DATE:October 6, 2003PRESENT:Jill Camnitz, Chair

DATE:October 6, 2003PRESENT:Jill Camnitz, Chair

Don Carson

Mike Barnette

Mary Grace Bright

TIME:7:30 P.M.Betsy Leech

Barbara Owens

Sidney Scott

Dick Tolmie

PLACE:Pitt County Office Building Delano Wilson

ABSENT:A. Michael Dixon

Walter Gaskins

Ralph Love, Sr.

Ms. Jill Camnitz, Chair, called to order the Pitt County Board of Education in regular session and welcomed everyone present. Mr. Mike Barnette led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ms. Deborah Long, Public Information Officer, introduced the recognitions for the evening. Each of the thirty-two Pitt County Schools’ Cafeteria Managers were recognized and presented with a plaque for their participation in Winners Circle, a program that promotes healthy foods in dining establishments, thereby creating for Pitt County Schools’ students and staff an opportunity to identify and select healthy options in the lunchroom lines at schools.

Students recognized included Career – Technical Students who had participated the previous school year in academic competitions and leadership opportunities. Students recognized and presented with Certificates of Excellence were Brandy Boyd and Caroline Phillips, 2003 graduates of D. H. Conley, who placed first in the Distributive Education Clubs of America state competition in the Retail Marketing Research Event; Ashley Finnegan, a South Central student who placed first in the state Health Occupations Students of America Speaking Skills competition and placed eighth in the nation; Jonathan Arp, a student at D. H. Conley who placed first in Cabinet Making at the state Skills USA Conference and seventh in the nation in this event; Curtis McLawhorn, a student at D. H. Conley who placed first in Residential Construction at the state Skills USA Conference and thirteenth in the nation in this event; Renee Jones and Mandi Lingold, Ayden-Grifton High School students, who placed first in the Chapter Service Project-Junior at the state Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Conference, receiving gold medals at the national conference; and, Josephine Tucker (not present), a student at Ayden-Grifton who placed first in the Chapter Service Project Junior Occupational at the state Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Conference and received a silver medal at the national conference in this event.

Teachers recognized and presented with Certificates of Excellence included Debby Gray, Special Populations Coordinator at D. H. Conley, who received the North Carolina Association for Career-Technical Educators Outstanding Career-Technical Educator Award for 2003; Melva Lawrence, Family and Consumer Science teacher at Ayden-Grifton who was named the North Carolina Association for Career-Technical Education Outstanding Teacher in Community Service; Glenna Ham, Health Occupations teacher at Ayden-Grifton who was named NC Health Occupations Education Teacher Association, New Teacher of the Year; Joan Thompson, Health Occupations teacher at J. H. Rose who was elected as the new NC Health Occupations Education Teacher Association President for this year and as such will serve on the NC Association for Career-Technical Education Board of Directors; and Curtis Spencer (not present), Construction Technology Instructor at D. H. Conley who was named the NC Skills USA Carpentry Teacher of the Year.

The final group recognized consisted of JROTC Honor Graduates who spent a week in Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, this past summer participating in JROTC Summer Camp. JROTC students recognized were LTC Aaron Huza, Battalion Commander at D. H. Conley who earned the title Distinguished Honor Graduate – one of only four of the eight hundred cadets participating; LTC Herman Streeter (not present), Battalion Commander, a J. H. Rose student who earned the title of Honor Graduate, being one of thirty-six capturing this honor; and, Major Ashley Smith, Battalion Executive Officer at Ayden-Grifton who also earned the title of Honor Graduate.

Each recognition recipient was congratulated on his or her accomplishments and appreciation was expressed by the Chair to them for doing such an excellent job of representing Pitt County Schools.

The Chair offered the agenda for adjustments or approval. Upon motion by Ms. Barbara Owens and second by Ms. Mary Grace Bright, the Board unanimously approved the agenda as provided.

An opportunity for Public Expression was offered. Reverend David Hammond, County Commissioner, addressed the Board in regard to the recent approval of the Capital Projects proposal. He commended Ralph Love for being so persistent and tenacious in lobbying members of the Board of Commissioners for approval of the Capital Projects priority list. He complimented the Board of Education on the presentation of facility needs as presented to the Board of Commissioners, indicating that it was the finest and most comprehensive plan he had ever seen outlining the system’s construction needs. He stated, however, that at a basketball game at North Pitt, he had the opportunity to see first hand the inequity in the athletic facilities in this county. He said that while he was not a flip-flopping commissioner, it was time to move forward with the school system’s needs and not be stopped by minor things such as closing costs. He added that he wished the County Commissioners could have approved the full $216 million and stated that he would have made the motion to provide the citizens of Pitt County the opportunity to vote on that with general obligation bonds. He closed by saying he realized that the county was growing and that the school district’s needs were real. He said he did not want any school system in North Carolina to be any better than the one we have here in Pitt County. Parenthetically, Rev. Hammond commended Colonel Hinton to the members of the Board explaining that LTC Hinton had visited with the community in Bethel to discuss the new dress code and other issues of interest and had, upon finishing his comments, received a standing ovation.

Upon motion by Ms. Mary Grace Bright and second by Mr. Dick Tolmie, the Consent Agenda items were unanimously approved. Included on the Consent Agenda were minutes of the meetings held on August 28 and September 8, 2003, the Personnel Report for the month of October, and a Resolution on Capital Projects.

Mr. Dick Tolmie offered the report from the Finance Committee meeting held on October 2nd. He indicated that the various items discussed were included in the materials provided, with the first being the Budget Resolution. In regard to the Budget Resolution, he explained that the system had been operating under an Interim Resolution awaiting word from the state and federal governments on the amount of funding to be received. Indicating that official allotments, although perhaps not final, had now been received, he suggested it was appropriate to approve the Budget Resolution which addressed five categories of funding resources and proposed expenditures with those five areas including state funding, federal funding, local funding, food service funding, and capital outlay funding. With there being no questions, Mr. Tolmie motioned that the Board approve the Budget Resolution as prepared. The motion received a second from Mr. Sidney Scott and was unanimously approved.

Mr. Tolmie shared that the Finance Committee had also discussed system goals and indicated that it was the committee’s desire to have a good timeline for the development of the 2004-05 Budget. He stated that the timeline proposed would allow an appropriate opportunity for consideration of recommendations from various departments, committees, schools, etc. and time to bring those recommendations forward, set priorities, and obtain approval in time to submit the budget to the Board of Commissioners.

Questions related to the Budget Calendar were in regard to the time designated for the Board of Education to approve the budget prior to sending it to the County Commissioners. In response, it was noted that the Board would receive the budget for consideration at the first meeting in May and would forward the budget to the Commissioners by May 15th. It was suggested the language in the Budget Calendar be reworked to reflect the Board of Education’s review and approval of the budget.

Mr. Tolmie added that discussion by the committee was also held in regard to other goals including the potential future elimination of school fees. However, he stated that this was an item that was felt the full Board of Education would need to identify as a goal. He advised that the Finance Committee also desired to further scrutinize the existing budget and past expenditures to identify opportunities for cost improvements, cost savings, and/or redirection. After being determined worthy of consideration, he said the Finance Committee would forward those areas identified either to the appropriate committee or to Dr. Priddy. He stated this would be the Finance Committee’s main goal for this year.

In regard to a follow-up question on the Budget Calendar, Dr. Priddy suggested that in the entry for April 2004 in the first line, that the words “to county commissioners” should be deleted and that what would be left would be a phrase indicating that the Board of Education would receive the proposed budget to include those areas stated. It was also clarified that the Joint Meeting between the two boards usually comes in April and had previously been used as a time to present the Board of Education’s proposed budget to the Commissioners.

Mr. Don Carson provided the report from the Facilities Committee meeting held on September 30th. He stated that Dr. McKnight had done most of the work on the goals and that the committee had concentrated mainly on the employment of architects as reflected in the Resolution already approved. He advised that Dr. McKnight would make calls to those architects immediately, and he indicated that the committee had agreed to meet once or twice a month to monitor the progress on the construction projects. He asked Dr. McKnight to read the goals for the area of Auxiliary/Operational Services.

In keeping the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Strategic Priority Number Five, Dr. John McKnight presented the following recommended continuing objectives for the operations area:

-Provide for a transportation system that serves student needs and is safe, efficient, and cost effective.

-Provide a Facility Services program that responds to the repair needs of the school system within resources made available.

-Provide adequate staffing and resources to maintain facilities at a level to support the current requirements of teaching and learning.

-Conduct an update to the Long Range Educational Plan every two years.

-Provide an awareness of future issues that may impact the school system such as environmental requirements, regulatory and safety issues.

-Implement phase one from the Immediate Needs of the Long Range Educational Plan.

He noted that a calendar would be forwarded to Board members with the dates that the Facilities Committee would be meeting in the event others were interested in attending.

Questions in regard to the report from the Facilities Committee included how the Board might measure the goal statements and know when the goals had been met or if appropriate progress had been made.

Dr. McKnight responded that the question related to a much deeper level of specificity than had been undertaken at this point. He suggested to do so could be another step if the Board desired, but that in his opinion there were always ways to measure the progress, depending upon the area.

Ms. Barbara Owens presented the report from the Educational Programs and Services Committee. She indicated that the EPS Committee met on September 23rd and similarly discussed system goals and direction for the EPS Department. She stated that the Committee had affirmed its desire to utilize the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Strategic Plan for Excellent Schools as the strategic goals for the department. She emphasized that Dr. Williamson would place the identified, measurable objectives under the state goals, and that those would be reviewed at the next meeting of the committee.

She itemized the state’s strategic priorities applicable to the Educational Programs and Services area as follows:

Strategic Priority 1: High Student Performance

Strategic Goals

1.1 Every child ready for school

●Developmental criteria for the child ready for school

●Assessment of readiness for school

●Relevant criteria for schools ready for the child

●Promotion of the criteria for early childhood and school readiness

1.2 Rigorous and relevant academic standards and assessment systems for every student

1.3 Every student masters essential knowledge and skills

1.4Every student graduates from high school

1.5 Every student a life long learner and ready for work

Strategic Priority 2: Safe, Orderly, and Caring Schools Strategic Goals

2.1Learning environments inviting and supportive of high student performance

2.2 Schools free of controlled and illegal substances and all harmful behavior

2.3 Mutual respect of students, teachers, administrators, and parents

2.4 Adequate, safe education facilities that support high student performance

In the absence of Dr. Ralph Love, Mr. Delano Wilson provided the report from the Human Resources Committee. He stated that the committee had discussed the calendar development timeline and that a copy of that proposal had been included in the Board agenda booklet.

The Superintendent, Dr. Michael Priddy, indicated that the Board had previously expressed its desire to have the calendar process moved to earlier in the year so that a final, official calendar could be printed and shared with parents, allowing them to make better advance plans and that this had been accomplished in the previous year. Given the changes required to be made with the last two calendars, however, he stated that the process had been moved back with an approval date in January, believing this would create a more reliable school calendar. Upon motion by Mr. Delano Wilson and second by Ms. Barbara Owens, the Board unanimously approved the Calendar Timeline as proposed.

One Board member commented on having read an article about the Wake County calendar and the flexibility offered for snow days. She stated that Wake County also included provisions by which the calendar committee took into consideration the religious holidays of other faiths and that she would like for Pitt County to give consideration to those issues as well.

Mary Grace Bright presented the report from the Human Relations Committee. She stated that over a number of meetings, the committee had discussed issues it would like to address in the future and that those included the following:

-The committee would like to continue to promote parental involvement and one way the committee has discussed to do that is to create a way for parents and members of the community to sign up for electronic newsletters or announcements from their child’s/children’s school(s) via the Pitt County Schools website. This would become a useful tool for parents with computers to stay informed of important happenings at school. Additionally, the committee would utilize recommendations from the REACH Task Force to improve communications with parents and the community.

-The committee would like to design a new Pitt County Schools website. The Webmaster (student intern – Brian Griffin) has been working to create the new site. It is near completion. The committee would also like to purchase a new domain name for the Pitt County Schools website such as The purpose of the new website and domain name would be faster and easier for web users.

-The issue of better audio acoustics or the “user-friendliness” of the Board Room had been raised from past audience participation at the Board Meetings, and therefore, the committee had been seeking solutions and the feasibility to accommodate and resolve this problem. Old estimates had been received that were not felt appropriate, and the committee will be seeking other ways to make the Board Room have more audience appeal. The committee will be looking further into the matter.

-It was noted that the schools have been inundated with requests to pass along various types of promotional advertising in the schools. In an effort to protect instructional time, the committee felt it was necessary to limit advertising but at the same time, it desired to offer support to the community. Therefore, the committee will be evaluating how best to address this issue and will most likely be going to the Policy Committee next to develop a more appropriate policy to deal with this issue.

- The committee desires to continue the use of Study Circles to obtain community

input on appropriate issues.

In the absence of Policy Chair, Michael Dixon, Ms. Carol Moore presented the report from the Policy Committee. She explained that the Policy Committee had been working on policies to get the system ready for the block schedule and had also been looking at getting the Board’s policies on the internet website. She indicated that the committee had also worked through the By-Laws and the next step would be to bring those to the full Board.