Board of Education · Regular Meeting · August 28, 2025

Good evening everyone. >> Well, let's try it again because we have a full house in here. Good evening everyone. Good evening.

All right, there we go. Uh the Durham Public Schools Board of Education monthly meeting is now in session. At this time, we wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone who is joining us this evening. The purpose of this meeting is to inform our parents, staff, and constituents about the work aligned with our mission to embrace, educate, and empower every student to innovate, to serve, and to lead.

The interpreters for tonight are Vanessa P Ramirez and Consuel Nordon, as well as Aneli Mongan. I apologize if I mispronounced that. Thank you all for taking the time to join us. The first item on our agenda is a moment of silence.

Thank you. The next item on our agenda is celebrations. I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Cooper.

Good evening, Chair Umstead, members of the board, Superintendent Lewis, DPS colleagues, and Durm community. It is my honor to present our celebrations. The beginning of a school year brings new opportunities, fresh energy, and moments of pride. Our celebrations remind us that behind every success are students, staff, families, and community partners who make Durham public schools such a vibrant place to learn and to grow.

Tonight, we shine a spotlight on student achievement. Please welcome Shandra Clay, principal of the School for Creative Studies for our August student of the month presentation. Good evening, chair, board members, and superintendent. It is my honor to

present the School of Creative Studies August Student of the Month, Aiden Brown. A multi-talented young man whose integrity, talent, and compassion make him a shining example of our school core values of creativity, collaboration, communication, and community. Aiden is a spring 2024 initiate of Young Male Achievers, a nationally recognized youth empowerment movement located here at SCS. Through this program, he has completed more than 30 hours of community service in impactful ways, building homes in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, helping to feed families during Thanksgiving, and volunteering at various school activities.

Aiden truly embodies a servant leadership mentality. " In the classroom and on stage, Aiden brings the same passion and commitment. Theater director Tiffany Waters described him as

the definition of a lifelong learner and is this commitment to excellence that we will guarantee his future success. His energy, empathy, and unwavering optimism are evident in every interaction. He uplifts and supports his peers both in class and in the rehearsal room, inspiring those around him to be their best. What makes Aiden exceptional is not only his accomplishments, but also his character.

In a world where it's so easy to be selfish, desensitized, or distracted, Aiden's compassion, hope, and respect for others shine as guiding lights. He treats people with dignity, not for recognition, but because it is the right thing to do. Aiden doesn't seek praise. His motivation lies in making a difference. He is only prepared for his own success, but also prepared to lead others toward theirs. For these reasons and many more, it is with great pride that I recommend Aiden Brown as the Durham Public Schools August Student of the Month.

Aiden, we are not done with you yet. Please come back. Congratulations and we are so proud to celebrate and recognize you for your accomplishments this evening. Um it is always wonderful to have our students present and to hear what they are doing not only in their schools but also within the Durm community certainly carries a lot of weight and has a lot of impact.

So, for all of those things, we want to share a few things with you for being such an outstanding young man. First, we have your celebration student of the month certificate. We also would like to present you with a spark pin for embodying our district's core beliefs, and we hope that you wear this proudly. Our friends from Triangle East Cycling want to make sure that you are fired up and ready to go wherever your path takes you. And for that, we are presenting you with a laptop this evening. And we also have a gift card for you to spend however you wish, putting it

toward your future or other things from our community partners. And for all of these things, we say congratulations and very best to you in your future, Aiden.

This concludes our celebrations this evening. Thank you, Miss Cooper, and congratulations to our student of the month. The next item on our agenda is agenda review and approval. I'm sorry.

Excuse me. Superintendent Update. >> That's okay. Uh, good evening, Chair Rogers, members of the board, and DPS community.

Oh, what did I say? Ro, I'm sorry. Let's try this again. Good evening, Chair Umstead, members of the board, and the DPS community.

Um, as we often always do, open this meeting up with a moment of silence and you choose to reflect how you choose. But I also just want to take a moment to just lift up um and keep in mind and memory and thoughts and prayers uh those uh that were affected by the school shooting on on yesterday. Uh this is certainly something anytime we hear of a school shooting, we're always reflective and

mindful of, you know, what more can we do? You know, what can we learn from that? you know, but most importantly keeping those families and those victims um in our thoughts and prayers. So for this evening, first of all, happy new year.

Um welcome to the 2526 school year. You know, each new school year is like the first page of a brand new story. Uh it's like a the first a blank page of a play that may be written. Uh it's a chance to imagine what's possible to set the stone.

I'm sorry. set the tone for the months ahead and to remind ourselves of the extraordinary promise within every scholar that we serve. And so tonight is more than an update. It's about our shared story.

Next slide. Like any meaningful story, our story begins with possibility. The blank pages waiting to be filled with achievements, growth, and connections. And like any compelling narrative, our year will have challenges to overcome. And we are

writing the story of this school year together, creating a narrative, a narrative of excellence that honors every scholar, every educator, and every family in our district. And the voices and the visions of our scholars, our families, and our staff will help create a story that celebrates the unlimited potential in every Durham public school student. Next slide. But first, who is the story about?

I'm glad you asked. These are the heroes on your screen, the heroes of our story. It is our scholars, our inspiring educators, and our dedicated staff who make every day possible in our schools. Our narrative begins with I'm sorry, our narrative begins and ends with our scholars. Each face represents a unique story. Each voice contributes to our collective journey and each person plays an essential role in making Durham public schools a place where limitless

potential is realized every day. Now, let me be clear. We could not do this work, the work that we do, without our people. The over 31,000 students that learn in our district each day and 31,000 families that entrust us with the sacred responsibility of nurturing their children.

And so far, with our year-round schools in session and our traditional schools beginning, I've had the opportunity to visit 32 of our 57 campuses. And I will tell you, each campus encompasses caring adults who serve in our classrooms, caring adults who transport our students to school, caring adults who serve delicious meals, uh maintain clean, welcoming, and safe learning environments, and so much more. This school year, we welcome six new school leaders. And these educational leaders join the ranks of a very elite group of principles who are committed to their students and to their staff. And

they are all backed by a community, the Durham community, who is invested and dependent upon their success. Next slide. For example, this is a photo of the Sandy Ridge Elementary School staff. Just this summer, the staff of Sandy Ridge brought our story to life in a very personal way.

They spent a day walking through neighborhoods, knocking on doors, greeting families, and showing our students that they are seen, valued, and missed during the summer. It also gives our Sandy Ridge educators a peak into the lives of our scholars and families. you know, this kind of outreach is so much more. It's it's really symbolic and certainly a true example of family and community engagement even before the school year begins. And so when students see their teachers outside of school and certainly when they see their teachers in their neighborhoods, it strengthens that bond between home and school. And this is

just one example of many across our school system. And it's things like this that are certainly the spirit of DPS. Next slide. And so our story continues to take place right here in Durham.

Durham isn't just our location. It's our foundation. Each neighborhood, every school building, and all of the classrooms form the stages where futures are imagined, where futures are nurtured and built. Our community's diverse landscape provides the rich backdrop against our students stories to unfold.

And as we returned to school, I was deeply inspired by the overwhelming support and energy across our country. Just took a moment to really just peruse social media and see all of the partnerships and the adults showing up for our scholars from businesses to organizations, sororities, fraternities, and residents rallying around our schools showing up to welcome them back. the bus loads of supplies that were donated to ensure every

scholar has the tools that they need to succeed thanks to our Durham Public Schools Foundation. Uh to the the spirit of Durham, I will tell you those first few days were really on display and I was equally moved by the enthusiasm which we when we welcomed back our newest staff members into DPS. We welcome them into the DPS family and the commitment that they've shown by all of our employees during our professional development session. And so it's these moments that remind me that the strength of our district lies not only in our classrooms but in the collective heart of our entire community.

Next slide. So the story of this school year is anchored in three powerful themes that will shape everything that we do. We want our scholars to get a worldclass education here. We want Durham public schools to be the premier school district in the country. And I was so happy to see Superintendent Mo Green release his strategic plan where he also stated he wants North Carolina to be the

best school district in the state. So first, the academic achievement remains at the heart of our work. Ensure that every student is challenged, supported, and recognized for their growth. Let me correct that.

He wants North Carolina to be the best school district in the country. There you go. Best school district in the country. Um, innovative teaching and learning will drive us forward as we embrace new methods, technologies, and creative approaches that prepare our students for a changing world.

And third, operational efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring that our systems, resources, and daily operations run smoothly so that teaching and learning can flourish without distraction. The plot of the story unfolds through the relationships and opportunities that strengthens our school each and every day. Family and community engagement ensures that our parents, our caregivers are true partners in student success. Community partnerships expand what is possible, bringing in resources, expertise, and support from across Durham into our classrooms. And professional learning

opportunities empower our educators to continue growing in their craft so that they can deliver the highest quality instruction to our students. The action of our story is fueled by the choices that we make. When we volunteer in our schools, we give our time and talents to enrich the lives of our students. When we advocate for our students in our schools, we ensure their voices are heard and their needs are met.

And when we celebrate our achievements, we honor the progress we've made. Next slide. And so as we turn the page of a new school year, it's important to pause and reflect on the journey that we've shared over the past 12 months. My first year in Durham public schools was a year of listening, learning, and building. And together, we navigated challenges head-on, from staffing to operations to resources, always with students at the center. And together we celebrated milestones that spoke to the strength of our community and most importantly the countless moments of growth and the

countless moments of achievements by our students. This past year was our prologue, the groundwork that prepared us for what comes next. And as we open the first chapter of the 2526 school year, we do so with clarity, with vision, and a renewed sense of purpose. I would like to thank all of our stakeholders in advance for contributing to our story because the truth is the most powerful chapters of Durham public schools have yet to be written and I believe together we are ready to create them.

Thank you. This concludes my remarks this evening. >> Thank you so much Dr. Lewis for those remarks.

It's great to hear you've been to 32 out of our 50some schools or sites already. So excited for what this school year will hold. All right. Now, we are on to the agenda review and approval. I'd like to move that we add an agenda

item, a um board of education policy committee update that I think should probably fall between three and four, between the administration's back to school update and the for information only. We make that a new number four and then change five six. Move those numbers down. Yes.

>> Second. >> Been moved by Carda-Auten and seconded by Miss Harold Gooff to add an item to agenda. Amend our agenda. Is there any other discussion?

All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose, please use the same sign. Awesome.

Can I get accept a motion to accept the amended agenda? >> Move approval of the amended agenda. >> Second. >> Been moved by Miss Rogers, seconded by Beyer.

Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed, please use the same sign. >> It passes unanimously. Next, we have our

board um monthly meeting minutes from June 26, 2025. Move approval of the minutes from June 26, 2025. >> Second. >> It's been moved by Beyer, seconded by Miss Rogers.

Is there any other discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose, please use the same sign.

It passes unanimously. The next item on our agenda is general public comment. Give a few instructions before we jump in. Uh there here is a quick review of the rules.

First, please state your name and if speaking for organization, please state your name and the name of the organization. Second, speakers are asked to present your comments within three minutes. When the yellow light comes on on the podium, you will have one minute left to start winding up your remarks. When the red light comes on, it will beep and that indicates your time is up. Complaints about named staff, students,

or parents should not be voiced in open session. However, we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education, safety of students, or to the operation of the school system. Finally, board members will listen carefully and consider your comments, but we do not engage in discussion with speakers. Our first speaker will be Ashish Sharda, and please correct me if I mispronounce your names when you come on up to the podium up here.

Next, we'll have Elen McDonald and Katie McDonald. Pronunciation was perfect. Thank you. >> All right.

Good evening everybody. Um, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. Uh, my name is Ashish Sharta. I'm a parent at Creekide Elementary School.

I know our community is always looking to optimize how funds are best used to benefit our schools. And as you know, funding for school-based staff and students is always a challenge. In that vein, it might be valuable to evaluate

how non-school-based upper administration staff are allocated positions at the central office and weigh the needs of the central office verse the school, the school staff, and the students. It might also be beneficial to compare the upper administration structure at central office to other similarly sized districts and ask the question whether upper administration size is proportionate in comparison to those other districts. Separately with regard to prek I believe there's an opportunity to improve the strategic approach. For example, since preK students don't count towards a school's average daily membership, perhaps DPS could consider ways to ensure that no one school carries a disproportionate load. And lastly, to to ease staffing challenges in preK. Perhaps DPS could consider consolidating preK into one or

two sites, which would help K through five principles focus on grade level programming. I have nothing further. Thank you for your time. You My name is Ela McDonald and I'm seating my time to Katie McDonald.

Katie McDonald. Um, I just wanted to give you guys a quick uh growing together Little River update. Um, from the year 2023 to 2025, Little River has lost 17 teachers, representing more than 200 years of exclusive service directly to Little River. I want that number to sink in real quick.

That's not their years as teachers. That's service to Little River. Uh, some were absorbed elsewhere in the district. Some left DPS entirely and are now working at charter schools and private schools and also

having their children attend those facilities. Um, some retired earlier than they ever dreamed of. Legacy families from Little River have also walked away. Every single one of these losses is tied directly together to growing together.

Uh, we've been promised transparency and stability under your new leadership, Dr. Lewis. Yet DPS is proudly marketing Little River as if we are now a premier monastery school. Why is this?

Is it because we finally got the furniture and the materials we needed in April of 2025? Or is it to be more honest that six out of 18 of our teachers are actually trained in the monastery program? I had faith in you Dr. Lewis to slow out this roll out to ensure fidelity and quality and to market this program truthfully to families. Instead, just like your predecessor, the district to chose

optics over honesty. And in today's world when people struggle to separate the truth from the noise watching the news, I'm appalled and disgusted that Durham continues to prioritize looking good on paper rather than being honest and transparent with their community. September 14th, 2023, I stood right here and pleaded for honesty and accountability from this district. I could give that same speech tonight.

All I have to do is swap out the scenarios. Wash, rinse, repeat. That is the cycle we are giving our community. DPS has shown a deep disregard for the health and safety of Little River students and families and employees.

We were sent back into unsafe classrooms covered in mold. Colleagues fell ill. I have had a rash every day I've worked in

that building. Building services knew that the AC was broken the entire month of July. Photos of mold were submitted in early August and yet nothing was done. It should not take an employee threatening to call the state for remediation to happen.

Where was building services today in our mold meeting? There was no one there to answer the questions of your staff. Once again, this district has put your accountability on the backs of someone who doesn't deserve it. Zero accountability, zero transparency.

Wash, rinse, repeat. While I'm on transparency, I just want to share something that I never shared during the bus crisis. Every single day, one bus ran. It didn't hold EC students. Didn't hold any of the kids, the hundreds of families that were scrambling for transportation. It was

one of district leaders children. Our staff had to bring in an employee at 6:45 in the morning just to accommodate that bus. At the time, I stayed quiet because yes, district leadership deserves perks. But tonight, I'm going to say this.

If that mold had been discovered in that leader's children's school, it wouldn't have taken an employee to make remediation happen immediately. We need leadership that acts as if all of DPS's children are their children. We don't need reactive leadership. We need pro-active leadership.

Yet over and over again, building services and district leadership have known about the previous mold in the 23 24 school year. They've known about our broken HBAC systems and still chose nothing to do until they were forced to do it. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Dr. Lewis, congratulations on your first year. If I were grading you and your administration on a curve, understanding the challenges you inherited, you would receive a D minus. Tonight, I'm gifting each of you a bar of soap.

I want you to put it on your desk. Let it serve as a daily reminder that Durham deserves real, raw, honest, and transparent leadership. Wash away the politics. Wash away the social media spin.

Wash away the halftruths. Our children deserve better. My children deserve better. Durham deserves better.

Do good. God bless. And go Bills. Thank you for your time. Right.

Next we have Peter Crawford and Dedra Camp. >> Hey folks, good evening. My name is Peter Crawford. I'm a parent of three DPS scholars.

So two weeks ago, we finally got the uh much awaited auditor's report from the chaotic 2324 period. Uh the report as I don't think need said, but I'll say it was pretty embarrassing. Um it should have been particularly embarrassing for those who presided over that period and are still in these seats and uh you know somehow did not get any electoral consequence for that. Uh but maybe more importantly than that, more importantly for that it should have been another indicator that ultimate responsibility for DPS is right here.

It's not in Raleigh. It's not in Washington DC. It's not to say that things that happen in those places don't impact what happens here. They do and

it's not all for the good. I think we could agree on that. Uh but it is to say that we have no right to cast dispersions on anyone outside of Durham County with our house in the state it was in. Um and that the people who lose when the house is in that kind of uh state of disrepair are the students.

It's like fundamentally the students. For example, the students who missed out on career technical education to the tune of almost a million dollars worth of resources. How many students could we have educated with those resources that we remitted to the state? That's just a matter of mismanagement.

That's not a matter of somebody outside of Durham County doing something horrible to us. Um so we have to take responsibility for our own affairs. Um, with all that, I'm I'm actually very optimistic. Um, I'm very grateful to you, Dr. Lewis, for stepping in uh during this period of chaos in 2024, and for those members of your cabinet who've stepped up. Um, my concern, even with that optimism, is that the easy bits of what has to happen with reform have been done now, even in

the first year, and that everything that's going to happen afterwards is going to be hard. And I'm not sure whether the folks at the table are up to the task, candidly. candidly. I I hope that you can be I hope that you can find ways to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong when there are real questions of resource allocation on the table and it's not just a question of making sure that we're submitting the right uh invoice requests or whatever else.

Those are important. Those are fundamental things we have to do and it's up to you all to make sure they get done. But the tough stuff is coming and so my hope is that you will continue with the path of reform uh even when those decisions are hard. Thank you.

Good evening. Um, my name is Dedra Camp. I am a mother of two scholars with Durham public schools and today I came just to see if there is any way that we can try to implement a new dress code

for our kids. um having children who are number one in elementary school, my daughter just transitioned from middle school into high school and then myself being a previous DPS student. Um I think it's really important for our children to know how to carry themselves in integrity. Um do I understand that the dress code should start at home?

Absolutely. Um but I also understand that that's not always the case with our students and I believe that during public schools having a dress code holds the parents accountable. Um, I believe that I, well, if I can reflect on when I was a student with Durham public schools, um, the structure that they had with the dress code as I got older helped me know how to carry myself as a female, as a woman, and now teach my daughter. Um, yes, I do of course teach my daughter how to carry herself and where this is not, this should not be allowed for you to wear. Um, but I do believe that beyond it just not looking presentable and how to not just females, males, too. But I also believe that it's

distractions for students as well. Not just students, but it's also distractions for teachers. Um, I remember when my daughter was in middle school last year and we do um, uh, spirit week. Well, when they had pajama day, well, because they wear pajama day all the time, pajamas to school all the time, it kind of look like a regular day instead of it looking like it's part of spirit week.

And so while I do understand that uh parents have complained in the past about dress codes and things like that, I do feel like that there are things that can be implemented to kind of renosed or looking like they just rolled over and came to school today. Thank you. >> Thank you. And that concludes our general public comment.

Thank you all for coming and speaking with the board this evening. The next item on our agenda is our consent items. We have consent item A, B, and C. These are items that the board has reviewed in advance of the meeting tonight. Board members,

>> I move approval of the consent items on the agenda. >> Second. >> It's been moved by Miss Harold Goff and seconded by Miss Rogers. Is there any other discussion?

All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed, please use the same sign.

It passes unanimously. The next item on our agenda is from our administration. We have a back to school update. I'm g pass it over to you, Dr.

Lewis, to kick us off. >> Again, um good evening, board chair umstead. We are so excited to share with you a back to school update. If you recall during our work session uh in this month, we brought a brief update and we shared with the board and the public that we would come back with a more extensive update and I will just share with you that u members of our central services central services have been out in buildings all week. Uh in previous years uh they've shown up you know maybe in the mornings you know when

uh parents are arriving students are arriving and then we would do a um a debrief that day. this year they're showing up in the morning and the afternoon and we're still doing the the debrief and so I want to just take a moment to thank all of our central services staff for going out in the buildings and when I'm out in buildings I see them out there and so thank you to our central services staff and also we've been doing debriefs uh since Monday to just bring back uh compile collect bring back any data any things that we need to take immediate action on but we also take a moment to celebrate some of the positive things that are that are going on and so as staff comes forward for our uh back to school update I will just tell you just bas based on my conversations um when I'm out in buildings um people are saying it's a it's a it's a positive feeling uh this year it's a smooth start uh yes there are some things that we need to continue and are uh working on however um some of the feedback has has been you know this is the smoothest start in a long time and so we want to um you know definitely honor that and you know thank staff for making that happen as well as our building staff for making that happen uh but also uh take a moment to address any

of the concerns or uh little pain points that are still lingering uh in the district. And so with that, I will I think um first on the agenda, is it Dr. King? >> Thank you, D.

Thank you, Dr. Lewis. At this time, uh uh we will um ask our new assistant superintendent for continuous improvement in school support to come forward and she will uh begin and provide the academic services portion of the update. Miss Chanel Sidberry.

>> Good evening, board chair, board members, Dr. Lewis, administration. I'm Chanel Sitberry, a new face, new to the the district, Durham Public Schools. Um, and I just want to share a little bit about the work that we've been doing in schools, specifically around how we have been aligning um, all of the great things that we're doing um, and how we are providing professional learning um, this summer and um, how we are really empowering our staff to start out strong

with a a positive start. Next slide, David. Next slide, David. So, one of the things that we've been doing uh since this summer with our staff, our leadership, is making sure that we have uh really grounded in a deep understanding of the things that govern us as Durham public schools.

And so, this slide shows you that not only do we have the Durham public school strategic plan, but we are also governed by our national accreditation process, which we will begin that process starting next year. So really trying to gear up and arm our staff and our leaders with a deep understanding of what that looks like. What does it mean to be accredited and also what does it mean to not be accredited? We want to make sure that our diplomas mean something when our sta when our students graduate.

And so how do we align ourselves for that process which will begin next academic year and how do we assess where we are as an organization as it aligns to these national standards along with the the DPS strategic plan. The third uh governing body is the MTSS structure. We have a state expectation

on all schools to make sure that we have multi-ter systems of supports in place that not only dictate what is our tier one instructional resources and core resources in both uh curriculum and instruction, social emotional learning and our core um um attendance and discipline processes. And then also what are the ways that we provide strategic supports for students who escalate to tier two and tier three which means they need more intensive support. Best practice lets us know that these things should be standardized across Durham public schools as we have from my friend Melanie Marshall lets me know we have over,200 students that travel within Durham public schools in a year. And so if we know that we want to make sure that we provide a degree of congruence uh to our expectations of teaching and learning supports.

And then the fourth one being the governing body of in the star which is how schools are assessed and evaluated on how they make progress. And so we really wanted to bring all these things together. Schools can experience all these things as four separate anchors that are coming at them from all directions. And we spent time

this summer with professional learning really analyzing them and say where do we see overlap which will help us prioritize. Next slide Jamie. With that in mind, the Cognney accreditation, if you're familiar with that process, in 2022 is the last time that DPS was accredited. Um, and I would be happy to share that report with the board.

And so, one of our initial conversations is, are we different than the 2022 Durham public schools? In what way are we different? In what ways are we the same? In what ways will we adjust our practices so that we're prepared for this national accreditation process?

So these four quality domains are what the international and national standards say good organizations prioritize the these four buckets of work. So you can see here on the slide number one a culture of learning. Culture of learning is seal discipline attendance. What do those practices look like so that we provide an equitable experience for students so that no matter where they are we uphold the DPS expectations. The second one being the leadership for learning and what ways do leaders show up and uphold

excellence in their schools. Um the next one being engagement for learning and what ways do we strategically engage our students with teaching and learning um as well as uh each other as well as technology and then the last one being the growth for learning and what ways are we monitoring our pro our progress and responding to it. Um we are data rich but we want to make sure that we are also making strategic decisions based on where we're making progress celebrating in the areas where schools are having success replicating those across Durham public schools. There's excellence right here in Durham public schools and we want to have a system of replicating that.

Next slide, Jamie. And so as we did an analysis of that work, we really want to make sure that we are specific with schools so they don't experience central office as doing things to them. We want to make sure that we show up differently for them as a support to directly to the needs that we see in the data and directly in the data that is both qualitative and quantitative. So we've shared these these four ideas with principles of how all central services departments will

show up for them to make sure we're aligned to that overarching theme of being accredited and being that um that um flagship district. Um so the first one is a focus initiative. Focus initiatives may go away. They are the short-term things that we need to do provide support based on some urgent fires and some urgent needs that we have perceived in the data and also the needs of the schools.

The second one being organizational structures being clear on what does accountability look like for central services. So if we have all this support and what ways will we be holding uh central services accountable to schools and in what ways will we measure our support in alignment to the success of schools? We are not separate from the success of schools. So organizational structures are very clear with both the schools as well as to ourselves to say this is what mutual accountability looks like. The third bucket being strategic supports. There are many many things that we could do but how do we anchor in triangulating our data and say not not let's do something to solve discipline and do something for attendance and do

something for seal let's analyze and triangulate that data and say what is a strategy that can leverage and move us forward in all of those areas so schools don't feel schools don't feel like they're hurting cats they feel that we've really been intentional in designing supports that respond to multiple needs to leverage the teaching and learning and the growth of students And then the fourth one being monitoring systems. What you are in expert, you must inspect on all levels. And so we've been very clear about what monitoring systems look like. Not in a gotcha way, but in a I got kids way.

Are we making progress for students? In what ways are we making progress? What are the specific things that are making a difference? And how do we replicate those?

But also in kindness and love, what things are not working very blatantly and when will we stop those things? So, um, we put these structures in place and our schools are excited that there's transparency around what support looks like. Next slide, Javin. One of the premier things, um, click one more time.

Thank you. So, one of the um mo the big mindset shifts is the way that Durham public schools does um um setting goals. Um, I won't belabor this. I can talk all night, but we we really had a process where we said we we want to make sure we have target kids.

And so I've really sunset that notion of targeting. And you will hear us talk about goal students. All students are goal students. Um we don't want to narrow our sights on the students who are possibly um proficient or possibly this or possibly that.

We want to get to know our students, see how they learn and grow and then monitor them consistently. We are in the spirit of all student making prog all students making progress. And so this mindset shift allows us to focus on all spectrums of students because if we're only monitoring for proficiency, a level five student may or may not be seen in that space where they need additional support. And so this model allows us to look at individual students at both the PLC level, the district level, and also in the leadership level consistently so we can identify how we're making progress and what's making the difference. Next slide, please. Tied to

this goal setting process, we have revised our tiering system. Um the old tiering system is really just if you're low performing or not. Um and the state already designate a school low performing. And so we don't want to perpetuate that inaccurate um nomenclature.

And so this new tiering system allows us to think about not just what um the school is designated as, but what are the leadership and strategies that really support schools. And so our new tiering system looks at at an aspirational, it is not a one-time thing. schools will be um tiered every month based on indicators that are already expected of them such as walkthrough data providing support and feedback to to staff. Um and so this is something that will be ongoing as we get more data.

Um each month we'll take a look at how schools are making progress. And so it's that same mindset shift. We want to make sure we're making progress and grow. Um and so you see these terms foundational.

These are schools that need a lot of support, right? These schools need to put some basic structures in place. then goes all the way up into leading. And so schools that are leading, we really expect them to

lead. We want them to be providing professional learning to their colleagues and their peers. We want them to share best practice and resources. Again, it is the vehicle by which we will multiply the excellence that already exists in Durham.

Next slide, please. So you see this slide is very specific to what goes into a tier and these things are already expectations of schools. So these are not new things. As you can see, there's nothing on here that is new, but we will be monitoring and providing ongoing support and feedback to make sure we uphold the set excellence standard that is both at a national level, a state level um and also a DPS level.

Next slide, please. Bless you. So, this slide is just a snapshot um of the professional learning. We did a professional learning a little bit differently this year.

Um schools and leaders, they had the opportunity to have professional learning face toface. they cannot come face to face, they can do virtual and if they were not able to make virtual um it was recorded asynchronously so that they can go back and watch it. So we wanted to make sure that we provide differentiated support

for our schools. Those were all around the priorities of reset, refocus and reignite which is our theme this year. And so um in addition to this, we had lots of professional learning this summer um and it was in the thousands in terms of participants and we provided almost 300 sessions this summer to our staff respectively um from the summer up until August all around our focus. So it is not just all the things, it is the priorities of Durham public schools.

Next slide. In our leadership retreat this summer, um our superintendent really wanted to anchor in this notion of how do we get back to the things that we know that work? How do we get back to best practice? Those things are not new.

If you've been in education, what works has been working and been working. And so we really want to reanchor into best practice, high impact teaching strategies and really focus ourselves on what works. We also want to make sure that we refocus. Um, we want to make sure we lead simply and as a leadership team that means we model the things that we expect. So no one in central office

should be telling anyone anything if they can't model it for them in practice. And so we will meet lead simply to reset our focus. And then lastly, we reignite. I'm excited about the progress we're making.

I'm excited that we will get to celebrate schools in a new way. And I'm excited that we're not going to pigeon hole schools that are low performing because many of our low performing schools are making progress. We want to model a growth mindset for all of our leaders. We are excellent and we are going to make progress in a systemic and systematic way.

So that is an update on um continuous improvement and and student um school supports. Thank you. Right. Next we'll move to Come on.

Yeah. Transportation update. I think we'll definitely take questions at the end. >> Good afternoon everyone.

Uh my name is Anthony White. I'm the executive director of auxiliary services. Thank

you for having me here. I'm here for the transportation update. Next slide, please. So, um the start of this school year has gone it's going it's going well.

Um what I will say is before I get started, I want to um shout out the transportation team. um Director Harris and everybody else um who has been working um this year. Um coming into this role, there was a solid plan in place and the foundation of that plan has been routing. Um looking at how our buses are moving um through our schools from elementary, middle, and high and making sure that we're looking at our routes and making sure that they are efficient.

Um this year we have uh 146 routes um and they are efficient. Again we have three tiers um between elementary, middle and high and everything is um going well as we are going through the first 10 days. We will be looking at routes to see how we can make them a

little bit more efficient for our students and families. Um, as we um look at our workplace enhancements, thinking back to last um school year, we heard our bus drivers and some of the things that they wanted. Um, one of those things was a place to go during the day um in between routes where they had a place where they felt comfortable. Um, so what what we were able to do was outfit two places, one at Holton and one at Hamlin Road where most of our drivers um are.

um where they are outfitted with um a brand new lounge for them. Um and again, drivers are able to utilize these spaces during the day. Also, we were able to reopen the Southern High School lot um which has been great um for our staff and definitely has been a morale boost and it's been great for our transportation team. One of the the other things that we think about last year when we think back to our drivers and some of the things and challenges that they um have talked

about is the feeling of not knowing if the schools were supporting them with discipline. U me being a former principal, I know the challenges sometimes of me dealing with a problem and the communication breakdown between what I'm doing and what the bus drivers receive. Um, so one of the things we implemented this year is educators handbook, which is a system that has been used here in Durham public schools for years, but it nec it hasn't necessarily been used with the transportation department. So I work with the team to make sure that if there are any um behavior referrals that they that they are inputed in they are put into the system.

Schools get them directly via email. as schools are responding to them, it goes directly back to the bus um transportation um depots and we're able to give that the the bus drivers the feedback letting them know that the schools are supporting them in the discipline that may occur on the bus, but we all know that our students are going to be perfect on the bus, right? All right. Um next slide, please.

Um next, we want to talk about bus driver recruitment. Um we have we have had two job fairs over the course of the last month. We had one at the staff development center um a few weeks back um in conjunction with the other classified um positions here in DPS and we also had one last Saturday at Hillside. Both these job fairs have um produced some quality applicants and we're looking forward to helping them move throughout the process um of being hired as a driver or safety assistant.

And I want to also make sure I'm shouting out our safety assistants because we cannot um function as a district with transportation without them. So to our safety assistance, thank you for your hard work and dedication as well. Um we currently have a bonus system in place um for all of our drivers to receive um $200 per month and we have an attendance bonus um of $150 um that our drivers can earn for their attendance um throughout the month. So again, these are um great um incentives for our drivers as we continue to love

on them and appreciate them for the hard work that they do and their integral role in u educating our students. Um lastly, um very excited about this next um item. Um was I was able to work with um my partners at Derm Derm Techch. We want to offer a Spanish class for some of our drivers.

So what some of the feedback that I was receiving is that our drivers they want to connect with families. They want to connect with the students on their bus but we oftentimes are unable to communicate. The language barrier is there and one one of the things that I know is that our drivers really want to connect. They want to do well and um we off we often provide professional development for teachers but what about professional development for our drivers?

So looking at that, we were able to um provide this opportunity. It's going to be a new um launch um started in January. Our inaugural class will have about 20 drivers. We're going to see how it goes. But we um at our back to school meeting, we had several drivers drivers come up.

Um excited about it, ready to sign up. So I'm looking forward to that. Again, we are in the planning phases and you will hear and see more about this program as it unfolds um throughout the rest of the semester and into the spring semester. Um that is all I have for transportation.

Thank you so much for your time. Right. Next, we'll move into our human resources update. I think uh Kim Hager is online.

>> I am here. Good evening. Good evening, Board Chair UMstead, Vice Chair Rogers, board members, and the DPS community. Tonight, I'm providing just a brief update on our current vacancies.

Next slide, please. We have 237 overall vacancies. Of that 237, 113 of those are teacher vacancies. And when you break down that 113, there are

84 general education teacher and 29 EC teacher vacancies. We have about 30 instructional assistant vacancies. 11 of those are gened IAS and the remaining 19 are ECAS. Then we break them down further just to show the numbers of what we see on the elementary, how many for gened and how many for um for elementary and then for secondary for each of the categories that we've just listed. The other positions, the other 94 positions include OT's, PTs, media coordinators, psychologists, social workers, and there's a still a vacancy for a professional school counselor at Hillside. So while continuing to hire, we are working with schools to ensure that every vacancy is covered with a competent substitute teacher, interim teacher, that's someone that's still

working on meeting their lure requirements or a long-term sub or rehired retiree. And we want to ensure that we provide support for these folks while they're covering the vacancies while continuing to build our pipeline to recruit and hire fully licensed or qualified staff to ensure that all of our vacancies are filled as quickly as possible to minimize just the impact that it would have on student learning. So that is my brief update on vacancies and I'm available to take questions at the end. Right.

>> Thank you so much, Harrell Goff. >> Thank you. >> And then finally, we'll end this portion um of the presentation with a facilities building services update. And so we're happy to have Lori Brook to join us. >> Yes. Good evening, board chair, board of education, superintendent Lewis, and our

DPS cabinet. Um Lori Blake Reed here today to give an update on our building ser um services and our readiness um that we just recently gone through to get our schools ready for the 2526 school year. Um next slide. I'd like to first talk about our commitment and our mission in building services um for accountability and follow through.

Um some of the things that we have been um kind of leaning on um is a mission statement to support what it is that we want to do and have been doing. So to provide quality learning environments that are safe and aesthetically pleasing for students, teachers, and administrative staff throughout Durham public schools. This is the mission that I have put forward with our team members. Um I joined the uh building services team back on the 1 of June and so we have been preaching and talking about um accountability follow through and what it means to provide quality schools and so we will continue to move forward in that vein. um understanding

that we have many challenges um but we uh we we do know that we have the support of Superintendent Lewis and our um operations staff to uh to move those things forward. So next I'd like to just give a brief update next slide on our building readiness. So, as our schools closed back in June um for the summer months, the building grounds and custodial out the building grounds and custodial maintenance teams began working um on efforts to prepare the school for the 2526 school year. These teams maintain 61 campuses, uh a little over 6 million square feet, and about 1,500 acres of land.

Um, so our building maintenance, our grounds maintenance and custodial maintenance teams began our work efforts um back in early June. Um, next slide. Oh, I'm sorry, not next slide, next bullet here. Um, to ready our buildings,

those teams completed about 800 work orders, service requests, and emergency requests. So during that time in preparation for the school year building grounds and custodial maintenance um those 800 work orders were um we were rushing through feverishly to try to make sure that we could get our buildings ready for the school year. We also have um implemented a new process of performing intentional building work inspections um where we're walking through all of our schools to ensure that um they are pristine. Um we're trying to catch anything ahead of time that could um hinder school opening on time.

Um we have had um many challenges in the world of HBAC and um we heard a little earlier about environmental growth. We are tackling those things as they come forward. Um so just to as we move out of the um building and grounds on the work orders and the intentional building inspections, we wanted to um ready our

teams a little bit more in completing work orders in in a timely manner. Um I know we have many work orders in the system that um are aged. We're trying to study those work orders, combine them, make sure that we are completing them in a read readily manner and um working in teams to try to ensure that we're tackling everything that we need to. Um I would like to say as I move along from building readiness and inspections, I want to just um as everyone has said, give a shout out to the building maintenance teams.

the grounds teams have been working in um continuously trying to keep the grass cut with all of this rain that we've had. Um we've had many hundred degree days um this summer more than um normal which has really pushed our HBAC systems to the max and I just want to thank this team for all of the work that they've done over the past summer. Um so moving on um out of work orders and building inspections, our largest challenge I just spoke of was um

our HVAC equipment and in main maintaining that HBAC equipment um in completing our building inspections um DPS schools um I would like to just add that our schools range in age from 3 years old up to 106 years old and many suffer from aging systems. So to maintain these systems, we must perform preventive maintenance. This year the district received $6 million to help us with that vein in that vein. And so um that $6 million we will be um ARPA that ARPA funding will be used districtwide for preventive maintenance on all of our HVAC equipment throughout our school buildings.

Um, preventive maintenance will be performed on all of our chillers, our boilers, our air air handling units, as well as our filter replacements. Um, that is super important for us to have in um quality indoor air quality for our buildings and our students. Um, so improving our um

air quality, energy efficient, those are the things that we are trying to push forward um in as we spend down on these ARPA dollars that we've been afforded. Uh, next slide, please. So, as we talk about continuous maintenance and our focus um and as we move on into the school year, we will continue our efforts in performing preventive maintenance and building inspections to identify and address issues proactively to reduce ris risks and improve reliability. And this is not only for our HVAC, but we are also gleaning in on our um plumbing, electrical, and also our roofing inspections where uh we have had a lot of water infiltration with all of this rain.

And we're trying to tackle things from the top down, keep our buildings dried out and ensure that we have good air quality in those spaces. We also want to continue our intentional building inspections as we move out through the school year. Um last our 2526 goals and priorities. We want to

implement ongoing preventive strategies to extend the equipment life that we have in our buildings. And we're also working with um developing a facility maintenance plan in alignment with our capital projects team on short and long-term expenses for our infrastructure and um and upgrades. Um earlier this earlier last year um well in the last fiscal year we uh had a um facility condition assessment that I think many of you are aware of and um lots of deferred maintenance and old systems in these buildings. And so we are working um alongside with our capital planning and um school planning teams to look at short-term and long-term expenses and put those plans together so that we can bring them forward as capital improvements. So with that um I would like to just close out my um my time in saying that building services we promise to remain strategic. We

promise to be diligent and we promise to be intentional in providing quality school buildings districtwide. I want to thank you for your time and I hope everyone has a happy Labor Day weekend. Thank you. >> Thank you so much um Lori Blake Reed and so I hope you see our renewed focus this year from the academics in terms of the framework the standards we will follow and what was shared is that the fact of the matter is we already know what it takes to improve student outcomes.

uh there's nothing new under the sun, right? And but the fact of the matter is when as an educational school system are we just going to some of the will and courage to stick to what we know, you know, and that was something I was really intentional about coming in is not coming in bringing in new ideas, new new standards because you already have some great things going on in this district, but it's really about aligning all of the great things and having that uh sense of coherence with transportation. And I hope you've seen the work that this team has done in terms of the routing uh efficiencies, but most importantly listening and responding to our transportation staff,

all of our transportation staff. Um really excited about um the $200 a month bonus. Really excited about the Spanish classes. When I rode a bus on Monday, again, asking the the bus driver, uh she had u a high number of Spanish speaking students um load the bus and just have that conversation about safety.

Should she have to communicate immediately? um and she's not bilingual. And so this will definitely be a value ad to our um bus drivers. And then HR, just knowing the the continued work to retain staff, most importantly recruit staff.

We were able this past Friday to partner with North Carolina Central University um to just have some time with their EC students. Now granted, it was a Friday night, the Friday before the NCCU and Southern game, so some of them were probably in in Atlanta. uh but we were able to also record that uh session with uh HR and myself to share with those um candidates. So obviously as you know um recruiting and and retention is an ongoing thing. And then finally um I thank Laura Breed for sharing the the

range and the ages of our buildings. And so we're really trying to approach this work from a preventative standpoint. And the more that we're um you know are are approaching things from if we know the lifespan of a HVAC system is seven to 10 years then 10 years from now who's on the list to get a replacement as opposed to what I've observed since I've been here is things break and then we fix you know so I'm really excited about the work to be done that that's been taking place now. Yes there are challenges you know yes there um transportation challenges and we try to respond to those.

I will tell you in the past we've been sharing with our families um if there's a new route it's normally takes about 10 10 days. I think the turnaround has been maybe one or two two days. Um last year this time I received a report we had about 4,000 students we were trying to process. I think we're down around five 400 now.

Okay. Was 500 so now it's 400. And so we're not there yet but I'm really excited about the progress that has been made in all these areas. Thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Lewis and to the team.

Don't go too far because I'm sure we'll have questions for all of you all uh in your prep for back to school. Uh board members questions, comment, I'll start with Miss Rogers. Thanks everybody for the presentation. Um my only question is about transportation.

Um Mr. White, you're reporting that things are going well. You're reflecting Dr. Lewis about there only being about 400 students right now that you're trying to work in the routes. That's excellent. Can you talk about um how families are experiencing this um particularly what route they need to take to be added to transportation if they realize they now don't have it or um and what is how that process what what steps should they take and what should they be expecting to hear if

they're one of those 400? >> Yes, thank you so much for that um that question. So um this year As you guys as everyone knows, we've made the transition from Power School to Infinite Campus. And in that, of course, like everybody else, we've experienced our bumps trying to figure out systems.

And one of the things I will say is that um our schools, our data managers, our transportation um administrators um and support, they're working as hard as they can. Our transportation team is working as hard they as they can. It is not a people issue. I think it's a systems issue and trying to figure out how to navigate those systems.

Um, one of the things I will say to parents if you have any transportation concerns, they should first start at the school. What we what we are seeing is that there may be an issue with a address inside of Infinite Campus or a transportation code that's inside of Infinite Campus. And on our end, we can't see um the transportation

request unless unless it is in there um accurately. Um today we had a meeting with all data managers um the transportation team just to make sure that we're all on the same page about how to go through the process. Um we are having Zoom meetings um excuse me teams calls uh we're going out to schools individually to sit down with data managers and work with them through um problems. But if if parents are having issues with like not not getting routes, they should first communicate with their schools, schools have to make sure, again, I want to reiterate, they have to make sure that everything is um correct in Infinite Campus.

And schools also have um access to school web assist in that schools can see the um students um routing information. That information is also available on the edg um app for parents to see. So if again say that one more time parents if you want to see or find out about your bus information the Edgil log app is the first place for you to look and you can also contact your school all schools have the information

to log into school web assist to um see routes and again we have a pretty quick turnaround time um so far and we we're looking to um keep that same pace with getting students routed. And just to to add to that, one of the things that I noticed today when I was at a school and you talked about the differences in the systems from Power School to Infinite Campus, Infinite Campus, according to the staff there, uh doesn't allow you or is not preferred to put Durham, North Carolina in the address system. Can you speak to that? >> Yes.

Um for instance, let's just say u we have a student who um wants to go well the parent wants the child to go to their grandmother's house for after school. Um that we would put that in alternate address in the system. You click search, you'll find that address. Um, and when you click it, data managers have to remove the part that says Durm, North Carolina, maybe 27704, because it won't read on our system. It it it creates an additional step um for

data managers and school officials. And again and and it took us going through this with year round and um and our specialty high schools to kind of understand what the breakdown was because we you know on the transportation end we've been trying to get it in and on the school um school side they're they they have been doing what they are trained to do you know click the address but again just those little small things will cause a hiccup in the system. So again as a team we're working directly with schools um as quickly as we can to try to address any of those issues if they arise. And the only followup I have is families waiting.

Who should they expect to hear from? Should they just keep checking edge log? Should they expect to hear notice from the school or from transportation that the bus route is ready for their kid? >> So the notification um well one the school will have the information.

So if you if you're looking for a route, you can always contact your school. The school will will have your information. If you are unfamiliar with the Edilog

app and you cannot log in or you do not see the information inside, please contact your school. The school will be able to log into the system to see if you have a route there. >> Thanks. >> Thank you, Harrell Goff.

>> I thank you. I this um I just want to put this in the comment because it's something that came up in a few emails, but along with um families not having a route. Um I'm Can you speak um just a little bit about um um I know it's the beginning of the school year. um comments around family like you some kids being on the bus for extended periods of time or having to wait for extended periods of time to to get on the bus like in some cases 40 minutes to an hour. Um just wanting to

know is that just the hiccup for the beginning of the system? Does it have to do with the or is this is this a route issue? So, are are you referring to um students waiting to get their stops or waiting at schools or >> So, some of the some of the comments and emails have been that they are um getting out of school and having to wait outside for 40 minutes or more before they can before the bus is leaving in order for you know. >> Yes.

Um and then the other concern is that um it's taking um an extend a very long time for them to arrive at school and so they're arriving late. >> Okay. So I think the um what you're speaking of are double loads. Um so um right now in our routing we have 31 double loads. Um and I will briefly explain what a what a double load is. Um let's say for instance um and I'll speak back to my time at at

Brogden Middle School. Um we had a a double load u where the first load uh one bus would come take students from Brogden to the area Duke Manor then circle back to Brogden to to then load the bus again to go on a nor a different route for to drop off at different stops along for our students. What some of our families are experiencing is that some of the students are in the second load so of at a school which is not not something that's uncommon. Um so what happens is typically we dismiss the bus is there students on first load um go get on the bus. Um all schools have a designated place or and supervise um or staff to supervise students as they're waiting for the bus to again generally that that the double O the first load is typically one spot one drop off spot which is um typically within a few miles of the school just to go make that one drop and then come back pick the students up and then they go on their

route. So if we have families who are experiencing that on at the school level in in the afternoon that's that's what's happening. Um but it is um again common place. We have 31 of those um across um DPS right now.

As we are increasing staff um and um increasing our efficiency, we would love love to reduce that number down um tremendously um if we can. Um but um just want to give you a little update on that. >> Thank you. And and I um I I would like to ask if you know like if they I'm familiar with double loads, first load, second load.

If they are on a second load, they are allowed to stay in the school building until second load. Okay. Absolutely. This one particular comment they were concerned because their child was not in the school in any kind of situation.

They had to wait outside for the second load. So >> I was able to um touch base with that parent um got everything um squared away with them. Great. Thanks. Um, >> Harrell Goff, I'd like to comment a little

bit if I on that if I could, please. Um, so normally the first week um of school with >> I'm sorry with the first week of school. I was out uh Monday and Tuesday as well. And the the the traffic in Durham um >> has been a major barrier the first week of school.

>> Yes. making sure. >> And so, uh, I was on Highway 98 and there were five buses trying to get to the school and it was backed up at least a half a mile. And so, as we work through those traffic patterns with our parents, uh, and with our community, uh, those things will get better.

The first week of school also, uh, we're trying to verify every kid that should be on the bus, especially at the elementary level. And so when we are normally have a 10-minute load time for elementary school, u some of our elementary schools have taken over 30 minutes um to load those kids and verify who's on a bus. And unfortunately when that happens, then our second tier in middle school

and our third tier in the high school are going to be extremely late. Um and so as Mr. White said that after 10 days, we will re-evaluate who's on our buses. um we may be to combine some buses and get rid of some of our double routes which is going to make um fewer kids waiting out to school.

And our goal is to have a bus at school when the bell rings at every level. And so when we adjust our routes after the 10th day, I think you will see less and less kids waiting um for an extended time after school. >> Thank you. And I thank um Miss Garrett who's a bus driver with us for allowing me to ride our bus and she was doing just that. And so it was taking time as students were coming on before they can go back to the seats. She was looking at the list to make sure those students are on the list and some of them um you know should know their full real names, you know, and so that was slowing things down too.

>> Right. Uh Beyer then I'll swing to the my right. So I just uh move. Oh, no.

>> I want to let Mr. White step back and not have a transportation question for a minute, but thank you so much. Um, I always want us to start the year with such gratitude for the work that goes on over the summer. Um, and I can't think of of starting school without thanking the custodial staff for all of the work that they do, moving furniture, waxing floors, refinishing gym floors while no one is around.

Um, and uh, our schools looked great this year and that that that is so important as um, families join us and and students get excited to be back with friends. And so, um, we're just so thankful for all of all of the team that is working behind the scenes. Um, I appreciate the questions about transportation. Those are always some of

the the first things that we hear at the beginning of the year. I wanted to hear some more about academics and how we're tiering schools. Um, and just the notion, um, there I appreciate the the talk about central services being a support to schools. That's always a model that I thought was so important to ask our schools, our educators, our principles, what do you need?

How can we help you? So, can you talk a little bit more about that, Miss Sidbury, and how um as we customize what principles and and school teams actually need, how we're being supportive, um especially when you said that we were going to change tier status monthly um because we want to rely on data, but we don't want to over rely on data if that makes any sense at all as a question. >> Yes, thank you. So number one, we will assess the tiers monthly. Um we won't be

changing what the support looks like until we have enough evidence to know if it's working or not. But schools will get an update because some some of the things if you remember from the slide, it's around walkthrough data. Are we visiting classrooms and being visible and giving feedback? That's something that we can update on a monthly basis and reflect on.

Um it's also about our discipline and our seal. That's something that we can take a look at in terms of panorama. Are we responding to our student attendance data, discipline data, and academic data? We monitor that in Panorama.

And so we pay as thank you for the board approval. We pay for that tool. And so now we're just adding in the monitoring in system in in place so that we get a return on investment in terms of what central office support looks like. I was with the lead mentors this morning and we were talking about what is the tiered system of support for BTS and this is a mindset shift for the organization. So our mentors, right, in in in previous years, um if I go to a school, I go to a school for 45 minutes and and I'm there and I do what I do in 45 minutes and I leave. And so now the

tiered system of support is like if uh Southern has um 58 beginning teachers um and another high school has three, you need to adjust your time. They don't get 45 minutes. We need to adjust the support we provide school based on the data that says this is the support they need. So that trickles down.

So again, AIG, where are our AIG students? Where are AIG students not making progress? Then we need to adjust how we show up for those schools. It's not just providing a service.

It is providing a personalized support to need to our schools based on our need. We're analyzing that on a monthly basis. So we're not tonedeaf to the needs of our students. Um and so we do that as an organization openly.

Um and we also have monitoring systems in place for central office. We have a a tool called Ewok and it is not a gotcha tool. It is monitoring on behalf of central services. If we said we were going to be at this school three times in the month, did we show up in the way that we said we were going to do? And then also our

schools receiving that support in a way that's beneficial to them. So we don't want to just show up and say hi. Um we want to show up and be a part of the real work. Um and so that conversation will be reciprocal every month in our principles meeting about are we showing up in a way that provides support to you.

So that's a few examples of how tearing looks. Um it's systemic and we're doing that work gradually. Um I'm three months in the job. Um but we have been doing this work continuously on on a macro and also a micro level.

>> Thank you so much. That's really that's really helpful to me to hear and I hope to to our educators as well. I um and I appreciate you talking about qualitative data as well as quantitative data and ways that we can really focus in on student needs through Panorama and other tools. Um question for Harrell Goff who is online.

Um >> I'm here. >> Yay. Um so it's always helpful to know that that unfortunately we do start the

year with vacancies. um wanted to give you some space to talk about how this compares to other years and if folks are interested and know know uh folks that might be interested in applying um how they can proceed to to apply for these vacancies and and make sure that we reach the best candidates that are still out there. >> Absolutely. Thank you for the question.

Um it does the numbers do compare to um years prior. We are still seeing um the high number of vacancies in our EC department and so um similar to what Dr. Lewis just shared, we are trying to figure out some out ofthe-box thinking ways to um reach out to folks that may be interested in applying to our school district. So just like Dr. Lewis said last Friday we were meeting with North Carolina Central University, their graduate department for folks that are in the special education field and how

can we get those folks to apply to Durham public schools. So we are looking under every rock and really continue to try to build our pipeline so that we have qualified licensed teachers in every classroom. That is our ultimate goal every single day. making sure that we're stay focused on that um that goal um with our team.

And just a shout out to the HR department. We're folks that work behind the scenes feverishly with Mr. Teter's team today trying to make sure that folks get paid. And so one of the things that's really important tomorrow, it's a three-day weekend.

We're working to make sure that the folks we've hired that we've recruited to come to Durham public schools that they have their paycheck on time. And so just trying to keep those promises and being really transparent and working non-stop. We're working right now trying to make sure that there's a plan in place to make sure that everyone receives their paycheck tomorrow. But

back to your original question, the numbers are comparable to the years prior. We continue to work with Dr. Bell and her team, ways that we can provide support to our lead ECAS, to the substitute teachers that are filling the vacancies while we continue to recruit and hire for those vacancies. >> Thank you.

And if folks get are looking for part-time opportunities and job sharing, we're creative in those ways. Same with bus drivers, driving in the morning or the afternoon, safety monitors, all of those. >> All of those. >> Yep.

Yep. Yep. Thank you so much, Miss Hagger. >> Thank you, >> Mr.

Hagger. Can you also speak to the record number of global teachers we have coming in and then the potential um EC supports uh with global teachers as well? >> Absolutely, Dr. Lewis.

Um what Dr. Lewis is referring to, we have a number of international teachers here in Durham public schools. We have upwards of 200 um international teachers. We just had

another international teacher orientation today in collaboration um with one of our um J1 um sponsoring agencies and we brought in 16 more teachers. And so it is a great way for us to um fill our vacancies with qualified teachers that are coming in with years of experience. And with because of this um great relationship that we do have with our J1 sponsoring agency, one of the things that we are piloting this year is an EC launch um providing EC teachers here in Durham Public Public Schools from our um international countries. So these teachers are um coming to us this year. We are in about three schools um to start this program, but they chose Durham public schools to really pilot and see if this works. And this if this does, this is one of those another one

of those creative ways that we can then have EC teachers come into our district. Um and we're really looking forward to growing this program. So again, Dr. Bell is involved, Dr.

King and his team. And so just really looking at what the curriculum will look like, what the um resources and support will look like for these teachers. But we're super excited um to be on the front end of this to be able to provide this um teacher to our students. So thank you.

>> Right. I'm going to swing this way. Miss Carter Autton. >> Um thank you.

I'd like to start um with just a comment for Miss Sidbury. Um super excited to have you here. Thank you so much for your presentation tonight and especially for your focus on monitoring with the intention to replicate what's working well. And to do that, you have to know what's working well, right?

Um and then avoid wasting time and resources on things that are not working. So, thank you so much. I'm excited to have you. Um and then my

other um comments and questions are for Harrell Goff. Um, thank you so much, Miss Hager, for providing us with the um, update on HR and um, thinking about the vacancies. Thank you for talking a little bit about the work that you're doing to not only fill the vacancies, but to ensure that while there are vacancies of permanent um, staff in those positions, that the students that are um, in those classrooms have competent um, and qualified educators in the rooms. Um, I am glad that we're doing that.

I still am and I and I recognize that the vacancies are aligned with previous years and this is not unique to Durham public schools. And also I'm as someone with children in in the schools right now, I'm picturing what it would be like for them to have a teacher vacancy throughout the year and to have a long-term sub in their classroom and how that might impact their learning. Um, so just thinking about the students behind that and um and glad to hear we're doing things and hope we can continue doing

all that we can to make sure those staff have the support they need if they end up being in that classroom all year long because we can't fill that role. Um, and the only other um thing that I just wanted to state again is I'm glad that we're thinking outside the box and hope that we can continue to do that with recruitment um for all of our positions. And I'd like to see DPS be um as innovative as any school system in the entire country looking at best practices around the country for just new ways to recruit. Recognizing the environment is challenging.

We need to fill the seats because our kids are going to receive substandard education without educators in you know in the classroom. So >> thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you.

Mr. Tab, >> thank you very much. Thanks everyone for um the u presentation. I really appreciate it. Um I'm going to shift just a little bit. Um I didn't see any

conversation about safety and security and I think we starting the school year with what's going on nationally. Uh that has to be a conversation that we keep in the in the forefront even for back to school. uh because parents are seeing stuff on the news and m maybe um some conversation about do we have enough SRO's in the schools where are we with making sure that our schools are safe and and secured uh with the number of teachers that I'm seeing that we're hiring. Uh that means there's not a lot of new people in the buildings and they may not be as familiar with previous policies or procedures that I think that we need to definitely uplift.

Um, so everything else I I I enjoyed hearing and and I concur, but I do want to make sure that we kind of hopefully add maybe for the next board meeting some updates on safety and security. Okay. And maybe some maybe have to have some drills

earlier planned than than later. Okay. Thank you. >> And the um thank you for that question, uh, board member Tab.

Um, as I mentioned, the daily debriefs, uh, safety and security is certainly as well as other departments that are not here tonight are part of all those conversations. I had an opportunity to, matter of fact, when I was at Little River, um, they did a fire drill while I was there. So, I assisted in getting the kids out and some of the kids were upset because the ground was wet and their shoes got messed up going out. But those drills have have started and there was some work been being done over the summer with um, uh, in terms of safety and security PD for our administrators. our school resource officers did go through restorative practices training uh as well and so it is top of mind u definitely now more than ever but uh we definitely can bring an update to the board if that's the will of the board >> um before we move to Miss Chavez I just want to make sure is that safety and security an update that the board would like to see an upcoming meeting I see some head nod

>> the other other piece too I will definitely have definitely want to lift up is um you know when year round I'm sorry yeah year round began and also when traditional began we did uh reiterate our um immigration guidelines all of our principles as well. I just want to lift that up. >> Thank you. I'm going to pass it over to Miss Chavez.

>> Thank you. Thank you so much. I really just have comments but um wanted to highlight some of the things that I found most exciting about this update. um just the alignment and accountability um between central office and the schools.

I really appreciate that and and the asking principles what they think and what they need um for um for administration to be supportive of them. Um and then you know just a kind of theme I'm hearing is that we are move moving toward being a more um interdependent we are an interdependent organization but practicing that in a different way. So, I appreciate that.

Um, with transportation, so nice to hear that all routes are covered. Love the Spanish classes. Um, and and uh, Dr. Lewis, to your point, I can really see that we have listen to staff and some things that we that they needed um, um, and and that would help um, bolster their experience um, as workers.

So, I I really appreciate that. I think that's that's great and I hope we continue to do that. And then um the preventative maintenance around the mold, assessing mold that um I just want to say that will be important um because we know it's been an issue in the past, but there's a lot of prevention in this um in the building services um presentation and that's that's where we really want to get to not just responding to the you know issues that arise, but we have to do that too of course. So thank you all.

Um and I'm excited about the school year. Um, thank you everyone for this update. It was really helpful. I love the focus

this year and thinking about the tiered systems of supports for our schools. I think I've talked a little bit before about on this on this dice about an equity formula where we're looking at multiple factors as we're thinking about how to address schools and that's not just funding, that's time and support. So really excited to hear about that and I hope that you know even our new leaders in our building are going to see more people supporting them as they're getting ready to navigate this school year. Um love this transportation updates and things about being preventative.

I do want to ask a question a little bit on the building maintenance. So Miss Blake Reed, you talked about we have ARPA funding to help do some of the HVAC. Is that funding that we received from the county Durham County? Okay.

So, I was just thinking about, you know, six million and we were talking about HVAC, but I think that money is technically supposed to cover all kinds of maintenance in the schools. Is that correct? Not just HVAC. >> So, ARPA funding is supposed to help with indoor air quality, um, environmental issues, HVAC issues, those things that improve the air quality.

>> Correct. >> So, those types of systems. So does, if

I remember this correctly, I'm looking at my colleagues, that $6 million is typically what we have got in maintenance capital improve maintenance. I see lots of head knots. So typically we would get six million that wasn't ARPA but be for maintenance needs. >> I think that the last um group was called ESSER funds >> what I learned when I got here.

>> Right. And even prior to th that the Durham County just provided us some ongoing funds for maintenance. >> I see Mr. Teter maybe is going to come off.

This was before his time too, but >> yes. >> But yes, um I think the board chair has summarized that situation accurately, right? And so customarily um Durham public schools received uh $6 million in resources from the county for any right capital outlay need um whatever administration prioritized as the need um in in those preceding years. And then the um last fiscal year um we received a total of $8 million, six million of which came from the county's

ARPA funding and had those um strings attached that Miss Blake described. Uh with the other two million behaving in a little less restricted manner. Uh and so we're relieved that in this current fiscal year, the you know, we've gotten five million from the county that has no strings attached and it's for whatever we deem to be our greatest needs for capital outlay. >> And I ask that question because I'm just imagining that we have more than $5 million worth of needs in maintenance needs.

And so just thinking about that number has gone back down. We're talking about eight last year, 2 million um plus the six million of ARPA. Now we're at five. We need to think about how we get that number back up with increasing temperatures in our buildings, you know, issues with mold, all of that. So, I just thank you for coming to answer that question, but I'm thinking about all the other maintenance needs that might not just be around that HVAC that we need ongoing maintenance for. So, those long and shortterm plans that we're looking at with our capital planning and school

planning teams um will lay out those needs for HVAC and other systems that need to be um replaced in a priority order. >> Awesome. >> So, that's the way we're looking at it at this point. >> Wonderful.

>> Thank you. I have one question for you, Harrell Goff. Um around I'm sorry. >> Oh, yes.

>> I did want to make it clear that the money that the county gave us for ARPA, a portion of that was for HVAC, but they did carve out. But we were able to work with them and carve out a portion of that money to be used to for maintenance and repairs on title one schools as well. >> That's not air quality. >> Correct.

That is not air quality. Yes. So, as long as it's a title one school, we can use that for regular maintenance that is not air quality related. Just wanted to clarify that.

Thank you. >> Okay. All right. That's helpful. Um, Miss Hager, we have the vacancy data, which is really helpful information. I wanted to get a sense of is your team tracking vacancies at different schools to ensure

that we don't have a school that may go all year or majority of the year without a certain teacher. >> Absolutely. Yes. Um, Chair um said we do track our data.

we look at where where we have EC vacancies all year and how are we pushing in and providing support to those schools. So again, working really closely with Dr. Bell and her team or working really closely with the schools. In some cases where we see lots of vacancies at a school, we can even work with that school to have a a job fair, a mini job fair on site um and a popin sort of job fair where we can, you know, really concentrate at that particular school.

So, we do work really closely. We're tracking that data. We send out a report every Sunday night about vacancies and those reports go not only to the schools but to the principal supervisors, Dr. Bell. So, we're all looking at this vacancy data and it's

broken out. I think I share with the board just the vacancy breakout. So you're looking at the same breakout that we look at every Sunday, Monday to see where our um you know numbers are up and where we need to really focus and concentrate on providing support to those schools >> and in those schools with particularly EC vacancies where there are subs there also IAS in those rooms and I want to give a huge shout out to our IAS that are holding it down. I'm telling you they are holding it down uh as we continue to recruit uh EC teachers.

Um they're all across the district. Top of mind for me is Easley and Oak Grove. And so they are really um you know being there for the students and making sure they have a a great experience. >> I know we were doing our um IIA to teacher program. I hope we can be intentional about some of these ECAS and getting them certified because they'll be great people to move into that um teacher position. Uh thank y'all for that update.

wanted to I had an opportunity to stop by the leadership retreat this summer um where principal Cles am I saying that right cafele was there and he had this list of refle reflective questions that he was posing to the principles that I thought were amazing and I was texting Dr. Lewis and I said and how does this translate to central office? How do we make sure that central office is one of the questions he had was do each of our uh students have equitable opportunities to learn, grow, develop and soar? Do each of our schools have that same opportunity?

Do each of our staff have that same opportunity? And how a central office fill in around to make sure they can make those opportunities grow? So, I'm glad to hear about that in the report. I am curious how we're going to assess that.

How will we know that schools have felt that central office has been beneficial and supportive to what they need? >> There's actually a survey being developed, a survey that uh will administer to our building principles uh so that they can provide us feedback in terms of the things that we're doing well per department and then things that we maybe need to take a look at. And so

that is um coming soon. I think that's valuable to have that feedback directly from folks in the buildings. Um sometimes we think we're doing something that's helpful and people are like actually I need something different. So be able to have that systemic feedback will be really awesome and to track it year to year to year to see what's working well.

That's all I have. Any other comments from board members? Miss Harold Gooff. Um yeah, I just wanted to say I'm also I share the excitement around the academics report and um everything that's moving forward.

I was wanting to say um to Miss Sippberry that I think I'm gonna put this on a t-shirt. I She said I just got to repeat this again. She said um not in a gotcha kind of a way, but in a I got kids kind of a way. I love that.

You might see that on my t-shirt next week. I'm just saying. Um, and the other thing is, um, I'm I'm very curious as to

how our scholars will also be engaging with this new taring system. Um, I think it's beautiful. I'm curious about how they'll also be educated about how their schools are being evaluated and how they take part in that. So, there's something that I wanted to lift up to think about.

>> Any other comments, board members? >> Right. We'll go to our next item. Oh, Dr.

Lewis. Yes, one last thing as we were talking about um just ensuring that our buildings feel supported from central services as you know uh we've started our um cabinet walks last semester I believe where cabinet members are out in buildings just asking three simple questions we're collecting that feedback and coming back and take action on that new this year uh Dr. King uh share would you mind sharing with the board um some additional steps that we're taking to ensure that we are out in buildings and supporting them? >> Yes sir. So uh this year the cabinet has uh decided that we are going to um we

are going to get out into the building. So rather than have traditionally we have a cabinet meeting every Monday and usually we have it right in this room. Um we have decided that this year we are going to shift that practice a bit and for two of those four meetings a month we are going to have those meetings uh in our schools. Uh so the entire cabinet will convene um at a given school.

Um and in fact I was talking to a principal about it today and the only rule um about that session is that from 9 to 11 we need to actually have our cabinet meeting. We'll be there from 8:30 to 12 and uh what we'll be sharing with our principles is that the entire cabinet will be at their disposal during that time with the exception of that 9 to11 moment moment that 9 to11 period of time. So if they want to put together a panel of teachers to sit in front of cabinet and share concerns that's fine. if they want to do a school showcase where they show uh the cabinet um a

program that they're using that they think is promising, we'll be fine to sit uh with that. Um if they want to have an opportunity for uh cabinet to meet with groups of students, we are open to that. And I think the thing that the superintendent was excited about is the opportunity to have uh working lunches both with and either with groups of students or groups of staff members. So that opportunity will provide us with an opportunity to see firsthand uh what is happening in schools uh the results of the programs that we're rolling out and shifts that we're making and to hear from the folks who are being impacted by those shifts and changes.

Uh we hope that the first of those we we're certain that the first will be in September. We're hoping we can uh get ourselves together by September 9th, but if not by not by then, it will be uh the uh second um the third month, third week of the month of September will be our first school-based cabinet meeting. >> That sounds great. I want to go with you

and be in some schools. I don't I don't need to come to the cabinet meeting though, but I can join y'all at 11 o'clock uh to hear from students. Um this has been really great and informative update. Thank you all.

We're going to go next to our next item. Without any further comment, we have a policy committee update. I'm going to pass it over to Miss Carter Autton, who is the chair of the policy committee for Durham Public Schools. >> Thank you, Chair Mstead.

So, I actually thought I would start um with some background information in case we have viewers who took a break over the summer and maybe didn't watch um our June or our August meeting um to just get some context before I launch into an update on our recent um committee meeting. So, in alignment with our newly developed policy 2231 that's up in board docs if folks want to review it that was packed passed in June of this year. Um, the DPS board of education now has a policy committee. So, this committee is charged with developing, reviewing, and revising policies in collaboration with the superintendent and staff. The committee

does not have authority to act on behalf of the board, but rather is tasked with doing the work and making recommendations for the full board to then consider. So, all the policies will end up before this board and at these meetings eventually. Um so all board members were provided with an opportunity to join the committee. Three of us expressed interest and the full board approved our membership at the August um 14th work session.

Um the members of the committee include uh Miss Byer and Miss Chavez and myself. Um and the committee will meet at least monthly during the school year. Um these month meetings have actually all been scheduled already and noticed. So you can find this information on um the board of ed website. Um members of the public are welcome to join and committee meeting agendas and um the minutes will be available on board docs. So folks should be able to stay a breast of what's coming on agendas and what was discussed at meetings um through that

channel at least. Um so with that the first meeting of this policy committee was held on August 19th. Um during the meeting I was elected to serve as chair of the committee. Um that's just for this year.

And um the committee discussed uh logistics of our meetings and of the committee structure. Um some policies that we anticipate needing some attention um some of them very soon. And then also spent some time talking about how to encourage uh community and stakeholder input into board policies. So just to give you a sense um board members and members of the community policies that were just floated um for review, revision or addition um include first um there's mandated updates from the state and um other policies that are being shared with by administration that need attention right now. And then suggestions from committee members that came out during that meeting were um the community engagement policy, uh discipline policies including um looking

at the code of conduct again, um restraint and seclusion policy, lactation policy for students, staff and visitors, um LGBTQIA plus policy updates, uh revisiting the law enforcement policy, uh employee grievance procedures, board agenda policy, and u many several other uh the 2000 series um policies and then of course the cell phone policy. Um so um as outlined in uh our new policy that policy 2231 that establishes this committee, we are currently soliciting ideas and that's both from all board members right now um from staff and from the community um for policy revisions or updates or for new policies. So, um, folks in the community or staff, you may have seen a post about this on social media on the new, um, DPS app or in the August 26th, um, weekly spark email. Thank you, um, to, uh, public relations

for putting out that information for us. Um, so to submit an idea or a draft of a policy, you don't have to have a full draft um, ready, but you could have worked on that or just have an idea that you're willing to share. um you would use the policy form. This is bilingual in both English and Spanish and it's located on the BOE website.

Um so there's a deadline of August 31st which was established in the new policy. Um I believe that's this Sunday. Um and that is to meet the deadline for consideration um for the priority list for the 2526 school year. We have so many we need to attend to.

There's going to be a prioritization process. Um, but submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis. So, I guess I'm curious to know um from other board members if folks might be interested in considering um for this year waving the August 31st deadline um for priority submissions and extending this by one week um to give

folks a little bit more time since communication again came out in the spark mail on the 26th, which was just a couple days ago and social media posts have been going um pretty recently. Um, and this is new for us. So, it's a new thing for folks to kind of get used to and to hear about and get um gather their ideas for. I think this will still give the committee time to uh review the submissions and um consider them prior to the next policy committee meeting which is on September 18th. So, um so yeah, opening that up um for any questions or um comments about that suggestion. um I believe if the members of the um policy committee feel that that gives them enough time to be able to review then being that it's just being spoken of and you know in this board meeting it just went out I would like to see um one

week one more week given um for something that we're initiating that's new to give people a chance to um they have the opportunity to submit if they would like to. So, uh I'm open to making a motion if we you know that's all right. >> We have some more discussion. >> M Rogers.

I'm not opposed to extending the date, but I thought the policy said that there were ongoing they there were ongoing submissions that could happen. I think my question would be is that not something that the policy committee like the 30 we reach the 31st. you still get all the submissions that come in after the 31st up until your first meeting about the prioritizations or your next policy committee meeting.

Could you not consider everything that has come in even if it missed the deadline? Because it might be duplicates, right? We might just be saying, um, we're opening it for duplicates because people have already submitted some, um, the request for you to have a conversation about a particular policy. And so extending the deadline might not necessarily truly be necessary, but it I want to do whatever is going to give you the freedom to do the things that you feel like you need to do.

And so if you feel like you're going to want to hold tight to this deadline, then I do think the board should approve to extend it. But I think you have that time and I think you should use it without it having to be granted that way. Any other comments? I don't board members from colleagues

miss. Um yeah, I think that that makes sense. I think what the policy says is that we'll like that's the prioritization deadline. So I just don't want us as a committee to be like well didn't get in by the 31st.

So like you're not going to because on the September 18th at that meeting we're going to be working on prioritization and then yes we'll accept them as rolling throughout the fall. So but I hear what you're saying. " That's my preference. And if other policy committee members are okay with that interpretation of the new policy, >> Miss Travis, >> I think I would um so I think no matter what we can do that we can practice um you know our our internal priority deadline can be later. I would like to change it though so that the public knows. I sent out an email today to some

community members and um and I would love to tell them that the priority deadline has changed has moved back if that's what we're going to do just so they know because um I think it's been we there hasn't been a lot of time to um to get the information out. It is new. The med social media post was August 19th. So there has I mean next year we'll be more prepared but I think that um it would be great if we could officially extend the priority deadline so people know that um their items will be considered not just in general like as part of the rolling process but as one of the um initial you know policy recommendations that's submitted.

So that's my thought. >> Question, Miss Oh, this is for Mrs. Cooper. Did the social media post have the due date on them? I'm sorry, I didn't. They had August 31st.

Uh, so the social media p and everything had August 31st. So are you all also suggesting that they redo all those posts with a new deadline? I would I would say you're the expert, but um there could be a new post just saying that we've extended it and we would um you know that people have more time to submit their their recommendation. >> Absolutely.

We would make any adjustments to any information that has already been shared regarding the initial deadline. So that would include social media and the upcoming issue of the newsletter for families to share in that um to receive that information there as well. Miss Bar. >> So would September 7th be what you're proposing?

I'm trying to make sure that I >> Yeah, I I think that's fine. I I'm I've never seen this as a hard deadline. I've seen it as the first batch of the fall work and then looking at it again in the next semester. But um I I'd be

fine with making a motion to extend the deadline, the August 31st deadline this year to September 7th. >> Second. >> It's been moved by Beyer and seconded by Miss Chavez. Is there any other discussion?

All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Any oppose?

It passes unanimously. So, um if we can have that just some updated communication. Thank you all for working on that. The next item on our agenda is um for information only.

It's around DPS insurance program and renewal for the upcoming for this school year. Colleagues, I don't see any questions. So, we'll continue to move on. The next we have is our close session.

>> Make a motion that go into close session for the reasons stated on the agenda. >> Second. Been moved by Miss Rogers, seconded by Beyer. Is there any other discussion?

All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed, please use the same sign. We will now move into close

session. If you are watching us virtually, we will um end the live stream at this time and the board will dismiss from this room after close session. Thank you for joining us this evening.