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Minutes - October 26th, 2023

Budget Updates

Dr. Ellis opened the meeting by talking about the state budget. The budget included an increase that was in everyone's paycheck. 4% raise this year and 3% raise next year. All certified staff should have had a two-month adjustment. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Finance Department. Overall, Dr. Ellis credits our General Assembly with the 7% increase over the next two years. North Carolina's economy is growing due to the influx of people moving here.

 

 

Complaints

Dr. Ellis moved on to talking about the complaints received from schools. He said that retaliation because of a complaint will not happen and has never happened. Administration takes all complaints seriously. If an employee has a complaint about a situation, tell your principal. If an employee has a complaint about a principal, tell Dr. Ellis. If you have a complaint about another employee, providing a name will ensure the process will begin. If anyone in Montgomery County Schools has a problem, please bring it forward. The situation will be addressed and handled.

 

 

Questions

 

  1. Will teachers be receiving the Taylor money like we have in the past?

 

The process has started to receive the Taylor Fund this year. Teachers will be receiving the Taylor Fund this year.

 

 

  1. When asked about National Boards, we were told there is no funding this year.  We understand we would have to pay to obtain our National Boards, but can an interest meeting be set up so those looking to do it can ask someone who has done it questions and help us with how to get started?

 

Yes, Emily Shaw will set up a meeting with all who are interested in obtaining National Boards.

 

 

  1. How will principal/AP effectiveness be determined for bonus money?  Will a teacher survey be sent out to get input into effectiveness?  Will the teacher working condition survey play a role in how this is determined?  Teachers' voices should be heard when making this determination, as they are the ones who truly know how effective leaders are.

We will use the teacher working conditions survey. The concerns that employees have for principals, administrators do know about it. The principals overall evaluation, results, growth data will be used when determining if a principal receives the bonus. Multiple data points will be determined when considering the bonus.

 

  1. To make bonus money more equitable, how do teachers/instructors who do not have EOCs show growth to qualify for the extra bonus, or is that just for teachers who have an EOC?

The data is tied to EVAAS and there has to be an EVAAS growth component for individual certified teachers, all the certified teachers in the school building can get the bonus if the school meets growth.

 

  1. Do CTE post-exams also count for individual teachers?  This seems unfair for CTE post-exams are not comparable to the EOC requirements for showing growth; plus, CTE class sizes are significantly smaller than the Math III class of 31.

It has to have an EVAAS component tied to it. The certified CTE teachers can still get the bonus through the school bonus. If anyone has an EVAAS tied to their name, you can get the bonus.

 

  1. When hiring a new principal to replace Mrs McLean, key teachers would like to be involved in this critical process.  This position is the most important one in the building, so it needs to be someone our staff will follow and flourish under.

 

It is the plan to involve the School Improvement Team in the process of hiring the new principal at Montgomery Central High School.

 

 

  1.  Is Dr. LeGrand the interim EC Director or the hired EC Director?  What are the plans to help the three self-contained classrooms (Troy, Page, & WMS) that currently do not have a certified teacher?   

 

Dr. LeGrand is the EC Director. We are working now to fill the vacancies and support the classrooms that need extra support and services to the students.

 

 

  1. As far as the calender law, do you know where we would stand if we pushed the envelope?

 

Dr. Ellis knows the conversation will come up again, he will end up making a recommendation about moving away from the calendar law and doing our own thing. We are in “pilot” mode with the calendar law.