Ms. Jeana Conley, Superintendent

Cherokee County Schools

911 Andrews Road, Murphy, NC 28906

(828) 837-2722 ~ Fax (828) 837-5799

www.cherokee.k12.nc.us

Minutes of the Cherokee County Board of Education Meeting held March 10, 2016 beginning at 6 pm held at Central Office.

Board Members Present

Ms. Wanda Arrowood , Chair, Mr. Paul Brown, Vice Chair, Ms. Debbie Hogan, Scribe, Mr. Randy Barnett, Mr. Winfield Clonts, Mr. Tim Coffey, and Mr. George Postell

Board Attorney Present: Mr. Dean Shatley

1. Call to Order. Ms. Wanda Arrowood called the Cherokee County Board of Education meeting to order.

2. Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Winfield Clonts led the Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Mission Statement. Mr. Randy Barnett read the mission statement.

4. Approval of Agenda. The agenda was approved.

5. Approval of Minutes. The minutes from the February 11, 2016 regular board meeting and February 29, 2016 special called meeting were approved.

6. Public Input. Ms. Arrowood called for public comment. There was none.

7. Budget Request. Ms. Stephanie Anderson was recognized and presented budget amendments for the following funds for approval:

(a) State Public School Fund

(b) Local Current Expense Fund

(d) Capital Projects Fund—Use of ½ Cent Sales tax in the amount of $20,974:

1) Hillside Nursery:

i. MMS Softball Field: $2,670

2) Jerry’s Electric:

i. MMS Exhaust Fan & Hood (Cafeteria): $2,560

3) Harris Business Solutions:

i. MHS Automatize HVAC: $9,000

Motion made (Mr. Tim Coffey) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve the budget amendments as presented by Ms. Anderson. Voting is unanimous.

Following the budget amendments, Ms. Anderson delivered an application for use of the Public School Building Capital Fund—NC Education Lottery to be applied to the 2015-16 Debt Service Payment for the AHS Building B construction project in the amount of $1,653.28.

Motion made (Mr. Winfield Clonts) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve the application for use of public school building capital funds from the NC education lottery in the amount of $1,653.28 as presented by Ms. Anderson. Voting is unanimous.

Board of Education

Ms. Wanda Arrowood, Chair, Mr. Paul Brown, Vice Chair, Ms. Debbie Hogan, Scribe,

Mr. Randy Barnett, Mr. Winfield Clonts, Mr. Tim Coffey, Mr. George Postell

An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer

Ms. Anderson next presented a roll-over contract with Turner & Co., CPAs, P.A., for consideration to facilitate the 2016 yearend financial audit.

Motion made (Mr. Winfield Clonts) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve entering into a contract for financial audit services with Turner & Company, CPAs, P.A., for conduct of the 2016 yearend financial audit. Voting is unanimous.

Lastly, Ms. Anderson presented the proposed 2016/17 Budget for consideration.

Motion made (Mr. Paul Brown) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve the Proposed 2016/17 Budget as presented by Ms. Anderson. Voting is unanimous.

8. Policy Review. Ms. Debbie Hogan presented several policies for first and second reading. The following policies were heard for second reading and were approved: 4270/6145 Concussion and Head Injury, 5120 Relationship with Law Enforcement, 6120 Student Health Services, 6421 Pre-Audit Certification, 7100 Recruitment and Selection of Personnel, 7405 Extracurricular and Non-Instructional Duties.

Motion made (Ms. Debbie Hogan) and seconded (Mr. Paul Brown) to approve the policies presented for second reading. Voting is unanimous.

After presenting the policies for second reading, Ms. Hogan reported policies for first reading. Those policies presented being: 2300 Board Meetings, 2341 Quorum, 4152 Unsafe School Choice Transfer, 4351 Short-Term Suspension, 4353 Long-Term Suspension, 365-Day Suspension, Expulsion, 9120 Bidding for Construction Work, and 9220 Security of Facilities.

9. Superintendent’s Report. Ms. Jeana Conley delivered the Superintendent’s report to the Board.

She began by announcing overnight fieldtrips approved for students of the Hiwassee Dam High School Spanish class for March 26, 2017 through April 6, 2017 to travel to Italy and Spain, the 5th Grade Beta Club of Murphy Elementary to travel to Gatlinburg, TN on March 31 through April 1, the HOSA Students from MHS and AHS to travel to Greensboro, NC March 30 through April 2 to participate in the CTE HOSA State competition, and the 6th through 8th grade class of REMS to travel to Washington, DC April 4-8, 2016. Ms. Conley next addressed good news across the district by announcing the School Nutrition Department was named a “Winning District!” in the NOKIDHUNGRY@My School Breakfast Challenge. She went on to inform the Board of a grant from the WNC Forestry Education, LLC, which contains $20,375.30 for reducing energy cost. She commended Donnie Johnson for his efforts and contributions to construction of the Bus Stop at Beal Circle. Following this, Ms. Conley announced several Good News items reported from various schools, which included congratulations to Lisa Anderson, Principal of Andrews High School for achieving her Doctorate; Sophia Hogsed an 8th grader at Murphy Middle School won the FLL logo contest; the Marble 21st Century had their parent nighton March 8th; Mr. Ben Owens has been selected as the NC 9-16 Outstanding STEM Teacher of the Year; the MCS Science Olympiad Team competed in Asheville on February 27th and ranked well; the HDEMS PTA Reading Night on March 7th was a huge success,also, HD Art students (K-8) are participating in the Art Show at the Cultural Art Center in Andrews in conjunction with "Seussical the Musical"; AMS has completed its Stacked Deck program, and the MHS ChromeBook rollout was successfully completed.

10. Adjourn for Break and Closed Session. Ms. Debbie Hogan read the motion to adjourn to closed session.

Motion made (Ms. Debbie Hogan) and seconded (Mr. Tim Coffey) for the Board of Education to adjourn to break and closed session pursuant to the provisions of North Carolina General Statute 143-318.11(a)(3) and 143-318.11(c), for the following purposes: Pursuant to the provisions of North Carolina General Statute 143-318.11(a)(3) and 143-318.11(c), I move that the Cherokee County Board of Education go into closed session for the following purposes: under subsection (a)(1) to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential student information pursuant to 20 U.S.C. 1232g (FERPA) and G.S. §115C-402(e), under subsection (a)(1) to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential personnel information pursuant to G.S. §115C-319-321, under subsection (a)(3) to discuss matters protected by the attorney-client privilege, under subsection (a)(5) to discuss the terms of a contract for employment, and under subsection (a)(3) to receive advice from the school Board Attorney regarding the following lawsuit(s): KM v CCS. Voting is unanimous.

11. Return to open session & Closed Session Decisions. Ms. Wanda Arrowood called the meeting to order and returned to open session.

Motion made (Ms. Debbie Hogan) and seconded (Mr. George Postell) to return to open session. Voting is unanimous.

After returning to open session, the Board took the following actions based on closed session discussion:

(a) The Board approved the following retirements:

Name Position & Assignment, Type of Request Effective Date

Nancy Hickey Cafeteria Manager, REMS Retirement 07/01/2016

Keith Holloway Teacher, HDEM Retirement 04/01/2016

Martha VanBuskirk Teacher, TCEC/MBL Retirement 07/01/2016

Motion made (Ms. Debbie Hogan) and seconded (Mr. George Postell) to approve the Retirements as presented by the Superintendent. Voting is unanimous.

(b) The Board approved the following Leave of absence:

Name Position/School

Hannah English Teacher, HDHS

Motion made (Ms. Debbie Hogan) and seconded (Mr. Paul Brown) to approve the leave of absence as presented by the Superintendent. Voting is unanimous.

The Board approved the following hiring recommendations on this date for the positions, schools, type of employment, and effective dates listed below with the understanding that their hiring is based on a clear criminal records check, proper credentials, and adequate position funding:

Name Position Effective

Mike Hodge Custodian, AES (Long-term substitute) 03/09/2016—04/08/2016

Teresa Ricks Administrative Assistant, MES 02/29/2016

Motion made (Mr. Randy Barnett) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve the hiring recommendations as presented by the Superintendent. Voting is unanimous.

The Board approved the following Substitute teachers: Jack Lester, Wendy Rogers, Cindy Thrasher, and Breane Harper

Motion made (Ms. Debbie Hogan) and seconded (Mr. Randy Barnett & Mr. Tim Coffey) to approve the substitute teachers as presented by the Superintendent. Voting is unanimous.

(d) The Board approved the following Cafeteria Substitutes:

Carolyn Barnhart

Susanne Borowaki

Amanda Hamby

Joey McGill

Marcie Meyers

Samantha Stiles

Cindy Thrasher

Motion made (Mr. George Postell) and seconded (Mr. Randy Barnett) to approve the Cafeteria Substitutes as presented by the Superintendent. Voting is unanimous.

(e) The Superintendent announced the following transfer:

Name From To Date

Randy Glass Custodian, AES Custodian, MHS 03/14/2016

Betty Beaver Admin Asst., MES Admin Asst., PES 02/15/2016

(f) The Board approved the following helping hands volunteers:

Reason for Application

Name School Volunteering Renewal Date

Jeffrey Mashburn AHS Baseball Coach 03/10/2017

Jacob Whitaker AHS Track & Field Coach 03/10/2017

Tim Chastain HDHS Softball Coach 03/10/2017

Chester Dancer HDHS Softball Coach 03/10/2017

Tylor Forrister HDHS Baseball Coach 03/10/2017

Shannon Helton HDHS Softball Coach 03/10/2017

Taylor Keen HDHS Cheerleading Coach 03/10/2017

Jordan Israel HDHS Baseball Coach 03/10/2017

William Cook MHS Softball Coach 03/10/2017

Bill Goebel MHS Softball Coach 03/10/2017

Mark Pickens MMS/MHS Basketball, Softball Coach 03/10/2017

Dylan Graves MMS Baseball Coach 03/10/2017

Devin Southard REM/HDS Baseball Coach 03/17/2017

Motion made (Mr. Paul Brown) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve the helping hands volunteers as presented by the Superintendent. Voting is unanimous.

Motion made (Mr. Tim Coffey) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to approve the settlement as delivered by the school board attorney for the lawsuit KM v CCS. Voting is unanimous.

Motion made (Mr. George Postell) and seconded (Mr. Tim Coffey) to extend the Superintendent’s contract through June 30, 2020. Voting is unanimous.

12. Announcement of the next Board of Education Meeting. Ms. Arrowood announced the next regular meeting of the Cherokee County Board of Education will be held at Central Office on Thursday, April 7, 2016 beginning at 6 pm.

13. Adjournment. There being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 8:08 pm.

Motion made (Mr. Randy Barnett) and seconded (Ms. Debbie Hogan) to adjourn the meeting. Voting is unanimous.

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Jeana Conley, Secretary Wanda Arrowood, Board Chair