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Regular Meeting

Dates:

Monday, December 7, 2020 - 6:30pm

The Transylvania County Board of Education will hold a regular business meeting on Monday, December 7, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. at the Morris Education Center, 225 Rosenwald Lane, Brevard.

The board will adhere to the remote meetings statute from the General Assembly and the Governor’s guidelines for public gatherings. Therefore, public access for all remote meetings will not be permitted at this time. The meeting will be conducted electronically and may be livestreamed at https://youtube.com/tcsnc.

Any person wishing to make a public comment may email their comments to Jenny Hunter at jhunter@tcsnc.org. Comments received by 1:00 p.m. on Monday, December 7 will be shared during the meeting as appropriate within board guidelines.

Groups audience:

I. Oaths of Office

Transylvania County Clerk of Superior Court, Kristi Brown, will administer the Oaths of Office to newly elected board member Kimsey Jackson and re-elected board members Ron Kiviniemi and Tawny McCoy.

Groups audience:

II. Opening of Meeting

Invocation

Pledge of Allegiance

Call to Order

Welcome

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III. Business Items

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01. Approval of Agenda

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action	X
Excellent Educators		Information
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

A motion is in order to approve or revise the meeting agenda for December 7, 2020.

Groups audience:

02. Election of Officers

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action	X
Excellent Educators		Information
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

N.C.G.S. § 115C-41 requires all local boards of education to have an organizational meeting no later than 60 days after the swearing in of members following election or appointment. At the organizational meeting, the members of all boards shall elect one or their members as chairman for a period of one year, or until his successor is elected and qualified. The Transylvania County Board of Education has traditionally elected a chair and vice chair at its first meeting in December.

The board may elect officers for 2021 at this time.

Groups audience:

03. Public Comment

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

Any person wishing to address the board during Public Comment should email their comment(s) to Jenny Hunter at jhunter@tcsnc.org by 1:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting and their item will be read aloud at the meeting as appropriate within board guidelines.

The board of education, as an elected representative body of the school system, wishes to provide a forum for citizens to express interests and concerns related to the school system. In order that the board may conduct an order meeting while providing an opportunity for input, individuals or groups may be heard by the board in accordance with policy 2310, Public Participation at Board Meetings, or policy 2300, Board Meetings (subsection D.2).

Each month, the first part of at least one regularly scheduled board meeting will be set aside for citizens to address the board through public comment.

A sign-up sheet will be available 30 minutes before the meeting begins for any individual or group to indicate their desire to address the board.

Each speaker will receive 3 minutes to present comments. The public comment session will not exceed 30 minutes total except by majority vote of the board.

The board chair will recognize speakers in the order in which they signed in. Substitute speakers will not be permitted and speakers may not donate any portion of their time to another speaker. If a speaker is unable to present all of his or her information within the specified time limit, the speaker may provide the board with additional information in written form. If an unusually large number of people requests to speak, a majority of the board may decide to reduce the time for each individual or to require the designation of a spokesperson for each group of persons supporting or opposing the same positions. At any time, the board may establish additional procedures to ensure that public comment sessions proceed in an efficient and orderly manner.

Board members will not respond to individuals who address the board except to request clarification of points made by the presenter.

Except in cases of emergency, information received during presentations will not be acted upon at the time it is received. It will take unanimous vote of the board members present to act on a presentation considered to be of an unusual or emergency nature at the time it is presented.

Disruptions by any person or persons of a public meeting will be subject to action in accordance with G.S. 143-318.17.

Complaints about the performance of school personnel, implementation of board policy, the quality of the educational program, or school facilities should be submitted initially for a response to the school system official responsible for the program or facility or to the superintendent. The superintendent or designee shall make available policy 2310, Public Participation at Board Meetings, and other relevant grievance procedures to any individual or group submitting a complaint.

The board may choose to offer a second opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting. Sign-ups will not be required for the second public comment opportunity.

No solicitations will be allowed during public comment.

Groups audience:

04. Good News Report

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students	X	Discussion
Operations and Support	X

DAR “Ladies First” Presentation

Each year, members of the Transylvania Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) have written and performed a historical, costumed skit for all fifth graders that showcases the notable women who played roles in America’s fight for freedom. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s presentation will be a little different. Instead of visiting the schools, the DAR applied for and received a grant from the Pisgah Health Foundation to hire a videographer who will film this year’s presentation. Filming will take place in January at the Allison-Deaver House in Pisgah Forest, and part of the music on the soundtrack will be performed by local bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers. The video and a lesson plan aligned with the state curriculum will be supplied to teachers later this spring. Our fifth-grade teachers look forward to having this video lesson to share with their students, and we thank the Transylvania DAR members for their creativity and support of our schools.

“Say Something” Anonymous Reporting System Launched

Transylvania County Schools has launched the “Say Something” Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS) for students, which most North Carolina public school districts will be adopting this year to meet the reporting guidelines and standards developed by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the Center for Safer Schools. Say Something is a youth violence prevention program from the national nonprofit organization Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), which has funding to provide the program and training at no cost to the district. The SS-ARS allows youth and adults to securely submit anonymous safety concerns – anytime, from anywhere – to help identify and intervene upon at-risk individuals before they hurt themselves or others. The system enables school administrators and law enforcement to create effective interventions and to help prevent violence, suicide, bullying, self-harm and other forms of threatening behavior.

Crowdfunding Support for Athletics

Board policy 7360/8225, Crowdfunding on Behalf of the School System, allows the use of online sites to solicit donations, whether monetary or in-kind, on behalf of the school system. To help recoup expenses and offset the loss of gate revenues this year due to COVID-19, the high school athletic departments will be launching a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for athletic programs at the schools. The GoFundMe account will include a link to accept donations during livestreams of sporting events. Our thanks to the principals and athletic directors for finding a creative way to help support our students and sustain our programs during these difficult times.

For more good news from Transylvania County Schools, please visit us at:

Home Page: www.tcsnc.org ǀ Facebook: facebook.com/transylvaniaschools

Twitter: twitter.com/transylvaniasch ǀ Flickr: flickr.com/tcsnc

Instagram: Instagram.com/transylvaniaschools ǀ YouTube: youtube.com/tcsnc

Smartphone App: Transylvania County Schools on Play Store and iTunes

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/transylvaniacountyschools

Public Attachments:

Good News Report 12-07-20.pdf

Groups audience:

05. Former Students in the Military

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

The board wishes to thank the former students from Brevard High School, Rosman High School, and Davidson River School who are currently serving or have previously served in the U.S. Military. The attached list of names is recognized at every meeting and read aloud twice a year in recognition of Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Additional names will be included as they are received.

Public Attachments:

Military List 12-07-20.pdf

Groups audience:

06. Consent Agenda

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action	X
Excellent Educators	X	Information
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

The following items are submitted for consent approval (see attachments):

Minutes of the November 16, 2020 meeting
Personnel report for December 7, 2020

A motion is in order to approve the consent agenda items.

Public Attachments:

Minutes 11-16-20.pdf

Personnel Report 12-07-20.pdf

Groups audience:

07. COVID-19 Update

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

Ms. Elaine Russell, Transylvania Public Health Director, will give an update on the status of COVID-19 cases in Transylvania County.

Public Attachments:

TCS COVID-19 Update 12-7-2020.pdf

Groups audience:

08. CTE Honors Internship

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship	X	Action	X
Excellent Educators		Information
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support

At the November 16 meeting, Director Missy Ellenberger presented a proposal for students who are working in an approved CTE internship capacity to earn honors credit. Mrs. Ellenberger will answer any questions and request approval of the proposal at this time.

The board may act on the request to adopt an honors internship for the Career-Technical Education program.

Public Attachments:

TCS CTE Honors Internship.pdf

CTE Internship Packet.pdf

Honors Internship Packet (1).pdf

Groups audience:

09. Bond Projects Update

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

Norris Barger will give an update on the school bond construction projects. A summary of the budget and actual expenditures to date is attached for your review.

Public Attachments:

Bond Projects Budget and Actual_12-01-20.pdf

Groups audience:

10. Superintendent's Update

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

Dr. Jeff McDaris will give an update on current and emerging educational issues.

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11. Important Dates

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

Dec. 21	REGULAR MEETING	6:30 p.m.	MEC
Dec. 22	End of first semester
Dec. 22	Students dismissed at noon
Dec. 23 – Jan. 4	Christmas break
Jan. 5-6	Teacher workdays
Jan. 7	Beginning of second semester
Jan. 12	WORK SESSION	5:30 p.m.	MEC
Jan. 18	Martin Luther King Day; Annual leave day
Jan. 19 (Tue.)	REGULAR MEETING	6:30 p.m.	MEC

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12. Other Items

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

An opportunity will be provided for comments and/or other items from board members.

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IV. Adjournment

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Source URL: https://aws.nc.transylvania.schoolboard.net/node/5538