Lee County Board of Trustees Regular Board Meeting Lee County School District 310 Roland Street Bishopville, SC April 20, 2015

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1 Lee County Board of Trustees Regular Board Meeting Lee County School District 310 Roland Street Bishopville, SC April 20, 2015 Meeting Minutes Meeting Called to Order By: Board Members Present: Board Members Absent: Public Speakers: Board Members Arriving Late: Media Present: Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd Vice Chairperson, Queenie Boyd, Secretary, Jessie Belvin, Graham Drayton and Sylvia Scott Chairperson Sanya Moses, Valarie Haywood and Nathaniel Brunson In accordance with SC Code of Laws of 1976, Section c, as amended, the media was notified of the date, place and agenda. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd called the meeting to order at 6:37 pm. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd stated that a Quorum was established and the media had been properly notified of the meeting but were not in attendance. We have our in-house news representative with us. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd asked everyone to share in a moment of silence. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd asked for a motion to approve the agenda. A motion was made by Ms. Sylvia Scott with a second by Mr. Graham Drayton to approve the agenda as outlined. This motion was approved by the Board.

2 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd called for the approval of the Minutes of March 16, 2015 and April 2, A motion was made by Mr. Graham Drayton and seconded by Ms. Sylvia Scott to approve the Minutes of March 16, 2015 and April 2, 2015 as presented. This motion was approved by the Board. SCSBA Conference / Legislative Update Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd stated that she attended the National School Boards Association annual conference that was held in Nashville, Tennessee in March. She stated that the theme of the conference was Futures Start With You. They talked about giving our children the best education possible at the local level. There were over 5,000 persons in attendance. Many of the keynote speakers were young people. We had five days of work sessions dealing with leadership, advocacy, technology, and school law. Talk show host, Mr. Montel Williams was the last speaker and he told his life story. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd also stated that at the conference children from various school districts were performing. Vice Chairperson Boyd said she would like for our children to attend this conference in the fall. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd stated that we are still promoting the wrist bands Stand-up 4 for South Carolina Public Schools. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd also stated for information that Mrs. Valarie Haywood s father is still ill and Chairperson Sanya Moses is working out of state at this time. She asked everyone to continue to pray for Mrs. Valarie Haywood and her family. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd informed Dr. Wanda Andrews and the Board that she did check with their attorney concerning having Chairperson Sanya Moses via telephone for the meetings and that it is legal as long as the audience can hear her. The Board needs to check the Policy Manual concerning participation at meetings through Skype for the Chairperson or any Board member. OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT A. Good News Dr. Wanda Andrews thanked Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd for the updates. 1. Media Literacy Dr. Wanda Andrews informed the Board that this item would be carried over to the next regular meeting. Mr. Don Patterson was not able to attend tonight s meeting. 2. Visitors to Bishopville Primary School Ms. Lei Washington stated that on Wednesday, April 15 th Bishopville Primary School was honored to have a celebrity in attendance, Ms. Jennifer Garner. Ms. Jennifer Garner is an actress and she is associated with SAVE the Children Program. Ms. Lei Washington stated that the program is about literacy and lowering the poverty level. Ms. Jennifer Garner read to our children and the students did not know who she was only that she was reading a book to them. She was very complimentary of our students and the school atmosphere. Ms. Lei Washington also stated that during the time the school has been working with this program, their poverty index under Title I has dropped from 95.6% down to 88.12%.

3 Bishopville Primary School has been awarded the Platinum Award for reading at 93% proficiency with the Accelerated Reader program. The school submitted a story about a little girl entitled Success Story. One of our second graders, Shaniya Fortune, lost her grandfather this year and she engaged in all different types of stories to get her mind off of missing her grandfather. This young lady is now reading on grade level. Ms. Lei Washington showed a video of students performing at a Community Stakeholders meeting held at Bishopville Primary School. She stated that the young lady working with the students on the video, started out as a parent volunteer and she is now working in the SAVE the Children Program as an enrichment tutor. Through the help of this program and the AmeriCorps program, this young lady is now in her second year of the teacher education program. 3. Dr. Wanda Andrews presented each Board member with a copy of the Lee County Observer newspaper for the week of April 8, The newspaper contained many articles featuring some of our Lee County School District students. B. Superintendent s Report 1. Field Study Activities - Dr. Wanda Andrews presented the following field study activities for approval by the Board. She stated that all necessary documentation was attached to each field study activity. Lee Central High School JROTC summer camp at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. This is scheduled for June 12 18, students and 2 chaperones. Lee Central High School Band North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, North Carolina to participate in a variety of performances. This is scheduled for May 1 2, students and 4 chaperones. A motion was made by Ms. Sylvia Scott with a second by Mrs. Jessie Belvin to approve the two field study activities with proper documentation and adequate chaperones. This motion was approved by the Board. 2. Draft Home Schooling Policy IHBG Dr. Wanda Andrews presented to the Board a Draft Home Schooling Policy for the Board to digest and to give first reading approval. A motion was made by Mr. Graham Drayton to approve first reading of the Draft Home Schooling Policy (IHBG). This motion was seconded by Ms. Sylvia Scott and approved by the Board. 3. Finance Report Ms. Nancy McMillan presented the expenditure and revenue reports. She stated that the district is on target with 25% of the budget remaining for the year. Ms. Nancy McMillan explained that we are slowing down on expenditures and purchases so we can close out our fiscal year in a timely manner. We want to be ready when our auditors come to do the audit. Vice Chairperson Queen Boyd told the Board if they had any questions concerning the finance report to give Ms. Nancy McMillan a call. She also requested the Board to take action on the report. A motion was made by Ms. Sylvia Scott with a second by Mr. Graham Drayton to accept the finance report as information. This motion was approved unanimously by the Board.

4 4. Calendar Events April 13 17, 2015 the week of the young child Dr. Wanda Andrews presented Ms. Paula Watson to give information on this. Ms. Paula Watson stated that April was the week of the young child. The theme for this year s event was Celebrating Our Youngest Learner and it is spear headed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). NAEYC is a world-wide leading agency that promotes positive early education for young children. Last week in the classrooms in our schools, we had a theme for each day that was provided by NAEYC. The students did a lot of fun activities. Monday - Music and Movement Monday - students did a lot of moving around. Tuesday Taco Tuesday healthy eating (Taco salads) and fitness Wednesday Work Together Wednesday building things together and learning together - a variety of activities Thursday Artsy Thursday fence painting and making a mural (all students participated) Friday Family Friday sharing family stories This event was not done on Friday instead we will have Family Friday on Tuesday night, April 21 st along with the First Steps Program, private day cares, private schools and Headstart. This activity will be held at the Opera House at 5:30 p.m. There are over 200 art pieces on display at the Opera House that were done by children from all over the county. Sixty-five children will be participating in this event and they will be dressed in book characters. The children will meet at the Lee County Library for story time and then parade down the street to the Opera House. April 22 nd Administrative Professional Day April 22 nd State Teacher of the Year Celebration in Columbia (Dr. Wanda Andrews, Ms. Lei Washington and Mrs. Tracey Tate will be attending this event.) April 27 th All contracts and letters are due to district office by 4:30 p.m. May 4 th 8 th Bus Drivers Appreciation Week May 9 th Lee Central High School Prom Morris College has donated some prom dresses to the school district which will assist our students financially. And some of our teachers and other staff are donating jewelry and other accessories. May 11 th We will be honored with a visit by Congressman James Clyburn. Dr. Mary Hallums, Mrs. Karen Long and Ms. Michelle McDonald worked diligently on creating an author s study guide loaded with activities to help our students think deeper after reading his book. Congressman James Clyburn will be at Lee Central Middle from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and then he will go to Lee Central High School. Fifth graders from Lower Lee and West Lee will be bused to Lee Central Middle School. May 14 th Employees Recognition Banquet 5. Instructional Update Dr. Mary Hallums gave the following information, Testing will begin next week April 28 th 30 th for grades 3-8 (ACT Aspire) and the 11 th grade (ACT). The test will be timed. The 4 8 grades will take the PASS (Science on May 7 th and Social Studies on May 8 th ). We are making sure everything is secured. Summer Camp Project Lead is scheduled for June 8 th July 3 rd beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m. Students will be served breakfast and lunch. Last year

5 Project Lead consisted of academics, athletics and the Arts. This year a fourth component will be added, anchors. Anchors will consist of self-esteem, community building and leadership. We will have two groups (1) Guiding Girls Toward Greatness in Lee County and (2) Boys to Men of Lee County. We will be incorporating service learning, developing character traits, learning how to dream, how to reflect and to journal. We will continue our partnerships with the Auntie Karen Foundation, SAVE the Children Program and DJJ. Ms. Sylvia Scott asked if we will be using Lee County employees in the summer program. Dr. Hallums stated that last year we used most of our own staff. There were 82 persons employed in the program and we only had about persons that were not Lee County employees. Assertive Professional Development Summer Dr. Mary Hallums stated that the teachers will work some with the new math and ELA standards. The professional staff completed a survey which will help to develop a comprehensive plan that will meet the needs of our teachers. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd thanked everyone for the information that was presented to the Board. EXECUTIVE SESSION Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd requested a motion on entering into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Student Matters and Financial Matters. Motion: A motion was made by Ms. Sylvia Scott and properly seconded by Mrs. Jessie Belvin to enter into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matters, Student Matters and Financial Matters. The Board voted unanimously in favor of the motion. Action Taken: One (1) Recommendation and Five (5) Student Releases for school year Motion: A motion was made by Ms. Sylvia Scott and seconded by Mrs. Jessie Belvin for the approval of one recommendation and five requests for student release for the school year. This motion was approved by the Board. Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd stated that the Financial Matter was received as information only. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chairperson Queenie Boyd stated that the meeting was adjourned without objection. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Chairperson Date Secretary Date