Agenda - 06-07-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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18 1 member and he is asking for ten years of organizational charts that they do not have access to. 2 She said that their systems are not built that way. She said that their technology is underfunded 3 and has been consistently. She said if they are to focus on the things that work for students, 4 then they have to do the core work. She said that is where a bit of their frustration came from 5 because the work should be the priority. 6 Commissioner McKee said he does not question the commitment from the school board, 7 teachers, or administration and that he did not put a timeline on that request. He said that he 8 can assure everyone in the room that if he had asked the manager for information then he 9 expects it to be provided. He said that he has heard from both school boards that they can't get 10 the information and he does not understand why. 11 Will Dudenhausen said this sounds important and conversations need to be had, but his 12 role is to keep on track with the agenda. He said this was not on the agenda and he does not 13 have a background on it and can't facilitate the topic. 14 Chair Price asked what the plan is for the summer for feeding children and how the 15 county can support that given the need. 16 Sarah Smylie said that the federal government is also eliminating many of the waivers 17 for feeding students. She said those allowed them to feed the children and provided flexibility in 18 that process. 19 Patrick Abele said many sites are open this summer for summer programs. He said all 20 those students will be covered either through USDA funds or local dollars so that no family has 21 to pay for a meal. He said they are not sure about community summer feeding sites. He said 22 they are working with PORCH and other groups to expand offerings. 23 Rani Dasi said CHCCS has funding for a summer food program. She said there will be 24 camps and activities that also include food for the students. 25 Bonnie Hauser said schools are losing emergency authorization for hotspots. She said 26 they have been operating under special arrangements with Verizon for hotspots for $15/month 27 and they have asked them to return those because of the end of that program at the end of the 28 school year. She asked if there is a way to work with the county to provide access. 29 Patrick Abele said staff will be giving an update to OCS BOE about next steps for 30 hotspots. He said that all summer students will have access to technology. He said they are 31 asking for people to bring them in so they can reevaluate and redeploy technologies as they are 32 needed. He said there are options with different providers to make sure they have hotspots 33 available but there is a funding need for capital and technology. He said they are collecting their 34 hotspots, but they will be reissuing those to people that need them. 35 Commissioner McKee asked when they will need them back. 36 Patrick Abele said at the end of the school year but that any family that needs one can 37 contact the school and they will reissue them one. 38 Will Dudenhausen invited board chairs to make closing comments. 39 Rani Dasi thanked the boards for coming together. She said they are celebrating what is 40 going well, while recognizing more work and progress is needed. She said the CHCCS are 41 experiencing a crisis of teacher retention and recruitment, facility needs, and mental health 42 needs spanning across teachers, students, and staff. She said that they look forward to 43 continuing those discussions during the budget planning cycle. She also thanked Dr. Hamlett for 44 her leadership since she came to CHCCS in January 2021. 45 Dr. Hamlett said it is clear that county commissioners, staff, and school boards prioritize 46 safety. She said that there were a number of responses from their social-emotional learning 47 engagement analysis that they can share. She said they are thankful for the resources provided 48 by the county. She said that another takeaway is that education field is not immune to "great 49 resignation." She said that is a pandemic itself across the country. She said that it is competitive 50 in the Triangle market. She said that staff and students are redefining what success looks like in 51 public education. She said that she works alongside forty student equity ambassadors. She said