Board of Education · Regular Meeting · June 15, 2023

Move approval of the agenda as presented and second it has been moved by Miss Beyer and has been seconded by Mr Vanya Lewis who is joining us virtually Ms Lewis can I'm gonna go to you excuse me is there any other discussion Miss Lewis I'll go to you first for the vote and if you have any other comments just want to make sure we acknowledge you Miss Lewis hi can you state your name Yep this is javonia Lewis about I thank you Miss Rogers hi Miss fayadaras I Miss Beyer aye Ms Carter Autumn aye and I vote I as well to pass this 6-0 I also want to read a brief message from Miss Chavez you might notice that she is not here tonight and she says greetings to Durham and DPS Community I'm not with you this evening but we'll be watching from home like many of you I gave birth to a healthy baby boy on June 1st this is image Chavez's voice just so you all know okay.

Chavez gave birth to a healthy baby boy on June 1st several days later than expected our her family is doing well this month she is taking some downtown to be with her child and heal from giving birth I've been she has been in touch with myself and is keeping abreast of DPS activities and she will be back in July she would also like to thank her board colleagues Dr mabinga and the cabinet for the support during this time she would also like to give a huge congratulations to all of our DPS graduates from the class of 2023 and a tremendous thank you to all of our hard-working and devoted teachers and staff who serve students this year she looks forward to seeing everyone soon that's from our vice chair Miss Chavez we look forward to having her back in July I hope you are resting well I don't know which camera is looking at us I hope you're resting well while you're watching this this evening all right so we've got our agenda review.

And approval taken care of the next item on our agenda is the monthly meeting minutes from May 18 2023.

Move approval of the minutes from May 18 2023. second to move by Miss Rogers seconded by Miss Beyer any other discussion we will do our Voice vote Miss Lewis aye can you state your name please for all our virtual votes this is Giovanni Lewis I will die thank you Miss Rogers aye Ms fagudares I miss buyer hi I'm Mrs Carter Alton aye and I vote I as well that passes 6-0 the next item on our agenda is general.

Public comment before we get started I'll do a quick review of the rules first please state your name and if you're speaking for an organization please state your name and the name of that organization second our speakers are asked to present their comments within three minutes when the yellow light comes on you will have one minute left to begin winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep and that indicates that your time is up complaints about name 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 the students or to the operation of the school system finally board members will listen carefully and consider your comments but we do not engage in a discussion with our speakers so our first speaker will be Elizabeth Sims you can join us up at this podium.

Hello I'm Miss Elizabeth Sims and I am from the School of Creative Studies I teach health and PE and this is the end of my 18th year I'm coming to speak about and we'll first of all celebrate our kids that we just had that just graduated our school graduated 100 of our senior class it wasn't a big class but we got them all through and I'm so happy that I get to see them become full human beings I am hopeful that whatever that you vote for we keep some high school component because to watch our babies go from actual babies who can't help a trip over their own feet to watch them graduate and cross across that stage is my reward every single year I and my other colleagues we do our best with what we have and I love that our kids even though they may complain because you're so small they sometimes maybe wish they could get lost in the crowd but because our size.

Is the size it is none of them get lost we are on them from our classified to our highest teacher certified everybody our especially our even our cafeteria ladies I love them they teach them every day something and as long as some kid gets something from all of us at That level and show them how to be proper functional adults I think the school with the size that it is does that very well and I hope and that's what I'm hoping for but I will be there no matter what next year and the year after that I'm gonna go all the way through as far as I'm concerned because I love doing Public Schools thank you thank you next we have Chris Todd followed by Eli's seed.

Good evening my name is Chris Todd and my wife and I are the proud parents of two DPS Elementary School students growing together is on the agenda for later tonight and during your discussion I would request that detailed information be shared regarding the weighted Lottery which will apply to K-12 schools what exactly does weighted mean how will this work portions of seats that this will apply to how and when school student percentages will be measured will this include projections for the following year as base areas are changing and will impact the numbers and the lottery detailed explanation of the lottery seat access recommendation slide with the numbers we appreciate the additional information that was included yesterday afternoon regarding today's agenda and the slides on the weighted lottery I would ask that the detailed information just I just that I just mentioned be shared with the entire DPS community and give families the opportunity to provide feedback on the weighted Lottery structure with that in mind I would ask.

That the board not vote on this portion of growing together until this is completed thank you very much thank you and next Mr C. Good evening I'm Eli seed I'm a high school English teacher at the school for Creative Studies I just finished my eighth year at SCS in my 27th year overall all with Durham Public Schools and I'm here to talk about the growing together plan and how that affects the school for Creative Studies and it's it's High School in particular but I want to talk first from the perspective of a parent I was an SCS parent before I was an SCS teacher when our oldest child Isabelle finished Elementary School at Club Boulevard we had some concerns for her specifically going into Middle School that resulted in choosing to homeschool her for sixth grade without any clear plan of what we were going to do next we even considered a shorter school perhaps for a little bit they were Dark Times and then the school for Creative Studies.

Opened and Isabelle was started there the very first year as a seventh grader and in seventh and eighth grade she was exposed to film which she then got to study in more depth as she went into the the high school years and I'm proud to say last month she graduated from UNC Wilmington with a degree in film and that's a passion of hers that was fostered at SCS and I'm not sure that it could have happened any other way than for her to get that initial exposure at at the middle school level and then have that opportunity to do that more deeply at the at the high school level I mentioned that I just finished my 27th year before my eight at SCS I had been at Jordan High School for 15 years and I don't know about everybody else but I don't think I'm alone in in 15 years you get very comfortable where you are and there's not a whole lot that it takes something pretty extraordinary.

For you to move from that when I saw what Isabel was experiencing at school for Creative Studies I wanted to be a part of of growing that and I still am very proud and very passionate about continuing to grow that and that's something that we want to grow together is our program I know that you know around the time my youngest child Ward is now a seventh grader at SCS and because it's a six through twelve school he gets to ride to school with me each day our middle child I skipped the middle child I know that happens also attended SCS Flora and awards class is that the total stop I could be retiring at the end of next year with sick leave so this isn't a decision that's going to affect me on a personal level but it's something that will affect Durham and I believe Durham needs a year-round High School option for our students thank you thank you and that concludes our public comments this meeting time was changed so we can.

Open up a little bit later just in case we have any folks that come in around 6 30 who would want to give public comment we have a list of consent items on our.

Agenda a through I our consent agenda items that have been vetted with school board members we have thoroughly reviewed the documents before the meeting board members support we make a motion I just have a comment so I'm going to go through the motion but the comments is that there have been some conversations about school nutrition and I just want to let the community know that this item pertains to the contracts but that there are ongoing conversations and with the community and and they will be following up with Dr mubenga and Mr lesour as well but it's more around school nutrition and I just wanted to pinpoint the distinction of what's in the consent item that we're not discussing but that there you know is there are other conversations that we will be discussing thank you okay thank you move approval of the consent agenda items a through I can move by Miss Beyer secondly but by Miss Rogers any other discussion all right we'll do our voicemail we'll start with Miss Lewis this is Javion.

Lewis I hold a high Miss Rogers aye Mrs Miss Beyer hi Miss Carda-Auten aye and I vote I as well it passes 6-0 thank you for our consent agenda items the next we have Board of Education items there are two resolutions listed here first first is our pride month resolution Aspire would you like to kick us off on that I know you worked on this as well as Miss valiadaris yes the end yourself exactly thank you this is just an update of last year's pride month resolution that actually was mostly crafted by the community and the rainbow Collective folks helped us with that I think it's important for us as we've passed new policy to also recognize the hostile environment at the state and National level for a lot of our students and staff and so it's critical I think for us to make clear that love is love in Durham and that we will fight and stand up for the rights of all people and I thought unless others will have.

Something to share I always could read it yeah I I wanted to do justice in previous comments I've lifted up folks and I actually went to the graduation from duke M80 and I saw Dominique Beaudry I believe that's how he pronounced and I I just wanted a name that there have been folks and I've mentioned Jack turn wall that I've mentioned Matt Hicks Hixson and other folks who have been lifting this work for years right and so but it is my opportunity right now to lift up Dominique who has been you know been doing work for years as well and there are many others but it was very important for me and I did get to talk to Dominique at the Duke mat she's doing amazing work so I just want to lift her up thank you now we have so many Educators who are doing really really amazing things and supporting our students and creating I think communities spaces where they feel affirmed where they feel valued where.

They feel like they can be their full selves and I love you know we do it like we do in Durham here like our like our teacher CTE teacher of the year Civ all right so we'll start with Miss Lewis and then we'll go around in the same order similar to how we voted and the Durham Public Schools Board of Education Proclamation recognizing June as lgtp Qi pride month and Durham Public Schools whereas Durham Public Schools Board of educations governing principal State and excellent school system provides an environment that is culturally responsive free from bias and discrimination and commits to ensuring that all stakeholders uphold educational Equity as an essential principle of our school system that is integrated into all policies practices operations and processes in order to yield Equitable educational outcomes for all students and whereas Durham Public Schools district in Durham County have a diverse lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer and or questioning lgbtq plus community and whereas many residents students family members and school Personnel are part of.

The lgbtq community and they contribute greatly to the enrichment of our schools and community and whereas although advancements have been made with respect to Equitable treatment of lgbtq plus persons lgbtq plus adults youth Children and Families still face discrimination simply for being who they are thus making it important for all district and all communities to stand up and show support for our lgbtq plus students staff and families and. Whereas on December 8 2022 the Durham Public Schools Board of Education unanimously passed the lgbtqia plus lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer intersex asexual plus and gender supports policy and that policy states that schools must be proactive in creating a school culture that respects and values all students and fosters understanding of gender identity and expression within the school community and whereas many cities and school districts across the United States recognize and celebrate June AS lgbtq Plus pride month and whereas lgtbq plus pride month is typically recommended in June by many cities and school districts across the United States to commemorate The Stonewall riots.

A series of demonstrations led by black and brown members of the lgbtpq plus community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of lower Manhattan in New York City and whereas defining moments in lgbtq plus history that sparked activism and progress toward Equity were only made possible by black and brown lgbtq plus activists fighting for their liberation as black and brown people their marginalization was furthered by their sexual orientation causing violence discrimination and oppression toward them with respect to income employment housing education political representation access to health care and other services and whereas June has become a symbolic month in America in which lgbtq plus persons and allies come together in various celebrations of Pride and protests to support the community's right to live their lives out loud be who they are and love who they love and whereas on June 6 2023 the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency.

For lgbtq plus people in the United States following a spike in anti-lgbtq plus legislation this escalation includes more than 75 anti-lgbtq plus bills that have been signed into law this year alone this legislation attempts to limit representation of gender diverse and lgbtq plus people in curriculum in schools access to Medical Care and participation in sports and whereas the Trevor Project found that 85 percent of transgender and non-binary youth say that recent debates around anti-trans bills have negatively impacted their mental health and whereas Durham Public Schools Durham Public Schools foundation and Duke University have launched the whole Wellness healing opportunity learning Equity schools campaign to focus on urgent mental health needs of public school communities by creating new ways for the school system excuse me the school environment to be a holistic trauma-informed and culturally responsive support system for everyone now therefore the Durham Public Schools Board of Education does hereby declare the month of June AS lgbtq Plus pride month in our schools and advise all schools to implement developmentally appropriate influence representative.

Lessons and special activities with all students of lgbtq plus families gender diversity and lgbtq plus history and furthermore Durham Public Schools Board of Education commits to working with lgbtq plus students families and community members to build safe and Equitable schools where all students and families are valued for who they are and where diversity race orientation gender culture and ability is celebrated and be it further resolved that the DPS Board of Education encourages administrators to support Educators across grade levels and content areas to acknowledge and this should be June pride month an lgbtq yeah lgbtq pride month and be it further resolved that the GBS Board of Education calls on all students Educators and community members to observe lgbtq plus pride month and Advance efforts to support and advocate for lgbtq plus youth families Educators and community members signed this 15th day of June 2023. thank you for that edit yeah we we had the same all right thank you all for that Resolute for reading of the Proclamation of the resolution any other discussion or.

Gratitude again to the rainbow Collective I believe it was January 2022 monthly so much engagement and definitely advocacy and folks who came and shared their stories I just want to just name that families are very important they are the most important in this district and we will not make the mistake of erasing any family and so as we pass resolutions and as we do policies and as we do the work if there's any area where we have not done right by a family let us know all our families are valuable precious all our families as diverse as they are are a gift to us and so just we are very happy to support this and just gratitude to everyone happy to accept emotion I also want to note June is pride month but in Durham prior to celebrated in September so we'll see more celebrations in our Durham community in September move approval of the resolution second it's been moved by Ms buyer seconded by Miss Carda-Auten any other discussion.

We'll do a Voice vote Miss Lewis this is javonia Lewis about I Miss Rogers aye is I miss buyer aye Ms Carter Alton aye and I vote I as well past the 6-0 the next item on our agenda is a resolution let me get my paper to prioritize public schools in a 2023-2025 biennium budget as all of you all know are probably familiar with there is is budget season for our general assembly the governor has his own budget that prioritizes what I believe prioritizes public school education the house and the Senate have come out with their budgets that in my personal opinion do not prioritize public education in the way that we need and so there's been a lot of advocacy around the state from school boards there have been school boards who've already passed this resolution or a similar one and we would love to join them to let our general assembly know where we stand I think it's really important for us to consider continued investments in public schools.

That's continued investment in our community and the citizens that are within our schools and so being able to prioritize that feels really important for our work and for the future of North Carolina I'm happy for us to go ahead and read and then we can have any discussion afterwards we'll start again with you Ms Lewis resolution to prioritize public schools in 2023-25 by annual budget whereas the state of North Carolina is consistently ranked High nationally whereas Health business climate and was recently ranked the number one state for business and whereas to maintain North Carolina's economic competitiveness our state needs a well-educated Workforce they can fill the jobs available today and the ones created tomorrow and whereas a strong K-12 public education system is the key to North Carolina's continued success and to ensuring our students are fully prepared to participate in that Workforce and are well-informed contributing members of their communities and whereas North Carolina's Constitution requires that the state ensures that all children have the opportunity to receive a sound basic education and.

Whereas public education is the most important investment the state makes and whereas the general assembly is currently finalizing a state budget for the 2023-2025 biennium and for a study after study confirms that the most important factor of Student Success in the classroom is the classroom teacher and whereas North Carolina is currently facing a teacher shortage crisis with more than 5 000 teacher vacancies leaving tens of thousands of students without a qualified teacher and putting those students success at risk and whereas neighboring states have passed us in teacher pay leaving North Carolina ranked 32nd nationally in an average teacher pay and 46th nationally and 11th in the Southeast and beginning teacher pay which is causing teachers to leave for other states and other jobs and whereas the Senate's budget proposal includes a 4.5 percent salary increase for teachers over the biennium including only 250 dollars over two years for veteran teachers and the house budget proposal includes a 10 salary increase for teachers over the biennium and whereas our Public Schools need.

Significant increases in funding to provide competitive pay to successfully recruit and retain qualified qualified teachers and whereas investments in early childhood education and child care helps to set young children on the path to success in school allows parents to go to work and helps businesses find and keep employees and whereas a recent North Carolina chamber Foundation survey found that 80 percent of North Carolina voters say the lack of child care is a problem that will not solve itself and that improving quality and making child care more affordable is a good use of taxpayer money and that 87 percent of Voters say taking action to ensure more Working Families have access to affordable quality Child Care should be an important priority for North Carolina this year and whereas the Senate budget proposal includes no State funding for child care stabilization grants or the expansion of Smart Start or North Carolina Pre-K and the house budget proposal includes only minimal funding to increase the Child Care Subsidy rate for expansion of Smart Start and.

Whereas North Carolina parents already have great choices when it comes to their child's K-12 education whether that's Public Schools public charter schools or private schools and whereas parents have shown their appreciation for our public schools by voting with their feet nearly 8 and 10 of North Carolina's school-aged children attend public schools and whereas the state's private school voucher program the opportunity scholarship program currently provides taxpayer funding to students from low to moderate income families to intend to attend a K-12 private school and whereas bills in the House and Senate and the Senate's budget proposal are seeking to radically expand the private school voucher program but opening eligibility for the program to all students regardless of family income or if the student currently attends a private school and whereas expanding the private school voucher program in the extreme way will result in steep cuts to our Public Schools harming the educational opportunities students especially in Rural and lower wealth counties and whereas in 2026 to 27 alone if the private school voucher program is.

Expanded our state's Public Schools could lose more than 200 million dollars in state funding DPS could lose four thousand six hundred and fifty dollars per student in County funding and could lose six thousand I'm sorry 6 million or three percent in state funding with hundreds of millions lost in the coming years and. Whereas research on private school voucher programs in other states demonstrate that students who moved to private schools fell academically behind their peers who stayed in public school and whereas North Carolina has zero evidence of student outcomes for those enrolled in the opportunity scholarship program the only program of its kind in the nation that doesn't require rigorous evaluation of student performance now therefore be it resolved that the Durham County Board of Education County Commission no that the Durham County Durham Public Schools Board of Education requests that the North Carolina General Assembly prioritize our public schools by making significant investments in teacher salary increases of at least 18 percent over the next two years to make.

North Carolina first in the Southeast an average teacher pay and making significant investments in early childhood education and child care through more funding for child care excuse me child care stabilization grants Child Care subsidies in North Carolina Pre-K and Smart Start and stopping the unlimited expansion of the state's private school voucher program that drains money from the public education and increasing accountability for private schools participating in the program adopted by the Board of Education this 15th day of June 2023. Thank you all for reading that resolution it is lengthy but it's important to really talk about what is in the proposed budgets we know that they are in conference right now and so there's some things in up for discussion and negotiation I want to make sure that we can send this out to our folks to let them know where we stand any other discussion or emotions I would move approval of the resolution and thank you for bringing it back in to move our Miss buyers seconded by miss valladaras any other discussion.

I'll work with our board clerk just to clean up some of the places where it had Board of County Commissioners and chamber Commerce I would work on that we'll do a Voice vote Miss Lewis Mrs Jamaya Lewis about I Miss Rogers aye Ms valladarez I miss buyer aye Ms Carter Austin aye now vote I as well at passive unanimously 6-0 to some said do you think that you might take it to the Commissioners and to the chamber as well and see I'm sure that they would be interested in signing on I think it's it was great to see the State Board of Education come out with a strong statement a bipartisan statement this is not a partisan issue this is a constitutional issue thank you I'm happy to share with both of those bodies and there are other folks that you all feel like it's important to share with other groups that want to send letters on behalf I think it's important to share that as well the next item on our agenda we're going.

To go to the chief of staff purchasing and construction thresholds I think Ms Giovanni is joining us virtually good evening Madam chair Dr mavenga members of the board in the community on the agenda today pursuant to board policy we are presenting for the board's review a determination regarding the current purchasing thresholds requiring Board review I'd like to take a few moments just to give a little background on this given the amount of purchasing that Durham Public Schools it has been involved in in both the academic and the operational Realms there were several cabinet members and members of staff that reached out to me regarding board seeing if we could adjust the board policy threshold limits so that work could move a little quicker to make sure we weren't missing out on opportunities and potentially paying additional sums because of what could be perceived delays and wait a waiting board approval for certain contracts as a result of that we then did a survey of what several other districts around North.

Carolina were doing shared those with the board in the board initially did approve a request that I had brought forward to set the limits three hundred thousand for General contracts and 500 000 for operations and Building Services the board voted on that there was a lot of discussion the board then did approve it subsequently in conversations with Mr lasur and Dr blunk at that point I did have some concerns that moving from 90 000 to 300 000 was too substantial of a leap given the number of contracts that we were working and then brought back to the board a request that you then reduce the amount of that staff had to obtain approval on from the 300 000 to the 200 000 just to make sure that we weren't really overreaching and to make sure that we had the appropriate guard rails in place Sephora Durham Public Schools for our fiscal responsibility and just making sure we were protecting the assets of Durham Public Schools also when we were brought the policy.

Forward it was requested and added that the board would review this policy every June so this is something that we would be doing every June bringing to the board and for the board to consider if it wanted to adjust those threshold amounts in any way and obviously the board has that option for any policy right I just want to make that clear but we expressly placed it into these several policies that had increased that threshold amount in addition there is a mandated review of this policy anytime that the CFO or the superintendent change so that wasn't triggered in this case but it was triggered by the June anniversary of this policy Mr lasurer did provide and it is included in your packet the various amounts for the contracts that were between 90 000 and 200 000 that did not go to the board and I believe is prepared to answer any questions that the board may have regarding those various amounts so this is before the board just pursuant to policy for your.

Review and determine Nation on whether you want to allow the amount to remain the same I wouldn't recommend increasing it but that obviously is the board's pleasure or if the board chooses to decrease it or what we're just administrations here just answer any questions thank you thank you Miss Giovanni for giving us that context so we did want to bring this back because it is June is there anything you want to add Mr lasor will be open for discussion as of this time many of these have contracts that were approved by the board many of these large ones are of course construction and Esser funded contracts that went went before you before the actual contracts or or purchase orders were were let but there are some that have exceeded the ninety thousand dollar level that used to be and we told you that we would report those to you so this is a listing showing you anything from above 80 000 to the millions that we have in construction.

That are before you so that you can ask any questions you may we may not have every answer for you tonight but we'd be more than happy to follow up with you on any questions that you have I'll open up to the board for discussion I do want to remind us that we you know want to have this discussion around is this policy with the certain thresholds you know what we want to continue with or do we want to change any of those thresholds because that's the kind of want to review that policy at this time so I don't think we need to get too nitty-gritty on every single item there's a is a list though that is available and I appreciate y'all for putting this list together but thinking about the policy piece of this where do we want to be for the upcoming 2023 2024 year.

I just have a comment that I'm grateful for the packet as it is and the details that you provide you know there are conversations in the community you know that whether it's wise and how does it compare to other districts in terms of the thresholds that we set you know there was there's definitely like the perception that we need to make sure that even in this period of growth that we continue to be fiscally responsible and and continue to you know have oversight but I'm really grateful for the details that you provided in the report I I I guess to the question of how do we compare I think we touched upon it a little bit but can you just tell us a little bit more about how does how do we compare with other districts since that was one of the questions and I think we touched upon this before I just wanted wonder if there's any comments around other districts also like increasing their threshold when they have.

There's Peak inflation and for us we're in we're growing and we're growing you know pretty quickly so in terms of capital Improvement projects and also construction and everything else. So I'll jump in so we did provide some detailed information that I don't have that handy I apologize but I think we are towards the higher end to be completely transparent I think we shared that the last time but Durham is building and doing a significant amount of work I don't want to try to recall you know it's been close to a year I'm happy to share that with the board but there are some that are at 250 I believe my if my memory serves me right there's some obviously that are you know remain at the 90 as well so and then there are some that have I believe there's one and again you know breaking my first rule of trying to recall but I believe there is one or two that the superintendent does have you know the authority I don't think there's a.

Limit on the superintendent's Authority but those are when we check out on it when brought it with the initial 300 we were you know kind of at the higher end and as we thought about it that's why why we came back and asked the board to reduce that amount since we had been at 90 90 cents for many years and we're jumping from 90 to 300 we felt like that was too much so the short answer to your question is that Durham at this point is at the higher end and with regard to the amounts that do not require approval from the board I think that's the first way to State it if that is that answering your question misfied ours yeah it does it just goes sorry I turned my own mic off it just goes hand in hand that as we every year you know this comes before us again to consider and so that you know that we continue to to keep that in in check in terms of like.

We're doing making a Duran decision that is not necessarily a trend everywhere else but this is a Durham decision and we have the reasons why at this moment we're doing that it's just just every year as we do this how whether checking the polls just around our our state be reminded that one of the other factors that we took into consideration is because of the supply chain problems that we have we needed to get orders out quicker especially for the HVAC system so on and so forth and and making sure that any large purchase orders such as computers so on and so forth that we were able to move forward as quickly as possible if we needed to get some more in but it's really that was the other factor that was played into all this.

And sorry I didn't see this earlier but I'm just trying to make sure I'm following the spreadsheet that you provided some of these amounts are in excessive five hundred thousand dollars did did those come to the board I'm just not sure I'll follow what the spreadsheet is supposed to be providing so yes most of most of these that are over the 500 000 have come to the board in one way shape or form they're either a lot of them are construction or they could have been for textbook purchases so on and so forth that the board has approved in the past all the Esser ones though you can't tell which ones they are the Esser ones had to come to the board because we have to follow the policies and procedures for ensuring appropriate procurement of those those funds and you know we had a lot of Esther funds that we we ran with this year to get Outdoor Learning so on and so forth in place so.

Again just from the board's perspective I think it would be more useful when I so the way I read the policy is that quarterly you were going to update the board on the matters that the superintendent approved so I think that a better way to provide this information going forward would be to give the board just those that you've that the superintendents approved because again I just think it's very difficult at least for me to make sense of whether you're saying that the superintendent approved either the board approved them again I just think it'd be cleaner for the board to review of it if you were just providing the board with those in which the which the superintendent approved so that they can better distinguish what your felony as as we move forward yes we will we wanted to give the board the full picture of those purchase orders and expenditures that we had that were exceeding the ninety thousand dollar threshold in as a whole so that they.

Come back come back and ask questions of us so that we can provide them more detailed answers on that but yes as we move forward we'll be bringing more to the board on a quarterly basis to give them the information that they need to make decisions and a lot of these things they have change orders that go along with contracts so on and so forth for construction that come to the board as updates they might not be they come as information updates for the purpose of consent that would be added to these as well so yes we hear you and we've I've talked to a couple board members already in regards to the process moving forward to ensure that we have a better they have a better understanding on a quarterly basis of of those that we've approved I mean for my perspective for the board to make a decision about whether or not to keep the limits where they are to raise the limits I I would recommend that you create a new report.

Now I mean before they decide so that they can just be clear that that they know what the superintendent has approved I don't because again I can't I don't know what to do with this I just want to clarify that the administration is not making a recommendation that the amounts be increased so I mean obviously that's the board's pleasure if that's what they want to do but I do want to just reiterate that kind of when me and Mr lasur's perspective was if the board was not comfortable with 200 000 and thought they should reduce it we wanted to make sure that they did have the information that they had requested so I just want to clarify that but I do hear what you're saying Mr Malone I think this is our first time doing this since the board did adopt this so we'll obviously work out you know and make sure we're providing the board with everything that they do need thank you I I.

We're not in a rush I mean this could be like we're reading this we're looking at this I mean we can we can vote on it one month from now it doesn't really make a difference or are we going to be out of I mean this is this is a yearly thing so I I definitely do think like you know in terms of of the amount and where we are 200 000 you know we were at a higher end last year maybe we're not at the higher end this year it would it would make me feel so much better to tell the community because there's this is not a question of our Administration the reports are very lengthy and the problem is is it's not even a problem to me the level of details that you provide but it but it is something in terms of the community looking at this and saying you're making these decisions to change a threshold it would help me for us to look at.

This and and you know have maybe the the information that can be Community facing that just shows those contracts that this would impact or the impact it and then vote on it at the next meeting that's my position I also do know my colleagues may feel differently and I'm open to hearing if we can just bring this this is a for Action today but if we can have it for Action at the next board meeting I just want to clarify too this is for us to review our own policy right so we can take action today if we decide that we want to make a change but we could also not take action today if we decide we feel good about our policy I do think there are implications today if we make a decision because of the contracts that may happen during the summer right of construction of cleaning of some of those big things that happen pretty quickly in our next like business meeting isn't until early August I think.

We need to be aware of those implications but really today is about looking at our current policy saying are we okay with this do we want to change those thresholds understanding that it might be a little challenging for folks or we could also maybe write in here it starts August 1st so we can make sure we get through the summer although Mr Malone is coming to the mic really quickly but I think that's important for us to review this because we made such a big difference a big change last year yeah I just want to again be clear I I don't I don't think the policy requires you to do anything and I don't think the superintendent's bringing this to you it sounds like asking you to do anything he's just bringing it to you because the policy says that you're supposed to review it every year my only point is that I think that to review it it would be more helpful to have information that is simply showing.

You what the superintendent has approved in a manner that makes it then you can better gauge what the superintendent has done and decide how that works now I also think it's I do like the idea that there would be another chart showing what's come to the board so that you can balance kind of what's come to you what the superintendent's done and then be in a better position to understand how much moving it one way or the other is is helpful if that's what this is supposed to show but it's again you don't have to do anything so I and given that the superintendent's not asking you to do anything I think it's certainly appropriate to do nothing tonight but I I do think that on your behalf it would be nice to get something that better describes what the superintendent has done over the last year or and then it sounds like going forward they're going to do it quarterly I appreciate that feedback Mr Malone I think adding another column to this.

Chart or something that says superintendent approved flashes board approved would help make that clear for us so I think that's good feedback Dr mabinga did you want to say something before we continue discussion no I pretty much agree with I told you my lawn just to be able to protect everyone right so August is just around the corner we got a couple more months here before we go to the board meeting in August I will even ask Mr lasurer to be able to combat that data and be able to send it to all board members so that you'll be a little bit comfortable as we're moving forward for the next two months I think Tony Malone I'm just trying to be careful here to to make sure that everybody's protected putting something in place that we're not going to job with us anyone but I'm gonna ask Mr lasurer probably in the next two or three weeks make sure that whatever reports into the board and I'll be happy on that you know.

What I was able to approve based on the new policy and then in August when we bring it to you then you'll be able to see whether or not you need to make any adjustment thank you Dr mubenga that sounds good Miss Rogers you had your hand up thanks everybody Mr Lazer I want to add to that request is there any way are there any categories for each of the vendors because when I look at some of this stuff I'm looking at we're reaching a threshold and we're searching for another vendor so we don't pass that threshold I think the nature of our increasing Our intention and increasing the contract was not so that we can continue or that amount was not so that we could continue to move to the next vendor to the next vendor to the next vendor we do want to get the work done but we want to stay within a particular threshold feel you know we don't want to go over.

Top so if we can categorize them in a particular way also some of the ones that are on the higher end can we get some assurances that some rfqs are being done so that we're getting a variety of vendors bidding for projects and we're locking in on contracts I think if we also separate by board approved versus superintendent approved you'll get yeah board approved we know they come to us there's been RFQ yeah and all those things done that will be helpful. Madam chair I just wanted it is on for information it's not even on for Action because it's up for review and so what we would do and I think we've done that here is we get further directive from the board as to what it is which you would like and then we can bring it back we can get further direction from you and Dr mabenga and bring it back in August with this additional information and we could place it on act for Action depending on what the board does.

How you advise us thank you Miss Beyer so I want to thank you all for being responsive to what we asked for I remember hesitation when we set those high dollar amounts and I still kind of have hesitation that we probably set them a little too high and so I'd be interested in kind of throttling back a little bit of that without throttling back your ability to move quickly on supply issues that's my initial kind of pass at this massive spreadsheet that Mr Malone once sorted out in different ways during the close of the physical year as if in payroll and acting like that's the only thing going on in finance but okay Mr Malone I do think you know additional information is always always helpful I just try to give you my my initial take on it is maybe throttle back to 150 on on the one and maybe a little 400-ish on the other if y'all can still get done what you need to get done without.

Stretching I I'm concerned about a lot of things that it looks like we're Outsourcing rather than hiring employees Landscaping looks like it's in there a bunch I mean a lot of cleaning and things I think it's always better for us to employ folks and have them part of the DPS family whenever possible so those are the ones that I was looking at the most there's a reason we brought our custodians back in-house there's a reason we give them state benefits we don't contract our nutrition folks out to Chartwells or anything silly like that so those are the ones that I I'm keeping an eye on and and the public is watching and the public is wondering if we're bundling things together to try to gain the threshold so we'd never want to do that and and transparency is so so important and for this board moving forward so that's my initial thought without picking apart a list of contractors thank you.

I don't have a lot to add but I do I would appreciate a little bit more information as was requested so I'll reiterate that I like the idea from Mr Malone and then the additional suggestion from board member Rogers also to kind of categorize it to help us understand a little bit better what we're looking at so that we can make the best decision possible thank you Mr Malone I appreciate like the ways that you know my thing is as we're sitting here we're responsible to the people who couldn't make it to this meeting right and I can look across the room and you you know it's important to make sure our information in the packet is information that our our community can can see and it's clear to them it's clear to us but I also just want to reiterate the appreciation for our staff for our admins for the department that is handling all this and and just thank you so much for bringing it at the August board meeting.

Thank you I'm gonna pass it over to Miss Lewis just really briefly I understand that this is on the prices for discussion I appreciate the discussion I definitely appreciate the transparency that you've given I agree with Mr attorney Malone's recommendation in the way we go forward with the way this document looks I'm scrolling through and not sure where to cut like how many has been approved without us or how many by the superintendent so that would be super helpful as well I don't want to hinder progress we've made a lot of progress this these past few years with all the contracts and the bond funds that we have so I just want to make sure we're continuing the four progress we have in looking at the ratio of how many has been passed without the board or with the superintendent's approval or the board's approval so that delineation will be helpful to make a decision thank you thank you Miss Lewis I also add I appreciate I think yeah.

I've gotten some really good feedback to be able to bring this back in August with a couple additional details on the spreadsheet and I think we you know similarly to you Miss by when we had this conversation we talked about feeling really good about staff and I I still feel really good about our staff but we're also having some changes that are coming and not to say that anyone's going to do anything wrong but with those shifts I think adding extra checks and balances sometimes can just be helpful to make sure that we're all moving in the same way and I think it helps with transparency to our community when contracts come before the board so people can see what we're voting on so I would like to see it come back in August I too am a little like do we need to go back to 150 or you know we're not all the way back to 90 but it could 150 might be a hundred and fifty thousand.

Dollars might be a good middle ground but we can make that decision in August because I also am keenly aware of the work that happens during the summer time and don't want to stop any of that because we know things are in motion so Mr storm is Giovanni any any questions about it we gave you a lot of feedback I'm also happy to follow up after the meeting if you have additional questions absolutely thank you no I have no further I believe I Mr Lucifer and I have our directive and we will work with you and Dr Wenger to make sure that the board has in the community has what it is that they deserve for transparency thank you that's all I have but it was just for information okay thank you Dr love for you okay we did have a couple folks come in for a public comment I want to apologize to them because I told them the meeting started at 6 30 and that was my brain just like automatically saying we.

Started at 6 30 which that's a normal start time so I want to apologize for that but if we can have Addison Duda and Amy Robinson Republic comment speakers. Okay. All right come on man you can come to the podium right here I'll do a quick review of the rules for you both and again my apologies I said 6 30 that's normally the time that we start so if you're please state your name if you're speaking for organization please state your name and the name of the organization you'll have three minutes to present your comments when the yellow light comes on up there you'll have one minute left to start winding up your remarks and when the red light comes on it will beep which indicates your time is up complaints about name staff students or parents should not be voiced in Open session however we're very interested in hearing your concerns with regard or celebrations with regard to public education safety of our 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 our speakers we'll go first with Amy Robinson and Addison Duda hi so I'm Amy Robison I'm a chemistry PhD candidate at Duke and I am one of the co-chairs for our chemistry Outreach club and so we were interested in coming here today to tell you a little bit about what we've been doing and also to try to make some connections as to different schools that we could be help work with in the community so right now with our Outreach Club we're working on having these stem kits which have the materials for nine different science experiments that we're able to drive to teachers or parents so that the kids can do this at home or in the schools and this was something that we really took advantage of during the pandemic and right now we're also getting back to in-person outreach so we've been starting to do some science fairs with alumni relations and other elementary.

Schools in the area but we're really interested in trying to reach a broader range and that's where Addison can. So with the Outreach events all right let's start the time over Mr Smith or would you want to. Okay so with the with the in-person Outreach events that we've been trying to incorporate this year we're performing Hands-On demos with with the students of of the community that will be from assistance from from us that will also be at the Outreach events these are great events that we're all trying to incorporate but we're looking to better serve the community that we're ultimately trying to serve and looking for some feedback on that front because we're trying to improve Outreach for the students and schools figure out what works best and how we can also potentially plan like a community event for this fall to incorporate all the schools actually just recently we also onboarded another team members who are to our Outreach group that's interested in stem Outreach for for adults as well.

So this would be for all ages that we're considering we sent we forwarded a survey to the DPS email that we would like to have spread to to the schools that are part of DPS to inquire about interest and and further improve on the Outreach that we have currently so Amy and I are here to encourage involvement from those that we're trying to directly serve and we would really like to continue the conversation if possible and better serve the and better understand the wants and needs of DPS and also the larger Durham Community when it comes to stem Outreach experience that's experiences that we can provide at Duke thank you thank you both and again I apologize for telling you in the wrong time but thank you both thank you for the opportunity yeah thank you all right we're going to go to our next item on our agenda which is Operation services so sorry there was a confusion about the public comment and there's somebody on their way.

I don't know if we can is it possible for that the person who's on their way or maybe here already because this list I know came in just a few minutes ago but if it's possible for them to sign up yeah so I have communicated with these folks to come who wanted to come speak at six and I told them 6 30 even though it was not 6 30. so I said we'd give a little time for them to speak but we're also 6 40 something so if there is any other public comment speakers in the hallway we are happy to address them okay no one is here yet if we do have any additional someone else I can let me know we'll take a break we'll take that person when they come in okay yes awesome thank you I think so I want to make a promise but probably yes okay so the next item margin is Operation Services I'm now going to pass it over to Dr lefrice good evening board members.

First I just want to say thank you to you and Dr mabenga for trusting me in this interim role and while I've only been here for a few weeks I thought you should know that everyone I've met has been so warm and welcoming and helpful and more importantly I I think I consistently hear their passion for what they do and they're connecting it back to Children which is really really really special and important and so again I just want to say thank you for your confidence in me in this short time the item before you is in regards to Glenn Elementary School our renovation and addition project there our project manager Miss Kimberly Williams is here and she's going to share more about the project and the bid results and then we have a recommendation for you thank you Miss Williams.

Thank you Dr lefrice good evening board members I'm Kimberly Williams a project the project manager for Glenn Elementary. Next slide please so I'm here tonight to present the results for the Glenn Elementary School GMP bid so as you are all aware when Glenn Elementary School was initially presented to the board and the public we estimated the initial cost for Glenn to be 55 million dollars it was going to be an occupied School renovation that was going to to last approximately 18 months and so the information that you see here was what was presented in the 2022 Bond and again that cost was initially 55 million dollars next slide please so when the project bid the overall cost the GMP was 57 million 53 519 dollars that's for the construction cost again the initial cost estimate was 55 million we accepted alternates for four hundred and seventeen thousand five hundred and forty one dollars we are happy and excited that we can report mwbe which is minority participation to be at 26.9 percent.

We are anticipating a notice to proceed which is June 30th of this year the contractor which is Clancy and phase in partnership with their mwbe partner the Danielle group to mobilize on that site which again would be an occupied site in mid-December and so the overall construction schedule is 30 months and the reason why it has been extended is because we're going to have to do this project in phases so we want to be very careful that we keep the staff and the students safe and again that addition is going to happen in the front of the school which means the bus pick up drop off those things are going to have to move around that means the playground is going to have to change staff parking is going to have to change and so we're seeing some price escalation because we're going to have to make those changes and things are going to have to relocate more than once so next slide please as we've previously shared with you.

These are the overall cost for our bond projects now this includes Murray massenburg which is currently in Construction Durham School of the Arts and Glenn which are the first three projects which we are anticipating next slide please the anticipated cost of Glenn takes into consideration the overall Rising construction costs that we are experiencing which is unprecedented ex material costs the supply chain shortages and bottlenecks the very tight labor costs and inflation which is at a 40-year high next slide please we are definitely seeing a labor shortage which we have been talking to our contractors our cmars on all of our projects and just trying to find labor for these projects is just something that we've not experienced we are finding that contractors are changing companies for something even as small as 25 cents an hour so someone may work for one company one month and someone will offer them a 25 cent increase and they may go to work for another company another month and so you see that.

Shortage and so that is what is contributing to a project that may see a shortage and that may throw that project behind next slide please according to the AGC we are seeing the value of projects change and this again is increasing contributing to that 30 increase we're seeing it across Bridges highways Transportation Water and Sewer Health Care power hospitals public buildings K-12 anything that you can possibly imagine higher ed Etc next slide please so the cost squeeze on contractors can last definitely through the next two years or more next slide please the price increases are hitting us whether it's materials labor Freight again the supply chain and a lot of this is even contributed to the Ukrainian War next slide please we're seeing a wide variation in the construction cost Trends whether they are contributing contributed to fuel asphalt paving architectural Coatings roofing materials anything that you can possibly imagine that is utilized on a construction project next slide please the inflation estimated cost impacts again we're seeing it nationally and on.

The average we're seeing about a one percent increase each month and this has been happening for more than the past 18 months next slide please and again as I previously noted the Ukrainian War impacts are impacting what we're seeing for the rising fuel the materials the equipments etc etc next slide please so this slide just represents what we've seen previously from two years previously through what we can expect through our next two years and well at least through the end of 2023 next slide so the recommendation that like I'd like to bring forth forward to the board we are asking that you approve the GMP for Glenn Elementary School for 57 million 53 519 and to accept the alternates and the value of four hundred and seventeen thousand five hundred and forty one dollars with the mwbe participation of 26.9 percent with an occupied on and occupy and phased construction project are there any questions thank you so much Miss Williams for the presentation thank you wow that's all I have to say about all.

These increasing costs I Look to board members for any questions or Miss Lewis if you have any questions no. It looks like Miss buyers has a question Ms Williams I just wanted to thank you and the team for your leadership on this project I know it's difficult when there are Market forces that are completely out of our control to stretch the funds to to take care of our children and I appreciate you including some of the other projects that we hope to get to as we continue to work with the county as we see that the 20 22 bond funds are not going as far as they would have earlier if we had moved earlier on that but here we are taking care of children and aging buildings I love that you put the picture in there at the beginning of the presentation that talks about this as a renovation but really this will be nearly a new school and you all have done that evaluation for Glenn it's going to be a complicated.

Project especially with school in session so I so appreciate y'all's leadership bringing this forward and keeping students safe in the process I look forward to to all the exciting things that will happen when construction starts December you said if we approve this tonight yes they will immediately immediately begin buying the materials so that we can keep the cost where they are but they will mobilize in December so thank you for the opportunity and thank you for the kudos there are questions or comments from board members I don't know if this is really a question but I'm and I'm grateful for the CMR which means that we can keep costs we have this guaranteed maximum price I guess I'm a little worried with 30 months of construction like how in the world do we stay within that price or is that just not really something to be for us to worry about and know that this will guarantee that in I think as we look at these kind of increasing cost of.

Inflation with them starting to buy out especially the longer lead items that's how we're going to maintain that price so we'll start buying out those materials and the newer Edition will be constructed first and so we'll start the demo of the older piece in the back and so because it's phased we know we'll be able to maintain the price unless there is there is some money for contingency for some things that may come up but we've accounted for that and so we don't expect anything just Monumental that's out that that may be out there now we find a dinosaur that's a little different but we we've put some contingency money in there and we've done our due diligence so we really expect to maintain that but the biggest thing is to immediately begin to start buying out the job to keep it within that GMP and by having a CM at risk they accept a portion of that risk in order to keep that price within the range that they were within.

That price that they've given us the questions or emotion from other board members just a shout out for 27 mwb I mean we that is definitely commitment this district has and you continue to show that commitment here 27 is good we can get better right but this is something also to celebrate thank you thank you a move that we accept the DPS admin recommendations approval for the renovations of additional projects for Glenn Elementary School with Clancy and phase and the Daniels company and the amount of what's listed on the agenda 57 million 53 519 dollars hasn't been moved by Miss Lewis seconded by Miss Rogers any other discussion from board members we'll do our Voice vote Miss Lewis aye Ms Rogers aye is aye Ms Byer aye Ms Carter Alton aye I will I as well passive unanimously unanimously 6-0 thank you thank you thank you Miss William the next item in our agenda is the school resource officer memo of understanding I do want to make sure.

That we are clear that this has a ability for our superintendent who enters into this agreement with the sheriff's department every year so this really is his work but we know we really appreciate transparency in Durham I want to make sure we brought this to the body for our public to be able to see it as well as to give some updates because we've been working with the city County Schools community and safety Wellness task force to also consider this so we'll have an opportunity to hear from Administration Miss Lewis also has an update from the task force task force and then we'll be able to go from there.

Pretty much as the board chair said this is a contract that we're supposed to bring back to you every June as we know that's a year-round school was that around July we really want to make sure this document is approved by the board so there is no revision as of what we had last year I think the reason we did not sit around the table to discuss any changes because of the conversation we have had regarding the community task force we're waiting for those recommendations so that we can sit around the table and see whether or not there any adjustment that need to be made so I'm gonna pass this to Dr lefrace to give you some highlights and at the end of the day we would like for our board to be able to give us approval so that I'll be able to sign off of that and make sure that we have this agreement for our year-round school that will start in July that's all the phrase great thank you.

So again our recommendation before the board this evening is to approve a single year extension to the contract for sros for the 23 24 school year the agreement and locations are identical to the current year Eva Howard our executive director of Safety and Security is here and so she's going to share a little bit more about the school resource officer program now but while she's coming up I think I just want to share you've got a rock star here Eva is always on she's super hard working she's a she's a model learner she's always looking to improve and grow and even though her job is extremely challenging and stressful she always has a smile so thank you Eva thank you thank you Donovan please and good evening thank you for the opportunity to share about our school resource officers the purpose of the school resource officer program is to serve the citizens of Durham County particularly our parents staff and students of Durham Public Schools our resource officers work closely with.

Our school administration students staff and faculty in a system maintaining a safe secure positive and inclusive environment on our campuses they assist in promoting a positive attitude as it release the law enforcement and in support of restorative practices the goals of the program and as mentioned in the mou are to help maintain a safe positive inclusive and secure learning environment on all campuses conducive to learning and preventing criminal activities and disturbances to establish and maintain Partnerships among law enforcement personnel and school Personnel to prevent juvenile delinquency and criminal activity and to increase the visibility of law enforcement in schools in the community to promote positive attitudes regarding the role of law enforcement and Society serve as a comprehensive resource for school Personnel student and parents in identifying Community Resources to help address issues and concerns affecting the physical and mental health of students and to provide consultative assistance to school personnel and law enforcement topics such as awareness and prevention our current mou states that the sheriff shall provide 22 smart Law Enforcement.

Officers to serve as school resource officers for the 2223 school year and we're looking to renew this contract for the upcoming 23-24 academic school year our resource officers serve as a community resource and serve as a valuable Resource as it relates to building Rapport and connecting with our community our sros have worked closely and successfully with our district and Community Resources and played an intricate role in ensuring our schools are safe it's our recommendation that the school resource officer mou and contract be renewed and extended for the academic school year upcoming Academic School year it is our goal that the Durham County Sheriff's Office continue to work and collaborate with Durham Public Schools as it relates to training together on topics such as restorative practices and finally it is our goal that the Durham County Sheriff's Office continue providing Outreach mentoring resources and educational opportunities to Adorn public schools on topics such as safety intervention awareness and prevention thank you let me make a couple more comments here.

I think 22 on a server that we have on our campuses they pretty much serve middle school and high school we do not have SRO and late view we've been depending on our dpd there were a time that's we were not really serving Lakeview well because of those dpd they were not in place as regular as would love to have for our SRO sheriff and I've been having a conversation this is not a part of these recommendation today Sheriff was supposed to ask to County Commissioners for two sro4 on late view but that was not included on the budget I just wanted to bring it up because at some point sheriff and I will have a conversation and we'll have a conversation with our County managers as well Lakeview has not been really served really well we really need a really permanent support the particular school so I just wanted to bring it up in case in the future I have to come back to say this is the conversation that I've been.

Having with sheriff and eventually with County Manager thank you Dr mobinga and Miss Howard stuck with freeze for that I'm gonna pass it over to Miss Lewis before I open up to conversation she serves as our liaison on the community safety and wellness task force and we'll be able to provide an update of their work and thank you for this time I would like to just first start off by appreciating the leadership of the chairs of the safety and wellness task force Marcia and Xavier who have done exemplary job in the leadership of this commission this task force I also want to recognize the lead for these SRO Roundtable Jesse Huddleston has worked extremely hard over the past 18 months so the safety of Wellness task force has been working for the past 18 months to create recommendations in response to our current school resource officers memorandum of understanding documents as well as a summary of data-driven observations that support their recommendations they have been working on based on what they've heard in the.

Community listening sessions they had created 16 listening sessions over 13 hours across five stakeholder groups principals Educators support staff students or Youth and parents or caregivers they have consulted with several organizations inclusive of Durham's office on Youth and DPS Equity affairs if I were to outline the work they've done in phases I would say this first phase has been the creation of the roundtables in the listening sessions the next phase and the big chunk of work that has taking so much time effort and energy and collaboration has been the coding and analyzing the data from the listing sessions and the research they've done looking at several documents with other recommendations for Durham and then Nationwide and finally there at the place of composing recommendations they gave their first reading of the recommendation to the entire task force yesterday they received feedback and they will come back to the task force after having received the feedback and submit for a second reading finally with this task force after all the round tables have completed their recommendations.

The task force will develop a plan for sharing these recommendations across the communities and to the governing bodies which has commissioned this task force so the recommendations are forthcoming they're looking to wrap these up around October as they're reading through the different recommendations or having a plan by October we have asked them to lift a heavy order with the community engagement and the data analysis these are volunteers that I have seen truly committed to providing recommendations based on the examination and the charge that they were given for Public Safety and wellness needs of Durham community members particularly those connected to Durham Public Schools I just say they have worked extremely hard individually and together as a group on these different efforts and are working hard to get these recommendations before us as soon as possible so that is a most recent update as of even yesterday when they met thank you Miss Lewis for that update and I think it's really good to know how many folks they've been talking to and.

How much work they've been doing believe a task force started or we passed the bylaws maybe 2019 early 2020 and they started their work in the pandemic while we were kind of doing our stay-at-home orders and have been able to do a lot of listening and conversations and so I don't I don't normally speak first but I do want to speak first on this one I think it's really important that we make sure we listen to and wait for those recommendations they're right at the cusp of that work and then use those to help inform our mou moving forward with the sheriff's department for next year I think it is going to take many conversations and sitting around a table to understand want to unpack their recommendations to understand which recommendations we want to implement and two to work with the sheriff in our principals and that school resource officers to understand what it'll look like for the upcoming school year and 24-25 so I I think I want us to consider.

That and the reason why we signed up for this task force was for this deep listening for this community engagement so that we could have that feedback and use that to guide our processes from here and just will just add to what you said to Echo those sentiments you know it will be beneficial to allow them to finalize their process of transparency consensus consensus and engagement this is a really cohesive group and this process has been important to them to to do it as they need to do it and bring it forward so what I would recommend when they bring their recommendations I would like for our board to have small committee to discuss the recommendations with their Administration to determine the best way forward thank you Miss Lewis I opened up for board members if there are any questions or comments I see three hands here so I'm going to start with Miss for the public who can't see they're all pointing at each other for who should go.

First I'm gonna start with Miss Beyer or Miss vayadara so I want to start with expressing appreciation for the community safety Wellness task force and with just a tent of frustration about wanting this work to come more quickly and more urgently and I know they had a whole pandemic thrown at them but I want to be clear that for several years we have continued to push this mou forward without making what I think are more restorative practices in place both in the agreement and in the relationship with the sheriff's department and that is my vision for how we would continue to come together and envision a future world where we don't need policing in schools right so how do we get there if we don't start having those really challenging conversations and I know some of that work happens I wonder if there's data and Miss Lewis you're you're still on sorry we can't even we don't see you so I I'm trying to remember yeah thank you is there data that the task force.

Needs that would help inform their recommendations data I'm thinking of is you know we haven't in a long time seen the data of how many of our students are getting referred into the court system versus you know how many are getting handcuffed how many are actually going into the misdemeanor diversion efforts that we have built in this community I mean Marsha Mori you know as a judge built some amazing Progressive programs do do does the task force have the data that they need or is there any help that we can give them the other data I wonder about is are these vacancies within the sheriff's department and the Durham Police Department impacting their ability to serve and our schools you talked about Lakeview but is is that a problem in a more widespread way yeah I'm sorry I think there were some academies where our Sheriff was able to prioritize DPS by providing us those positions so the sheriff has informed Durham County Sheriff's office has informed that they.

Have an academy that will be ending soon and we will receive additional sros to fulfill our current mou and if we decide to stay with the mou moving forward and to answer your question as far as the data for this team they did receive data September 2022 that about share of contacts and referrals and things that that's wrong contacts and referrals that was received there was more discussion yesterday on the wellness and task force people were asking for other data and I have made myself available if there's any additional data they need but that's not it's not the data by any means they've worked really hard like it's like share Umstead said they began in a pandemic and we can only move at the rate of trust and our our our point in emphasis was for qualitative data and that's what they've collected and qualitative data takes a little more time than a quantitative data to sit through and to make sense of it to come up with a good recommendation so by no.

Means has any type of data slow down the process it's just a matter the quantitative data but the qualitative data they've collected if they need any other quantitative data again I've availed myself to them to help them get whatever it is they need that's coming out of their task force thank you that's helpful and I none of my comments are critical of the task force just of the the wish to go ahead and and have ideas brought forward from them and from the community on this very complex topic and we do keep renewing this contract kind of as is can you talk about training Miss Howard about our our folks doing Mental Health First Aid training or beyond that as far as working with students coming out of the pandemic are there is there training in the in not how not to restrain students right I mean can you talk more about that I know you've had some huh de-escalation yeah so the Sheriff's Office does offer training for their sros deputies period.

And there is a process for example the sros before they're released they go through a field training and Crisis Intervention de-escalation techniques are part of their training Mental Health First Aid do you know I believe so but I can get confirmation and follow up with you and then training in our discipline code of conduct that we've revised to be more restorative are they trained in that we talked about that at some point training in lgbtq plus issues so they are trained by their the criminal justice standards and within the Durham County Sheriff's Office of course Discipline matters should be handled by the administration at the school and I haven't spoken obviously to all the Pres all the principals but the the ones that I have spoken to they clearly understand and and have that expectation that discipline is something that's their domain and not part of the SRO program good points drill a phrase in addition to that according to the mou we have to make sure that's all principles.

And asro they're having that annual meeting so that they can get together and try to reconcile their differences so we'll be having those meetings. Thank you for sharing information we have a problem in Durham you know a real problem and it takes it takes all of us to keep our kids safe and I also know that a program is is is is only going to improve by better communication by understanding a little bit more about you know who do you contact when there is an issue if there is short staffing or if there's something about maybe any issue that arises at the school you know to be able to have those lines of communication open and so I'm super grateful that you know we have you Miss Eva Howard you know just helping have these conversations as well you've come to us and you've explained many things to us and we're so grateful but I do have a request and this is something that I I have spoken with our Sheriff.

And in terms of being able to have I know that there have been Community forums but even as the mou comes forth where the sheriff to to come and this is an invitation to sheriff Burkhead I mean we we've talked to him actually a few board members of us have met with him I've had conversations with him and we just want to welcome him to to this space to 511 Cleveland Street and it would be really good to to have this conversation I just wanted to also share some comments because there have been community members who have expressed that this is our decision to make and the task force will give us recommendations but there needs to be also for if there's community members that have feedback you know we seem to imply maybe in what we're saying that the task force is the end-all be-all of feedback and that's not true it is not true and community members have expressed frustration at that because as a task.

Force continues to do the work and and again they're they're doing the data analysis time is ticking and folks would like to see this program as it is to be strengthened and and to Envision and see what other metrics so I'm just going to read some of the things you know there were comments from a Community member evaluation process you know how the if the program is functioning as intended and I will give credit to this Community member after I read everything I I'm not going to you know just leave them in in anonymity Equity requires an evaluation process so how are marginalized communities actively involved to ensure the SRO program is functioning fairly across the system and this is not to believe where there's three more points since we are moving towards School Improvement teams being such an important way of us communicating with growing together we've learned how important site communication is how you know each school has a governance body and the school Improvement team we as a district have.

Made a commitment to fortify strengthen the voice of school Improvement teams so I want to be clear to the community this the community safety and wellness task force is not the end-all be-all of the feedback the school Improvement teams are definitely important and so as we think about this with the school Improvement team you know how are we also you know able to bring that feedback that they're giving us at the school sites to continue to to work on enhancement to the program and accountability and Community Trust and how to you know educate stakeholders within our school communities about the SRO program and how it works what are the parameters that point that you made Dr lefrice is so important because there are there are many families who in the past years have said you know that some schools are are letting the sros do the management you know or or letting management issues kind of fall like between the admins and the SRO and we know that we've worked as a district to.

Change it's written in the mou that management is not something handled that should be handled by nesro it's it's on us right Administration the administrators at the school but these points are so important you know for the schools the school Improvement teams to have information about the program as it works and if there's any way to give feedback for the school Improvement teams to get that feedback and the this is again the school safety and wellness task force as a task force is also providing feedback and they have data that is going to be very important I'm grateful for that but also we need to continue to to do that the last Point understanding about you know how to share where do the concerns go is I know the sheriff's office has a Citizens Advisory Board you know it's important to kind of know who's on that that Advisory Board to have those conversations with them because there are some things that will not fall within our purview that may.

Fall within the sheriff's office purview in terms of accountability so that will also be important to highlight in the mou like when you have a concern about this this is who you go to you go to the superintendent if it's about this now if it's about that those channels of communication are going to be so important so lastly the Community member who shared some time back you know this feedback was coming Primus and I'm also going to say this publicly this is not an actually my colleague and you know we we have we'd had conversations here on this board about like folks who continue to like reach out to us and tell us ways to improve and and all of us here on the board are willing to work with every Community member and I'm so grateful for this board and the colleagues that I have on this board that understand that there's so much feedback that we have in the community and we never want to do any.

Erasure of any of that feedback and so we will work together my colleague Jessica my colleague chair Bettina my colleague giovania my colleague Emily Chávez colleague Natalie Beyer my colleague Millicent we're all actively listening and taking feedback and so just wanted to name that if the school community the safety and wellness task force has already received this document as they bring their data you know this document is also shared with them if they can also just kind of I know they're bringing data from the listening sessions but this was also submitted to them and so can they hold these this data that is coming to us thank you if I could just say thank you for lifting that up regarding the school Improvement teams their voices are absolutely critical and I think that is an excellent suggestion to make sure that all of those School Improvement teams have input and feedback into the program so thank you thank you I concur Miss Louis did you have any comments.

About the mou being shared I know the mou has been shared with that Community safety Wellness task force their Roundtable but any additional comments Miss Lewis no it has been shared yes Miss Rogers. I think first I want to say thank you to miss Howard and team for keeping our school safe we know how important that is thank you Miss Lewis for bringing the report from the community safety and wellness task course that has that is going to have a major impact on what our mou will look like I'm very appreciative of this work I serve on with a local order a National Organization that supports local Progressive elected officials and I serve on the safety steering committee I look forward to this recommendation from the community safety and wellness task force we are traveling to Milwaukee to see what they have done in removing sros from their schools we have an opportunity to take a plus one I'm happy to serve on our board committee around what school safety looks like should we.

Make changes to this and for us to discuss who that plus one could be so that we're best serving DPS with this site visit in Milwaukee I look forward to what those recommendations will be I am a little frustrated that it's taking that long but it also gives us the opportunity to leverage this resource that local progress is offering Us in this site visit and I look forward to seeing what we can do to make changes and keep our school safe because I'm not sure it's a rose and increased law enforcement in our school buildings will help with the educational process thanks y'all this card Alton thank you so much again the task force and to you Miss Howard and Dr lefries I send you all some questions today well to Dr lipfries and Dr mubenga that I'm hoping I know it was a lot so hopefully eventually we can get some answers to those to help us make decisions but I'd say like they're mostly around how well are we.

Structuring our mou so that we can ensure that our sros if we continue to have them are well-trained trained in a way that we want them to be trained to be able to support the needs of our students and our staff and then continuing to train them and support them in their roles and also how are we continuing to monitor the program and how well it's working so my questions are around training grievances how we're handling Grievances and how we're modifying Things based on grievances we're receiving and along the lines of I think what my colleague board member Vaya Darius was saying like are we making sure people know how to file a grievance how to you know whether it be a parent or a student so we can get all of that data and make sure we're adjusting as needed based on what's going on in the schools I I know that there's a question about the mental health first aid training and I know in our current mou.

We have a requirement for the 40 hours of SRO train and the CIT certification but under that North Carolina Justice Academy there's a number of other trainings that I think that we could consider adding on one of one one of which is an eight-hour youth Mental Health First Aid training that would be a pretty simple way to ensure that all of our sros have that training and there's a de-escalation principles and practices so maybe we can think more about again how to ensure that everybody that's in our school serving in this role has the skills and the abilities they need to support our students and our staff they're let's see what else to say I'd like if it's possible I'd like some of the data on the and I think as board members it would be helpful for us to see the data on Grievances and concerns that have come out of the program as we're thinking about this and moving forward and also the data that's being reviewed about.

Suspension and outcome referrals to law enforcement if we could see that type of data then that would give us some of the additional tools that we need to be able to reflect on that and consider decisions moving forward yeah that's it just a few a few comments and sharing of information so yes the school resource officers have the 40-hour training program all but four have completed their training the other four are being trained this summer they have up to one year from when they start to complete the training Ms Howard already mentioned that as far as orientation goes and they have field training as well with a seasoned SRO on one of the school campuses and so that's part of it you you asked about grievances Miss Howard and Captain Myers who've been involved with the program a little bit less than a year there have not been any grievances filed this year but I think your question and other board members questions about do folks know how to go about doing that I think.

That's important and that's something that we can take back and work on and then specific to you know some of the data and and accountability measures Eve and I are going to work in terms of looking at a potential process for this and just as a point of consideration I know each year you get testing and accountability data I'm sure you're looking at student discipline information along the same times and so perhaps the regular Cadence is when you're considering your other accountability measures that there's an opportunity for accountability measures to be shared in this area too thank you yeah that sounds great thank you so much and one more thing that I had forgotten to mention that I did put in my questions for you earlier is and it looks like based in the mou we have a process whereby the principal routinely meets with the sorry where is this we're getting we're getting feedback from the principles on a routine basis but are we also getting feedback from other staff within a school.

Through any type of mechanism where we could hear from other Educators and staff in the school like how is this affecting I know we have it's supposed to be the case that staff are handling disciplinary things but like how does that happen in practice in all of our schools and to what extent can we improve the way we're doing that so correct we we do get ongoing feedback just in terms of working directly with the principal I think that the idea around the school Improvement team this could be a very natural way to connect that and get additional information to answer that question also just thinking about feedback into an evaluation process right these are employees of the Durham County Sheriff Office and so the evaluation process is it's it's it's their process but I think one thing that we could look to is to see if there's some way that the sheriff would be open to getting some type of feedback that goes into the evaluation process on those officers.

Thanks y'all for this discussion a couple points I want to make I want to remind us that we do get the reportable logs X as board members so there is some information there about students who've been to Diversion programs or that kind of thing I really do like the idea of considering in our student discipline data if they're students who have been referred to law enforcement and I think the other part is really important for us to learn is actually what happens on the other end of that referral the more I learned the more I realized I didn't know that there is a juvenile person a person who runs let me not start saying the wrong thing but there's another person on the other end who decides where that referral goes right if that actually goes forward to law enforcement or if that's diverted into another program and we might not have that information all we might have is that student has been referred right so I think the the system on both ends.

We need to have a full understanding of and then I just want to give another appreciation to our task force this is complex work and we knew when we asked them to get started so I I feel a little bit of that frustration and I also feel an immense amount of gratitude after speaking with Jesse Huddleston who's leading this round table for a while how much information they got and how many differing opinions they got and how they're trying to work through shifting sifting through that information to come up with some really clear recommendations I do not envy their job I really appreciate the work that they're doing and so I look forward to hearing more about those recommendations I think the last as we're getting ready to go into the new school year I think about safety really largely and I wonder if there's almost like a little safety booklet that every family gets that talks about if you are struggling with mental health or you know someone.

Here's the number to call if you hear a tip at your school because we talked about that earlier with us taking off the Gaggle contract if you are worried about your safety or you're worried that someone has something that can harm the school here's where that goes here's all of our lockdown procedures here's your school resource officer name here's what they're here to do if you have questions or concerns about any of these things here are the people to talk to so it just becomes a really easy go-to guide for families I think right now a lot of that information is in different places so go to student support services and see that and go there and see that and maybe somewhere over here is that how do we get it all together and that's an easy question that is a critical step because it shows how multi-faceted and how encompassing safety is in a in a school district and so making those connections is really really critical so absolutely so something really easy that.

Families could see is translating English and Spanish if we need for other languages for many of our families to speak different languages and some that public affairs maybe not chip but someone can make sure they're posting from their office that's also on our social media to make it quick and easy for families I think one of the things I've been appreciative of Durham so far is that all of our students a lot of our students and family have been really open about I want to share when I hear something I appreciate the quick responses thank y'all for that communication and so as much as we can continue to Pub that information people know where to go when they have questions or concerns so I think that's something that we should really consider for upcoming school year in future years yes absolutely Miss Lewis do you have any other comments no thank you all right thank you all for all this sorry we're over here again you know how we do.

Miss buyer and then miss why you are yeah I really appreciate that and I appreciate your idea Sharon said of of clear communication that is paper not just digital and even explaining what a lockdown drill is what the all those types of things what we do for a tornado what we do for you know flash floods I know if that ever happens again I also feel conflicted but also want to have this conversation with this board that knowing that we need an SRO at Lakeview I feel we're negligent if we don't add it to this contract and I'm sorry that that didn't get added to the Sheriff's request for the County but I have to trust that if if we have those conversations that that funding could come through from them because we have built strong relationships so I'm wondering if we should actually add that and and you said there's a new Academy coming so that also gave me some hope that the numbers were moving in the right direction is that.

I just I've been really conflicted about that since you said that Dr mavenga especially in light of how many weapons there have been in campuses at different times through the year thank you for lifting that up I think Sheriff understand us there's a needs there that's how we need to have stability a lake view but at this point we're just thinking who's going to be able to pay for it so before this meeting I miss a call from Sheriff he was trying to set up a meeting with a county manager so that three of us can have a conversation so it would there be a way Mr Malone maybe to add that and if the fun if the funding is able to be worked out like is that is it a way to kind of respect that yes I would think so.

Radars thank you I I will just say that we can't just have this conversation and not have especially for a lot of community members who have been so involved in this conversation and have brought so much to us both appreciation for sros that are you know at our schools keeping our schools safe being a part a part of the community having relationship with Administration with students just showing like you know even at the bus lines helping direct traffic with the bus lines I was actually recently at my children's School Hillside High School and I had to make a a stop and so I parked for it for a few minutes while I was like trying to figure out what I was going to do next and you would not know this and SRO drove right in front of me and you know and I said you know Hi and then the door like one second and they went in and talked to the teachers because there were some teachers who.

Were also looking out the window who were wondering why is this car and as you know there's a curve where a lot of cars kind of station at Hillside so it's you know just a quick thing and the teachers were on it too our educators are looking out some they're looking out the window like what is that car doing I was there and Deputy Costa and Deputy Watkins might have more information about how long you know it was not too long but it was not too long and that's a thing that I realized I was like wow like you know when when I've any time we've had lockdowns and this is important because as we go into growing together I just want to let folks know like the level of involvement that semesteros have but I would be remiss if I also didn't acknowledge that there are areas where we have failed students you know and not failed students in terms of an intention for safety we we prioritize safety but there has been harm.

There have been students who have felt targeted there have been students who have felt unheard and so as we continue to have these conversations I also you know just wanted to to let you know that we will continue to work on this but it's important for us to also think about the select the selectivity and in an environment where there are not that many folks that are going into the forest or going into these spaces you know how to get the types of educator Hearts that's the thing the community has been saying and I have to say it right now it's not about the program per se it's about the harm that comes from people who have no business in our schools and I want to acknowledge the families that met with with that came to us that also met with Dr mubanga trying to figure out like how do we manage the situation where there's somebody who should not be in a school you know with with a background and.

And the different types of dynamics of that and so and so the mou is going to be a big a solid way for us to determine what does that look like in terms of accountability in terms of you know tracking and and also I have invited some sros and this is something I check with students to the June 17th event y'all knew I was going to do this June 17th this Saturday from 1 pm to 4 P.M and actually the importance of this program is that one of the students who who's speaking actually asked me you know because they have a relationship with nsro that will that SRO be there and and and and and I invited that SRO Deputy Watkins you know and so there are people who our students look up to and they want to see them in events and and I know their beloved and I just want us to continue to have a program where our students can really see adults beyond the role in the title in the.

Uniform are they caring for our kids do they care as Educators because anybody who steps foot in a school has to have the educator hat on first more than anything and as we continue to figure out like what that program is going to look like they have to have the heart for his kids and not harm kids and so I just want to lift that up that hasn't all been peachy and Rose Colored but we're gonna get better thank you.

Board members this is for Action tonight we do so we want to make one edit to make sure if possible the Lakeview School can also receive that school resource officer that they would like to have happy to accept emotions a move that we set the DPS Administration recommendation approving the contract with the Durham County Sheriff's Office for the 23-24 school year to continue the school resource officers program as outlined above with the additional change that you mentioned regarding like you.

Move by Miss Lewis seconded room Inspire I think it's important for anyone who is watching to also hear our commitment to listening to the recommendations from the community safety and wellness task force they'll be coming in lots of future conversations around how this program could change and evolve all in the best of service of our students right wanting to make sure that our students and our Educators feel safe in their buildings every day so we will miss Card office so if we so we approve this today then we cannot modify the mou for another year is that how this works which means that recommendations that come from the task force can't be integrated into the mou so the recommendations from the task force can be integrated to beginning year 2425. so the task force is I think in the last couple months of their work they'll be able to present their there's a there's a whole process after this so they'll present their recommendations to us we will need to.

Decide which recommendations we want to implement and then we'll need to be having conversations with the Sheriff's Office to understand what's feasible as they run this program what are we agreeing to so I think this year timeline actually is probably right to get to implementing for changes for revisions another conversation next June and then changes that may start in all July really because the schools start in July and if we don't approve today we have no mou in place and no no program all right I think if you if you look at this this is a in in essence a contract for services for for the next year and so then a review process goes on with the mou and when that is ready to come forward it it could theoretically come independent of the annual renewal right and I would potentially could come earlier in the year so that we could by June we're ready to go we start those revisions earlier would anything prevent us from improving training in the in this.

Upcoming year the way this mou is written I mean there is the training language is vague enough that I would think that we could make changes and modifications to that as we yeah some of the suggestions that board members lifted up tonight regarding the other types of training that's available even I talked about process basically scheduling a meeting with the sheriff of course reviewing what the current curriculum is and seeing if this could naturally slot in so I think that's I think that's a possibility and then the other is knowing what's already going on in the schools with other Personnel that are getting trained are there opportunities to bring sros into those school-based trainings that are occurring I think a lot of those opportunities we don't we can spell out in the mou but we can also do without having any making any changes so we know we've got Splash coming up with lots of professional learning opportunities for our Educators I think invitations for school resources could work really well for that.

Especially a lot of the things that we're going to be doing are going to support them in their work as well so any other questions or discussion before we vote just one additional comment regarding Lakeview that's a conversation we're gonna have about funding so I just wanted to make sure it's clear that the board is asking me to have those conversations but there's no commitment yet until we secure funding so I don't want to be held accountable for negligence sounds good that's moving all right we'll go to a vote Miss Lewis this is javonia Lewis I vote I miss Rogers no Miss fayadares Miss Beyer hi Miss Carda-Auten no and I vote I so that passes let me do that math real quickly for two all right thank you all thank you the next item on our agenda is growing together secondary but I am going to pause we had another public comment speaker come so if I can have Lavon Barnes come to the podium I'm gonna do a.

Quick review of the rules for Mr Barnes first please state your name if you're speaking for organization State the name of the organization you will have three minutes to present your comments when the yellow light comes on you have one minute left to wind up your remarks when the red cut light comes on and it beeps this will indicate that your time is up complaints about name 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 our students and to the operation of a school system finally board members will listen carefully and consider your comments but we will not engage in a discussion with you unfortunately tonight Mr Barnes good evening and thank you for your leniency changing my name is Lavon bars and I am representing the school for Creative Studies as its helpful living teacher graduation coordinator and all other things miscellaneous that teachers do on a day-to-day basis I'm had a whole.

Bunch of notes but I left those notes flying to get here so I'm just going to speak from the heart I think that the school for Creative Studies is a special place I think that there's no question that the vision that was initially founded about the school is still something that still stands true now we're the only year-round Middle High Magnet School in the state I think that's something that we should be proud of and we should continue to do that I think the fact that we just had graduated 61 students and had almost four million dollars in college scholarships or something that is worthy to be highlighted and I think that if we change the school to just a middle school we would be doing a disservice to so many students that myself and my colleagues who have who have spoken before me and have honestly walked so many students there's so much I want to say there's so many students that have are served by being at our school for seven up to.

Seven years if not the four years that they get to be there for the high school part how many students that did not think that they had a voice coming into this school that found their voice after graduating how many students that we've seen grow up from when they were in sixth grade to young adults that we have set out in this community to be leaders as 12th graders I think that how many students that have had so many mental challenges to so many so many that have grown out of those mental challenges because they've been able to be and build relationships with teachers in the administration that we've had throughout the years it's just been a very difficult school year at SCS with a lot of change and I agree that change is important and growth is important and we're growing together but I do believe that breaking up SES will be growing us apart it would be segregation to be honest with you I think that you're going to have a North.

And the South Campus if you want us to be Rogers or something like similar to Rogers her I think that's that's that's not who we are we're not DSA which was initially said to us too we are SES and that's what we are and we want to stay as SES for the next foreseeable future so I'm asking the board I'm asking you to reconsider any possibility of changing SCS into Justin middle school and to keep it as it is fully fund I heard just just heard 57 million dollars going to a constructed project but at a school that has never had fully funding or had the opportunity to be to shine in the way that it could and it is and it will I think of given that opportunity that we will be successful and see the numbers grow in the way that you want to see it thank you thank you I'll pass it over to Dr Hardy thank you chair Umstead Dr marbinga and the board and I would like to acknowledge we.

Can pull up the presentation I think the members of the growing together team have joined the room so I would like to ask the members of our growing together team to to stand and to for us to acknowledge this wonderful team.

Thank you so much if we'll go forward one slide this evening the growing together team is going to share recommendations for our secondary schools middle and high schools from the growing together initiative and requests the board's approval this work represents four years of dedicated work from staff members representing many DPS departments within the framework of the DPS 2018-2023 strategic plan as well as extensive Community input this work is a necessary foundation for Durham Public Schools to continue to evolve to meet the rapidly changing needs of our community and to work towards true equity for our diverse student population it is the first systemic review of programs and boundaries in the 30 years since merger of Durham County and Durham city schools these recommendations will provide outstanding programming position our students for Success after graduation while increasing Equity access and diversity within Durham Public Schools for all students growing together is about more than just the number of enrolled students in DPS or those that will come from new residential growth here in Durham.

Growing together is about the mindset of our community our leaders our staff and our students to imagine and work together for our shared future for Durham's children that will require a shift from the way things were to the way things can and should be not just for some but for each and every young person we serve this shift in mindset continues with the Board of Education vote this evening we'll also require the courage for all of us to revisit our assumptions about what is what is not and what is possible and to rest our assumptions and contribute to a vision of Durham Public Schools as a school system that has a plan for each and every child and that every DPS school is great at this time we'll go to the next slide tonight our purpose is to seek approval of the boundaries for middle and high schools secondary programs and the rules of student assignment there will be further discussion of application rules of access related to our weighted Lottery policies and.

Secondary Montessori programming and of course at the end we will have time for discussion and questions for your reference and for the public the first few slides we will go through directly the remaining slides at the end include the entire content from the May 18th slide presentation with all of the plan details tonight we will focus on the first few eight or nine slides and then we will have discussion and questions and then this is before the board this evening for Action this time I will turn it over to Mr Matthew Palmer.

We can go forward one slide please. Thank you Dr Hardy chair Umstead board members Dr mabenga it's good to be with you this evening we do have fourth before you the overall growing together plan components which were reviewed at the May 18th board meeting again that is the vision for the academic program for secondary middle and high schools the academic program an application program placements the School boundaries that flow out of those placements and the rules of access that commensurate with that as well this is a plan each of these are components that comprise the overall plan as Dr Hardy named before you this evening is action on the overall comprehensive plan and the elements there within next slide please reset the board and the community and the public this is a lot of work this is a lot of elements coming together Over a four-year cycle the benefits for our community with regard to Growing together the four pillars I'll reset you growth Equity access and diversity growth beginning to accommodate and.

Prepare for the residential growth in the eastern and Southeastern Durham Equity when we're bringing access to resources to where our children are at now putting them on Long bus rides to have access to those seats in addition access with regards to the vehicle models that our kids are on the bus the amount of time they spend on buses again this is not only the secondary program but a core attendant of our elementary program as well and additional access to seats looking at our programs across DLI year-round Montessori and IB and perhaps the Cornerstone of the plan with regards to increasing diversity both through our boundary assignments as well as our Lottery application assignments as well so in total we are able to bring forth a comprehensive plan comprising of four elements pursuing four interconnected goals next slide please.

At the May 18th board meeting there were some inquiries from the boards and challenges for administration and staff to see what additional efforts we could take to pursue the overarching objective of enhancing diversity within our schools particularly as it relates to socioeconomic status again there are guide rails with regards to student assignment particularly here in the north of the state of North Carolina but we can do what we can do considerations that we can make for placement and what are the state of best practices and so before you this evening are adjusted rules updated in reflection with the board's challenge to Administration and we'll walk through that with you on the next three slides so this is particularly relevant for our Lottery based application schools next slide as you can see today this is a distribution of our overall identified student percentage population by school these are middle schools and you can see again our district level average is 45 percent and the term identified student percentage or ISP those are students.

That are qualified by the state of North Carolina certified by the state that they may be food stamp eligible Medicaid eligible Foster homeless migrant and otherwise these are students that may need some additional supports and it is warrantable to be aware of what we have particularly schools that are disproportionately wealthy to the rest of the district you can see that here at our Middle School level I'll walk you through the next slide at our high school levels here again the same metric same measure thinking about again this is April of 2023 what are the rates that we have by school understanding where we have high concentrations of disproportionate Resources with relationship to the rest of the district next slide so many of these disparities are addressed in elements of the elementary plan that has already been approved as well as the rules of access for that Elementary plan in addition some of the tenants around boundaries and Boundary access to schools will make great gains for several of our campuses as it relates to.

Diversity at a school level having said that under certain circumstances it may seem quite compelling and warrantable to use what we call a weighted Lottery this is again with the overall objective of enhancing the diversity of the school level so the proposed rule of access as it relates to our application Lottery schools has sort of four components Associated one when a school is ten percentage points are below the overall District level ISP average again this April it is 45 at a district level so when a school is 10 percentage points or more below that level than in those instances for the following application Lottery we would be considering of using a weighted lottery for lottery seat application assignment the weight that we would be looking at is again using U.S census data in addition to American Community census data that is released on an annual basis particularly being mindful as we've historically talked about neighborhood median family income importantly there we are not asking for students individual information and it relates to family income.

Any sort of income verification process we're not recommending that the board go down that level really a home address and com in the application itself will help us working with our Lottery vendor to identify the resources that a student and their neighbors may have we also have to be mindful that these objectives and goals with respect to diversity they have good intentions and we have to stay at the table to Monitor and evaluate are they yielding the outcomes that we seek that is part of again you'll remember policy 4150 on an annual basis we're reviewing this not only for Lottery application but our School boundaries and continuing to sharpen our pencil and make sure that we're doing the best service for our board's Community Vision and values again this is particularly relevant for an application program that has a lottery based assignment particularly those schools that are pure Lottery schools this is again element one that was requested from the board these are the four components of how we would design.

And use a weighted Lottery. On the next slide we have an additional inquirying perhaps a clarification remark with regards to how do students access our Montessori middle school programs you may recall that the Administration has recommended two Montessori middle schools Lakewood Montessori as it's currently constituted as well as Lucas Montessori Middle School in Northern Durham next slide please what's particularly compelling about from an administrative lens on this is that we're able to provide a Montessori program in very different contexts and with very different attributes and assets and resources but both lend themselves well to the Montessori program particularly as we have enacted it here in Durham within the Lakewood campus we're situated there it's a 300 student school co-located with the YMCA very much in a neighborhood context if you've ever been on Crosswinds that access drive to get into Lakewood it is quite a compact Dent scene to provide transportation service there at Lakewood Middle School in addition we have recommended that there is placement in commensurate boundary and Lottery access for the.

Montessori program at Lucas a very different context also co-located in this instance with the city of Durham parks and recs at Snow Hill Road Park in addition we have an adjacency actually Lucas backs up to like Mickey so when we think about Montessori and Outdoor Learning and the stated objectives of both the board and the public regards to outdoor education environmental stewards sustainability and awareness these two campuses May lend themselves to both the urban context as well as the more Rural and nature-based setting of Lucas importantly the recommendation from Administration is a recognition that Lakewood and Lucas constitute a middle school Montessori program that's a shift we've often focused on individual schools and this is really drawing our attention as an Administration staff parents and students to the connectedness of our Montessori elementary and middle schools and perhaps moving away from any sense of competition and more towards collaboration and compatibility next slide please as such you'll see on our Top Line here with regards to data we have walked through the boundary.

Seats at both schools the capacity of both schools the total Lottery seats remaining is a projection for 142 at Lakewood and 275 at Lucas currently program links students that are named there in grades six through eight those would be students who have attended a Montessori elementary that would not be automatically boundary assigned to a Montessori Middle School we're adding up the total Lottery seats you see there in grades six eight we have those that have program link identified 176 is that number this recommendation and proposal before's remaining lottery seats or General open Lottery access to both campuses for all of DPS we have modeled out numerous scenarios to consider what else may be possible we certainly heeded and and heard the remarks from the board with regards to transportation given the scale and given the opportunity here in particular for Lucas to provide much needed support and relief for our middle schools that in many instances are overcrowding it is warrantable to recommend again the eligibility of both campuses is district-wide.

That would ensure that students that come through the elementary school level are able to apply to the program that fits best for their learning style preference in context next slide please. And with that I will hand it back over to Dr Hardy thank you so much Mr Palmer there's a connection between the secondary plan and the implementation of the elementary plan already approved by our Board of Education we must be primed and ready for growing together at elementary to launch in 24 25.

The decision to approve the growing together secondary plan tonight situated on a critical path for moving forward many of our families are awaiting the board's decision for the secondary plan to make decisions about elementary schools for the fall approval of the secondary plan will position staff to proceed with the in-depth implementation and transition work with our families to ensure that we are ready to launch in 24 25. Support for implementation of growing together is also Timely we are excited to share that we are seeking specific focused Federal grant funding that will supplement the implementation work connected to Growing together the submission deadline for this Federal support of fostering diverse schools is July 7 2023.

We believe the likelihood that DPS receives this Federal usdoe funding will improve if we are able to include in the Grant application that the board of education has approved the growing together plan for both Elementary and secondary schools the growing together project launched to improve equity and access to educational opportunities for all DPS students tonight we presented to you the proposed secondary academic application programs and the Secondary School boundaries for review discussion and preparation for Action this evening at this time they're all there we are open for discussion and questions thank you Dr Hardy and to your full team who've been working for years on the growing together plans and projects and listening to a lot of our feedback communities feedback I know y'all probably had so many discussions and conversations and maybe some arguments about what to do moving forward but I think that challenge is good helps create a really good plan so thank you all thank you to the team board members I'll open it up for.

Questions or comments this is for Action tonight before our board knowing that Magna fares and all these different things were coming soon and this will impact how people's decisions are about where their children will go to school. This Rogers. Thanks y'all for this presentation and for all your efforts and work I have a follow-up question and then a short comment Ladson in the packet can we get some clarity around how Lottery schools with neighborhood boundaries factor into the SES calculation will the lottery seats be modified for need based on the students that areas SCS that register I don't know.

Did you need some more clarity maybe I wasn't sure there was also a comment and so I'll get to the comment after you're done thank you okay thank you one of the things that's important is that we recognize with regards to the data that we have today the ISP rates that we've shared with the board in the board packet again this evening those are for enrolled students in April of 2023. One of the things that we're being very cautious about is a recognition that as we bring boundary access to both our elementary and middle school programs we must move slowly first to really understand before we start putting in any weighted lotteries that we're understanding the choices that families are making as the elementary and middle school programs come into face right so what does that mean there will always be a lag effect in other words if the April 2023 data would substantiate that the school is disproportionately wealthy with the rest of the district our implementation phase our weighted.

Lottery would kick in for the corresponding January Lottery of the following school year right what it does afford is to do is really study and understand at first level at our elementary and middle school programs as those programs come online what will be the implication for the choices that our families make at a boundary level and what will be the choices then we will see the data Trends flow out of those choices there we are not recommending at this time that we immediately turn on a weighted Lottery it really is a trigger under certain circumstances particularly in those pure Lottery circumstances where you may think of some of our schools there's only a handful that are 100 Lottery and that's particularly at the high school level that does there again match with the trend data that we shared with you at the high school level and so we want to be very careful that before we start applying weighted lotteries that we fully understand the scope of the problem.

And we also need to leave space in time for families to make this first round of decisions as we come through the elementary year 24 25 that April so in April of 25 we'll have a clear understanding of the choices the families have made and again that ISP metric is really what we're looking at what are we seeing with regards to not only our levels of resources from our students but at a school level that one then informed perhaps the implementation of a weighted lottery for the corresponding Lottery cycle so that we can balance out our boundary seats and our Lottery seats if that is needed we have strong belief that our efforts and gains and the boundary progress that we've made with intentionality of diversifying our boundary access to schools will carry us a long way in the overall Ambitions of the community and the board in regards to diversity again we want to study first and understand and respect that families are going to make choices and that is an ongoing conversation.

What's exciting is that you know I know I'm a data nerd but but we're here for the long term to get it right right there's no out of the box perfect solution to this we've gotten into a difficult position right and so it is going to take us time and carefully working with our board as well as the administrative leadership to understand as we Implement these really policies and and as we intercede into the student assignment process that we're very careful first that's helpful thank you as we go into making this decision I think about all the changes that we're seeing out of growing together and all the changes that we've seen or specifically those of us from Durham that we've seen with schools across the district the pain when tuning middle school clothes and how people were upset when Durham High School closed I attended the first iteration of what is Neil Durham School of Arts it was their Magnet Center Durham High students where our Alum were.

Upset about the changes in the colors and the changes in the mascot and what was to come because we all know that change is hard we've heard so much from the school for Creative Studies and we understand how loved this program is we heard those same things when Rogers her was a Sixth Grade Center we heard similar things every time change change is just hard and I think with this new policy where we're going to reevaluate every five years we have an opportunity to evaluate what it looks like to have a year-round Middle School high school we have not given up on that idea we hear you we see you we know that so much of Durham we came through the pandemic together we know so much of Durham is resilient we need y'all to hang in there with us because something's got to give we can't continue the same ways we have and expect that we're going to get better across the district with all our schools.

We need your help we need your support in that we're happy to continue to look around and see if there's something that can evolve in the future something more Central to Durham for a high school that's year round but that's not a part of this plan and we just really hear you and we really appreciate your advocacy for SCS and look forward to what happens in growing together after this thank you Miss Rogers other comments or questions from board members. This video. I do have comments.

With this plan I understand that we're prioritizing Equity efficiency well you laid it out in the beginning right there's so many different factors that we're looking into what I want to say and I want to say really really clear is like I understand there's a whole study about how this is going to work the way you're bringing it to us how it's going to improve Transportation how it's going to improve solve some of our problems because short staffing is definitely something that we have to reckon with that's that's the truth in terms of funding everything else I I understand and and I haven't been oppositional to you for when you brought the plans I mean I actually don't have an issue with the plan but there's one thing right the Elementary boundaries and you know we had discussions about sunsetting a program because of low use and but then we also determine like ways that we adopted the timeline for Little River I am sitting here listening to community members.

Who say that the definition that we're using for Equity is not the definition that they know because our definition of equity is sometimes it matches more equality ease of access to programs it seems to take into account you know how folks can get on the lottery and access the program and I understand I understand that but when it comes to equity itself there has been data that I've been looking at that is about school to prison pipeline Dynamics about you know students who are who have recidivism from a school and they end up finding an environment that they that they love and that they stay in and that to me counts a lot I remember many students who had to leave a very prominent magnet school that just wasn't a safe environment for many of them and the place that they actually went to there's like almost like a theater pattern to school for Creative Studies and so this is not on on the data that's.

Why I didn't bug you all as much and I wasn't I wasn't you know bugging you all with the secondary plan I think the plan as you write it is efficient it's solid it's good but I'm looking at Equity right now in the way that the community is saying what Equity means when we are talking about only one other place in the state that has a year-round high school and that that data from that particular District shows that the year-end High School option is also being underutilized there and it's not as successful that's that's a good point to have and I appreciate that comparison but that to me is not what's gonna move me because this is the only Middle High School that is year round and I think Durham can lead and when I just take put on the hat of sitting in in conversations at you know at work talking about sun setting a particular campus a particular program there's usually a threshold I remember this is a real example from.

Previous the work experience where there was a need to close a particular location and that threshold was communicated to that to that Community to that campus and was told you're not meeting the enrollment that will allow us to sustainably keep this going we're gonna we're considering maybe sunsetting this and changing it because you're not meeting that and do you know that as soon as they got word of what that number was I'm talking about everybody went out talked to the neighborhood they canvassed the neighborhood they talked about there was so much PR that went out about what makes that school so great but it's hard for a school to know what the threshold is you know and we talk about 40 percent decrease but yet when I look at the utilization it's 85 percent for school it's actually higher than some other areas some other some other schools and so one thing that we have done for school for Creative Studies that I think is promising and could give us results.

Yield results is the fact that we change it from being in all district access Lottery program to only serve more like a regional Lottery program north and east so it'll focus on North and East areas and this is where I'm looking to you Mr Palmerston to be Dr Palmer that being able to limit some of the issues we've had with transporting children from all over Durham and some kids that are coming from there are some families who have who have definitely let us know that that is an issue right in terms of like Transportation having to go from really far to get to school for cater studies and and we do we will lose families that way if they're doing long bus rides but now that we're changing it so that the lottery is only for north and east and it's it's kind of like putting that region into play for that lottery I believe that could be that could easily make things better for a school and so I'm here today to say I'm.

I think the the points about Equity the points about you know being the only place in the entire State and leading in that way to have a middle to high school year-round option that that's us that's us currently why can't we continue that Legacy the other thing is utilization and meeting the the percentage that we need to keep a program going I think that those are Community that's communication even with that school that if they do an all-out effort you know I've seen some schools take take up Partners to talk about their school and and put that option out there I think that more awareness of that school option program for north and east I think would yield a lot of results and and so I'm hesitant to Sunset something because I've seen this turn around before so that's that's where I am no knock on your work that's why I didn't give you a hard time this time again in terms of like the work but there's this one thing that I actually.

Feel that the analysis it's about the money and it's about the Staffing it's about the fact that in one other place in the state it doesn't seem to be thriving but that is not to me a justification for why we shouldn't go for it and do maybe again communicate to the school what is the base minimum threshold that we need to keep this program going and communicate that clearly to them and you know Money Follows our children every child is valuable and I'm not saying valuable as cliche I'm saying literally Money Follows our children and so those enrollment numbers I do think you know can justify keeping this program and being the only place in the state that has a middle high school year-round option if that's Durham let's lead the way.

Miss is there any response from staff all right Carlton Aspire Miss Lewis do you have any comments yeah I had a few comments so I just want to say I appreciate the Forward Thinking with regard to the growth using the U.S census data and the desire to have a weighted Lottery I just want to share this past school year we have served 1100 students over 1100 students in the mckinney-bento program we didn't get a presentation from them this year but I always want to keep an eye on the pulse of what's happening with some of our most vulnerable students in their home situations over a thousand and to me having a weighted Lottery gives that greater access to those who may have the most need increase equity in providing the programmatic resources based on the needs of the child so as we look to also caution as we look to have these balanced schools I want to make sure that we're viewing the designer gated data and creating Equitable access to Opportunities and.

Learning for the needs of those students in those application schools and to see that specifically addressed in the school Improvement plan which is the Assumption that's already happening and I want to make sure that we are again just giving attention to these application schools and we're serving all students well within them with the lottery processes in place also I know you talked about the 10 percent below level being at 10 percent when the weighted Lottery is being used I do want to make sure that the board is aware that the weight Lottery is being used for the application School and finally I believe there I just want to just say that make the comment policy 4150 and I actually think it's I was looking at the other policy right below it it is intended for regular updates to monitor the plan and ensure that what we are predicting is unfolding as predicted and a way of ensuring that the unattended consequences of we're not reselling back into it.

What what is not intended for right that this desired outcomes for growth access equity and diversity is happening on the five-year K this is what the the policy shares for the superintendent to do the evaluation then every 10 years I'm looking at the 10-year growth I think I read that right can you Mr Palma yeah can you just go ahead and clear that clarify that for me what is a case which we will be reviewing to make sure that there's not unintended consequences based and we're predicting the way it was intended.

Thank you Miss Lewis just a just a revisitation there again we have the opportunity to Benchmark this annually I think one of the things that has happened historically is that we have been in a bit of a a stasis if you will as far as not actively managing maybe at a school level but not at a district level the policy 4150 does give us that opportunity to come back we think it would be warrantable again to of course as weighted lotteries are needed and that threshold is crossed to be very transparent with the board we think that would be an opportunity to again name that as we've discussed other sort of report out functions as far as we get the rrsp data annually in the spring and that would then again sort of inform our work with you as we head into the spring and summer months and so again those Lottery Cycles are the following year so it would be a very transparent clear process in that regard.

One of the opportunities that affords us again is to continually Trend and Benchmark how we're doing you know whenever we're doing a policy intervention and that's what a weighted Lottery is actually a lottery itself is a policy intervention remembering again the Lottery application programs were intentionally brought on for voluntary School desegregation and so it is a tool that we are recommending to the administration and the board that we use at a higher level than we currently are which is randomized student assignment currently it reflects the applicant pool if the applicant pool skus in a particular demographic Direction then the outcomes of the lottery reflect that as well this gives the administration the board the ability to track that and bring that back annually for review thank you so much I appreciate that thoughtfulness and the clear explanation so those would be my recommendations as we look to what the weighted Lottery look like revisiting the outcomes from the application schools and the balancing of our schools and just being made aware of it and.

Particularly monitoring the segregated data as we do across the district but particularly within those schools thank you thank you Miss Lewis Miss Carter Alton thank you much so much to this entire team for putting so much work into this I am excited about this I really appreciate all of the work in particular since it's at the Forefront of our decision tonight the work done to consider the possibility of a weighted Lottery you know Mr Palmer didn't share this this evening but he shared it with us last week when we discussed this but this has been years of research in the making and looking at Best Practices around the country to see the best way to apply a weighted Lottery to improve Equity within our school district and I really appreciate all of that work and that we can take those recommendations now to again reduce concentrations of privilege and reduce concentrations of poverty within our school district and try to better serve those that need it most so I I.

Appreciate this and I appreciate the work and I'm excited to see it move forward I also share some of the concerns of my colleague board member bayadaris about school for Creative Studies I just don't know we talked about this in previous meetings and I it feels like there's not if we were to not move forward with that part of the plan then where are we going to put the other middle school students and I guess that's we don't have another option for that or is there any room at this point to be finding another space or maybe reducing our capacity for high school while creating more space for the middle schoolers there at the same time some middle ground and if there's not they're not I'm not sure how we can make that work and so maybe it is just a case of change is very difficult and we need to move forward with this knowing that it will be difficult and hurt some but it will be better for the greater good.

Which is what we're aiming for with this whole plan.

Just very briefly to to the question with regards to Alternatives and respect to again matriculation of our year-round at the elementary level one of the things that we are aware of is that we have Rising fifth graders that are coming from our year-round Elementary programs and we have heard quite extensively from our board in the community about the importance of those program links the families are not split on calendars if there are not sufficient seats in Northern and Eastern Durham for a year-round students you will have families that of course are on a split calendar traditional versus year round so you know I share that with the board for consideration and why our recommendation is as it stands.

Miss Beyer I want to continue with ongoing praise for this team and the the thoroughness of the complexity of the work that we all we tasked you all with so so many years ago to me this plan has always been about Equity but it's also been about making every school strong it's not really about magnet schools and so as this work continues I think it's going to be so critical for each and every school to have the support that they need to be thriving and I think you all have with the facilities where they're located with the resources that we have that are limited with with acknowledgment that they probably will be more limited in the short term you have come up with a plan that I really do think helps us grow together I want to thank you all for being so responsive for my last minute concern about weighted lotteries and actually tackling that with what I think are National Best Practices and I look forward to that being on.

An annual review so that it is carefully and thoughtfully implemented. I also want to let folks know that you all had meetings with us about the regionalization of Montessori middle schools and and answered lots of questions and presented different scenarios there's more that were presented to us that that weren't here but I am trusting you all that your analysis is that this is the way that these two schools can Thrive that's that's my bottom line on I'm trusting y'all's teams work on that I wouldn't say in the future that it might not be possible to regionalize them and hope that that will be kind of in the back of people's minds as they're watching both of those schools build and thrive.

I love love love every school in Durham and I've been here for some that we started and some that we had to phase out I advocated Miss Sims and taught my children advocated for programs that that we opened with great hope and that we phased out or changed and it's hard and I know if you are a member of the SCS Community it feels personal and it is personal to you and to your students and so I want your your school to hear.

That we hear you that we are are going to walk with you and support you in this transition and that if there is that need we're having seven Elementary year-round schools right and as that grows and thrives I could see the need for a year-round High School in the future in a different location than than the edge of the county I think this board and future boards will have heard your cry and and will hear that I think this plan as presented tonight is is the best solution that we have in making sure that all of our schools are thriving and so I look forward to supporting it and continuing to engage with community members as we put those transition teams in place as we bring people to communicate the the changes that are going to be challenging but also I think come with optimism and and integrity I want to make sure that SCS is willing is able to keep their curricular theme and we've committed to that and we've committed to all the.

Excellence that is there continuing as it as it transitions in the grades of the children served there so those are my thoughts this evening thank you thank you Miss Beyer I have a few questions in comments Mr Palmer you might want to come on back can you tell me a little bit about how the community eligibility provision that we have for some of our schools that have everyone gets lunch and breakfast free lunch and breakfast how is that included when you look at that ISP number indeed and so again cep is a designation wherein and and to reset for the board and the public that it may be at an individual School level a clustering of schools or even a school system at any point in which time that grouping of schools singular or in the plural sense a group of schools or a school system is at or over 40 percent of the identified student percentage then they would be eligible for the community a cep designation what that.

Does is allows for students to effectively not have to submit free and reduce launch applications and we can feed all children for free as it relates to lunch meal dead and Beyond and so we are growing our cep schools this coming year by 50 that is a another step right and so we're up to 28 which puts us right at the 50 Mark and growing and so I named that more out of an opportunity to just recognize that some of the data that we've shared with you and the board I don't know that historically we've talked about ISP is a rate at a school level it's a third party State validated measure of in this particular instance poverty or resources that an individual student has again our legal counsel has often reminded us that we cannot assign Bay it's Sunrise people we can absolutely look at the impacts of policies and plans on that rate and so that's why we're looking at that as our outcome variable the saying when we do.

These policy interventions how is that doing I hope that's helpful maybe so if I'm a school that qualifies for c e c e p and I'm looking so and we're trying to determine what schools need to be weighted or not it automatically assume that I'm you said 40 percent like how do I where would my school fit in this if I'm looking at what school might become weighted or not waited I assume you just wouldn't be sorry I mean I'm assuming you this wouldn't be but you wouldn't have a I don't know if you would actually have a percentage number is what I'm asking for ISP.

I might have lost you there I did want to just clarify that annually we as Durham Public Schools submit a package of schools under the cep designation and in concert with Administration and so you'll still have I guess a percentage I.E ISP identify student percent even though the school qualifies for cep is that correct so annually the ISP rates by school are produced by the state of North Carolina irrespective if they participate in the CE program or not there you go that's what I was trying to get it okay great so I just want to make sure that schools that had that we would still have a number so those schools would still like we would be able to know where they were on this on the from the Spectrum to know what schools need to qualify for a lottery or not and then we have base options for Montessori now is what we're offering for middle school and I guess in elementary school too and if I remember correctly from our firmware.

Presentations families can opt out of that option can y'all talk a little bit more about what that looks like and that might be sorry Miss Marshall 's Department.

Good evening everyone so yes we are excited about the opt out option which will lie in we're working with our vendor and it'll be a part of our transfer process where families will have the option to choose schools within their region that aren't that are traditional and or if they're if that program isn't appropriate for their families so we'll be working and monitoring those numbers so we'll have options considering possibly three or multiple having families rank those but we will be really watching those enrollment numbers and monitoring those numbers or is that answer your question it does one more part though so families will have an opportunity to transfer anytime during the year but we no okay so with opt out we are gonna and this is still a process that we are we'll be working with our our new position coming in as well but the with the the opt-out option our transfer window opens as you know March 1st and ends May 1st so we'll be able to consider that.

During the transfer window as well but as families move in those are stating weighted circumstances that we can we can consider and I asked that question because some of the base I think some of the base for some of the Montessori programs will not have went to a Montessori elementary school and so for some families they might want a more traditional middle school program that has more and more aligned with what their their child has done versus the Montessori and I want to make sure that families have opportunities to move out if that's just not the right fit for their child right I do believe we have great Educators and people can Thrive but different families have different fit and different needs and so I just want to make sure that that is available and is an option for them so I think you answered my question on that one I think I would want to really for us to consider and I think this is for both all the programming how.

Do we communicate that to families early like your base is a Montessori option and if you're you know if that's not what your family wants here are your Alternatives so that we don't get into first quarter at the end and I'm like I don't know if I really like this school and I could see a lot of families coming around that time so just and I said let not not as a side to a school but just it might not be the right fit for a child and a family right so how do we get that out there early so families know what their options are going to be feels really important oh go ahead Sorry Miss Marshall good evening I do just want to share with the board and the community that the office of public affairs has conducted an RFP process to try to provide us with additional marketing and communication support ahead of our transition with elementary schools coming on board in the 24-25 school year through the considerations and the.

Planning we are talking about things just as you mentioned making sure that we are contacting families so they know ahead of time what those changes are so they can plan accordingly we are also very aware in November that we have our Showcase of schools which is a fantastic opportunity for our entire Community to come out and engage with their schools their newly assigned schools or their currently assigned schools to ensure that they are well aware and they're making those connections with staff well in advance of these transition years so a plan is already in place and we are beginning to execute on that awesome thank you Miss Cooper and I love we start the plan this year and something that keeps going every year so that all those fifth graders know okay when you go to sixth grade here's what my options are families kind of know so I know we'll have a big kickoff for this year for this next couple years but how do we make sure that's kind of a continuous.

Thing as well and if I can also add that will be the work and thank you board in our community that will be the work of our our new Student Assignment transition coordinator part of that work is really working with schools and directly working with schools and preparing students and so we have that whole year and getting children ready for those transitions awesome thank you a couple other comments before I open this back up poor school for Creative Studies this is just an idea that came to me I think staff should think about this could it be possible to give a number and think about incoming freshman first year class if they are able to get a really full class like what that might tell us about the programming I think your appointment areas around you know what might be a threshold or not I think I also agree like I've been around for a little bit of time and watched Durham phase Out programs and phase in programs.

So I recognize that change is really hard and I want to you know acknowledge the Educators that we have in the room from school from Creative Studies and the families have emailed us so I'm wondering if if there could be a compromise that also could be a really hard challenge to navigate as far as assignments I don't want to pretend like that's an answer but I just want to throw that out there I also want to make sure that we still consider what a modified year-round High School could look like I think the more families that are in that year-round program pipeline you might have more families interested in some type of year-round option for high school I won't go into all my reasons why I think that's a great idea I think I said them in our last meeting but I want us to also consider what that might look like for that modified schedule and then last but not least I mean I said this I think last time Neil loves.

Grove and Southern are on this list they are currently magnet programs they currently receive additional positions and funding because of that magnet program and I don't I'm a little worried about what it means for them to lose that when we know some of those additional resources are really supportive of the Educators and the students in those buildings so I would like a plan I think that's for elementary middle and high school for these school programs that may not have those additional resources what are we doing to make sure those schools have what they need and I know some of them will be able to continue some of their different programming options but funding wise what might we be needing to do to support those kids in those schools let me make sure I got all my questions out I think that is it or remembers any other questions yes Miss Rogers and Uncle Miss value I'm sorry I thought it was then I've asked this about other schools before but there's a reason why people.

Like school for Creative Studies why it is so supportive of neurodivergent students and and if we've done anything to capture what is actually happening to figure out how we can take that and support students especially those students and students like them at our comprehensive high schools and make sure we're doing that work there so they don't fall through the cracks that was that's like a question that I want to make sure that we capture and it feels like it's less likely to happen now because we've already been like okay we're taking your program away the other question that I had was for Mr Palmer and he can email it if you'd like it's fine why are we are we applying as a district for the free and reduced lunch eligibility that we were talking about CTE cep I'm sorry are we applying as a district is there an opportunity to apply as an entire District 100 of schools what that might look like thank you for that question we had a robust conversation.

As we're looking at a total I mean anytime you apply for a cep there are also implications with Title One money let's go to those schools as we're looking at that lens of equity as well we're going to make sure that the school that's really need the money the most those are the ones that's getting it otherwise you're going to make sure that that total one money are equally divided so we're really careful with that so that's the reason why we really want it to go increase the number so we're gonna get to 50 then at some point we'll see in the future where we're gonna go with that so there was an implication with 31 money we had a little bit reservation with that at this point that's helpful thank you Miss Marshall when you were talking about the applying for outside of your District at school because you families may not want that program is that a one and done I apply my first year for kindergarten and.

Then we go to a different school and we stay through transfers are available each year each school year and if I have multiple children I have to go through that process every single time with each student that is the way our transfer policy is okay this time thank you. Yeah that's what that's what I was getting ready to say Miss Sunset will be right back go ahead Miss Valentines thank you okay I I I just want to thank you again but I also want to say that you know I just don't I'm going to tell you the truth I'm not convinced with the school for Creative Studies and I know the talking points I've asked them a couple of times even early on and the rationale is efficiency and it's Staffing and it's there's not a precedent for a successful year-round high school we don't see a model here particularly like here in this area but we do know that year-round high schools I I just don't don't find a rationale as.

Local as as we're comparing it to be the the best indicator the justifications for closing this program being that we have a decrease in the number of students that actually stay to me like that attrition I I would not consider that attrition again with with the current condition where it's all over the district and we have all these offerings I don't I don't blame the school for that attrition and I don't really think it's indicative of a lack of interest per se in a year-round program it could be again these families that live far away are making decisions about schools that are closest to them because of Transportation issues the factor of transportation to me the fact that we have struggled with Transportation the fact that we have had a pandemic and you know we have had shortage of stop we have had to figure out how to pay our bus drivers more and we're still not you know we're we've done some work to kind of get them up but we're still.

Not where we can be competitive I I do feel like that factor of Transportation does make some families aside that maybe being where it's at that they may not want to do so that that decrease like the actual the actual analysis of why is the program as a district-wide lottery program not thriving and that is equated to a lack of interest in a year-round option I just don't that's that's not convincing to me I I that is not a correlation as a data person these things don't correlate unless you show me that you have done the work of dismissing the other factors the other variables so I I think about correlation versus and causation and you know I I really want to get to the meat of we don't have exit interviews or data showing why families are making the choice to leave a school like School career for Creative Studies I will tell you this though I have heard and and this is what you what my colleague Millicent elevated about neurodivergent students.

This is known in the community that many children who would we would have failed we would have lost we we wouldn't have them and after a pandemic years of pandemic to find the sense of Home in a school to actually allow them to be a smaller class and we have we've we've all gone to graduations how many students graduated from Lakeview 10. and you know that those are or PLC we have small small graduates like in these schools but there's such richness of the stories and Journeys that these kids have right when when I go to every time I go to a PLC graduation I mean I we all talk about this thing needing tissue you know when we and Dr Hardy you know like it is it is doesn't like Lakeview you know the journeys these kids have done to get to that finish line and I can appreciate that if we have to be inconvenient to allow us to also offer something that that that is important to populations.

That have decided to make that their school as somebody from the neurodivergent community can't even say the word I'm letting you know like this is this is this is this is something that I really want to compel you to think about you have not really brought to me that these things connect that the level of diminishing enrollment in that school is definitely neat due to a lack of interest in a year-round option I feel there's other confounding variables that we need to look at the other thing I will say and I will say about this is that Charters Charters and charters Charters are taking our kids you know I am not happy about that I am not happy to see the trends showing our kids are leaving and and Charters may see this as a weak point that DPS has DPS does not have a year-round high school well guess what I will not be remembered like I I will not leave this out of the equation that.

We have to continue to think about how Charters will look at our weakness and our in our gaps and decide guess what DPS you didn't do it we're gonna do it and we have to think about you know the possibility of losing more students due to Charters and the graduation rate I want to lift up Educators who came here and said 100 of their kids graduated how many schools claim that I want all our schools to claim that but the fact that we have a school leading in that way that is a trophy to me that speaks highly of the involvement in that school and even looking looking back at data 92 percent graduation rates we have a general rate of all our schools together in Dr mubenga we shouted that out right we were we were 84 percent last year 84 but there is a school that is going to help us bring that average up 100 to me that's valuable and it's worth fighting for it's worth fighting for and.

So I tell you I understand efficiency and we're looking at the entire picture and how great it is but if we're moving the margin by just just a little bit I'm willing to do that for school for Creative Studies it's in a rural place there are not that many schools that are in a rural and we talked about this when we met into Retreat and I remember Mr Palmer how we had chart paper out and we talk about landmarks and we talked about Regional access and what is around the area school for Creative Studies is in a rural area you know it is there's chickens you can hear from from the schools there there's there's a certain thing about a rural area and we we actually do give our kids I I wonder how we can support that school even more because there might be an agricultural interest in a lot of our students just because of that area where they're at they're on Red Mill Road there's you.

Know all kinds of you know going up Red Mill the there's a park or a place where people fish and I know that there's so much in terms of like the richness that we have probably not explored maybe we need to kind of Infuse programs and this is not just for school for Creative Studies I'm not nobody's paying me or tell me I've actually thought about this that I wouldn't mind giving more to a school like school for Creative Studies and Lakeview I want to give I want more money to go to these schools and the performance Learning Center I want these schools that have a smaller group of graduating seniors but who are doing good work at 100 or 90 that's commendable let's give them more resources and maybe those more resources will also attract more folks to invest and we will keep those numbers healthy I I do believe we need to give it a shot and I do believe we need established thresholds from now on.

Before we Sunset any program what is that threshold so that the community knows and if the community is willing to fight for it we are right so anyways that's my spiel thank you board member by adaris I just want to make sure that I'm in the same length with Mr Palmer we're not sunset in this school because of attrition so we gotta look at this holistically as we're having a lot of this elementary year-rounds schools being created they get a happy place in the Middle School so if we keep a high school there what's going to happen to all these Elementary School students that's going to matriculate somewhere in the middle school to me that's the way we came up with that rationale yes there was attrition I understand that that could have been how we started the conversation but for us to be able to solve all these puzzles we gotta have a place to send those students that's my understanding of the plan it's not because we don't have a.

Number there we're looking at capacity where we're going to push those middle school students so that's coming from elementary.

If I may build off some of the considerations that you're lifting we are aware of the immense growth of Durham particularly in the Eastern portions of the county currently Neil Middle School is our only Middle School in eastern Durham if we were to not afford the middle school function of Creative Studies we weren't having those seats we only have 100 Middle School seats in all of the sixth grade class for Creative Studies the challenge point to Dr McManus point is that Creative Studies is relieving not only the growth from the year-round middle schools are coming up we're giving families the opportunity in Northern and Eastern Durham there again Creative Studies in its location on Red Mill Road inspired our days as he pointed out is well positioned to be the companion program to help support Neil and the growth pressures that we are going to be facing in the next five to ten years I realize we have a long journey ahead we are in a massive deficit as it.

Relates to seats and the overall number of students in our County we have very thin resources to cover many miles in particular for our seats at our Middle School level that is where we are seeing and I'll I'll speak briefly just that we are seeing that Charter Schools do absolutely focus on our middle schoolers and we are seeing that commensurate starting in fourth grade with our cohort rates bringing seats online in Northern and Eastern Durham to support our three year-round seats in those regions at Holt easily handed out Grove aligns with those feeder patterns ensures that we're not breaking apart our family calendars which our board has prioritized in our Retreats and conversations historically and brings much needed capacity at the middle school level for Eastern Durham as we must prepare ourselves for the next five to ten years it will be difficult and I know we'll be spending the years ahead working through these challenges as Durham continues to grow so those seats are are particularly relevant for the Middle School level.

I appreciate that Mr Palmer and I think I also want to note school for Creative Studies will still be school for Creative Studies just Middle School only and so there's an opportunity for all the things that we that have been talked about and that we love about the program to still be there for those six through eighth grade students that part is not going away I think there is a question around what are the right feeders maybe for high school for many of those students and and families and that can be another thing we consider around Pathways or something like that I think people talked about the smallness of the school we also have small high school programs that we potentially could be good fits for some of those students so I think I want to also just remind us that some of that will still exist and now more students will have an opportunity to participate that with that especially in middle school which is such a.

Can be such an awkward and fun time for our middle school students right so the ability to be in the community where they feel accepted and celebrated and get to tap into lots of different intro it feels like a really great opportunity for that sixth through eighth grade students at school for Creative Studies so the theme stays and so I just want to make sure to highlight that if no other questions I'm happy to start move to accept emotion or to move forward I just have one last follow-up it's quick you mentioned well the growth is is pretty evident there's growth and we need to accommodate seats but I just mentioned that it's in a rural area and actually I don't know that we're utilizing our land in that space to the maximum capacity who's to say that we're not going to build another building who's to say that we're not going to retrofit or do amendments to a current building and make it you know conform to all the requirements that we.

Have to conform it to and actually have room and space to have a high school but my thing is if and going on my colleague Natalie Beyer who mentioned that maybe in the future we may need a year-round I do believe we'll need a year-round High School I believe that because already you know there's students that have chosen even with all the factors that we talked about that we faced from a pandemic Transportation issues shortage of Staff everything else that I've chosen and I do believe that there is going to be there is an interest in a year-round High School if we're going to say that we're going to consider that for later in the future why not use the current existing bones that we have and those bones that we have I mean just figure out whether land utilization because we're talking about utilization within the building but that's not to say that's the end-all be-all like we're we're building schools as we as we talk about we just approve of 57 million.

Dollar contracts to retrofit and upgrade our schools right one of our schools and so who's to say that we can't do that so I just I I want to just mention that leave it with that I think I appreciate that point Miss validars and I think that's why this policy now states that every five years we'll be coming back and looking I think in my mind I'm tuggling between if you build it they will come and we also got to be cognizant of what's here right we can't just build and hope for people to come too and so I think you know your point is well taken and in five years we can revisit this and say wow there's a huge population that we see and even before five years right three years two years we see this growth in this population that wants this interest or this program how do we reset and we figure out how to do that so it's it's not like it can never come back or we.

Never consider but for at this time our district needs something different it's what I'm also hearing so I want us to keep that in mind and also make a couple more comments and then I'm hopeful that we can have a motion or something to move us forward I think all of our plans right now are just plans we have to have people interact with them and I think that's also why the review of this five years three years continuously looking at it it's going to be really important because we don't know what people are going to do there's their children will start walking in 24 25 25 26 walking into school buildings or putting in applications and that will give us a lot more information around the plan so I I have my own hesitancy and questions but then I'm starting to realize I won't know until the people start interacting with our plan and we figure that out and excited that we're going to be bringing this back it won't be another 30 years.

Before Durham does a deep dive into our Student Assignment I think that's something we need to make sure we remind ourselves there is no perfect Student Assignment plan any conference that you go to or any people that you talk to talk about how challenging this work is why people don't do it often and when they try they often fail because of when people start interacting with plans things start shifting and changing so I want us to hold that as well this is bold it's ambitious and we should be a little nervous and we're going to have to keep looking at it and keep revisiting and keep refining as we change as Durham change as our school system changes.

A move that we accept the growing together plan for secondary application schools and School boundaries second to move by Miss Byers seconded by Miss Carter Alton any other discussion. We had a previous board meeting that was supposed to be just for discussion because we did not want to just move really fast on this and we in the in that other meeting it was just was brought to us and then you know we were told like you know we were going to have just have a discussion to allow time for Community in that time we have had students staff community members come in and say they're common and I want to lift up that there was a student who was very nervous was their first time coming to the board and I I have sat with this feeling of what compelled a student who was obviously very nervous was never done this before never come to a board meeting and take that mic up and even tell us and we even we you know.

I I'm sorry but I'm before I'm a board member I'm a mother and I just wanted to shout you know and I just say thank you for your courage thank you for doing that and I want to be able to look at that student in the eyes and say this decision had to be done I can't say that I'm sorry I colleagues I can't say that to that child who fought for his school school for Creative Studies I understand we've had folks tonight there's nothing that touched my heart more than a student who was like this is hard for me to do and you know did the best and did an amazing job and we all you know I was like you did a great job you know but there's nothing that I can look that student in the eyes and I will because I'm out in community and I will believe me I I will see the student because the student has made many comments known before to look in the eye and say.

We absolutely had to had to had to do this I do not feel that that's the case so I just want us to consider as we vote on this thing on this plan I'm sorry I meant plan as you vote on this work sorry I just want us to really consider whether this is absolutely the you know that there's no other choice and I I don't believe that we have a choice and that margin to me is not significant that it's going to throw the whole thing over just if we choose to leave One of a Kind the only one we have seven elementary schools on your round we have two middle schools and we have one high school one spare that one that seashell that sheep whatever Parable you want to use that one I want to be able to look folks in the eye but especially students who have come and said is this absolutely necessary it's convenient to Sunset the high school it's convenient to do it is it.

Absolutely necessary for everything else to work and I am not convinced that that's the case and so I will not be approving this plan tonight but again we're on the vote so I'll chair I'll.

Let you roll call I'll start with Miss Lewis and about I Miss Rogers no Miss valladares no Miss Beyer hi Miss Carter Alton aye and I vote I as well so passes four two thank you all for that rich discussion I know this is not the last conversation about growing together I know this is one leg of your journey completed so I appreciate continued conversation from you and from the team so we can stay abreast on how this is going what we're hearing what our community is hearing and so that we can be able to support you on moving forward thank you the next item on our agenda is our.

Closed session I'll take a motion to go in a closed session move that we go into closed session for the reason stated on the agenda. Second that motion it's been moved Bob is by Miss Beyer seconded by Miss Carter Alton any other discussion we will do a Voice vote Miss Lewis Hamilton Miss Rogers aye miss valladares I miss buyer aye Ms Carter Alton aye and I vote I as well passes unanimously we're now in closed session.