Board of Education · Regular Meeting · August 24, 2023

Monthly meeting is now in session at this time we wish to extend a warm welcome to those who are joining us this evening whether that be in person or virtual 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 to serve and to lead the interpreters for tonight are Martha Romo eiles and Marty Ramirez thank you all for taking the time time to join us the first item on our agenda is a.

Moment of silence and while we're taking this moment I want to read a statement from the Board of Education in response to the bills from last week as many of you know last week the general assembly overrode Governor Cooper's veto of six bills three of which Target are trans and gender diverse youth in the state of North Carolina we are disappointed in the decisions of many of our state lawmakers as this leg legis ation has and will have adverse effects for young people especially those who identify as members of the lgbtqia plus community and especially those who are trans and gender diverse during Public Schools is a diverse community and we strive to create learning communities that affirm the identities families and cultures of all of our students as a board and administration we've taken several steps to affirm our lgbtqia plus students by participating in training and passing policy to codify protections for our students we are processing what the new laws mean for DPS and considering how we can best.

Serve our students to continue to ignite their Limitless potential we'll be able to provide further guidance as we are able so I want to thank you all for listening to our statement and as we go into this moment of silence really think about the students who are impacted and families and Educators by these bills.

Thank you want to also say that we know that some folks are directly impacted but all of us are impacted when members of our community don't have access to what they need to thrive so thank you all the next item on our agenda will be celebrations I'm going to pass it over to our new executive director of communications Machina.

Cooper Dr MinGa that works DPS colleagues and families it is an honor to stand before you this evening to acknowledge our celebrations tonight we highlight the best in DPS the theme of our new strategic plan building our future is a call to action and a recognition during this portion of our meeting we celebrate our amazing students who Inspire us every day and the outstanding staff who bring building our future to Life we'll begin with our student of the month presentation followed by our Rising Stars interns and then we'll conclude with our spark pin presentations at this time please welcome principal Shandra clay from the school for Creative Studies to tell more about our August student of the.

Month good evening how are you this Abigail hedgepath professionally called as Abby always goes out of her way to make others smile and when they are not focused or not at their best as needed she gently nudges them to get back on track in a joking manner Abby encourages her classmates to enjoy their work and get the most out of it last year she served on the super attendant student advisory committee and her post-secondary plans is to be a teacher and cosmetologist her enthusiasm is contagious and as the principal of the school of Creative Studies I definitely feel Abby is an exemplary student who serves as a very positive role model for her peers on a daily basis so further Ado this is Abigail hes.

Beth as superintendent Pascal manga comes down we want to present you with a few items Abigail for your outstanding achievements as a leader within your school at the school for Creative Studies first we have a certificate to mark you as the official August student of the. Month and we have a spark pen that we present to staff students and other members within our community who exemplify the Duram public school's values we hope that you wear this proudly there's more hold on from our friends at triangle e cycling they want to make sure that you are powered for the rest of this school year and Beyond so you get a laptop today thank you and one final presentation I'd like to invite Mr Matt Sears to the podium he's speaking on behalf of the Durham public schools foundation and he is their chief of Partnerships Mr Sears.

Thank you good evening everyone just up Abigail nice to meet you the Duram Public Schools Foundation is dedicated to supporting and championing our DPS students families and staff we are proud ongoing sponsors of the DPS teacher of the year program DPS Building Services Employee Appreciation celebration DPS convocation and beginning this school year the DPS student of the month program the DPS Foundation believes that every child deserves well-funded Community centered Public Schools rich in materials human resources and programming that supports the development of the whole child we fight for those schools day in and day out in partnership with DPS and we raise funds to do that work and to distribute to those efforts dpsf sees our students of the month as examples of the Durham community and what happens when a combination of resources reach students families and School staff we want to support your continued growth Abigail and hope you will use this $500 gift.

Card we hope you will use it to further your educational passions whether they are academic in the art college or moving into the workforce we are very proud of you and Durham Public Schools.

Congratulations we want to make sure that our board has an opportunity to congratulate you as well please proceed forward and take a photo with Dr manga principal clay Mr sear please step forward as well. Mom you can certainly be in the picture as.

Well.

Oh.

Congratulations again to Abigail. At this time I'd like to invite Jamia Jones to the podium she is the Workforce Development coordinator in the office of Career and Technical education for dur public schools to recognize our Rising Stars.

Interns thank you so much Miss Cooper good afternoon Durham public school board members and superintendent mainga my name is JIA Jones and I am the Workforce Development coordinator for Duram Public Schools this evening I have the honor to share with you one of cte's newest 321 Future Ready programs the rising stars internship program Rising Stars launched during the summer of 2022 with 22 interns this summer was our second year and I'm proud to share that we have more than doubled the number of student interns throughout their experience students completed the DPI internship course requirements of 120 hours a portfolio and a presentation in addition to completing and earning a course credit the students also earned their work Readiness credential through Conover and participated in the generation next training hosted by Dale Carnegie this would not have been possible without our Community Partners so I would like to take the time to to thank them for their commitment to building Durham's future workers these Partners include the city of Durham Water Management the Tammy.

Harris Real Estate Group Duke facilities Merc Pharmaceuticals GSK kimley horn alternative career Pathways and various departments within dur Public Schools such as the CTE Department facilities maintenance and Community Education at this time I would like to introduce you to two students who will share brief remarks about their experience this summer first I would bring up Mr Bryce Leathers who is a current student at JD Clemens early college and after Mr Bryce Leathers shares his remarks we will hear from Mr Christian Noel Lada who is a student at Riverside High School thank you and let's hear from these.

Students good afternoon everyone my name is Bryce Le I my internship was at kimley horn and I was a part of d r Stars program so some things that I did during my during my time here was I calculated totals for future projects I did some job shadowing land survey and I monitored the construction processes I did Auto and watercad training which is the software that they use to design all their projects and I also use Auto turn so some skills that I've learned are teamwork and collabor collaboration CAD CAD skills communication interpersonal skills and critical thinking and also I learn how to be independent with being downtown about myself so yeah so that's all I have and thank.

You good evening everyone my name is Noel Lazada and I interned at Duke Emergency Management now what they do is that they manage emergencies on and off campus and they also advocate for emergency Readiness and preparedness throughout the community now due to coid they hadn't they haven't had a chance to really expand on their Outreach and their entire campaign so that was my responsibility I was tasked to create graphic Outreach in the form of images you know action oriented ideas now for these Graphics they need to be first they need to be visually appealing they need to communicate these action oriented ideas in a concise manner and also so they need to be conformed to the brand requirements and aesthetic of Duke now while I made these images I learned a lot of skills including organization I had to make a spreadsheet of all the graphics I made all their updates and how I changed them and what they were about I also learned about the behind the scenes operations of Duke Emergency.

Management as a whole beforehand I never really knew about Emergency Management unfortunately because But as time grew and as I spent more time I got more custom to what they do and how they deal with other parts of Duke lastly I think this really opened way for many design Rel career paths in high school normally I'm in in engineering an engineering pathway with riversides engineering classes pltw and I haven't really gotten a chance to express you know my design or artwork related studies and I think this internship really gave me the chance to do that also on the side I gained an addiction to vanilla milk so I think that's also a great benefit but all in all I think it was a very enjoyable.

Experience thank you so much students for sharing those remarks with us so at this time I would like to recognize a few interns who were able to join us tonight all the intern All 48 interns were invited but unfortunately a few were not able to attend due to open houses this evening I'm at Southern and Hillside just to name a few so first I would like to call Mr Bryce. Leathers Mr Caleb Miller Mr Camden Fletcher Mr Christopher Williams Mr Christian Noel Lada Miss Destiny Webster Mr Nicholas Galvez and Mr Zachary.

Dahu oh yeah and we have Miss Mina Nar.

Board members and superintendent mainga thank you so much for supporting our work based learning initiatives and to we also have a special memorabilia that we'll have for each U member to give to you tonight thank. You.

You can certainly tell by some of their shared experiences this evening that they had a phenomenal summer summer internship program and we know that they will be ready for their next steps Beyond during Public Schools thank you again to Miss Jones and special thanks to Dr Pac who is the senior executive director for Career and Technical education for her leadership around this initiative and for our spark pin the DPS spark pin is presented to students staff and Community Partners who are the embodiment of the core beliefs of dur Public Schools they demonstrate shared responsibility a commitment to equity high expectations and Center our students in their approach to teaching and learning our first Spark pen recipient is Jerry Williamson in the curriculum and instruction Department in dur Public Schools.

Mr Williamson is an invaluable and an integral member of the DPS family according to his nominator Dr Linda urian he works tirelessly usually behind the scenes to improve systems that help us function more effectively and efficiently his knowledge of coding and Technology integration and ability to make the complicated seem so much more simple is much appreciated by all the those who benefit from his work he is a team member he is a problem solver a fabulous listener and a positive collaborative partner his service to DPS is very much appreciated congratulations Mr.

Williamson.

Our next spark pins are presented to an entire DPS department learning extends beyond the school day and the school year this summer DPS warehouse warehouse staff jumped in to help K12 literacy team sort and deliver thousands of summer reading books to schools there is a very short turnaround time to make all of this happened for our schools to ensure that our students could choose the books that they wanted to take home this summer this is a prime example of how all of us are contributors to building DM's Future these staff members jumped in after their work was complete for the day to ensure this task was fulfilled.

I'd like to welcome Mr Ralph France and his team members Entre Johnson Carrie Johnson sha Jones Michael Callaway and James Smith to receive their spark.

Pens.

This concludes our celebrations this. Evening thank you Rogers and to all of our celebrants what a great way to start us off for our meeting today the next item on our agenda is our superintendent's update I'm going to pass it over to Dr mainga all right thank you Madam. Chair here's my remarks first day of traditional calendar school we are only four days away from having a full house with our traditional schools opening on August 28th great excitement so yesterday we met so we are ready for those babies new Northern High School opening day for Northern High School has been rescheduled for Thursday August 31st with safety as our priority colds and weather have required that we delay the opening to ensure that all full certificate of occupany is earned that's the reason why we are a little bit behind they won't be able to open on the 28th is going to be on the 31st I made with the entire staff of Northern High School the in a good place I hope our.

Families they be really excited once they get in that building next week we look forward to seeing our student and staff work through the doors of the new Northern High School which will replace the half century old building that holds many fun memories and much history this is our first new High School in 30 years since 1995 and we extremely excited the ribbon cutting for the new learning community is Thursday September 14th at 10 a.m. inclement weather event DPS was affected by this countywide weather event on Tuesday August 15th that's also one of the reason why Northern High School was a little bit delayed our entire District lost power and we postpone events close schools and delay the workday of all employees for two days afterwards we are not back on track yesterday we had a wonderful time at the dorham stadium so we held our convocation after five years so the last one was a 2018 we trated to an MC to DJ guest speaker author doctor Sean Woodley our.

Theme for this year is building our future we had a great great excitements there all I receive just positive feedback so our staff receive really great message we are ready for our babies when they come back next week because of mckin Scot grants that we able to receive our board supported our recommendation to make sure that every staff member receive all our certified staff receive $200 to be able to buy the supplies all our yearr schools and Specialty high school they already received the $200 and we are working really hard to make sure this week and next week for the remaining of our staff to receive the $200 by the way I received a few emails from staff very very grateful for that opportunity in few weeks we're going to have a ceremony to replace the final Beam on the new Mary marenberg Elementary School which will be held on Thursday September 21st at 10:00 a.m. all board members are invited and we have also some other special guests that were invited as.

Well few weeks ago I had a meeting with a representative from the Durham children initiative student you the Durham rotary Community Schools the Emily care center and other educational Partners to share with them our strategic plan we had a luncheon and we're able to alar the work that we are going to do with our strategic plan and they were able also to look and see how they can fit as we are doing this work together so I'm really excited about this partnership and we're going to spend this conversation with other partners in the community as well I can name the Realtors and other community our partners that's been supporting us we're going to be able to have conversation regarding our strategic plan as well our growing together initiative which we are transitioning this year thank to our very strong partnership between the vendor benock and our Building Services Department D public school now has an outdoor learning site in all our campuses so this was a part of the SR.

Funds that we're able to receive and one of the priorities was pretty much to make sure we have outdoor facilities even though s fund will be gone this outdoor facil ities they're going to help and continue learning with all our students Madame chair this conclude my remarks thank you Dr mbinga for those remarks we know that our yearound schools Anda and Specialty high schools have already been in session so traditional schools are catching up and excited about this year and the theme of building our future in our convocation we talked a little bit about how so many different roles and teams and people all across our district the 5,000 employees all play a really intricate role in building our future and I'm excited to see us kind of in Full Throttle on Monday when everyone returns back the next item on our agenda is the agenda review and approval I'd like to move that we remove item six the monthly minutes from the agenda for today thank you second been moved and properly.

Second that we would remove those OB those meeting minutes they'll be on our next agenda we any other discussion we'll do a vote I want to acknowledge that board member Carda-Auten could not be here tonight she is following closely and we'll join us again in September so we will vote all those in favor say I I I any opposed please use the same sign so that passes unanimously so we've amended the agenda to remove the minutes can I have a motion to accept the amended agenda I move that we accept the agenda as amended second been moved by Miss Byer seconded by Miss Lewis any other discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed please use the same sign it passes unanimously the next item on our agenda.

Is general public comment and before we get started I'll do a quick review of the rules excuse me all right first please state your name and if you're speaking for organization please state your name and the name of the organization second our speakers will be asked to present their comments within three minutes when the yellow light comes on on the podium you will have one minute left to wind up your remarks when the red light comes on it will also beep and that indicates that 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 the safety of our students or to the operation of the school system finally our board members will listen carefully and consider the comments but we do not engage in a discussion with speakers our first Speaker of the night will be Ann rebeck followed by Milo gab Grabber please correct me when.

You get to the mic if I pronounce your names. Wrong good evening I'm Ann rebeck and I think I'm here for public school strong right okay yeah I'm also here to Express gratitude both of my children safely came out when they were students with Durham Public Schools they were they are today confident queer adults because they were surrounded by acceptance and love the don't say gay law legislates the myth that children need to be protected from one another and from their teachers it pits families against one another and demonizes Educators there are people here tonight wave again y'all there they are okay from public school strong who know about things that really matter for our Public Schools adequate materials teacher pay build repair and Equitable education to name a few if you are in this room or watching on Zoom and you want to know more about how we can work together than talk to somebody in the blue shirt or look up Public School strongs I think another way to learn.

About public school strong is to come to the parent Summit the DPS parent Summit and that will be on September 9th and public school strong heel together will be presenting at that event as well so come join us thank.

You I am Milo Graber and I'm a student at ride high school I'm here to talk about the changes to our lunch schedule I feel frustrated with the change to the schedule because smart lunch was a good time for students to receive tutoring and visit clubs during school hours with a lot of flexibility in where you have to go the new schedule that is proposed by our principal has it scheduled so that on every day Monday would be first period tutoring Tuesday would be second period tutoring and so on would limit students's abilities to receive tutoring when they need it as well as limit their ability to go to clubs I miss in the past attempts to remove smart lunch have been met with a lot of drawback and push back from students such as petition and that has led to our principal not removing SM in the past I am feeling that this particular removal is trying to prevent students from pushing back against it as I did not receive an email.

That even indicated this change and I had had one forwarded to me by my parents I'm here to talk in order to ask the board as well as the principal of my school to to these support programs like smart lunch which allow students to receive tutoring and other such benefits that help them in both their school and academic as well as their social life thank you thank you the next speaker is Rosario Butterfield followed by Heather ISO and again please correct me if you if I mispronounce your name my name is Dr Rosaria Butterfield I am a retired tenured professor of English women studies and queer Theory from Syracuse University in my late 20s and 30s I lived as a lesbian and I worked hard to Advance lgbtq Plus freedoms including writing policy and testifying before New York legislators but today I am not a lesbian people change sometimes I look back on that season of My Life as a Cas of mistaken identity and How Deeply grateful I am that during the season of.

My lesbian confusion I made no irreparable decisions that caused harm to my physical body sb49 parents Bill of Rights is now law it overrules the policy that encouraged Durham school officials to conceal a child's social transition from parents children who experience either the medical condition of gender dysphoria or the ideological social contagion of transgender ISM need guidance from their parents the people who know them best love them most and can help them heal parents who entrust their children to the government for Education are not partners with the public schools but rather are legal parties making a temporary contract s sp49 does not Grant new laws to Public Schools it recognizes the rights that parents already have the medical problem of gender dysphoria has a medical analog anorexia a condition where a dangerously thin person falsely perceives herself as obese no parent would affirm or celebrate A daughter's anorexic self-standing as good normal and safe the same principle extends to transgenderism public outcries and lawsuits from people Deans detransitioning after gender affirming.

Care are rising and when the largest pediatric gender identity clinic in the world Tavistock in the UK shut down this year it did so because internal whistleblowers lgbtq plus affirming Advocates painstakingly outlined the tragic harm done to children in the name of this supposed Medical Care the American Psychiatric association's Diagnostic and statistical manual states that gender anxiety in children desists at a minimum of 73% percent of cases if normal puberty is uninterrupted if cross- seex hormones or surgery and social transitioning is not benign it derails natural desistence for many medical doctors the transgender movements rejection of the biological categories of male and female renders it junk science medical anomalies such as intersex condition do not negate objective categories of personhood not in science so to the Durham school board all I was going to say is that I'm praying for you for wisdom thank you Dr Butterfield next up is he Heather ISO and Then followed by Caleb.

Goodnight hi my name is Heather ISO I've never spoken at a Schoolboard meeting before but I feel compelled to raise my voice in support of the passing of Senate Bill 49 otherwise known as the parents Bill of Rights I know earlier you had a moment of silence and you said the best way to support students you wondered how that was going to go the best way to support families is to follow this new law I promise you I am the majority they may not be here to say it people are fearful to raise their Voice Wake County has already set new guidelines to their teacher they sent them today in regards to addressing students now I'm certain that DPS will soon update changes to their gender support policy to align with the new law in addition to following the law when updating the non-discrimination policy when I grew up my parents loved to loved me to start school they knew that I was going to be with trusted teachers that were supporting my.

Education I felt the same way about my child until she turned 12 and Via social contagion she had gender confusion this confusion was supported at her DPS school without my permission or consent or knowledge she came home with Awards with different names her power school had different pronouns none of which I condone or support that is this is how I began to not trust teachers or administ rators as they continued sewing gender confusion into my daughter I want to teach my daughter that she is wonderfully made just the way she is and not support some social contagion that could put irreversible damage to her body or her underdeveloped brain yes I know some of you think it is cruel that I will not call her the pronoun she claims to take on just like I will not tell her to stop eating because she thinks she's fast when she's perfectly sized a side note to the social contagion this is from watching countless hours of tikt not under my.

Roof but at your school where cell phones are welcomed I did not buy the cell phone after the recent passing of SE Senate Bill 49 I now have a tiny bit of peace that teachers cannot continue supporting her confusion I want to I want us to get back to a place where parents can trust teachers to te teach and not push agendas or ideologies that are not part of the curriculum I realize most teachers are coming from a good place my grandmother was one I loved her she was such a good teacher and cared deeply for her students but she also knew that the parents are the ones that love their students their child the most that is is that my time yeah okay that's it thank you thank you next we have Caleb good night followed by Alexandra Valladares.

Adrien thank you my name is Caleb good night I'm a Christian can you put the mic up just a little bit sorry our culture has severed the tie between a Transcendent God and morality what people consider true and what is judged right and wrong has been democratized and secularized against this trend I want to remind each of you of transcendent truth that ought to be your Bedrock as Community leaders however humbling and even painful this truth is meant to be a source of both hope and Duty truth only seems oppressive to those who fight it God has revealed his law clearly in His Holy Scripture most famously he has given us the 10 words do not murder do not lust worship me alone we've heard these even better he tells us about his will for creation he tells us clearly he created us each male or female he tells us that sexual desire is for marriage between a man and a woman and if anyone would corrupt a little child it would be.

Better for them to be drowned in the sea beautifully God's Incarnate Word Jesus came to us he lived this law perfectly In the Flesh rising from the dead and ascending to a throne where he rules even this minute and over this board if anything we have more responsibility to his words now not less I'm here because shamefully each of you on this board publicly supports beliefs and practices that oppose God's law and this is where the tension actually lies it's not in the concept of discrimination the righteousness of God and love of neighbor demand we show no partiality what righteousness does oppose is institutional encouragement and approval of deviant sexuality the sering of Parental Authority and the corruption of children not only do you approve these things but you would protect Evil under official policies it may seem necessary to Coast with or even defend popular sentiment but I promise you on the day you face God any such confidence will melt away leaders will be held accountable for their actions as.

Authorities in the words of the psalmist now therefore you rulers be instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little how blessed are all who take refuge in him thank you you next Alexandra Valladares Adrien followed by Melissa Bell with our last speaker being Allison. Swing good evening superintendent MinGa and DPS board members my name is is Alexandra Valladares Adrien my pronouns are they and he and I am speaking tonight on behalf of the rainbow Collective for change first and foremost Rainbo Collective would like to thank so many of the board members and administration for your ongoing conversation and collaboration with community members and caregivers you listened to our concerns and responded by passing the lgbtqia plus and gender supports policy in December 2022 and revisiting it in January 2023 three to include a section regarding lgbtqia plus and gender diverse representation and curriculum since then.

You have been diligently working to provide training for board members and recently all staff across the district with your Equity 601 training Additionally the DPS Q lgbtqia Plus task force will have its first meeting soon and we are eager to be part of that work it also looks like you intend to strengthen your discrimination and harassment policy this evening to include specific language around sexual orientation and gender identity thank you for all of the work you continue to do we are here today also because the North Carolina legislature has passed several laws that put our lgbtqia plus children families and all Educators at risk these laws actively harm these students by requiring School staff to out children who change their names or pronouns at school and prohibiting transgender girls from playing sports on girls sports teams both of these elements of the laws are counter to the federal interpretations of Title 9 sp sp 49 also limits school's abilities to create safe and inclusive spaces for lgbtqia plus families and gender diverse.

Children by limiting instruction on gender identity and sexuality for grades K through four and giving parents access to what books children check out from the library the law completely contradicts North Carolina Teaching Standards number two that states that teachers should establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students by recognizing the influence of race ethnicity gender religion and other aspects of culture on a students development and personality demonstrating knowledge of a diverse cultures selecting materials and developing lessons that counteract stereotypes and incorporate contributions recognizing the influences on the children's development personality and performance and considering and incorporating different points of view these various contradictions between federal and state laws in North Carolina's Teaching Standards are causing much fear and confusion among Educators and families we ask you today to consider what steps you can take to reassure families and Educators in DPS which prioritizes our safety and well-being and will continue to adhere to Title 9 North Carolina Teaching Standards and your own LGBT qia and gender supports policy thank you.

Next we have Melissa Bell followed by Allison. Swain I just want to thank the Board of Education members who have shown support for the queer Community I appreciate those who are standing up in the face of push back from allow minority in light of the new legislation the goal of which is to dehumanize people like me and my family the support of the Board of Education and our teachers and schools for all children and all family structures is so important I have two children in Durham Public Schools and support and acceptance of their Educators Role Models is crucial DPS Educators and admin need clear instruction from you how to support and protect our children so I just want to thank you very much and say.

Gay thank you.

Miss if you want us to continue we can pause a little later is that okay no it's okay thank you for holding space that was just really hard to hear and understand people have different perspectives but oh you can start the time this is I I just I'm Alison SW I'm an educator DPS and I am really grateful to work in durum in a place where you guys fully support and affirm me and all of my LG btq plus Community which includes Educators which includes students which includes families so you know I really while I'm so happy to work in Durham and feel like I'm going to be supported by doing right by my students I want to name already there are people who I've talked to who are Educators who don't work in Durham Public Schools already because of this legislation there's an educator who taught in DPS and subbed in DPS last year and applied for jobs and decided not to take those jobs because of this legislation for example and another.

Educator who's a amazing amazing black Trans prek educator who works at a private school because he's afraid about the effects of this legislation and so I really ask us to talk to ask you guys to do something now I know we're trying to figure out what the law says what it doesn't what our discretion is enduring but we have to do something now today to reassure each other we're going to protect each other because we keep each other safe and I had another thing I was going to say so I need to look at my note I want to also just name that often lgbtq plus ENT issues can be falely presented as a white issue and a new issue and I want to name that everyone who spoke on this issue was white presenting and it's really important to Center and follow the lead of black Trans and lgbtq folks in bipac lgbtq folks in this moment and so I want to partner with y'all to figure out how.

To do that thank you for hearing me and also holding this emotion that I have right now I yeld my time.

Thank you Miss Wayne the next item on our agenda is our consent items our consent items have chair I'm sorry just a point of privilege sorry I have been here 1 years going on 14 this is one of the most difficult public comments I have sat through and particularly because I know this board this Administration are people of faith and to see Faith perverted and used to bully marginalized students and staff is frankly unacceptable and reprehensible and students and staff have rights under federal law that supersede state law so boards across the state are put in difficult positions this board and these Women of Faith I believe are committed to taking care of each and every student and meeting them where they are and we will do that thoughtfully and we will do that but we will not bow down to a false narrative crafted by moms for Liberty made up to when there is no political reason or or rational reason no one is grooming children no one and we are deeply deeply.

Thoughtful caring Progressive leaders and we'll go forward together with our community to take care of students and staff in Durham I'm sorry thank you m.

Ban.

Thank you Miss berer I appreciate your comments and I just want to say I hold space for folks today I just want to continue to hold space I am going to move us forward on our agenda but know that we are continuing to think and process and understand and figure out what our next next steps need to be so please thank you all for coming and speaking tonight move approval of the consent agenda second the agenda has been moved by Miss Rogers seconded by Miss buer any other discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed please use the same sign it passes unanimously the next item on our agenda is the naming of Northern High School football stadium.

Good evening again board members as excitement builds for next week's opening of the new Northern High School there is also much excitement around the athletic facilities which will be housed on the school's campus Northern will now have a football stadium on its premises in accordance with District policy 9300 which outlines the naming of facilities within Duram Public Schools the administration brings before you this evening a recommendation for your consideration and approval for the name of Northern High School's football stadium the policy states the superintendent shall involve the staff students and parents assigned to the facility in the process of identifying possible names for a new school facility additionally policy states that individual buildings rooms areas within buildings and other structures on school campuses may be named in memory or honor of persons who have rendered extraordinary service to the school system Community or Nation following a recommendation from administrators and staff at Northern the office of public affairs in partnership with Northern leaders conducted a formal Community engagement process via engage.

Dpsnc.net community members were provided the opportunity to share their feedback in support of the recommendation or suggest other names for consideration after reviewing the feedback received during the engagement process we present Ken Browning Stadium as the name of the stadium Ken Browning is noted as one of the leading football coaches in North Carolina at both the high school and Collegiate levels he served as head coach at Northern High School from 1976 to 1993 earning a North Carolina High School Athletic Association state for a championship in 1993 Browning earned AP High School coach of the Year honors in 1992 and 1993 and was head coach of the North Carolina Shrine Bowl team in 1993 he continued to Garner National Acclaim as UNCC Chapel Hill at UNCC Chapel Hill as a member of their coaching staff this is before you for Action tonight thank you Rogers board member is there any discussion or motion around the recommendation for Ken Brown Stadium so I'm just excited as a former Northern Knight to be here tonight to celebrate.

What a amazing Legacy amazing career we have gotten so many positive emails from the community I just wanted to make sure y'all have been in touch with the family because some of them say Kenny Browning some of them say Ken that Ken is what what is being recommended this evening right and yes after speaking with u Mr Guilford that Ken Browning stadium is the proposed name for this the stadium wonderful wonderful I'm just excited about it and and Northern finally having their own stadium which is so important for for sports Equity I'm ready to make a motion unless anybody wants to talk about naming I would love to move that we name the new Northern High School football stadium Ken Browning Stadium second it's been moved by Miss Byer seconded by Miss vad darz is there any other discussion from board.

Members right I we just also say thank you to the community for the many emails that support this recommendation was really appreciative good to hear from folks Miss Lewis and I just wanted to thank the staff for taking and continuing to engage our community and getting the feedback and getting to this recommendations thank you all all those in favor say I I any opposed please use the same sign it passes.

Unanimously that was easy right we got a couple Northern night staff in the back thank y'all for being here all right the next items on our agenda are going to come from our chief of staff we have Pol two policy updates I'll pass them over to her good evening Madam chair Dr manga board members on the agenda today for second reading and the recommendation of adoption is policy 7503 telework if you recall this was B for first reading on August 10th and the board had several questions if you look at the policy that is in the packet you will see that we did address some of those concerns being regarding out of state work and out of the country work we when I initially drafted it I also did add in an alternate work location safety attestation in addition to the remote work agreement that HR is working on that would allow us some of the concerns that were discovered were if someone can just say that they have a.

Safe workspace and they're sitting in at their dining room table we are responsible under the North Carolina workers compensation laws for any potential injury so that would be an that's something that has been added and is new and I would work with the HR department and Mr Malone to make sure that we have crafted that appropriately the only one that we initially have is one that I was able to locate from another school system in another state so it's not before you because it hasn't been vetted thoroughly but did want to note that that was something that was new that you did not have in the last draft and secondly in I think it's section G10 is the new language regarding out of state work and out of the country work in my research for this what the primary issues that there are with the out of state is again the tax implications which we initially discussed and this policy does indicate that the employee is responsible for any out of any tax.

Implication so that is in policy and then section g12 does indicate that no telor shall be approved for outside of the country in I it was my research there's significant fines and penalties and you have to sponsor people Etc and so it's I didn't was unable to find any Lea or PSU in the country that was supporting that and it is our recommendation to also prohibit outside the country work I sent the draft to Mr Malone and he did not have any substance of changes to the proposed recommendation we have not brought back the rmp because we needed to see you know where the board was going to be with the policy and those are issued by Dr mubanga so what we would ask is that if the board decides to adopt this that we would then share the regulations that Administration and Dr manga do ultimately decide to issue as well as the attestation and the telework agreement for the board's information once HR has completed that so we this.

Is before the board for second reading and a recommendation of adoption happy to take any questions thank you Miss Giovani Miss valadares thank you you know a lot of conversations around this you know even before this right from staff members I want to shout out conso Nan from multilingual Resource Center it's just been wonderful to see leadership and to see folks kind of like tell us hey this is happening elsewhere right and to just continue to to push us as to the needs and there are definitely a lot of other people who have lifted this up but cons graas the MultiLing Resource Center lmrc I also just want to thank our Administration for looking at these examples you know we are an Innovative District we're you know always improving always figuring out how to make how to make the most out of our resources and to make the most out of our work culture it's it's a continual work and so I just want to commend you because you know you do bring all that.

Research and you know that time to to make sure that we have this so I just wanted to just voice support for the ways that you know we're working collaboratively right like our our our wonderful employees of DPS who wear their DPS badge With Honor and also our admins who listen and to figure out how to deliver and how to make this something that is a win right for all of us so I just celebrate that win and I want to thank you for that work any other questions or comments from board members accept a motion this would be our second reading become policy after this a move that we approve policy 7503 tell working second the move by Miss Chávez seconded by miss buer any other discussion all those in favor say I I I any opposed please use the same sign and that passes unanimously Gan I'll hand it back over to you thank you madam chair the next item or policy for consideration is policy 1710 prohibition against discrimination harassment and bullying.

This policy also is on for second reading and a recommendation for adoption to bring you back just if you recall this was brought to the board on August 10th and there we had several pieces of conversation around making sure that the protected demographic classes tracked each other in both the definitions and in the introductory par and we did do that if you can look at the policy that's in the packet those are tracking the last sentence and I guess really if you want to look at we've added ethnicity pregnancy religion into that first paragraph along with color national origin race sex disability age sexual orientation and gender identity and race so that is going to be the same as what's in the definition section the other area that the board had some questions around was the Boy Scouts protection act I believe it is from 2002 so as you can see initially there's it's not real clear whether or not you have to have Boy Scouts in there but we figure to be on.

The safe side that we do it would probably be wisest to go ahead and include Boy Scouts based on the ACT you could add in again I did some research you could add in Girl Scouts but it's anything that's entitled 36 of the codee regarding this policy which includes like multiple multiple groups boys and girls club so you really don't want to kind of add it most districts that do include it only include Boy Scouts so you have before you that recommended language from both myself and Mr Malone after rather vigorous conversation and he was Pro Boy Scouts just in case you're wondering where we were so but I did ultimately concede that U just you know it's not really the hill to die on at this point so we'll just go ahead I hope the board is happy with kind of we did move it down a little bit in the language so this is our combined recommendation to the board if you scroll down to the next section on page.

One it goes over to page two that's again just the tracking the same language regarding those distinct groups and categories and I believe that is those are the only two things that the board had requested that Administration look at from the last meeting and I'm happy to take any questions this is before the board for second reading and a recommendation of adoption thank you missani appreciate you and Mr Malone's work to adopt our questions and recommendations board members do you have any other additional questions or concerns Miss Chávez thank you Miss Jovonia Lewis this looks good I have two questions one is it possible to add legal status to the list and I had suggested that kind of weaved it in there but I didn't I don't know that I really made a note of it explicitly last time but I I would love if we added that to the list of identities or conditions on which discrimination might occur and the second thing was I know we had a little.

Conversation about this but would we we talked about if someone was not comfortable going if they wanted to go to someone of their same gender is it possible to put a line in there maybe under G just to note that someone has a right to request that if they desire we did Mr Mone and I again ahead robust conversation regarding that and where our recommendation is that that be included in that the people be trained on that that Mr kek and Miss Becket be trained that so that when anyone does reach out to them that they offer that like as part of their kind of their script to state that you know this is you know I have to be the federally designated person right we we talked about that I think Miss Rogers had asked that and you have to have someone designated in the policy so we don't really want to muddy that I think that can he and I both agree that that can kind of get confusing if people.

Don't reach out to miss Becket who's been trained or Mr coek who's been trained and let's say they reach out to me right I mean I'm not a certified title n person for purposes of doing the I'm not the designated coordinator for it and so what you don't want is to people to be kind of reaching out but we will do some training Mr Malone and I think that would be the best way to address it so that if someone reaches out the first thing you say you know thank you for calling I understand are you comfortable talking with me or would you like someone of the gender that you identify as or the a different sex or presenting sex to meet with you and or me and then we could then facilitate that so that's our recommendation I as always my recommendation is when you make those recommendations is let's see how it it goes right like I don't ever think you should just say you know.

Rod and I said it and now it's the gospel right I think that what we can say is let's try that and if you get feed board members get feedback or I get feedback or Dr manga gets feedback and says you know this isn't really working then we come back and tweak it to make sure that the members of our community are being represented and are feeling safe but I haven't heard any complaints I mean I haven't had anyone Express discomfort in talking with Mr kek Right or Beyer but if they are when people have had issues right with some of their decisions they have not hesitated to reach out out to the members of the board Dr manga or myself so that would be our recommendation regarding kind of not watering down the actual designation for OCR purposes so if I'm sorry understanding correctly people can reach out to either person and request for who to be in the meeting between the two is that correct yes the title n regulations provide that.

People can have advocates in there with them anyone that they support and frequently people do I think someone said it from the Das the other day like what grandmother you know is in there an aunt we've had Pastors in there so we're very you know you want to make sure that people feel safe and when you're dealing with these matters that fall under title n or potentially fall under title they're very sensitive and people can be in a very vulnerable place so I think both Mr K and Beyer are get regular training on that to make sure that they're sensitive to that but we want to like I said Mr Malone and I agreed that as part of the initial script when anyone reaches out to them to make sure that they are comfortable and that they understand that if it's a male and they go to miss kek or Miss Becket and they aren't comfortable because Beyer is female they would understand that you have this option to.

Talk to Mr coek or to have someone else Mr coob join your call with Miss Becka so we definitely are always very accommodating and want to be understanding and present safe spaces for people I appreciate that I think I also heard too from that if people have concerns they can reach out to you or to the superintendent's office as well with the if they have concerns or about that to face on the rare occasion that that has happened people have reached out to Dr MGA and or myself for because sometimes people aren't happy with this you know the decisions that are made but absolutely thank you any other questions Miss Chávez I would just say I think the most important thing is that it's it's it's made it's routinized in some kind of way so I think that's I appreciate that you work done that as a as an initial question that would be implemented if someone reached out so yeah that sounds great and then legal status it's okay well or is that U.

Is there comment on that I believe it is but before I add I just want to make sure that we're not I've not seen it in anyone else's and I just don't what I would ask the board to do is I'm happy to bring it back for a third reading and let let me let's make sure just don't want to put it in there or not put it in there and have you adopt it and come back so I I think miss merchon you want to what's your thinking you know if you got two lawyers you have two opinions so let's here let's hear hers I haven't seen legal status in any other District policies that doesn't mean that it's not available but if that's something that the board as a general rule would like us to explore we certainly could she agrees with me awesome I would like us to explore that to delay this process because I am eager to pass this policy but I do think it's important to acknowledge the.

Experiences of our undocumented students or students from mixed status families and to and to name that is you know a a right that people have access to K through2 education regardless of their legal status so that would be great if we could look into it thank you for all of that the other option if the board because I think people are a little bit anxious about the policy being adopted I've reached so the other option is we could adopt it and then depending once she and I kind of take a look at it if legal status is we can bring it back on consent and that it could be move that would be my recommendation I was gonna offer that same recommendation because I do think it's important that we pass the policy and want to give you all the time to be able to do the research when regards to legal status so but if it is a federally protected right like what is your hesitation like it it like we're not.

Allowed to ask our staff have been trained they're not allowed to ask legal status we enroll we take I mean so what would be your hesitation about that as a protected category from discrimination and bullying what I know I mean two lawyers great but what what would you I mean I don't even I'm not sure I have a hesitation it's just not an area it's not a question that's been asked of me personally before so I don't feel comfortable saying that that's appropriate or not I don't know of any reason why it wouldn't be fine as I'm here I just can't speak to that we put it in and then take it out later if you find like so the reason that we wouldn't recommend that is just because we don't know we know that the other areas in there are there and if we can add it come back in September if there's not any issue because unfortunately legally there's not sometimes legal isn't logic right and so we just want to make sure.

That we don't even for two weeks have you non-compliant or having an issue that's all but I promise you that the next if we adopted the next meeting it will be in there for consent if once we vet it and take a look at it that's our recommendation I I want us to take some time because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has language and I don't know if it says country of origin or anything like that but we need to include that especially a district that serves the population that we serve we owe our students protection we owe you know our Educators protection we owe everyone protection and so I would say you know maybe there's a way to phrase it and I think we can edit that in consent I'd say let's include a ver whether it's you know status legal status or we can say country of origin that is definitely Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it's vetted it's Federal and that is very legal I mean so we can emulate.

Federal so national origin is in there already what see go ahead G I would also say that regardless of what's in federal state law you all have the ability to expand your discrimination policies to to other groups that aren't necessarily designated as a protected group in other areas so that wouldn't really be binding on that and that's not so so again I don't see a barrier I don't see a barrier as I sit here right now as to why you wouldn't be able to expand it to that appreciate that M Merchant and I think and I want to expand I just want yall to have a time to go do some searching and talk to some people and so I think if we can pass tonight at our next work session we can bring this back on consent I'm 100% wanting to do that but I also just want to make sure that we do our due diligence in and checking and again it doesn't look like there's.

Going to be an issue but I want to make sure that we give our attorneys time to do the work ask a question since we know that it's not we're not asking anything that is egregious based on what we've seen based on Civil Rights Act of 1964 it follows the same language the same sentiment I say let's include that now and if there's a way of word smithing or something that needs to be done let's bring that in consent and then we can you know make whatever worth smithing but I would not be okay or comfortable with just saying let's let's do the other way like let's leave it out and then wait till we do and then come back and then come to find out yes we can do this and I know we can do this and so I I just say we can pass it with maybe flexibility in terms of the wording but the we already know we want to be able to address that as well because you know.

That is a need that has been expressed by families and so let's not let them wait and let's pass this discrimination policy so that it has the most from the start from the get-go and then we can word Smith. It questions are coming.

Or or motions and yeah I think we are talking about policy that's legally binding so just I don't I think we need to adopt something without it being flexible tonight so that the policy is really clear and then we can again revisit in two weeks when we come back for our work session in September so I just want to make sure that being really clear about what we're adopting and bringing edits back in the future but not trying to leave this too open tonight that me that's a legal status I mean that is that's how my colleague Emily Chávez initially worded it isn't yes that's how I worded it but yeah good okay I was just gonna say another we pass policy before with the caveat for further attorney review I believe could we pass this policy or have the motion with legal status per further attorney review as a compromise wouldn't be my recommendation that you pass a policy pending attorney review I I for the reason stated by.

There are times when we have had contracts I think that have been still under review but pretty close to all the substantive issues 95% have been addressed so there have been some tiny TW tweaks that may happen pending aary r view but in terms of policy I would defer to a policy that's clear if you all adopt it I would want it to be clear to the public as to what it is that what it. Means move approval of policy 1710 4021 7230 prohibition against discrimination harassment and bullying with attorney rview that would not be my recommendation okay no that's that's and I think the first thing we would need is a motion to amend the policy is presented before passage so I think we need to see that first right I move that we amend policy 1710 4021 7230 prohibition against discrimination harassment and bullying to include language that reflects no discrimination regarding legal status the only the only change I would make to that motion if I if I may is to.

Reference that is the proposed policy or the policy proposed by administration because once we vote on the amendment to the proposed policy we then will need to take a vote assuming that Amendment passes we would then need to take a vote on the on the on the amended policy amend policy that's correct thank you Amendment to the policy so I think this is an amended Amendment back it's been moved and properly second any other discussion all in favor sorry I'm Sorry Miss Rogers can we get clarity on the motion yes ma'am that's thank you we are moving to amend policy to include language about no discrimination based on legal status and so we're amending the policy and proposed the proposed policy that has not yet pass yet but the proposed policy to add legal.

Status any other discussion all those in favor say I I any oppose please use the same sign that passes unanimously so then we'll need another motion to approve the amended. Policy that we approve the policy as amended second has been moved and properly second any other discussion I would ask U miss Jovonia Lewis and miss meron if you could bring us an update at our September meeting I fully believe that we won't have an issue but I do want to be clarify and make sure that there is not an issue with making sure the policy is in there thank you all those in favor say I I any opposed use the same sign pass it.

Unanimously all right so the next item on our agenda is academic Services we have our English language excuse me English English learner Academy sorry sorry got Tongue Tied there good evening board chair Umstead Dr mbinga and other members of the school board we are delighted to be able to share with you our English learner Academy for this Academic Year I am going to ask my colleague Miss Sasha ryas join.

Us all right Dr MGA members of the board not on. Ph while Sashi is getting prepared I must share that we are missing one member of our team Dr aretta Kagel she had an emergency so she's not able to join us but would like to share next slide please next slide please that the English learner Prep Academy is in alignment with our strategic plan 2023 2028 for the next five years where we will ensure that at least 70% of our DPS LEP students will achieve grade level proficiency as measured by eogs and eoc's and at least 70% of our eels will meet their annual progress targets we'd also like to say that the English learner Academy is also in alignment with priority four because it is helping us to cultivate meaningful and authentic engagement with our families Sashi thank you Dr Stewart next slide please so this slide encapsulates our data that we based our E Prep Academy on last year we darm public schools has about 18.2% of our students.

Our English Learners out of our total DPS enrollment and of those 8.2% as you can see we did not our English learner progress targets were fairly low we were recovering from some learning loss and language loss after the pandemic our graduation rates are also not where they should be and so keeping all of that data in mind when we looked at the trends in our access test which is our language proficiency assessment the expressive skills of speaking and writing were areas of weakness that we needed to kind of build up with our students next slide please next slide please so based on the data we looked at it as an opportunity to try and explore options to be able to supplement the instruction that students were receiving in the school day and finding ways to be able to give them additional support High student achievement depends on family support and in order to empower our families the idea of the El Prep Academy so forth was birthed to provide a comprehensive support for both.

Families and students around language development and academic achievement next slide please so last year we offered El PR Academy at our 10 sites with their feeder schools as listed on the slide we offered five five instructional days and the sixth day was a day of Celebration we had about 356 students registered and participate in the program so our content Focus for students was based around community building and getting to know Durham North Carolina in the USA and we built science and social studies units around those topics for our students to be able to participate with handson learning and language development the enrichment activities came from a partnership with caps which listed like mad scientists and such very enriching activities for our students and they participated in it very actively kids notes was another highlight with the students and our family engagement activities were basically built around tools that our families would need to be able to support their students at home social emotional learning Parent Portal and Technology Tech technology tools that.

They would need to be able to access their students progress academic progress and so forth on power school and the next slide please and so with that like you would do with any program you would ask for feedback so after the end of our Academy celebration in March we surveyed our students families and staff regarding the success of the program each received each group received a Liker style and open-ended response questions around the EL support strategies how well the program prepared students for the access test site locations meal options and how prepared parents felt in supporting their children at home so this first slide shows the feedback from parents and Guardians it shows that 73.4% of parents felt that they were better prepared to support their child's learning 79.9% felt the family engagement sessions were meaningful 87.2% felt the academy helped their child in understanding and speaking English better and 90.8% of the families felt the locations were convenient next slide please feedback from students in grades K2 in reviewing this feedback it shows that.

96.5% of K2 students really enjoy the academy there's an average of 83.9% that felt that they were better able to speak read write and understand English and 91.2 2% felt the academy was interesting and it if and if offered again they would attend next slide please feedback from students in grades three through eight in reviewing this feedback it showed that 78.1% really enjoyed the academy and an average of 70.6% felt they were better able to speak read write and understand English 63 a little over 63% felt the academy was interesting and if offered again they would attend I would also like to point out that more than 85% of K2 and 38 student groups like their teachers respected them and had fun in the process now this is a huge hug Testament of the commitment of our phenomenal DPS staff many of whom have committed to working the program again this school year next slide please and finally feedback from our staff in reviewing the feedback an average of 70% of the staff.

Stated they would utilize these skills not just for elel students but for all of their students in their classroom this information was utilized to plan the 23 24 year of el Prep Academy next slide please we'll now discuss the El Prep Academy program overview so in next slide please in response to the feedback we received from student staffs and teachers provided at the end of last year's Academy we made the the following improvements one thing is we began promoting the program early this year and the program will also begin earlier in the school year in September on September 23rd doubling the number of sessions that we were able to offer last year also sessions will be offered on the 1 and thir Saturdays from 9: to noon and sessions will be designed for both students and families increased focus is on literacy and math with on experiences and language development versus test prep we also will incorporate Brain Breaks and physical activity to be able to be scheduled within the school day allowing time for.

Socialization and physical activity and lastly weekly monitoring of student attendance feedback regarding curriculum and family engagement sessions to ensure that that we are able to address issues as they arise rather than wait until the end of the Academy sessions this year we took Transportation into consideration as this was a barrier for some of our families last year after meeting with transportation and developing a budget based on the pay rate for managers and drivers and the cost of fuel per mile it will not be feasible for us to offer transportation to our families this year knowing that this was a barrier last year we did reach out to God Durham to ensure parents and students are still able to ride for free and have even reached out to some of our Community Partners to see if they can provide van services for parents to access the program next slide.

Please so again in response to the feedback from our staff and students we designed our curriculum based on the demographic data of our students most the bulk of English Learners come from Asia Africa and Latin America and so we use those three countries to be able to interweave social studies and science again in the curriculum so we offer it in a patterned three-week units which would be U geography and then ecology and finally culture from all these areas and we would be celebrating like during the first session where we have Latin American culture we would have our Hispanic Heritage Month that that month when we start so it's appropriate to have our celebrations at that point and we've done similarly with Africa and Asia we've also what is new this year is we've included math as its own class period which was Incorporated last year but this with intentionality for our students to be able to get math instruction and it's again appropriately designed based on their age level for example for students.

In grades five through eight there will be calculator use and instruction but not so much for the kindergarten kids and then we've also again pulled language development so that our students will be able to access board problems and be able to analyze language of math during those classes it will additionally address gaps that students may have in math so that they would be able to progress and U the ultimate goal is for High student achievement and to build self-confidence in our students next slide please so in order to determine our site locations for this school year principles were given the option at the end of last year to opt in to be a site location for this school year utilizing the 2223 El data we took a look at the schools in each El student band to determine training pairing feasibility and to ensure that if all El students were registered for the program no location would be overcrowded so that's how the feeder schools were determined based on the site locations.

Additionally next slide please and so in preparation for this year's Academy we have 14 sites versus the 10 sites from last year and we also this is an increase of four more sites two middle schools and two additional elementary schools our staffing for this year will include Regional coordinators who will oversee the ident identified Regional sites each Saturday and work directly with site coordinators to ensure that their needs are met with materials or any student needs or family needs as they come up the site coordinators will provide oversight to the Daily running of their sites and ensure that their staff have material and their students needs are met in what whatever manner that is needed they'll also be bilingual front desk greeters who will welcome and greet our families each Saturday and support the site communic coordinators with communication with our families family engagement session leaders will provide the instruction around the identified topics for our families each Saturday and then there will also be family engagement interpreters who will interpret during.

The family engagement sessions the number of teachers and instructional support hasn't yet been identified because we are waiting on the enrollment of the students to be able to determine the staffing needs for those sites and finally professional development will be provided for teachers before each 3-week unit and additionally all staff will have two hours of planning for each month so before each unit they will have an additional hour of planning feedback was gathered from parents last year regarding family engagement sessions and that data was used to drive our sessions for this school year topics will include social emotional learning how to communicate with your child through difficult situations and also along our elementary literacy and math adoptions such as letters and hmh and Arc and Eureka curriculum there will be Hands-On activities for our families to participate and get to know the curriculum that their students that their children participate in these sessions will also be delivered by and provide instructional activities with materials for our families to be able to engage in.

And they can continue this at home with their children we've also included a bi-weekly chat with our chief of schools who will which will keep the parents up to date on current topics from the school and the district level to ensure seamless communication and strengthen family relationships families will also have an opportunity to share ideas and provide feedback during that time there are currently 248 DPS staff members who have signed up to assist with the academy all final Staffing decisions will be made within the next two or three weeks next slide.

Please so we will now discuss our communication plan which was also based on our feedback from our families last year next slide please registration is currently underway and will continue through September 2nd of 2023 to allow ample time for schools to create their rosters and secure all the needed staff and ensure curriculum and instruction lessons are completed supporting materials are included and be and shared with staff the first training is scheduled two weeks before the actual start of the sessions which is before September 23rd to give staff ample time to look at the material and plan the lessons and come prepared our first El prep Prep Academy registration event was scheduled on August 12th from 9:00 amm to 2: PM and our committee posted flyers in locations frequented by a lot of our English learner families there was a four-week radio announcement on LA radio station distributed Flyers to food banks to be placed around distribution boxes connected messages as well as Flyers were posted on our.

DPS website to be able to and we were able to register 98 families during this event we had three tables at our DPS Fest this passed Sunday August 20th from 3 P.M to 7 p.m and we distributed information and registered families for E Prep Academy as well as our our inaugural family Academy Summit which will take place on September 9th at Hillside High School from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. we partnered with World relief for their school Orient orientation day on August 22nd from 2:30 to 4: to again assist with promoting yel Prep Academy and registering those families as well we'll also capitalize on our DPS open houses that are occurring T today and tomorrow and yesterday each element and middle school will be responsible for Distributing the information and registering families for El Prep Academy and lastly our last push for registration will occur during the first week of school August 28th through September 1st schools will work with their staff and send registration forms home with students and parents.

And promote the program for our English learner families from the first three events we've registered 143 students and signed 58 parents for the English classes through Durham Tech which is another family engagement activity that we're including based upon the request from parents from last year next slide please we thank you for the opportunity this evening to provide an update regarding the 2023 2024 El Prep Academy and now we are open to questions and discussion thank you thank you both for that presentation I saw you all at DPS Fest it was fun to be able to learn more about the information and see the Flyers and watch families also engaged board members are there questions I'm start with Miss vad darz and then I'll go to miss Rogers I want to thank you so much Dr RSM M RSM and Dr Stacy Stewart this has been work we we always talk about the fact that these are our children and so the eso Department all of us have to support right our our.

Immigrant students this is work that is not just done by one department and knowing that Communications is involved and that everyone is making sure that this is supported is is just something to celebrate right because these are our children we don't ever want to see any of our students not having the support that they need and sometimes the numbers tell a story you know and and it doesn't tell the entire story but definitely we understand that there are barriers but in this moment I just want to just sit with this because leadership makes all the difference and I just want to say that leadership makes a world of difference you know for many years you know it it it could have been lack of solidarity in that aspect but I want you to know there's solidarity from this board there's solidarity from our community people are championing this and so the the more like we continue to build momentum in terms of solidarity in terms of making sure that all our kids have.

What they need we continue to watch that data but I just also just want to shout out Dr Stacy Stewart going out into Community families know your face you know they see you they talk about you they've been sharing these flyers as well some of them had some feedback initially when it started when when we did the first you know the first last year right the first pilot and you know there was there was communication about little things that you know they would like to see different and there was such receptivity you know to address that and I know that we brought in the MRC as well you know who that was also involved in working with families and so there's there's just all that in terms of like how we continue to listen and continue to improve this program and then we've expanded the offerings beyond what it was initially just more sessions that data is the data is going to show that hard work and I just want to.

Commend you for your leadership commend you for leading this work that is so important and I just have you know you have all you have our support you know in as many ways you have our support and I have visited you know the work that is happening even during the year just this is this is a a wonderful eel Prep Academy but also like with the ESL program and ESL Educators I want to take this moment to just shout out the people who work under your team who are doing this work in the classrooms and who have been doing this work in terms of making sure that all our kids feel seen and that they feel like you know this district has their back as well right thank you so much just have to show this you have the shirt El Prep Academy yes all the things Miss Valladares has just shared I'm really excited about our El per Academy what happened last year and what's to come but I have questions.

About some of this data and I don't know we'll see my first question is you had 30 356 student participants last year do we know what percentage of families and caretakers took the survey I do not have that that would have been the information that Dr Kagel would have shared okay but at the last minute today she was unable to join us understood that's helpful if we could get that in in the future you also talk about what's going to happen in the future teach in terms of attendance does that mean we didn't take attendance last year do we have an attendance rate for the students attendance was taken yes she would have that data okay can we see that too can we also I guess my question also is I hate to ask this but I have to ask we I'm very appreciative that we're starting the planning earlier than last year it's something we are getting to be proactive instead of reactive I really like that how much is this.

Costing we will have that as soon as we have all the numbers of the students who register so we can identify all the staff that need to participate okay and can we get information about the percentage of students that are invited versus the percentage of students that actually register and show up absolutely and I know we're not doing Transportation are we having conversations with families about ways that they can attend even though we're not providing Transportation like the city a partnership with the city because the buses are free or whatever we're having those conversations so that that information has been provided everybody has a Goram schedule and with the maps and those were provided at every registration event and they'll be available at the schools as well for gorum as well as some Community organizations that might offer van services for those who who the bus off is too far for that was my next question thank you I'm appreciative of this work I look forward to getting the answers to those questions.

And I'd love to see if we have an average improval Improvement score how much these student scores have improved on average once the test data is a available got it thank you thank you thank you I'm really excited about the program is there a particular test you're looking for M Rogers whatever outcomes that you are measuring is yes whatever outcomes the district is already meas measuring to determine who should be invited to the program because I assume and I should not that every El learner English language learner is not invited it's is it every one of them 100% of the E students were invited 100% of el stud all of them were invited last year even if the oh I'm sorry K8 yes K8 K8 even if okay I'm I'm okay with that so yeah so we expected Improvement for every English learner and when we speak in terms of the Improvement for English Learners that is specific to access testing yes English learner progress Sashi could you.

But it would also be we hope to it it would also reflect in all the other Assessments in they take and overall classroom performance and I will just go out there and say that they also that would hopefully also end up being a better sense of belonging based on that whole social emotional and treating the whole child with this program but I will say the specific data point of interest for last year would be their e progress per access test right moving forward we're looking for El progress as well as proficiency okay and we expect the outcome of this program to be that our El students are moving out of the program on track as they should yes that they are excelling per state guidance So eventually we should be able to see some data about this cohort moving out of the program absolutely okay I look forward to.

That no that's okay I was just thinking about the cohort part in tracking but that's not that's not for me that's what my brain was thinking about how will you track the cohort when they're maybe all over but I'm looking forward to hearing from youall Miss Travis thank you this is really exciting I love this as a as a as a model and I'm excited about the also the way that you're using feedback to improve it this year I wanted to say a couple things and ask a couple things one I love the family engagement and how you're increasing that this year I think that's awesome and just so important to to support our students we have to support those families as you mentioned and and so that's awesome love to hear the opportunities to learn English if parents can you know can and want to take that on as well I had a couple questions there were similar similar to miss Rogers one well not a question but just about Transportation.

I'm glad to hear about the partnership with God Durham that was a question I had in reading this ahead of time and and also the potential for other Partnerships to improve that I know that that's an issue can be an issue as I talked to I know one principal is saying that's an is can be an issue with attending this programming and so as many opportunities as we facilitate for transportation I think that's great so I hope we'll continue to just keep that front of mind going forward let's see I I was also I'll say I was also wondering about the survey response rate too so I was just also interested in that data and I wanted to ask can you speak is a little bit about the communication or or Dr Stewart about the communication via principles are they how are they putting this out there and you shared a little bit about the communication plan but I just want to see if you know is are there different ways that we're.

Putting this out via like School newsletters and the call Robo calls and all that so yes all all means the Flyers are being distributed to the schools like I said during the open houses as well as week and next week when teachers come on board ESL teachers will be sending that information out as well with u their students to their families and you know registration is open till September 2nd so there is an urgency as we're getting closer to be able to do that to be able to reach out to our families and so the biggest push will be next week when our students are back in the building and we're getting all the information out to families and the push is tonight tomorrow yesterday and.

Yesterday great I think it's great and obviously it's good for people to hear things more than once what about our high school students I I actually I didn't realize until now that this is for only up to eth grade until I mean I was looking at this and so I thought we were you know doing some support work with our high school students I know there are different needs there but could you speak to that a little bit so many of our high school students end up working on the weekends and so a lot of the feedback we got was that you know they probably wouldn't attend because they have to go to work so the principles at every school have built in an intervention block wherein they will Target these students to provide that within the school day and then Dr Stuart would you like to add if there's any other opportunity and if there are any interested high schoolers then we are flexible to include them in this process.

Okay that's great that's great as well I I think that you know there you spoke obviously we want to see I'm talking about outcomes I just started like five sent we're talking about outcomes academic outcomes but I think there are other you know outcomes that you all have spoken to as well we the board had requested some ESL data in the spring and so in looking at that you know I think I'm optimistic about not only the academic outcomes which you know we're excited to see but also as you said about belong a sense of belonging in I know that parents of ESL students have shared that there can be a sense of isolation when their kids are not fully immersed in the in the classroom and speaking English at the level of other students and so I think that this you know is a way to connect our students and build that sense of community so that's that's positive as well as I would I look forward to sort of.

Connecting the Dos on how this influences behavior and discipline data as well and we want our students engaged obviously in in learning and not being distracted by other things and then I was also wondering since this is k through eight if you if you were seeing you may not have this data I was wondering to what extent children who who were attending Were Us born U versus non us born and so that's just a question I have maybe something to consider also a lot of students come into kindergarten their you know ESL in the ESL program and they were born here and so they you know so it's a little different than the experience of being an immigrant but just wondering if we're serving all those groups just about like the different groups within our ESL population and the last thing I wanted to just ask about Clarity on was okay so we had this information to es to exit the ESL program based on access scores students need to have a.

Composite score of 4.8 is my understanding is that based on all four of the different areas the readings okay yes that's based on a cumulative average of all four domains okay thank you thank you miss travez any other Miss barer I I want to thank the staff and celebrate the the folks that are going to be working with our students to on this enrichment over the weekends I want to look forward to the budget and know kind of as we plan forward how we can continue to support what I think is a really profound need for families and students in our community I I hear you have plenty of folks that are ready to teach and that's exciting and you'll be making those decisions soon I want to be reassured that that we are paying and compensating folks for that extra time absolutely good I knew that but I needed to hear it and I'm also curious and and wanting to be cognizant that we don't burn out our principles and our.

Building leaders they are not required to be in building for these Saturdays they are not required but what we are asking is that a member of the either a member of the administration or a member of the team who knows the building that a person is a part of that offering we do have to have someone at that school who is who knows the ins and out that building be a part of it so we're not requiring administrators but we are pushing that a person who knows that building is in charge to assist other persons in the building it's just like you come to my house I'm not home I need to have someone at that house who knows how to walk you around and show you where everything is in order for you to be safe and have access to the things that you need but that could be one of the teachers that we hire that happens to work that it could be yes right that's great I think there's just.

A a a way to continue taking care of our people while we're expanding our weekend offerings and and hours and the the public affairs push today about calendars reminded me that we since we have a way to push calendars to families there might be a way to push reminders through the app to make sure that families remember those dates and attend and I don't know if that's a possibility Rogers but I wanted to celebrate that you did send out that link that lets families put calendars on their personal thinky dink you know it kind of works right yes that is a possibility for us to synchronize the calendars and also have that academy information available to push out through the app Miss Lewis thank you so much for this presentation and this work that you all are doing we know that to get to this place in academic River it takes Saturday acmis and this plan you all put together and the outcomes that you're looking at the evaluations being done.

Was just well done in the first year and I see that you're looking to ways for improvement and I definitely appreciate that focusing on the metrics there a lot of data here on the the data dive and discussions that you are are looking at and it's not where it needs to be so this is a very true intentional measure to get towards those steps and I'm glad to hear that you're going to continue to look at those measures specifically for those who are attending one of the things that I note typically is when we're talking about where students are in their performance and how much growth they make is really important and as a measure and indication so that really caught my eye on the on the first slides and I'm sorry I didn't catch this soon I'm bring it to your attention but the.

Priority One goal 1B should say at least 70% of DPS students will achieve proficiency it goes further unless that has changed I pulled up the draft that I have no it hasn't it is all encompassing but we were just highlighting the LEP students but thank you for that yeah I didn't want to make it people thinking we're going to go from 16% to 70% unless that's what you're saying 16 16.9% proficiency at the end of 2122 school year yeah that was the score that was for El progress yes that is for El's only okay the go is 70% yes sufficiency okay and then thank you for that explanation and then my other question was also around the the attendance when you said one of the strategies is for attendance is that attendance of the Eep the program or is that attendance in their school is that a measure that you're also looking at school attendance this is specific to attendance in in reference to the program because we want.

Them to be consistent we want consistent attendance okay throughout yes that was all I had thank you so much for the explanations m m is I would be remiss if I didn't let you all know that I I was getting all the WhatsApp messaging during the time that these sessions are going on and I just want to shout out again love for our Educators our teachers we have very very dedicated wonderful wonderful people Michelle espara errera Garcia not only is she a teacher Glenn but she's also she also had a a son who's also participating in the E Prep I was an ESL student so I'm telling you like this is this is I I'm just putting myself in those shoes of what a difference it makes I have children who were ESL students as well and who had you know exited the program and I know of young ladies who are in high school who are you know have been in ESL forever right and and they're coming.

Into nth grade still in ESL and they celebrate the victory of exiting and I I do believe that this District again this is supporting the work that you're doing that you're not alone this exiting students is something we all have to do right we need we need to give them the supports and we give this and I know that the timeline Dr Stuart your vision for this right it's it's we we want our kids to exit when they need to exit to get the supports because the longer we have them in ESL in in a program that it a program that supports them but it also like sometimes becomes one of those limiting factors because they want to be able to you know fully integrate into everything else fully integrate into as many classes but but I also know that there's such support that happens with ESL teachers and bonds that are there for the students that you know is also very important and this this particular you know Endeavor I just.

Remember getting the messaging parents were figuring out car pooling some parents were figuring out they were they were figuring out because they value it so much and this young lady Michelle was also like redirecting she's like I just dropped off my son here I'm right here what do you what questions do you have you know and it was like triaging all these questions and also attending so she was was also teaching right and doing doing the teaching and also like seeing her son go through the program and that feedback in terms of like you know she believes in it parents were like asking her left and right and I was just watching all this and I was answering questions but I was also like you know knowing that we have some of the best most dedicated Educators in our district who believe that there should be no child with 9.6% 99.48% which was we didn't have any pandemic data but that was before the pandemic 99.48% % and then 16.9% so.

Already in the right direction but the vision is definitely to grow all our kids and to make sure that they're all taken care of and so I just commend again your vision your work the Educators behind all this and knowing that we're also going to see exit numbers also shift you know because this is you know this is these are resources that are going into them when they need them and our kids will you know not be in usle for as many years as as they've been right but they'll always show love to it because there's a lot of love that that happens in in in ESL classrooms and ESL Endeavor so just my gratitude as a former ESL student and as a mother of ESL students and so thank you all so much we believe that Teamwork Makes the Dream Work and what gets monitored gets done thank you all so much for the presentation don't I have a couple questions don't leave thank you for the presentation this really intentional.

Work to support our students and families some of my comments have already been shared so I won't talk again I'm I hope that we can think of I mean I'm you all are monitoring attendance so I know that we'll you'll be able to see if the transportation not being able to provide that will impact attendant so I just love for us to keep that on our radar and if you come bring this presentation comes back and that is a major barrier to families participating then we might need to have a conversation around the budget and what that looks like so the second question I have is around the budget and I want to say that we used a fun I can't remember so correct me if it was Esser or Mackenzie Scott funding that supported this initiative Esser funds Esser funds okay so will those funds be till 2026 is that in that pot no these are the 2024 pots this is our last year the.

Use of erer fund so we'll use it for the 23 24 year and we are hopeful that we're going to have funding to support year three I heard that that request Dr Stewart that funding request in there okay I think that's helpful for us to know as a board and I really as a board want us to start thinking about our budget in multiple years right and so knowing that in 25 26 there's going to be some money that we would want to set aside for this initiative along with maybe other things that Esther was funding what is 26 20 o 25 26 26 27 27 28 like really budgeting and looking at our budget in priorities a couple years out I think that's just important for us to be realistic and honest about what we can and can't do so the other part I'm thinking about is sustainability and I love that the high schools have built in these intervention blocks and I'm wondering are there any.

Other as we consider our budget and what we can do this is again a future conversation is there ways to integrate this into school day or something like that to help support students but again a conversation for as we come up to next year how do we create a sustainability model to continue this really great work to keep going I think that is all of my questions I think I hope to in the High School portion and even maybe for some of the eighth grade students you all mention work we know so many of our students work that we are also able to connect them with some of those Pathways in our high school program that get certifications for work or connect them also with Durham Tech so they are getting the certifications that they need we know there are many high-paying jobs in our community that require certifications and not a college diploma so how do we set up many of these students and families who we know oftentimes are working to help support.

Their families and themselves for those really great career options so that's the other thing I was thinking about as we went through this presentation so thank you all thank you our next item is Operation Services purchasing and construction thresholds I'm going to pass it to somebody good evening Madam chair Dr MinGa board members we're bringing back to you tonight information in regards to the 990,000 the changes that you made last year for going for purchasing and requisitions from 90,000 to 200,000 as well as for op for operational construction type utilities to be moved from 300 to 500,000 in June ofif in June June 15 board meeting we brought you an exhaustive list of everything that was really over $80,000 a lot of those things had come to the board and it had been determined that you would like to see the ones that did not come to the board so in this presentation tonight what we have for you in your packets is the information that is reflective of those.

Contracts that are over 990,000 we gave you a summary of those for 23 20 22 23 and then we gave you a listing of those vendors and the number of contracts that they have and the different areas that we're utilizing those Services because in a number of those occasions there are multiple divisions areas and schools that use those services so tonight so that you can make a decision on whether the 200 level is the right level or is it something different or is the 500 level the right level or is it something different we want to just have some discussion with you in regards to the different cont contracts number of contracts that you had not seen that were approved by Administration as the year went through we went through the year we're also going to talk to you about bringing the same type of report each month so that you have at your board meeting you'll have a listing of where we are so you'll you'll have a a an understanding.

Of those contracts that are hitting the new the plateaus that you set tonight thank you Miss Soler so in your packet you had those that were over 990,000 we had less than 150 purchase orders that were let that equated to $3.7 million you had multiple vendors in that regard to that that had a lot of groundskeeping custodial Services for making sure that our grounds were neat and also that our buildings were clean those were the majority of our various contracts over $90,000 and the list as you can see we had one vendor derms Arts Council that we do a lot of work with schools as well as the district you have 33 purchase orders that were let last year for them and that was a little over 93 thou $93,000 so the larger contracts or purchase orders that went out were for your groundskeeping and your operational Services you also have EC Services where we have to bring on nurses as well as other EC Services to ensure that those students are being served.

Appropriately based on their their plans that are developed for them their IEPs also we have cons consultant Services that we bring in to the district as well and we can have any kind of discussion you want I I made staff aware to be ready in case any of these came up for questions because I don't have the answers for everything because I'm not the one we're the on that pay them but we'll help you out in any way shape or form we can to to better get a better grasp of of the decision make that you have before you yes thank you Mr wer for your for that presentation and the level of detail in here I think that's going to be helpful for us as we're making this decision it looks like Miss berer has a question as well as Miss Roger so just to start with I I want to thank you for all the work and acknowledge that Mr Malone requested it and you've.

Sorted it out and brought it the way he wanted it so that made would make him happy I wish he was here to see it so do are you all bringing a recommendation for amounts and and whether we stick with where we are whether we meet somewhere in the middle whether we go back are you all bringing a recommendation this. Evening I think what we have is about 200 going back to 90 is not realistic with this kind of economy that we have I'm going to feel comfortable if B would like to work with us to be somewhere in a range of 120 or.

150 and then the one that's currently at 300 and 500 those numbers do you have recommendations there Paul I will look at you to see what number you feel comfortable as far operations is concerned you've seen a lot of those purchase so yeah I want to give kudos to the operation area because even though we were at 300 level previously we moved it to the 500 most of those construction things come to the board anyway so they had none at that point in time and they have none as of yet because most of those come like I said come to the board for your review and approval because some a lot of them are are tied to bonds or ESO driven so we got to make sure we cover our basis on all those you know I'm good with anywhere in the middle if that's something we I just want to make sure that we're not slowing down the progress if we need to get something in here in a hurry that we.

Can get it out the door to your points Paul I think this was the year probably before the pandemic where we had a situation of moead we have to call that special board meeting I think it was something that was going to chill it that was going to cost us around 350 so I will concer with Paul somewhere in the middle will help us really to esed out the process and a lot of these things that are going to be that expensive anyway are going to go out for bid as well it would only be an emergency thing that would not go out for bid and therefore we're getting the best pricing we can get I appre appreciate it that that's helpful to hear what you guys think would be a happy medium I was kind of thinking of you know the 90 going to 15 and the 300 going to 400 or something you know that splits that difference in the middle and you know wondering if that's where y'all would be comfortable.

I would say that like the groundskeeping this one this one group having $42,000 right that we just K andr building solution 742 th000 with 21 purchase orders that's the kind of thing that I think our part of our public is is concerned about that we might be bundling Services in and and frankly like I had this great conversation this week with our groundskeeper George and just got to shout out George and the grounds crew and what they're doing but you know Mr Johnson before you were here years and years ago we to bring our custodians back in house because we want DPS folks to have state benefits we want them to be well compensated we want them to have full-time work as much as possible and so cobbling together groundskeeping in this way continues to concern me and I this just is where it got highlighted to me by having these grounds contracts in here and jumping out at me so I you know I know we get desperate.

And I know the labor market is shifted but but that kind of thing is what I think some of our public has expressed skepticism about and I don't think that was really a question it was just more of a comment yeah yeah just a quick reaction here I think Mr Johnson is spending his first 90 days pretty much assessing the whole thing at one point I think before even my time there were number of operation workers that's been cut so with that reason the fact that there's a big load of work we keep on bringing some of those contractor to be able to help us with that's kind of work I think once Mr Johnson fin finishes at 90 days is going to try to assess the number of personnel that he has if it's enough because you can look at that what you paying contractors it may be expensive than bringing some additional employees to get a job done so I'm giving him a little bit time here.

Once he complet his 90 days to be able to bring me his recommendation how we're going to be able to move forward that's probably going to address your concern as well no that's great I just wanted if you wanted to introduce him too since this his first actual real meeting or if you're gonna do that later but yeah thank you I take that point of privilege Madame chair thank you Miss berer to be able to introduce our chief operating officer Mr Larry Johnson if you have any few words no not really just thank you for the opportunity I've been here about six seven weeks everything is going extremely well everybody's been extremely nice trying to help me get acclimated to the schools and to the processes and procedures and just to address your concern Miss buyer you know we are looking at that when we're talking about around 16 employees when it comes to grass cutters with 55 56 sites that's a lot of grass cutting so we've had to utilize outside.

Vendors we're going to look at that because we need need to get on a rotation where our schools are at least touched every 10 to 12 days because we need to keep up our facilities when our parents and and our kids come on campus even during the summer so we are looking at that and we will be providing an update very soon thank you for being here may I I just want to point out when this when we change those policies also to your point Miss Byer language from the original policy was removed for because we were having so many of these kind of issues that language read that they had to get board approval for any vendor that was receiving over a certain amount right so and that since that was taken out that's why we're at that 700 and so I would ask that as we kind of you know let Mr Johnson get his land legs that Mr lur and I and Mr Johnson kind of.

Huddle again and see if that is something that needs to get put back in so I just wanted to lift that up thank you just just just a little comment in terms of of was what was mentioned with groundskeepers because I also we've had opportunity to talk to some folks who tell us about the risk of the work we we we think about the work and we just see everything done and we're like it's easy peasy but a groundkeeper was telling me about snakes and there's like you know marshes like there areas that actually do have water that look like like natural or even man-made kind of like ponds you know like small little ponds they're not Pond they're not Lakes right but it's like all of a sudden he was telling me that he felt like you know going in there like the risk of the work like he's like people don't see the risk that I take and I can wear those those plastic those boots that cover up to my.

Knee and I'm not taking I'm not and he was just explaining to me like I am not going in there I am not going in there it's a risk for our kids right if there are and so they're Critters sometimes you know we really don't think about the risk of the work and so I I do think in terms of protecting our staff if there are risks that our staff doesn't need to take then you know I support you know these kind of opportunities to to figure out people who might be better equipped to deal with that as we continue to kind of figure out like some of those risks but I I do remember that groundskeeper telling me like he was with a group and he was just explaining like you know people don't see like the things that we do to keep our kids safe you know when it comes to that and and you know we live in a natural environment luckily you know and there's a lot of good things about.

The work that they do but obviously with any job there's there's some risks just wanted to mention that M Rogers I sort of feel the same way as my colleagues Miss bu specifically talked about Landscaping but also the one of the red flags on the list for me was custodial services and how much of that is being contracted out and I know it's work that we have to do are any of these contractors being used used in L because of positions that are currently posted and unfilled probably some a lot of times a lot of those funds or or services that you are seeing is because of summer programs and trying to get the school turned around in a short period of time even though custodians are in the in the building if we having Summer Bridge programs or different things like that we don't have a lot of time to turn the school over before principals and teachers start to return so sometimes we have the contractual Services out in.

Order to get everything completed no totally understand and are we using the same measures measurements in terms of minority and payment that we would if a contract came before board the board to be reviewed can anybody speak to that I cannot speak to that at this point okay I can't but I can bring you back information to make sure that we are doing that yeah if they meet the same standards of the contracts that would come before board they we're offering everybody else yeah they're they they women owned minority owned are paying a living wage the those things when bids go out the things that we look for in some of the standards when bids go out yep exactly and if we could find out how many when something is done because of a vacancy and how many vacancies that is and what we're doing to kind of mitigate that right because we have graduates every year that could be applying for these positions are we showing up at career Affairs and.

Recruiting in that way it's a lot of money it's important to us I think think that it's reinvested in the Durham community and we don't really know that when we're Contracting out vendors and so we should kind of find those things out I do support kind of pulling back a little bit as we review that because I think really the intent was for the construction projects as opposed to the other contracts some bids so I look forward to hearing what my colleagues have to say about that yeah it just seems like a a whole lot of money that's happening without approval and I think our public has expressed that concern clearly and we need to response thank you Miss Lewis or Miss travez this is for discussion I believe but we do want to give some direction to our Administration on what we would like to see next and so it does sound like I hear clear Direction around looking at the language around the policy when a a vendor reaches a certain number right.

How do we does that need to come back before the board sorry the language that I indicated had been removed okay the language that you indicated Miss giavani so when certain vendor goes above a certain amount making sure that that information goes to the board Mr Lor you offered month was it monthly or quarterly reports in our board meetings we we will bring you monthly reports okay and that way you'll see you won't see all the contracts but when they hit a contractor hits whatever level you say over 90 well after after it hits 90,000 we're going to bring it to you okay so you'll be seeing real time where where where each contractor is in that regard as they continue to engage with the district okay thank you so we'll have that and it does sound like you we also need direction around the threshold where we want the threshold to be and if that is changed that's a policy change that we be making so we.

Would need to also think about a second reading is that correct movani yes so just want to let kind of give all that language out there for us to be considered Miss Rogers thank you misser you mentioned that you would tell us monthly about contracts that go above $90,000 Miss gani write now on our policy if they bring us a contract that's above $90,000 one month do we have the ability to take action on it what would we do with that information at that $90,000 Mark it's just still for information it wouldn't change anything make sure I'm understanding your question so as of right now we generally I don't believe anyone has bringing you anything that's below the threshold in general like if it gets close what I can say is I know that historically Administration if it was like 88 like maybe 875 88 Administration would inform like bring it to the board generally just to avoid that appearance that they were trying to nudge around that 90 so.

That's been the practice in Durham so I but to your point if Administration is always able to bring a contract to the board for their approval even if it's below that threshold I've done it myself when I felt that it was such a sensitive topic that I wanted the board to approve it even though it was below that 990,000 am I understanding your question yes thank you and I'm trying to disagree a little bit with with you here if we say threshold we got to stick with that number I mean if it's 90 you go 88 86 or 87 so we got to agree on if it's going to be 120 150 do you have to Bing for 145 140 so I would like for us really to be really specific when it comes to that threshold I was just indicating what had been what had traditionally happened in the past that people had done it I think because they were nervous and I think that's great guidance from the board if the.

Board is you know and to your point Dr MGA that that's the threshold and the board does not want to see anything below that I think that's what that's excellent thank. You m rers did you have anything else Miss valus I'm not disagreeing with that but I I I will just say that when Administration felt like that was discretionary on the administration like they're like you know we know that our threshold is this but it's so close we just wanted you to know and those are like the meetings that we have in our subcommittees and I just remember hearing that and and appreciating because it's not something we're requiring but it's something that the administration feels like this is very close to it and that so I'm not disagreeing I'm just saying that that discretion in terms of communication in terms of like it's so close like I I appreciated that you know I appreciated that it you know it was very very close to that but I also you know I I.

Understand that this is a threshold that we're setting so where it works is that we're not requiring that however if Administration feels that hey this one's very close and we just you know we're not required to do it but we feel like this is something we want to share I just commend Administration for having that discretionary power to do that because I've seen how that you know has played out in subcommittee meetings where we've been there and it's just imp passive I mean we're not going to say you know bring all of that to us you know every single one but if there's maybe something I just I just like Administration doing that in terms of communication but again I'm not disagreeing I'm just just saying that I have seen that play out in a very positive way it's just a heads up it's like this was very close was very close and we just want you to know that it was it was it's it's one of those so thank you thank you Miss.

Chávez I think and yes maybe I answered my own question but I just with consultant Services what is I don't think I miss this but it what does that mean most I'm and I'm just going to put it out there that most of the time when we say consultant Services It's usually the schools or the areas are bringing in Staffing that are working with us for on staff development okay those types of things when it comes to consultant Services okay I just want to I I appreciate the way that this is laid out there were just a couple of things where I wasn't sure exactly what the cont what we were paying for exactly so just a a slight tweak I would love to have just if it's consultant services for what is it academics is it you know I mean it sounds like mostly it is but whatever this sort of consultancy was about other than that I think it's you know it's pretty clear so thank you for this and.

So I'm still unclear I'm sorry like it's when we have multiple contracts that add up stack up to be over these thresholds that that's when I'd like to make sure we're seeing them and knowing that mwbe participation knowing if we've you know bid stuff out like it's it's those totals that also concern me right so where does that fall in the threshold and the reporting you wait until you get to whatever threshold we set and then you report it I mean I know we'll get quarterly monthly but we're never going to get the mwbe and details on what it's for right like it's astounds me that I I know the lovely women and people running Eminem educational group but it astounds me that we're paying them more than we're paying the Hill Center oh okay I wouldn't have known that if y'all hadn't brought that so when will the what are you proposing for those multiple contracts that continue to add up and take us over any threshold that we've set just reports or more.

Detail So currently if I am paraphrasing Miss Jovonia Lewis correctly so please jump in if I don't in the policy and the way it's currently written there's not anything we just will get it in the report what she did suggest though is that we relook at that policy in the language that previously was there that when a certain vendor would get to a certain threshold point that it would come before the board in practice board members prior to that language being taken out if a vendor had was at say 89,000 right they wouldn't need approval or and then once they got every contract over that like if it was $4,000 if it was for $500 that then had to have board approval because the total to that vendor was then over that $90,000 threshold and that was kind of the thinking for taking it out because it got it gets to be a little onerous but when you're talking about these numbers I think it a lot like I.

Said if with the board's permission we would like to you know kind of talk it through and look at these numbers that Mr lour has shared with us and I think we can you know come up with a recommendation for the board and it may be that that language go back in there verbatim I I always want to be completely transparent and make sure the board and our community is comfortable thank you I do need some clarity though because I think what you're asking from us is and to come back at the work session with a recommendation with these amounts and what I heard did I hear 150 for services and I but I don't know what I heard for the construction 400 I just threw out some numbers I'd liked those numbers but thank you I don't know if they're what y'all want or what works for your matter yeah we talked we talked about going to the middle so I think that would put us at.

150 or 150 for that and 400 for the other and this will come back for us for another reading so board if we want to make changes we can do it at that time I'm gonna ask a little bit of a different question you know we're kind of scrutinizing the contracts on the other end but when schools are putting forth and wanting to contract what is the process that they go through for and then we might not have that answer tonight but might need to bring back and the reason why I asked that is I know several schools I think use Eminem for different testing if they are going through a process to say hey this is who we want to use this is the need it will feel this is you know what we're doing I want to make sure that we don't getting in in front of that on our board in right if a school has already worked with their supervisor or whoever they are supposed to do to advocate for the.

Contract I just want to make sure that we don't create a process that slows that down for school on the other end so I don't know if anyone has an answer or we need to bring that back for our next question so those contracts can be entered into by schools and if you look in the detail you have one two three four five schools and the contracts are average a are ranging from1 18750 to almost $40,000 then you have Federal programs that is doing it for a multiple number of schools at the same time and then you have you also have your K2 teaching and learning area that's also bringing them in to assist and to to provide the services that needed to get the teachers and and staff in in trained the same way I appreciate that Paul I think when we bring this back if we can just have maybe a little information it might come from you Dr Stewart or Dr MinGa to understand how schools and.

Departments are making the decisions on their end because I think that will also make me feel differently when the contract comes to the board to know we know the schools have their own budgets and they can enter into contracts but they work with their supervisor and this person and that person and here's some standards that we put forth I think that's also really important because I want to honor the agency that many of our schools have with their budgets all right I will say thank you for that this year all principal supervisors will view all contracts so they have been trained by Miss Stephanie Williams and so that is in place but we will make sure all those other areas are addressed thank you of clarification your policy 6420 currently indicates that principles can enter into contracts for services purchases up to $110,000 provided that they're using forms that have been approved by an attorney so that would be the that would be the limit there other any amounts that would be greater than that.

The schools would need would need to go through student services thank you and again I just I don't want to take away folks autonomy and and that and also want to make sure that we're doing our due diligence right with our funding as well M Rogers so I also noticed that each of the vendors has a PO count is it correct to assume that each entity or Operation School whatever it is would have a separate PO for their contracts with their with the same vendor yes and so when you offered us that information would it exhausted POS be provided as well or no like if a school has re reached their $10,000 threshold with this particular vendor once that PO has been exhausted and that vendor is at the $90,000 threshold and it's presented to the board would that be shared with us so we'll provide you a breakdown just like we did today so that way you can see who and and what where and how we got to that level because schools are.

Doing things individually they're doing at different times of the year and then they just they just continue to to mount until we get to that threshold the expectation is that any contract that's specific to instructional curriculum and instruction professional development that is in direct alignment with their school Improvement plan and goals I'm good thank youan I did want to also note that previously principal's Authority was only $500 and so when we went through this I think that you know there was the idea that we need to give schools some more autonomy and allow principles to have some more flexibility around how they were spending their budget and that was when the board approved the increase for principles of 10,000 thank you thank you chair I'm yes if I could also add of course under the same provision response bit to miss Rogers questions principles have the authority to enter into these contracts up to $10,000 they're required to report those contracts to Central Services only twice annually so that doesn't mean that's.

When they're doing it that's just how your policy be so just for clarification all these contracts I sign they come through my desk and usually I'm going to say that Eminem is probably Title One schools that are provide getting Services for that purpose and that usually goes through a second level of of approval Dr Danner usually signs off on those before I do to make sure that it's part of their Title One plan that they develop when they did their school Improvement plans to ensure that it's in alignment with the plan for the year so what what I'm also hearing from y'all is there's multiple checks and balances on that on that end on our Central Services side to ensure and it I hope that no one hears this coming across that we don't trust that our principles are doing great work right that is not what the intention is here I think it's also us figuring out our due diligence as a board around our fiduciary responsibility.

So M Dr Stewart and I will say on our end we are looking for a return on the investment in the past and I will say this on record I've seen where we have supported certain vendors over the years and there was not a return on the investment so when we continue to provide money to vendors and schools remain in low performance status that's not acceptable so I have personally shared with principles we will not make a contract enter into a contract agreement with this particular company thank you Dr Stewart Miss Chávez just a a question about what you brought up Miss merchon with the reporting that principles do is that it needs to happen twice a year what is that scheduled regularly or there dates when you collect that information or or is it at any point twice a.

Year I will say at this point point if it's reporting to the district they're reporting it when they submit their contracts okay if it's reporting it to the board anything over $10,000 that's not probably happening unless it hits this thresold and we provide you the school that contracted with a vendor that's over the $10,000 limit so they could have multiple contracts with a vendor less than $10,000 they might use them quarterly and they only do a contract each quarter if it's necessary but I I don't I'm not saying that's the this the case most of these contracts when they come through they're at the levels that you see for the most part listed here for the purpose of of schools Contracting with Eminem and the other programs that are available I I'm just trying to get a sense of what monitoring is from your office with the principal spending which and we did you know Elevate that that threshold so there would be more autonomy which I do think is important for principles but just.

That's what I'm kind of wondering about the the monitoring and making sure that there's that oversight and and Dr Stewart to your point I mean I'm glad about the you know making sure there's that Roi when when we see the purchases come through but yeah so in and just in that vein so Dr Stewart you would be the one having that conversation about contracts and the effectiveness of whatever was being purchased yes I will continue the conversation right now all principal supervisors are to review and approve all contracts at the federal title one level that is Dr Danner and that goes through one of his specialists then Dr Danner but I will follow through and Ensure that there is an Roi because that's the at the end of the day we need to move the needle forward thank you just quick comment here when it comes to funding that is that are available to our principles they don't have a lot they have a 061 money and then they have all these fedal.

Fonts with ttle one that's pretty much managed by Dr denner the 06 one money that they have unless they have some other grants that they applying themselves which they have to work and comply with that dner school they do not have a lot of discretion money they may have money with the booster clubs Athletics and I things of that nature but other than that most of the fund they have 061 or the one they have with those that one all right so I'm gon try to summarize and recap again it sounds like we need to have this back for our work session in September for second reading I hear some consensus from the board around $150 as a threshold and 400 150,000 I'm sorry 150,000 150,000 and 400,000 for a threshold we also want to revisit the policy language so that when a vendor gets above the threshold that that contract comes to the board and we also I think my question around what happens in the contracts on the central office side before is.

Answered so I don't need a followup on that we good and I just want to thank senior executive executive director Sierra OG Joe who went through all the contracts that you had approved this year thank you this past year so she learned a lot going through and and looking at all the contracts on the types of things that this district is doing to move this this the building and Renovations and repairs and maintenance as well as student performance so thank you and and as we were having this discussion I thought about we have a new Northern High School opening we have Marie massenberg they'll be opening soon and how we are grateful to be expanding our footprint but also with expanding that footprint means there are additional buildings and grounds and square footage to make sure we have to clean and support and we want to keep doing programs like El Academy which also means that schools have to be flipped in a more quicker manner so I I.

See also the need for many of the things that we're doing to keep our schools beautiful and the community and the grounds around them looking really good so thank y'all for that that is Direction Miss Giovani Mr L we good y'all ready to all right that reaches the end of our our that part of our agenda I'll take a motion to go on the close session I move that we go into close session for the reasons stated on the agenda second it's been moved by Miss Vadar seconded by Miss Byer any other discussion all those in favor say I I I any oppos use the same sign it passes unanimously we're now in close.

Session.

We're now back in Open Session Dr mainga all Madame chair I'm here to seek your approval for the personal report as discussed at a close session I move approval of the personal report dated August 24th in session second it's been moved and properly seconded that we approve the Personnel report dated October 24th 2023 August I'm sorry 24 2023 any other discussion all in favor say I I any oppos same sign it passes unanimously with that we are.

Adjourned.