MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION  MINUTES November 6, 2023  The Montgomery County Board of Education convened in a regular monthly meeting on Monday, November 6, 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 as submitted. Bryan Dozier made the motion with Lynn Epps seconding. The agenda was  accepted with unanimous approval from the board.  Chairman Steve DeBerry read a passage from the book of. James 3: 4-5. A small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches, but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. Words are powerful. Whether good or bad, words can have al lasting impact. That means what we say to each other, especially our children, is extremely important. Words can inspire wonder, kindle hope, and provide direction or they can tear down, dampen spirits or destroy initiative. Children need to be affirmed and guided with encouragement and love. Resolve to use your words to build people up. Ify you need to say something negative, phrase it in such a way that it has some element of encouragement and hope. Use your words as an  investment inj people's lives.  Troy Elementary School students Shiashi Lee and Noah Eubanks 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 called upon Dr. Ellis and Jessalyn Spell for Certified and Classified Employees oft the Month for Troy Elementary. Jasmine Nicholson, Teacher Assistant, was the classified winner. Tressie Sargent, Instructional Facilitator, was the certified winner.  Dr. Dale Ellis and Dr. Takeda LeGrand then recognized Stephanie Harvell, EC teacher at Montgomery Central High School, for being selected the MCS Exceptional Children Teacher of  Excellence for 2022-2023.  Chairman DeBerry stated that the next item is the consent agenda. Dr. Ellis has requested tol hold the consent agenda until after closed session. The board approved unanimously. Chairman DeBerry called upon Jessalyn Spell, principal for Troy Elementary for the school's presentation on PBIS. Ms. Spell started by saying how much she loves her students and staff. She said that as she greets the children each morning, they are smiling sO she feels that they must be doing something right. Ms. Spell stated that she feels like this is where PBIS has madea a difference in their school. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an ongoing commitment to supporting students, educators, and families through systems change. Students experience improved behavioral, social, emotional, and academic outcomes while schools and programs reduce their use ofexclusionary discipline practices and improve their overall climate.    PBIS works in tiers. This year we are focused on Tier 1 which needs to be a strong core base for all systems, data and practices that support teachers, students, and staff. Tier 1 will allow 80% or more of our students to experience success. One oft the first strategies we are using is defining expectations SO that students, teachers, and the community know what is expected oft them. Ms. Spell stated that they also brought back their Trojan Traits Pledge which the students recite every day after the Pledge of Allegiance. This pledge reinforces that each student needs to be respectful, responsible, and ready at all times, in all places. Theyhave created a handbook to help provide program-wide expectations and guidance to be used to promote the whole classroom alignment and posted the Trojan Traits in each classroom with graphics added for the Pre-K and Kindergarten students. The teachers use ClassDojo to track positive behaviors to allow the children to earn points to purchase items from the PBIS cart as ai reward for positive behavior. Positive referrals are also used to encourage and acknowledge expected behavior. Ms. Spell shared several slides ofs students that had received aj positive referral. One of the target areas is preventing and responding to unwanted behavior in a respectful, instructional manner because not every child that comes to the office needs to be fussed at or looked at in a negative way. Some children may. just need to talk through a situation or need clarification on what they did or did not do that seemed disrespectful. One of the biggest pieces of positive behavior is partnering with families because we are all in it together. Ms. Spell started the year introducing herself with Popsicles with the Principal and with Boo-Hoo Ya-Hoo breakfast for the Pre-K and Kindergarten parents. The students also participated in the Red Ribbon parade and helda a Halloween parade at the school. Our kids are happy and enjoying being at school which will  lead to learning and growth.  Chairman DeBerry called upon Dr. Sharon Harrell, FirstHealth of the Carolinas to present the FirstHealth Dental Care Portable Program. This program has funding support from multiple grants and is intended to provide dental care to underserved children which includes children on Medicaid or with no insurance at all by removing the common roadblocks such as transportation and parent work schedules. Most oft these children served by this program have never had a dental exam or it has been over a year since they have been seen by a dentist. The purpose of the program is to provide comprehensive dental care to underserved children up to age 21. The portable dental program began on October 4, 2022, and provides exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, preventive sealants, fillings, and extractions. For a child toj participate in the program a parent must first give consent for the child to be seen at school. Once the consents are returned the dental team will inform the school in advance oft their arrival and will set up the equipment in a designated room which will remain until the team completes the visits to the school. The total visits for Montgomery County Schoolchildren in 2022-2023 was 1,165 with a total cost of $348,614 in dental care. Hopefully, by providing a portable dental program, children will miss less school time, learn good dental habits, and receive dental care in a more  comfortable environment.  Chairman DeBerry called upon Dr. Emily Shaw for policies for first read. Dr. Shaw stated that we have three policies that just need personnel or facility updating, while the other two include verbiage around school assignments. Dr. Ellis noted that it had been brought to his attention by a member of the board about the current verbiage in policy # 4326-Random Drug Testing. The current verbiage only identifies student athletes at the high school, but it has been recommended that it should include the athletes at both Montgomery Central High School and Montgomery Early College. Dr. Ellis stated that we will make sure this clarifying statement is added to the policy for approval at the December board meeting. These policies will be brought  back up at the December meeting for approval.    Chairman DeBerry called upon Dr. Dale Ellis for the Superintendent's Comments. Dr. Ellis stated that for the last couple ofy years we have: received a special allotment from the state. This is a special school supplemental allotment that about 100 districts in the state have received. Last yeari it allowed us to give all teachers in Montgomery County an extra $3,100 supplement toward the end of the year. With the passage oft the state budget, Iam very pleased to report that the allotment has increased by about $170,000. We will very soon be letting all our teachers know that the $3,100 supplement will now be almost $3,600. Wec continue to dig around in that budget and find new stuff that really helps us with our recruitment and retention efforts. We will definitely make sure that we thank the general assembly for continuing that supplement and increasing it each year. Our teachers are absolutely worth it. When you pair that with some oft the grant funds that wel have spoken about there are lots of positive things to help us with recruitment and retention ofteachers. We are very excited about that.  Mr. Dozier then stated that we had spoken before about the use of the buses for the summer program for the Sandhills Community Action group. He then asked ifwe had been reimbursed for the gas and Dr. Ellis replied that we had not. Chairman DeBerry asked what has been the process? Dr. Ellis replied that we. have sent an invoice three separate times and received no feedback. Dr. Ellis then stated that he had taken it upon himself toj pay for it since the invoice had not been paid. Chairman DeBerry and Mr. Dozier both stated that they did not feel the invoice was the responsibility ofl Dr. Ellis to pay out of! his personal income. Ms. Epps then asked ifthere was a budget line we could use for this type of expense. Dr. Ellis stated that at this point we could only send emails and invoices but ifs someone refuses toj pay that he cannot make them pay. There could be legal ramifications, but he would suggest that we discuss the options with Attorney Max Garner in closed session. Ms. Smith then asked ift the use of the buses was something presented to the board to be approved. Dr. Ellis stated that we do this with multiple non-profits, but this request does not require board approval. Mr. DeBerry then asked ifwe treat every organization the same and Dr. Ellis responded "yes". Mr. Blake noted that this is the first time we have not been paid. Mr. DeBerry then stated that this was something to be discussed  with Atty. Garner in closed session. The board unanimously agreed.  Chairman DeBerry then asked for a motion to go into closed session. Bryan Dozier made the motion, with Tommy Blake seconding. The board approved entering into closed session  unanimously.  The following items were approved after the closed session with a motion by Bryan  Dozier and a second by Lynn Epps:  1) Board Minutes from September r21,2023 2) Board Minutes from October 2, 2023    3) Personnel and Auxiliary Report  ARY 2023  Thef Montgumery Tnell BaaConveatice TripDates:  4) Budget Resolution  441 Pages Bor427 Troy, Norto 27371-0427 PDINE:    BudgetA Amendment#2 Montgomery County Administration! Unit  STATEFUNDS  ZOverall,t thesea tothetotalz 2023. 2024 udget for Montgomery  Budget Amendment#2 LOCALFUNDS  Budget Amendment #2  64,00000 5550  Budget  #2  Budget Amendment#2    5) MCS PowerSchool Quote  F PowerSchool  &ha    6) School Improvement Plans  441Pages streel. .P.0.B BOI4 427 Troy, North (arollna2 27371-0427 10,575-6511 010,576-2844  plyer  Upon return to open session, Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bryan Dozier made the motion with Angela Smith seconding; the meeting was duly adjourned. The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, December 4, 2023, at 6:30 pm at the Montgomery  County Central Office.  Ceh Bers Dale Ellis, Ed. D., Secretary  Steven  LAxrg