MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION  MINUTES September 11, 2023  The Montgomery County Board of Education convened in a regular monthly meeting on Monday, September 11, 2023, at 6:30 pm in the Montgomery County Schools Boardroom. Board members present were Steve W. DeBerry - Chair, Tommy Blake- Vice Chair, Angela Smith,  Lynn Epps, Anne Evans, Bryan Dozier, and Cindy Taylor.  Chairman Steve DeBerry called the meeting to order. Mr. DeBerry moved to adopt the agenda with the request that Item II, Employee Complaints be tabled until a further time. Lynn Epps made the motion with Anne Evans seconding. The agenda was accepted with unanimous  approval from the board.  Chairman Steve DeBerry shared an opening devotional with a reading from Proverbs 15:13, titled Face Value. "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow oft the heart the spirit is broken". A smile has face value in every land. Progress is built on smiles, not  frowns.  Page Street Elementary students Sarah Browning and Madilyn Whitley led the Pledge of  Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.  No one signed up to speak during the public comments section.  Chairman DeBerry then presented al Resolution of Esteem for Beatrice "Bea" Sexton for her thirty years ofs service with the Montgomery County Schools. Ms. Sexton passed away  August 1,2 2023. The Resolution reads as follows:  MONIGOMERY COUNTYE BOARDO OFE EDUCATION RESOLUTION OFE ESTEEM FOR Beatrice "Bea" Lee Sexton callhome WHEREAS, Beatricel ourk Heavenlys Lee Sextono Falher. onA Augustl, inHisinfnileld 2023. loveandwidom,: and sowlitlo yearsaialeachenso WHEREAS. herd dedicoliont toMontgomery alving lestamento Counlys Schools fherir integrilys for thily WHEREAS, butalsol herk hroughouth lossw witbed here deeply! enlired lelndlonyb/lhose communilyo andcounly. willy whoms she Educationg NOW, THEREFORE. beil resolvedihat the Monigomery Countlye andregretin LAras OARS  skiLo erp oassing:  fthes lamilyasan bef Redas BoordofEducalion. BOARDO OFE EDUCATION BryonDader Cindylayke    Chairman DeBerry called upon Dr. Ellis and Jon LaChance for the Certified and Classified Employees oft the Month for Page Street Elementary. Jennifer Nance, third grade teacher was the certified winner. Walter Pegues, head custodian, was the classified winner. Chairman DeBerry called upon Dr. Ellis for Principal oft the Year. Janet Deaton from Star Elementary was the winner for the 2023-2024 school year. Dr. Ellis stated that we do not usually here much out of Star Elementary and that is because Ms. Deaton does such a wonderful job managing it. She is always excited when kids choose to attend Star Elementary. Iknow she will  do great in the regional competition as well.  Dr. Ellis called upon JaMese Black, Principal of Mt. Gilead Elementary and Megan Strong for Beginning Teacher of the Year recognition. Ms. Black stated that Ms. Strong is simply amazing. She represents every aspect of our mission and vision for our district. Her classroom is aj place of safety and warmth for all students and Mt. Gilead Elementary School is SO excited to  have her.  Dr. Ellis then recognized the Central Office Finance Department: Mitch Taylor, Sharon Baldwin, Michelle Brady, Cheryl Kime, and Donna Morris for receiving an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement. Mr. Taylor stated that these ladies do such an awesome job and that he  isvery fortunate to have each of them. motion carried unanimously with the board.  Chairman DeBerry asked to hold the consent agenda until after closed session. The Chairman DeBerry called upon Jon LaChance, Principal of Page Street Elementary. Mr. LaChance stated that at] Page Street Elementary they wanted to start the year by promoting kindness. We wanted to make our media center the focal point and to also use it for each of our family nights. Mr. LaChance stated that they wanted someone in the media center that exuded their new theme ofkindness and Mrs. VunCannon just fit perfectly. Our team spent the summer making the media center a more open, inviting area by arranging the books by genre and making them easier for the children to locate. Mrs. VunCannon and her daughter painted a mural and Capel rugs donated a handmade oval rug to make it an area where the children will want to come and read. We are also planning fundraisers to be able to add more: flexible seating. We have also started al Reader oft the Month program and are continuing the Book It program with Pizza Hut to encourage the students to read more. Mr. LaChance stated, "today a reader, tomorrow a leader". Chairman DeBerry called upon Emily Shaw and Wade Auman for the "Camp  imbervolr.umpstar presentation. Ms. Shaw stated that they held a successful program on July 10-14. This was the third year we have had the program and each year we. keep adding more days. The program was held on the MCHS and MCEC campus for rising gth grade students. Ms. Shaw stated that they had an average of 40 students per day attending. This program aligns with courses offered at MCHS, MCEC and CTE center and gives the students an opportunity to begin developing friendships and leadership skills to help form a culture of success and collaboration. We showcased the CTE Center, MCHS and MCEC and used ideas from previous years to add additional programs to meet the needs of students and staff. Camp Timberwolfis an annual event, completely free and assists students to formulate plans to accomplish their personal goals. Some oft the activities included class time exploring animal behavior, plant identification and virtual career exploration. The students also toured MCHS, MCC and the CTE building as well as a field trip to thel NC Zoo and iFly in Concord, NC. Ms. Shaw then spoke about the Jumpstart program for rising 6th grade students. This program is a one-day event on the campus of East    Middle and West Middle schools. The program is also free to all students and allows the students to see the middle school, meet their teachers and join other students from their feeder schools. We were able to have the CTE Mobile Lab at each oft the campuses for this program and that was the highlight ofthe day. It was just an amazing day and made the students more comfortable on their first day in middle  school.  Chairman DeBerry called upon Wade Auman for the MCEC "Best High School" presentation. Mr. Auman stated that Montgomery County Schools does al lot of great things fort their kids and to get recognition for that is always a great thing. MCEC was recognized as one oft the Best High Schools ranked in the USA by the US News and World Report 2023-2024. The article states that "The highest ranked public schools in the 2023-2024 Best High Schools national rankings are those whose students achieved exceptional scores on state assessments for math, reading and science. These schools also had as strong underserved student pertormance, college readiness and curriculum breadth, as well as graduation rates." Mr. Auman stated he felt that our ranking could have been al little higher but that the ranking criteria was based upon participation rates on AP exam scores, however our students do not do AP exams, our students to all CCP. Montgomery County Early college was ranked #190 in North Carolina and #6018 in thel National Rankings. This is an accomplishment we should be very proud of  and would expect the ranking to be even higher next year.  Chairman DeBerry called upon Emily Shaw for policies for first read. These policies will be brought Chairman DeBerry called upon Dr. Dale Ellis for the Superintendent's Comments. We are very proud of MCEC and all our schools. We discussed tremendous progress and discussed that at our End of Year review last week. We are still not where we want to be, but all the schools grew last year and now one of our schools is being identified as one oft the best schools in the country. That just reflects a lot of great work by a lot of great employees. Iknow sometimes our employees do not feel appreciated, but our employees are very appreciated. As Ihave been going to each school doing my faculty meetings and having those discussions with them, Iam letting them know that the board is very appreciative of the work that they are doing. I have let them know that the board is also very appreciative of the positive impact they are having on the students. As your superintendent, Iam proud oft that fact, proud oft those employees and I am proud ofthe work that goes on day in and day out in our school district to positively impact the students and I look forward to seeing that continue in the future. Mr. Dozier then asked ifwe could possibly plan to do something special for the teachers and administrators at MCEC? The board agreed with this request and Dr. Ellis said he would be happy to proceed with that.  back in October for approval.  Chairman DeBerry then asked for a motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel and consult the board attorney. Bryan Dozier made the motion, with Lynn Epps seconding. The board approved  entering closed session unanimously. Dozier and a second by Tommy Blake:  The following items were approved after the closed session with a motion by Bryan  1) Board Minutes from August 7,2023 2) Personnel and Auxiliary Reports:    3) Budget Resolution:  BUDGET RESOLUTION: 2023-2024 Montgomery Countys Schools    4) School and Law Enforcement MOU: 2023-24    Upon return to open session, Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bryan Dozier made the motion with Lynn Epps seconding; the meeting was duly adjourned. The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023, at 6:30 pm at the Montgomery  County Central Office.  Baesb Dale Ellis, Ed. D., Secretary  Steven W. DeBerry,  4