Davie County Schools approved the use of district activity buses for a two-day philanthropic holiday camp called the “Reindeer Games,” hosted by the RISE collective at RISE Indoor Sports in Bermuda Run.

Karen (RISE representative) told the board the event will provide a free two-day camp for “approximately 100 to 150 K through 5 elementary students in Davie County Schools” on the first two days of the Christmas holiday break. The camp will run from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., include activities, meals and take-home food for families. Karen said RISE will staff the event with its employees and volunteers and that Davie County High School athletes and club members will volunteer; schools will identify students to attend with selection prioritized by need.

Because policy 6320 limits use of activity buses to school-sponsored events, district staff presented the request to the board; Clay Harris noted charter service was prohibitively expensive and that RISE asked to use district activity buses. Karen said RISE “will pick up the total cost of driver, maintenance cost, utility, I mean, all the mileage.” The board discussed logistics — pickups at four designated schools (rather than neighborhood stops) and two bus routes — and board members expressed support while acknowledging it would be a workload for the transportation department during the holiday period. The motion to approve bus use and the associated arrangement passed 7-0.

District staff said they will calculate a flat reimbursement rate based on mileage and driver/maintenance costs and communicate that to RISE.