uh good morning everyone uh we have a full house in the boardroom I know you all may not be able to see it streaming so I'm going to try this one more time good morning everyone it is a joyous Monday morning uh I am calling this organizational meeting on July 1st 2024 to order the next item on our agenda is going to be a moment of silence thank you the next item on our agenda is the oath of office we have four board members will be taking the oath this morning uh Millicent Rogers Jessica Carda-Auten Alton and our incoming board members Mr Wendell Tab and joy Harrell Goff we have judge Josephine Davis who'll be leading Us in the O today I'll ask uh you all Davis is gonna excuse me judge Davis we'll call you in order and you all can uh step over right here M uh judge Davis to the podium and we'll get
started good morning to the board thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to administer the oath and I will administer the oath in the order that chair Umstead just called and so we could first have uh Miss Millicent Rogers M Rogers if you can place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right and I'm going to ask that you repeat after me I it's your name please do solemnly affirm that I will support and maintain affirm that I the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of
North Carolina not inconsistent therewith and I will Faithfully discharge the duties of my office as a member of the board of education for the durm public schools that in the discharge of said duties I will fairly and diligently consider all issues coming before the board of education so that every student is provided with an equal opportunity that every student is an opportunity to [Music] learn and so that each school provides an environment in which every student is
encouraged and can reasonably be expected to realize his or her maximum educational potential without regard to their or my place of residence within durm County so help me God congratulations once again thank you for your willing and at this time it is my pleasure to administer o the oath to uh Jessica Carda-Auten Alton and if you could place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right
I please stay name do solemnly affirm that I will support and maintain the Constitution affirm that I and laws of the United States and the constitution of laws of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties Faithfully charge the D of my office as a member of the Board of Education my office of the M for the Durham public schools that in the discharge of said duties of Duties I will fairly and diligently consider all issues fairly and diligently coming before the Board of Education of educ so that every student
is provided with an equal opportunity an opportunity to learn opportunity to learn and so that each school provides an environment in which every student is encouraged and can reasonably be expected to realize his or her maximum educational potential without regard to their or my their or my place of Resident with residence within durm County so help me God thank you so much congratulations at this time it is my um honor and privilege to swear in the two new board members and first we will have Mr Wendell hat
good morning Mr tab if you can place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right at this time I will administer the oath I please state your name I do solemnly affirm that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States constition and the constitution of and laws of North Carolina and the con not inconsistent therewith not inconsistent there and that I will Faithfully d charge the duties I Faithfully discharge the duties of my office as a member of the Board of Education my office as a member of the or the Durham Public Schools or the Durham public schools that in the discharge of said duties and discharge of said duties I will fairly and diligently consider all issues I will fairly and diligently coming before the Board of
Education coming before the board of UC so that every student is Prov proved with an equal opportunity so that every student is provided to learn to learn and and so that each school provides an environment so that each school provides an environment in which every student is encouraged in which every student is encouraged and can reasonably be expected to realize and can reason his or her maximum educational potential his or her maximum educational without regard to their or my without regard to their or my place of residence within Durham County place or residence within Durham so help me God so help me God congratulations Mr tab thank you and last but certainly not least it is my pleasure to now uh administer the
oath for our newest Board member Miss Joy Harrell Goff gof yes ma'am if you can place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right I please state your name Joy Harrell Goff do solemnly affirm that I will support and maintain to solemnly affirm that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina and the Constitution and laws not inconsistent therewith not inconsistent therewith and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of my office and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of my office as a member of the Board of Education as a member of the board of education for the Durham Public Schools dur public schools that in the discharge
of said duties that in the discharge of said duties I will fairly and diligently consider all issues fairly and diligently consider all coming before the board of educationeducation so that every student is provided with an equal opportunity that every student is provided with an equal opportunity an opportunity to learn an opportunity to learn and so that each school provides an environment and so that each School Pro in which every student is encouraged in which every student is encouraged and can reasonably be expected and reasonably expected to realize his or her maximum educational potential to his or her maximum education without regard to their or my place of residence without their or my place of residence within durh County dur County so help me God thank you so much
con congratulations Mr Tab and Miss Harrell Goff we are excited to welcome you all to the DI uh and look forward to all the work we're going to do together I do want to give if you want to have an opportunity to share any words with folks before we transition to our next order of business Mr T absolutely uh as a theater artist and educator um be careful giving me a mic so now I get to say some things that I really really need to say that's on my heart as I take this seat it's very important um so there's so bear with me just for a moment but I think it is something that needs to be said for the city of Durham at the point that we're in right now to my esteemed colleagues and cherished members of our community today marks a turning point in our shared Journey a journey that binds us all through a deep and abiding commitment to the future of our
children I am entrusted with the immense responsibility of serving on this school board and I'm filled with profound gratitude and an overwhelming sense of Duty thank you chair Armstead and the school board members for sharing of this wonderful opportunity of service I would like to extend my heartfelt thank you to my family and my friends for their unwavering support throughout my educational Journey which has brought me to this seat on the school board to my wife Duchess who is a teacher to my son Emanuel a graduate of North Carolina Central University and a recent graduate of Duke University and my two sisters blind who's an administrator at a community college and my sister Cynthia who is a retired educator for your encouragement your advice and belief in my vision has been instrumental in this journey from
attending events and spreading the word to offering a listening ear and words of wisdom your contribution has made all the difference I am deeply grateful for your dedication and support which has fueled my determination to advocate for our students and Community thank you for standing by me every step of the way I am profoundly grateful to my extended family my aunts and my uncles and my cousins that are here and to my friends that I see in the audience for their unwavering support throughout my educational career your encouragement and belief in my vision has been a constant source of strength and I thank you to my campaign manager who's standing over there Ron Hunter thank you for the incredible work that you had done with the campaign and for assembling an incredible campaign team I extend my heartfelt thanks for your tiess efforts and dedication your hard
work your strategic insight and unwavering commitment has been pivotal to the success of this school board journey and to my colleagues in education and my school colleagues in administration I am deeply grateful for your support and collaboration over the years which has greatly contributed to my growth and my success I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the community organizations for their unwavering commitment to educational issues and the best outcomes for our children your dedication and advocacy have made a profound difference in shaping a brighter future for our students thank you to my brothers of alpha alpha Fraternity Incorporated who are in the audience and all members of the divine nine for your steadfast commitment to community service and Scholastic achievement for our students and to the following organizations in support of our schools and my journey I want to say
thank you to the SS Renaissance the alar Boule the triangle North Carina Park chapter of the links Incorporated the Durham North Carolina chapter of the links Incorporated thank you your many years of encouragement and support have been invaluable to the community of Durham and Beyond and to all the organizations that endorsed my campaign I extend my heartfelt thanks your belief in my vision for School Safety and Security for mental health and wellness teacher and staff retention and recruitment literacy skills enhan en M and funding for new and renovated facilities is deeply appreciated your endorsement of these priorities exemplifies a collaborative Spirit aimed at improving Durham Public Schools thank you to our face-based organizations for rendering tutoring and after school programs that move our district in the right direction and thank you to all the supporters who are here and who are watching online and all
the people who supported me in my campaign and encourage me to stay steadfast in this journey I thank you and to the Durham Community who has supported me for over 30 years I cannot thank you enough for your commitment to Excellence in education and the advancement of our children this educational Journey would not have been possible without the thousands of students that I taught and the parents who entrusted me with the education of their children and their family members I extend a special thank you to each one of them near and far you are the reason I have kept the faith and will continue to advocate for all students as I take this seat every decision that I make is to make things right for children I take this seat in honor of my late mother lucindia massbury tab who would be extremely proud of me on this day because she knew God's
purpose for me me before I knew it it was the teaching of my mother a caring and committed teacher herself who encouraged me to become a strong educator so I thank you to my mom and to my late dad for never giving up on me and so in my 35 years of education I have never given up on children as I sit on this D know that I will never ever give up on the success of children I look forward to work working with our newly selected superintendent Dr athley S Lewis and members of this school board to make this District the number one school district globally students are among our most vulnerable and precious members of our society and as I was sworn in and placed my hand on my mother's Bible I was always reminded of an important scripture which says truly I say to you as you did it to one of the least of
these my brothers you did it to me students are the are the least in the sense that they depend on us the adults to provide their needs and guide them when our children go hungry and thirsty will we stand ready when our children need their schools to be places where they feel safe and loved and respected and accepted will we stand ready when restored mental health re requires listening to our children and being present in their lives will we stand ready and when children are trapped in circumstances beyond their control like poverty abuse neglect and systemic injustices will we stand ready and when we look into the eyes of children who need our kindness our attention and our service will we stand ready and when our children are uncovered and left vulnerable for the world to see will we stand ready and when it comes to our
black and brown boys having Equitable access to resources and opportunities and support they need to be successful in college and careers and in life will we stand ready can we do more to support our latinx students and their families with the necessary resources for their continued success we can do more we have to bury our children because of the gun violence in our city has not stopped and has a traumatic impact on our children and our schools we cannot sit back and wait for someone else to react it's going to take all of us and we must stand ready are we ready just like us our children and Duram public schools are born with a purpose and our job is to make sure we provide every tool and every resource necessary to help them fulfill their Divine Purpose so thank you chairwoman Umstead and board members for this opportunity to
address our DPS stakeholders this year it has been evidenced to the school board members across the state that this role is more than just policymaking I stand ready to make decisions that are fair and equable to all students as we know this school year has been filled with some major victories but yet overshadowed by Financial challenges lack of transparency and and mistrust in many situations in life there are times when we need to say that we are sorry so Durham I'm sorry I sorry that some of our Focus may have shifted from the academic achievement of our students I'm sorry I'm sorry that we are enduring a world of violence in our neighborhoods and in our schools and for that I am sorry and to the students of Durham and to this school if this school board if this District or city has failed you in
any way I am sorry and so I humbly ask for your forgiveness with hope that we heal together and that we trust each other as a district again because our children deserve it and as we move forward we will make this right today is a new day as a school board member I stand ready to advocate for fairness in Social and economic circumstances I stand ready to secure resources that uplift marginalized and underrepresented groups I stand ready to ensure that our schools are safe I stand ready to Champion our school district as a place where people feel valued I stand ready to secure equal rights and opportunities for everyone in our community I stand ready to restore the trust that has been broken I stand ready and I'm committed to creating an environment where every voice is heard
no matter what we are here for children I'm dedicated to fostering diversity equity and inclusion with theend dur Public Schools no matter what we are here for the children and I stand ready to contribute significantly to building a thriving diverse and inclusive community with our district for all students because I care and I know you care to so I'm looking forward to the collaboration of all of our local and state elected officials and our City and County government we are all in this together so I stand on the shoulders of the past board members who were steadfast and dedicating their time to this school board work they advocated with boldness and conviction for our youth and as to my fellow board members on this di I look forward to our time together on this board I'm eager to collaborate and bring New Perspectives from my training as an educator offering an Educator's voice to our discussions I
extend my hand in Partnership together we can forge a path forward that honors our shared commitment to education and to the Educators and staff your talish dedication inspires us all classified certified your work is the foundation upon which our successes are built and to the parents and community members your trust and support are the pillars that uphold our mission and so I thank all of you for this honor I thank you for your trust I thank you for joining me in this Noble Endeavor let us move forward with purpose let us move forward with passion let us move forward with an unwavering belief that our best days are ahead our best days are now ahead please enroll your children in Durham Public Schools We Stand
ready thank you so much Mr tab We Stand ready ready to work with you excited to see that Vision realized are you okay yes I didn't come prepared to say anything that's okay I don't think that I have to um I'm really excited um to be sitting here with with everyone who is up here I appreciate how you have um on boarded us and and allowed us to be prepared for what is next um I'm very grateful to be in the seat I'm very moved to have my family sitting here with me um and just really looking forward to what's to come um I am the cup half full I'm excited about what's next I'm excited about the the movement that is happening I'm excited for our schools um and I look forward to serving so thank you very much
right the next item on our agenda is the election of officers and so for that I'm going to pass it over to miss cat Moore to conduct the elections good morning in a moment I will call for nominations for the office of chair of the Durham Public Schools Board of Education the board will follow the procedure contained the new policy 2200 nominations do not require a second if more than one person is nominated the board will vote on nominees in in order of nomination the first person to receive a majority of board members present is elected chair nominations are now in order for the office of board chair are there any nominations superintendent Moore I would like to nominate Millicent Rogers to serve as chair of the board are there any other nominations
if not nominations for the office of board chair are closed those in favor of Millicent Rogers as chair say I those opposed say no I I staying no okay just checking millison Rogers is elected Chair by a vote of five to one and one abstention I believe I now pass the gavel to millison Rogers congratulations
good morning everybody morning nominations are in order for office of the vice chair are there any nominations nominate patina Umstead I nominate Jessica Carda-Auten Alton are there any other nominations would like to withdraw my name from a nomination is that okay that's okay I'd like to just make some comments if I might and share with folks what I'm struggling with this morning I appreciate that good morning and I want to wish a special congratulations to our newly sworn board colleagues Joy Harrell Goff goof and Wendell tab we are so delighted to welcome you to join us in service to the Durham Community I believe in the Democratic
process and I apologize that your first day as board members make cause you to wrestle on this vote I believe that our new board members will ultimately decide this vote and I would like to share my reasoning for supporting Bettina Umstead as our vice chair for 20 what year are we in or 25 I didn't this has been weighing on me a lot and I love this community I'm actually advocating on behalf of our school system and our new superintendent Dr Lewis for a concept more than a specific candidate that concept is institutional memory and knowledge to support interim superintendent Moore and especially our newly appointed superintendent Dr Anthony Lewis 2425 has been the most challenging year ever for geram public schools and
for our district leadership the pay tacle and harm have rocked our students our staff and our board throughout this challenge chair Umstead and vice chair Chávez have been extraordinarily dedicated leaders as we navigated these uncharted waters with Grace listening to every Voice through many impossible votes our board has achieved consensus most recently we led a thorough and Rapid superintendent search and unanimously chose Dr Anthony Lewis as Durham's next superintendent Dr Lewis deserves our best and needs to be informed by the institutional memory and experiences of our leaders from this last chaotic year I am grateful to Emily Chávez for her extraordinary Service as our vice chair several months ago she indicated that she wanted to step back from that
leadership thankfully former chair Umstead is willing to serve as Vice chair with chair Rogers and ensure a smooth transition most boards um in in uh the community have an incoming and an ex official president just to ensure a smooth transition our board leadership team has important public roles as parliamentarian and board spokesperson but there are also critical roles behind the scenes that Miss Umstead is best poised to support with Dr Lewis meetings with city and county leaders conversations with school and Community leaders conversations with leaders at nccu Durham Tech and Duke built relationships with local elected officials like the County Commissioners Durham delegation district attorney judges police chief and Sheriff membership and longstanding built relationships in the in the Durham
committee on the Affairs of black people and the People's Alliance relationships with Educators the DPS Foundation the Durham Association of Educators and Teamsters relationships with marginalized members of our community service both in the nonprofit sector and built relationships across the community and County relationships with faith leaders the ability to run a contested political campaign in Durham and when most importantly this year leadership and supervision of Dr mainga Dr King and Miss Moore throughout this process I have used my voice to lead this board to consensus as we Center students and rebuilding trust I have offered multiple solutions to bring consensus and preserve institutional knowledge in our leadership in order to support Durham Public Schools
I believe those ideas have been rejected in favor of four votes this morning I am asking you to support former chair Bettina Umstead as our vice chair to serve alongside chair Rogers you all know that board chairs do not select their Vice chair this board of seven reflects thoughtfully and chooses this morning I implore us all to be great on their behalf and lean into our shared values of bringing together all seven of our voices to lead together for the students Educators and families of Durham Public Schools thank you I'm said um Miss Beyer I really appreciate your comments I think during Public Schools
is in a time of transition and I uh want to serve the board in whatever is way Poss best way possible because I think uh excuse me y'all what's best for our students is when our board is actually aligned and in leadership you serve at the service of the board and so what the board's will is is where I will go um I'm here to for our students I think I have we have done a lot of work over the last six months and over the last four years under my leadership our students were brought back to school in a global pandemic our students have policies that support racial ande Equal justice and gender support lgbtqia throughout this pay debacle we got a $27 million ask from our County Commissioners that means our educators are getting paid more and we can have retention and recruitment in our schools we know that people are also going to get a raise this fall and our students
are doing academic recovery and we've been in the national news for the work that we've done all in service of our students and so I again leadership is about what the board wants and so I humbly submit to what the board says um I if it is of service to the board for me to serve I'm happy to do that but if not I will not that's okay I will just take a moment now since since I do have the mic mhone to say thank you to the people who have um interceded for me uh thank you to the people who sent me most good wishes thank you to the black women who have hugged me and hold me tight um I try I knew I was gonna cry this morning I was trying not to do that um service is not easy you will always be challenged and there's not the ision that make everyone happy but when you hear everyone's voice
and you Center our students at the center we will move and change we will grow and we will be the premier School District that we need to be lean into the seven of us because we were duly elected our voices we were elected because our voices and our perspectives matter and every single one of them have to come to every single decision um my parents prayed this scripture over me a lot for I know the thoughts that I think towards you thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end and I have peace with that so Bor it's your will and I'm happy to serve and that's not that's okay I'm still on this board and I look forward to keeping our students at the center we have a lot of work to do we've done some good things and we have so much more to do and our stud deserve us being a united front to make that work happen thank
you thank you Mr tab thank you thank you for your words um Miss Umstead I want the community to know why I'm AB abstaining today and I think it's very important for you all to know my reasoning I have shared my thoughts with every member up here on this on this di of why I'm aain I asked this board if they could come to a a unanimous decision and I would support that because it is not a un was not a unanimous decision I am as staining because I'm I do not want to walk into a situation where I'm already being put against my board members on the first vote as soon as I take office and so I just wanted to make sure that you all knew why I was abstaining uh it's a tough position to be in and the first vote that you walk into you got to make a
decision on your situation of who's going to be chair and who's going to be Vice chair but I support whatever decisions are made I am going to support this board and I'm going to work hard for children so whatever the outcome is just know I'm going to support every member that's on this board even though I'm a staining for the vote for the reasons that I stated thank you are there any other nominations oh I'm sorry uh Miss Harrell Goff um I feel compelled to explain why I am not abstaining at this point um for I I also have had an opportunity to speak with all of the board members and um felt solid about the decision that I was making
um based on my belief in um movement um the health of succession um and my belief that a governing body that every single person in a governing body is almost equally they're equally waited and so I'm excited that everybody is looking forward to um really working as a conglomerate um and supporting everybody in everyone's role so I wanted to notice that I I am going to make a decision today and it's it is informed from having spoken to everyone on the board and thinking about um how a governing body can work as a um as an organism as a as a as a a living body that you know where every everything is equally weighted and
I also want to say I believe that succession is a part of that leadership succession is a part of movement and a part of growth um and we all need to be prepared for it in everyone's seat at any moment any one of us could not be here so um wanted to explain why I am all right thank you thank you all for your comments chair Rogers if chair Umstead is elected as Vice chair are you willing to serve with her I serve at the will of the board those in favor just for a saying so your policy does not allow a board member to abstain unless the board member has a conflict um it's a little tricky in
election situations when there are two candidates do well let me go on so what happens under your policy is a failure to be excused by majority vote of the remaining members present will be recorded as an affirmative vote um in the I was gonna reach out to Mr tab after the meeting in the first vote it didn't matter since there were five votes so I I didn't say anything at that point um but I guess what we would have to decid is that if his plan is to abstain um then we we may have to um actually have the board vote separately on each candidate um in which case you would vote for and against and and his exstension would be recorded as a positive vote if that makes sense um that's the language here
is to vote for or against each candidate right so what I'm saying is that you would all seven members would vote on candidate number one and if he stes the three three vote and he abstains then his exstension would be as a positive vote and then that the first person nominated would then be elected I just want to make sure we're Twitter thank you very much uh attorney Malone I was very clear with what I was doing and I knew that that's what would happen thank you those in favor of Miss Umstead as Vice Chair say I I those opposed say no no no robain
um the the vote did not carry um can we do a roll call vote should we do a roll call vote there is one one two four one to four this is for Miss Umstead one to four so you voted no or I voted no okay so let me call out the results of the vote it was one to four in favor of not miss Umstead as Vice chair I did vote for myself oh I'm sorry I didn't hear you two to one two to four and one exstension so the vote
would be technically recorded as three in favor four four against okay correct thank you those in favor of Miss say I I I I I those opposed say no no Miss carteron has been elected vice chair of the dur Public Schools Board of Education by a vote of 4 to one with two extensions congratulations I'm sorry 43 recorded as 43 yeah it would be recorded as 43 I I'm ass assuming that we're treating The Silence of one member
as an exension so yeah that would be four to three so his exstension counts as a yes right so that would be a yes and then I'm sorry I gave you the wrong number it would so both exensions would be yeses so then it's 61 I think that's right I'm sorry I did my math wrong in my head sorry 61 thanks all um over the past two years I've had the privilege of serving as a member of the dur Public Schools Bo of Education now I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve as chair of this board we are in the precius of change here in DPS welcoming two new school board members Miss Joy Harrell Goff and Mr Wendell tab a new board leadership team and a new superintendent I want to thank my
colleagues for their trust and to Those whom with whom I haven't worked closely I look forward to earning your trust as we ensure our schools work for all kidss and prepare them for the path ahead to our outgoing chair and vice chair thank you for your hard work and your tireless dedication to board leadership colleagues as we set out to continue our work together I'm reminded of a passage from Michelle Obama's in the light we carry I believe that each of us carries a bit of inner brightness something entirely unique and individual a flame that that's worth protecting when we are able to recognize our own light we become empowered to use it when we learn to Foster what's unique in the people around us we become better able to build compassionate communities and make meaningful change I'm thankful we'll have a chance to continue learning from you miss
Umstead and Miss Chávez and working with you as members of this board I'm especially grateful for the generous scholarships that have allowed us all the opportunity to go to Schoolboard Partners conference our Collective power together I'm excited to have this unique learning experience for all of us to make meaningful change in Durham together and to the durm community we have some work ahead of us and we're grateful for your support Miss Carda-Auten uton do you have any words that you'd like to share I'm honored to have been selected for this leadership role and I'm grateful for the trust that my colleagues have placed in me I do not take this responsibility lightly and I know that I have big shoes to fill it is my vision that this Progressive largely ideologically
aligned board has what it needs to effectively and efficiently govern govern in a way that advances the positive changes that are needed in Durham public schools that means that all board members have the robust training professional development and information they need to make sound decisions it means that this board operates using a governance framework to provide structure to our work with clearly defined roles and responsibilities to ensure that we're working in partnership with the superintendent while we hold them accountable for the outcomes that we want to see in the role as Vice chair putting these systems and structures in place to facilitate more efficient effective governance will be my priority this board is composed of an incredible group of individuals who bring a wealth of experiences to the role and I believe that together we can govern in a way that result in improved
outcomes and experiences for our students and that we can be the board of education that our students and our staff need and deserve thank you the next item on our agenda is the D Public Schools Board of Education 2425 meeting schedule colleagues have you had an opportunity to review I Mo that we approve the 24 25 meeting schedule second been moved by Miss Chávez seconded by Miss berer to approve the 2024 2025 meeting schedule all those in favor say I I I the meeting schedule passes unanimously thank you and then we also have a closed session to discuss Personnel move that
we go into Clos session for the reason stated on the agenda second it's been moved by Miss buer seconded by Miss unad to go on the Clos session um to discuss Personnel matters all in favor say I I I we are now on close session
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we are now back in Open Session board members uh Madam chair I have a motion that we approve the second addendum to caddy Moore's employment contract uh the and the interim super excuse me and the interim Employment contract for the week of August 10th 24 second has been moved by Miss Umstead to approve the addendum of Miss caty Moore's contract and intern employment second addendum I'm sorry intern Employment contract uh and seconded by miss buer all those in favor say I I any opposition say no it approved unanimously and with that we are adjourned