Board of Education · Work Session · November 2, 2023

Do a roll call vote is there any discussion is there any other. Discussion now we'll do a roll call though because we have virtual members joining us we'll start with Miss Lewis hi miss Beyer this is Jovonia Lewis and I vote I thank you Miss Beyer hi Miss Miss Carter uton I miss Chávez I miss Umstead I and I vote I so it passes. 60 and now we entertain a motion for the work session minutes to be approved from October 12th 2023 of the minutes from October 12 2023 second it's been moved by Miss Chávez seconded by Miss Carter Aton we'll have a roll call vote Miss.

Le and this is Jovonia Lewis I vote I I miss carteron I miss shz I missad I and I vot I passes 60 we are now the point in our agenda where we have public comment have five comments for this evening we're going to do a quick review of the rules first please state your name if speaking for an organization please state your name and the name of the organization speakers are asked to present their comments in three minutes when the yellow light comes on you have one minute left not to start winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep which indicates your time is up complaints about name staff students or parents should not be voiced in open session however we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education safety of our students or the operation of the school system finally board members will listen carefully and consider your comments but we do not engage in a discussion with speakers our first Speaker.

Tonight is Sally Harold followed by Abby. Beyer my name is Al harbold and I'm participating with public school strong and I attended the August board meeting my probably my most important identifier is to tell you that 38 years ago I accidentally fell in love with a woman and 38 years later we are still together we are both Episcopal priests and we're on the staff of the same church when we met and it's been a rough road the church in Florida did throw us out but the church in North Carolina embraced us and welcomed us and I was embarrassed and ashamed to say that I'm a Christian after I heard the speakers at the August meeting seemingly representing themselves as people who speak for God and of God and and really shaming other people and blaming other people so I want to stand up for the children and the parents of children children who are questioning their identity questioning their relationships not that the school board has a role in encouraging that but.

In accepting it in accepting it and let them be who they are and not be dominated by a very hateful far rightwing agenda and if there's anything that I can do to support and help in the public schools I will I will thank you thank you for your.

Work hello my name is Abby Beyer I am a DPS parent of two kids one of which is non-binary and I'm a member of rainbow Collective for change S sp49 is a state law that violates a federal law Title Nine it does this by creating an environment within schools that is hostile to an entire group of students by taking away their representation in curriculum potentially putting them in an unsafe family situations and taking away potentially the one place that they are able to be their authentic self the language in the law is unclear and by adding this language to any DPS policy you would be giving teachers freedom to act according to their personal beliefs in a way that could put students at risk teachers that want to provide a safe space for their students would be in a position where they have to choose between following a federal law that protects them and violating a state law or even DPS policy that could cause harm as a group many of us started coming to.

Schoolboard meetings to advocate for safety and Clarity from DPS to protect this group of kids if you proceed with this change you would be taking a giant step back from this intended goal at my own child gender support meeting this year all three teachers and attendance were very confused as to what they were allowed to if they were allowed to correct misuse of my child's pronouns if they were allowed to talk about their gender in the classroom or even protect them from harassment and bullying because of their gender the clarity that teachers need to keep these students safe has not been provided parents and students themselves should not be the ones providing this education I come here acknowledging my privilege to show up and Advocate and my child's relative privilege to many other lgbtqi kids because they have a safe home and Community I'm here because there are too many others that don't have anything close I ask that you put a pause on any edits that would Encompass sp49 into DPS.

Policy while the legal battle is ongoing and instead provide CL Clarity to teachers and principles that will keep these kids safe thank you thank you our next two public speakers are an stawi HM Street and Alex. Adrien hello DPS board members and administration my name is an swi hem Street my pronouns are she or they and I'm a queer parent of two young children residing in Durham I am also the founder and executive director of rainbow Collective for change and I'm here today to share my support for any and all procedures that Durham Public Schools implements to protect and affirm lgbtqia plus transgender and gender non-conforming students staff and families across the district I also urge you to provide clear and thorough guidance through written communication and training to all staff across the district's schools so they are clear what constitutes discrimination how they will be held accountable if they discriminate against lgbtqia plus and gender diverse students or colleagues and what they are still expected to do to affirm and support lgbtqia plus and.

Gender diverse students and staff I've recognized that you are in a difficult position where you want to affirm and support all of your students including those who are lgbtqia a plus and gender diverse but also need to comply with the state's s sp49 law knowing that it is intended to create hostile learning environment ments for those already vulnerable students I know you are talking this evening about adding language to several policies to demonstrate your compliance with s sp49 it hurts my heart to see the sp49 language added into the DPS policy 3540 that bans instruction on sexual activity sexuality or gender identity for grades kindergarten through fourth grade every student has a right to see their own identities and their own family represented in the school curriculum they also have a right to learn about identities and families that are different from their own to represent some identities in families while suppressing or censoring others is a form of indoctrination and a violation of s sp49 itself as well as raising.

Title 9 concerns and violating State and District policies on School curriculum furthermore s sp49 states that a parent has the right to the following to direct the education and care of his or her child it should say their child by the way and two to direct the upbringing and moral or religious training of his or her slash their child how do you DPS plan to comply with this for all parents what about lgbtqia plus parents and parents of lgbtqia plus children we should also have the right under this law to direct the Education and Care of our children I urge you to accompany any policy changes with specific guidance and training for educators on one the district's recommended practices for affirming and supporting lgbtq and gender diverse children and two the procedures in place to hold School staff accountable when they are over complying with s sp49 and discriminating against these.

Students hi I'm Alex Adrien my pronouns are they and he I'm I am on the leadership team of rainbow Collective for change I live in Durham and I am the parent of two adults former DPS students I am employed by the lgbtq center of Durham though I am not here as a representative of the center today I understand that today you are looking at how to implement ncsp 49 that I don't say lgbtq law while I know it is actually entitled parents Bill of Rights I recognize that it leaves out the rights of many parents and families it attempts to silence Equity diversity Aton e omy and safety several provisions of s sp49 lead to a hostile educational environment for lgbtq plus students staff faculty and families including the piece the DPS board is discussing today in policy 3540 about the Comprehensive Health education program every student has a right to see their own identities and their own families represented in the school curriculum they also have a right to learn about identities and.

Families that are different from their own to represent some of of the identities and families while suppressing or censoring others is a form of indoctrination and a violation of s sp49 itself as well as raising title N9 concerns and violating State and District policies on School curriculum creating a hostile educational environment breaks Title Nine a federal law federal law supersedes state law the campaign for southern equality is in discussion with the North Carolina State Public Department of Instruction on this issue and will be like filing a federal complaint with the office of civil rights at the US Department of Education and I know that you as a board and your lawyers are still a are staying arrest of these possibilities I know that each of you take to heart Durham public school's mission to embrace educate and Empower every student sp49 does not make this possible and it is illegal in an Ideal World I would ask that our districts stand in defiance of this law short of that I I ask that when reviewing.

Proposed policy please use a lens that will allow for restrictions written into the policy to easily revert or revise to more inclusive language or be removed altogether when it is proven that s sp49 is not enactable finally sp49 itself requires you to develop these policies in consultation with parents teachers administrators and Community Partners.

One public comment period is not sufficient particularly in the environment so that it's not safe for many to speak as a member of the board's lgbtqia taskforce I am left to wonder why the task force members have not been called upon to engage in the development of these policies thank. You thank you next we have Antonia di Nardo followed by Carolyn Allen hi my name is my name is Antonia di Nardo I use she her pronouns and I'm here to speak to you as a mother of two primary school age children the fellow educator and a transgender woman there was no education on queer topics when I was in school but that didn't mean that I didn't learn about them I learned about them every time kids played smear the queer in gym class with the full approval of watching staff I learned every time other kids made dehumanizing comments about trans women they reduced us to pornographic objects or called us Hees and I learned every time I was beaten up and called homophobic.

Slurs because we live in a culture that is steeped in homophobia and CIS sexism and as long as I have been alive schools have been no exception LGBT affirming education has not suddenly introduced knowledge of queerness to the schoolyard it is just for the first time given the responsibility of teaching about queer lives and queer experiences to Educators instead of to bullies for the first time queer youth get to learn that they are people normal and whole and deserving of dignity rather than Outsiders and punching bags I often wonder how my life would have changed had I had that experience perhaps I would have come to terms with who I was sooner perhaps I would have been spare years of self living trauma and pain because make no mistake none of that bullying could ever have accomplished the great conservative dream of making me not trans all it did was cause me pain a pain that millions of American Youth are now facing the prospect of repeating many of the people.

Speaking in opposition to these changes ask you to press pause on these changes to wait and see how sp49 plays out in the before making any changes to DPS policies I don't because I don't care what the courts say and neither should you I have come to urge you to rip this policy to shreds to unequivocally say we will not comply not today and not in January because that is how progress is made not at the hands of a politicized Judiciary carefully created by right-wing extremists for three decades but the hands of good people willing to say no willing to disobey what we know is wrong no we will not allow bullies to control our education system not in the schoolyard not in the state house where the same bullies who pushed us around as kids are all grown up in suits and ties pretending to care about our children no we will not let LGBT youth become second class citizens no we will not acquest to a law that does meaningful tangible harm.

To vulnerable children no moral Panic no legislature no court will stop this Bo from doing what is right from making sure our children get to learn through highquality evidence-based inclusive education not at the hands of bullies because that is what ethical responsible education demands thank.

You my name my name is Carolyn Allen I work at Sandy Ridge Elementary and I'm the proud parent of four DPS students I'm speaking tonight for myself and my family I understand that you'll be discussing proposed policy changes this evening in response to S SP 49 as you may know the NC General Assembly passed the 2023 budget which which pushes implementation of s SP 49 to January of next year so no one is required to be implementing changes to policies or practices just yet a lot of folks in our schools aren't aware of this in fact there are some that believe that the DPS lgbtqia plus and gender support policy is outdated due to S sp49 and therefore should no longer be followed we need clear communication from DPS Administration to all DPS employees and families that this is not the case we need to hear clearly and plainly stated that DPS continues to assure the protection of our staff and students by following the current DPS lgbtqia plus.

And gender support policy I worry that the changes that have been Pro proposed here tonight are too vague and leave too much room for interpretation from one school to the next from one employee to the next the revisions to 3540 read instruction on sexual activity sexuality or gender identity will not be included in the health education curriculum in kindergarten through fourth grade now when I wrote this I originally said that sounds fine to me with the caveat of now I've heard some really good explanations tonight why that's not fine however teachers discuss information in their classrooms that isn't quote unquote included in the curriculum all the time right and the proposed changes say this restriction does not include responses to student initiated questions which mirrors SP 49's language perfect so the policy just says those things can't be included in the official curriculum not that teachers can't discuss it with their students correct but I feel certain that not everyone will read and interpret that in the way.

That I just did and therein lies the problem please be direct and give us more guidance that doesn't leave room for interpretation thank. You thank you thank you all that's our last General com public comment I'm now going to turn it over to our chief of staff for our policy updates thank you good evening board members Dr Malone community members if you could please pull up the PowerPoint and while they're pulling that up what we H what we're going to do here today is I'm going to I tried to kind of summarize some of the changes that are in the policies they are and have been available on the board docs website for review as for the community to see and I do want to make it clear that the board members have engaged with me in really robust conversations regarding these proposed edits and these are kind of those synthesized comments and what we are presenting to the board for their review on first reading today next slide please the policies that will be.

Discussed today and with the proposed edits include policy 3210 parental inspection of and objection to instructional materials policy 354 Comprehensive Health education program policy 4335 criminal Behavior policy 4720 surveys of students policy 6120 student health services and policy 7300 staff responsibilities and code of ethics next slide please so what I've done in the PowerPoint and is I'm showing the track changes as they appear in the documents and then afterwards because that's somewhat confusing I want I went ahead and showed it as it would look if all of the track changes were included so this is just so people can see what if they don't have access to or didn't have a chance to review the documents that are in board docs with the agenda next slide please and this is policy.

3210 so what the gist of this the changes are that are being made include just BAS basically codifying parents that how they can inspect and review instructional materials in regard to their particular child or student in during public schools at the end you will see I've done a in Black the language that was already in existence in the policy and in blue is the proposed changed language next slide please and this is what all of those strikeouts would look like if if they were accepted by the board and in the interest of time I I'm not going to read it but I do want just wanted everyone to have a chance to kind of see what it would look like without all of the strikeouts next slide please this is policy 3540 Comprehensive Health education again the language in black is what has already existed in the existing what as the existing policy reads and then the last two sentences in blue instruction on sexual activity sexuality or gender identity will not be included.

In the health education curriculum in kindergarten through fourth grade and then it directs them to policy 1310 42 parental involvement and then the last sentence this restriction does not include responses to student initiated questions next slide please policy 4335 criminal Behavior this codifies the requirement in the parents Bill of Rights that if there is if a school system employee becomes aware of a possibility of a criminal offense having been committed what they are to do and I believe next slide I believe I did do this is what the language that is being added.

Includes so again this is fairly takes almost directly from the language of the statute next slide please policy 4720 surveys of students just in summary what the parents Bill of Rights requires it now makes surveys that include protected topics or areas parents have to opt into those previously they were opt out and now there's a list that's in the entire policy that's included in the packet that lists what those protected areas are so if a stat if a survey includes any of those the entire survey becomes a protected survey and parents would have to opt into that there is there are two exceptions to this that do include protected information and that those are listed here the youth risk behavior and the youth tobacco survey next slide please in addition the parents Bill of Rights also added language regarding well-being questionnaires and health screenings and the language is included in the packet and on this slide as well and it's also addressed in policy 1310 parental involvement next slide.

Please policy 6120 this is not a parents Bill of Right change but in reviewing the policies it was discovered that the policy needed to be updated as a result of a previous change from the State Board of Education so this isn't peerce Bill of Rights but it we are presenting it to the board for its review as to make the policy compliant with state board policy next slide please and lastly policy 7300 staff responsibilities and codes of Ethics the proposed language in blue indicates that as the statute does that employees are to support parents in participating in their child's education and are not to encourage or Co a child to withhold information from a parent the yellow dots indicate there's a paragraph in there that was there were no changes made to that and then the next area is that regards recording audio recordings and video recordings of students next slide.

Please can you go back to the previous slide it appears that there's a missing slide I don't know what happened to it but what this does it lists out the areas the exceptions to and it's included in the packet but it lists out the exceptions to the proh prohibition on recording including purposes of instruction extracurricular activities all the things that we generally do in our school buildings are still allowed under this law so we are complying with the law and stating that the only time staff were allowed to record students is in that those particular areas and just for the excuse me I'll go ahead and read those not into the record per se but just so that for people that are watching so that they can know exactly what those exceptions.

Are the language reads additionally a video or voice recording shall not be made of a student without the parent prior written cons ENT accept a recording made in the following circumstances a during or as part of a court proceeding as part of an investigation under chapter 7B or chapter 14 of the general statutes C when the recording will be used solely for any of the following purposes one a safety demonstration including one related to security and discipline on educational property and academic or extracurricular Activity three classroom instruction four photo identification cards and five security or surveillance of buildings grounds or School transportation next slide please next slide.

Please and those are the policies that we are bringing for the board's first reading and just wanted to again re reiterate that we did have a robust conversation with all of the board members regarding these proposed changes and in consultation with Darrington Smith the board's attorney thank you so much Dr Giovonia board members these policies are in front of us for review as a first read any. Comments Mr Gan could you speak to plans to have Community engagement and feedback on these drafts yes as we back in N 2019 when we did the policy transition my email is on the board Doc's policy page for anyone whoever wants to provide any type of feedback for policies and this is generally how we do get feedback from the community on policies so this is on for first reading it would be the request of administration that the board allow us to move it to Second reading at the November board meeting and not maybe put it on consent but in the event that.

There is some feedback from the community through those the email to me then I would then share that with the board and or if the board directly received any feedback to share it with me and then I could put that into a PowerPoint and allow for again that open public discussion so that's what regard to these six policies there will and I believe there will be some additional commentary on policy 1310 as the statute does require an actual like a robust parental formal parental Community engagement on that policy and I'm happy to speak to that now parents Bill of Rights requires us to consult with parents teachers administrators and Community Partners about the development of our new policy 1510 I think this is a practice that Durham does often when we craft and draft policies that we engage with our community whether that's through public comments through emails to staff or emails to board members which we've already begin to receive from folks in the community so thank y'all for communicating with.

Us the draft of the new policy 13 1310 parental involvement will be up on the school system site tomorrow and there also will be an email address separate from Miss Giovonia that you can email with your feedback that is policy p l i y310 at dpsnc.net and that will also again all be available on our website tomorrow we will have a public comment session excuse me public comment session on Thursday November 9th 2023 starting at 4:30 to 6:30 will be in this room this room where people can also come and share their thoughts in person we will make sure that we'll have staff here I believe some board members will also be in attendance so we can hear from the community and be able to draft the policy with the spirit of Durham we know that we do parental engagement in Durham that's been a focus of our work for so long parents Bill a rights ask us to write a policy we're going to make it a Durham policy to make.

Sure that we continue to hear from our families every single one of them and support their children in our school system so that's the update on the that thir to be clear 1310 is not in our packet tonight for people who are watching us but that will be available on our website starting. Tomorrow any other questions or comments from board. Members 1735 should we we talk about 1735 which is such a beautiful policy I I almost want to read it into record but it is the policy that holds and is in place in Durham Public Schools at the moment with no changes and so I look forward to ways that we can support and making that clear to our staff and families but that one is not here for anything at this time that is correct Administration will be bringing some proposed edits to policy 1735 the lgbtqia plus gender supports policy at the November 16th board meeting and again my email is on there and so if anyone wants to.

Provide any feedback it will be available just like the the draft of that policy will be up as well as I'm I just have a few questions this actually might be from Mr Malone so thank you for grabbing the mic I do think there's a lot of questions and a lot of legal analysis around s sp49 and title title n and so can you kind of illuminate a little bit for us who decides what the who decides I believe there there is interfer there but who kind of makes that decision that the board will need to follow does that make sense who legally I guess can decide if sb49 aligns with Title Nine so we don't and I don't my light's not coming on here but oh okay there we go it would be our position that for all of the flaws with Senate Bill 49 that own it face it does not violate K9 it is certainly possible that various school systems implementation of the requirements of Senate Bill 49 could result in possible.

Claims of violations of Title 9 but but the language on its face we do not believe violates title n and it it may very well take you know a court or some other you know entity that reviews complaints under Title Nine for them to provide some guidance thank you that's helpful the other question I have this is actually for administration I think it's really clear that we need really strong procedures that go along with these policies to make sure that we are doing what's in the best interest of our students and so I just want to know the timeline around the policies and procedures regarding like when will they be created when will staff be trained so we did make sure that our staff know what to do to make sure we can support students in the best way possible with Dr Malone's permission Dr King and I well with his Direction Dr King and I have been working on those procedures Dr King has kind of put together some drafts but.

Until we kind of get a a sense of exactly where the board's going to land it's a little bit difficult to kind of finalize those but what I would propose if the board would allow us for us to come back on the 16th with a timeline for you on the implementation of those procedures and the what the training is I just don't want to kind of off the cuff provide that without consulting with Dr Malone and Dr King and the rest of the administrative team thank you I think it's really important that we get that done really soon regardless of what we do we know that people feel in limbo right now and so how do we give some really strong guidance to our Educators around what should be happening within our school system so I think you know we'll P we can bring that timeline on the 16th but I hope to see some urgency around how do we get folks trained before this January deadline I think that someone.

Has imposed on us the state I think keep in mind that the all of the bill did not get pushed out to January I mean the parts that are most problematic to most of us are in existence today so got it that's helpful I do also I think some of our public comments shared about getting feedback from the task force and so I would hope that we can send the date of our session next Thursday to task force members so they can be invited to that as well as copies of these policies 1310 to make sure the task force has an opportunity to talk with the administration with the board regarding all the policies and and potentially some of those procedures right if there's an opportunity that they can share with us some best practices I think that'd be really helpful I would just like to point out that our principles have been you know very good when they have encountered and been made aware of I don't want to call it a situ ation.

But of a concern of a student or a family and have reached out to Administration for kind of that caseby casee guidance and the directive that they have been given is that you know until told otherwise policy 1735 is what we do in Durham and so I do want to just point out like if someone does have a concern and I think families have reached out to the board members and they've shared it with Dr Malone and other administr other administrative folks and we have worked with those School those particular principles but your point is well taken that there will be urgency around that and making sure that we bring the timeline that that's not going to stop us Dr Malone tasked us with this probably over a month ago so we have been working on that and we'll be have we anticipate having something ready I think we've gotten some additional Guidance with tonight from the board and with our other conversations around 1735 that I've had with board members as well and.

I think it's there's probably a both end that some people are coming to you and sharing like hey I'm in a sticky place I'm not really sure what to do to be what's in the best interest of my of the children in my building I'm protecting them and be inclusive of who they are and I think that some people aren't coming to you but there's some harm being happening still in our schools I think we're hearing that from people in the community and so that's why I lean on like how do we get really explicit and really clear because I think I think it's both in I think some people are coming and I think I think some people may not be as well thank you understood just have another clarifying question Mr Malone you said that it's your interpretation of the timeline that we are expected to comply with this aspect of the legislation now not January 1 because I want to respond to like thinking about some of the public.

Comments we received tonight and as we're reflecting on these changes that we don't want to make what is you if you'll give me a second I'll try to find exactly which portions were extended to January but it's very limited pieces that were that were pushed out to January I'll I'll get that for you here if you give me one second anybody else okay go ahead miss Carda-Auten another follow-up question about the timeline for providing the guidance I know that our teachers and staff have been asking for that for a while now I I personally would feel much more comfortable making changes to our policy at the same time as or after our you know aligned with when our staff have guidance like I don't want a large lag time and I feel like Cher umad did communicate that but that would just feel more comfortable to me than to like put this into place and then leave that empty Zone that's still been that's been happening basically since August where.

Folks just don't know what they're supposed to be doing which could result in harm to our kids and staff and and I think that that is the expectation and that was the directive and from Dr mangga to Dr King and myself that like I said it was over a month ago maybe two months ago that we were to be working on these procedures so that we could flip the switch on both of those and start training once those policies were adopted so like we really can't do the procedures until y'all adopt the policies but once you adopt them we'll be ready to move forward with that guidance for our staff and that training.

Any other board members questions comments Miss Chávez all right so I think I just want to address some of the issues and concerns about this law that have come up in for many of us over the last few months even though we're not talking about 1310 yet in the lgbtqia and gender supports policy but I I do want to just say because it's we're going to talk about it next week with our public hearing and all of that that with the parents Bill of Rights there are two pieces of it that are wrong and that's the curriculum restriction on talking about gender identity and sexual orientation in particular for K through four and the other piece is the is the notification piece where students are not allowed to to have their own personal coming out process but it is it is implemented for them and and so and I'm speaking on behalf of myself but I I want to say as an out queer person who has who came out as a.

Teenager and a queer parent I these this is that's it's not right and so we are going to do the best we can as a board and as a district to continue to honor and serve and care for lgbtq students and families kids from lgbtq families and all kids because they have a right to to to develop and and become who whoever they are and and representation in curriculum is important we are not inculcating our students we are creating safe spaces for kids and I know that I personally ran for the board in order to protect children and not to undermine their safety and and so with this I want to say that we are committed to implementing it as Dr Giovonia spoke about in the best way possible and any compliance compliance is meant to be able to to do things in the best way possible and for there to be guidance about how to do them rather than that left up to the individual and and I just want to.

Say to our students even though maybe some of you many of you do not watch these meetings but maybe if if a teacher is or parent is watching you can pass the word I want to say to our lgbtq youth and all of our youth but especially our trans and gender diverse youth that I am sorry that we are seeing so many hateful legislation laws that are being enacted across the country that Target trans individuals I am sorry it is it's not the world that we want for you and and I would say please stay strong and that we honor you for who you are and we will try to do right by you as Educators and as a district I think those are all my comments for now thank.

You board members this is your opportunity Miss valadar Miss Lewis do you anything or questions can you hear me Miss Lewis yep so I don't have any questions but I do want to just share that even though I'm not in the room with you all I feel the heaviness and the weight that this is on our on our board in our community and I I don't even want to come behind Miss Chávez comments I Echo that completely we will do the best that we can to honor and support all of our students in these in these times what is presented before us we we are committed to during things the during way and with this compliance we will continue to support our students and support our Educators so just thank you to all the conversations we've had thank you to the administration who has worked diligently and our attorneys to present us with the best options for durh I don't have any questions thank you thank you thank you so much this is.

Alexander vades currently traveling and just feeling the heaviness as well I Echo also what my colleague Emily Chávez said I share the identities many of the identities that Miss Chávez you know speak spoke of and the intersectional ways that we share more than than one identity and it does hurt my community you know to know that there's legislation that completely wants to erase families and students it is something very painful and as I look through all these policies we have been very intentional we have spent time with our attorneys we have spent time with our Administration looking over all these policies ensuring that when it comes to harmful legislation that we are on the side of protecting our our students in the best ways and so you will see some of the edits you will see that for example if folks have questions about the policies that we passed we have been very intentional about the kind of edits that we actually that were actually brought forth tonight but this time is is is a.

Time to also grieve you know in the middle of everything that is happening in the world where it's it's everything that is happening with lives there are many lives that are at risk and at danger in continue to be in danger and I am just saddened and I do hold a lot of grief for the ways that legislation actually continues to Target vulnerable community members continues to put lives at risk continues to put many children who suffer in silence and will not have a trusted adult to speak to because of legislation that pretty much puts them In Harm's Way We face homelessness we know what those statistics are we know what the research shows that many of our most affected youth some of whom who are experiencing homelessness actually share identities that are actually targeted by legislation like this and it is something to grieve it is not something to celebrate and it is not something that is is is is actually helping us meet our goal of serving empowering educating every student and giving.

Them a fair and appropriate public education it is not fair and I just want to say that it is something that I appreciate my like my colleagues on the board I appreciate Smith our attorneys appreciate for that we have spent together looking over these policies spent together sharing you know examples of how we've seen things go left in ways that we do not you know ways that actually do cause harm and ways that we continue to uphold our commitment to mitigate harm because we are a district that is inclusive a district that is representative of many diverse families of many intersectional identities and we we stay with that intersectionality we stay with that day in and day out in order to provide a sound free and appropriate education for every child and so I just want to continue to say that we will continue to engage in conversations we will continue to talk to folks we will continue to share the ways that we are actively working through systems working through harmful legislation working through.

I will say ignorance and I dare do say ignorance on the part of folks who feel like this is actually a win when it is not we don't win when we hurt others and we do not win when we undermine the rights of any group we do not win I thank you all so much for this time thank you thank you both if you if you care to get the okay mrone go ahead no you're fine go ahead.

Okay thank you so the items that were delayed by the budget bill would be the school district's creation of a parents guide to student achievement that is pushed back to January 1 of 2014 the adoption of policies to increase parental involvement that's your 1310 policy that one was pushed back to January 1 of 2014 the provision of noticed appearance of health care services offered at their child school that was pushed back to January 1 of 2024 the adoption of policies or procedures for resolving certain types of parent concerns that new deadline is December 15 I believe the State Board of Education's adoption of the items it's supposed to adopt related to parent concerns is pushed back to January 30 of 2024 and your the board's reporting of the status of your policy adoption is now pushed back to September 15 of 2024 the the items that were not changed are all of those things that are really the Crux of the law certainly that you are most concerned about that being the K4.

Instruction and the noticed appearance regarding changes in pronouns and and names that is in effect.

Currently oh yeah clarification On That September 8th 15 2024 okay so there are two two issues there the the policies themselves have to be implemented by whatever dates either now currently or the or the January date your reporting your compliance with the policies adoption to DPI was pushed out so that was originally September 15 of 2023 that you had to report to DPI the status of your adoption of the policies they now just move that out a year but the law requires them to be in effect either now already or some of the ones that I read earlier will pushed out a little bit thank you that helps does it though really I mean Miss fire.

Okay every time I've revised a policy in this District in the last 13 years it has been to bring more Justice and Equity to this District this has got to be one of the most nonsensical laws ever passed in the state of North Carolina and the state of North Carolina has passed laws like everyone must have muscadine grape juice in school I mean so we know how to write dumb laws this one is not just dumb they're they're mean they're bullying they're targeted in a in a vicious way and we are stuck in this weird place right where we have just passed incredible with you with the community's help incredible affirming inclusive policy which will continue to stand while we try to finesse.

Language on that that attempts to to address issues that weren't even happening in school districts across the state and Nation so we've been handed a pile of words that are nonsense parents already have rights and and will continue to have rights and we want parents to be very active parents I mean so and they are and and especially in Durham but we also know that factually some of our most vulnerable and targeted students are in the lgbtqia community and so we will continue despite with around all of these nonsense words to to be protective and to do what is right you're not taking books out of classrooms we are not changing representative literature in in our classroom libraries in our school libraries everywhere we go and we have to figure out a way that the the notification piece actually respects the identity and the and the rights that students have as individuals as well we're talking about drafting a students Bill of Rights I haven't found one that.

I like yet but I'm sure we can do that in Durham the one that's giving me pause tonight is the health education and so I'm wondering if there's great urgency in that or if we can take some more time with that and I know you all the the other thing that's giving us ention is that that our administrators and teachers could face threats under these laws as written and we do want them to have enough Clarity that they know that they are safe with with our policy protections to do the right thing so we're in this strange strange land wanting to do what is right but the the Comprehensive Health one the 3540 is giving me the most pause of all of this batch most of these are just silly but I don't know thanks thank you Miss buer I want to remind us that this is just first reading I haven't heard that we were taking action I want to remind everybody that we have an opportunity in this.

Space really our community to make sure and in our classrooms to make sure that we're educating our children about the important of voting because to be clear the people who wrote and are backing s sp49 were not elected in little blue bubbles like we live in and that's not what this is and so while we do feel like this violates the rights of our students and we understand that we also understand that it's important that we comply with the law that is in front of us but we have opportunities to teach our students and in various different entities in life to get involved with the electoral process so that everybody can we can work to get more people elected that won't pass laws such as SP 49 2024 is a opportunity early voting right now students when they get a driver's license can register to vote at the same time we also should be encouraged kids voting in our school buildings so that we're teaching students the importance of being involved in the.

Democratic process so I'd like to see us collectively work to fight and overturn this so that we can support our students in the best ways possible I'm appreciative of people being vulnerable and standing up in spaces and we just have to do the right thing for everybody involved I haven't heard a motion but I want to remind folks that this is for first reading we don't have to do make a decision.

Tonight any other discussion thanks. Missani Miss Carter Aton just one more thing one I just want it to be I just want to be clear I think it's been said but this is something for those who were here tonight who spoke we have been struggling with this we have had countless conversations amongst other board members and amongst community members and other entities in our legal team this is not something that's easy for us and it will not it will continue to not be easy for us we're stuck in a difficult place as have said because we don't want to inflict harm in either direction right if we ask our staff to break the law that could cause harm to them or to larger groups of people so that's at the root of what feels really sticky Point here and it's frustrating because we it's just the nature of local politics in a red growing redder state but we're stuck in this environment right it's like gun policies like we have to protect our students in.

Our schools despite the fact that our legislature passes not common sense gun reform right so just to say that and that we're going to keep trying to think about this and try to protect our kids and our staff in the best way that we can in this really crappy environment so thank you for coming tonight and all that you do Miss I'm yeah I don't want to belabor the point but I just want to also Echo a lot of what has already been said about the Deep care that we have for our students and families and I think this board is invested in any ways that we can support students and families so please keep talking to us keep emailing keep calling us come to board meetings if you want if not we're happy to catch coffee with you or do something different so that we can still be in community with each other because this isn't the first time there have been oppressive laws on our.

Books and what I do know is people know how to organize and wrap our heads around the young people who impacted the families who are impacted the Educators and we also know how to Advocate and fight at the Statewide level to make sure these things are overturned so I just want to know we know what to do we can do it and we can make sure that our students are as safe as possible and our schools are as inclusive as possible for students and families just for clarity for administration we would if it's the board's pleasure for administration to bring it back for a second reading on November 16th it would be the way that we would do that is with the motion from the board but that doesn't limit us from getting feedback from the public I want I want to make that clear that as frequently when we do this we bring it they have the conversation they reach out and then I can then bring that feedback like I would bring these.

Policies and we've done this on various other policies and state that you know there was some feedback from this community organization or Etc and share that with the board and then the board would have you know a discussion if it so chose and then we you could either adopt it on the 16th or as we've done on other policies have a third reading for adoption so those are the options but in order for us to for me to bring it back to the board it would be helpful with to have that.

Motion it's not a motion to adopt just a motion to instructing Administration to bring this these policies back for second reading on November. 16th I mean the only thing I would remind the board is which I'm sure you all know which is what makes us all so frustrating is whether you have a policy or not it doesn't change what the law is in terms of K4 instruction it doesn't change what the law is as it relates to notice I mean that that is the law regardless of whether your policy aligns with it or not so that's the only thing I would.

Add thank you Mr Malone I don't Bo members you heard Mr Mone and Mr yvan's request for a motion I'll make a motion that you bring it back for second reading second is been moved by Miss Chávez and seconded by Miss Beyer to bring this policy update back to us for second reading on the 16th of November all those in favor any other. Discussion Mr Millan what happens if we vote present or abstain I'd have to look at your policy to see how it handles extension I can pull it up real quick if you give me one second some policies count it as an affirmative vote unless you get permission to abstain blah blah blah but let me see how your policy addresses that real.

Quick.

Yeah so your policy is similar to most it says a board member must vote on all issues unless the member has a conflict of interest or is unable to remain impartial in a Judicial matter before the board so in this case it would be unless you have a conflict of interest a board member who wishes to be excused from voting board member wishes to be excused from voting shall inform the chair who shall take a vote of the remaining members present the member will be excused from voting on matters involving his or own personal or financial interest or official conduct and the reason for excusing the member will be recorded in the minutes a failure to be excused by a majority vote of the remaining members present will be.

Recorded that's helpful I I was looking for some peace for particularly folks that are part of the community to not to have to vote on something that is so ensive to their identity so I was hoping to give folks some cover if they needed it but it seems like only financial conflicts would get them.

There that's okay so if someone abstained without permission so to speak that you can abstain it's just it would be recorded as a yes but the record was showed that the person abstained but then it would be recorded as yes so you could you could make the ceremonial extension it's just that it would be recorded as I yes I think I've said that three times now so stop that's great or folks can vote no which also might feel better to them as well yeah thank.

You all right I did as much as I think have so many problems with S sp49 I think the absence of our policy that will also require people to go to procedures that we were going to put in place also creates opportunity for harm as well and that just kind of came to me as I set here and so I don't want to follow any of sp49 but I think we can put a lot of the right procedures in place to support students and families and so that's what my part of my wrestling is like we actually do need this because the vagueness right now or the lack of clarity is also allowing for people to do what they want to do and I think that's also a problem Miss V.

Miss Carta Aden well along those lines we want as we discussed for Dr Giovonia to be able to like and folks to move forward with the guidance that we need and the clarity that folks need so for that reason and we don't want to keep operating in this no man's land space okay we will do a Voice vote the motion is to bring this these policies back for second reading Miss Lewis div Lewis and I vote I miss radaris this is Alexander vies and I vote I miss Bayern I miss Carter Aden I miss sh hi I'm said hi and I vot I unanimous to bring it back for a second reading thank you the next item on the agenda is the summary of followup.

Items Administration is to bring back a the policies that were present for first reading for a second reading to the November 16th board meeting Administration is also to bring a timeline for the trainings I believe that in order for us to comply with Dr Malone's directive we will have to have those procedures done by November 16th or we won't be back probably but so we will have those and to Dr Malone for him to disseminate as his pleasure and we will also work with Mr Malone that's what we were talking about with those procedures to make sure because Maya is kind of the expert on this and we want to make sure that and she knows what our thinking is and so we're going to work with Darrington on that in the next few weeks or a couple of weeks to make sure that those procedures are there so we can get them out to our staff and community and get some clarity and for families that are kind of in.

Limo did I leave anything else though I just a reminder to the community about next Thursday November 9th from 4:30 to 6:30 at the Fuller building 511 Cleveland Street there'll be opportunity to provide feedback on policy 1310 which will be available on the website about parental involvement as well as the policies that we talked about and discussed tonight so that'll be here in the Fuller building also wanted to send a reminder that we want to send an invitation to the lgbtqia task force about the meeting next week and to send the policy so they can provide feedback as.

Well thank.

You move that we go into closed session for the reason stated on the agenda second it's been moved by miss buer seconded my Miss Chávez to go in the close station for the reason stated on the agenda any other discussion Miss Lewis miss vadz this is Alexander VI I bu Miss B hi Miss carteron hi Miss Chávez hi Miss I I I thank r on close. Session.

E.

E.

We are back in Open Session we'll start first with the Personnel report Dr MinGa Bo I'm here to seek your approval for the Personnel report as discussed the close session move approval of the Personnel report dated November 2nd 2023 second it's been moved by Miss Beyer seconded by Miss Carter Alton any other discussion we'll do a Voice vote U Miss Lewis Jovonia Lewis I vote I miss vadz this is Alexander vies I vot I miss Beyer I miss Carter Alton I miss Chávez I miss Rogers I and I vote I as well we also discussed the superintendent evaluation in our close session and Dr MinGa we just want to say thank you we have much gratitude for you and your leadership here in dur Public Schools when you joined us you talked about listening and learning from our community and we see you continue to lean into that as we have navigated a worldwide pandemic we continue to recover we continue to focus on what we know is important our students learning and growing we.

Continue to Center equity in all of our decision making and we take care and we have Pride for every single person who works in this District whether that be from our bus drivers our mechanics our classified certified staff central office there is great pride that we take in working for Durham Public Schools and that we are appreciative in your leadership as you lead our district we know that you want to focus on continuing to grow our students academically and taking care of the folks that work here we really appreciate those being Focus areas and priorities for you as we go into this next year we would like to extend your contract for an additional year and also provide you with a $6,000 bonus excuse me not a bonus a raise and thank as our token of appreciation for the work that you do in our district and as you lead us with that focus on Equity with the focus on making sure our students can achieve that we're a great place to work.

So thank you so much thank you B appreciate it I'll take a motion to approve this new cont addendums to the contract so move second it's been moved by Miss Beyer seconded by Miss Chávez is there any other discussion board members right we'll do a Voice vote Miss Lewis Jovonia Lewis I vote I miss vadz this is Alexandra vadz Miss Bayer hi Miss Carter Aon hi Miss Chávez I miss Rogers I and I vote I as well it passes unanimous and with that we we.

Areed.