I'm gonna go to you Miss Lewis but thank you and staff for answering and putting together and pulling together a lot of information as we're getting ready to consider this budget so just thank you and to all the staff who worked on that and and I do want to acknowledge the comment that was.

Made about how late this came out we were getting questions as L as yesterday and and we did want to be fully inclusive of all the responses and so I was I I paced this Hall a number of times in the last two days and walked to people's offices around you know making sure that we were ready everybody y'all know and so but I I do want to just acknowledge yeah it was late thank you Miss Lewis yeah just starting there I would like to just share my appreciation for this presentation in these FAQs I enjoyed reading them and getting more understanding before getting to the meeting but there's something about you reading out too that really helped so thank you and thank you for not naming any names of last minute questions either I wanted to be thoughtful and one of the things that you talked about that I was not something I had thought as much about before you were actually saying it was the need for an alotment manual that struck me.

And what was coming to mind was that there are different needs across the different schools and we know that there was no ill intent for these allotments but to get the needs met for the students in those schools and as we are it's important to have a a plan to move forward to make sure the money's there did you want to say something well I think I think that the for example there are standard allotments K3 45 middle school high school program enhancement art music and PE and elementary schools and but I think that there's also and you know there's EC there's elll but there's also room to look at for example the district could create an at risk allotment right and determine what the source of funds would be for the atrisk allotment what the formula and criteria would be for allocating an atrisk allotment you could modify your existing AIG allotment if you wanted to to go beyond the 4% that the state has designated you have to.

Seek local funds to do it so that you could differentiate that in in another way but I think the the key really is creating the manuals and the systems and the structures and then identifying the funding source year-over-year for doing that and and because some of because those some of those allotments do exist you see schools that have some sort of intervention personnel and another school that does not have intervention Personnel it's usually because the principal has determined a way to use their existing allotments to cover that or they've asked for it well another school may not have thought to ask for it there may be schools that you want to ask for it that aren't asking for it so th those are the things those are the things that we need to sort of level out and I think you can do that through creating an allotment manual and a process that shows the Baseline for everyone and then you can be strategic and quite frankly align through your.

Strategic plan priorities how you create other types of supports for schools thank you thank you did you want to say something the chair I'm I'm sorry I I did I just wanted to jump on that and just think about like as we're going figuring out these allotments how do you do throw that Equity lens on top of that right and so thinking about you know is it experience the experience of Staff thinking about test scores thinking about new principle or season principle like there's so many different factors that we could use to go into that excited to explore that later but I do think we should start that work in considering how do we a lot based on lots of different factors and and that's where I was going to go as well so thank you for adding that it is about first of all this is really about transparency and not secrety of what's happening in different schools this increase a level of transparency and what I was going to.

Say is even though we do we may do it now or the next board coming in May begin a a process but it make sure it's Revisited because growing together is Mak some changes in our schools and we're creating more Equity across our schools no longer concentrating our lowest wealth schools as we are looking to re as we redistrict it and it's going to take some time to figure figure out what those needs are in those schools with the challenges that are coming so I appreciate this allotment discussion even though it wasn't initially part of the budget but it's the transparency and it's having a plan and making sure we have money forward with this presentation and with hearing about the budget and our public comments over the last few weeks I would definitely say my prioritization for this budget is supporting our classified salary study I do want to point out that it was my friend and DPS parent Community member DPS Advocate and a former DPS employee.

Kelly Cosby she gave me all those titles of who she is but Kelly Cosby she began bringing it to my attention when we were in the financial crisis the demographic the demographics of the classified staff through her research of publicly available data sets which led me to inquire Dr L what are actual demographics so thank you for that thank you Kelly as well my prioritization to fully fund the classified salary study is for several reasons those who have been most disenfranchised by the state without getting consistent increases in salary and we are filling in the gap for that it is also they experienced the greatest harm with this last study implementation and we need to write that wrong and bottom line they deserve it so that is my first and and probably everyone's Up's priority but I just want to put that out there publicly my goal and second priority is to keep highly qualified Educators in our district and supporting our exceptional needs Educators for greater academic outcomes and success for our.

Students one of the things that you mentioned from the FAQs and thank you for whichever board M sent this one in about the differential pay for our EC teachers I would like to add the 200 doll differential pay for EC teachers at that 762 th000 rate based on the also based on the FAQs and one of my questions it's listed that in 23 24 there was a plan to cover cost of $475 for board certifi certification national board certification or renewal for our Educators I would like to bring that forward also for the 2425 and in perpetuity so beyond I don't know if that funding was from already in our budget for the 23 24 it was Esser was it Esser I think it was title two wasn't it thank you so those to title two funds which is a a professional development Federal fund that's one of the things that you can do with it so padle two funds do come in every year it's not always the same amount every year but I.

Think right now it remains in the title two budget for next year doesn't it Dr. King so we haven't completed the title two budget for next year but we're not requesting funds for this okay we anticipate that we could continue it through title two funding okay so what I'm hearing is that would not come through this local budget request but through Federal funding I'm just making my preference known that be considered a priority as well and that's.

It or the 23 FAQ 23 thank you thank you Miss Lewis any other question Miss Travis it's getting late so I'm just gonna cut straight to it thank you thank you superintendent more for this and and yeah all the all the level of detail the you know all all of it I'm not being very eloquent right now my what I would like to add to this is is the $200 for EC as Miss Lewis said as well as ESL yeah I think that those two ask are reasonable and they would would be intentional ask for for staff who support two of the most marginalized groups of students and it's important to send that message at in thinking about this why is this so important that's one reason in and of itself they also they we heard a number of people speak on their experiences last week and as a former teacher I do you know I worked with EC inclusion teachers and I remember visit visiting the ESL and contained EC classrooms and I.

Think that a lot of times people don't really understand what those what those teachers experience and what those students you know experience and what they need and everything and I think it's important for us to to try and put some resources specifically in those areas I think it sends a message as well and it is part of those two groups are mentioned specifically in our strategic plan so I think it's important to acknowledge that and and there are a lot of a lot of experiences that EC students and DSL students have that those students are supporting them in navigating and I think especially of our older immigrant students our high school immigrant students who need a lot of support coming into this to this country to you know the language all of it acculturating at an at an older age there are many barriers that young people experience and they're so brave for doing what they're doing in the first place to to come here and and make that Journey in any case I I.

Think you know people have brought that ask forward to us and I'd like to see us add it it's actually it would cost less than I even thought it would in my own little back of the napkin calculations so so I'd really like to see us push that through thank you Miss Chavez any other Miss Val amen I'm sorry yes I think that's the beauty of of this board that I think we we keep Equity we keep consideration and we hear from our community so ditto I I do have a request for number 17 and I don't have any issue with us putting this in the budget request but there's something that has been communicated to me over and over including hearing from community members that we have to be proactive about haax and we also have to haax and chillers and the request was this because these are costlier the equipment they're costlier that and and and because their range their their longevity or how how long they're going to operate is quite.

Extensive right and so the request is not to use our our immediate available now funds to pay for something that we can actually pay for over years meaning bonds like the bonds that you know using bonds specifically for these kind of purchases that are large versus what it'll equate to is is is kind of forcing the community today the stakeholders today to pay for something that other people should be paying into with their taxes yearly you know that they should be contributing to the pot so it's kind of like taking the HB and Chillers out of this number 17 and making sure that Bond money is used to purchase these large equipment and not you know not not the funds that are readily available today like you know because these things can be projected we can anticipate the life the life of these devices and kind of be more proactive about figuring out when they need to be replaced and use Bond money for that yeah I'm gonna.

Put you on the spot Mr Johnson I think there are expectations around how Bond money should be used is that correct and can you speak a little bit to that in hbac system yes and you can I guess project on what will need to be replaced based on years but sometimes we have issues like what happened at DSA and you know Bond money might not be available to do that so we have to use Capital money but part of that goes into the plan that was approved by the board that we will come up with a list of projects that need to be done and prioritize them as far as when to get them done when money is available if there's another Bond we can designate some of those things get done but yes that can happen but a lot of times I know we don't get a warning or when a chiller or or it's going to go out so we just have to deal with the funds that we have available.

And that's that's a perfect answer I think as much as possible as we can kind of plan ahead or or as much as we can know you know if there's it's kind of nearing that end of the life cycle of that equipment that that request can be used through Bond money and that way it frees up some of this money for some of the painting or things that we don't we can't use Bond money for like the the the immediate repairs like painting and some of the other things that were listed here like decks being replaced or and a lot of the 1.5 that we're requesting U will go to day-to-day operations as far as you know trying to get some of those things done in schools we've done a lot this year but like superintendent Moore said there's a lot to be done with not a lot of money I wouldn't Short change any of that number it's just more more of if needed maybe the HVAC like if needed you know.

Based on these emergencies that happen unfortunately from time to time thank you thanks m v I think the other thing if we had a very consistent Bond schedule that also might be something we could look at differently but we haven't had created that in Durham and so I think that's why you also see this need for these Capital needs more regularly with that as well aspire did you have with Carter ofon I was Madam chair just recognizing the late hour going to make a motion to approve the budget as presented with the addition of the $200 month supplement for the EC teachers and ESL teachers second the move by Miss Carter Alton second it by Miss Rogers sorry I was trying to write and talk at the same time not good at that okay I have questions before we move to motions about the $200 number and staff I don't I know this request came from our durman Association of Educators have you had time to kind of understand what what 200 looks like in.

Comparison to other places yeah like is is that the right number is so I am aware of one other District in on the coast I believe it's new Handover that provides $200 per month in addition to the local supplement that's provided to all new Handover teachers what they called hard to staff positions and so I I don't know if that's if that information has informed this request but but there is precedent for that amount being the request based on what new Hanah R county has done and other than that I think that some districts offer more to special education IAS and special education teachers by through an additional some sort of in in IAS they do it by putting them on a different level of classified staff and for teachers they do it by providing an additional supplement I think you see I've seen $126 somewhere I can't remember where what county that was but the highest I have seen is 200 so and again I just want to say I think.

A differential like this is good to contemplate regardless of what you're looking at in terms of a salary schedule because of the the needs that you have some some folks doing but it it is also something that competes with potentially additional Staffing right so so you have to so I mean it's like I want to put ands between all of these statements additional salary and additional Staffing and increased supplements there's a lot of ANS there but but they all somehow end up competing sometimes against each other but we wouldn't if our salaries structures as funded by the state were in a better place these would be better conversations thank you that's that's helpful I think I want to this off offer in my talking about our priorities educator Recruitment and Retention was my number one priority and I think in order for us to fulfill our mission and it's our charge as a public school system to our students we need really great people in order to do that.

And the longer that those folks are in those positions often times we see the increase in the ability to and do the role and I think we know that money is one reason why people leave the profession but we also know there's a host of other reasons why folks leave the profession and so as we're moving forward with this request I do want to ask our district to get really bold and courageous and Visionary on how we create better Recruitment and Retention communities and Pathways for our our folks we can pay you more but if you are burnt out from more work that might not work either right if we do not have the number of staff that we need to carry the load if we haven't reimagined How We Do you know paperwork or whatever it is to help make sure that people can stay in community and Durham I think we can we can put money on an issue and that's important I want I support that but I.

Think we also have to do the other work to make sure that the communities and the learning places that people are working in are places that they want to be in so I think you can't do one without the other we have offered raises and bonuses in different positions before and we've seen that have some success but not great success so it's got to be a twofold thing that we can approach and I would love to see THM Association Educators and other folks get in a room and start thinking about how do we shift the conditions that people are working within as well money is one piece we got to address the other piece at the same time thank y'all for letting me put my comments in there I can I ask one more question I think this is similar with Master's pay as people are coming in and out of our district how are we planning for what might be increases or shifts for these budget priorities I.

Guess you mean if we were to like quadruple the number of teachers with Masters in DPS how would we fund that right we'll figure that out okay I hate saying figured out because I just think that's not a good way to do business but but I think I think that the other things that are happening at the same time like being tighter on the allotment processes being tighter on on how we manage our local budget allows us to then be able to withstand for example that sort of an influx on a short term and then request fundings to maintain it in the long term and this question just came to me but I would love this number to we base it on position teachers that we have or positions when we did this like positions EC positions or was it EC teachers that's a good question I think it's based on positions not so we would you would probably want to add some 50 or So currently 65 EC teacher.

Vacancies right now is that on app APPL TR 65 on APPL TR teacher vacancies yeah I I would want to still verify that because sometimes those postings don't come down when they should but but clearly it was positions not vacancies not positions right vacancy not what doesn't include vacancies current positions or actual filled or not current current filled position so there's an additional unfilled positions that we need to get the number for okay and that would be the same with ESL correct right sorry Dr I just want to say when you're looking at those in applet Trak keep in mind that we still have a process we have to do to set the positions for 2425 so since we're still in 23 24 you still have some some things that will change if it's a new position for next year or whatever that may not be posted yet Y and and so I would just say that given that it may be that a request might be more of a round number here like a.

Million dollars that would provide some of that flexibility based on the vacancies that have not been calculated into this and I mean that that's one way to go at it that's that's kind of a so I appreciate hearing everyone's Equity lens that we're bringing to this and wholly support the the superintendent's budget that you have built for us look forward to advocating for every dollar there and I know that we can do that together with our community and justify all of it all of it all of it I'm more interested in in finding a round number for anything additional we add for Staffing and letting you work with HR and the CFO to bring us best practices of what that might look like to with that Equity lens right and considering whether that's a million whether that's a million and a half whatever you all think that needs to be hold that placeholder number while you all go figure out what what are hardest to staff folks are whether there's folks we haven't thought of.

Whether what the parameters for is it EC special setting only or is it those resource I mean we don't want more confusion around something else that we're trying to do good about so I I'd appreciate y'all taking some more time to help us get it right so just to that point and I'm G to pair it back what I'm hearing and and I'm going to move the number like 1.5 million to to provide salary supplement for hard to staff positions I I think we have to be at least specific about a part of it with some framework that comes to the board behind it that doesn't have to be here right now but we know that we're talking about hard to staff we can speak succinctly to examples that we already know what they are because I think we also have to recognize that in in bringing this request to the Commissioners whenever it does they've seen the one number already they're going to see a different number.

We need to be able to explain what that number is and so I would refine and say whatever additional we're asking for would be to provide a local supplement for hard to staff positions and within that use the both the equity lens and what we look at with vacancies and the work that's being done our most marginalized or vulnerable kids and and then the final disposition of that would still be up to the board thank you for that so I do see a kind of oh go ahead Miss Rogers thank you and thanks colleagues for all of your feedback and your priorities I'm really appreciative one of the things that I wrote down as we were going through the question and answer was the creation of the allotment manual also I'm really appreciative of hearing about that work going forward we this budget is very ambitious and I'm really excited about going forward with this ask I am struggling with additional funding requests because it feels like the 11th hour because it feels like.

We're g to we could upset the apple cart a little bit and bring us back to a place where we're saying okay we need to do another salary study I don't want to go there again not right now anyway and I don't want to pit employees or certain classifications of employees against each other I am also concerned that the supplement is not reimbursable from the state so like it's solely relying on our local funding to source and that concerns me because we're already stressing our local funding options and I want to recognize that we have not named everything in this budget request that we could possibly want for dur Public Schools we talked about a supplement for bilingual employees that we haven't really gotten enough information about enough data or even know if we have processes in place to evaluate if employees can come in and do the bilingual work that we need done adequately.

I also wrot down number 17 I want to make sure like chair I'm said requested at the public hearing that we have a deferred slide and that we're asking for the capital needs that we need for long term I just need a point of clarification on that so like a a place in the Su in the board's proposed budget that goes to the Commissioners that includes the Deferred needs yep okay and and if there is a presentation that goes with it that that' be a part of it also yes okay thank you sorry I'm not I wasn't sure how you're presenting it I do want us to continue to evaluate all the things that we've talked about but I want us to you know I think about the programming and what Miss Moore said about the programming that we're doing and not being able to evaluate whether it's effective or not and I sort of feel the same way about the supplements and the bonuses and I don't know if what we.

Have been doing is effective or if it's had any impact on the turnover rates on the higher rates and I'd like more information before we move forward doing that and so that may mean if the board is agreeable to not add the 1.5 or add that 1.5 and just be very clear that it's about the I'm up in the air about where I feel on that 1.5 ad so thanks Mr Rogers Miss Travis so all right I think I'm very clear I I want us to add this $200 for EC and ESL teachers to our our budget ask I think it bring it comes back to the purpose of that ask it is not just about hard to staff areas and I don't feel although I am interested to know what are other hard to staff areas I know that EC teachers is one area I think it's not it's not just about that it's about uplifting the work of those who work with two of our most vulnerable populations when have you.

Seen something in the budget that is focused on EC and ESL like it hasn't happened yet even the even with the salary study from last year was It was supposed to bring up ECI we didn't even anyway we we did but we backtracked now we're here yeah and but in the new salary schedules there is differential for ECI absolutely yes let's acknowledge or the new proposed the new proposed but we haven't done it. Yet it's not current yeah we're asking for teachers but it's not in the March it's not in the March salaries isn't in the March.

Salaries ECI differential pay okay we haven't done it yet we haven't done anything yet even though we had an intention to for EC and ESL so I I think that you I'll say this I visited high school last year and the principal said that I asked about the Latin population and the principal said that probably since the beginning of the year this was mid year it had decreased by like 2% because kids left they stopped coming to school those are ESL kids in high school and we need to put money toward that I think I'm glad that Dae you know and all the people who came and spoke to us raised it up it's an I want to put it in our budget ask I don't need I don't need more information if if we go toward you know looking for I'm interested in you know hard to staff areas too but that's not just what this is about for me so that's it Miss Cardon I feel the same way.

I yeah for me it's not just about getting teachers in the classrooms it's about compensating them for the work that they're doing to serve these vulnerable students and this is not even enough and it's not even all of our EC staff that I would like to give the supplement to we say we're Equity focused we have an our strategic plan goals to improve outcomes for our marginalized students and yet we can't even dedicate $2 200ish dollars a month towards teachers that teach these students that just does does not make sense to me or to just reframe it as hard to staff position so I I still think this is what we need to be.

Doing Miss Vadar I'm also in support and I think that ultimately the funding is coming from the county right and so if they decide not to fully fund that would break my heart but the main thing is that adding this I mean folks have asked us to be very bold as bold as we can be you know the buck does not stop here the buck continues till it gets to the county and they actually give us a final approval so I'm in support I think this conversation is also highlighting for me the need to like do some work to understand what we want to address right if we're talking about addressing student outcomes and we want to increase compensation in order to help increase those outcomes then we got to look back at our data and look at all the outcomes that we need to improve so I I think it's just I the conversation is surfacing for me the work that kind of needs to be done on the other end to.

Consider the whole and consider are we would we also give you know math one teachers an additional supplement because that's an area where we need to grow right like I think what is the rationale behind how we approach these decisions is what I'm thinking about so I'm not and I'm not saying that I'm that's what's surfacing for me as we're having this conversation how do we get a rationale that feels good for the board to approach these decisions with that's what I'm thinking I I would support putting in a just a number ask and having the time to go back and think about how we approach this I think there's a question of is it just teachers or is it facilitators is it everyone because the new request came today about everyone who supports EC students and that shifts a lot and so how do we just like get some kind of Clarity on what we want to propose here and and that feels important to me so I.

Would prefer that number I think the other thing I also want to note for all of us this is an Ask we're putting numbers into a big ask the county will fund a dollar and then we going to have to come back on the other end and make decisions around how much that is based on the legislative budget and all of that so we're talking about individual items but really we're talking about a big pot that we will make decisions about on the other side of and so to me adding the 1 million or 1.5 gives is an opportunity to think about how do we increase our pots and talk about priorities too are you saying 1.5 for eesl and then decide what staff within that I would say 1.5 for staff to create a plan to address needs including eesl or harder staff positions and staff would need to come back with a plan on what that would look like okay so sorry that's what batina is suggesting.

The motion on the floor is for the $200 so we'd have to vote that down if we wanted to right so I'd like to call the question well can we we can amend it also yeah we can if you're open to amending it I think we're discussing our positions on why we may say yes or no to this this well the other thing that came up just in this conversation was that some districts have their supplement for ECB hire so I'm just not even sure what the most effective use of any funding we would get would be until our staff has some time to kind of dig in and and work on it so I don't think any I haven't heard anyone opposed to this this kind of idea but I do think it needs a little more time to to get the finessing of it that's all I think I think the idea to me of it feels watered down to to pass it on and then.

Say maybe it'll go to this group that did I want it to go to staff who directly support EC and ESO that's what I'm going to vote for and you know that's what I would like to see and I guess I I also feel like with looking at data and all that I mean I I think there's something too looking at like you know I think we should always look at outcomes and and what we get for the resources we put into something and all of that I've seen the data over time I think that's why this touches you this the the things we have heard and the ask that was brought to us just makees sense to me it do I don't need any more explanation I you know I I've seen I I've seen what these I've seen I've been a teacher I've been in there and you all have had your different contacts with schools we've seen the data in front of us so is someone interested in proposing a.

Friendly Amendment to the motion that would ensure that this includes EC and ESL staff and be a certain amount 1.5 million or something like that I think that's what I propos that staff would come up because the other question would be you know is it percent is a dollar how do we you know there's a lot of ways to consider this but I would like for staff to have time to think about it Miss Merchant and do you have a proposal for us how to how to move I I have two comments there's been a request to call the question which does require a vote with with closing debate the other recommendation I would make is that there is no such thing as a friendly Amendment with all due respect so I think if we are going to if we first call the question and have the vote you can do a motion to amend and anyone can do that and then you have to have a vote on whether you want to amend the.

Original motion and then we would vote on that motion thank you Miss Rogers it was you who called the question all right so the can you restate your original motion Miss Parton motion was to approve the budget as presented with the addition of the $200 a month supplement for EC teachers and ESL teachers 35 Staff can you can you say it one more time motion is to approve the budget as presented with the addition of the $200 month supplement for EC teachers and ESL.

Teachers okay EC teachers ESL teachers $200 supplement is what we're asking for which based on the numbers I think is about $800,000 190 92 plus 7 whatever that was so I pull Oho just kidding I'm way off all right based on current filled position that's based on fi position that's current fi positions so you I think that's like 9:15 9:15 we said yeah so I think I think that's where the notion of a million dollars to make sure that it was covering vacancies and and and we could it could be that the final number that that is at request could be depending based on looking at vacancies as well so a motion to amend Caroline can I make or not no we we have to call the question and so it closes debate Technically when someone calls the question when everybody has had an opportunity to already weigh in and everybody has I think in this case it immediately closes debate and requires it requires a vote.

Okay we gotta vote I'm just in my mind I'm like anyway okay let's do let's do a mo a vote all in favor say I I any opposed please use the same sign so it carries seven oh is what it sounds like looking just just to. See okay we can do another motion they would need to fail to do well so if I could just ask for a point of clarification you the vote now seemed to be in Ascent voting for the $200 supplement for eect and elll teachers and the amount is not part of that vote so staff will need to bring a final to you on what that amount would be and it doesn't I don't think it has to be a vote because you've already voted on it unless and and the and then and I guess the only the only thing I don't want to complicate this would be it do you want one amount or do you want amounts and options what is what do you think EC.

Teachers and elll teachers and and only teachers is what you said right only teachers she said. Teachers it would seem to me that Inspire there was there was another motion that you would like to make that an addition an additional consideration be given to X might be a motion that you could make that the board can consider that would give the administration more options so if you wanted to expand what it is that the what that you're considering or how you're considering it you might be able to add you might be able to do a separate motion to add that to what's what's brought back yes that is exactly what I was thinking I was trying to make a motion that we direct this the administration to bring back a plan for $1.5 million in additional funding to include additional supplemental pay not specifying how or what amount for EC ESL and other hard to staff positions with an equity lens is that fair I don't.

Know move by Miss berer second seconded by Miss Rogers we might have to watch it back to get more clarity and talk a little bit more about what that means for staff any other discussion question is that 100 1.5 million you is that the number you gave 1.5 million was the number is that on top of the already it's in place inclusive inclusive inclusive of so it gives more money 1.5 million and you're also given the condition that is for exploration of which positions I'm trying to broaden it I if we if we if I had been able to make discussion ear ier I would reflect that one of the worst votes I thought we took was when we randomly raised bus driver pay ahead of our staff doing the work so we meant well we we were desperate for bus drivers but we raised it ahead of what we had modeled out and could afford and so in doing good we did harm because perhaps this batch here we didn't think.

Of the resource teachers or the other people or the we just didn't think of everything because we didn't staff it out and so I want us to broaden doing good and the people that are that are doing exactly the equity work that I've heard everyone talk about and so that and and and I don't know that that one needs to be bound to a Splat $200 a month if you're an experienced teacher it might be we up the supplement like that might be a better longterm strategy to compete with other districts I I just want more flexibility for staff yeah I understand what you're saying and just in full context the bus driver raise was to keep people from going on strike as was happening in other counties so it was a necessity and then we decid to do the classifi study to be more inclusive classifi salary study I am interested in doing the this motion for our heart to build positions as I see it as an.

Incentive and I think we can mle out the details whether it's EC elll and what it looks like moving on from here I don't want to get caught in those details we're not going to decide that right now and we don't even know how much we're getting but I'm comfortable with moving forward with the 1.5 million inclusive I have a question then it then are we saying like it would be so EC is like 800,000 or whatever and then elll ESL teachers is like 200,000 I don't I don't even think we've I don't even think we have enough data we have this one FAQ that they kind of really quickly pull together my that's my current so like they may find that we didn't account for it right and I'm trying to give enough wiggle room to to actually be able to to do and include I think what you're asking though is staff to come they can bring back 200 but they also might bring other recommendations that might be better or.

Align better with the needs of the district that's what I'm hearing you could bring options $200 a supplement as one but maybe other options we the need to address these areas feels clear the okay my question was not about the specifics of the numbers just as an example but then are we saying like this covers everything we just voted on yes on and the the $200 and then whatever else but then how does that we just voted that it was so this is this is what I think I I need if I can just have this is what I think I need I need to bring based on the first vote we do need to calculate $200 for EC $200 for ESL and include the vacant positions and have a total number there if the second motion is voted on and passed we would then also bring to the board the use of the entire 1.5 million if that is the amount but I think that it should in the.

Minimum it would include for ESL and EC teachers would be $200 a month we could do more for experience more than 10 years or more than 20 years that would be the differentiator and and or other hard to staff positions that we would identify in the inter room but I think at a minimum it would include what you've already voted on thank you for that been moved and properly second any other discussion all those in favor say I I any oppos use the same sign passes a 60 thank you all for that rich discussion on the budget.

I if I'm I'll ask Council just to be sure they do need a motion to pass a the full board proposed budget with the additional 1.5 million as the other motions have included yes move approval of the superintendent's proposed bud with the addition of 1.5 million for previous motion close. Enough second moove by mpire second by Miss Carter Alton any other discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed pass 60 thank you all for that discussion next this budget will go to the board of Board of County Commissioners who have to have discussion and then in the slides there was also a presentation with the timeline so if people interested in hearing that please or looking at that please review the slides or the next item on our agenda is a Clos.

S closed session move we go to close session for reason stated on the agenda second it's been moved by Miss Le seconded by Miss Byer that we go into close sessions for the reasons stated on the agenda is there any other discussion all those in favor say I I I any opposed use same sign pass Six up for now in close.

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We're back in up open sessions superintendent Moore like to request approval of the action portion of the Personnel report move approval of the act action portion of the new higher Personnel report second second it's been moved by Miss Roger seconded by Miss Chavez any other discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed use the same sign and passes unanimously and with that we are adjourned e.