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The Guilford County Board of Education met in a regular meeting on Tuesday, August 14, 2007, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Jeff Belton (arrived at 6 p.m.), Walter Childs (arrived at 4:17 p.m.), Kris Cooke (arrived at 4:28 p.m.), Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe (arrived at 4:10 p.m.). Also present were Superintendent Terry Grier and Attorney Jill Wilson.

Call to Order
Chairman Duncan called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence
Board member Amos Quick led the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Closed Session
At 4:06 p.m., motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to go into closed session to preserve the attorney client privilege and to discuss student matters protected by state and federal laws. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

Recognitions

GCS Employees of the Month for July and August 2007
The board recognized Wanda Davis, cafeteria manager at Kirkman Park Elementary, as the district’s July Employee of the Month and Trudy Iddings, SIMS operator at Jackson Middle, as the district’s August Employee of the Month. Board members Walter Childs and Nancy Routh presented them with certificates of recognition. Mr. Steve Drewery of Sam’s Club presented Ms. Davis and Ms. Iddings with $50 gift cards from Sam’s Club, which has partnered with GCS to support the employee recognition program.

Public Comments
Chairman Duncan called on members of the public who requested an opportunity to address the board.

John Meeks, 1616 Red Forest Road, Greensboro, NC 27410
Vita Alligood, 2500 Tinderbox Lane, Greensboro, NC 27455
Connie McKoy, 325 Lakeside Drive, Kernersville, NC 27284
Steve Allen, 822 Lancelot Drive, Pleasant Garden, NC 27313
Marsha Vanderwerff, 1505 Bridgetown Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407
Joel Steindel, 212 Springhouse Court, Winston-Salem, NC 27107
Lynn Egerton, 2002 Warwickshire Drive, Greensboro, NC 27455
Anna Diemer, 5507 Union Grove Road, Oak Ridge, NC 27310
Ashley Weeks, 6316 Katherine Louise Drive, Summerfield, NC 27358
Carolyn St. Cyr, 6613 Stonecroft Drive, Oak Ridge, NC 27310
Samuel Heroy, 7713 Summerfield Road, Summerfield, NC 27358
Aditi Bhattacharjee, 7545 Haw Meadows Drive, Kernersville, NC 27284
Marilyn Culp, 2131 Wright Ave., Greensboro, NC 27403
Kim Lilly, 3754 Hunt Chase Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407
Mark Jewell, 210 East Lindell Road, Greensboro, NC 27403
Greg Jones, 620 Green Valley Road, Suite 210, Greensboro, NC 27408
Madeleine Dassow, Five Hobbs Place, Greensboro, NC 27403
Andrew Corbin, 150 Bridford Downs Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407

Approval of Agenda
Chairman Duncan asked board members to review the meeting agenda and called for a motion to approve or amend it.

Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Jeff Belton, to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

Consent Agenda
Superintendent Grier presented the following consent agenda items:

A. July Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the July 10 regular meeting and July 26 regular meeting were presented for approval.

B. Personnel Action Report
The consent agenda included personnel actions as noted in the monthly personnel action report and addendum requiring board approval.

C. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. Easement Option Request at Bluford Elementary
The consent agenda included a recommendation that the board approve an option for an easement requested by BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. affecting the Bluford Elementary School property. The requested easement area is 20 feet by 20 feet and is located at the southeast corner of the Bluford Elementary School campus; it will be used to construct, maintain, operate, add and/or remove such systems of communications, facilities or related services as BellSouth may from time to time require.

Further, BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. will move a portion of the chain link fence that is currently located at this corner of the school property to a location outside of the proposed easement area in accordance with GCS specifications. Staff has already made preliminary arrangements with BellSouth so that the GCS maintenance staff will be able to coordinate this work through BellSouth’s fencing contractor.

D. Duke Energy Carolinas Right-of-Way Agreement at 319 Stage Coach Trail
This item was deferred until the August 30, 2007 meeting.

Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Jeff Belton, to approve the consent agenda as amended with Item D deferred until the August 30 board meeting. Consent agenda items A and C passed upon unanimous roll call vote. Consent agenda item B passed upon majority roll call vote of 8-1-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert and Amos Quick; Nays – Anita Sharpe; Abstain – Nancy Routh. Board member Dot Kearns was not present for this vote.

Eastern High School Update
Joe Hill, facilities, presented to the board an update on Eastern High’s pod village.

Update on School Construction and Opening of New Schools
Joe Hill, facilities, presented to the board an update on the status of the current construction projects within the district.

Superintendent Grier provided information to the board in regard to the old building at Ferndale Middle School. In years gone by, there have been problems with the brick façade separating from the building. To remediate this, metal plates were installed on both sides of the wall. As flashing has worn loose over time, water has seeped in and the brick tie rods have rusted and are beginning to separate. Staff is currently working with engineers to remediate this situation as quickly as possible. Temporary netting will be installed on the outside of the building as a safety precaution until final repairs are completed.

Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, presented to the board an update on the opening of the following new schools from a non-facilities standpoint:

Staffing: All schools are currently staffed. As the enrollment continues to grow in some of the schools, staffing adjustments will be made accordingly.

Transportation: All transportation systems are ready to go. Parents can access information and schedules including drop-off and pick-up times on the GCS Web site.

Scheduling: Most schools have completed their master scheduling. Dr. Becoats explained that changes may be required to accommodate additional students who enroll. This is being seen especially at Northern High and Northern Elementary.

Materals and Supplies: All orders have been placed, and materials are expected to be in place no later than August 24.

Media Area: All books are on order, with some of the schools’ media centers already stocked.

Acquisition of Additional School Buses for Northern High School
Dr. Becoats reported on the need for 10 additional buses to support the growth in student enrollment at Northern High. In accordance with the North Carolina General Statute 115C-249(a), a LEA is given the authority to purchase additional school buses necessary for the safe and efficient transportation of pupils. Such request to purchase additional buses must be approved by DPI Transportation Services prior to adding a school bus to the state replacement schedule.

The current situation for the GCS transportation department deems a need for additional resources in order to provide adequate services to students. In order to accommodate the projected increase of students and to facilitate providing support to Northern Middle and High, an increase of 10 buses is needed for the 2007-08 school year.

Under the provisions for the operation of a temporary bus (Status E2LC), the state will pay for the operation of a temporary bus as long as the local board of education commits to the purchase of a new bus by submitting a letter requesting such use and issuing a purchase order within 18 months to purchase a new bus. If the temporary bus is placed back out of service, prior to the eighteen-month period, issuing a purchase order is not required.

Motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Walter Childs, to request approval by DPI Transportation Services for 10 additional school buses, to be used on a temporary basis, with the commitment to issue a purchase order for the purchase of 10 new school buses within 18 months. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 10-to-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Garth Hébert.

City of High Point Request
Superintendent Terry Grier presented to the board a request by the City of High Point regarding the red light camera settlement. As a result of the suit against the City of Greensboro and the City of High Point over funds generated from the use of red light cameras, the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the district and issued a statement requiring both cities to reimburse the school district those funds.

A letter dated July 31, 2007 addressed to Board Chairman Alan Duncan was received from City of High Point Mayor Rebecca Smothers stating that the amount due to GCS from the City of High Point for the red light camera settlement is $1,477,457. In the letter Mayor Smothers suggested that the board consider reducing that amount by $382,710 because the City of High Point had spent that amount in improvements in and around the Southwest campus and the Oakview Elementary campus.

GCS was approached by the City of High Point several months ago and asked to approve easements and right of ways for the city to conduct repairs to the highways around both of those schools and, in exchange for those easements and right of ways, agreed to do that work. There was never an agreement between GCS staff and City of High Point staff that the board would pay for that work, and the board was never asked to pay for that work. Therefore, it is staff’s recommendation to reject the request for this payment and instruct Attorney Jill Wilson to respond and to request that the City of High Point promptly pay the $1,477,457 owed to Guilford County School District as a result of the ruling regarding the red light camera money.

Chairman Duncan asked that it be reflected in the meeting minutes that he will not place a vote or be involved in this matter due to his firm’s representation of the City of High Point.

Attorney Wilson clarified that the final Supreme Court ruling does, in fact, make it unchallengeable at this point that the City of High Point owes the school district for the red light proceeds as agreed to by the parties to be the number stated in the letter, which is $1,477,457. She stated that this money is owed 35 days from the entry of the judgment. Attorney Wilson further stated that she is unaware of any obligation by the board of education to pay for public safety. Additionally, these were items which were put in a bond before the citizens of High Point and paid for by the citizens of High Point as safety improvements so it seems inappropriate to ask the school system to pay for these improvements.

Motion was made by Garth Hébert, seconded by Jeff Belton, to authorize Vice Chairman Amos Quick and Superintendent Terry Grier to communicate to the City of High Point consistent with the recommendation of staff that Guilford County Schools has no obligation for payment of the items as requested in the letter from Mayor Rebecca Smothers dated July 31, 2007 with direction given to them by Board Attorney Jill Wilson with respect to the wording of the response. The motion passed upon majority of electronic vote of 10-0-1 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Abstain – Alan Duncan.

Update on New Light Student Suspension Program
Dr. Eric Becoats, chief of staff, presented to the board an update on the New Light Student Suspension Program. This item was deferred from the July 26 meeting.

Update on 2007-08 Budget
Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer, presented an update on the 2007-08 budget to the board. She advised that the district’s 2007-08 budget shortfall based on the budgets approved by the county commission and the state legislature was $2,935,733.

Proposed 2007-08 budget reductions as presented by Ms. Ozment include the items listed below:

Options were discussed by board members in the attempt to recommend a final budget for approval.

Board member Amos Quick departed at 9:55 p.m. and board member Kris Cooke departed at 10:00 p.m.

Motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to include the following items in the budget:

$ 50,000         District competitions
$140,000         New Light Suspension Support Program
$220,000         Third-grade teachers (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)
$100,000         Home Field Advantage
$150,000         Teacher assistants (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)

A substitute motion was made by Nancy Routh, seconded by Walter Childs, to include the following items in the budget:

$140,000         New Light Suspension Support Program
$270,000         Third-grade teachers (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)
$100,000         Home Field Advantage
$150,000         Teacher assistants (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)

The motion failed upon majority electronic vote of 5-to-4 as follows: Nays – Jeff Belton, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Garth Hébert and Dot Kearns; Ayes – Walter Childs, Deena Hayes, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe.

The board then voted on the original motion made by Deena Hayes and seconded by Darlene Garrett to include the following items in the budget:

The motion failed upon majority electronic vote of 6-to-3 as follows: Nays – Jeff Belton, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns and Nancy Routh; Ayes –Walter Childs, Darlene Garrett and Anita Sharpe.

Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Deena Hayes, to include the following items in the budget:

$140,000         New Light Suspension Support Program
$100,000         Home Field Advantage
$220,000         Elementary teachers (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)
$200,000         Teacher assistants (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)

A substitute motion was made by Alan Duncan, seconded by Walter Childs, to include the following items in the budget:

$140,000         New Light Suspension Support Program
$100,000         Home Field Advantage
$280,000         Elementary teachers and teacher assistants (staff to decide how best to split teacher and teacher assistant funds)
$140,000         Twilight High School

The motion failed upon majority electronic vote of 5-to-4 as follows: Nays – Darlene Garrett, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Alan Duncan and Deena Hayes.

The board then voted on the original motion made by Anita Sharpe and seconded by Deena Hayes to include the following items in the budget:

The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 5-to-4 as follows: Ayes – Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Nancy Routh and Anita Sharpe; Nays – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Alan Duncan and Dot Kearns.

Superintendent Terry Grier present to the board information regarding lunch prices for the 2007-08 school year. Given that the district is providing healthier food choices in our cafeterias, many offerings which generated significant revenue for GCS in the past have been eliminated. As a result, staff recommended that the following increases in lunch prices be approved by the board for 2007-08:

	2006-07 LUNCH PRICES	PROPOSED 2007-08 LUNCH PRICES
Elementary (K-5)	$1.60	$1.80
Middle (6-8)	$1.90	$2.10
High (9-12)	$2.00	$2.20
Adult	$2.40	à la carte

Chief Finance Officer Sharon Ozment stated that the last lunch price increase occurred in 2004-05. She confirmed that this requested increase has no impact on children that qualify for free or reduced priced meals. The reduced price breakfast will remain at $.30 and the reduced price lunch will remain at $.40.

Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Dot Kearns, to approve the proposed lunch prices of $1.80 for elementary (K-5), $2.10 for middle (6-8), $2.20 for high (9-12) and à la carte for adults. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.

Reports from the Chairman
Leandro v State of North Carolina
Chairman Alan Duncan presented information to the board in regard to the case of Leandro v State of North Carolina. Chairman Duncan had been called to testify in this litigation and gave a brief report. This hearing was ostensibly called to primarily look at middle schools but appeared to be wide ranging in the sense that the questions asked by counsel addressed much than simply middle schools. Chairman Duncan was asked to talk about some of the programs that have been put in place in GCS.

Home Field Advantage along with the mobility of, not just elementary school students, but also middle school students and others was discussed.

Judge Manning was aware of Ferndale’s enhanced scores and wanted more information. Ferndale was the only middle school in the district which was on the state-wide watch list. This was based on last year’s numbers. Ferndale clearly is now off that list, and he was very impressed and interested in knowing what had been done. This led to a discussion of the central office intervention at Ferndale and the possibility of the school system being able to utilize its own intervention teams as opposed to state teams. Ferndale also was a middle school that, the year before, had no certified math teachers. As a result of Mission Possible, Ferndale had all certified math teachers last year. Judge Manning was very interested in discussing Mission Possible.

A number of other matters in terms of what the schools are doing were discussed. Questions were asked from attorneys from low-wealth counties, from perceived higher-wealth counties and also from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Each of their perspectives were somewhat different in terms of questions asked.

There was discussion of High School Ahead with some greater discussion about what that program could accomplish for middle school students in particular. Twilight high schools were mentioned only in the sense that it was something that the board had discussed. However, this was not discussed in detail because it is not known at this time what shape that program will take in GCS.

Chairman Duncan stated that the testimony was approximately three hours in duration.

Report from Legislative Committee
Chairman Duncan called on board member Dot Kearns to present information on behalf of the board’s Legislative Committee. A letter from board members will be sent to Congressman Brad Miller, Congressman Mel Watt, Senator Elizabeth Dole, Senator Richard Burr and Congressman Howard Coble requesting their support of the GCS 2007 Magnet School Assistance Program (MSAP) grant application. Director of Magnet Schools Tony Burks and Emily Scott, grant writer, prepared a comprehensive overview of each program included in the magnet grant request, which will be included with the letter.

Public Speakers
Terrina Picarello, 15 Owls Roost Court, Greensboro, NC 27410
JoCarolyn Wilkins, 1822 Bothwell Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
Joe Stafford, 4604 Forest Village Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406

Board Comments
Board members were each allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deemed appropriate.

Closed Session
At 11:54 p.m., motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to go into closed session to consult with our attorney to protect the attorney client privilege. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

Adjournment
With no further business, at 12:29 a.m., motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.