Board accepts gifts, small grants and a $65,000 CTE award; approves personnel and consent items

At the meeting the board accepted multiple small, school‑level gifts as informational items under board policy 8220 (typically gifts of $5,000 or less). Reported gifts included $500 from Farmer Lions Club for Farmer Elementary (book vending/clothing closet), several $100 donations to support Wheatmore High School FFA, a $200 in‑kind donation for a first‑Friday sponsorship, and other small contributions already in use by schools.

Grants staff presented two small grants (DonorsChoose estimated at $778.32 for volleyball equipment at Trinity Middle and a $500 Thomas Tire grant for classroom materials) as information items. The board also considered and approved acceptance of a competitive Career & Technical Education (CTE) expansion grant of $65,000 from the Education and Workforce Innovation Commission to fund a middle‑school career development coordinator; staff said the position exists in the budget and the grant will offset recent CTE cuts.

Staff reported a contract for EC‑nursing (Baya Nursing) in the amount of $8,000 as part of the monthly contracts reporting under policy 6420; the report was informational. A facility‑naming request to name Southwestern Randolph High School’s weight room for JD and Claire Davis was presented and noted that board action could not occur until a subsequent meeting under policy 9300.

The board moved and approved consent items, certified and classified personnel reports, and the superintendent’s recommendation to retain current principals at 12 low‑performing schools. Motions were seconded and approved by voice vote; specific mover/second names were not identified in the public transcript.

The meeting closed after the board handled all items on the agenda.