Minutes 04-28-2022 School Boards

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2 the challenges schools faced throughout the pandemic. She said that schools had to make big decisions amidst great uncertainty. She said schools navigated a global pandemic, provided remote instruction, and then pivoted back to in person learning for nearly 12,000 students, while prioritizing safety for students and staff. She said she is proud of the work done by the schools and highlighted what is going well in CHCCS. She said CHCCS is 4 months into the strategic planning process, which is revisited every 3-5 years. She said they are redefining the mission, vision, and core values, and working on a graduate profile that will drive instruction of experiential learning. She noted that Chair Price is a member of the committee, and the plan will be presented to the Board in June. She announced that gap data is growing, and disciplinary framework has been operationalized during in person learning. She said the preliminary data shows CHCCS has been able to reduce the disciplinary disproportionality index rate for four of the six identified student groups, including Latino students, multi-language learners, students with disabilities, and multi-racial males. She said the disciplinary action referral rates are still higher for black male and female students. CHCCS has identified schools with higher disproportionate rates and will provide resources to address the need. She said there have been benefits to returning to in person instruction including an increase in the number of middle school students earning A's, a lower rate of F's, especially for Black and Latino students, students with disabilities, and multi-language learners. She said that the CHCCS budget focuses on continuity of instruction, retention of qualified staff, and reducing the gaps left by vacant position. She said the expansion request is entirely focused on employee compensation and benefits as well as recruiting and retaining top quality staff. She said CHCCS hired a new Sustainability Coordinator, Tommy Blair, and noted some of the projects they are working on including, agreements in process to implement solar rays at Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high schools, a grant application in process to introduce electric busses in the CHCCS fleet, re-lamping at several schools, composting and waste diversion pilot programs at high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, new gardens have been built, and also looking at storm water management surveys and remediation at all locations. Carrie Doyle, OCS Board of Education Chair, thanked all in attendance for this opportunity for discussion. She highlighted some of the achievements from the 2021-22 school year. She said the five-year strategic plan was launched this winter in alignment with the OCS Equity Plan. She referenced the images below, which were provided to attendees in a handout: