opportunity to welcome each of you here tonight to our board meeting I'd like to call our meeting to order and ask you to stand for the invocation by Miss Melissa Hook and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance to the flag Let's do it Let's pray Father thank you so much for this beautiful day that you've blessed us with Thank you for each person that's here and cares about the students and everyone in the district We lift up Isaac Wingington and Ariel Tune to you and ask that you continue to b heal them and bless them Give us uh wisdom tonight as we make decisions In your name we pray [Music] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Thank you M Item number four is approval of the agenda for tonight Uh in accordance with South Carolina code 30-4-8 I move that the board amend tonight's agenda to add an item for action for a board member's resignation Based upon the exigent circumstance that exists the board member has expressed the intent to resign this evening Okay that's a motion All right you've heard Mr Do I have You put this in a motion Do I have a second to his motion Second Miss Hood do I have any discussion on this motion to amend the agenda of this amendment I'm sorry All right Hearing none let's vote on this is on the amendment to the agenda All those in favor you raise your hand And that is unanimous Now we will vote And did you have something to say Dr No I just was going to say as as we step into some stocks wasn't able to be here tonight but I think um you all know she's been dedicated servant Anderson School District 1 um for years not only as a board member but a teacher and employee So um but unfortunately circumstances have arisen she need to step down from her position and wanted to go ahead and do so sooner rather than later so that we could identify her person on board and continue to move forward as okay All right Now we're ready to vote on tonight's agenda with the amendment Do I have a motion that I move that we agenda Yes Also do have a second purchase Any further discussion Hearing none we're ready to vote All those in favor of the agenda with the amendment please raise your hand And that is unanimous Okay Next we have item number five which is the minutes of the February 25th meeting Each been mailed and copy Do we have any additions or corrections to be made at this time Do I have a motion that we accept the minutes as presented Miss Burg Mr Wilson ready to vote All those in favor for you to show everybody up lift your hand And that is unanimous Do we have any press or anybody you'd like to recognize We do not have any press here this evening but we do have several uh folks here that we want to celebrate So I'm going to turn over to Dr Wilson Um so we can do that Fantastic We continue to have excellence in everything we do here in one and we have some uh folks here today that are going to show you that Um I'd like to ask Dr Young and Miss Upton if y'all would come over and we'll get a picture first Matthew Matt come up I wanted to let y'all know this is the South Carolina exceptional teacher of the year Matthew Gregory [Applause] autism class for us does a fantastic job He is a star and thank goodness we're not the only ones that believe that I'll let you get that but he's done a great job And I just want to congratulate Matt teacher of the year Y'all just stay with us up here We also have excellence in athletics Cameron if you'll come up Cameron Jenkins Coach come up here with him Coach Cornell while he's coming I want to let you know not only do we have Cameron state champion in um uh 215 weight class in wrestling And coach is region coach of the year up for state coach of the year We think he'll get it We'll bring him back and give him some some award too So want to congratulate Cameron for a great uh wrestling this uh year this year And thank you for all he did If uh y'all get [Applause] Thank you Appreciate you Not only do we have Whoops Thought I'd throw that at you coach Not only do we have excellence in academics excellence in teachers we have some folks that can sing So these are folks that have been named as state uh coral all state And if I call your name if you'll come forward we'll get a picture Um let's start with uh Sophie Anderson Sophie here Nope Okay Marley Hos not here These are all from Palmetto High School Um McKenna Hill Thank you McKenna Come in Just stand [Applause] Laya not here Rochester Thank you Congratulations Alexander Russo Congratulations Jackson Trip Winston trip must be the trip brother Holden Turner and Raya West All right These are our folks These are our state [Applause] I see Jared their their teacher is um Jerry Bricks We also had um from Piratesville High School uh Grayson Gornet Ben Styles Okay And from Ren Aiden Graham Jaden King let me just This is spring sports and a lot of things going on It's a tough time to get folks out We are so glad you guys could come and appreciate y'all Let's give a hand to our [Applause] state Appreciate it Thank y'all for being here Uh next we've got some new employees that we're going to welcome to Anderson School District 1 Uh first we've got two new uh assistant principles that'll be joining the Anderson one family I'm going to start by introducing Miss Braden Wilson You go first Yeah Ladies first Ladies first Hello Um hey I'm Braden Wilson Um I've been in Anderson District 1 for eight years I've been teaching for 11 Um didn't start here Got here as quick as I could Um but I knew a few years in that I wanted to go into administration Didn't think it would happen for a long time if ever because I knew I was never going to leave district 1 until they fired me or I retired Um and everything that I do here is has been so great and collaborative and wonderful And being state teacher of the year this year has just submitted that fact So I can say with authority that Anderson one is the best district in the state Um so I'm really excited to go to Ren High work with um Dr Whitfield Uh Ren's reputation students faculty speaks for itself It's it's an excellent school and an excellent district and I'm just excited to be a part of it in a small way So thank you I'm Jay Bagwell and I'm an administrator currently at Pickkins Middle School and I'm coming to Anderson coming back home because I was there before and I was at Powderville Middle and so I'm thankful I get to work with Mr Williams Where's Mr Williams He's back there And also I may this may be off script so I apologize but my family's back here I want them to stand real quick because I wouldn't be here without them My [Applause] daughter my dad who lives with us Um it's his birthday today He's 79 today So I'm I'm humbled for this opportunity I promise I'll make you proud And I have a grateful heart to be here in Anderson It is the best school district in the state Thank you And Miss Brady's got several teachers on the front row That's right We're we're rocking and rolling with our new hires And we're going to begin with Charlie at the end If you would introduce yourself please Hey Hi I'm Charlie Pepper Um this is going to be my sixth year teaching Um I've been in Spartanberg 5 and also Piggies County Um I took a year off to be with my newborn little baby Um but I'm excited to come back and excited to be an Anderson when I have been recommended to be an LD resource teacher at My Cheyenne Melton I'm currently completing my teacher residency at Clemson University and I've been offered a job at R Middle School teaching sixth grade ELA I'm just very excited to be here Good evening Um my name is Nelly Laki I am a teacher resident um at in Piggins County but I'm coming home and I'm very excited about it Um yeah I'm really excited about being back in Anderson 1 is a very special place and I knew that that's where I needed to be for um my teaching career Hey everyone I'm Birdie Bruce Uh I graduated from Anderson University in December uh secondary social studies and I'm coming back home to Anderson School District 1 I accepted a position at Ren High School uh Dr Whitfield and um yeah thankful for the opportunity and ready to get to work Good afternoon My name is Caleb Brown I'm currently a teacher resident at Clemson University I'm at Palman Middle School right now Um coming into the district starting my career in a high school social studies position So very thankful and honored to be here and glad to be able to do that with the district Thank again I want to thank our administrators and Miss Brooks for all their tireless work and getting the very best for Anderson School District 1 On behalf of our Anderson County School District 1 Board of Trustees let me be the first to welcome you I know what Braden and Jay said and I agree with them to the best school district in South Carolina Thank you for coming So glad we could meet you You're not required to stay So if you'd like to go at this time you're free to go But thank you so much brother You going to stay with me [Music] Congratulations How are you Have [Music] [Music] No you can take some ice cream I would also like to take a moment to welcome our Anderson University students who are required to attend the board meeting So we are certainly glad that you're visiting Anderson one and we hope to see you in a few months Yes Thank y'all for coming Go Okay we'll go ahead now They're going to hang around for the real fun stuff Next we'll head into the financial reports And in your packet um you've got the different schools local accounts that um you can review Next on the blue papers you see our investment funds Um we got currently have 47 CDs with a little over 1067 million invested Um la last month we um earned almost $29,000 in interest Um on the third page of the the blue account you see the different accounts that we have Um everything invested in Page four has the backup of pages one through three Um page five has a backup to page four Um page six has a back up to page five And then the last page is the back up to page six Next uh you see the count 502 for the building program I'm turn Mr Thomas All right Thank you Dr Young Uh so everybody should be turned to their uh 2022 building program subund 502 in this report is for uh as of the end of February of 2025 Uh you can see the revenue is at just slightly above 35 million um total uh expenses for the program 25.2 million and that brings our current program balance to 11.1 million and then below that you can see the projects in progress as well as the completed uh projects as well Uh next page is our local option sales tax uh sub fund 515 Um this month we did not get any revenue in However below that you can see our fund balance uh beginning of the month as well as the end uh starting at 22.2 million uh plus interest received less expenses And then it also shows the the transfer where we're using 1.8 million or or that's a quarter's worth We're transferring 600,000 uh per month towards our uh 502 building program So 1.8 million was transferred and that brings our ending fund balance to 20.4 million Uh next report is our revenue report for school board for general fund Uh you can see all of the the revenue accounts listed Revenue for the month of February totals $12,361,000 And then total revenue received year to date uh 80,65,000 That puts us at 71% of budget And that is in line with where we were same time uh this time last year Uh next is our final report expenditure report for school board And this is two-pager The second page has our totals uh expenses for the month of February 9,395,000 uh and then expenses year to date of 72,342,000 which puts us at 63% of budget uh on the expense side and again very much in line with where we were same time last year Any questions Thank you Mr Ch All right Next we want to do uh I think we're just going to go right into the uh budget outlook I might stand up for this one because I have to get click for a time or two But we just want to give y'all an overview of what the budget's looking like so far Again we're we're early in the process Uh the House Ways and Means uh has given us some projections Uh the Senate's still working and we're hoping to get better numbers once the Senate version comes out With that being said we'll get started Uh just wanted to give y'all some dates to remember This is You should also have this uh power for this packet as well These are kind of the state dates to remember It shows the uh Senate and the House schedules Uh you see the German schedule for May the 8th We just wanted to have you guys to have these dates available just in case All right Our next page u is our Anderson one budget timeline Of course we've got tonight's meeting March 25th U next date on there is April 29th which is our April board meeting That'll be another budget review update on the budget Hopefully by then we'll have some more numbers Probably have a little bit better direction on where the Senate is headed with their version of the budget and may even have some Senate numbers at that time just depends on how quickly we get those Uh May 11th which is a Sunday that's the normally the date we will put the budget hearing in the paper announcement of the favor there We've got May 13th scheduled if needed for a budget work session So just kind of got that on on hold in case we need that date May 27th is our May board meeting That will be final approval by our board for the budget And in June date be named later is when we will present our board budget to county board All right We just wanted to list a few of our budget priorities that we know we're going to have to take a look at Of course the the big one is the salary scales Uh as you know I think we kind of tell you this each year and you know very well that the vast majority of our general fund budget is is is people 86% of our general fund budget salaries and benefits So that pretty much pretty much drives our budget there on the expense side Other other costs are going up such as SRO's u center tuition and sub costs So we know those are costs that we can't control but expenses are going up for these folks which gets passed on to us and we know that's just something they're going to have to address in the budget this year So just wanted to kind of put that on everybody's radar Now these are some house uh budget priority items and this is kind of from a state perspective but we just wanted to give you the highlights that were given to us Uh a big one's 112 million for state aid classrooms Uh this is this is the money that directly directly affects the funding formula Uh with that $112 million increase uh what the house is looking to do is a $1,500 salary increase for teachers Uh and that would bring that would be all sales that would bring the starting teacher pay on the state minimum schedule to 485 Uh other items that are listed there u that's that's in the the house ways and means budget is a 2% uh bus driver increase and that's on the state minimum bus driver scale 4.3 million for first step 45 million for education trust fund 30.5 million summer reading camp school facilities 20 million buses 35 million and instructional materials 2400 Now this is this is how it affects our district Henderson one So you can see this is a little bit small I think you have it as well Uh current year we're at 64 just slightly over 64.8 million Uh the new house projections would bring us to 66.1 million And that's a 1.3 million just slightly under that increase on our revenues And that's a good number However we're hoping the Senate version is going to come back a little stronger and hopefully boost that number up a little bit Um and we're still working on the local side Hopefully we're going to have some increases there as well that'll help add to our revenue side Travis we seems like it's eons ago but the issue with reassessment and things of that natur we we kind of just took a hit We're starting to get some of that back but it's really truly going to be that reassessment at least in my mind before we try to get that back I think that the formulas they use to do that I I guess it was just a little bit of an anomaly year because it was such a big roll back and us being such a bigger bedroom community than the other Anderson districts we were greater percentage wise had greater percentage of 4% properties than other districts Right And the formula they used just did not work as favorably for us as it did for the other districts is in a nutshell my opinion Okay Thank you All right the next slide I'm going to turn it over to Dr Dr Young One of the things you want to go ahead and put on your radar is the proposed uh teacher salary scale that that the house has has put put in place as of right now and you can kind of see the salary scales One thing I want to bring to your attention before I switch it over to our salary scale is there's only four columns One of the things that the house has recommended is to get rid of the bachelor's plus 18 column Um Travis and I have looked at um our staff with Miss Brady and we have about 40 teachers that are a bachelor's plus 18 Isn't that about the right number Um and and so our our plan for for Anderson one would be we want to continue to to be able to fund that column We feel like that incentivizes teachers to continue um to to grow professionally to get to go to graduate school and take advantage of that But what you can see is um the starting pay scale based on the house recommendation is 485 Um if we go over to to our pay scale I know it's set up a little bit differently Um we're at 479 Um and then you can see that we still have the bachelor's plus 18 you feel like it's important to try to um to to continue to fund that What what our goal is right now is to give teachers a $4,000 raise And I'll tell you where that number has come from Um yes the state's talking about somewhere between a 1500 and you can hear you hear uh Governor McMaster talk about $3,000 raise Um we feel like it's important based upon the salary scales of the districts around us the other districts in Anderson County um and the upstate that that we have a goal of making sure that we get above what the state is getting so that we can continue to try to close that gap with teacher salaries We feel like with some estimates with um what we're looking at right now and working through some things uh with Miss Brady um that based on kind of trimming some things in some places we're going to be able to try to afford that But that's our goal right now because we we need to continue to work to close that that gap with teacher salaries I know you all heard that um but from from folks in the district and we want to continue to make that a priority and in turn that's going to continue to mean that we need to give appropriate raises to other staff members Um so you're saying $4,000 for every Yes every sale Yep That's and keeping the masters plus 184,000 in that Yep column as well Mhm And really I mean really and that's an annual $4,000 that would Yeah And that and that would be if Yes I said we have about 40 teachers that land here Um this is this is about $1,000 That's that this column would cost Anderson one about $40,000 in place And so it's not a huge investment when you look at at our budget as a whole All right That that's kind of an overview of our general fund budget Um I want to shift gears a little bit and start talking about um some some upcoming capital needs that that we have and and talk through um Franny Hiser's here to help answer questions cuz I'm I'm first year superintendent so I might frantiser Um I've spoken to you all on the phone about um some some different things that we have going on but just as a reminder we're we're um finishing up the the construction on Oakill Elementary School Um one of the things that um we're continuing to do is work with the county on the infrastructure around the construction site that includes road improvements is also um working with Powdersville Water on some some water line movement that is impacted by the roads and the intersection right there at Lrod Road and Oak Road where the new school is We've also got um some projects around concrete where the the road right there in front of concrete We're doing some things to improve the traffic flow and car line right there between um concrete salon to to with some increased curb and gutter and storm drains to help with the the storm water that comes there Um just as an update um continuing to work with the county Uh the county is still waiting on their aotment from the state in terms of being able to help with sea funds with some of the capital projects and infrastructure around the schools and then when you work with the state they're waiting on some things to be released from federal government So it's just it's that whole process So hopefully eventually we do get some seed funds to help us with that but that process has been slowed down I've been in touch with um the folks at the county level I've also been in touch with Senator Cash about trying to help us with that Um but I'm also we're also at the point in the project where there's going to have to be a bill to pay for that stuff and we want to make sure we have enough cash on hand to to be able to to pay those bills when they come through Um we have continued safety and security upgrades This year the board has has uh prioritized uh buying equipment to weapons detection program of uh equipment and other things like that We we have a need to replace the HBAC at West Pelzer this summer and we foresee the Hunt Meadows HBAC is is at the end of life That building is approaching 25 years old So at any moment we we're going to have some needs there Uh we always have continued roofing projects that are continuing to to piece together and we're looking at how how can we also take advantage of um some energy efficient projects to to help um with the roofing upgrades that we might can help work work through some things with that Um it's also the the five-year uh reup for student um Chromebooks and iPads and then we also have teacher laptops that we're going to need to pay for as well Um and then and then as you consider what we need to do if the board were to um ask for the the 8% general uh obligation bonds um y you all know we have needs and and plans to address the overcrowding and spee um I think we have learned some lessons about cost um where it's not we're not just going to be able to piece together um 30 $40 million to build a new elementary school using local option sales tax money like we were able to do for Oakill Um so we need to make plans uh for a new elementary school I know you had worked with Mr Baker about a long range plan and and and so as we start wrapping up u the the project at Oakill we're going to need to start looking ahead of what are we going to do I think Miss Upton can tell you I think she sits in the car line at Spearman a few times a week and spends a lot of time u waiting waiting in and out of those lines Um the other thing that that that we need to start thinking about down the road is the aging facilities at Ren High School and Palmetto High School Um we continue to have uh plumbing and electrical needs in the original footprint of the building I think uh you all became aware of some needs in the locker rooms last spring and summer where literally the ceiling was caving in where some old pipe had given out and the ceiling caved in Uh I think uh you heard about the gym not being big enough to host a basketball game in the playoffs Um the the other thing to think about we we saw um our wrestlers here tonight from Palmetto High School Palmetto when you look at the South Carolina High School League their enrollment was the third largest in 3A So Palmetto when you start looking ahead is growing Um they're going to be 4A I went to their wrest playoff wrestling match against Westo and it was more hostile and exciting than the basketball game So eventually um Palmetto is going to get faced with the same issues when they're having a big wrestling match and then their b coach broom and the coaching staff at Palmetto is continuing to build that athletic department There's more students involved So they're going to run into those same issues with gym size when it comes to playoff eventually and and we're gonna need to to have a plan in place um to to do that So um and then again that would be a first step in the evolution of a new campus for those schools possibly that that would be some these are just some things that we know we're going to need to address in the near future Um and then I every time I spoke I spoke and I and I'll talk about this again in a few minutes when I give you an update on the construction projects at concrete but I tell I told the community last week anytime that that we do something as long as I'm superintendent we're going to need to put our hands on concrete because there's that's an aging building and we're going to need to make sure we're doing what we can to make sure that building stays in good shape The other thing about uh the timing of the board considering asking for the general obligation bond would be that if if we did that right now in in in a couple of years it would set the district up to be able to ask the the taxpayers um to consider doing some things to address some of these larger projects without having to raise taxes um that because some other things will be rolling off on the the the capital side of things Trying to use the right words first time You're doing great But good job This would this would be able for us to really kind of sit down with with Franny and Mike to look at what are some long range projects to to say that the community would be able to fund without having to raise taxes Um I I know that uh none of us want to be in the business of raising taxes Uh Travis and I have talked we've talked with the county board already that our goal is not to raise millage on the operational side of things this year Um we definitely don't want to do that Um but we're also want want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to plan ahead so that if we do have to um do some things to to build a new elementary school or to address um some space at Ren High School or Kome High School we can do so without having to raise taxes on the community Um so with that I would ask the board to consider um asking for the the general obligation bond um up to $15 million that that allow us to take care of some of the projects that we need to now but set us up to start planning for the future as well Any specific questions Some of these things are only getting more expensive right Yeah Well everything I'm shocked at how things go up courtly on some things Are any infrastructure uh that we would spend reimbursement by the county Um the the hope would be that as money becomes available from the state that we could get some C funds that that's the the county funds that that would help us with that So that possibly um I think we would have to work closely with Franny and her group to make sure that the money that we used wasn't necessarily reimburseable for those specific projects Is the D South Carolina DOT will help in any of the road work as far as Dr Wilson and I were on a call with the DOT at Persville Water yesterday and um they they were they were not being very helpful and and in their defense I think they're they're scrap for finances as well but we we've tried every which way I was I was on the phone with um Matt Austin and Rusty from the county today and and they're going to help try to help us revisit some of the conversations with them to see if if there's a way that we can um work with I I don't know if you're familiar with Lrod Road that goes along Oakill but right before Lrod Road circles to cross Interstate 85 um there's an industrial park being put in where they're doing tons of grading And if you watch there's just charts going up and down So we're going to try to see if the the owners the developers of that project can also help us out with some of these infrastructure because as as as we tried to explain to the DOT yesterday we're not developers We're not making a profit off of this project We're trying to serve the community So for us to continue to be burdened with um the these uh costs the the developers that are making a profit off of that could could help us pay for some of that as well Good job Yes So you would like for us to consider this an emotion now Yes Yes So I would I would ask the board to consider um making a motion to for the general obligation bond I move that we adopt the resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds as presented Okay you've heard Miss Hood's motion I have a second Second Mr Wilson Do any discussion hearing None We're ready to vote All those in favor of consideration of this resolution authorizing issuance of general obligations bonds please raise your hand Okay Unanimous All right Next I would turn it over to Mr Moore but he's got whatever's going around So I'm actually going to on Mr Moore's behalf turn it over to Miss Hayes who's going to um give us our instructional report Great Thank you for coming Always great to be with y'all Y'all are one of the best happiest school districts coming up here Come anytime Thank you Escape Thank you Fran We'll see you See you too Just trying to make sure I can speak So each year um you know this year's my new I'm new at this um so each year the strategic plan needs to be presented to the board and this year the ta that task is me I wrote the strategic plan I opened the strategic plan um so I what we're going to do is talk about the plan components so these are the plan components of of a strategic plan but this year was not a renewal Well it it's just a renewal year We don't have to rewrite the plan So technically it's just updating So most of the stuff that's in here most of the information that's included in the plan pretty much stayed the same except for the data being updated Um the strategic plan was written so that it matches the mission statement the knowledge and skills and life characteristics of of each student that's being enhanced so that we promote the excellence of Anderson And then there are focus areas in the strategic plan So as we're looking through the focus areas what you're going to see is um each focus I I've included the data for each focus area as we go through it Uh the first focus area was early childhood And so when you look at that the K test is the one that focuses on it And what I tried to do was put the last two years that were already in here and then put this past year's data If it is green that means we met both goals Okay So not only did we increase from the year prior but we all also met this state this year's goal for our strategic plan So there's two checks which equals a green when you look at areas of focus for academics So this is SC ready The first slide is SE ready 3 through 5 for ELA The next slide in just a moment you're going to see 6 through 8 ELA All right So when we went through and you look at fifth grade fifth grade we increased from last year this year and we met the goal Now so we met one goal When you look at third and fourth we were close but we did not exactly meet the goal However when you compare us to the state we met every goal Same thing 6th through 8th grade So we did not meet goals as far as increasing here from SC ready ELA from 6th 7th and 8th But when compared to the state we met every goal Okay And now we're going to move from SE Ready ELA to SE Ready math We're going to go back to elementary We met fourth grade to fifth grade We increased from last year this year And then when we look at state we met in all three or we beat all three Now we're at middle school Middle school we increased from six to seven or six and seven from last year to this year We made improvements And then statewise we beat over Okay now we're going to change gears and we're going to move from SC ready to now we're going to go to science Science was not reported this past year So I could not put any data in there So we're just going to move right on along Okay changing gears to go back Uh sorry on science That would would that be passed or would that be SC ready science This year it will be SC ready science It changed to the from pass to SC ready science So as we update our our information when we get test scores this year we'll make it SC ready science for sure Yes ma'am Because I came in I believe that's why it's not reported because we have to wait that year Go back one more for me Okay I just want to say I just wanted y'all to see we purposefully when we wrote this as a part of of the the cognitive process we set really high goals We we knew that we may not reach the goals You'll see some 90% of our students There's nobody you see the states at 38% and we're at we're saying in sixth grade we expect by next year we were shooting for 70% I mean we set some pretty high goals specifically because we knew if we set low goals it'd be easy to reach those goals So if we only wanted to go up 2% a year we'd easily do that but we were looking at three and a half four and a half 5% So I just wanted to say we've set some pretty high goals um for that We still have two years to Yes ma'am Right I'm going to go back to this too So all we the initial the initial plan that was submitted to the state had 67% That's all that was here but then it had to be revised and when you go back and look at the revision we're trying to get to the 90th percentile which is well above what the state is So it's exactly what Dr Wilson said We these goals up here are way better uh than than what the state is even trying to get to But you know that's what we are We strive for excellence Is there a way to is there a way to have a pure group of excellence that you can measure yourself against We do We can we say what the top five and how we measure against them every year because to me that makes more sense than the state Yeah nothing against that South Carolina South Carolina We look closely at York 4 um Anderson 4 Anderson 3 Um we th those are some some of the districts that that we spend a lot of time Yeah Um especially Anderson 4 and Anderson 3 We spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off one another talking to one another Um some of what you've seen with our we talked about algebra one Some of what you've seen with that came from bouncing ideas off of what's happened at Crescent High School We we um looking at that I mean you can speak it is it's exactly what we did as soon as the report card came in all of us we were we were looking at okay who who's above we're okay we're third here so who who's one and two um and specifically present was one what in the world are they doing because they're rural there have been lots of similarities like us what can we learn from them so that definitely happens they had scores like that since 1984 came with what he graduated So y'all slow All right So we'll switch gears from SC ready and go to EOC All right When you look at So step one on EOC this is English too And um so the English standards changed this year And and as they've changed we you know we have to change in our scores I feel like they they um shift just a little bit But from last year to this year we were 79 to 89 which is pretty awesome Um but let's is this algebra one Algebra one So this year I'm not sure what happened this year but I put it on here And so look from last year to this year and or this is 20 This is last year's uh report card This year should be better than that Um because you know at the last board meeting I think it was the last board meeting those scores are not factored into this Okay when we look at the biology exam again 52 to 75 54 to 67 for US history So we're making some great strides Okay Another area of focus was um by the end of the school year we'll have a percentage of minority students in in AP classes And so if you look it's increased Not only did we meet our goal but we increased from the year prior Okay College and career readiness The one that is included on the strategic plan There's all kinds of factors in in CCR but the one that's included in the strategic plan is the SAT And so this is where we lie with SAT It's definitely a place that we need to work with And it's definitely a place that we are working with Um I have a question Yes ma'am Did I not hear somewhere where not all colleges are requiring SAT now Correct And also not everybody takes the SAT So this is it's really no one is saying okay you this select group let's go take the SAT It's anybody who takes the SAT You sign up you take it And so this is the scores which reflects from that And we don't play the game There are a lot of districts that play the game that only they will convince students not to take the SAT and and that hurt sometimes students back when everybody was accepting colleges When you start looking at numbers sometimes you'll see folks that beat us by 50 or 60 points but they may only have 100 students at that high school that even that take it and we may have you know 200 or 150 or 170 or whatever So you can gain the system but we don't think that's the answer And we could too get to choose between SAT and ACT if they even choose to take it at the school level And so let's say you're validictorian that chooses to take the ACT Well that score is no longer in your SAT So it's I mean statistically speaking it's a horrible predictor of college performance And if you read a lot about it it's right there with the NFL combine NFL combine score is a horrible predictor of how well an athletes gonna do in the NFL So doesn't move your heart right It's in a strategic plan So I'm reporting it to you Okay So the next is graduation cohort u CCR So this is college and career readiness This is the kids who college or career So either they have met the criteria to be college ready or they met the criteria to be career ready And so we have met it's 85.7 and we continue to rise in that school climate survey We are in actually in school climate survey season right now Uh last year we we've increased from last year and we well well beat our expectations of what we have So that's a satisfactory parents survey It is So 93.3% of our parents are satisfied with school home relations It's pretty awesome You can't get much higher than that Not much Just 7% Statistically speaking there's always going to be somebody 5% are going to be mad all the time Did they go to the next one Sound like graduation That's the last one Okay That's the last one that's on there Okay And so that's the end That is the the strategic plan in a nutshell Do y'all have questions So we're under this cycle till 26 27 We are you just have to renew until right now Yes that'll be our year of copy next year Next year about this time is when we'll start really like digging in and talking about goals and mission statements and vision statements So buckle up And you're talking like the year is the year But but it's it's all virtual They don't visit anymore Um so everything is um done virtually And the other thing I think is very true that we've done since the last cycle is we have really streamlined our our processes and we have artifacts on hand So so I think um for for everything it's going to be a lot easier to put together once we decide what our goals are going to be Yes And at the school level it's not whereas last last time that we went through that process every school had to do all of these things in its own entity Now it's not the district does it and the school can help the district versus having all separate documents This event and you did an excellent job Absolutely I know we always strive for exit So it's I appreciate that as we continue to Uh I'll say this before Miss A gets out of here I I I know that in in our first year as as a new leadership team we hadn't done everything right Miss Hazel as part of our district So she's been a great asset to the team Next is uh the student nutrition report from Miss Hey guys I got a little tired of constantly being um shown up by instruction I got I got a presentation All right I'm going to tag it off script but I knew I know y'all are just tired of hearing about how great we're doing in student nutrition because we are And uh you have all the data and all the information right there But I decided to take a little different approach Mr Hopkins uh on Real Men Read Day he volunteered to read at HMED Elementary and he went to Heather Wilson's second grade classroom Well he fell in love with that little class of kiddos and they just fell in love with him So he decided to let them do some taste testing with the me some new menu items So the first thing he gave them to try was some mozzarella bunnies I probably did for y'all tonight but he didn't he didn't have any of those for y'all but uh he gave them to the students and then he asked them to review And I was so impressed with their little writing skills Miss Burger you happy Yes I am Uh one little girl writes "I gave this food out of I might have to read it off just because I gave this food out of five stars because it was cheesy It had a lot of flour and I really like the perfect amount of cheese and sauce You should put it this on the menu." So that was her review of it which is exciting And then uh one of the thank you cards over here from one of the students says "Thank you so much for the good food You're a nice person in my liking So I thought that was that was neat Now I'm gonna I think I just hit the arrow right Okay I'm not quite as technologically proficient as Mercedes The second picture here says "Thank you Mr Dawkins So good." Um yummy And then the last slide says "Dear Mr Dawkins thank you for all the food you got us It is yummy." And I love the book So I just thought y'all would enjoy seeing that the student nutrition program does play a critical role in just providing hot meals for our kids and it's sometimes the brightest spot in the little ones day is sometimes the only hot meal they get And so Mr Dawkins and his team do a fantastic job So thank you for your support of that program and for listening to my boring uh accounts every month but I just thought I'd jazz it up with the kids world Thank you We enjoy ahead Miss since we're getting close to the end of the school year are we going to we are we going to feed people at the high schools like we had Yes Yes The summer feeding program will be feeding at Spearman Federal funds or not So we can do it at Spearman Um that's where we're going to have our summer reading camp and camp irock and it'll be an open feeding site for families that want to come And then Palmetto Elementary was approved as well as a as a open feeding site Got okay Next is the building program update And I just shared this with you all This is the um presentation I did with the community last week in Patterville um about the the restructuring of the elementary schools and the different construction projects I don't know if you've been by concrete in the last week or so but you can kind of see some evidence that they're about to do some stuff out front They've got the the fencing up Um today they actually walled off part of the hallway where they're going to start um working on the inside of the building Uh next week they they're waiting till students are out of the building to start knocking uh the bricks down but they got the the temporary wall up Um so over spring break you'll start to really see some some real mess in the way but uh that I I also want to just thank uh Sylon uh Baptist Church They've um allowed our folks to park over there and because the teachers lost a lot of their staff parking while everything's under construction they've been a great partner Really been easy to work with and they they've been easy to to manage The other thing I want to make sure you have on your radar I put a map on one of the slides from Powdersville Elementary Um you see there's two kind of longer hallways the shorter hallway Um Chris Leslie and his team are going to be making sure all those restrooms are functional because uh since that school opened uh third fourth and fifth grade they they haven't used those restrooms in the classrooms But um now we're making sure that everything can be done this summer so that next summer when we're actually shifting staff around from uh concrete to Powdersville and Powderville to what all the different places we want to have all the construction all the updates done So we're doing all that this summer um so that teachers will be ready to just move straight into their rooms Um for the kindergart kindergarters bathroom Um so if you have any other questions about any of that let me know Or if you want to put a hard hat on and go see Oakill uh let me know and we can definitely set up a time to go go visit the construction site The QR code That's how he was submit questions to me So that's neat I like you've been able to answer some questions Did you have any problems We we had a we had a pretty good turnout and and we've had um a handful of folks reach out with questions that we've been able to talk to and answer but by and large I think people um you know the direction we're leaning as far as we start to look at the the details for attendance line and stuff like that So we'll continue to get that finalized and um start start knocking that out in April and May so we can really start publicizing that to to our families What was the the response on the attendance line They they it was very positive I think people it's it's um neighborhoods like Jameson Place that are right there on 81 People were asking questions but I think people understand that you know the great thing is Concrete and Powder Elementary are such great schools Yes Oakill is going to have a nice new building but um any school you go to is phenomenal teachers awardw winning school So it's it's not like a halves and a halves not And then like I said I think we're going to continue to prioritize the updating concrete Excited with that building is going to continue to be improved upon Um I think I think we'll have three really state-ofthe-art great schools Um next I'm turn over to Dr Wilson for the administration report for everybody's favorite part We're going to talk policies I I do want to share with you our goal is to get our policy manual updated in into this century kind of we have a lot of policies from like the 1990s and it's nobody's fault It's just it's a hard thing to do It just takes a lot of time and effort So I'm happy to do it you're going to see some policies come before you that there really aren't any changes but they haven't been touched since 97 So if we bring an administrative rule that we have to change and there's a policy that goes with it I'm going to go ahead and bring it to you so we can update it so it doesn't look like the board hadn't looked at policies in a long long time So you'll see a few of those and I start with the first one uh test uh assessment administration These are all first reading There is no change in that particular policy but I did want to bring it so we could update it to a 2025 policy The next policy the administrative rule that goes with that policy there are a couple of changes These are just changes um really wording um from the from the state department about some district own material and how how we deal with that And then just you can see just a couple of wording changes Nothing substantial in that policy Same thing Um there have been some changes in in reading assessment programs Um we've added screener requirements that we now the state's providing us with some screeners and and requirements related to that with kindergarten that was not in our our 209 our 1997 policy Um so we wanted to update those um policy uh RVBR state assessment Again you'll see very little change in that but it was the same group of policies So we went ahead and changed uh basically took out beginning in in 2017 18 because that's no longer applicable and just changed that So that'll just be a policy update One that I definitely want you to put your eyes on this is policy JBAC As you know the state um passed a law this past year related to what teachers could and could not do around students using pronouns and what they're called based on gender Our new policy just is exactly what the law requires So um if you'll see a staff member will not withhold from a parent information regarding a child's sexual identity which conflicts with his or her biological status If a minor student assesses that any staff member his or her gender is inconsistent with the biological sex the staff member must notify the principal who then must notify the parents in writing We're doing this because it is required by law We have no choice but we had no policy and we're required to pass a policy this year So that was just sent to us So so I want to make sure that we do that again for first reading And I want to reiterate we were doing this accord with state law This has always been our practice So anytime an issue like this came up um the administrators immediately sat down with parents and had a conversation about what the student was requesting So that's always been our private standards not to us Yes sir Um weapons in schools again uh there were some instruments that have been added in some language around razors metal um uh metal dete metal knuckles slingshot just some things that the state law added Um this the a proviso came in that will be fixed in the law this year When they passed the original proviso about uh guns in schools and and what could be in a vehicle they wanted to make sure that um the things related to this not only applied to inside the school but they weren't supposed to have those things in their vehicles Um and so um and then in our old 97 policy we did not have really that we sent kids to the alternative school which we've done for since before 97 but now that's in the policy to say we do have an alternative option so a parent won't think that if their kids fail they have to go home and sit for a year So that was added that was also part of the state's new policy for that one Um policy JLCDA is the is our new healthcare plan We have both a policy and administrative rule For whatever reason the state moved several things from administrative rule to policy So you'll see some changes in administrative rule but really the language has just now been moved And then there were some changes based on some laws that you will see that come up in another policy related to student self monitoring um of of of their own issues related to for instance a student that might have a glucose monitor or things like that It doesn't always have to be the nurse that monitors every student for all of those Um the law allows some self monitoring You can see that change in that particular law Um again I was mentioning there's some changes and additions um some things that were removed from the uh administrative rule for individual healthcare plans that have been moved to the uh policy So a lot of what you see marked out is now in policy and then there was a whole section um there were some issues about what should and should not be included in a student health care plan We're seeing more and more students come with medical issues and you can see the state decided we're just going to put it in an administrative role These are all the things we want to see included So there's no question about what will be in that healthcare plan So that's what that is And then policy JLCDB which is life- saving medications Really two things were added Abutural inhalers is new to us and then um the uh Narcan spray Um we all of our nurses are provided with Narcan We've been very fortunate There have been a number of students in our state that have died from overdoses Um and Narcan for for a lot of that will save a child's life So we just added that um that can be administered in emergency by whoever would have access to that and not be held accountable if something happened to the kid if they sprayed the milk And um you can kind of see that was added there So those are all first reading Not asking for the board's approval yet Um if you have any questions about any notes between now and the next board meeting please call me and I'm happy to go in and make any changes the board would like to see Thank you Dr Wilson And we will consider these new policies have been changed at all.formational purposes Make sure you call if you have any questions Okay Item number F safety update Safety update Um we actually have a meeting tomorrow to review some of our our protocols at the high school level but we continue to get good feedback from parents um the community and staff about the use of the weapons detection program Um one thing that uh equipment one thing that um I think I've had some individual conversations with each of you about um since the conference in February is um when we consider safety update that um before next school year we we have some of you have asked me about a clear bag policy athletic event So we probably need to um make sure we we get that um finalized communicate that before in next year's football season and start working with the sheriff's office and SRO's and athletic directors about how we're going to manage that That's the direction that we want to go Um truly I think um Anderson one and two are two of the last districts that haven't gone that route and as a parent I know um when I go to Anderson 5 or Greenwood County that the clear bag policy is pretty standard So I think most people are pretty used to it I know you go to a lot of middle high school sporting events with your kids I think it's pretty standard I think you see the same thing when you go as a parent Definitely at the college level that this is it's expected now So that's one of the things I think the board needs to consider as we get into the summer and start making plans for next year Okay Next item is item number G uh consideration to move the April 29th board meeting from Tuesday until Monday April 28 2025 Yes ma'am I think there are a couple conflicts on that Tuesday So uh graciously we were hoping to move the the meeting to Monday the 28th for the April board meeting Okay So I have a motion to approve the movement Mr Wilson do I have a second Miss Ellison any discussion that I don't have a problem with it but I won't be available most likely because that's not anybody else Might not be here Okay we're ready to vote All those in favor show up by the lift your hand And that is unanimous Next item item number H consideration to go into executive session to review personnel matter Do I have a motion that we accept Mr Wilson do I have a second That's all Dr Neil that's fine All those in favor if you show up by the up hand that is unanimous And Dr I would like to report there's no action taken during executive session Mr I'd like to make a motion that we accept Mrs Cox's resignation Okay You heard Mr Wilson's motion that we accept Pat Cox's resignation from the board As of today March 25th Do I have a second Second Miss Allison Ready to vote All those in favor show by the up and she has been sick for quite a while So [Music] thank you all All right Dr Young the last um uh item on the agenda is a personnel report and I think Miss Brady can give you some highlights on a couple of the teachers that were here tonight Yes Uh guys we are incredibly excited to recommend Braden Wilson and Jay Bagley to our administrative team We also recommend our current group of administrators which you have listed Uh we have several transfers and resignations for recommendation as well And we are thrilled to recommend these the teachers that were here this evening Some of them were on last month's agenda to join They're a very strong group and I think they'll be a great addition to the Anderson one family I especially want to tell y'all the uh African-American young man Taylor Brown He is a communister from Clemson University And I'm going to tell you you can imagine competition for Mr Brown And we all work very hard all of us Dr Young me Miss Brooks Mr McCauley has welcomed him you know doing a teacher internship and he decided to come our way and wanted to bring his mother so that she could visit and meet everyone So his mother was with him tonight So thank y'all again for the opportunity to hire early and I think these educators are going to be fabulous Okay you've heard the recommendations Do I have a motion that we accept these recommendations tonight I'll say move Mr Burgess I have a second Second Mr Wilson We're ready to vote All those in favor show up lift your hands And it was a great looking group as always Item number J I'm sorry Item number eight is to adjourn I have a motion Miss Ellison a second Second Miss Hood All those in favor please stand and thank you