Guilford County Board of Education
Board Meeting
December 5, 2006

GUILFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

The Guilford County Board of Education met in a special called meeting to discuss Eastern Guilford High School on Friday, November 3, 2006, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Susan Mendenhall, Nancy Routh, Anita Sharpe and Marti Sykes. Board member Amos Quick was absent. Also present were Superintendent Terry Grier and Attorney Reid Phillips.

Call to Order
Chairman Duncan called the meeting to order at 11:04 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence
Kris Cooke led the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Approval of the Agenda
Chairman Duncan asked board members to review the meeting agenda and called for a motion to approve or amend it. Chairman Duncan asked that “Closed Session” be added after the “Eastern Guilford High School Discussion” item. Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

Chairman Alan Duncan began the meeting with a thank you to Principal Lisa Cooke and the staff and students of Eastern Guilford High School, who have been magnificent under great duress.

Grasshoppers’ Presentation to Eastern Guilford High School

Greensboro Grasshoppers’ President and General Manager Donald Moore presented a check in the amount of $100,000 to Eastern Guilford High School relief efforts on behalf of the Grasshoppers.

Eastern Guilford High School Discussion

District Relations gave thanks to the community for all the generous donations and offers of support, and Superintendent Terry Grier gave thanks to the GCS staff who have been tremendously professional, responsive and caring during this time.

Chairman Duncan began the discussion of options for students and staff in terms of how to best accommodate their ongoing educational needs for the rest of this school year as well as other immediate concerns which need to be addressed.

Superintendent Grier stated that the top priority of the staff and board is to rebuild Eastern High School on the original site. The staff will ask the board for permission to move forward as rapidly as possible with architect selection in order to have the new school completed and students back in that site as quickly as possible. It was stated that it takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months to construct a new high school.

The staff has looked at a variety of different options and has spoken to many people. Superintendent Grier gave a special thank you to a number of colleges, universities and other organizations who have offered space for Eastern students. What staff has heard loud and clear from faculty and students is to please keep as many students together as possible.
Options considered included a split schedule with other schools in the district where one school will start as early as 6:30 a.m. and run until 1:30 p.m. and then allow Eastern students to use the school from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. The possibility of using the new Northern Middle School was also discussed.

After consideration of many options, the administration recommended placing juniors and seniors at the campus of Guilford Technical Community College located at 3505 East Wendover Avenue in Greensboro. Students would take classes from noon until 6 p.m. This gracious partnership with GTCC would allow graduating seniors to return to school on Wednesday, November 8, with both grade levels having an opportunity to take college level courses. Staff would work to get students there earlier than noon in order to have lunch first before classes and will also work to coordinate extracurricular activities and athletics by making shuttle services available.

In terms of ninth- and tenth-graders, staff recommended placing students at the former site of the North Carolina School for the Deaf located at 5900 Summit Avenue in Brown Summit. The plan would be for ninth- and tenth-graders to begin classes on Tuesday, November 14, anticipating school hours being approximately 9 a.m. to 3:55 p.m. The class schedule has not been finalized at this time, however.

Discussion of these options by board members followed. Superintendent Grier stated that prior to the board meeting, administration presented these two proposed options to the Eastern leadership team and several students. The group unanimously supported the options recommended. Many variables were taken into consideration and multiple options were considered. The board and administration heard very clearly the request from students, faculty and parents to keep as many students together as possible. It was agreed that these options are the best ones available that also returned students to class as soon as possible.

Motion was made by Alan Duncan, seconded by Anita Sharpe, that Eastern Guilford High School be declared a special emergency involving the health and safety of the people and their property and that the superintendent be authorized to take any and all actions necessary to preserve and safeguard the health and safety of the people, their property and the interests of the school system. The motion passed upon unanimous show of hands.

Superintendent Grier stated that administration has been getting requests from some Eastern students who want to attend other high schools for a variety of different reasons. These student requests will be addressed on an individual case-by-case basis. Dr. Grier stated that any student who does request to transfer would only be allowed to transfer to another high school which is on a block schedule. Administration will look school-by-school to see where space is available. Additionally, students would be required to provide their own transportation.

Further discussion ensued regarding short-term options for Eastern students. Principal Lisa Cooke arrived at the meeting and stated that, from the leadership team standpoint which consists of staff, students and the community, it was agreed that Eastern students and staff wish to stay together as much as possible and are in agreement with the recommendation of the administration.

Board member Deena Hayes asked about funding for costs associated with security, demolition crews, etc. Chief Finance Officer Sharon Ozment stated that an accounting system has been set up whereby all costs can be tracked. This is being done for accounting as well as insurance purposes to enable GCS to file claims on eligible expenditures. She further stated that administration will look at insurance coverage limits as well as how to use contributions from the business community. Superintendent Grier stated that the staff may have to come back to the board with a request to use lottery resources when they come in and also may have to request funds from the county commissioners. Ms. Ozment stated that she was informed by the Department of Public Instruction, whereby the property insurance is held, that $5 million is immediately available. Risk Manager Wanda Frazier and the board’s counsel are going through the process of identifying the items that fall into the parameters of the insurance policy. Existing operating dollars will be used to deal with costs on the initial front. As the evaluation is completed, GCS will lay claim to those dollars from the state.

Superintendent Grier suggested that the district’s facilities staff will need more people and would like the board to consider adding one or two individuals to help monitor the cleanup at Eastern and move forward to serve as project managers to oversee this work. Staffing at the current level is not sufficient to address these issues. Board member Deena Hayes stated she is in support of an increase in staff with the recommendation that staff consider bringing Kenneth Johnson on as a consultant to aid Chief Operations Officer Kevin Lear and his department in managing the work. Board member Dot Kearns asked Chairman Duncan for clarification as to whether the motion made earlier declaring Eastern Guilford High School a special emergency and allowing the superintendent to move forward with emergency needs covers the need for increased staff. Chairman Duncan stated that it does.

Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Marti Sykes, to table the hiring of any additional personnel associated with this current discussion (excluding teachers and staff for the students at Eastern) until the next regular board meeting. The motion failed upon majority show of hands vote of 7-to-3 as follows: Nays – Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns and Susan Mendenhall ; Ayes – Marti Sykes, Anita Sharpe and Nancy Routh.

Motion was made by Anita Sharpe, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to place, through the end of this school year, the eleventh- and twelfth-grade students at GTCC East in Greensboro and the ninth- and tenth-grade students at the former site for the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Brown Summit. The motion passed upon unanimous show of hands.

Closed Session

At 12:12 p.m., motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Susan Mendenhall, to go into closed session to preserve the attorney client privilege and to discuss real estate matters. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.

The board returned to open session at 1:04 p.m.

Adjournment

With no further business, at 1:05 p.m., motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Dot Kearns, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.