Good evening. Everyone the dur Public Schools Board of Education monthly meeting is now in session at this time we wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone who is joining us this evening 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 the interpreters for tonight are Martha Ramo illes and Vanessa pan Ramirez thank you for taking the time to join.
Us we will now have a moment of silence.
Thank you the next item on our agenda is agenda review and approval move approval of the agenda as presented second it's been moved by Miss Carda-Auten it by Miss Carter to approve the agenda is there any discussion all those in favor say I I I I the agenda passes unanimously 60 and the next item of our agenda is.
Closed session I move that we go into Clos session to consult with the attorney per General statute 14331 18-11 A3 second it's been moved by Miss Beyer seconded by Mr tab to go into close session to consult the attorney is there any discussion all those in favor say I hi it passes unanimously 60 we are now in closed.
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Good evening we are now back in Open.
Session the first item on our agenda tonight is cele or the next item on our agenda I should say is celebrations Miss Cooper.
Good evening chair Rogers members of the board superintendent Lewis DPS colleagues and Durham Community welcome back to the 2024 25 school year we are happy to have our yearr round students and our specialty High School Scholars back with us and we eagerly anticipate opening our doors to our Traditional School Scholars on Monday morning it's always a pleasure to share recognitions of our students and staff with you each month this evening the honoraries include participants in the Hank and Billy subber Aaron Young Scholars Research Institute some exceptional High School Scholars from Jordan and Riverside High Schools the southern School of energy and sustainability boy soccer team and members of the letters cohort who completed their training first I'd like to ask Dr wosa Tabb executive director for Equity Affairs and program evaluation and keandra Robinson Equity leadership and strategy coordinator to come to the podium to introduce our Capstone.
Scholars thank you for that Miss Cooper and good evening Dr Lewis DPS board and cabinet members and to our viewing Community it is my pleasure to present to you participants of the Hank and Billy sub Aaron Young Scholars summer Research Institute established through our partnership with the Samuel deoy cook Center on social Equity so we have a pretty big group today as you can see the program which is now evolved into a 4we summer opportunity was established in 2015 to provide dur Public School students with the training to enhance their writing research and presentation skills in alignment with our strategic plan and the Samuel deoy cook Center's Central mission to Foster academic Excellence this program engages scholars in the study of the causes and consequences of social economic and political inequity this year there are 59 DPS Scholars enrolled in the program we clap it up for the yes absolutely absolutely the program is divided into two cohorts cohort one which is made up of new students to the program who learn.
The fundamentals of conducting research and exploring various Equity issues culminating in the creation of a poster to highlight their work cohort 2 is made up of returning students who continue to advance their research skills focusing on conducting literature reviews news culminating in a final paper and presentation of their work at the Capstone event now during the Capstone event guests are invited and given a tremendous look into the impressive and thoughtful minds of DM's brightest students as they present their final posters and papers on various social Equity issues so before we recognize our amazing Scholars I would like to invite Miss Robinson Miss kandra Robinson our equity leadership and strategy coordinator and Dr Wendell right along with Miss Kennedy Ruff to the podium if they would like to share any additional remarks good evening everyone and good evening board and good evening to the scholars one thing that stands out to me from the program was just being an educator the number one thing that happens is that we are lifelong Learners.
And so certainly to the scholars than thank you so much for taking the position of the teacher we learned so much from you thank you for advancing Equity thank you for representing during Public Schools and we love you thank. You on behalf of the Samuel Deo cook Center on social Equity at Duke we are absolutely thrilled for this honor and I we cannot express our gratitude enough for the collaboration between the Durham Public School Systems Equity office in particular Dr Tabb has been just fabulous this program would not be possible without that leadership and we look forward to continuing this collaboration in the years to come we now have students who have transitioned into PHD programs and students who are also now part of Duke univ University and so this has just been a tremendous blessing to everyone and again we look forward to this tremendous collaboration in the years to come and I would certainly want to have the coordinator Miss Kennedy Ruff who is also an Alum of the program to kind of.
Share a little bit about what that experience is as she has transitioned from being an Alum now into being the coordinator for the program this has been an amazing experience for myself this program opened doors to learn about social equity and research and it gave me the platform to kind of learn about new things and be confident in speaking and presenting and so it's amazing to see these students come every summer eager to learn about social equity and research and they're so passionate about their projects and so that wouldn't have been able to happen without the amazing BPS teachers the amazing BPS students the amazing DPS.
Leadership so we will now recognize our Scholars and those who are present will walk the red carpet to meet our board members so first we're going to call cohort one so kind of get ready and then we'll follow up with cohort 2 so first we have cohort one Josephine Babar Babino from JD Clement Early College America Beretta from Riverside High School Zachary Blizzard from DSA Kennedy Brazil from Jordan Bernardine Deena Riverside High School mateline mateline FES Velasquez Northern High School Seline Gamino JD Clement Early College Amaya Garcia Cloud Northern High School Joshua ggas DSA and please forgive me if I mispronounce your last name Rosemary gry Smith Middle College High School Lynn jebby watt Northern High School PA Jones Middle College High School Sophia llamas Durham School of Technology Dante Lawson Northern High School halaya Lewis Jordan Amelia munz Jordan Leila Mahone Middle College High School Laya Phillips Riverside High School Cameron Pierce DSA Yetta zapa Jordan London Saxton Jordan fi shabo Northern Jaden ulong Northern and Jason White Hillside so this is cohort.
One cohort two so this group so that first group presented posters this year the second group presented paper and presentations so Maxwell gu DSA Camila llamas who's a recent Northern High School Lum annias safield DSA Alena assar JD Clement Early College Myra munz Jordan Matias Matthew Northern Mary masamba city of medicine Tamir baz city of medicine Pina toosa city of medicine olaton oasa DSA chance Thomas Hillside Kelsey Lucas DSA Leander shindel DSA Alani alcanta DSA Adam L romley DSA Kayla kissy city of medicine Kayla Kalia West Northern Genesis Crawford Riverside Alum Camille Vine JD Clement Early College so this is cohort 2 we would also like to recognize DPS instructors so we have m Jara Davis and Miss shamia.
Truitt so we also have a few of our Lum who are present today to celebrate with us so I'm going to turn things back over to Miss Kennedy Ruff we have Gabriel Armstrong we have Andrew Sean we have Katherine kot we have Rachel R and that is all so if we can clap one more time for our Scholars and Alum along with our DPS teacher so DPS definitely represented well. And so we also have one instructor who was not present Miss Harrell Goff who was also a teacher at Northern so thank you Miss castin and again thank you to our partners Dr Wright Miss Ruff thank you for your thank you to our DPS Scholars teachers Families Our cook Center Partners for your continued support as we continue to Foster and promote equity and excellence in our district and Community thank you so much.
Thank you Dr Tabb Miss Robinson Dr R Dr Wright and Miss Ruff again for your support of this very important initiative we know that we have some of the best and brightest scholars in Durham public schools I'd like to ask Laura parrot director of advanced academics to come to the podium to recognize a few of them Dr Laur great I love it good evening chair Rogers members of the board superintendent Lewis such a wonderful thing to say members of the DPS Community well first of all that last group was outstanding but I'm also delighted to introduce to you some outstanding students who took the act and scored a perfect.
36 if we think back to those days when we were taking the Act and the SAT and we were like just I need to do good a 36 is absolutely amazing for those colleges to be able to see them we do have seven students who received this honor unfortunately only three could be with us tonight but I do want to call the names of the four who were unable to be here Vivian Brennan from Riverside High School Robinson Edmonds from Riverside High School Andrew pipeling from Riverside High School school and Maddie rooper from Jordan high school now for the three that are here tonight we are so glad they could be here for us to recognize them as this is the first time we have ever brought these this recognition to the board and we're glad to start this tradition so Edmund armistad who is from Jordan High School.
Congratulations Mitchell Brennan from Riverside High School we did mention his twin sister a moment ago who also received a perfect 36 and we have Henry Hoff from Riverside High School as well congratulations.
Yeah and and superintendent's going to come and be a part of this picture great thank.
You.
Again many of our Scholars Excel inside and outside of the classroom we would like to invite principal jome Leathers of Southern School of energy and sustainability to recognize our scholar athletes from Southern principal. Leathers okay so I won't take much time because I want the spotlight on my coaches and my students but I'm Jerome Leathers on the principal of Southern School of energy and sustainability and I I'm must say that I'm very proud of our young men but also our soccer program because you know sometimes some of our Sports can sort of like price our students out but they found ways during the allseason and during the season to compete and build themselves up so the story that we know about now 23 and two that's just the tip of the iceberg but what I know is nine years are being beat up by other teams that were Premier teams in the state and just watch our kids being dejected but they kept coming coming out every year year after year but then also our.
Coaches have had some challenges too coach carington coach Foster and Coach Powers but they' B together they built a really strong program and this is just chapter three of what our young men are doing chapter four is coming this year I'm hoping so I'm going to turn it over to coach Caron and Coach Foster to talk more about the program and give highlights thank you all. Good evening m chairwoman a quick story I was very very pleased to find out that Miss Rogers was chairman of the board because a few years back her and her sister were the flower bear Flor bearers at my wife and I's wedding and we had the privilege of teaching her and her sister in a Bible study so full circle right somebody's getting old anyway so high school OT is a online service and a TV service for all of High School athletics in the state of North Carolina they take care of forums they do scores they do articles it's like the Bible for High School.
Athletics over the summer they had a contest and they had all sorts of awards they were handing out just to name a few Player of the Year upset of the Year record-breaking performance of the Year state playoffs team of the year so on so on Stuart Scott courage award one of the awards that they handed out where they had votes on was the Ser Southern Durham boy soccer team and our by line was the Spartans had their best season in school history with a 23 and two overall record and an undefeated 130 and one record in conference play it was the first time in school history Southern Durham won a conference title in the boys soccer and it came two seasons after a winless season and that that that season after covid we were rolling out 10 players maybe 11 you have to have 11 to play we were rolling out nine 10 players and as Mr Lether said we were taking it on the chin but our guys were undaunted they.
Kept pushing they kept working hard and we took a few beatings okay but on the other side of that our head coach had a horrific accident and quite frankly almost lost his life but he came back refreshed and strong and ready to go the next year and that next year after covid we made the state playoffs second round then this year back to the I reading here it says Spartan snapped carbo's 56 game conference winning streak to take home the title and and advanced all the way to the final eight of the state playoffs as well so that's our story that's what people got behind and we got to hurry up and get out of here because we got practice we got to match tomorrow so so they know what they know what time it is so we're looking for bigger and better things we hope to come back next year this time with a trophy a big trophy.
Thank thank you coach C thank you Mr leis my name is Foster CH I'm the head coach of Southern soccer I'm a man of many words and few words at the same time so I'll keep it the few words today to be honest I just want to you know thank you all for giving us the opportunity to you know serve in a district like during Public Schools secondly I just want to thank Mr Leathers I think think I walked on the campus of Southern maybe 10 years ago as a young man that was looking to just volunteer my time you I wasn't looking for any pay I just wanted to volunteer my time because I played soccer and I wanted to coach and they gave me the opportunity to do that and 10 years later we are here and this is the fruits of it so thank you Mr leis you've done a great job and I definitely appreciate you all right one thing is you know we know these young men they.
Come in day in and day out but it's the support from their parents at home and what they teach them at home that's that years their success our program turned around when we started getting their parents involved heavily right so that they can be student athletes not you know athletic students so since we've turned to the student athletes Mantra we've had a lot of these boys that that are excelling in the classroom and excelling on the pitch so I can't really thank the parents you know I there's a few parents here but for the ones that may see this thank you very much for allowing us to coach your kids with that said all I do is yell at these boys on the sideline I don't do the actual planing so they're the ones that did it they deserve all of their accolades so I'm going to just call them up and and come out here and just recognize him so we have James.
Fers Caesar halabi Joshua Torres Aila Chris Morales Carlos figeroa Gustavo Ramos Tito Osman pinada Freddy Sanz Kenny Ortiz John Lopez Omar kedo John Rony caros Samuel Hernandez Ron palano Juan.
Solis and yeah I would like to take this opportunity to recognize you know my assistant coaches I do have a day job and usually I'm scrolling in right at 6630 to coach and coach kingon here and Coach Powers they do majority of the work so I want to take this time to recognize them thank you very much coaches thank you.
Congratulations to these outstanding young men congratulations to their coaching staff well done on an outstanding season and we are certainly looking forward to this season finally I would like to invite Dr Linda uran executive director for elementary curriculum and instruction and Dr Sicily McMan director of humanities to recognize our exceptional teachers who have completed their letters training to enhance the quality of instruction that they provide our Scholars Dr Tan and Dr. McMan good good evening Dr Lewis and members of the board my name is Linda Taran I'm executive director for curriculum instruction in Durham public schools and I'm here and honored to be able to celebrate the achievement of 634 of our elementary teachers and coaches in completing their stat mandated language Essentials for teachers of reading and spelling or what we affectionally call letters for those of you who are new to your roles letters addresses four critical outcomes for Effective literacy instruction understanding the science of reading converting research to practice enhancing teacher Effectiveness in transforming instruction by.
Understanding the why behind the science and the evidence-based researchers research Educators can effectively know how to Aid students in learning how to read it's a two-year professional development program it's a huge commitment and we really appreciate the efforts of all of these Educators who have completed this training I'd like to also acknowledge the work of Dr sic mccre who is on the curriculum instruction team and has really facilitated that work amongst our teachers so Dr McMan we've also invited two school-based Educators to come and talk with you a little bit about the impact that letters has had on them and on their schools and their students Tanya Enoch who is serves as a teaching and learning coach at Oak Grove Elementary and a teacher Kayla Robert who teaches second grade right at at Mangum Elementary and they're going to talk a little bit about their experience with letters thank.
You good evening Dr Lois and members of the board again my name is Tanya Enoch and I am the one of the teacher and learning coaches at Oak Grove Elementary School and when I was asked to come here to give some celebrations I today I had a a conversation with teachers we just talking about letters and the look on their faces when we talked about letters and we talked about we can't talk about letters without talking about you fly okay both together has definitely improved the instructional practices of our teachers they were so excited about how their kids have come to them this year kids are coming to them reading identifying letters and knowing their sounds and able to decode words and the enthusiasm of our third and second grade teachers they told me to tell you thank you they were so excited because they see even though like Dr karyan said it's a lot of work with letters they it helped to change their mindset on how to teach reading.
Letters taught us how students learn to read and write it taught us it helped us to identify Why students have difficulties with reading right and it also showed us what to do when students have difficulties so teachers are over the moon excited about the new learning that they have received and we're continuing receiving because letters was a lot so it's not it's something that we're going to continue to dive into and and massage and and learn more from all the learning that we have but it's helped with lesson planning teachers are now intentional about where's where where students need to be where they are we use the screeners I can't say enough about the learning that I've received as a coach I feel I'm more prepared to help teachers teach students and I can't say and our students are over the moon excited with you fly we have a 30 minute intervention every day where we've trained our teachers we've trained our assistant our instructional assistants we have trained support teachers we have support.
Staff and we've also trained our Behavior everybody at o gr is trained everyone is trained on how to teach students to read and it has made a huge impact because kids don't want to miss you fly and teachers don't want to miss you fly we thought our admin was kind of crazy last year that we all have to learn this but we're also grateful that she had that Vision to get us all involved so now whoever is in that classroom they all have the ability to to teach students how to read so thank.
You good evening everyone Dr Lewis and members of the board thank you for having me tonight my name is Kayla Roberts and I'm proud to be a second grade teacher at Mangum Elementary I'm also a DPS graduate I began my educational career at Mangum and then I graduated from northern understanding the science and evidence-based research behind how children process language and learn to read has changed the way that me and my team teach for example we have added explicit vocabulary instruction into our daily schedule where students use graphic organizers to understand the meaning of new words secondly during our book studies we have implemented the story framework provided by letters to guide discussions and to be very purposeful with our time spent in those discussions we have completely changed and revamped our word walls and and turn them into sound walls our students are using sound boxes to mat phon names with concrete manipulatives as taught in letters starting with repeating the word then using the manipulative to break the.
Phoneum apart and finally writing the letters that represent that sound another example and it's a key component of our phonics lesson that we do every single day has been our phonological awareness warmup where we have implemented syllable deletion and initial and Final samp substitution in a teacher-led exercise we ask students to repeat a word that we say we change the first sound to a different sound and repeat the word again as we move throughout the year students learn to manipulate the initial consonant and final sound and then eventually the middle sound in words these changes among many others are just some of the very small examples of how our time spent completing letters has guided and changed our literacy instruction therefore it's kind of flowed into every other subject area as well thank you for your time and for taking an interest in what we're learning and continuing our education and how we're implementing it to benefit the students that we serve thank.
You thank you much to Dr urian and Dr McMan for their leadership in this initiative and thank you so much to these amazing instructional leaders for the work that they are doing every single day to impact our students learning thank you Miss Dr Lewis would like to sh yes thank you so much Madam chair thank you Sheena but I just want to say to the educators of 634 Educators that have taken on the commitment to complete the Letter's training I know how intensive it is many have likened it to a like you getting another degree really and so the level of commitment the time that you have taken to invest in our Scholars is certainly appreciated and it will pay dividends you know this is truly our Equity work in action when our students are able to read on grade level that's our Equity work in action this is a huge investment so to this board thank you for your commitment to ensuring that our teachers are equipped with the skills.
To enhance their ability to effectively teach our Scholars reading so thank you so much for all of you your work on letters training thank. You our student of the month teacher of the month and employee of the month presentations will resume next month this concludes our celebrations this evening thank you thank you so much Miss. Cooper Dr Lewis it's time for the superintendent update here we go I think I should have some slides coming up here in just a. Moment leing Madam chair members of of the board members of the DPS community that are both present or watching online it's certainly wonderful to finally be here in person to begin my journey here as as superintendent of Durham Public Schools I will tell you that the last the past nine days have been exciting they've been busy but most importantly rewarding in terms of connecting with our staff our Scholars administrator staff community members and our our press Corps before before I get started into my remarks I do want.
To take a moment to acknowledge and thank publicly Fred Davis this is his last week with us and so I certainly want to lift him up and appreciate him he's leaving as soon as I'm coming in he's not I don't think he's in here tonight but I just wanted to be on record that we definitely thank him for his years of of of service so thank you so much to Fred. Davis also want to take a moment to share that on tonight's agenda we were supposed to look at our staff compensations teachers classified staff and and administrators it is my commitment and it's the board expectation that we get that right and so we want to bring that back in September when we feel that all of our tees are double crossed and all of our eyes are are double dotted we owe that to our staff in terms of ensuring one that we're investing in them and but most importantly to make sure that that is right and so thank you board for.
Allowing us to bring that back to you at our next board meeting so this brief report really includes I don't know if it's going to be brief or not but we will see it includes details about my whereabouts since arriving and it will introduce the work that I look forward to doing on behalf of the students whose potential definitely is exponential and I don't think it's working so we'll just go next slide all right so the first few slides really provide snapshots of of of those that I've had an opportunity to meet and starts with our Scholars I when coming in I really wanted to get out and and meet our why the reasons that I'm here and the reasons that all adults are all adults are here and so I wanted to be around them and and and just engage in the teaching and learning process talking to Educators spending time with principles and just really learning about the district and understanding DPS you can go on through the through.
The next slid just kind of highlights some of the excitement that I observed during my first few days the next slide as well meeting our amazing Educators who are dedicated to our mission next slide so this particular image here many of you know I'm from tallad Alabama and not there's not much in tallad tallad Alabama but there is a a three campuses the that make up the Alabama Institute for death and blind I come from a family of individuals that worked at those schools and so they know sign language and so I was able to share a little bit of my sign language skills with this scholar here and he was just so excited that I was able to communicate with him and if you're not familiar with American Sign Language and and our individuals who who may be deaf they have to sign their they have to sign your name for you so my name is Anthony so young scholar gave my name is is Anthony and so it was a huge.
Win there for me just to be in in in his his presence as well as our amazing American Sign Language interpreters next slide again just meeting administrators in our schools next slide another principal next slide okay also had the pleasure to connect with sever of our community members whether it was was a brief conversation at the meeting greet or in-depth dialogue conversations certainly encouraged and excited about the continued collaboration here we see some of our County Commissioners and a City Commissioner next slide had an extensive conversation with Dr Kimberly soell at who's our County Manager are really excited about the continued partnership and definitely want to thank our County Commissioners for investing in Duran Public Schools next slide had also had the opportunity to meet with Dr Vincent Price Chancellor at Duke looking forward to continuing and expanding our partnership there Gentleman on the right is JB buckon had an opportunity to meet with him and also had an opportunity to visit his campus today along with I think Mr Jeffers with.
The middle college Jefferson or Jeffers with the middle college Evans okay with the so I had an opportunity to tour the entire campus and really appreciative of our partnership with with Durham Tech and middle college and learned that middle college has a 100% graduation rate and so they have currently 161 students their capacity is 200 so we have some more seats to definitely invest in next next year next slide more images from the no that from Murray marenberg open house there next slide also the media obviously is is a huge partner and can be a huge partner with us and so the more that we're able to collaborate with with them to continue to tell our story is really hugely important so huge thank you to our office of public affairs for facilitating these interviews next slide August 12th Not only was an important milestone for U Duran Public Schools but also for me officially being sworn in to lead this district and hugely honored to serve this District to.
Serve the community and again thank the board for the opportunity and for entrusting entrusting to work with you and and our DPS work family to fulfill our critical mission of ensuring that all of our Scholars reach their Limitless potentials but most importantly ensuring that during Public Schools will become the premier School District in the country as we continue to strive for excellence next slide it's also amazing hear the stories of our Duran Public Schools Employees I was interviewed by durhan magazine today and I was sharing that people employees that are here in Duram are here because they want to be here and because they thoroughly believe in the mission of educating our our Scholars and so here on the screen is the amazing Freddy Rogers a young man that's beginning his get this 64th year driving our school buses 64.
Years and so youan you can imagine the many lives that he has touched every day for 64 years and so this was I actually met him when I talk to all of the bus drivers and the safety bus AIDS or bus monitors at their opening event and so again and I sh what I shared with them was they are sometimes the first adult faces that many of our Scholars see so the amazing power that they have to make or either break a child's Day by what they say or sometimes what they don't say and so again thank you to our our our bus drivers next slide nutritional substance is essential to academic success and so we cannot continue to say enough about this year free breakfast and free lunch say it with me free breakfast or free lunch.
And sometimes a little shoe tying as well in the cafeteria but that will be served every day for our Scholars free to our families and so we encourage families and students to take advantage of this service to ensure that every student is fueled for Success next slide we also want our Scholars to be fully focused because our academic offerings are being strengthened with this District growing together program that is launched this year and as you know we are excited that every Elementary scholar will have daily stem critical thinking skill skills instruction Global language and arts next slide we welcomed as I mentioned our traditional calendar staff back to their schools this week and on Tuesday our bus drivers convene for a Transportation safety review and to kickoff the year our transportation department has done critical work to ensure a successful first week of of the school year and when I was had an opportunity to toour the facility the Precision that they take to ensure that all of our buses are safe.
For our Scholars and even from ensuring that reflector tape is on every single bus things we may take for granted that's a huge can be a huge safety risk for our Scholars so thank you to our transportation team I will say transportation is making final routing updates and we'll continue to do so as we Gear Up for the first day of school I got a report today that all routes should be in I checked the app I have two students that will be riding the bus and their routes are in so thank you to our transportation team for working diligently to get all those routes again we encourage encourage All Families to download the edul log Parent Portal app for any bus updates on your child additionally DPS has a transportation hotline that number is 91 9560 bu USS again 91 9560 bus no we school system we do know how to spell bus but for the purpose of this number 560 2877 insuring students arrive to school.
On time and safely is a top priority Transportation will continue to improve and enhance its services to to students along while maintaining its efficiency and safety standards so we do ask our families to as we do every beginning of the school year give a little Grace there'll be more traffic on the roads where it's carpool and bus lanes U please make sure that you're stopping when those stop signs are out and just again as our bus drivers continue to get in the habit of these these stops and I learned we have 7,000 stops s in this district and so again you can imagine the first day of school there there will be some bus delays I'm going to save that here so you hear it there will be some bus delays but as time go we will definitely be more efficient again our our DPS Transportation has launched its love the bus 100 program designed specifically to recruit and recruit and train new bus drivers we have two Recruitment and training Specialists ready to prepare.
Individuals to drive our future we know there are many of our community who are eager to support our Scholars and this is a perfect opportunity to do so so you want to get involved what better way than to drive a bus for our Scholars and so today we hosted a you I'm sorry you can go to the next slide today we hosted a day of professional development and fellowship this day was designed to give our instruction leaders a boost before opening day on Monday and commitment to our support and resources that they need to be successful then lastly we look forward to welcoming nearly 500 students to our new Murray massenberg Elementary school on Monday as we begin the traditional calendar year I do want to say thank you so much to this community for the warm welcome that my family and I have received and during public schools and thank you to this board again and the community we certainly look forward to establishing our Our Roots here yeah so look.
Forward to continued conversations with each one of you thank you. Thank you Dr Lewis welcome to Darren Public Schools colleagues we're at the point.
On our agenda to approve the minutes from June 27. 2024 move approval of the minutes from June 27th second it's been moved by Miss berer and second date by Miss Umstead to approve the minutes for June 27 2024 is there any discussion all in favor say I I it passes unanimously thank you 7 z all right the next item on our agenda is general public comment we have quite a few pages of people here to give public public comment I'm going to do a quick review of the rules.
As we approach public comment first please state your name if speaking for an organization please state your name and the name of the organization second speakers are asked to present their comments in one minute when the yellow light comes on you will have 30 seconds left to start winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep which indicates your time is up complaints about named staff students or parents should not be voiced in Open session however we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education safety of students or to the operation of the school system finally board members will listen carefully and consider the comments but we do not engage in discussion with speakers we have a house full tonight y'all and we're very appreciative and we want to hear from every single person colleagues we've been at this a while so we know but we want to make sure that we're listening and thoroughly thoughtfully thinking through all the comments that are being shared with.
Us my friends that are here to give public comment we appreciate you coming we ask you to address the board and to to do so with respect without naming any particular person as part of your comments and that I want to remind everybody this public meeting is being conducted in accordance with General statute 143 31817 and so we want everything to go nice and smoothly tonight our first comment is from Mary copac one minute one minute everybody gets one minute the light will come on at 30.
Seconds the next comment is John hajes CLE and then Jasmine mcke so if y'all come and for a little line there that'll help us get through this a little.
Quicker good evening I'm Mary copac otherwise known as Nona and that's how I come I come speaking as a grandmother I'm coming to ask you all to listen to the people who know far more have done far more research and but are just as committed as I am to the well-being of all of the children in our district I came across a quote it really struck me from Senator Ralph waro and I'll just paraphrase I need my neighbor's children to be okay that my so that my children will be okay I need all of my neighbors children to be okay I need everyone on both sides of the track to be okay let's think about the children who.
Need thank. You hi my name is John Hodes cople with Durham for DSA the decision before you is straightforward is it worth $50 million the cost of renovating two elementary schools supported by the voters less than two years ago for the marginal improvements of a new DSA in North Durham that it might have over a transformed DSA in the heart of Durham we want to stress Four Points first things have changed significantly since you started down this path second it's not too late to Pivot and save that $50 million third the community option can cons serve dsa's programming not as well in every respect as a new campus we've always been clear about that but better than the new campus and others and fourth things important to you from more elementary school capacity to more prek classrooms to addressing your maintenance black log are all directly immediately and negatively impacted by building a fancy new DSA thank you thank you g silver follow I'm sorry Jasmine McKey I'm sorry thank.
You my name is Jasmine McGee and I graduated from Hillside High School 25 years ago this year and I'm the I am proud to send my children to public schools in Durham I speak tonight with the support of many community members to ask the board to name a DPS building for former mayor and county commissioner William B Bell we present a petition that has been signed by over 300 people supporting this ask supporters include Durham governmental and Community leaders principes teachers School support personnel as well as parents of DPS students past and present mayor Bell was critical to the creation of what is now Durham public schools he advocated for the merger of the city and county schools to improve equity for all students in Durham that advocacy caused him to lose his re-election bid in 1994 as DPS now leads as an equity Champion across North Carolina schools it is only appropriate that we honor a leader who helped us to get there we ask for this naming honor so that people.
Living and visiting Durham know about mayor Bell's contribution to equity in our school system and Community thank you when. Silver followed by D dell Evers and Karen cruss I apologize if I'm pronouncing anybody's name wrong good afternoon good evening I'm Gwen silver and I'm a member of Partners GRS crime district one we meet on the third Saturday of every month at Holton career and Resource Center so we're finding out at the past meeting that the fire alarm doesn't work at Holton and in addition to that the fire inspection reports have been compromised I am very alarmed about this and then when I went online to look at who was the fire marshal we finding out that he has no longer with dur Public Schools but there were a lot of comments that he made warning the school board about inspections fire inspections and that have been compromised as well as reports that need to be done the fire alarms that need to be serviced and so I'm asking you to make sure that the.
Fire alarms in every school including Holton it service and the reports are accurate thank you thank.
You hello my name is Dale Everts I'm a DPS parent former D my wife and I are both former DPS parents and I'm here to speak on behalf of the solar schools team of the dur the Durham chapter of the climate reality project first on behalf of our volunteer team I wanted to welcome Dr Lewis and to the best school system in the state we look forward to working with you and your staff to save money for DPS while providing a healthy environment for students and educating a new generation of clean energy leaders second we appreciate the hard work the wisdom and the foresight of the board for continuing to support DPS energy coner ation program led by Aaron Pope Mr Pope and Mr hope and his assistant Chelsea Simmons have done an outstanding job over the past two years to implement the board's 2021 resolution to transition DPS to renewable energy thank you a press followed by Lucia Herington.
And then an van. Hoy good evening my name is Karen prce I've lived in Durham for nearly 40 years and I'm the mother of a DPS graduate I'm also the chair of the 100% committed campaign for Durham which is an initiative of the climate reality project and along with my colleague Dale imagine a city where solar where school power outages are a thing of the past where students are not breathing diesel fumes from school buses and missing classes because of asthma where students are prepared with stem and CTE for good paying jobs in the 21st centur energy sector and related Industries where students are excited about learning and about the natural world how it works things they see every day the power of the Sun the wind and gain an understanding for how they can help themselves and their communities be resilient in times of adverse weather events that we.
Experience thank you thank you so much please feel free to email your comments or leave them if you run out of time for us to review luia Harington hello my name is Lucia and I am a rising Junior at Durham School of the Arts being downtown is what makes DSA DSA some of my best school memories include walking to hang out with friends at Central Park before going back to campus to attend a chorus or orchestra concert or attending third Friday Art Walk to look at Durham Galleries and talk with dur Durham artists when I was on the track team last year we would run around East Campus and on South lby Creek Trail ask any student at DSA and they will tell you more and more ways they value being downtown that is just one example of what was not asked of the community what was not listened to unfortunately there was no opportunity for community members to share their opinions ideas and concerns as a stakeholder before the.
Newsa campus design plan was finalized please listen to us it is not too late to be fiscally responsible to be Equitable and to be engaged with the community thank you for all you do thank. You Ann van ho Von Hol van Hol yeah my name is Ann Von Holly and I seed my time to Matt copac Matt copac and then Julia borley Brown good evening Matt copac durford DSA so it's clear that there are different philosophies on how to approach a massive development like the new DSA when DPS says that engagement has been done it means that there were a couple meetings with folks who were at DSA a few years back it seems that the facilities conditions assessment plays a huge role in ruling how all this works which means doing one project at a time based on a ranking working through a punch list buildings are seen as physical infrastructure that house people and the bigger picture doesn't come into play with der for DSA it's not just.
About one school or a punch list it's also about history the mission of the school sustainability livability accessibility and a sense of place we don't believe school buildings are just walls and ceilings and we believe these decisions have bigger implications and therefore demand a higher standard in how they're approached the fact is DPS and all of you on the board are developers not dissimilar from the private developers I see come before me as a member of the Planning Commission the only difference is that you're bigger while it's beyond me that this sort of decision takes place absent broader Durham planning oversight the fact is that you have the power to knit communities together with livable growth or tear them apart with sprawl and card dependent congestion you have the power to build the most expensive School in North Carolina history or fund a great DSA in place and renovate two additional elementary schools including where my kids go at Club Boulevard Elementary so when we talk about engagement it's more than just a couple.
Meetings from people at one school if DSA is a test that we can see a bigger picture think systemically use our imagination and be responsible with the resources we have before us I fear we're failing this test but it's not too late the testing period is not up we still got our pencils in our hands and you have the power to CH change this starting tonight thank you so. Much thank you good evening my name is Julia borelly Brown and I speak tonight as an individual citizen and not for an organization as I mentioned to you at the June meeting when I appeared before you I I still believe you are not in compliance with North Carolina General statute 115 d521 c a letter was sent to you today by an attorney and I hope that you will take to heart what was pointed out in in that letter and not expend any additional funds on the new DSA project until you are in compliance with state law thank.
You okay thank you J Jane wheeler Billy Rosen Christy.
Clen hello hello my name is Jane wheeler retired teacher in with dorham Public Schools I am dismayed that you refuse to consider the community option from The Architects and Engineers working with Durham for DSA with this option DSA can stay in the heart of the Arts culture downtown where overwhelmingly students can I ask you to get closer to the mic please I start. Over hello my name is Jane wheeler I am a retired teacher in Duram Public Schools I am dismayed that you refuse to consider the community option from The Architects and Engineers working with Durham for DSA with this option DSA can stay in the heart of the Arts culture downtown where overwhelmingly students and parents in community wanted to stay this option clearly shows how DSA can be not just renovated but transformed with little disruption to the students this option clearly shows how there will be a savings of $50 million over building the new school with this option two elementary schools can be renovated where.
Is with student numbers declining a new school now is a fool hearty expense and an exorbitant waste of our hard-earned money please be good stewards of our money and renovate for a DSA DSA stay thank you. Millie Rosen longtime te teacher longtime speaker seating to Christy clim Christy clim physical therapist back again but handing off to Micah good evening my name is Micah Hunter tweet Meer and I am currently serving as the Durham Association of Educators president this week marks the start of my 17th year as a science educator and Union member in Durham public schools in May Dae achieved majority member density in DPS we reached majority density through a historic campaign one of the largest of its kind in the South Durham was poised to push back on the Jim Crow era laws that deny workers rights by formally recognizing Dae as the employee recogniz representative organization or ER today we are still hopeful and determined that basic workers rights will become a reality moving for past this frustrating hesitation we continue.
To ask for formal Union recognition as the legitimate ER and meet and confer policy formally recognizing daa Dae as the ER and in acting a meet and confer policy will benefit the entire DPS Community the meet and confer process does not remove power from the board through meet and confer process Union Educators and staff are formally provided a seat at the grown-up table we are the ones on the ground level creating the conditions for our students to learn and Thrive we want and need to be at the table to help problem solve and co-create school experiences that better for students lives and educational outcomes Administration and management need us and our perspectives in the room if wishes of collaboratively creating learning conditions spark fear or concern we ask for those fearful of allowing education professionals with the goal of supporting the students in their classrooms to engage in a deep personal reflection if leaders are not willing to share responsibilities with their workers trust will never be repaired a Mee and confer policy allows.
For transparency and abundance of research research shows transparency makes workplaces run better transparency and Trust are especially for critical for DPS right now we continue to ask for Budget transparency we believe that the necessary level of transparency and accountability will only be possible once DPS recognizes our majority Union and commits to partnering with us as we continue to push for a meet and confer policy that will achieve these goals we urgently need answers to specific budget questions we are beginning the year with unacceptable levels of uncertainty almost half our staff are at.
Work Daniel km Amanda Bowers and Kenya Lawrence Daniel kimp Daniel km Dae almost half of our staff are back at work unsure about their pay for this year we understand that some uncertainty at the beginning of the school year has historically been the norm last night we emailed Dr leis send the board our ongoing questions regarding the budget pay debacle and comparisons between Hill and Mr crutchfield's recommendations many of these questions linger from February such as what is CPS plan for incorporating steps and years of experience into classified pay schedules in other words what can classified employees expect about future compensation we feel it is more critical than ever that we are able to hire and retain staff with full clarity about what they can expect to be paid Dae supported DPS in asking for the largest budget increase ever even though over 7 27 million in additional funds is historic we are not naive and thinking that it's enough to fund every initiative or fix every broken AG but we.
Do want to make sure that our funds are being honestly allocated in May I attended a public statement with this charge it is not too late thank you thank you Amanda. Bowers good evening my name is Amanda Bowers and I pr proudly serve as our DPS elementary schools our DPS elementary schools as a curriculum specialist recently I've been made aware of an inequitable pay situation occurring in our district when I heard DPS was going to honor Masters pay for our teachers I was thrilled finally our certified staff were going to be recognized for all their hard work and they do and be paid fairly for their degrees I myself have been have been waiting 9 years to be compensated for my Master's Degree up until now classroom teachers and instruction support staff have received the same bonuses pay increases as they are paid on the same teacher scale but only after emailing to inquire about their raises are staff and some of these instructional support positions realizing that they're excluded from.
This opportunity some of these are are teaching and learning coaches who serve as instructional leaders in their buildings and support teachers and they will make about the same salary for 11 months work that our teachers will in 10 months I'm grateful for the board thank you thank you Kenya Lawrence good evening my name is Kenya Lawrence I stand before you as your dedicated 612 math curriculum specialist and a veteran educator who is deeply committed to the success of our students and the support of our teachers I am asking for Equitable pay as one of many paid on the teacher and instructional salary schedule our role is essential and requires Master's pay we collaborate with teachers and administrators to design and Implement programs that are aligned with state and federal content standards directly supporting our district strategic goal that 90% of DPS students will meet or exceed standards for academic growth by 2028 curriculum specialist teaching and learning coaches and instructional leaders on the teacher and instructional staff salary schedule are at the heart of this.
Mission today alone our team supported over 1,800 teachers and instructional staff via professional learning experience it's important that we retain qualified professional staff thank you thank you elen J sinowski. Katie mconnell that elen coming Wilma Oliver I'm elen jasinowski and I'm seaing my time to Katie mconnell thank you I had six minutes prepared tonight so I apologize this is just I'm gonna wing it it's me riffin Dr Lewis it's very nice to meet you Miss Goff and you welcome to Durham Public Schools tab Mr wendle tab we are opening up a new monory school that we were promised all of the things and you know what we're starting with nothing nothing last Friday we received our first shipment of monory furniture maintenance will not even come to help put put it all together until we've received every shipment we've been scrunching when I say we I mean Dr Rathbone Dr Van AER Miss Miller myself volunteering up my own personal School Furniture to staff members to make this Vision this growing together.
Together this epic thing that this county has promised us you've given us garbage literal garbage from Surplus Dr Lewis I will make this promise to you we will make this roll out a success it won't be because of anyone in this District it'll be because of the passion and the love of our community that has been in existence at Little River for decades this will be a success I promise you everybody here in this room I've been here so many times we all share the same why our why is the same Dr Lewis what we need from you is the how everyone here has Visions for what Durham Public Schools can be we F what we lack is when the brain has the idea the follow through Like It Gets Lost in Translation I don't know where it is because every person that I have spoken to personally in these rooms has the same heart I do for these children and our vision thank.
You Wilma Oliver Mr James. Chavis I was throwing a curveball as well because I saw on a website I had three minutes so I would do my best I'm here just speaking my name is WMA Oliver I'm just a citizen today speaking on behalf of the fact that I've been reading these articles in a nin Street Journal one which just came out today saying that Duram School of the Arts will be the most expensive public middle or High School built in a triangle area and more likely the most expensive in the state I see that the land is being cleared for the New Durham School of the Arts and not even taking a moment to PO to look at the possibility of reducing the cost in the meantime the safety of our children and our staff members are on the line with these schools that have gotten deferred maintenance over and over again so the blood or the injuries will be on your hand if it's not fixed so please listen thank you.
Good afternoon as many you know my name is James jaus and I don't follow y'all rules because y'all rules are liars just y y'all lie to us y'all expect us to come up here and give y'all respect how can we give y'all respect when y'all do not give us respect we are the citizens of D and we deserve respect from every last one of you even the new ones you know why because we pay y'all salaries and y'all don't think that much about us then guess what I'm coming I'm going to be a fly on your shoulder your neck or whatever because guess what Lyon will not get you from me because three of you sent me a letter to my email saying all three of y'all was going on vacation but one changed the mind the other two didn't one called me that's Joy she called me and she didn't tell me the new meaning of this thing.
So thank you you can leave him with our clerk thank you I'm going back down you see how he want to be but ask him do he come out not community and see how y'all don't do our community work and y'all new folks get aware that I'm not through with y'all because guess what you I hope you understand that they have lied to you with what they said they're G to give you the. Best Brian Callaway laurren Artin Dora. Baldwin I'm Brian Callaway you my time to Lauren s thank.
You one.
Second hi everybody my name is Lawrence Artin I'm a DPS parent a new a new school year always brings me hope hope that the year will be better than the last and there's a lot in this room that makes me hopeful superintendent Moore whoever you may be I'm grateful for your service to Durham and I'm hopeful that the work you've done to increase transparency and accountability continues superintendent Lewis when I hear you talk and you did it tonight I notice you Cent our students and that makes me hopeful too I'm hopeful that you along with with our new board chair and co-chair and new board members can take our district in a different direction that gives DPS students the skills that they need to succeed in life but we have a long way to go before DPS becomes every family's First Choice best choice I want to challenge you all on this board to think critically and to ask questions not just privately but publicly too asking questions shows the.
Public that you are validating what school-based staff parents and students are saying asking question rebuilds trust with the community asking questions is a way to make better policy when you see numbers in a table that don't mathematically sum up to the total ask questions when you see projections that student enrollment is increasing when all other evidence suggests that it's declining ask questions when something doesn't seem right ask questions asking questions doesn't mean spirited it's governing and actually that's why we elected you descent and debate are part of a healthy democracy it's how we get good policy you all are here in this room regularly for seven or eight hours at a time how did we get here it didn't happen overnight a few of you have been on this board for quite a while if you aren't ready to govern I challenge you to take a bold and historic move step aside and let people who are ready to ask questions in the name of better policy.
Give it a go DPS to is better thank. You Baldwin followed by Bob Chapman hi my name is Dara Baldwin I'm an alumni of DSA while I was a student there despite the clear age of the building we all found joy in exploring downtown during our formative years and downtown was much less lively than I had friends and classmates who took full advantage of the proximity to downtown amenities like the bus station the reality center after school program the Durham county library and they also had easy access to part-time jobs in bright leaf and on nin Street the new location will essentially strand these virgin and youths in North Durham not far from where I grew up making it extremely difficult for them to access previously easy to access amenities it will disproportionately affect students who walk to school to get home ride the bus to get ride the go to the bus station to get home and it will affect parents who have unreliable transportation and this will further strain an already.
Taxed School busing system in dur okay thank you Bob Chapman my name is Bob Chapman I build walkable neighborhoods I have two children who are alumni of DPS the choice of Duke Homestead is a very poor choice it's not going to be a wonderful place for for the school the place for the school is now is a wonderful place one of the ways that we measure vibrancy and excitement of a neighborhood is found on a website called walk score the walk score for Duke Homestead is 11 400 400 North Duke Street 94 Walker Paradise 64 good Transit 80 very bikable a few months ago US News listed the 25 best high schools public high schools in America 24 of those are in downtown or Urban node areas and I have for you a print out of those schools that shows where they are thank you if you'll leave that with our clerk if you'll leave that in the back with our clerk I guess.
Not col that concludes public comment for tonight. Yep attorney Malone could you respond to the letter that was referenced dur in Public Comment please yeah yes I'm happy to respond to it we did receive a copy of a letter right before I left the office the this afternoon I did review the letter and I will tell the board that the board is in fact 100% in compliance with 115 c521 c and has two separate sets of requirements one is that the board when you were considering building a new school to replace an existing School building that you not invest any money in the new building unless you submit to the state superintendent and the state superintendent submits to the North Carolina historical commission an analysis that compares the cost and feasibility of building a new building and of renovating the existing building and that clearly indicates the desirability of building the new building this has been done you've submitted it to to the state superintendent's office the state superintendent's office has confirmed to.
Your staff and me actually that they have likewise submitted it to the North Carolina historical commission so that is all that is required to meet that requirement you have done that and that is complied with the section does have a a separate requirement which they highlighted in the letter which says say that no board shall invest any money in any new building until it has developed plans based upon consideration of the state board's facilities guidelines submitted these plans to the State Board for's review and comments and reviewed the plans based upon consideration of comments it receives from the state board this occurred over a year ago those the state board's facilities guidelines are available you know online those are available to Architects across the state you that information was available to your architect it was incorporated into plans those plans were then submitted to the state board for review the the response that staff and the architect received those respon that response was considered by the architect and incorporated as necessary so you have.
Also complied with that prong that part the part that's highlighted in the letter you actually complied with you know over a year ago so the board is fully in compliance with 115c 521c thank you so much Mr Malone colleagues we are at the consent agenda of our consent items of our agenda madam M chair I would move.
Approval of the consent agenda items a b c d e f and. G about. Each H is not in my board docs but I've clearly would love to move that I'll double check H second it's been moved by Miss berer and seconded by Emily Chávez to approve the consent agenda items letter A through H is there any further. Discussion all those in favor please say I I I it passes unanimously 70 the consent agenda items thank you all the next item on our agenda is the superintendent's 100 day entry plan not on.
Here okay all right it's a Title Nine a chief of staff presentation as we get started I want to on behalf of the board express our appreciation for all the work for all the presentations that will be made tonight we know you all have worked hard to bring the best presentations to us and in front of us we will move through the agenda expeditiously and ask our questions and try to cut back on how much much we are thanking you all but we really do appreciate your work Dr Lewis Madam chair members of the board in the Durham Community what we are presenting today for the board's adoption are regulations and procedural Authority for staff to implement Title 9 and the changes that the Biden Administration has proposed as Mr Malone shared on August 8th there is some pending litigation and Duram Public Schools also is in the process of seeking additional feedback and how Title 9 is implemented and Duram with the new regulations and so with that we are presenting for the board's.
Review and approval of these temporary regulations to inform staff that they are to follow the Biden regulations to the extent we are complying with the law as opposed to the previous regulations issued by the DeVos Trump Administration and we would caution the board to some extent to not seek too much legal advice regarding like potential litigation Etc as that would need to be take place in Clos session but as regards policy overarching policy questions Mr Malone and I are happy to respond and we will be bringing you actual policies in the future board.
Members No so at the the last meeting board members a board member asked that we take a look at the language that the the ncsba policies and to to see if we could make that more like a regulation so it would not appear that the board was adopting a policy we did take a look at that and created for each of the three documents that were originally presented as as draft policies where what we're calling temporary regulations and we track changes against the version that the board had at the last meeting and and the only primary changes are in any areas where it referred to it as a policy we we included regulation language instead and we we deleted some information that also would have had these appear to be more of a policy so we believe that what is now attached if the board were to adopt the prees as written would certainly now be more of a regulation than a policy thank you misson yes thank you that was my.
Comment so I appreciate it it's really clear here that it's regulations and temporary versus the policy piece so thank you.
Would you welcome a motion is is there any further discussion so I would move approval of the title 9 regulations temporary regulations on pregnant and parenting students and employees title N9 non-discrimination on the basis of sex and Title 9 sex discrimination prohibited conduct and grievance procedures this evening second it's been moved by Miss Beyer seconded by Emily Chávez to approve the title n updates procedure and regulation Authority is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I I'll oppose it passes unanimously 7.
Dr Giovani at item 5B Financial policies for review good evening again these policies are in accordance with board policy Administration is presenting policy 6240 contracts with the board policy 6430 purchasing requir IR Ms for equipment materials and supplies policy 6450 purchase of services policy 9030 facility construction and change orders and policy 9120 bidding for construction work for the board's annual review pursuant to board policy it is mandated that Administration bring these policies for the board's review when there is a change every June annually and when there is a change within 90 days of the election of a new superintendent or the iring by the superintendent of a new Chief Financial Officer and welcome Dr Lewis you have triggered the this policy and there are no changes being recommended at this time board members we will if you recall last well on the various policies you just update we're in the process of bringing several chunks of policies to you we will potentially be making some of these and Consulting with the board members to.
Make sure that these policies are reflective of what the board and Dr Lewis want to with regard to those board policies so again these are to comply with board policy there's no recommendations there's no action needed it's simply being presented for the board's review and consideration colleagues any questions comments concerns Miss travit I just thank you and I just had one item I just wanted to I was looking at this statement in 6420 at least quarterly the superintendent shall report to the board all contracts and contract amendments approved by the superintendent under this policy between $25 and $90,000 and I would like to offer and make a motion that we ask the superintendent to create a schedule for this reporting on an annual basis.
There a second a second second he made the motion it's been moved by Emily Chávez and seconded by Miss Harold gof to ask the superintendent to bring a schedule to the board for presentation of these contracts is there any further. Discussion I guess I I welcome that and in light of ongoing search for additional financial help I I just hope that we have a little bit of Grace and how we would bring that forward and I don't believe that it needs to come to the next work session or or be quite as expeditious as as if we were not in in hiring needs for for in that department I don't know I'm just I I want to make sure that that staff have the time Financial staff have the time to focus on employee compensation quickly as well as they're juggling a lot of other work that is that is being closed out from last year as well so I don't think I said that very well but I didn't know we were taking action.
On anything but I I appreciate that that motion thank you. Can I ask for point of clarification Inspire always okay I my point of clarification we're asking superintendent to bring a schedule upon which we would review the contracts not actually asking for those contracts is that correct and then the contracts would come on that schedule and and the policy says quarterly I'm just acknowledging publicly the additional Financial work that we still have ongoing and the need for additional Staffing to support Financial staff so that acknowledging this this board will give Grace and let the the superintendent prioritize the most pressing Financial issues for their focus with limited staff but I yeah I don't I don't think they're in Conflict what we're talking about perhaps I am not clear and perhaps that is part of the conflict but thank you yeah thank you any other discussion all those in favor please say I I'll oppose to the superintendent bringing a schedule upon which he'll bring us contracts it passes unanimous le7 know.
Thank you thank you Dr.
Giovani the next item on our agenda all is a superintendent update it's 100 day plan I apologize.
Do we need a they brought for information do we need a motion to not to not make any changes to the policy and keep the thresholds where they are do what I the policies were brought for information what I heard from Miss sh as was simply for the superintendent to bring a schedule which may still be the quarterly that is included in the policy so that's kind of what I I didn't take it as policy action but simply them requesting from the superintendent a recommendation which would fall in line with what I was indicating before that we will be bringing these policies back so after Consulting with Dr Lewis on how as I said before like how he wants to share this information with the board then bringing that recommendation as part of the policy in a timely manner is that so there's no I don't need a motion but I think what you were Emily Chávez was asking for some action and then the board as a whole has to do that because.
Staff can't and Dr Lewis it's difficult for one board member to instruct so okay thank you for the clarification thank Dr. Le thank you so much good evening again thank you madam chair and members of the board members of the community I am certainly pleased to present my entry plan that is focused on listening learning and and leading for during Public Schools this plan will outline the work that I will do over the next 100 days as I continue to come in listen learn meet with large numbers of people as relates to students staff community members administrators to just deepen my knowledge and understanding of of during Public Schools I shared with the school board during the interview that I do not come to Duran Public Schools what they plan to impose upon the district rather to come to the district to listen to learn certainly realize that there is already a tremendous amount of input that has gone into developing the U the district strategic plan we are and we will.
Continue to look at that and as a result of this 100 day plan if it's the will of the board to bring some things back that we may want to tweak within our in our strategic plan again this is important work that that must be done is work that's necessary and I just want to share with this community that just imagine a community that wraps his arms around each and every one of our students having worked in three other states this is my fourth state what I can tell you is that in the field of Education School communities we all want the same thing for our Scholars we may have different routes of getting to those goals that's okay we can agree we can agree to disagree Sil discourse is good however at the end of the day we must keep our focus on our Scholars and we must keep on our focus on those individuals that are closest to our Scholars and those individuals in in the school so what you will see this.
Evening is our goals and action steps every organization grounds itself in its why organizations that Excel keeps the why at the Forefront and I will tell you that this entry plan is aligned to the district's mission and vision and core values and so you've all seen those the Mission Vision and and the core values I just wanted to share that within this entry plan and loaded and board dos is actually hard copy of the entry plan where it is aligned with the Mission Vision and the core values of durhan public schools also do recognize that a lot of members of the community don't know who Dr Lewis is right and so I want to kind of ground the work that I will be doing over these next 100 days into some guiding core principles and they are aligned again to the core beliefs of Duram public schools and the first one is that commitment to achievement every adult in this District must be about the business of ensuring that every student has the.
Resources supports that they need to achieve at the at the highest level we will do this by respecting ourself and others and instilling that in our Scholars as well and respect begins with a proper appreciation of of oneself a passion for learning we will continue to Foster that love of learning again we honored our 634 staff that talked about the science of reading U but while we're talking about the science of reading it is necessary let's not forget about the love of reading as well so fostering that continued passion for learning then educational Equity we will continue to advocate for every single student to ensure that they have the resources and support access and opportunities as as any other student in this in this state we and we will support the students physical emotional and intellectual needs to help them focus on their education integrity and accountability just as this board will hold me accountable it's important for all Educators to hold themselves accountable and do it in such a way that.
Is is is steeped in integrity and so we will continue to do that we will model Integrity work at you will often hear me say our children are watching our children are watching so all that we do will be of good character I I was looking at the Character Matters and Duram on the wall and so we will align ourselves to to that in addition Community Partnerships schools cannot do this work alone and so the more that we're able to Foster strengthen our Partnerships and for our partners to see the intrical part that they play in the life of a child the more beneficial for all of our Scholars so as I mentioned we do have five I do have five entry plan goals 27 action steps and so we will go through those goals and so if you'll just indulge me I do want to make sure that everyone in this community understands the work that's going to take place over these next 100 days oh I'm going too fast.
There all right first goal is establishing a transparent collaborative and trusting relationship with Durham Public Schools I'm sorry with the dur Duran Public Schools Board of Education I often say Stephen cvy talks about change moves at the Speed Of Trust in the education world for me progress progress on academic achievement moves at the speed of trust and so it's incumbent upon me as superintendent to build that trust and maintain that trust with members of the board of education and not only that members of The District staff there's research that was done that stated that over 51 % of employees don't trust their leaders and that has that has some that can have some cost to it by way of those individuals leaving the district by way of those individuals not referring during public schools to other individuals that may seek out during during public schools and so in order for us to in order for the community to continue to trust us we must have we we must start within first and so that.
Starts with the Duran Public Schools Board of Education education and so that first action step is to share the entry plan with the Board of Education which I have done that and thank you members of the board for your feedback on that entry plan also shareed the plan with the members of the cabinet thank you for your feedback board members you should have received a schedule U to conduct one-on-one meetings with with me and so that's that second action step and so that will be something that won't just happen at the beginning of my tenure but it will be ongoing those one-on-one U meetings collaborating with the board I'm sorry collaborating with the board superintendent performance evaluations my evaluation inclusive of goals objectives and success indicators that should be in my valuation those goals and objectives a a goal is to hold a retreat to align the board and superintendent on core values beliefs communication protocols how the board wants to receive information and responsibilities and expectations as it.
Relates to governance matter we are a governance team and so it's incumbent upon us at this table to make sure that we have the necessary tools that that we need and resources to function effectively as a governance team goal two is to focus on the instructional program now we won't just go through these 100 days without focusing on instruction you will hear me say that our kids can't wait right and our our kids only get one shot at the great level that they're in and so they can't wait for me to get it together right and so I will have a increased focused on the instructional programming to close the access opportunity gaps particularly in our lowest performing schools while also addressing their academic social and emotional needs of of all students so coming in analyzing current student achievement data I've always already had one meeting with Dr Royer and so we will look at the academic performance AP enrollment Pass rates tons of data I am.
A data geek I love looking at data but not only looking at data what action steps as a result of that data will be put in place meet with the deputy superintendent and District leaders to assess curriculum instruction the resources and materials that we're putting in front of our students are they representative of each and every student in this District are students able to see themselves within the in the curriculum curriculum resources evaluating our efforts to improve instruction and and graduation rates we know our graduation rates around 84% based on 2022 23 graduation the graduating cohort there was about 430 students that did not graduate it's not acceptable and so we will continue to look at what are we doing by the time they get in eth or nth grade are they on track to graduate and then what are those safeguards resources interventions that we are putting in place a lot of times you hear in District in districts that some students just fall through the cracks what it is my belief there should.
Not be any cracks and so we have to continue to look at the system to make sure that set up for success for all students continue to focus on literacy you saw that tonight from the letters training numeracy postgraduated postgraduation preparation really excited about the opportunities over at Durham Tech to help us continue to address this socioeconomically disadvantaged students our English language Learners students with disabilities and let me just say this this is a fluid document okay it will live on our website but next week if there's something that I need to tweak I res the right to to tweak that and so I would definitely want to add within this bullet item as well is making sure that we are analyzing and determining do we have data to show us how we're supporting our lgbtq plus students and so we will add that to these action steps as well thank you so much engaging with students to understand their perspective oftentimes in education adults do things to students.
And not with them I don't Le like that we have to make sure that we are continuing to have that student voice front and front and center meeting with staff students and families to identify emotional social and cultural supports that they need to support their their Scholars goal number three enhancing there it is enhancing organizational Effectiveness and efficiency by providing robust support and services to schools students families and School communities how well are we functioning as a school system and so I already have begun and will continue to meet with District leadership during 101's and that includes those individuals that listed within that first bullet in addition meeting with principles it's not up there oh it jumped okay okay here we are thank you so much we with u directors principles Durham Association of Educators our classified staff to assess the climate and culture and determine the level of Central Services supports needed for school Improvement ensuring that all of our staff from our classrooms our custodians our cafeteria staff ensuring that they have.
The resources that that they need to do their job all of our dishwashers working right and so those are the things we have to ensure that as a system the system is set up to support the needs of all of our staff reviewing Division and departmental briefings before I even started I sent briefings to members of the cabinet and some executive directors and other directors and so thank you all for taking the time to answer those questions I ask a lot of questions and so I've already reviewed those briefings again just provided an opportunity before even stepping foot in Duram to continue to learn conducting a SWAT analysis which is assessing the strengths weaknesses and opportunities let me be clear there are some challenges in this District we look at I look at those challenges we will look at those challenges opportunities we will address them it's going to take some time but but I am confident that we will get there meeting with principles and teachers to gaau their understanding of.
Student achievement and data how they're using data are they receiving timely data what additional data points that they may need to to do their jobs reviewing and evaluating efforts in leadership development are we setting our system up for succession planning there may be some individuals that are in the classroom that have Administration certification or administrative degrees what are we doing to continue to to develop them because if not they'll leave and go to neighboring counties around here same for our building level administrators and District level administrators is their succession planning taking place and so in other words what is that bench strength of all of our staff is something that we will I will continue I will examine pressing the wrong button there other bullets in goal three reviewing critical documents such as policy this is my homework looking at policies procedural manuals board meeting minutes student achievement data I've already began to dig into a lot of this information but we'll continue to do that over the course of the first 100.
Days management protocols safety emergency plans standard operating procedures that are not in place but will be in place we will address that as well assessing the current schedule and format of District leadership meetings to ensure Dr King actually brought that to our last cabinet meeting to make sure that the agenda is set up for success for our leaders and evaluating oh I just talked about that going to goal four identifying and analyzing critical issues to remove barriers and seize opportunities for accelerating student performance if you go into my office now I have nothing in there but but paper I haven't brought any of my personal items in there once I do you will see an orange cone that will be sitting on my desk and it's a constant reminder to me as to what barrier am I removing for a child what Bearer am I moving for a teacher for an administrator for a District staff in terms of during their during during their jobs so it's really critical that.
We identify those bearers but not only identify and admire the barriers but what are doing to remove those barriers so evaluating the the process of setting departmental goals and ensuring alignment with the Strategic plan analyzing data on recent surveys began to look at some of that data meeting with U I already talked about meeting with Dr Worster Worster we will continue to have our one-on-one meetings as well and then visiting departments and schools to listen and learn from students families administrators and and and Educators you saw some images that our office of public affairs captured during my first nine days of me out just listening and when I'm in schools obviously I view classrooms but I will go in cafeterias I go in restrooms I go in custodian I talk to the custodians to really just listen and see what barrier can I remove for for them and then finally go five there's actually an image of me talking to a cafeteria staff there creating opportunities to listen to the.
Broader Community engage a wide range of stakeholders ensuring that their voices are heard to build trust and to understand the district comprehensively to reignite that excitement around the district's mission and vision and most importantly the the Strategic plan and so I will be scheduling meetings with parent organizations District advisory groups actually met with the Duram advocates for exceptional children just yesterday and we will have quarterly meetings with them as well attend school and community EV to connect with stakeholders meet with city of Durham Durham County local officials I've already you see met with County officials and I will launch a listening learning and leading tour so to speak and so more to come on that and and the purpose of that is just just really get a large number of people in a room to just ask some simple questions around what are we doing a good job of what can we do a better job of and then understanding that we have some Financial constraints what should.
Be our PR what should be our priorities moving forward holding round taes with members of the media meet with editorial boards again the goal of this is simply to engulf myself in Durham Durham the city of Durham to understand the full picture before coming in making drastic changes and I think that's where a lot of districts go wrong as there their new superintendent comes in and immedately starts ripping Band-Aids off of things now well I have I will be I will tell you and I just I'm just honest there are some things that I want to do that too and and we'll probably make some moves on soon because when it comes to our Scholars having what they need to be successful as I mentioned they can't wait they can't wait and so I feel the support and I appreciate the the support from the board and I know I will have that support to make those necessary shifts it may be at at day 52 100 days may not be complete but.
Please know that we have we have to move with a sense of urgency when it comes to our Scholars because two of them are mine right and they are at Neil middle school and are super excited about being there so that's in a nutshell the entry plan I will say that at the culmination of the first 100 days I will present to the board a a postentry plan of my findings during those first 100 days that will share the Lessons Learned there and then the action steps we may need to to take I've worked with our office of public affairs this entry plan will live online and will be updated weekly where members of the community and the district can see my progress whether it's for those action steps an action step that has been started is in progress or has been completed so thank you so much for allowing me to share the entry plan definitely again as I mentioned this is a flu document I appreciate the feedback that I received.
From board members but definitely welcome additional feedback thank you Dr Lewis colleagues any questions. Comments Miss heral go I just want to say I really appreciate the student centered uplifting the student voice and the attention to really listening to and engaging with Community and look forward to the manifestation of what that looks. Like Mr T the Miss Carter thank you so much Dr Lewis thank you so much for your 400 entry plan one of the things that Durham really appreciates is listening and so I was glad to hear that you were GNA have those listening sessions I look forward to attending some with you if if we could but I just want to say thank you for that as well because I know in the past years Durham has always wanted superintendents and boards and staff to listen I'll Echo the sentiment to some of my colleagues and say that I really appreciate the student centeredness of this but also this focus on building our governance team so that.
We can work well together your use of data to inform all the decisions both the listening data and the conversations that you're planning to have with so many different folks in our community but also the hard numbers right to see if what you're doing is working and I love that you're you recognize the need to balance this taking the time to listen and learn with a sense of urgy see that our kids can't wait and that's a tricky balance but thank you for recognizing that and working towards.
That Miss Chavez thank you I'm also excited about your plan excited to hear all that you you learn I want to just say how much I appreciate your attention to EC students and I didn't know that you were fluent in ASL but U that's awesome okay that you can communicate at some level that it's a it's a language that actually we don't often talk about so so I I love to to hear that I appreciate you adding lgbtq student data and that's something I know you have worked with in the past so that's not new to you because our our Queener trans students are at risk for Dropout chronic absenteeism lower academic outcomes and then I just I want to say already that I appreciate you naming our students as Scholars which they are and and being really committed to that imigration of their love for for reading and for learning thank.
You anybody else no pressure some yeah thank you Dr Lewis again for this presentation and I think for listening I think there will be a lot to be said I know that our community has a has a lot I know we've heard some even this afternoon in the public comment of what the hopes are for your tenure here so I really appreciate that and look hope that schedule's made public so the board also can attend some of those sessions like our my colleague has said and it's mentioned in here about subgroup data but I'm also really interested in hearing your perspective on you know we are a system majority students of color I know we added English language Learners in here I appreciate you taking that feedback but also want to know about our how our black students and our latinx students are fairing within our district the city of Durham the council had a presentation recently about youth crime and how that is on the rise in our community and that that intersects with.
Our schools so much right so I just think about how we're working to improve instruction and graduation rates and how that is also collaboratively thinking about how we keep our young folks engaged so I'm looking forward to learning about what you hear and also the changes and shifts that you want to make and look forward to being a partner with you and how we do that work thank you so much for that that feedback and we will also look there's a there's a lot of intersectionality with some of our data that we could do better job of explicitly spelling out so for example our EC students you know we have some EC students who are black and EC students who are Hispanic and so really acknowledging naming spelling out clearly just the intersectionality with our student data missp dror Lewis welcome to Durham I I think you see why this board is unanimous in our support for you and your skills you are the leader willing to to step into the challenge.
And beauty and Equity centered Focus that Durham is and the urgency that our students have both some of of which will be revealed in data and some will be revealed in joy of learning and enthusiasm and re relationship building within the school community so I'm we're so happy to welcome you here and have your back we have your back as you have started to meet some of our folks out in the community and they will continue to to reach out to you I appreciate you listening to them they all come with the same passion that that we all have for our students who are our future I love I love this on go five I've been zooming in to Cynthia yany's t-shirt on go five in the cafeteria at WG and I love this image her shirt says once in a while someone amazing comes along and here I am and I can see you listening to her engaging her and asking her what she needs to feed children better so.
Thank you for the enthusiasm that you bring and that you will continue to bring as you lead in Durham and welcome we got your. Back thank you Dr Louis about any other questions or comments for Dr Lewis's 100 day entry plan we are now at the point where we're going to go into close session I'd like to make a motion to go into close session for the reason stated on the agenda second it's been moved by Miss Travis secondly by Miss Beyer to go into close session for the reasons stated on the agenda all those is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I oppose say I passes unanimously 70 we're now on Clos session.
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We're now back in Open Session Dr Lewis thank you madam chair we're asking the board to take action on the Personnel report tonight move approval of the Personnel report dated August 22nd 2024 second it's been moved by Miss berer seconded by Miss umed to approve the Personnel reports stated August 22nd 2024 is there any other discussion all in favor say I I I it passes you unanimously with that we are adjourned.