MONIGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION  END OFTHE YEAR REVIEW MINUTES Tuesday, September 17, 2024  The Montgomery County Board of Education convened the End of the Year Strategic Plan Review on Tuesday, September 17,2024, at 5:30pm. Board members present were as follows: Steven W. DeBerry - Chair, Anne Evans Vice Chair, Tommy Blake, Bryan Dozier, Cindy Taylor, Lynn Epps, and Angela Smith. Staff members present included Dr. Dale Ellis, Dr. Emily Shaw, Wade. Auman, Dr.. Jack Cagle, Madison Lynthacum, Matthew Woodard, and Cindy Davis. Mitch Taylor was not present. Chairman DeBerry called the meeting to order and asked for a motion to accept the agenda as presented. With a1 motion by Bryan Dozier, and as second from Cindy Taylor, the board unanimously approved the agenda. Chairman DeBerry turned the meeting over to Superintendent Dale Ellis. Superintendent Ellis welcomed everyone to the meeting. Dr. Ellis presented aj power point titled, "Preparing for Excellence." The power point will review the strategic goals and challenges faced by Montgomery County Schools. All related performance data aligned to the Strategic Planj presented as part of our focus on accountability, assuring the board and community that we will not hide from data. Dr. Ellis stated that unlike in the past we have already received the official State Board approved data and we be presenting that data tonight. The purpose of this presentation is tol keep the public informed and  this information willl be shared again at the October board meeting.  Wade Auman gave ai review of globally competitive students, which encompasses the graduation rate, Annual Measurable Outcomes (AMO) and Ready Expected Growth. The official graduation rate for Montgomery County Schools was 92.8 %. Mr. Auman stated that although our rate dropped slightly, we are still very strong and above the state and region average. College Credits increased from mid-year 67.6 % for students with at least 1 credit and 65.59 % for students with 2 or more credits to the end of the year with 75.9 %1 for students with at least 1 credit and 73.74 %1 for students with 2 or more credits. The official 2023-2024 Grade-Level Proficiency for Montgomery County Schools was 42.7 % which did not meet our goal, but we do still have aj positive trend line coming out of Covid. Mr. Auman shared data regarding ready expected growth. In 2023-2024, 809 % of Montgomery County Schools met or exceeded growth. Composite achievement gap data showed African American and Hispanic overall achievement Dr. Emily Shaw gave an update of21S1 Century Professional/Healthy and Responsible. This section includes goals for teacher satisfaction and attendance, ethical violations, teacher retention, pregnancy rate and Out of School (OSS) suspension rate. Teacher attendance for the 2023-2024 school year was 94.5%. The beginning teacher retention rate for 2023-2024 for first year was 82 %. OSS suspension rates for 2023-2024 reported 700 incidents with 1896.7 days lost, and 1488 days saved. Although this data shows as slight increase in the number ofi incidents, ita also indicates an increase in the Dr.J Jack Cagle updated thel Board on the Leadership Guides Innovation portion, including grants andj parent contacts. Dr. Cagle presented information regarding the current grants we have in place. Grants provide teachers with support in diverse ways, and we have a good variety oft them. In regard to mental health, we. have just been awarded a grant from Atrium for MLA, MCEC and both middle schools with hopes ofa also offering it virtually to our elementary schools. We are constantly seeking more grant opportunities and will continue to apply. Madison Lynthacum then presented Digital Instruction. The goal is for teachers continued use of Triple Emethodology into lesson plans and use thel Framework Measurement Tool to improve student lessons. Among strengths shared was that we have two more  gap at 12.7%.  number of days saved.    years ofIXL (Middle and High) and wel have instructional videos (YouTube) for continued home study support. Weaknesses noted as new staff arel hired, more trainingi is needed as well at the constant threat of a cyber-attack; present many unexpected variables. Some oft the next steps include increasing bandwidth, Chief Financial Officer, Mitch Taylor, was not present. Dr. Ellis and Matthew Woodard reviewed 215 Century Systems, which includes audit findings, goals, maintaining adequate fund balance, adequate facilities and adequate technology resources. Dr. Ellis shared our strengths in adequate fund balance. We have a strong fund balance with great staff watching over it. We have received tens of millions ofdollars in grants to support our district. We will continue tos seek out grant opportunities to maintain facilities and technology while still preserving our fund-balance. Matthew Woodard presented information on facilities and securities at our schools. He shared that we have completed the security vestibules at Page Street elementary, Candor elementary and East Middle. We are working on the final design for Star elementary and then we will look at West Middle and Mt. Gilead elementary. We have installed shatterproof glass film on all entry doors and panels at Montgomery Central High and the CTE building. We will also be having our first tabletop exercise on Thursday at East Middle, and we will be conducting an active shooter exercise on October 18 at Montgomery Central. Adequate Technology is becoming increasingly difficult toj provide to the classrooms due to security concerns regarding student data. We are currently on track with our teacher and student device replacement schedule. Some of our next steps are to  consistency across grade levels, and Digital Citizenship (Nearpod).  maintain system security and phone system updates.  Dr. Ellis opened the meeting to questions and discussions. Ms. Smith stated a concern that parents were not receiving the letter that is required when a school has been designated as al low performing school. Mr. Auman stated that per State legislation, the letter is required tol be made available to the parents by October 1St. We currently post the letter to our website and make copies available for parents at each school's reception desk. The request was made to attach a copy of the letter to each student's report card to assure that each parent receives this information. Mr. Auman stated that he would share this Chairman DeBerry asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bryan Dozier made the motion with  request with each oft the principals prior tot the distribution of report cards.  Tommy Blake seconding. The meeting was adjourned.  The next regular meeting will be Monday, October 7, 2024, at 6:30 pm.  GuRus  Steven W.  Dale Ellis, Ed. D., Secretary  Ag