II. Business Items

Groups audience:

01. Approval of Agenda

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action	X
Excellent Educators		Information
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

A motion is in order to approve or revise the meeting agenda for October 5, 2020.

Groups audience:

School Board

02. Public Comment

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action
Excellent Educators		Information	X
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students		Discussion
Operations and Support	X

Any person wishing to address the board during Public Comment should email their comment(s) to Jenny Hunter at jhunter@tcsnc.org by 1:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting and their item will be read aloud at the meeting as appropriate within board guidelines.

The board of education, as an elected representative body of the school system, wishes to provide a forum for citizens to express interests and concerns related to the school system. In order that the board may conduct an order meeting while providing an opportunity for input, individuals or groups may be heard by the board in accordance with policy 2310, Public Participation at Board Meetings, or policy 2300, Board Meetings (subsection D.2).

Each month, the first part of at least one regularly scheduled board meeting will be set aside for citizens to address the board through public comment.

A sign-up sheet will be available 30 minutes before the meeting begins for any individual or group to indicate their desire to address the board.

Each speaker will receive 3 minutes to present comments. The public comment session will not exceed 30 minutes total except by majority vote of the board.

The board chair will recognize speakers in the order in which they signed in. Substitute speakers will not be permitted and speakers may not donate any portion of their time to another speaker. If a speaker is unable to present all of his or her information within the specified time limit, the speaker may provide the board with additional information in written form. If an unusually large number of people requests to speak, a majority of the board may decide to reduce the time for each individual or to require the designation of a spokesperson for each group of persons supporting or opposing the same positions. At any time, the board may establish additional procedures to ensure that public comment sessions proceed in an efficient and orderly manner.

Board members will not respond to individuals who address the board except to request clarification of points made by the presenter.

Except in cases of emergency, information received during presentations will not be acted upon at the time it is received. It will take unanimous vote of the board members present to act on a presentation considered to be of an unusual or emergency nature at the time it is presented.

Disruptions by any person or persons of a public meeting will be subject to action in accordance with G.S. 143-318.17.

Complaints about the performance of school personnel, implementation of board policy, the quality of the educational program, or school facilities should be submitted initially for a response to the school system official responsible for the program or facility or to the superintendent. The superintendent or designee shall make available policy 2310, Public Participation at Board Meetings, and other relevant grievance procedures to any individual or group submitting a complaint.

The board may choose to offer a second opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting. Sign-ups will not be required for the second public comment opportunity.

No solicitations will be allowed during public comment.

Groups audience:

School Board

03. K-5 Transition to Plan A

Strategic Priority		Reason for Consideration
Graduates Prepared for Work, Higher Education and Citizenship		Action	X
Excellent Educators		Information
Healthy, Safe and Responsible Students	X	Discussion	X
Operations and Support	X

On September 17, Governor Cooper announced that school districts have the option to bring students in grades K-5 back for daily in-person instruction under school reopening Plan A, effective October 5th. Under this option, certain safety measures including face coverings, social distancing (when possible) and symptom screenings will still be required, but schools will not be required to reduce the number of children in the classroom. This change came about due to improvements in safety and prevention measures as well as more promising COVID-19 metrics. Science indicates lower viral spread among younger children.

At its meeting on September 21, the board discussed possible plans/dates for elementary schools in our county to move from the current Plan B to Plan A. Parents of children in grades K-5 and teachers were invited to participate in online surveys to provide feedback on the proposed transition. Dr. McDaris will share the results of the surveys as well as current COVID-19 data from Transylvania Public Health.

The parent survey instrument, survey results, and the current school calendar are attached.

The board may approve a plan for elementary schools to transition from Plan B to Plan A for the 2020-2021 school year.

Public Attachments:

K-5 Transition to Plan A Parent Survey.pdf

K-5 Transition to Plan A_BOE update October 2020.pdf

TCS Calendar 2020-2021_ Approved Jun 1.pdf

Groups audience:

School Board