Board of Education · Work Session · February 6, 2025

Moment of silence at this time I invite us to reflect on the circumstances of those affected by violence threats of violence and loss of resources here and around the world as well as our power and agency to continue to build connection Community support and vision for our children's.

Futures thank you the next item on our agenda is agenda review and approval Madam chair I would ask that we move item 3A the resolution for Dr E Leonia Allison to above general public comment just after the Board of Education meeting minutes second okay it's been moved to move the resolution for Dr E Leonia Allison to under or above public comment and been seconded by Mr tab is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I I and it passes unanimously so the next item on and then we need to approve the rest of the agenda move approval of the agenda as amended second thank you the amended agenda has been moved by Miss berer and seconded by Mr tab is there any further discussion all right all those in favor say I I I all those opposed use this same sign it passes unanimously and the next item on our agenda is the Board of Education meeting minutes from January 9th.

2025 move approval of the minutes from January 9th 2025 second okay the meeting minutes have been there's been a motion by Miss buer seconded by Mr tab is there any other discussion all those in favor say I I I any oppos use the same sign it passes unanimously and with that we will move to our resolution for Dr E Leonia Allison and I will pass it pass it to board member tab thank you very much board member Chavez it is such a honor to be able to recognize such a Durham Legend a Durham icon who spent a lot of her time working here within Durham Public Schools helping out children being an advocate for all children I got a chance to know Dr Allison when I first came to Durham and started doing my student teaching at Hillside High School in 1984 and that's how long I've known her since 1984 and she was very instrumental instrumental in me taking the full-time job in 1987 with the a lot of Demands and.

Stipulations of how things should should should go and I'm just so honored to have to have known her for as long as I have it is my pleasure to bring to the podium in recognition also of black history month and the resolution for Dr Allison attorney chair Floyd mckiss who will give some background for her as being chair of the Durham committee on Affairs of black people. Thank you chair Rogers members of the school board Mr superintendent it's a real privilege and honor to be with you this evening on this splended occasion where we're recognizing The Life and Times the work of Dr leavon Allison she's somebody who virtually everybody in Durham knew and I knew her from the time I was my gosh about sixth or eighth grade in fact it goes back to the time when this building was actually a school building and a voting Precinct was operating in the basement of this building known as the Fuller School Precinct and I can remember being out.

There on Election Day with a little tally where you would sit there and mark down how many people were coming you go one two 3 four and you'd strike it with the fifth person and you'd see how many people were turning out to vote even back in that day that time in that era Dr Alison was visible Dr Allison was moving around Durham Dr Allison was trying to make sure that progress in Durham was being made by electing the kind of leadership that we needed not just here in this community but across the state of North Carolina she was a champion when it came to education she was somebody who would was in the Forefront years ago and supporting the merg of the Durham School Systems Durham city school system and the Durham County School System understanding that was in the best interest of this community in terms of providing access equal access to the opportunities for every student in this community to achieve their greatest potential she was somebody who didn't.

Mind standing up and speaking out forcefully aggressively assertively for those things she believed in if she felt that suspensions weren't right in Durham County Schools she was going to come down here and let you know and suggest what need to be done to address that issue and she felt that integrate testing was not the appropriate thing to do and there were better mechanisms and tools and resources that were available she was going to come down here and let you know what her thoughts were about IND School testing or in grade testing I should say she was somebody who did not hesitate to say that when it comes to this community we want to make sure that African-American students get the same access as all other students he was concerned about disparities and performance when it comes to education she was forceful and aggressive if I think back now when she chaired that education committee for the Durham committee there was nobody with more courage nobody who did their homework.

More person who never missed the school board meeting she was going to be here watching and observing like a hawk everything that you did and if you didn't do something right she was going to let you know and she wanted to make sure that you voted right and voted the right way on issues and her that meant voting the right way cuz she told you to but that was Dr Allison he was somebody we all loved somebody who we all respected somebody who not only impacted education here in Durham but across the state of North Carolina and somebody who was known in Washington's in the hallways of Congress where she got up there and let everybody know where she stood not just on education issues but issues related to voting rights issues that dealt with civil rights a whole range of issues that she was passionate about so with this beginning of Black History Month and thinking back about her contributions here in Durham I thank you I commend you.

And I appreciate the fact that you are recognizing her for her contributions for her Legacy but more importantly for the very high standard that she has set that we should all aspire to if we want to do just an a little bit of what she did in contributing to this community thank you so very much thank you chair Floyd mckiss thank you so very much we'll Now call to the podium her son Dr Vincent Allison if you come to the P we'll Now read the resolution ENT record resolution of the Durham Board of Education honoring The Life and Legacy of Dr E Leonia Allison whereas Dr e Leonia Ingram Allison a Fearless advocate for civil rights education and Community empowerment dedicated her life to ensuring Justice and equality for all with an unwavering concern for marginalized communities and whereas born and raised in Durham in Durham's historic haah Community salutatorian of her class she excelled academically at the historic Hillside High School before earning her Bachelor's of Science and physical education from Hampton.

University and her master of arts in health and physical education and doctorate in higher education Administration from New York University using her wisdom to uplift future generations and whereas Dr Allison was a tireless Champion for Durham Public Schools relentlessly advocating for educational equity and the fair treatment of all students and whereas she was a staunch supporter of the Performing Arts at Hillside High School advoca for the construction of a larger band Suite to properly accommodate the size and Legacy of the renowned Hill Hillside band ensuring students had the space and resources necessary to uphold its tradition of excellence and whereas as a dedicated educator for historically black colleges and universities HBCU she mentored and empowered countless students fostering academic excellence and Leadership among young African-Americans and and whereas Dr Allison's leadership as chair of the Durham committee on the Affairs of black people for 14 years strengthened African-American political representation ensuring that elected officials were accountable to the community and whereas she was passionate about educating high school students on entrepreneurship equipping them with the.

Knowledge and Skills to start their own businesses and ensuring they understood the legacy of Durham's black back Wall Street so they could carry it forward for future gener generations and whereas she was a staunch defender of voting rights leading voter registration efforts mentoring political leaders and playing a key role in establishing a voting Precinct in North Carolina Central University to ensure student access to the ballot and whereas Dr Allison was a bold and fearless voice in shaping public policy serving as first vice chair of the Durham County Democrat party and Advising local and state leaders on issues of racial equity and Justice and whereas her contributions were recognized and celebrated by those who praised her lifelong dedication to Justice and equality and whereas Dr Allison remained a mentor Advocate and force for change attending regularly Durham school board meetings advising younger activists and ensuring that the fight for justice continued Beyond her own Lifetime and whereas on January 7th 2025 at the age of 94 Dr Allison's passing was a profound loss for the city.

Of Durham and the nation her enduring Legacy of Courage service and advocacy remains a guiding force inspiring future Generations now therefore be it resolved that we the Durham Public Schools Board of Education honor the extraordinary Life and Legacy of Dr E Leonia Allison recognizing her unwavering commitment to Education civil rights and social justice and expressed our deepest gratitude for her her immeasurable contributions to Durham and Beyond be it further resolved that this resolution be presented as a lasting Testament to her impact ensuring that her work wisdom and vision remain an enduring inspiration for the future dur Public School Scholars and leaders adopted this day Thursday February 6th.

2025 I love oh do we want a motion I make a motion that we adopt the resolution for Dr E lonia Allison to record a second he option of the resolution has been has been moved by Mr Tab and seconded by Miss Umstead is there any further discussion just want to add when I was appointed to this board Dr Allison sat right over here in this corner and she called me over and said asked me a lot of questions ask me what kind of education I had but the last one was what are you going to do for black children and so every time I come into this room I think about her asking me what are you going to do for black children you're right she'll call you and she'll tell you what she thinks and it's going to ask you some really tough questions and I appreciate her and all she's done for this community and the leadership she's shown and the reminder for me to make sure we're.

Thinking about what we're going to do for children and black children in particular so thank y'all at this time we'll have final remarks from her son Dr can we we'll take the vote let's oh is there any further discussion on the vote on the motion rather all okay all those in favor say I I I all those opposed say use the same sign it passes unanimously and with that I'll pass it back to Mr tab thank you so very much at this time we'll have any words from her son Dr Vincent Allison I'm I'm gonna be very brief because a lot has been said and and you've already really expressed how I feel about my mother I want to thank the board on on the resolution on behalf of my sister who can be here tonight Karen Michelle Allison Davis for her leavon Al or Dr Allison number one which she used to always say after I got my degree she was always number one I happen to be Dr.

Alison number two couldn't help it but anyway on her four grand children Christopher bran CI and Melissa we want to thank you so much in entire anyone thank you so much you know when I first up here I saw the timer clock and that's I'm not sure if you saw me chuckle but that's what brought back memories because my mother when she was at these meetings she didn't she didn't look at that clock and and invariably I would get a phone call you better turn on the community Channel your mom's having a day and I call said okay she speaking truth to power that's her job so hopefully her Legacy will live on hopefully we can carry the torch you know my mother never did anything for accolades honors or a Wars she truly loved this city and she truly L loved this community and she truly felt that Justice was deserved by everyone so hopefully we can move forward keep her Legacy alive and keep doing things so we.

Elevate the community of Durham and Elevate our children in Durham public schools and throughout the nation so thank you again I appreciate it so much and I want to also Floyd want to thank you for those generous comments that you made you know you y'all went back and forth a lot but and you know we all respected each other but we can all speak the truth to each other and I just want to make sure that we continue that that we can have good dialogue so we work for the betterment of this community the betterment of our children thank you so much I appreciate.

It thank you that was an inspiring way to start the meeting and we will we will really try to feel Dr Allison's Spirit as we continue on tonight thank you so much for joining us Mr mckisic and Dr Allison all right and Miss Byer yeah just a moment to especially thank Mr tab for his leadership and drafting this resolution and bringing this forward to us this evening thank you so much Mr tab absolutely all right so now we will.

Move to our general public comment. And I will read the public comment rules quick review of the rules please state your name if speaking for an organization please state your name and the name of the organization second speakers are asked to present their comments in two minutes when the yellow light comes on you have 30 you have one 30 seconds left to start winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep which indicates your time is up complaints about Nam staff students or parents should not be voiced in Open session however we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education safety of students or the operation of the school system and finally the board members will listen carefully and consider the comments but we do not engage in discussion with speakers and with that I will call our first person Chad helli of course please pardon me if I mispronounce your.

Name hi my name is Chad hafley I'm here as a parent of students at Hope Valley Elementary and Rogers her Middle School hi it's me again I came to your last two meetings to ask you not to implement express bus stops for Rogers her and other schools in December you approved Express busing for some schools in the 25 26 school year it's now February and this year's magnet Lottery period has come and gone there's still no information about how an Express model will work July will be here before we know it families need and deserve a concrete draft plan to react to the transportation update slides on tonight's agenda don't even mention the express plan my number one request is that you not Implement Express stops at all it decreases equity and access eliminates major reasons that families use school buses and generally makes it harder for students to get to and from school responses to your community survey about the idea were almost universally against it but if you ignore.

This and go with Express stops anyway tonight I'm asking you direct questions I know you can't resp to me here so I'll email them to you as well these need to be addressed publicly and immediately where will the stops be what times will they operate what are the expectations of parents at pickup and drop off what will DPS do to minimize the impact of express service on equity and access and how are families with two working parents supposed to get their kids home this is all basic information that we should have had weeks ago when the magnet Lottery was still open without it families couldn't make informed choices if you can't answer these basic logistical questions by now you shouldn't use the system at all implementing the express stops is the wrong choice it's a permanent solution to a temporary driver shortage don't throw away the benefits from the growing together changes don't go into this without seriously evaluating the impact I acknowledge the world is a lot right.

Now there's a lot of crises there's a ton of fires to address but please talk to families involve Us in the planning process don't forget that you made this decision come July thank you thank you our next speaker is Rachel. Owens good evening and I want to say a happy belated School Board appreciation month I missed it last month so have you belated my name is Rachel Owens and I teach science at Northern High School I am also a member of DPSS energy advisory Council I'm here with a group of students from across our district along with students from Duke University I will let them convey the bulk of our message this evening but I just wanted to say how proud I am to be a part of this group of student Advocates activists and leaders I am here tonight to remind you that we are here to help we are here to assist DPS staff in fulfilling a promise that you made in 2021 to move us toward a cleaner Greener.

Future Part of That promise and stated in your resolution is the goal of formulating a road map to this future in the form of a climate action plan you have staff at the ready that are willing able and have experience in this fairy task and we've even come bearing gifts our student leaders have provided you with drafts of a plan ready to go please hear them tonight they are working hard to ensure that their future is safe and secure as we know you are as well we appreciate good intentions but what we need is action a climate action plan thank you our next speaker is Owen Ambrose.

Good evening my name is Owen Ambrose and I'm a junior at DSA my peers and I are all speaking on behalf of the sunrise movement first of all we would like to thank those of you who attended our visioning session in December last week you all should have received an email with resolutions that we wrote with input from our community if passed these resolutions would make Durham Public Schools one of six districts Across the Nation to pass Green New Deal policy and would make us a national leader in sustainability the speeches you are about to hear from my peers and fellow members of the community will address eight of the items proposed in our resolution all of which aim to prepare for and mitigate the consequences of our ongoing climate crisis we hope to work with each of you to ensure the passage of these resolutions thank.

You oh sorry I I didn't say that into the mic thank you and our next speaker is on. Bueno right hi good evening I want to thank each of you for taking the time to meet with us this afternoon my name is Andrea Bueno and I'm also a junior at Durham School of the Arts but tonight I speak to you as an officer of dsa's National Honor Society and a representative of our student body not too long ago I had the opportunity of visiting the new Northern High School it's a lovely building and as I looked around I just got to imagine what the new DSA building would look like I've seen tiles fall from the roofs cracks expand on the walls and faculty succumb toic building syndrome so I'm sure you can imagine my excitement at picturing the facility that future students will have access to in this new project but as I looked into that project one thing really stood out to me and that was the lack of Provisions for clean.

Energy we were made a promise of 8 % clean and renewable energy by 2035 and 100% by 2050 yet the new building doesn't seem to really include Provisions that work towards that goal so we're here to ask that the school board cease construction of new projects until they're able to implement programs specifically clean and renewable energy that will work towards that 80% goal we understand understand that these are not simple asks they take time money energy and planning but we hope that you will look past the words what we're asking for and really appreciate the opportunity we have to leave an impact in something much larger than any of us here so thank you again for your time thank you our next speaker is Aiden.

Mendoza good good evening my name is aidah Mendoza and I'm a junior at Durham School of the Arts the greenhouse gas protocol has defined carbon emissions using subset definitions known as scope one two and three emissions what we think about when we think of these emissions and carbon footprint usually just clean renewable energy only cover scope one in order for the durh PB schools to become a green School District we also need to reduce scope to emissions indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy such as energy sourcing from Duke Energy and scope 3 emissions all other indirect emissions that occur in the company's value chain such as item purchasing and sourcing I know this seems like a lot and trust me it is the elimination of emissions at all levels is a daunting task and that would require drastic systematic change however that doesn't mean we cannot stop cannot start the process small steps now can help eliminate an unable issue in the future which is why we propose a.

Complete I we propose a complete a comprehensive environmental assessment of all district facilities and operations to quantify during Public School scope one two and three emissions and the risk that the climate crisis poses to our school system within one year of the passage of this resolution thank you thank you our next speaker is Cameron okay.

Good evening my name is Cameron AO I'm 17 and I'm a junior at Riverside High School according to the US Department of Health and Human Services an estimated 5.13 million excess deaths per year globally are attributed to ambient air pollution from fossil fuels that could potentially be avoided by phasing them out that means that 5.13 million people die per year because we don't utilize technologies that we already have hearing scientific statistics is one thing and hearing about lost lives is another I wonder how many disasters will it take before we act how many lives need to be lost before we act how many times are we going to let this pass before we act I'm not alone in this opinion the sunrise Hub at DSA has been asking the same question they have been acting attempting to make a difference this Tuesday 45 students at Riverside High School agreed and pledged to act we started our own Hub another group Committed to acting next I need you to.

Act we refuse to sit idle and I believe that we can make a difference I believe we don't have to sit here watching people suffer I believe we can act and I believe in this resolution I believe that the school board's action will help I believe in this step and because of that I believe that the school board must create a plan to achieve 100% clean energy by 2030 and 100% carbon neutrality by 2040 districtwide without the purchase of carbon credits or offsets within 18 months excuse me of the passage of this resolution please act thank you thank you our next speaker is Elena Blackwelder.

Evening my name is Elena Blackwelder and I am a teacher at DSA and I also supervise the sunrise Hub there and it's easy to dismiss climate change as something that will become a problem in 20 years or to say that wildfires don't happen here floods aren't really that bad here or we don't really get bad hurricanes in this area but that last one is what people living in Asheville North Carolina said before September of last year Asheville was considered a safe haven for climate change because of its unique position in the mountains but on September 27th 2024 hurricane Helen devastated Western North Carolina with floods washing away whole towns destroying roads and killing more than a 100 people climate change is causing more natural disasters at higher intensities and in different places Durham could experience a climate disaster like Helen and we would not be prepared Duran Public Schools currently does not have a climate disaster plan in the case of an unexpected natural disaster our schools should be equipped.

To distribute resources such as first aid clean drinking water warming and cooling centers and electricity that is why we ask DPS to work with local and state governments nonprofit organizations Business Leaders students teachers and parents to create a comprehensive districtwide climate disaster plan Within 18 months of the passage of this resolution which establishes steps to mitigate the risks of the climate crisis that the current climate crisis poses to our school system and in the event of a climate disaster use schools as centers for Community response and relief thank you thank you our next speaker is Kayla cabera.

Good evening my name is Kayla cabera and I am the student body president of Durham School of the Arts as the climate crisis becomes increasingly prevalent for our futures we need students to be educated on how to best combat the issue encouraged to advocate for environmental justice and prepared to enter careers that help mitigate the effects of climate change I have learned from a curriculum with a focus on climate change and even then I was only gaining a surface level understanding of the truly detrimental state of our world and the continuous systematic climate oppression from our governments and Corruptions that they intentionally attempt to hide not only this but climate change is rarely discussed outside our science classrooms despite its prevalence in other subjects as it embodies societal issues like systematic racism and economic inequality the poor climate actions of past Generations leave this crisis and the responsibility to solve it in our hands but we can't begin this fight if we aren't provided the necessary education and resources and it is your.

Responsibility as leaders in education to Pro to provide them we need the school board to establish a committee inclusive of students teachers and local climate experts to write place-based standards incorporating climate literacy into curricula across all grade levels and subjects audit all science textbooks for inaccuracies and inadequacies relating to the reality CA causes severity and solutions to anthropogenic global climate change and study opportunities for high quality professional development for all district faculty relating to climate literacy this committee will provide a proposal on implementing these standards to the board within two years of the passage of this resolution thank you thank you our next speaker is Sarah.

O'Brien hi my name is Sarah O'Brien I live in Durham and I have two children at Durham Public School System I work in the field of transportation and specifically bicycle and pedestrian planning engineering and safety and in the 20 plus years I've been in this work I've seen more and more agencies seek out planners and Engineers with experience specifically in bicycle and pedestrian Transportation as local state local and state governments create full-time positions to address the unique needs of these modes positions that largely did not exist 30 to 40 years ago this is just one example of the types of jobs that are likely to continue to be in demand as our country shifts away from a car Centric culture which is just one strategy to address climate change and its devastating impacts within the transportation sector alone Duran Public Schools needs to provide students with the resources to find jobs that are based on combating climate crisis especially in those fields that become more in demand our.

Children need to be prepared to take on the challenges that my and previous generations are passing onto them to solve DPS needs to engage with and listen to what employers are saying they need from perspective employees to build a competitive Workforce therefore please support sunrise's resolution to partner with local and state governments businesses nonprofit organizations unions and trade technical schools to expand Pathways to well-paying jobs combating the climate crisis in Career Technical offerings DPS must rise to meet these needs to ensure this generation is well equipped to battle the climate crisis thank you our next speaker is Eloise edar sorry Eloise hi my name is Eloise and I'm a student at Riverside High School which recently started Ed a club following dsa's footsteps of the sunrise movement as stated in the proposed resolution the climate crisis is increasing the cost of food disrupting hourly and seasonal employment unemployment oh yeah employment and increasing unemployment overall which will sorry which will exacerbate childhood food insecurity especially among low-income families and communities of color as the climate.

Crisis works it becomes increasingly crucial for the DPS system to step in we are so grateful that the kids in DPS are now offered free breakfast and lunch but our work cannot stop there we must ensure that this policy remains implemented despite setbacks we must strive to improve the quality and sourcing of our meals and we must do so for the sake of increasing nutritional value and decreasing scope to emissions.

This is why as the seventh action item listed in the green New Deal for Durham Public Schools we ask TPS to continue to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students within three years of the passage of this resolution adopt a plan to provide local sourced and sustainably grown breakfast and lunches to all students we know our demands are steep but they demands because they are necessary thank you for your time thank you our next speaker is Sarah. Rodriguez hi my name is Sarah Rodriguez and I'm one of the leaders of the DSA Sunrise Hub in the current Duram public school's strategic plan for 2023 to 2028 these five items are listed as priorities for goal oriented improvements fostering academic Excellence recruiting supporting and retaining exemplary staff providing a safe and healthy school environment that supports the whole child cultivating meaningful and authentic Community engagement and conducting business administrative and operational functions responsibly and equitably we believe that these ideals directly align with the ideals and proposition positions of a green New.

Deal for schools responsible operations function responsible operational functions include the redu reduction of scope one two and three emissions part of providing a safe and healthy school environment is ensuring the cleanliness of buildings and the nutritious value of meals part of retaining staff is a similar promise ensuring that their place of work is safe and secure part of cultivating Community engagement is connecting students to Green jobs in their community and part of promoting the academic Excellence of our students is ensuring that they are well-versed in the dangers of the climate crisis and equipped with strategies and practices to face them some of the current goals in the Strategic plan lean towards these green initiatives but we need more we are aware that amending the Strategic plan is a tedious process and most of our demands are not appropriate for a plan only spanning over the next 3 years this is why we resolve that Durham Public Schools should start by incorporating climate change mitigation adaptation and Disaster Response in the annual superintendent evaluation.

Beginning this year with the larger aim of implementing such goals into the 2029 2034 DPS strategic plan we believe that we are working with the same purpose to fight for a safe and bright future for DPS students and we believe that in the face of the climate crisis one of the largest issues Humanity has ever faced a green New Deal is necessary for that promise for such Futures thank you you thank you our next speaker is Lucia.

Harrington hello my name is Lucia Harrington I'm a junior at DSA and a member of the sunrise movement thank you for all you do for our schools and thank you for listening to my peers and fellow community members students in our school district are calling on this school board to take climate action we need to transition to renewable energy we need a climate mitigation plan we need to teach students about the climate crisis and prepare them for future careers before the next hurricane hits before the LA fires become our own before heat waves Force children inside for the summer permanently before snow days lose their magic and instead become something to fear we have four years left to reduce emissions before higher global temperatures make the worst climate impacts inevitable we know it will be difficult but a green New Deal for schools would be Monumental for DPS we appreciate good intentions but what we need is action a climate action plan a green deal for schools thank you for your.

Time thank you our next speaker is Charlotte perlam. Hi I'm Charlotte kurlin and I lead a team at Duke University's Climate Coalition focused on expanding renewable energy initiatives specifically solar energy in North Carolina I want to thank you for your time and for your ongoing commitment to a sustainable future for Durham Public Schools when I spoke to you last we discussed the importance of creating a climate action plan that integrates renewable energy across the district since then I've been inspired by the continued passion from students Educators and community members alike but as we know we need more than passion we need action I look forward to having open conversations about a realistic route of implementation for a climate action plan this is an opportunity to in integrate clean energy into our schools reduce our carbon footprint and most importantly provide our students with Hands-On learning experiences that will shape them into the climate Leaders of Tomorrow at the Duke Climate Coalition we are committed to helping make this.

Vision a reality I stand here tonight to reiterate that we are ready to assist with res Arch analyzing economic benefits and navigating the logistics of implementing a districtwide renewable energy program this work is not just about energy it's about the future we want to create together for Durham and the generations that will follow mine we appreciate good intentions but what what but what we need is action a climate action plan I'm excited to see the progress that we can make together thank you thank you our next speaker is fiser malan.

Hello I am fiser Malin I am also a student at Duke University with the Duke Climate Coalition I want to first start off by saying another belated School Board appreciation month and I am speaking to encourage Durham Public Schools to implement and execute an action plan to achieve the renewable energy targets that is called for in the 2021 clean energy resolution and a lot of the students who have spoken so far have already done an excellent job highlighting why this work is important why climate change is scary and why it's real and why it's happening right now so I wanted to highlight a few reasons why this work is particularly feasible and I think that the the case for this is clear to start the commitment is already in place with the 2021 clean energy resolution energy managers have already been hired and they have technical expertise to do this kind of work the financials are compelling this is fortunately an area where Improvement can pay for itself and does pay for.

Itself so by prioritizing renewable resources and Energy Efficiency we can improve student health minimize greenhouse gas emissions all while saving money and then there are resources to support this work there is money from federal and state governments nonprofits and the private sector to fund a lot of this renewable energy and Energy Efficiency work and finally there is an eager Coalition of students and staff and teachers that would be happy to provide support and work in collaboration to make progress on making a plan to achieve those renewable energy targets therefore I hope we can be in conversation about how to work together and make this happen and as always we appreciate good intentions but what we need is action a climate action plan thank you very much for your time thank you our next speaker is christe.

Clen hello I'm Christy Clen physical therapist member of Dae and I sent the board in several administrators an email over the weekend asking things I've asked in public comment would like to find out if Legacy pay can legally be removed from classified paychecks not if you want to but are you allowed to classified employees are definitely fearful that that's going to disappear in the future as a way to figure out this shortfall that was not the employees fault we want to know how the 8.8 for classified was actually spent and we would like a list of positions what the previous pay grades were called compared to what they are now so we can continue to look at specific numbers to see what is happening Miss berer wrote me that she's confident administrator will answer my email she has way more confidence than I do because historically my emails go unanswered Mr Teter said last board meeting that he would be willing to look at pay scales going forward.

If that's something that he is asked to do by the board and administration I would love to have a commitment that that is going to happen you know the last two years I believe the state has mandated a 4% and a 3% raise for classified so at the very least if you throw out the hill study at the very least it seems like classified folks should have a 7% raise but yet when we look at current Pace scales that's not the case for my grade otpt the max rate now is 8% less than it was in 2223 the state is say we should get a 7% for two years over the last two years and we're now down minus 8 I don't understand that math also DPS needs meet and confer a real meet and confer notada let's invite anybody that wants to come but one that has a majority representation in that I think you'all gotten a letter from multiple attorneys that that is legal am I out of two minutes thank you.

Okay our next speaker is Dr Jennifer Girish.

Hello Hi how are you I'm no stranger to the board my name is Jennifer geish I'm a behavioral scientist and Health Systems researcher I'm here though in the capacity of the Durham advocates for exceptional children committee on suspension we're so excited that a strategic priority to be is on the agenda we're eager to hear the update tonight I have four and a half pages of things that I wanted to say to you all I've also emailed it my my co-chair also emailed all those to you there's some really great questions that we hope that you ask tonight especially about the way the data are represented and the plan solutions that are there and potentially how we can use data better to to Target solutions by our self-proclaimed data geek of a superintendent Dr Lewis who we've had the opportunity to collaborate deeply with and we're so very very thankful and grateful for the time that you've given us I wanted to start with saying that public schools are the only place where.

Students with disabilities are guaranteed full and equal access to education in fact we want to recognize that here particularly inlight of the forces that are pushing against ending Public School let's all be clear there are forces trying to push to end Public School my children and other people's children with disabilities will have no place to get a proper education if this happens however we need to do our part right now to protect the children that we have in school to make sure that their butts are in the school system we so appreciate you adding students with disabilities to Priority 2B we need to do more the data you see we show you we went from number two overall suspended group to woohoo the most suspended group in the data that they're going to show you tonight that's super not cool and nothing for us to be proud of and also as I've brought up to you multiple people in this group I'm not so sure I believe those data I'm not so sure.

That we're tracking it as effectively as we could and I know you can talk to many thank thank you thank you thank you thank you for the information and for sending it to us we had someone else sign up named Sarah O'Brien But as Sarah O'Brien spoke is that a different Sarah O'Brien oh okay all right in that case that concludes our public comment and the next item is our consent items just let me say thank you to everyone who spoke and we love to hear from our students really means a lot all right consent.

Items move approval of the consent agenda items a through e second all right it's been moved by Miss carteron seconded by Miss berer is there any other discussion all those in favor say I I I any oppos use the same sign it passes unanimously and now we will move to academic services and begin with a CTE Proclamation so I will hand it to Mr Harris. Good evening board chair Rogers members of the board superintendent Lewis District leaders and Community stakeholders today's Cutting Edge rigorous and relevant CTE program prepares youth for high wage high skill and high demand careers an established and emerging Industries CTE month is a public awareness campaign sponsored by the Association for Career and Technical education that takes place each February to celebrate the value of CTE and the achievements and accomplishments of CTE programs across the country throughout the month of February our CT program will celebrate and promote the CT programs in our schools and potential careers in Durham and across the us over.

The last year we've done some exciting work in CTE we welcomed all eighth graders to our second accelerate career event where middle school students engage with employers to see what career options are available here in Durham County we started the process of redesigning how middle school students engage with the CT content with the implementation of our career and college ready labs and we increase the number of students participating in work-based learning experiences throughout our different programs I want to thank our CT Educators and support staff for the tremendous work they are doing to provide career opportunities for the students in dur public schools and tonight the CT department is excited to put before you a proclamation declaring February 1st through the 28th 2025 CTE month in dur Public Schools I want to personally thank you on behalf of our teachers and staff for your continued support of CTE and our schools and at this time I invite you to read the proclamation aloud thank you very much Mr Harris and.

I will invite Mr tab to start and we'll go down the line here to read the.

Proclamation where's February the first through the 28th 2025 has been designated as Career and Technical Education Month by the Association for Career and Technical education and whereas Career and Technical education offers students the opportunity to gain the academic Technical and employability skills necessary for True career Readiness and whereas students in Career and Technical education programs participate in authentic meaningful meaningful experiences that improve the quality of their education and increase their engagement and achievement and whereas Career and Technical education provides students with career exploration opportunities earlier in their educational experience which enables them to make informed and beneficial decisions about their academic coursework and pursue established programs of study and career Pathways and whereas leaders from business and industry Nationwide report increasing challenges is related to addressing the skills Gap and connecting qualified professionals with available careers and critical and growing CTE related fields including Health Care energy skill trades Advanced manufacturing cyber security and information technology and whereas Career and Technical education prepare students for these and other fulfilling careers by offering.

Integrated programs of study that link secondary and postsecondary education and and lead to the entainment of Industry recognized credentials and where's Career and Technical education programs ensure that employers have access to a qualified and thriving Workforce ensuring America is a strong and competitive economy therefore be it resolved that the Durham Public Schools board of education does hereby Proclaim February 1st through 28th 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month and urge all students and families to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by the Career and Technical education programs in Durham public schools and to support and participate in these programs to enhance their individual skills and productivity signed signed the sixth day of February 2025 thank you board colleagues at this time I will accept a motion move approval of the Proclamation for Career and Technical Education Month second thank you the approval of the Proclamation has been moved by Miss buer seconded by Mr tab is there any other discussion all those in favor say I I I.

I all those opposed use the same sign all right and with that the proclamation is approved thank you very much Mr Harris Dr Pitman thank. You all right and our next item is our strategic plan priority number two and I will pass it to Dr Pitman thank you and good evening board members superintendent Lewis members of our community this evening we are pleased to provide an update on the Strategic plan priority number two from provide a safe and healthy school environment that supports the whole child I would like to acknowledge my colleague Dr Tanya Giovani our Deputy superintendent of administrative legal and compliance Services who co-chairs the priority leadership with me on the next slide please this is a just a quick refresher of our mission our vision and our core beliefs around educating empowering and embracing every student to innovate serve and Lead as well as our vision to ignite the Limitless potential and our core beliefs for all children tonight throughout our presentation of priority 2 you will hear.

Evidences woven throughout that lift up all of these next slide please so tonight is about priority 2 the second of five and before we begin we want to do a little bit of a refresher on where we ended last year and there's a new long launch of a document called The Benchmark summary quick reference on our next slide and this summarizes where we were at the conclusion of our first year next slide please there we go where we were last year this data has been shared with the board but this is a a more at a glance and in-depth look at priority to what I'd like to do is talk briefly through each one just to dust off our cobwebs before we jump into the actual update from our strategic plan goal leads so as you can see priority 2 has four goals and what's going to be interesting about this goal one although on one single line really has three goals metrics embedded within it it speaks to the goal.

From last year 2324 to spend time developing measures of fidelity and measures of Fidelity in two areas one around our cultural Frameworks and the second around our social emotional curriculum so last year this goal team spent time developing those measures of fidelity and for the next four years they'll be implementing those measures against the curriculum and the so and the cultural Frameworks so you will see a metric now lifted up at 88% which is their Baseline this year that 88% of schools this year at least will have measures of fidelity with their implementation and each of those two areas and then over the L the course of the next four years will'll reach 100% for goal 2B the percent of black students students with disabilities and Hispanic students over the next four years would be 5% or lower just want to remind the board that in September of this year of 2024 you approved into this goal metric the students with disability suspension rate so we won't see a data.

Point Benchmark that had been reported last year but will be going forward just to call attention to the the results the Hispanic suspension rate is still under that threshold of that 5% Target of 5% or less but did creep up by 67 last year so that's on the radar of our schools and our leadership teams and the goal is not met for our black students for goal 2C the target of 95% attendance are higher in four years The Benchmark was set at 89.2 and was met and then for gold 2D this one is a little bit complicated it has four data points within the one box and it speaks to two surveys one we're going to be looking at participation rates in each of those two surveys and the survey would be the student climate survey which is administered to grades 5 S and 11 and the other is our our Panorama seal or social emotional learning survey again seeking 95% participation if you look carefully at that metric for participation rates of.

84% for the climate you'll remember you may remember back in the fall 9% of our students responded and you remember with the parent Bill of Rights it's an opt-in survey now and that metric has brought some complexities to managing that and the team will speak to that more a little bit more in depth this evening and the seal curriculum we had set a benchmark of 86.5 and 68% participation rate on that was AC was the accomplishment at the end of this year for each of those surveys now we look at well what are the students telling us for student climate that we want to see that schools are reporting my school as is a good place to attend and to learn and you can see we increased that our bench Mark was 87.3 and we got to 88.7 we would celebrate that but we must overlay the percent of participation where 9% 99.7% of our students responded to that and so we look again to our social emotional survey where overall students feel that.

They belong at their school and we had set a benchmark of 61 and we did not meet that Benchmark but rather 52% of our students reported favorably in that regard so so let's talk about what's happening on the next slide here are the four goals quickly just as a refresher let me just set the stage of what will happen with each of our goal presentations so we have four goals and four goal team leads and co-leads there each of their presentations will be two slides the first will will refresh you with the goal and show you their team membership and the second will highlight what is in progress what's in place and what are the next steps there is a lot of information on those slides and the the teams have lifted just select pieces that are in bold that they are going to speak more in depth intentionally to with you this evening each of the gold team leads will also highlight the work under way including their successes whether.

They're on track to meet their Benchmark Target some of the challenges that they're facing and some of the ways that they are addressing those challenges so at this time i' would like to invite Dr lever Maddox Perry our senior executive direct director of student Support Services to lead the information on go 2A Dr madx.

Perry thank you Dr Pitman and good evening Dr Lewis Madame chair Rogers board members and community members next slide please by 2024 DPS will develop measures of fidelity for implementation of a research-based cultural framework and social emotional learning Curriculum by 2028 100% of dur Public Schools will Implement a research-based cultural framework and social emotional learning curriculum with Fidelity just wanted to refresh what the goal actually States at this time I'd like to ask the goal 218 to stand. Thank you and we're excited to begin our update of priority 2 with Goal 2A next slide please in place in progress in next steps goal 2A is focused on the foundation of all the work towards attainment of each of the other priority two goals high fidelity implementation of cultural Frameworks namely restorative practices and capturing kids Hearts as well as the embedding of seal curriculum into all DPS school schedules is the base for building a safe environment for all students the efforts our team including the principal advisory members continues to take in.

Conjunction with the DPS Community are towards fostering holistic Wellness systemwide the collaboration with leadership services on an aligned tiered support model allows schools to receive personalized support professional learning and coaching based on their specific level of implementation the use of a restorative practices checklist as well as the seal implementation rubric helps guide the honest conversations and discussions about ways to move the needle two noteworthy Endeavors with local partners are number one with the Center for Child and Family Health now we have a plan to train all DPS relevant staff members in trauma informed practices that includes follow-up sessions with school administrators throughout the school year and secondly in partnership with peaceful schools we will focus our restorative practices training with them for administrators around Fair process and how to be restorative in the face of having to issue disciplinary consequences these highlights will ensure we build our implementation each year towards the 100% by 2028 by increasing the DPS team's capacity for cultural Frameworks and seal curriculum next slide.

Please okay we are on Pace for goal 2A to achieve the Benchmark for 2024 and 2025 however there are challenges that we have taken proactive steps to address for one time remains a commodity in Educational Systems and is the only nonre renewable resource for us as Educators time for training and adequate support for school staff remains a continual challenge another prominent challenge is the creativity required to avoid initiative fatigue with all the needs in our district we are fortunate to have programmatic resources available to address some of these needs it is through skillful collaboration and active listening that we are hoping to adjust as necessary to avoid overwhelming School staff with the new thing full seal implementation requires lessons to be taught by classroom teachers for a specific amount of time 15 minutes a day in elementary schools and 45 minutes a day excuse me a week in secondary schools we need contined alignment with our partners in curriculum and instruction as well as research and accountability to ensure that schools and teachers can prioritize.

Seal instruction and that schools do not receive competing messages is about allocation of instructional time at this time I would ask Dr Melissa Watson to come speak on go to.

Be we go back one side please. Thank you very much good evening it is my pleasure to be with you this evening DPS focuses on the physical emotional and mental well-being of every scholar by helping schools create safe respectful and inclusive environments we integrate social emotional learning Mental Health Resources and restorative practices to meet the holistic needs of our Scholars ensuring they feel valued and supported in addition we now use data about students with disabilities as a metric for this goal this revision was made in September 2024 will members of gold team 2B who are present please.

Stand next slide please we as a district have made a commitment and I want to highlight just a few of the practices that you see on the on the slide here in place for instance to build Upon A welcoming School climate within our schools several provide Affinity spaces for Scholars of color in lgbtq I A Plus offering positive culturally affirming experiences School staff receive training on updated guidelines and strategies to create inclusive and supportive environments in addition staff receive professional learning on evidence-based practices to enhance scholar behavior and all EC staff and school administrators are required to undergo training and nonviolent Crisis Intervention to effectively prevent and respond to challenging behaviors schools are encouraged to send teams to participate in this training ensuring that diverse staff members are prepared to respond and provide support as needed and progress another strategy for reducing recidivism at New Directions our alternative to suspension site involves engaging scholars in a leadership series facilitated by appointed to lead leadership skill development empowers Scholars to take ownership of their.

Actions and make Positive Choices next steps in alignment with the DPS Sports decision to revise DPS policy 4301 go team 2B will gather feedback from Scholars staff and families to Ure that the revised DPS code of character conduct and support reflects our shared commitment to restorative practices focusing on repairing harm fostering accountability and nurturing stronger relationships at this time I would invite my team member Mr mik W safield to speak on gold to. See good evening and happy National School counseling week to all of those watching when students feel safe supported and valued at school they are more likely to attend school regularly and are better equipped to engage in learning build meaningful relationship ship and overcome challenges this is the focus of gold 2C and I would like to invite the team members to stand could we move to the next slide slide please and the next slide please in place our school social workers leverage our partnership with the elab spaling conflict resolution center to support students with chronic.

Absenteeism and work with their families to identify and remove barriers to regular School attendance the conflict resolution center uses an appro a restorative approach mirroring our DPS values to create an action plan to help remove barriers to create an action plan to help students resume regular School attendance to date the DPS CRC partnership has served over 100 students and families in progress this year School attendance teams led by our school social workers were asked to focus on tier one everyday ontime attendance awareness this effort expands September attendance Awareness Month activities year-long and incorporates our commitment to restorative practices and social emotional learning creating School environments in which students are eager to belong some of the creative activities include social media campaigns perfect and improved attendance recognition and attendance focused Spirit weeks student Support Services created the tiered support guidance for attendance and the attendance standard treatment protocol which serve as support which serve to support school teams to organize and direct interventions and supports throughout this year school administrators School social workers and.

Other key staff will have professional development to better understand how to implement these new resources it is no secret that school bus transportation has been a challenge this school year however this is not the only reason our students miss school while going through the med mediation process with the conflict resolution center our students facing chronic absenteeism have shared the following reasons for missing school family circumstances including lack of supervision and divorce so socioeconomic challenge Alles like neighborhood safety and housing insecurity and mental health conditions like School rated anxiety since we know that our students and families are facing these challenges our student support services department has a wide array of resources and support to address these areas in addition we are constantly searching local state and national resources to that will help enhance our students ability to access their education and live full and healthy lives next steps as you know improving our overall attendance rate must be a collaborative effort with our entire Durham Community moving forward we will create strategic.

Districtwide attendance campaigns and increase Community Education next you will hear from Amy Miller director of integrated academic and behavior systems. Good evening so next slide please here you see our team and the goal for 2D I would ask for the members of goal team 2D to stand at this. Time next slide please so the Panorama seal survey is administered twice annually to all students in 4th through 12th grade and students with families that opt in in kindergarten through third grade despite a Relentless effort by multiple departments to increase optins the Panorama seal survey as well as the DPS student climate survey participation is down since optin was initiated with the parents Bill of Rights passing in 2023 we have also just concluded the administration of a smaller survey of students in grades 5 7 and 11 called the goal 2D student perception survey which does not require parental opin but does ask all students to provide feedback to The Prompt overall my school is a good place to attend and.

Learn we are compiling the results from this survey and plan to use them to inform progress regarding this this aspect of goal 2D although response rates for the Panorama survey are lower we still have a majority at 65.7% of all students responding in grades k12 and 86.8% in grades 4 through 12 where opt-in is not required for this reason we'll focus on Trends obtained only from the Panorama seal survey not the student climate survey on the Panorama seal survey you'll see an increase in our overall sense of belonging in the results at all grade levels for context sense of belonging is defined by Panorama as the extent to which students feel that they are valued members of their school's Community grades 3 through five is on track with meeting our strategic plan goal but grades 6 through 12 is currently off track diving deeper into the 612 results we see lower favorable responses to this question for English language Learners and female students and higher favorable responses for our students identified as academically intellectually.

Gifted some challenges we have with this goal include low participation rate and the difficulties with favorability ratings in terms of grades 6 through 12 we have addressed the participation rate for the climate survey with the creation of the new 2D perception survey for theal survey we have had conversations about whether the survey for grades K2 is something worth continuing in light of the low participation in addition we have continually reassessed our Administration window to ensure it's the optimal time for student participation to increas student sense of belonging in grades 6 through 12 we will continue to work on increasing implementation of oural curriculums and cultural Frameworks with Fidelity in addition the student Support Services team is collaborating with the ESL team and the office of equity Affairs to find ways to effectively increase sense of belonging across all student groups in grade 612 a behavior standard treatment protocol was rolled out this year to support schools with the implementation of consistent evidence-based Behavior practices for all students and in addition to continue.

This work we're working with schools to interpret and use the data from the surveys through seal resource implementation mapping tools and data analysis protocols this is currently being installed in an online course for school staff and we've helped numerous School staffs use resource mapping tools to match resources from panorama's platform Playbook to find actionable strategies to increase student sense of belonging okay so to conclude we see each goal within priority to as inextricably linked by enhancing the implementation of our seal curricula and strengthening our cultural Frameworks which is 2A we anticipate a positive impact on student attendance 2 c a reduction in out of school suspensions 2B and an increase in students feelings of belonging to D with this integration in mind we now welcome Dr Tobias from Durham School of the Arts to share how they use the Student Success platform we have to increase performance for each of our priority two goals good evening everybody thank you for the opportunity it is nice to come up and talk about.

What we are actually doing in schools we use pan Panorama extensively at DSA we we were one of the first early adopters and initially I had the faculty trained in one of our beginning work days on the strengths and the weaknesses of Panorama so they immediately embrace it we started looking at the student surveys and we were not excited about our results especially for the sense of belonging which were which came out at about 40% of our students had a sense of belonging we did not like that that became a schoolwide theme for US based on our Panorama result our school Improvement team has kept this as an equity and culture goal for the last two years and we continue to work on sense of belonging and we look at our Panama data at midpoint and at the end when we get the results our goal is to improve our sense of belonging score on the Panorama so we Infuse different things within our school to make sure that our students feel like they.

Belong we also use panorama to look at critical attendance needs the attendance data that we derive from Panorama drives our attendance committee the team of counselors the social worker and myself meet with our students that are critical on the attendance list and we make attendance plans which we put in Panorama Panorama data drives our mtss meeting we look at students that have a variety of critical needs which ranges from academical behavior and attendance we look at that data that is provided and the team makes recommendations with teachers to assist our students we also place and monitor interventions in Panorama teachers of course also look at Panorama to get a whole school approach to their child because it gives such a wide variety of data points when we meet with our parents one of the first things I do is I open up Panorama and I look at where the students Falls academically behaviorally and with their seal and attendance because those are key data points outside of our EOC or EOG reports that are.

Important overall it's really a great tool because it has such comprehensive data and we use it all the time to ensure that we're looking at all the needs of our students and their well-roundedness in our school thank you so much for this opportunity thank you that concludes our presentation update on St priority two thank you so much thank you information all right thank you to everyone who was here tonight part of the the multiple teams that make up Priority too all right so we you know the board is now on a timed agenda so we have in this section about five minutes left so maybe we can just try to keep our comments or questions 10 okay we have 10 minutes we'll try to keep them breathe into the.

Point would anybody like to start. CH Rogers thanks everybody for this presentation.

I'm appreciative of the anotal data on Panorama Student Success I'm underwhelmed by the fact that we selected our least ever school to present about this and we're not highlighting how it benefits the most marginalized students in the district I would love to see some more antidote antidotal information about how this is how success is being measured at schools that serve our most marginalized students and I say that as a Alum it was not diverse then it's not diverse now it is it is a work in progress and I know some of this work speaks to that but would have loved to heard how it's really impacting in spaces where we want to see faster growth absolutely thank.

You Miss berer I want to thank the the team that is here that is digging into some of the the most challenging work but the the some of the most important work that is going on lift up National School counseling week and all the work that those folks do often behind the scenes every day and so so appreciative of their partnership and acknowledge that we have work to do I think Dr L would be the first to to own that and admit it as a data nerd and wondered specifically when we talked about addressing policy 4301 which I was excited to see that a team is working on kind of who's working on that and if if parents or others might want to contribute ideas who who should they share those with because we know that that is do for an update but also has to be informed by Educators I know when we worked on it before it it needed 18 months and then the group.

Working on it the 45 people work on it need more time so I just wondered kind of if you can put voice to how that's going and what the next steps in that are thank you so much so I think the initial revision of 4301 was in 2017 2018 and since that time I think we're in a different place and what we need to address with the with the current code of conduct and discipline policies are going to be Andre addressed through absolutely engaging with our students we have time set aside to meet right now with our superintendent student Advisory Group who also represent larger groups of students around what their needs are we often get feedback from them we also have 2B and a principal advisory that works with both 2A go 2A and go 2B who will be providing us feedback on that in addition we'll be working with some of our Partners on ensuring that we've embedded the restorative practices into that we initially hope to bring a revised 4301 that is.

Excuse me I should say a revised code of character conduct and support by April 7th for your for your approval that is our goal so if folks have feedback if they're listening if they have concerns does that go to you as as leading that absolutely you can reach out to me through any of the platforms accessible to you thank you and your look your phone number is right here in the it's right there yes thank you so much I know that that is so important to to our community thank you.

Thank y'all for this work and for the team of folks that are here this evening I think this goal is so important and tied to our first goal around academic achievement if students feel like they belong in school they will come to school which means that we can be working on some of that academic work that we know is vital I see lots of head nods in the audience y'all can't see that online but I appreciate that affirmation I do have a question about to a I think and you Dr madx per you talked about the restorative practice checklist you talked about this Fidelity indicators that were working on and I know this will be an anecdotal but what are you seeing the impacts of that being so far in.

Schools so anecdotally both of those tools this is really the first year that we have had them piloted with some of our stop violence high schools but what we're seeing is a renewed confidence in being able to not only engage in textbook implementation but having what is almost like approval to practice it by having the checklist we've utilized that as almost a self- assessment and schools are able to honestly look at their level of implementation and select their own coaching and areas that they want to grow in relation to those indicators thank you that's really helpful I think I would love and this is batina would love to look to the other board members if and we have a presentation about this next that we kind of get a little bit more around you know this many checklists have been done this many walkthroughs have been done this is what we've seen kind of the impact to be I think that would just be helpful to understand how schools are.

Using the tools sorry I have another question for you too Dr m next pair and I a couple follow-ups on that too because other while everybody's taking notes I'll just keep rambling but the other thing I think about is how can we get students especially in our middle and high schools but our elementary schools as well involved in thinking about this goal too right so if we have a restorative practice checklist like how are students also thinking about this is what I see this is what I don't see in our classes in a way that I think can be really they feel owners ship of some of this belonging which I think is really powerful as well K SMI I'm said asked for a checklist around say that again for me when this presentation comes again if we could have some more details some more data around how many checklists or maybe how checklists are used how many walkthroughs are happening with principles that kind of information I.

Don't know if it's data or what the right way for y'all to present that to absolutely duly noted M Miller wanted to speak today I know you asked the question specifically to me but I think she probably is the more informed on a part of the process that's unique to her work with our restored practices leadership team so we're just for restorative practices as the cultural framework we are just working with our restorative practice District leadership team that we have together to put together based on the Baltimore city schools implementation Fidelity assessment they use for restored practices and that includes what we're really excited about is you interview 10 students during each of those walkthroughs so you interview 10 staff members and 10 students so it'll be a really unique opportunity to see that hear that student voice about what are they seeing and are they actually seeing restored practices implemented in the classroom yeah that's wonderful except I'll ask this oh that's the question that chair Rogers was asking.

Just to do we have consensus around that collection of data or presentation of data for the next presentation on. This okay all right sounds like we have consensus and interest in that go ahead you some Dr Max Perry mentioned this about the right person to answer is around one of the challenges of time which we know is always an issue but how to prioritize time for seal along with the curricular needs of the school and I'm wondering what a Next Step might be on how do we prioritize some of the work that we need to do around seal support for our.

Students so one way that we try to prioritize time is very carefully and I think Miss Warfield can speak to that because of some of the work she has been doing with some of our partners and I don't want to miss yes so many of our SEO curriculum use the data that we collect here at the school specifically the Panorama data to create a scope and sequence to help align the lessons that are going to be presented with the needs evidence in our school level data those that are not specific to our Panorama data provide scope and sequence related to just trends that are seen in data we remind this time of the year right especially with the infinite campus roll out our schools are creating Master schedules so we put those expectations for 15 minutes a day for elementary 45 minutes a week for secondary back in front of those School level administrators scheduling teams to ensure that they are aware Ware of that we collaborate with our curriculum and instruction.

Department to make sure that we're not providing competing messages to ensure that it is a priority one of our principles said yesterday in the meeting that you know academics will always be the priority but we might need to ensure thatal doesn't feel like it's competing with academics as a priority board member upset I'd also add one one of the things that we're working on in cni is some more clarity around those kinds of issues specifically around time very often and in the past those Notions of how much time should be spent on subject areas to include Seal have been more in the area of suggestion right we are you know strategically rting up those expectations and so one of the things that will be a part of of what we roll out to principles this year as part of the projects that we're working on C working on NC is some more directive language about those times and U some more statements about you know those expectation those being expectations as opposed to options that.

That will also be a bit of what we hope will come out of the work around the code of student conduct one of the things that we that we have noted is that while this board has expressed support for restorative practices provided funding for restorative practices positions there is no place in board policy currently where engagement with restorative practices is actually a requirement right but those are some of the things that we're working on in terms of shifting right our stand and our our posture from a scenario where we are suggesting that it would be awesome if you do this to being very clear about the fact that we believe it's important for you to do this and so our expectation is that you will do these things in each School Dr King is a followup is that part of the reasoning behind the calendar shifts that we approved on consent tonight it looked like some of the plcs were moving from Fridays back to Wednesdays and there were some more intentionality.

About teacher work dayss earlier in the year more protected teacher learning time well that that more reflects the fact that you know a couple years ago when those calendars were created for and I wasn't here so I'm not sure why but we only had three pre-service work days in those calendars and it is utterly impossible to do the work we need to do both at the district level and the school level in three days so you'll remember that last year we went through that same process where we added additional pre-service days in terms of the the shifts of early release days if I'm very honest we we we we were concerned and I probably should say I was concerned that that the way those days were structured in our calendar in the past gave some mixed messaging an early release day scheduled on a Friday suggest that one might be invited to begin the weekend early and so we wanted to shift that that model so that those days when we place those in our.

Calendar it is very clear that the expectation is that we would be doing professional development not starting early weekends or or early holidays if you will and you know it it if I'm honest it puts a principal in a difficult spot when school ends 3 hours early on a Friday to have to kind of maintain the standard that I really do expect you to stick around for the PD so we want we felt like shifting it would help create a a more definitive message about our expectation right thank you yes I have one more question thank you Dr King that was really helpful I like the shift from suggestion to expectation I and this is along the lines of even what you were just saying Dr King I feel like there's a we see an issue where of digging into the reasons for that and then using our resources to address that so in talking about The Chronic absenteeism so want to mention here are the reasons that we're learning.

From the conflict resolution center and here's what we're doing to address that I wanted to know for the suspension category if we feel like we have clear reasons why we thought suspensions are going up and what are the particular strategies that we might be using to address them I know there's some that might be whole District but I also know individual schools are going to have different strategies as are supporting students but I think that trend is concerning that we're seeing it going in the wrong direction so I wanted to know really clearly what we were doing to address them well I I think it's difficult to to ever get beyond the anecdotal when we start talking about causes for suspensions because they they are are so varied and in honesty I I think the most important thing we can do around messaging around reduction and suspensions is frankly messaging to our staff to our principles particularly that it is not our expectation that every time a child can be suspended.

You will be suspended I I can tell you very often when when we have conversations with principles about suspensions one of the things that they very seriously worry about is whether or not folks will be concerned about their seriousness around student safety you know if they aren't particularly Stern around some sorts some kinds of behavior and so we want to begin to communicate with our principles and we are beginning to communicate with them you know the understanding that we we recognize that school is a place of learning and sometimes that learning and certainly really more often that learning also is is reflected in the need to help students learn about behavior and so we feel like it is absolutely appropriate for for our principles to see inappropriate behaviors as opportunities to help students learn about behavior and that there will not be negative consequences when principles decide to take us seriously on our suggestions about our value around restorative practices and so I think you know so far the expectation establishing that.

Expectation the other thing that I think has helped so far that we've that we've done this year is requiring consultations with principal supervisors around suspensions for our younger students and so just making sure that principles walk through that process with their principal supervisors to make sure that we've considered every particular option as it relates to what we might do other than a suspension in a given situation and and and at risk of opening a can of worms we are seeing data from our especially from our elementary school in our data meetings where I can tell you we are seeing some some pretty good success in terms of suspension reductions particularly at the elementary level so we're we're we're cautiously optimistic about what that data is going to look like this year Miss Cara Aon thank you so much for this presentation and for all the questions so far and additional information that that yall have shared I don't have a lot but except I was I was curious to know we received a.

Presentation in May of last year that had that in looking back at was really helpful to have more granular presentation of the discipline data and I was wondering if that's something that it was gr more granular than it was presented the data over time is that the ideal time of year to receive that kind of data in in May and if so could we expect that again this year with the same type of presentation where it breaks it out by Trends over time and then long-term suspension versus short term and yes is that time of year I would argue that a little bit later is better because the reason for that is there is there is a verification process that are that our dat that our discipline data goes through it takes place a little bit later than than May and that process allows us to that gives principles the opportunity to make any changes that they feel like need to be made to that data based on you know.

What things that have actually happened in the school and that data is cleaned so I think May is certainly better than February but probably you know June is probably an even better period because that allows us to make sure that that data has gone through that verification process and it is you know you know as right as as right as rain if you will excuse me that sounds great then and June feels better at least to me then like August like starting the school off with a discipline data presentation maybe finishing it with more data and I was curious to I guess I had some some questions that came that Durham advocates for exceptional children raised a couple of issues that are curious to me too which and maybe this has been discussed before one is how we Define students with disabilities for the purpose of this data can you remind I'm sure it's a reminder you've told us before but so I I I shared with Miss.

Chavez earlier that I I'd like to take that question back those things become very very technical and I would like to look at the guidance both from the state and within board policy so that I'm absolutely clear about what the response is there I have a sense but I want to be 100% sure before I share with you what that is okay thanks so much and and this what's reported here is all sus it's students that were suspended at least one time but it's all all types of suspension is that right reported right in the presentation tonight the s2b so when we say suspended we mean doc it is shortterm suspension rates short-term only so that not that data metric now the schools and the data teams are looking at all the in school the longterm and everything but this data metric is for the short-term suspension okay so not including long-term or in school suspension in this goal metric right right okay all right that's helpful yeah and as you.

Were talking earlier Dr King it about School the support you're providing for elementary schools in particular for support and guidance maybe for when they use suspensions and how that happens I'm and we heard tonight about all the different ways that we're implementing some great social emotional learning curriculum to try to create more positive environments in schools when there's a child that's having a behavioral challenge that so they've had the positive stuff they're having a behavioral challenge I guess I'm curious to know maybe in the May June update a little bit more about or maybe when the revisions to the policy come to us like some of the other supports that are in place for the school level staff like who's working with that child to provide them with the support they need to avoid being suspended but help support the behavior that's happening does that make sense I'm absolutely yes.

Is I'm yeah I was just wanted to kind of follow up on Miss Carter ain's point but it maybe a little different I would like when we if we have a June presentation on this though to get a I know suspensions are coded right so get a sense of what those kind of top three or top five might be and get a little more in the like this is what we noticed our Trends and these are what we're doing to address those Trends cuz I just you know I went back to find that presentation I was like like oh we still didn't talk about what the things were and I think we need to know as a district what are our students being suspended for that are Trends and then what are we doing District wide to address that you know is it fight is it conflict is it those disruptive behavior or what's the other one that they use that's really subjective disrespect insubordination yeah we really get into.

The equity work around you know who decided that this was insubordination or disrespect right and so I just I want us to keep pushing on actually looking at some of those reasons and those Trends so that we can be clear around what we need to focus our efforts in in the school as a school district as a whole all right I'm gonna make a few brief comments I don't have any questions and then we'll move on to the next item thank you for presenting on the many strategies and the evolution of these I look forward to hearing more about the evolution and what works and what you know what you might have found doesn't work and and thank you for also the update on U the revision of 4301 I'm excited about that I I wanted to say I asked for some additional disaggregated data around race and gender and thank you Dr Pitman I know you'll bring that I I know that other colleagues are interested in that as well and so that'll be.

Provided and shared of course with the whole board and I'll just say I'm yeah I'm also I I would like to look at the data around black male students with disabilities because I'm interested in our intersectional data and looking at who is most affected by some of these disparities I also appreciated the questions from the Durham advocates for exceptional children Jess or Miss Carden highlighted some of those but thank you all for this work it's really important it underscores everything else that we do so thank you thank you all right now we will move on to administrative services and we have an update on the current year budget challenges with Mr teer this is also budgeted for 30 minutes so we'll see how we do that's 20 minute presentation and 10 minute question all right I got you okay I need about five yes so good okay so good evening board chair Rogers board members Dr Lewis as promised in the budget calendar we would come back to you with another.

Update on the current year challenges and just kicking it off on the next slide just lifting back up the feedback that Dr Lewis received in the listening and learning tour didn't know if he wanted to say any more about that other than that they we're just keeping that front and center the next slide is somewhat of a repeat from the previous presentations but with a few adjustments to reflect some things that we're contemplating at the senior staff level about how we might grapple the current year challenge so the the first section all the way down to that first bold line reflects where we left off in our our previous conversations the the bottom section of this reflects some things that maybe we had started talking about what we were not quite prepared to present to you this evening one of those first items WR as some conversation around the McKenzie Scott donation in Durham Public Schools and the possibility of some funds that can be realigned and and leveraged to.

Help troubleshoot the the current year challenge this particular dollar figure so the 3,859 694 it represents line items in that budget that have no activity up to this point in the current school year and so that was sort of our first level of focus to review to see what we might be able to do and to be clear we're really stressing the word potential here because we are still having some conversations with folks on staff about some things that might have been planned to happen in February or March that Jeremy doesn't know about and and that we want to make sure we honor some things that had good intentions so we we may see this number pivot a little bit but wanted to to keep that out front and center as we have conversations about that as the year progresses we will we'll continue to focus on other line items in the budget that maybe had some activity but it came in cheaper than the project manager had perhaps budgeted.

And we can look at recouping some dollars there so we'll conduct some analysis a little bit later on that but started with the lwh hanging fruit here of the items that had no activity as of this point in time so we're pretty deep in the year and pretty close to our spending deadline so some of this or a majority of this should materialize for us another area of attention that that's under review for us we have various funds in the district that we administer our our fund six fund is an area where we park some of our restricted dollars or a large share of our restricted dollars our prek programming has some funds there and and they have funding that scattered across a collection of funds and so we do make a pretty good local investment in prek and so we've got a little over $1.4 million that has accumulated in our fund six that's earmark for prek where we may be able to make some readjustments between local to this.

Funding source to free up temporarily some local dollars in this current year so again this is another item where we're having some conversations with the folks that that handle prek just making sure that everyone feels good about it but feeling feeling good about those resources being available to help us for this year the next slide we touch on just high level overview of some of those categories that are associated with the McKenzie Scott dollars there are some there are some fairly large line items there so that that Topline item right are things that are unbudgeted U I understand from some history here there there may have been some plans for that at one point in time that were put on pause and so a little over $1 A5 million dollar there the next line item down that's a million dollars is very much seems like a placeholder I think there was some and specifically it's parked on a membership line and so that just made us feel like that this is truly a.

Placeholder in the budget and it and it may be something that we can tap into to help solve the current year problem you know and obviously the numbers descend from there and we're we're having some very thoughtful conversations about those line items and and what's in the works with those ahead of this meeting received a couple of questions about some specific projects that were of particular importance and we wanted to make sure that those items were taken care of so we did specifically receive a question about the $150,000 commitment to the theater at Hillside U we were able to confirm that that work did occur ahead of this evaluation so those dollars are not Tangled Up in what we see here on the screen and then there was also some concern about the vehicles that were earmarked for CTE programming specifically I'm being careful with my words I've been advised to call them mobile classrooms of sorts and so that includes.

Programmingsoftware those are just two specific ones that we had questions about ahead of this that I wanted to make sure we addressed as a part of the presentation the next slide is just a just another reminder of of how we've used the county dollars I know that we've we've heard the question quite a bit about the almost $8.9 million investment in classified pay and again just want to verify you know at the podium that we did invest those dollars in line items for for classified pay and and it lines up with with what the needs were in order to administer the changes with classified pay for this school year so just wanted to lift that one up in particular and we we've talked about these others just sort of in closing before we take questions just a reminder of on the next slide of the of the upcoming deadlines in our budget development process you February 17th is when we're looking for requests from senior staff and they've received those workbooks and looking forward to.

Evaluating and costing out those things that come forward there our central office leaders are having some very serious conversations under Dr giovan's leadership about what we can do to continue to evaluate positions that are in our departments and and how we might rearrange things on our teams things that we have vacant on our in our departments that we might want to reassess so we'll have some some good convers there and hopefully find some opportunities to continue to improve and tighten up as we Shield our schools from the decisions that we need to make we are very excited for a public hearing on February 20th and we are putting in motion some activity through the dollars and decisions series that you have heard about previously that we're hoping will provoke and encourage some meaningful input from the community at the February 20th meeting so we'll just share it's a good time to share that next week there will be a communication that goes out to our community a thought exchange of sorts.

Where they'll have an opportunity to communicate to us what they see as the top five priorities for Duran Public Schools budget next year we look forward to working with the board on February 20th as well to hear what your priorities are so that we can get some early insights as as we work as a staff to develop the superintendent's recommended budget March 3rd we're planning to have presentations from cabinet members and have a little more sort of dialogue around the requests that we received and then ultimately we're looking to have that book in front of you by March 27th for you to have conversations and we'll have another public hearing at that time as well so with all that said I'm leaving 11 minutes and 47 seconds for questions thank you so much all right we're gonna start with chair Rogers what time is the public hearing on February 20th I think we would need to agree to that I think I have always sort of operated with them happening about 30 minutes before the.

The regularly scheduled meeting but I leave that up to superintendent and board leadership I just saw it and put it on for 5:30 ahead of a 6:30 just as a placeholder just now but I a half an hour doesn't quite seem enough for Durham.

Understood chair Rogers more questions I think that Mr tab's question is are we deciding that now the time the time and does the full board need to be here I that would be or just a quum at least a quorum absolutely okay. Other questions are we going to decide oh I say can we decide is it 5:30 on the 20th is that 5:30 everybody some thumbs up okay I see a quum of Thumbs Up okay I can't commit yet sorry.

All right just on the scheduling thing are you all going to propose the second hearing date to us or and so at this point in time on the budget calendar we have that identified as March 27th so that'll be so this meeting on the 20th we're looking for input ahead of us developing the superintendent budget so that we can have that input and then on March 27th our vision is folks will be reacting to ultimately what we produced and and we can start receiving that f back so March 27th would be our Target there I imagine we'll do the same time or aim for the same time on March 27 5:30 would wonder if we would want to do it on a different day could we hear more about what that might look like I know I have the experience of what we what it looked like last year but what your vision is for the format of that and did I also hear that that's the primary opportunity.

For board members also to provide some input right so on on the meeting on the 20th we're looking looking largely for people to share with us what their priorities are and what what what their concerns are and I think Dr Lewis was maybe you're good I'm sorry I was just going to say it's my understanding the budget hearing is just for the public and then you said on the 20th at the meeting you would ask the board members to share their priorities that's right but then the second public hearing is for after the superintendent has released the budget people can respond to is that correct that's right thank you so on the 20th we're not we won't be reflecting on any kind of like framework or proposal or categories it'll just be open we'll we'll just be looking for for things that you have observed and and as as you have processed feedback from your post as a board member what you think might be some good priorities for us heading into this.

Cycle so we have consensus around 5:30 on February 20th and do you all also want to try and Achieve consensus for 5:30 on March 27th or do you want to wait and discuss that later I heard I'm said plead for another day I don't know if anybody else was interested in that I don't think an hour might be enough on that either so that's might be the re some of your reasoning for not making that a marathon for us and staff I also need to consult and make sure all the cards are aligned for me to get off work get my kid and get here by 5:30 so committing to both at 5:30 right now doesn't feel conducive to my needs but by all means the board should do what they need Mr T just a point of clarity is this standard that we decide on dates in the middle of the of the meeting without checking schedules it happens occasionally could we maybe go ahead we need at least four.

People that are can be present at 5:30 on the 20th right that's first need could we wait a little bit and get back to Nicole about that or I'm hearing that's what you might and I feel like I need a little bit more time too make sure my schedule and chair Rogers identified the same so Mr tab are you saying you'd like a doodle Pole to be sent out I I would suggest with February 20th that's coming up so soon I think we're taking the time to sort of announced that and I did hear a quorum of us are available on that day at 5:30 before the board meeting it sounded to me like there needed to be perhaps a doodle Poll for the the second budget hearing where the Public's responding what do you all think about that okay yes okay it looks like we'll have other dates in mind but besides the 27th Isam said suggested perhaps a different day with a longer time because there's more to react to.

So all right Miss Rogers chair Rogers and will'll work with our board clerk Miss Smith to find an appropriate time and date for that week around March 27th thank you all right other questions Miss berer just Mr terer just gratitude for the ways that you continue to peel back this onion and find ways to make up for our budgeting challenges also don't want to kind of leave without expressing just gratitude for McKenzie Scott and her generosity in giving unrestricted funds which allow us this flexibility but also acknowledging that these These funds had plans right and when I see growing together on here multiple times I think we need to make sure that we moving forward are identifying new funds in our coming budget year to fulfill all the promises that we've made I believe unless I'm totally wrong that the $1 million there might have been for affordable teacher housing it is a dream that this board has had for many many many many years and housing in Durham has only continued to.

Accelerate the cost for our for our staff and talking to a staff that cannot afford to live in this community is heartbreaking to all of us and so while we while we access these I think it's critical that we not let those dreams die and those plans die going forward but that we find ways to invest and then the biggest glaring challenge to me are the positions that are budgeted and while many are sitting vacant I think it will be important for us quickly to have more information on ways those vacancies or those position cuts will impact students and schools in the future and how we can best plan for that which we thought we'd already planned for so I I appreciate your help and I appreciate you bringing additional information that is giving us more reassurance as we move forward that we will be able to protect students in the ways that we want to this calendar year I don't I don't think those were questions they were just may rambling but thank you.

For your leadership Miss Cara Aon I share Miss Buy's gratitude thanks for doing all of this work for us to find the money and I appreciate that and also the kind of reorganizing and thinking critically about how to make it to to the extent possible where cuts are not coming from our schools so thank you for that and look forward to continuing to see how we can move forward with intention in the next year with a budget that we are happy with isad thanks again Mr terer for all of the work you've done on this I think it would be helpful for me to know in the positions and vacancies and y'all let me know board members if we already talked about where those reside because I think as I'm thinking about my budget priorities as a board member that I would love to share with you on the 20th I think it'd be nice to know where these positions live and what positions we might consider.

Wanting to keep or what or if some I think you mentioned in the last meeting there were a good number of vacancies what positions might we not F through retri and so that would be helpful I think for me to have a little B more of that information I think I'm also this is just a a statement that might need a later followup that I say often I don't know if you've heard it yet Mr terer but I think we should really be thinking about multi-year budgeting and so when I look at this and our challenge that we're in with this operational set aside I'm wondering what does that look like for next year and the next year are we working towards getting people back to being at 100 and so how are we thinking really and inent 100% intentionally about multi-year where we're going to be and then what other initiatives do we have coming down the line some of that we know we can't necessarily anticipate when it thinks.

About what the state may do but there is I remember often sometimes talking about hospitalization we know my increase each year this some of these portions so how do we think a little strategically about this year and next year and what might be coming down the pipe so I think that's something that I'm just thinking about as we prepare for the 20th all right I think I'm the last one I'll share a few thoughts I thank you for the presentation for the update and for articulating exactly where the money is coming from with regard to the McKenzie Scot funds I appreciate the assessment of central office office positions I meant to note that last time I also want to support the idea of the multi-year budgeting that Miss Umstead brings up regularly multi- years I think I think that's that would be a really great way to look at kind of in alignment with our strategic plan where we're putting our resources for the next few years and then I just.

Want to say what I'm most interested in I I continue to see this is a cleanup year thank you for being thorough but I'm most interested in the systems that you're putting into place to ensure that our budget going forward will be accurate tight and and centering of our students particularly those who need the greatest support thank you Miss Caron I just wanted to build on what Miss had asked for vacancy data I think and that's of interest to me too and as I'm thinking about and for that same reason as we're thinking about what we need what information we need to be able to identify our priorities for the budget and I wonder how challenging that is to get to us like if that's possible and along those lines this might be a bigger ask but like something can to turnover data or so we have an idea of who's leaving or which where staff are yeah some that could inform also some priorities for the next budget year but.

Again just my ask so not sure how other board members feel about that I'll ask for consensus in a moment bam me go to chair Rogers I think that I want the same information that y'all want but I think I have a more overarching question I think maybe for Dr Lewis you might not have the answer right now do we think that the current vacancies that we're seeing are what you're planning to budget for and accommodate for next year or do you think that there's going to be some sort of moving people into positions that are vacant and like shifting of people so that the same positions aren't necessarily the vacant ones and that maybe more different positions are on state funded positions versus local positions do you think that there's going to be some different shakeup that you would use to inform how much money is in the Personnel budget therefore then the vacancy data may not make sense does that make sense yeah it does I don't.

Want to sometimes the word shakeup can kind of create panic and harm here don't want to use that term but I do I will say we will and we can bring this information back we just need to look critically at those positions and take advantage of attrition also and look at those critical vacancies that we still need to fill IE EC and so we definitely want to keep those vacant as well but really looking holistically at where our vacancies are and again talking to our principales to seed is this an area you need to feel or through attrition is it done you know so we we can bring that information back to you definitely in time enough for Budget decisions Miss B or Dr King something to add no okay miss miss I'm trying to also think through like and I know y'all are thinking it through as a team but the dollars and decisions decisions as y'all are demonstrating and and thinking of new ways to show how the.

District where our money goes and I think one thing we've done in the past years and years ago was to show how much State money goes into certain types of positions how much local we put above that to really be able to to demonstrate to our staff our local investment is going into staff some of those things that if we're allotted one counselor per 400 students right but but Durham allocates at one per 300 whatever whatever those formulas are I think some of that information kind of Paints the picture for what we're doing with our local money and then I leave it to you all to bring kind of your best analysis of what biggest impact and recommendations do you have on maximizing student outcomes with with what we have I I don't know if I'm saying anything or asking a question but I look forward to ways that you show kind of what we're doing and inform best practices and I think I think it kind of like marry the.

Last two kind of board observations together here for a second and and so one I think when we when we look at our positions and our vacancies I think we see a collection of Good Intentions that sometimes don't have the best outcome so for example right so Durham Durham for the past few years has very much had the intention of we will have lower class sizes than with the state funds and so that that's a tremendous investment it was easy to populate when we had Bounty full Esser do s for dollars are gone we're tying up a lot of budget line items for positions that are vacant and part two right is the teachers haven't materialized and so right so there's that convers right it's that Balancing Act of do we hug to a more normal class size and have a qualified teacher and so we're solving a budget problem and an instruction SLP Personnel problem at the same time so we're there's that balancing act that we'll walk through.

And we're starting to have those conversations as we think about enrollment projections and we think about how we're going to aot resources this year you know we've had some other interesting conversations about coverage right we've talked about our EC vacancies and and decisions that have been made at a staff level that have made it harder to troubleshoot those things that we need to walk back and that we need to solve and so it's really wonderful yesterday for HR Finance Dr Giovani EC to sit down and work as partners to figure out how we're going to solve some of those challenges around the vacancies and and and make it work for our students and Durham so so certainly to your point right there's been a tremendous local investment in positions in Durham Beyond what the state affords and and we look forward to kind of telling that story as we go through the series and and looking at how do we work those levers to solve the longer term budget solution and not just this year.

I I'll just say kudos to our Opa team and and Jeremy they pretty much have season one mapped out and I think where our dollars go is probably episode 4 and then funding S no seriously then funding sources is episode. Three are there other questions I heard you say Dr Lewis you'll provide us some information about vacancies and all of that so I think all right I think we are good to go thank you Mr yes ma'am right our next item is policy 7502 salary Administration and I pass it to Dr Giovani I'm sorry I pass it to miss Hager.

I'm all right there we go good evening chair Rogers board members Dr Lewis and DPS community Administration presents for first reading a draft of policy 7502 salary Administration and employee compensation this policy is designed to align with and Implement policy 7501 governing principles for salary Administration the board set forth the following as its guiding principles competitive compensation Fair placement Equitable Administration and recognition of relevant experience the salary Administration working group which was made up of various DPS employees included both certified and classified staff from across the district we convened in May of 2024 to begin reviewing other Exemplar policies across the state one of which included Winston Salem forside School District in an effort to obtain feedback from across DPS we're also working collaboratively with opa to provide an opportunity for all DP DPS staff to review the draft document and provide.

Feedback so this policy is for first reading that we're bringing to you thank you thank you. Questions thank you any questions.

Miss buer is there more to add or okay we'll go to miss buer I'm happy to yield to others I just didn't yeah did I miss somebody yeah okay so I W to thank you all for all the work on this I can look at it and tell that it has been really deep thoughtful work and that you have included a lot of of District Educators and and staff at the table and in these conversations you've the definitions are so strong and I think these are things that that will be critical as we continue to work forward and be clear about what all of you know what extra duty is what extended employment is some things that are critical for us to clarify moving forward there's sometimes in here and I don't know if I'm asking you or you Dr Giovani there's italics in here on number 10 is that supposed to be there does that mean something extra extra Duty refers to work sign is that just formatting kind of.

Thing it's just formatting but it's also still a working document it's still in process we're still working as a working group to As We Gather feedback from other DPS employees regarding the policy so it is still much a work in progress this is the first reading and we're expecting it may go to a second and or third reading great and I appreciate you you working with the office of public affairs to to get more feedback and put it in a way that that folks can access it from work or from home to to get share their voices and ideas with us did I or did I not see that extra duty pay and some of these payments need prior approval of a supervisor I was looking for that but I'm not sure that I saw it was it in there that is correct so extra Duty which is something we've been grappling with to get some parameters around it and making sure we've got a solid process and policy.

Around that and so it would require prior approval that is one of the recommendations that's coming forward from the working group okay good good that's on page three section B my version doesn't even have page number must be approved by says superintendent or doy either on n basis or as part of the that when you see it but is that must Beed by the supported must be supported by the employee supervisor and documented in a form developed by the superintendent or designate this typ in request form must submitted by the supervisor must be reviewed and signed off by the finance department for confirmation that funds are available for this purpose and for the designation of designation of the proposed f funding sources two the stiping request must be reviewed and approved by superintendent design with or without modifications and three the stiping request must be approved by the superintendent or designate either on an ad hoc basis or as part of the board approved schedule for extra duty pay that applies to all eligible employees.

In the same position classification I guess I was looking for more explicit that it had to be approved in advance because I think that was on the form in the past but not necessarily the DPS practice ice that that because I had heard that a lot of these were finding their way up to Cabinet during the freeze and they were supposed to have been improved in advance but they weren't the work had already gone on and then the the district was stuck with needing to pay folks to honor that that so I anyway that that was just one question I had for y'all to consider and I don't know the answer I just raise it I would just share that that is a we are working on an extra Duty schedule and so that as we discussed it's very difficult for staff in the district to budget if you don't know kind of where that's going to land so that is something that we do anticipate finalizing with Miss Hager and Mr.

Teer kind of working on that and bringing it to Dr Lewis and cabinet to review and it would be posted on once it's approved by Dr Lewis and he discusses it with the board it would be something we would post on on the website so that people would understand what those extra Duty schedules like what those amounts are but that is still again a work in progress thank you and then I don't see unless I've missed at a definition for legacy what some people's checks say that we're the wording we're using now is there a reason that y'all didn't include that or is it I don't we'll probably need to add that when that is a very popular question that we get asked all the time and so as we build this out and build the definition things like hold harmless Legacy pay those sorts of things we will make sure that those are added in so that folks know what they are thank you all thanks so much.

For Mr Tab and then miss Umstead and then miss cardan thank you very much on number 10 where it says extra Duty and it says extra duty is an additional duty that is distinct from the staff member's main job responsibility in a job descript description are there points where it does not become the main responsibility because there if you look at job descriptions there's a lot there about job description so when you're asking about main it's just that word there that I want Clarity in what is considered Main the second thing is in number 11 extended employment it says it's a 10 or 11mth member Works additional months does that exclude working additional hours got we will take that question Mr thank you is I think there are some thank first of all thank y'all I know this committ has been working for a little bit on this process maybe almost a year or six months at least so thank y'all for all the work I think this maybe is aligned with Mr tab's question.

But questions around over time like I know that certain employees can receive overtime certain employees do not receive overtime and it says for me to go to the Fair Labor Standard Act to figure that out if I'm reading it and so I'm wondering if in here can we be more clear about distinguishing who qual ifies who does not qualify for overtime and maybe that's also something that's in the job descript or your kind of app track that kind of thing as well just so we're really clear so I don't have to go look so that was one of the things that I saw that I thought would be helpful for that and then I think buyers Point around this the stiens or extra Duty I wonder if there's also just an explicit line around this being paid like this your you're thing has to be approved before you can like your submission needs to come back to you approved before you begin the work or something along those.

Lines so that it's clear around what is extra Duty what's not who's going to get it who's not like that kind of tying that in because I might think I'm going to get it but it's actually like actually no you don't qualify for this because of XYZ or this y that so how do we get that kind of full loop in this as well yes and we did get some feedback on that from Dr King it had already been submitted we were going over it with him and so a lot of these positions with the extra Duty these exemp positions are in his shop so he is working with Miss Hagar and Mr terer on clarifying that so thank you for the feedback I'm we're taking the notes and then one there sorry there's also a couple links in here that aren't open links so just so y'all both know in the draft there's some links in there that aren't open so you can't get to whatever is next but I also it wasn't.

Clear to me how people are placed on the current salary scales that we have that have this range that part didn't feel like it was clearly spelled out here and I want to know if that was maybe intentional or that's something we're going to keep working on but our current salary skills have a range inside of a I'm I don't know that I'm in this doc per se but if I I'm let me go look it up now but if the salary schedules that we adopted had one step one but there was a range for this step and how do employees know where they're getting placed in that range and how can I move within that range and we can I move within that range right and we've noted that so there's still their they're Place based on their experience and so we'll build that out and make sure it's explicit and so part of this trying to have a robust plan policy around this so folks can go to the salary.

Administration policy understand what how during Public Schools assigns a stat you know assigns their salary they see themselves and that sort of thing they know what extra duty is they know the rules and all of that and so having this really will help folks be more have a better sense of what salary placement means here in Durham building out the job descriptions is going to be really important I think it goes back to Mr tab's point about understanding you know other duties as a sign and those sorts of things so really building it out following you know the last several years with all the conversations that we've had around compensation we want to make sure that this policy that we take our time get it done get it done right receive feedback receive feedback from other staff and from everyone so we're really hoping to and Mr terer and I are working together so miss CA missad where you finished yeah I just want to make sure my question made sense though around the.

Thank you around the like the men Max fece that's what it's called not it's not a range it's called The Men We have men's and we have Maxes for each yeah it's online the salary schedules we approved oh sorry Jessica's got there's mens and there's Maxes for each place you could be and how do we know where I fall like I know that my my previous work history will be in there but what other factors might consider where I fall in that men in the Max and can I move within that minut in the max that seems like I could but how we will take that question back to the working group and it may be as we continue to work through this as that we also would develop some you know procedures Etc that would where that may be included but we will take that back to the working group and when we bring it back and as Miss Hager indicated you know this is a big policy and this is.

Very critical to our staff that this be right right and clear and so you know this is not something we're going to be like you know second reading that's it you know I mean however many readings it takes for this board and Community to be clear and comfortable with this we are willing to continue this work and the working group has been very committed to these meetings as well I don't even know how many I mean it's been over we had multiple meetings in a month even so it wasn't just once a month was sometimes every week and then every other week and so it's been a lot of work and they've been really committed and folks are really working hard thank.

You I had my main question was the same and just the desire to like connect this to the salary schedules both for us so that we are clear on what we are approving when we approve it and feel good about it and so that our staff can connect the two and I guess my other question is eventually and I think you were referencing this but eventually I like for it to live in policy but well we have something on our website where it's easy to access access all the information when you're newly hired or if you're an employee so you can be like that's where I fall that's how salaries administered I don't have to dig through a really long policy if I want more information I go to the long policy but okay and then this forther people that couldn't say it Miss Hager is nodding her head affirmatively so thank you Miss Hager yes and then I this feels like such a big policy both in the size of the.

Policy and the importance we've talked about it so much over the past year in board meetings about how it was important for us to get this right and you all have been meeting sounds like a lot to work on this I wonder in the next time that it comes to the board would it be reasonable to have some slides that kind of outline like here's some decisions that were made and here's why or. Highlight it appears there was a technical glitch with Bor Ducks which we've had you know I mean it is it happens with technology so Miss Smith did submit them and like some people are able to access the PowerPoint and others are not so I'm a not but other people I mean she sent me a screenshot like if she can see it and miss Cooper's not like there's certain people can get it so there was a PowerPoint because it is so big and that was the feedback that we got from some other folks that we.

Needed a PowerPoint because it is so large so I apologize I think that I don't know if you refresh it I don't know really I refresh and wasn't able to get it but I do it was it's a technical issue it was not a staff issue is what I would say thank you yeah just because it's so medium like if I could just have you walk me through some of the like really important pieces so that we don't miss the why behind them and the things we need to be thinking through try refes ref refreshing again I refreshed and I got it but so.

Okay all right other other questions Mr T yeah thank you one of the things that I do not see in the policy is about em emergency approvals and a lot of times directors and people over programs have to make decisions immediately and they they don't get prior approval but there needs to be somewhere where they can say this is an emergency this happens a lot okay noted thank you thank. You I will add my thoughts I also think it's great that you'll add Legacy pay and hold harmless since those terms come up a lot I'm glad Miss Umstead brought up the mens and Maxes because I don't I think they're very subjective so it would be very helpful to know what our rubric is for using them we agreed to use the men's in the fall but for for staff going forward not from staff coming in from Le spring but if we're I don't know that I'm in favor maybe that's a salary that salary schedule conversation I kind of liked when we.

Just landed on one you know with the steps but definitely if we're going to still use those and there's some way to determine how people fall otherwise I think it can be very subjective you know you're some your supervisor sees that you know you doing these things but what if your supervisor doesn't see you doing all these you know things excelling at your job or whatever so in any case there's that and then also I just I wanted to say as part of the operations review group I did get a peek at the document that you all are creating around extra duty pay roles I think that's excellent I love how clear it is and I just wanted to ask I think it you probably won't be finished with it for next meeting but what is the timeline on rolling that out is like is it next school year going into next school year because I think it's really nice for every everybody to see if I do this.

This is what I would get and if somebody else is getting more extra duty pay here's why it's already been calculated so what's the timeline on on that or is that unknown I I think it is unknown but what I can say is that the urgency around this policy is not lost on us certain board members did share with us that it was important that this policy come and to start moving forward and getting feedback from board members and the community and so as Miss Hager indicated you know it is still a work in progress and you know with Dr Lewis's permission I'm happy to just consider this kind of like an informational roll out and then come back at the work session in March or not the work whenever y'all instruct us to come back with the PowerPoint and these answers to these questions so that you don't feel any pressure that oh this is a second reading and we have to be there since we weren't able to access.

The PowerPoint in advance I'm happy to whatever the board's pleasure and Dr Le's permission is missad a thought on that I'm maybe said the work session on the it's March 7th because my other question or thought and happy to hear from the other board members if we had an opportunity I know there's a the salary the group that's working on this is a cross-section of Educators but I would love for all of our folks to have some eyes on this we can schedule meetings with Durham Association of Educators and get their feedback and so I think that' be an important another step because this policy is so important I think understanding what Clarity is really vital for this and also you know I know we've all gave you some feedback already to figure out but I would love to know how our staff and they read this draft how they interpret it and that might help us see if there are any gaps as well I am happy to work with Miss.

Cooper and tap into her expertise and experience with making sure that the right groups obviously with Dr Le's approval are involved and once we kind of address some of these preliminary feedback tighten up the policy you know and then tweak the PowerPoint and then kind of work with Public public affairs on getting that out and getting Dr Lewis's guidance on who those groups would be so did you did I hear and did we have consensus on March 7th work session not February 20th no we won't be here on March 7th the work session is March 3r so I want to make sure that's clear for the listeners March 13th yes is that okay board members okay all right y okay Miss berer thank you I notice when I go to the classified salary schedules that they say at the top this is the language we put in at the top and I don't know if it's in the this draft or not or whether it should be each year.

The board May Grant salary increases as a part of the annual budget process contingent upon state and local funding I'm pretty sure we have the the the gist of that yes that's the word I was looking for but I I don't know if we want to be explicit and if we do if we want to mirror that language in both places I'm sure yall have thought about that I'm looking at our CFO and HR folks and they're all again nodding so did y'all want to add anything or any no I think that that's incredibly important so as we particularly as we go through this budget process we'll be trying to forecast how much of a state raise might we expect and and it's possible we won't know what that is until after the county has authorized our funding and that's just the reality we've had so I think that language is especially critical with the disconnect that we have with the state's delayed timeline and what we follow locally not just in Durham but in.

Other counties yeah and I think I was also reminded of it with you know the discussion M Chavez of the men's and Max is everyone would love to I would love Max I don't but we have to make the math work right the the math and the budget has to work for us to be able to maximize what we can do for for our staff and it it yeah and we'll we'll continue to Advocate to the state and we'll continue to advocate for the Federal Department of Education to still exist for our students and our staff going forward but yeah and thank you as I'm s it's my last thing on this I think the there's a question of when you move from the men and Max but then in the way the draft policy says is you get an experience increase which I would assume that might be from the step to step but that's not explicit so the question of how do I move from a minut how do I move in the.

Minut and Max and then how would I move from a step to step would be both we need both of that Clarity got it all right colleagues seeing no further points of discussion thank you for this good work and now we will move to operation Services again a 30 minute slot and we have a transport transportation services update with Mr web. I'm sorry Dr web thank you ma'am good evening board members and colleagues happy to present to you tonight a transportation update with some good news and I'll say that again there some good news I understand and and hear it you will Mr tab so I want to say that Mr Barnes and his team have really stepped on the gas and accelerated through this process see what I did there so next slide please and next slide please so a brief update on our progress on the family responsibility zones are in in effect here's our progress February 6 is day 10 today is day 10 of the F frzs.

Implementation the F frz background and FAQs are online and we just recently we presented to you the retention and recruitment plan at our last get together we also Miss Hager and I tag team again and presented that to all of our principles this week at our leadership meeting next slide please something we worked for for some time rotational coverage ended on Friday the 17th of 2025 January January 17th 2025 on day one and I can give you incidental data about the rest of the days but they it look looks a lot like this 25 drivers called out and four Transportation safety assistants called out for the morning shift 32 called out and drivers called out and four tsas called at afternoon as was our plan moving away from from rotational coverage these absences were covered by members and employees of the transportation department on day one All Buses ran all routes were covered and every day sense so everybody is working and working overtime and pitching in it says all.

Routes were completely covered on day one 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine 10 everything is going very well so there's your good news Mr tab thank you sir and kudos to the transportation department Mr Barnes and his group and our dur Public Schools Employees who have a CDL with a passenger endorsement who have agreed to join us in our endeavors more to come there in the second next slide and the next slide after that the router ship and routing updates bus routes have been modified for Effective operation that's going to be you're going to hear this a lot that is an ongoing non-stop process we'll continue that new riders in this process even though the buses have been running New Riders have been added to existing routes routing modific Improvement is an ongoing and everchanging activity next slide please implementation of frzs so after one and a half weeks of implementation implementation and I want to share this information from M Brookshire that she has shared with.

Me over the last week and a half our staff has observed dismissal at at least nine elementary schools prioritizing the school with the largest number of students who have previously requested bus service from within the disease staff continues to follow up with remaining schools to see if they would like a site visit to discuss concerns for supporting families or choosing walking or biting biking observations and conversations with administrators and staff there has not been a large increase in the number of students walking and there are no safety concerns with car L car rider lines more families are car pooling and kids are getting to school School administrators have been working in kudos to our school level administrator staff they are working through problems individually we and we talked in previous meetings this is where they really the the rubber meets the road there see what I did there again that our our principls and School staff are working with our parents and and we've not had since implementation any appeals.

Anything that have come to Mr Barnes or his staff to in regards to additional additional service request wanted to note that we did have we are working with our our families at Hope Valley to resolve some issues resolving around circulating around some sidewalk issues and concerns about construction and ongoing construction so those buses are running until this is complete so other than that we received zero appeals since the F frz implementation I want to point out too that Miss Brookshire and her team are not sitting around and waiting for problems they're reaching out to the schools they're reaching out to the principles and they're visiting to try to to help with that and anticipate any problems not just waiting to be called upon say so site visits and Communications and with staff and families will continue information here about safe routes to school support with several links and then want to point out that bike and roll to school day is scheduled for May 7th 2025 there are upcoming conversations about infrastructure improvements in our.

Community and the role of crossing guards next slide please driver retention Recruitment and support and we've got that in the right order retention is the new recruitment next slide please so I apologize I have a typo i' like to correct that now that is incorrect there are not 13 new drivers there are 15 new drivers we continue to grow with potential as many as four coming in the next week two the team is working overtime to get this this this taken care of I would I'd like to Define that for you 15 new drivers since January 3rd nine are current DPS employees six are new to DPS they are all either driving or available to drive as needed they're all approved to work with us in a driver capacity four of them are on the road and training with veteran drivers two have been assigned to division to be given permanent routes the remaining drivers are of that number are back are on the road and signed a route this does not include.

Transportation safety assistance previously known as bus monitors next slide please any discussion questions concerns because we don't have a we've not been at it a long time we don't have a lot of data for you but I wanted to share what we had discussion thank you colleagues I'd like to organize this discussion just a little bit we have an opportunity to ask questions of Dr web and transportation team now but then we need to have a little bit more conversation about next steps on advocacy with the city and county and our joint City County meeting on the 11th but I'd like us to direct our questions right now to Dr web so he doesn't have to stand through that whole discussion Mr tab thank you thank you very much thank you for the great news but I do want to ask you about the crossing guards it's on the slide but it's just there as the role of the the role of the crossing guard but that's it.

Where are we in terms of making sure that that FR guards there I'm sorry okay. Okay nope Dr Webb go ahead and answer his question thank you Mr tab so I understand there's a discussion on that fourth coming from our perspective we shared with the board last week and then again today so it would be at the top of the list the complete list of where crossing guards exist and that is not the perview of dur public schools that is decided by the the city that is and and where they go and what we're what we want to do moving forward is a topic for discussion at this point there has other than communicating hey we would really like to have more crossing guards there's not been an initi itive from our perspective trying to work with with what we have and answering questions related to that dur Public Schools does not have the ability to add crossing guards but I believe where chair Rogers is going in later conversation is going to be.

Discussing options for pursuing that so that has not okay been our Focus thus far thank you Dr web for clarity Mr tab last week Dr web shared with some members of the board a document from 2014 from the dur Police Department to reflect where they knew crossing guards were in place that was shared with the full board via email earlier this afternoon in addition in our leadership circles Miss Carter uton and myself have discussed this with mayor mayor protim as well as the chair and vice chair of the County Commission Dr Lewis has also had conversations and requests with the city manager around crossing guards and what next steps are and how we can get support from the city and the county our County counterparts so that work has happened in advocacy spaces that we're already that we actively have conversation and connection in we realize that the document from 2014 is not necessarily reflective of where crossing guards are right now or the needs of the district for crossing.

Guards there were lots of schools that weren't built then you know we have many different needs now more students different students all the things and so I would like us as a board to take that document and ask if there's any ability for the city to help us by sharing some of the protocols for their training how volunteers and other members of our community can act actively become crossing guards where the rates or pay are how we can actively you know work together to recruit the crossing guards that we need in the district I'd like us to have a conversation about how we can get more crosswalks and bus shelters at our schools so that families can rely on those other Transportation methods of transportation and not just DPS busing so that we are having conversations about right now while we're in budget season asking the city and the county to help us by improving infrastructure around our schools and improving the number of crossing guards that we have available to support.

Around schools but again like Dr web said it has to be through they have to be trained by the dur police department and they don't they wouldn't work for DPS I like to respond to that just in future if we are going to put family responsibility zones in place then there should have been prior conversation about crossing guards and how it works so that all of all of all of it would be together as opposed to some PE people may be saying now we have the W the responsibility zones family responsibility zones but we don't have crossing guards so I don't know in the last report if that's you know if we have enough or we don't have enough because I haven't seen that right now I understand but I just want to make sure that as we're moving forward and do you know just maybe to Dr Lewis if we're going to put things in place I would really like for us to make sure that all of those you know things are in.

Place that is going to make a difference whether or not someone feels safe or not because they're now involved in the in the walk well I don't want to say walking it's a family responsib resp okay the good thing is that we've already activated family responsibility zones and so hopefully we wouldn't have to do that and they're already active so we don't have to activate them again but if go ahead no I was just going to add if you recall when Mr Palmer was here he shared that a significant number of families were removed from the family responsibility zones due to some safety concerns like not having a crossing guard at a certain location so that was considered but I definitely hear you in terms of what we can do to make sure that you know we could really look at crossing guards and that was one of the things I was I wanted to just bring out again and it's a link in the presentation to the 21 schools that are.

Part of the family responsibility zones definitely appreciative of community members that are stepping up and wanting to assist but I think there's been some misconceptions that family responsibility zones were impacting all of our schools all elementary schools but there's 21 elementary schools and no secondary schools Miss Umstead I just had a follow-up question this the school crossing guard locations document you said was from 2014 is there an updated document somewhere or like truly we haven't touched where crossing guards are since 2014 that is the most recent document that M Miss Brooker has been working very closely with with several organizations to talk about just those those questions including Mr tab's Question prior to implementation we had some conversation about some Miss Brooker would you come join us and and give us some perspective on that good evening thank you the document that was shared from 2014 those are all still the existing crossing guard locations so 15 crossing guards at 13 DPS schools all elementary schools except for Brogden there's a crossing.

Guard at at Duke and Leon Street for Brogden Middle School so the I know it's alarming to see 2014 but they have been unchanged and so I think it's worthy conversation about how we can revisit those locations in partnership with the police department and how we prioritize new requests for crossing guards and revisit existing ones the city the sergeant over the crossing guard program actually let me know today that they have reposted the crossing guard job posting but that's to fill one existing vacancy that's one of those 15 positions now but they are leaving it open because they're hoping to build the applicant pool so that they continually receive applicants so it won't just close in two weeks.

So was there a followup or do we have like anou around the crossing guard with the city I just think like some way that we decide how we want to engage and interact with each other which includes an review of the crossing guards every however many years I think would be helpful and then how the sites are determined might be a good part of that kind of conversation too I just feel like this is a a place where we need more collaboration especially as our city continues to grow so much new I mean who knows how many new neighborhoods were built since 2014 and how many different students are trying to interact with schools so I I think that might be something worth us considering and I I do I know we talked a little bit about crossing guards really early in this conversation and there's still more work to be done around that for sure so thank you Miss berer so I think this update was great to hear that we.

Have more drivers I want to extend gratitude to you Dr web you miss Brookshire Mr Barnes Joe Harris Annie fulwood our whole team and most especially to our d drivers who drive each and every day with our precious students I do I was glad when the students came to speak to us about climate and sustainability that we can be proud that Miss Brookshire is with us that safe routes to school is something that we have prioritized in our community and it is here to stay and pro perhaps probably grow so I would if at all possible like us to go into that conversation with the information about where our most critical needs for crossing guards are so that we have a prioritized sense of and able to tell the city Hope Valley or whatever that we're that and that we have you know logic behind it I do see the crossing guard posted for anyone that's looking it is in the salary range of $189 C an hour to.

$247 on the city website and open as of two days ago so but that's that's not a yeah that's not a new one that's existing and I mean replacing an existing one do you all feel like you have that data I know the city also has Transportation staff and have y'all will are they receptive to those conversations about where these might be needed to be added most rapidly absolutely so one thing that I've been in conversation with the city transportation department so crossing guards are also a hard to fill position just like bus drivers and some of the other positions within our school system and so the city of Durham has said that they're open to exploring other methods for hiring crossing guards whether that's Contracting them out there's a few other cities in the state where we have examples how that's done and so in preparing for that possibility they did ask us what would be the next ones on the list and that's not that's from.

What we know in reviewing the zones what we've heard from families this isn't the first year that people have found their way to one of one or more of the DPS departments and asked about crossing guards so we've shared that with them Hope Valley being the number one and then others and also in coordination with the police department which are the locations that might need reinforcement coming up so they have that list and I can share that with you all at well but that's been part of the conversation with the transportation department but right now crossing guards live with the police department the operation of the program so they have the list about which ones we need next it's not set in stone but it was we were asked if they were to explore it what would be another 10 but that's not set in stone so we can there can be more back and forth on that and hopefully that would be part of the conversation that you all have that was just an.

Estimate of what that would look like to explore that I think I would love to have that conversation especially as they go into their budget cycle and and plan with us I I see them being great Partners in this I also was thinking about how the county and City have gone to using a lot of private contractors for security like some Nighthawk or something screen and I wonder if some of those folks might be able to be trained and and able to perform this job I I was looking at board member Rogers and she made a face so it made I had a followup what Miss Brookshire was just sharing my followup was is Administration prepared with that information to take on the 11th will y'all be able to bring that or do you expect the board to take it the list of 10 priorities that you've already shared yeah okay and I will say typically it it it's not just a matter of of us taking a list to the city there's some criteria.

That they use a number of students the mous per hour the volume of traffic the gaps per hour that that normally goes into play before they assign a Crossing G I just want to make that clear and also typically the city funds crossing guards and so if we have schools in the county we need to be prepared for that conversation as well Dr Giovani you're going to add something I did just want to add that a lot of the work that we are doing in Durham is extremely Innovative and I think thank you Miss berer for listing the names of the people but you did forget a name Matthew Palmer is the one that got us here like we stand on the work that he did do and also folks from all around the country have reached out to us about the different things we were doing like they were in the same situation we are in in that rotation coverage that got us through none of us liked it but folks from.

Around the country reaching out to Matthew asking him like how you did that what do the logistics look like same with the F frzs and I think that you know when you're just working on I just want to point that out and lift that up and also you know whenever you name people it's always dangerous right because then you forget people so charge it to my head not my heart but I want to mention our bus driver mechanics and our folks that I mean they are up early like those buses break down they make sure they're running they make sure the are safe so they are an integral part of getting our kids to school and I mean and of course I'm doing this and I've always feel like you're leaving out you know teachers Child Nutrition workers so I don't want that's not my intention but I do just want to lift up since we're talking about Transportation just the work that you know we thank Mr Barnes for.

Being here and I just want to make sure we don't neglect to thank Matthew Palmer and of course all the other team members of his team that have gotten us here thank you thank you I really appreciate that that catch thank you that is well deserved thank you no Dr Webb you wanted to add something yes ma'am thank you I I'd like if you would indulge me before you move into that level of conversation on that topic I would like for clarity to read the F frzs and I'd like to point out that these are elementary schools there are no middle schools that are f frzs there are no high schools that are f frzs for for those who are concerned and and and not been not able to determine if they're affected or not I would like to publicly share that list again Burton elementary Club Boulevard Elementary Creekside Elementary Eastway Elementary Fable Street Elementary Forest View Elementary RN Harris Elementary hillindale elementary Holt Elementary Hope Valley Elementary Lakewood Elementary Morehead montor Murray.

Massenberg Elementary Parkwood Elementary Pearson Town Elementary e po Elementary Southwest Elementary Sandy Ridge Elementary y Smith Elementary CC Spalding Elementary and George Watts Elementary and those are our F frzs and that is where we are today so I wanted to to share that so everyone heard that again so there to maybe a some concerns that's where we are today so thank you for that opportunity thank you yes a quick yeah also share with Dr Lewis if we could for somehow get a get the list out there that for the schools that are not affected as well I know we have the list out there for the schools Dr L you and I talked about that to make sure both lists are out there so people can make sure they know who which schools are really in it which ones are not yes because that's where the confusion has come as well they hear that they hear the names of the schools and they think that they are affect you know affected.

By I just want to be clear the list that he read are the schools that are impacted right so if he if you didn't hear your school name you're not impacted but you're saying on that on on the web on the web page you want to list the schools that are not yeah I think it's important for them to see all see the schools and they can look and see you know which ones you know are impacted by it and which ones are not is I hear that I just wonder if that might actually cause more confusion or a false sense that they might not be considered in the future as transportation needs to look at middle schools or high schools in the future I just don't want us to.

Inadvertently cause yeah I just welcome staff thinking about that yeah I don't know maybe that's just the educator in me saying that be very clear that's all we can be very clear and the clearer we are the better things can be maybe something to consider Administration missad did you have questions okay Miss card the one thing I appreciate the request for clarity and making sure our families have good information I did like that on the website when you click on the when it shows you which school but also you click on the link and it shows you the map to show you exactly like where and I thought that was clear in addition to communicating directly the family's impact Ed so thank you for doing that super excited about the positive news that you shared with us tonight thank you for all of the work that's been done from the teams and for sharing that with us thanks for being proactive too about I had asked about like how you're Gathering data on like.

How things are going and I appreciate that y'all are going out to school you're not just waiting to hear if something bad happens you're going out and talking to school administrators and folks families so that's great to hear and glad to hear we haven't had any appeals yet and I'm curious to know how that will continue moving forward maybe that's because there were some changes made in response to some safety concerns so that's good news so far are we holding off on talking about crossing guards more or okay if I may M additionally we have started a to track we have a document it's empty right now but it will track those requests and the outcome so periodically if as we can report back to this board if that's what you're interested in we had three requests two reget whatever the dynamic is there but our our team has established a shared document where that information will be easily accessible moving forward but you're correct we right now it's an empty.

List I'm sorry we have one thank you Mr Barnes hope valy well Hope Valley concerns have yes we I mentioned that aside from those but those are kind of far-reaching right now so we're trying to work through that thanks M Barnes okay wonderful thank you Missin yeah I was really excited about the bus driver updates as well and thank you'all all for your work and recruiting folks to drive can we well two questions on the express stops the public comment was asked earlier today around when where are we doing that for next year and can we just get some clarity on where we are or or when we'll get a followup on where that is at upcoming meeting if we need to yes ma'am head nod that we'll get some updates at a future meeting on if we need to implement Express stops in the future okay that's thank you the second question was about crossing guards you want me to wait Miss Rogers all right all the schools I.

Believe right now that we're looking at F frz are in the city do we evaluate our count our schools in the county too around needs of crossing guards that might be a Miss question I think they all are in the city I think that came up in a previous board meeting and it's a good question right now I'm looking at the list I don't think any that have key crossings that are not within the city but it would be good to have that answer for the future I really did appreciate Dr Lewis mentioning previously about the importance of a data driven process i' want to step back just a one step and make it sound like we don't just have a list that we can pass to the city but in partnership with Transportation staff at the city looking for solutions that could be quick response that doesn't take the place of a longer data I mean you have to collect traffic data observe students Crossing we have new traffic patterns now that we have.

Family responsibility zones in effect so people are coming you know travel behaviors are changing so this you know going forward this is a good time to collect data to be making those those informed decisions so the list that was provided that we will still pass on was in Partnership of quick response like what could we do if we can move quickly on something thing so that doesn't take the place of a longer process guess I'm wondering what does it look like to do any of those evaluations for schools that are in the county technically in aren't City and I don't I don't actually know jurisdiction wise if we yes I see a yes in the audience so we do have schools that are just County and not city and so is there evaluation for us as a district to be thinking or I don't even know who on the county side would manage some of that traffic pieces but yeah so if the role of a Crossing Garden maybe this can be part of your.

Conversation with the multi-party The Joint meeting that's coming up our our conversation yeah we'll be there yeah yeah your conversation yeah oh oh yeah sorry but the role like what does Durham see as the role of a crossing guard so you're asking about the county and many of the schools that are and there aren't many but truly within the county they weren't included in the family responsibility Zone analysis or they were at the very beginning and then set aside because right out the front door there's a Transportation safety barrier and so if the role of a crossing guard is to help it's not to control traffic it's to help students walk and bike across a crosswalker and intersection so and at what point do infrastructure improvements supersede that and say it's the best designed intersection ever we don't need a crossing guard or do we always need a crossing guard because we want that person present to be Crossing with our students so that's a community conversation which if a school doesn't.

Have sidewalks or crosswalks or all of that then they're not even considered start with infrastructure so we need to also that infr I'm just reiterating the importance of the infrastructure because I know that some of our schools don't have crosswalks or don't have sidewalks and kids are walking along two lane streets right so how do we thank you that's helpful that help reiterate that we need infrastructure in the crossing guard Miss berer just one quick question M Brookshire one of the things in my mind that we were also asking the city's help with was the getting the G their GIS mapping staff to work on mapping these F frzs do you remember that Dr Webb do you remember our school locator tool that that families use lives on their website and I think that was something that Mr Palmer described previously that but that might come up as something that in that meeting that you all are having with the city and we'll be cheering you on that we could use their.

Support from their mapping staff as well so I apologize I don't have that information but it is a valid question and that's something we can follow up on right and J Rogers I really appreciate this conversation I didn't think about anou Miss Umstead so I think if we could get some of those details like ironed out and sort of start the preliminary advocacy on that that could be helpful especially with bringing in I know Miss Brookshire you're planner I know but bringing in the transport city transportation team to help us do these assessments and let not be doing them you know without them and so I wonder if all that would be included I do want to so I think all of that is great so what I've heard from the board in terms of our advocacy is is there anou an appetite for anou how are sites for crossing guards determined where our most critical needs and who's doing that assessment and when and the GIS mapping for family responsibility.

Zones I did personally think that we should ask for support for breast structures shelters at more of our schools and the sidewalk and crosswalk infrastructure stuff both from the city and county support is there anything else y'all want to add to that list might be nice just to show them pictures of the ones that have been done and the progress that we've made on some of those shelters and things and what a difference that makes in school Aesthetics and and safety because I think pictures speak well but I think that's a great idea the other and I think it's so if it's okay with y'all that it would be okay if we ask the city for more frequent bus routes around our schools I don't know I mean I would want to know if our students are riding it you like I I'm all for increasing routes but if students aren't riding an increased route like I it's I don't know if we know if there if that's the barrier.

Yeah yeah I know one of the city council members would like us to has expressed an interest in asking for that so that they can it's kind of which comes first the chicken or the egg you increase the routes and then you increase ridership or you try to increase ridership and then increase the routes I think it'd be worth a ro bus discussion together I don't know the answer I'm not pulling one way or another. This I think that's a great list and I would I'm curious to know what Miss Brookshire says about those the the city buses and the shelters because they sound like something that could be really useful and based on what you know and the research that youall have done are those things that you would recommend also.

Improved Transit infrastructure I mean that makes it more appealing more welcoming more comfortable so I think asking for support or more information about how those improvements forth how they're being prioritized going forward I'll say I know a little bit less on the transit side than I do on the you know infrastructure like you know Street projects sidewalk projects bike lane projects so I think it's a good question and I know that you know there's a few that are in the queue at our schools that will be updated anytime like given you know the rway dedication and the construction easements needed for those improvements to happen but there's there's others that could be improved as well so thank you Miss berer sorry I keep thinking it's the last thing I do think sometimes it's good to take paper and like we could take some of these examples of these documents that you have worked on for families about about what bus comes near each High what are we calling those Sorry Miss Brookshire let call them.

Transit guides Transit guides like I think that might be helpful for them to see other other things that you all have worked on and at least share some hyperlinks to the robust work that you all you as one person mostly on behalf of this big student body have done the other thing I wonder is if we have connectivity between our comprehensive high schools and Durham Tech for as we look towards future build out of programming there or if that might be something that we need to keep an eye on but I think this just the start of the conversation but I'm so glad you all are having it.

Yeah all right thank you so very much for all this information thank you and in closing even though Dr Giovani stole my thunder I'm very proud of the transportation team and the planning team and it's a joy to work with professionals and they they are leading with their heart and their head so very proud of them thank you very much that's great thank you what a nice closing all right we will move to our believe final agenda item before we go to Clos we okay we have just the monthly change order report which is for information so we have it there that was quick and now I will take a motion oh sorry sorry hold on summary of follow-up.

Items who am I looking.

Toward who who should I look to for summary of followup up items the staff have been taking extensive notes as the board have lifting them up and there are many under everything I I wonder if you want them read into the record or if you trust us to have captured your items but I'm happy to we're gonna we're going to trust you this time and I'm seeing the desire to do that from my board memb so thank you for taking extensive notes and well we all shared and and tag teamed so hopefully we've done a good job recomend capturing Essence thank you I'm sure you have thank you I move that we go into Clos session for the reasons stated on the agenda second okay it's been moved that we go into close session by board member buer and seconded by board member Umstead is there any other.

Discussion all right everyone in favor please say I I anyone oppose use the same sign and we.

Are now in closed session as another reminder we will not come back out after close session to to we will come back out to close the meeting but we will not stream so as to let our interpreters and Tech staff go home thank you can I can I since we are not coming back out and we just had a transportation report just a reminder that next week is School transportation appreciation week this is love the bus month so we we have many community members and Community Partners that have stepped up in major ways to just show their support and value for our school bus drivers and Safety assistance and monitor so this is just another plea to the public to celebrate our bus drivers next week and the rest of the year awesome all right and with that we are in closed session e.