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2 <br /> <br />Williams, Chief Operations Officer; Dr. Dena Keeling, Chief Equity Officer; Sara Pitts, Director of 1 <br />Environmental Health and Safety; and Rhonda Rath, CFO. 2 <br /> 3 <br />Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m., and asked for a Roll Call. 4 <br /> 5 <br />Welcome and Opening Remarks 6 <br /> Chair Rich thanked the schools and staff for offering a sound basic education to students 7 <br />in Orange County. She said decisions made today will affect tomorrow, and there is no way to 8 <br />please everyone. She said the New York Times said 12 million children in America are without 9 <br />technology services to continue educational opportunities. She said broadband has been an 10 <br />issue on which the County has been working for several years, and is an example of top down 11 <br />policy that is not effective. She said the County will aid Orange County Schools (OCS) in 12 <br />purchasing 1000 additional hotspots. 13 <br /> Chair Rich said both districts have created learning centers for students who do not have 14 <br />technology services or family at home to help in the learning process. 15 <br /> Mary Ann Wolfe expressed appreciation for the opportunity to collaborate. She said 16 <br />Schools are the hub of the community, which has never been more clear than in this time. She 17 <br />said equity has never been more important, and it goes beyond the issue of broadband. She 18 <br />said wonderful work has been done through the Food for Students program, for food insecurity, 19 <br />as well as supporting students academically, socially and emotionally. She said she is an 20 <br />eternal optimist, and believes this pandemic will end. She said once it does there will be new 21 <br />challenges. 22 <br />Mary Ann Wolfe expressed gratitude for the life of Euzelle Smith, former educator and 23 <br />namesake of Smith Middle School, who passed away recently. She said she was great 24 <br />reminder of this community’s values. 25 <br /> 26 <br />Jennifer Moore and Commissioner Marcoplos joined the meeting at 7:13 p.m. 27 <br /> 28 <br />Hillary MacKenzie thanked the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for the 29 <br />opportunity to meet collaboratively to best meet the needs of students and families. She said 30 <br />the community is facing unprecedented needs due to the pandemic, but is also making great 31 <br />strides, as the nation is reckoning with deep issues of racism. 32 <br /> 33 <br />1. COVID Updates 34 <br />a. School reopening 35 <br />b. Supervised Learning Lab update 36 <br />c. Technology challenges – internet accessibility and costs 37 <br />d. Scientific Analyzing Board 38 <br />e. Food insecurities – Food distribution update 39 <br />f. Homelessness 40 <br />g. School Nurses 41 <br /> 42 <br />Dr. Monique Felder said the safety of students and staff is the top priority in OCS. She 43 <br />said the goal is to have a safe return to in person learning. She said the OCS Board of 44 <br />Education established a COVID-19 metrics taskforce. She said the taskforce is comprised of a 45 <br />broad spectrum of people, and the purpose of the taskforce is to monitor trends and follow 46 <br />metrics. She said the School Board will be monitoring whether to return to in person instruction. 47