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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02-12-2019 Schools 1 APPROVED 3/7/2019 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO BOARD OF EDUCATION ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION BOCC/BOARD OF EDUCATION JOINT MEETING February 12, 2019 8:30 p.m. (followed the Joint Meeting with the Fire Chiefs) The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a joint meeting with the Chapel Hill- Carrboro Board of Education and Orange County Board of Education on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 at the Whitted Building in Hillsborough, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Penny Rich and Commissioners Mark Dorosin, Jamezetta Bedford, Sally Greene, Earl McKee, Mark Marcoplos, and Renee Price COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO (CHCCS) BOARD OF EDUCATION PRESENT: Chair Margaret Samuels, and Board members Joal Braun, Rani Dasi, James Barrett, Pat Heinrich, Amy Fowler, and Mary Ann Wolf and Superintendent Pam Baldwin, and other CHCCS staff: Pam Jones, Patrick Abele CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO BOARD OF EDUCATION ABSENT: None ORANGE COUNTY (OCS) BOARD OF EDUCATION PRESENT: Chair Brenda Stephens and Board members Sarah Smylie, Will Atherton, Hillary MacKenzie and Superintendent Dr. Todd Wirt ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION ABSENT: Dr. Steve Halkiotis, Tony McKnight and Matthew Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager Travis Myren, and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below.) Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 8:28 p.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks — Chair Rich said at the school collaboration meeting it was determined that this evening's meeting should be more of a conversation and more informal. OCS Chair Stephens thanked the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for this opportunity to dialogue, and she said Dr. Halkiotis was unable to attend tonight. She said Hillary MacKenzie recently delivered some OCS swag bags to the BOCC. CHCCS Chair Samuels said in the packets, CHCCS highlighted 4 areas, and also included its strategic plan. She said CHCCS just completed a two-day retreat. CHCCS Chair Samuels shared a few highlights: • Phoenix Academy • Equity Advisory Council • New safety director • Broke ground at Chapel Hill High School • Innovative partnerships with Elon, NCCU and NCSU 2 1. Budget, Capital Funding, and Class Size Mandate See Attachment 1 A (page 3), Attachment 1 C (page 22), and Attachment 1 D (page 26) for the CHCCS information, and Attachment 1 B (page 21) for the OCS information related to these issues. OCS Superintendent Wirt said the OCS budget committee has been trying to meet and work on the OCS budget earlier, and have created a one-page "early look" at the OCS continuation budget. Rhonda Raff, OCS Chief Financial Officer, reviewed attachment 1 b, the OCS Continuation Budget and they are expecting a shortfall of$1,520,885 and thus would be requesting a $211 increase in per pupil funding this year. Will Atherton said OCS wants to put more diversity into the teaching population, such as allowing Teacher Assistants (TAs) to get a teaching degree and become teachers locally, as opposed to sourcing teachers from other districts/states. He said another initiative is looking at an equity director and staff, to not only roll out policy, but to implement and get measurable data and outcomes. Sarah Smylie said, in order to balance last year's budget, OCS eliminated TAs working as substitutes on teacher workdays, and OCS is considering reinstating TAs for at least the first 5 teacher workdays. Commissioner Dorosin referred to charter schools, and said the student populations are increasing. He said he recently attended a conference on these issues, and said numbers in Orange County are a little over 10%. He asked if the school staff see trends and impacts of this issue. Superintendent Wirt said it impacts OCS system by declining enrollment, which means fewer employees. He said over 60% of charter students in the OCS district have never stepped a foot in the OCS schools, and when students start in an OCS school, the student tends to remain. He said staff has to work on things that are not the typical core business of public schools: marketing, branding, school tours, etc. He said OCS welcomes competition, but it is not always equal competition, and the playing field is not level. He said charter schools already have many things that the legislature will not afford to public schools: flexibility with school calendar and licensure, class size, etc. He said OCS serves a diverse community, and this is reflected in the students. He said the charter schools do not reflect the same diversity, but when one compares test scores and letter grades, it is a challenging competitive environment. He said the bottom line is for OCS to continue to produce a better product with better and equitable outcomes. He said OCS is focused on the students it already has, and will work to attract those that it does not. Will Atherton said there is a lot of misinformation about the differences between OCS and charter schools in regards to achievement and programs offered. He said OCS is looking into how to better market all that OCS has to offer. CHCCS Superintendent Baldwin said CHCCS has a new strategic plan, and had a great retreat and conversation about structure. Mary Ann Wolfe said the CHCCS mission is distinctly designed, and CHCCS is looking at 4 areas: • Student success, and looking at the whole child • Employee experience, and honoring the expertise that is already in CHCCS • Family and community engagement is becoming increasingly intentional 3 • Organizational effectiveness at all levels of the system Mary Ann Wolfe said as CHCCS makes decisions, it repeatedly returns to these 4 areas to ask if the decision supports the areas. Rani Dasi said CHCCS is aligning its budget to its strategic plan. She said Jennifer Bennett has come on staff as a new financial leader. She said CHCCS is reassessing its capital needs, and Chapel Hill High renovations are underway and on track. She said CHCCS is working on Town of Chapel Hill (TOCH) reimbursements for Chapel Hill High School. She said CHCCS is assessing the needs of current schools as well. Joal Broun said given the upcoming class size mandates, a rough estimate indicates the need for an additional 30 teachers at a cost of$2.2 million. She said it is hoped that the State will provide some funds to offset these costs. She said CHCCS is also looking at how this mandate will impact buildings, and 11 schools have pre-K, which is a factor. She said it is unclear if existing facilities can accommodate this mandate. Commissioner McKee referred to the Chapel Hill High (CHHS) project, and asked if this project is close to, or over budget. Patrick Adele said the CHHS project is currently on budget, and the CTE building is on reserves and is part of the project to be funded by the additional money that was set aside. Chair Rich asked if the number of charter students is known. James Barrett said 115 out of 12,200 total CHCCS students attend charter schools. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if these students are going to charter schools in Chatham County. James Barrett said the students go all over. Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is an update on school discipline and racial disparities. Superintendent Baldwin said CHCCS is working on this, and training staff on restorative justice practices. Superintendent Baldwin said CHCCS is also working on mental health training, and how to have relationships with students that may avoid incidents happening in the first place. She said CHCCS is planning ongoing conversations about the effectiveness of consequences. She said CHCCS is partnering with Engaging Schools on the student code of conduct, specifically listening to student voices about what is happening in the classrooms and hallways. She said most data reflects incidents occurring outside the classroom (hallways, buses, etc.), and looking at duty and supervision schedules. Amy Fowler said the discipline referrals for students of color did go down, but the amount of overall referrals also went down, so the disproportion remains. Commissioner Greene asked if there are other ways to measure improvement in equity, in addition to the disciplinary referral data. Superintendent Baldwin said through survey work, and not just one data point. She said there are many conversations with teachers/social workers/counselors and through family and community engagement. Amy Fowler said one in five adolescents will deal with mental health issues, and CHCCS is addressing this and the whole child. She said social-emotional skills at a young age indicate rates of success in adulthood, and are just as important as educational skills. She said mental health is a critical factor in all elements of education. Chair Stephens said the disciplinary data in OCS indicates that students of color are being sent out of the classroom less. She said the district continues work with restorative justice practices, and is also working with Engaging Schools. Superintendent Wirt said OCS has trained over 60% of certified staff in restorative practices, and have been working with engaging schools for almost a year. He said Engaging Schools has worked with school systems across the country, especially pertaining to student 4 code of conduct. He said the OCS equity taskforce is heavily involved, and all stakeholders are being consulted. He said a new code of conduct should be presented to the OCS Board this spring, and then comprehensive staff training will occur from bus drivers to nutrition workers to teachers. He said OCS is committed to doing this work differently. Chair Rich said there was a program at the Passmore Center, where 5 young men of color spoke about their school experience and the lack of encouragement they receive in comparison to their white counterparts. She said there were not many educators there, but it was an eye-opening event, and the students voiced great passion for helping the next round of students coming up behind them in the school district. She asked if OCS hears these voices. Chair Stephens said Dr. Wirt has an advisory council at OCS. Chair Rich said these students were from both school districts. Superintendent Wirt said OCS has a superintendent student advisory council, and these groups take a lot of work. He said there are other groups too. He said moving forward OCS will need to formally create some student leadership groups around the issue of equity, with whom OCS leadership will regularly interact. Commissioner Price said the County specifically asked those students to speak at this event, and she and her friends noted that these students raised the same concerns that existed when they were in school. She said the voices of people of color, and women of color, are not heard. She said it is a societal issue, and all have to be involved to make this work. Sarah Smylie said one student spoke of a teacher advising him not to let a guidance counselor ever tell him he cannot take a class. She said the equity work needs to continue to the point that it is the norm for teachers to encourage. Rani Dasi said equity is not a layer of the work, it is the work, and they need to intentionally change the structures to support students. Chair Rich asked if the work at the board levels is passed down to the teachers. Superintendent Baldwin said the kids are way ahead of the adults, and are often involved in the professional development of teachers. Commissioner Price said it is so important to look at cultural differences, backgrounds and environments. She said people of color should not be expected to assimilate into the dominant culture. Mary Ann Wolfe said CHCCS went through a culturally responsive curriculum scorecard yesterday, which was an enlightening and powerful activity. Superintendent Wirt said passing an equity policy was so important in OCS because it makes some strong statements, but it also draws a line in the sand of how equity training is completed. He said he could not find in OCS archives any trace of any type of equity training with staff, but OCS is planning to do it now. He said it will be different, challenging and difficult work, but the outcomes cannot continue to be the same as they have for multiple decades. He said disparity data does not mean that OCS is full of racist staff, but rather there are policies in place that continue to be implemented that have unintentionally lead to disparity. Commissioner McKee asked if, given that 5% of the students in Orange County have no representation at these types of meetings, would it be beneficial to ask charter schools to send a representative to these meetings. He said he has had no interaction with the charter school systems, but sits on a board that provides them funding. He said there is an unlevel playing field between the public schools and the charter schools, but thinking that charter schools will go away is foolish. James Barrett agreed with Commissioner McKee. Rani Dasi said she also agreed, and public schools should serve as hubs of public information, but added that equity is not an overlay and the commitment to implementation would be important. Commissioner Marcoplos said he visited the Expedition School last year, and noted that the staff is trying to do its best for the students, and it would be good to have representatives in 5 the room with the public school leaders. He would like to start with some semi-formal meetings to establish relationships, before inviting them to the larger roundtable. Commissioner Price agreed with this too, and said charter schools are always open to visitors. Commissioner McKee said he would hate to have a future board be sitting here watching the charter school numbers increasing, leading to an "us versus them situation". He agreed with Commissioner Marcoplos about starting off slowly. Superintendent Wirt said charter schools are public schools, and it would be important to be clear that charter schools are not being invited to the table to ask for capital dollars. He said he would welcome the opportunity to meet with the charter schools, but would want to be very clear on the purpose of such meetings. Commissioner McKee said these are valid points, and would want to proceed purposefully with clear parameters. Commissioner Dorosin said it may require some legislative action, and the current legislative leadership is committed to undermining traditional public education. He said the only accountability of charter schools is parental choice. Commissioner Bedford referred to the CHCCS capital investment plan, and the total of unfunded capital needs, and said she will be looking for this information from OCS when they meet again. Commissioner Bedford referred to the Durham Tech Partnership Update, and the concern about the awareness of educational opportunities. She asked both school districts if student-counseling services have been independently reviewed. James Barrett said CHCCS has a new Executive Director of Counseling, who is doing great work. He said she also oversees the System of Care Director, and has a clear focus on all the pieces of student success. James Barrett the public schools can be billed as a hub of information for the community, but sometimes the district's own programs are not well publicized. He said his daughter is in one of these partnership programs, and is thriving. He said it is free, which is a bonus. He said the classes show up on her high school and college transcript. He said access to the school counselors is critical for parents/students to learn how to navigate the process. Superintendent Baldwin said an outside organization evaluated the CHCCS counseling program for two years, and staff continue to work through this report, and it is one of the reasons there is now a Student Services Department at the central office level. She said there is still a communication gap in making sure that all students have access to the variety of programming available, which all are working on together to amend. Superintendent Wirt said OCS has 188 courses being taken through College and Career promise, and this number steadily increases. He said Durham Tech has been a great partner in this process. He said OCS provides transportation for students, and has staff at both high schools to assist students. He said funding for counselors at the state level is very low, and his district repeatedly advocates for more. He said the acuity of need varies from school to school, and he hopes any additional funding that may come will have some flexibility so that schools can use it in ways that best meet the needs of their school. James Barrett said the other main legislative agenda is calendar flexibility, and the ability to line up the K-12 calendar with the college calendar. Will Atherton referred to capital improvement and bond funds, and said it is important to look at the SAPFO policy as it focuses on capacity and not on age of building. He said there are schools that have $21 million in need, and it may be more prudent in building a new facility. Chair Rich said this group is meeting now, with another meeting coming up. Commissioner Greene said the intent was that once school repair costs got to a tipping point, a new school should be built. 6 Chair Rich said it is a question of at what point does one look at the capital needs, and the conversation is turning towards realizing that buildings can only receive so many band aids. She said if a new school is built, or a school is added onto, then SAPFO capacity is taken care of. Commissioner Greene said this can be done either way, according to the current language, and asked if the group is considering revising this to say that a new school must be built. Chair Rich said no decisions have been made. She said the group knows where the tipping points are with projections, but the group is adding the capital needs of the older schools. Commissioner Bedford said one school was originally a high school, and is now an elementary school, which it was never designed to be. She said it becomes a question of whether good money is being thrown after bad in doing repairs. She asked if there is a way to use SAPFO to consider those elements of some of the older schools to do what is best. Commissioner Price asked if, in the past, when the numbers started shifting did they start shifting the students as well. Rani Dasi said level of service is relevant to the system, not specific schools. She said if one school is overcrowded, then the system would redistrict. Commissioner Greene said it seems like SAPFO is not the problem. Rani Dasi said the funding is the problem. Will Atherton said when he read the SAPFO for the first time, and it talked about a method for determining when new construction is needed, it talks about percent of capacity, as opposed to any mention of aging buildings; even those that have 99% capital improvement requirements. He said some of these buildings should maybe be considered for new construction, even though they are not over capacity. He said it does not give a true picture of what is going on. Commissioner Greene said that makes more sense, and SAPFO would not say such things as it was designed to go along with growing populations. Will Atherton said he just recommending at using it as a broader tool to help everyone be on the same page. Superintendent Wirt said as long-term access is considered, it is important to note Durham Tech in Durham is far away. He said Durham Tech has discussed expanding its Orange County campus, and he is supportive of this. 2. Collaboration with Durham Technical Community College CHCCS BACKGROUND: TO: Dr. Pamela Baldwin, Superintendent FROM: Jessica O'Donovan, Assistant Superintendent, Instructional Services Quincy Williams, Exec Director, Elementary Schools & Special Programs Kathi Breweur, Director, Career and Technical Education RE: Durham Technical Community College Partnership Update Date: January 30, 2019 Alignment to Strategic Plan Goals: Student Success • Goal 5: Facilitate a program that ensures all students have equitable opportunities by mitigating barriers to rigorous instruction and post-secondary opportunities. 7 Organizational Effectiveness • Goal 2: Review, evaluate and adjust programs, processes and resources to promote student success. High school students across the state have the opportunity to take community college courses tuition free via the Career and College Promise (CCP). Unfortunately, only a few students at each of our four high schools take advantage of these educational opportunities. A few examples of CCP courses our students are currently taking with Durham Tech include: online Fire Protection, online Security Concepts, online Anatomy and Physiology I & II, and a few college transfer courses. Although Alamance Community College (ACC) is not our service area provider, ACC also provides Career and College Promise opportunities for our students (when those courses are not offered/available at Durham Tech). Alamance provides a photography/videography teacher for those ACC classes on the campus at East. Approximately 60 - 75 students attend these classes each semester. There are two main factors why more of our juniors and seniors are not participating in these tuition free courses: • Transportation , which is a barrier for many of our students • Awareness of these educational opportunities Efforts are being made to address these factors and strengthen our partnership with Durham Technical Community College (DTCC). Over the last month, the district has met with a team from DTCC to plan a number of additional opportunities, as outlined below. Instead of our students traveling to either the Lawson Street or Orange County campus of Durham Tech, we are in the process of establishing an MOU to bring Durham Technical Community College courses and staff to our campuses. • Draft MOU with DTCC regarding CCP To enhance existing pathways at our schools and provide the opportunity for students to obtain college credit while in high school, Durham Technical Community College (DTCC) is working with us to provide the following: CHHS - • Continue online offerings in Fire Protection • Continue online offerings in Network Engineering • Provide onsite instruction for C# Programming and Advanced C# Programming ECHHS - • Continue online offerings in Medical Terminology I & II • Provide onsite instruction for either Medical Terminology or Anatomy & Physiology I & 11 CHS and PAHS - Because pathways options are limited in these two schools, student survey results were gathered to ensure that any courses we consider adding meet the needs and interests of the students. • Develop a plan for students to attend Nurse Assisting classes on Franklin Street • Provide onsite instruction for a Medical class leading to a certificate - course TBD 8 The high school course book is being revised to include CCP classes and provide students and parents more information regarding CCP opportunities. Other steps to increase awareness include: • Durham Tech will assign a staff member to work solely with our CHCCS students to assist with registration and transition to college courses. • This Durham Tech staff member will be at Gear up for high school and parent nights to provide information about CCP to all stakeholders • Additional onsite classes will be added each year o Example: Cybersecurity onsite instruction will be added at CHHS in 2020-2021 Next Steps: • Finalize MOU • Finalize course options at each high school • Update course offerings book • Secure a working space area at each school for the DTCC liaison • Develop a transportation plan for students attending Nurse Assisting program on Franklin St. • Provide DTCC with course tallies to begin the hiring/scheduling process • Develop Master Schedule to include CCP classes OCS Orange County Schools (OCS) Partnership with Durham Technical Community College (DTCC) Career and College Promise (CCP) Partnership CCP provides opportunities for eligible NC high school students to obtain college certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees that lead to college transfer and/or entry-level job skills. Allows students to begin a certification or diploma program in a particular technical field or career area. There are six (6) pathways at DTCC. CTE is one of the three. NCWORKS Career Coach - Linda Hall, Cedar Ridge High School • The Career Coach works collaboratively with faculty and staff of Durham Tech and Cedar Ridge High School to promote and deliver a seamless transition process for high school students into the college. • The Career Coach will identify potential CCP CTE career pathways and/or changes to current pathways based on industry needs. • The Career Coach is responsible for helping high school students define their career aspirations and identify community college programs and/or training to meet their career goals. • The Career Coach will educate students to make informed decisions regarding career and academic plans in preparation for success in post-secondary education and training. College Liaison - Abby McAlister- Orange High 3 days a week. • Supports CCP students • Provides support for seniors planning to continue their education at DTCC • Funding is split between county and DTCC Articulation Agreement Includes 7 program areas with 29 courses. Other Partnerships 9 • Senior Day - Each spring students planning to attend DTCC as well as undecided students travel to the Hillsborough Campus of DTCC. Those accepted complete orientation. • Durham Tech Tours • DTCC provides guest speakers for CTE classes. • DTCC is represented on the OCS CTE Business Advisory Council. The current representative is Penny Gluck. • 8th graders - Discovery Day at DTCC • $500 per semester (up to 4 semesters) scholarships for OCS graduates that attend DTCC. Middle College High School at Durham Technical Community College 22 current students (11 Cedar Ridge High School, 8 Orange High, 3 Homeschool) 3. Joint Legislative Strategy BACKGROUND: The North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) is a volunteer membership association representing all 115 local boards of education in North Carolina and the board of the Cherokee nation. NCSBA provides advocacy, leadership, and services that enable school boards to govern at the highest level. For the general improvement and betterment of public education in North Carolina, NCSBA will advocate for the following items during the 2019-20 biennium legislative session. Ensuring Student Success School Calendar: Given North Carolina's recent experiences with Hurricanes Florence, Michael and Matthew, along with numerous annual snowstorms, locally elected officials could better plan and prepare for weather related school closings if they had more control to set local school calendars. Additionally, calendar flexibility is currently granted to public charter schools and low-performing (Restart) schools because it can positively impact student achievement. By allowing similar flexibility to ALL public schools, local school boards can choose to: • Schedule first semester exams before winter break • Align K-12 calendars with Community College and University calendars School Technology: Dating back to a 2008 court judgment of$748 million, the State still owes public schools $730 million in technology funding. An arrangement to settle the debt has not yet been established. The ongoing transition among NC's public schools into the digital age is a widely supported investment. NCSBA I committed to working with the General Assembly to reach a mutually beneficial resolution. K-3 Class Size: The State Board of Education should be granted authority to provide waivers to school districts for K-3 class size requirements if the local board of education can demonstrate that space is not available in the school district and/or demonstrate that the necessary certified teachers are not available for employment. Low-Performing Schools: Revise the definition of a low-performing school because a school that "meets expected growth" should not be labeled as such. Additionally, a grant program should be established to implement new innovative programs in low-performing schools. Providing a Safe Learning Environment: 10 Student Support Personnel (School Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, and Nurses): It is critical to properly staff public schools with the necessary support structure for the social, emotional, and mental health needs of students. The General Assembly should provide sufficient allotments to meet the nationally recommended staff to student ratios for these positions. School Resource Officers: The General Assembly should provide the appropriate funding to have a full-time resource officer in each school. Additional pay, training, and education should be provided for this unique law enforcement position. Chair Samuels said CHCCS reviewed this at its retreat today. She said the main areas of focus are calendar flexibility, support staff in general, state construction bonds, teacher retention and recruitment, etc. Chair Stephens OCS has similar issues to CHCCS: calendar flexibility, exams before the holidays, school technology (the state owes them $730 million), fund support personnel, construction, etc. Commissioner Dorosin asked if the districts are going to endorse their own legislative goals or sign on to this list from the School Boards Association. Chair Samuels said CHCCS has its legislative breakfast coming up, and has not passed its legislative agenda yet. Chair Stephens said OCS has not done so either. She said this is the School Board Association's agenda, but it is aligned with the Superintendents, Principals, and Assistant Principals groups as well. She said all educators across the state are of one mind. Commissioner Dorosin said Orange County's draft legislative agenda has 5 school priorities: additional revenue options, bond, lottery for capital needs, calendar flexibility, full funding for ADM growth, increase class size reductions, and full funding for drivers' ed. He said he does not see full funding for driver's education on either of the school boards' lists, and asked if the BOCC should remove this item from its list. James Barrett said he thinks this has been fixed and to take it off the list. Commissioner Dorosin said the paper talked about extra monies sitting in a voucher pot, and it seems that there may be some traction for legislation to stop putting more money into that fund and repurpose it for other uses. He said it is around $18 million. Superintendent Baldwin said it is very important to pay attention to the school funding formula, which is changing right now. She said it has been initially presented as a block grant, but that received push back, and now it is under the school funding formula amendment with a committee working on it as the state level. She said it will mean a shift in funding for local government to support more locally paid teachers and personnel. She said it being presented under the umbrella to flexibility to LEAs; making decisions about your local personnel and whether the local government will pay for them or not. Commissioner Greene asked if a virtual charter school could be explained. James Barrett said it is a for-profit company that offers online classes then collects a per pupil fee from the state. He said these programs do not deliver results, and students are regressing. He said this was a pilot program that has received a multi-year extension. Commissioner Dorosin said these two online charter schools are the lowest performing in the state, and just got extended for four more years. 4. Other Business Commissioner Marcoplos said he brought up the issue of concussions about 2 years ago, and the following week an OCS football player went into a coma. He asked if there is any continued response or monitoring of the health hazard of football in high school. 11 Superintendent Wirt said OCS presented a report to its board a couple of months ago, which he can send to the BOCC. He said OCS reconditions its helmets annually and has a partnership with UNC that has placed probes in several helmets to gather data. He said the coaches also go through a certification process. He said football is important to the OCS community, and the programs have served many young men over the years. He said he will forward a comprehensive list of all safety precautions that OCS takes to the BOCC. Will Atherton said OCS also partnered with UNC on how to identify concussions, as well as alternate methods of assessment and recovery. Superintendent Baldwin said CHCCS is participating in the same research studies, and she said numbers are down in football, but not so in areas such as playgrounds, etc. She said this is an overall safety conversation regarding head and neck injuries. She said there are other sports that have similar injuries but without the same amount of safety equipment as football. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the number of concussions per CHCCS football season could be identified. Superintendent Baldwin said she can forward this information to the BOCC. Superintendent Wirt said it will be in the report that he will forward. Joal Broun said there is also similar research being done with UNC about soccer. Amy Fowler said, as a pediatrician, she is seeing many more people seeking clearance, and the responsibility being put on physicians to sign off, as opposed to the schools. She said she is glad to hear that there are ongoing studies, and research is showing that concussions are not solely to blame, but also repeated injuries. She said the long-term effects are undeniable. Chair Samuels said CHCCS has data on statistics in the district, which can be forwarded. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Penny Rich, Chair Donna Baker Clerk to the Board