Buncombe County Government, NC Board of Commissioners' Meetings, 4 Jun 2019

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From YouTube: Board of Commissioners' Pre-Meeting (June 4, 2019)

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Pre-Meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners from June 4, 2019.

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Being here today,.

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Second or the solid waste franchise agreement.

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And you have two small new business items that we want to discuss with. You want the reparation, the creation of that recreation parks and, during those committee and location of.

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Economic development hearings said the numbers that are outlined. There are be or.

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What the organization's requested, based on our deliberations,.

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They are not what we are expecting to actually do for the purposes of the hearings we listed the maximum aid that theoretically could be approved right so.

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That is covered.

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We did this like hey: let's give a look at the full amount that we've covered the public areas, press back, but those.

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Are not the amounts that, based on our discussion, we are actually planning.

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On proving just so make sure once you see.

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Like oh, my gosh, that's way higher than where I thought other babies in base case is not what I should say. Thank you.

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For answering my question, all right.

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Coming briefly before we get into those, this is a snapshot of the.

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House from left to right, the.

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We'll talk about more.

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In a second, this.

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Housing consortium which participates, and the city of Nashville, is the lead agency, for we.

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Also have special projects.

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Although at your direction, the Board of Commissioners, as well as the work of this committee, our effort is to grow in the future those special projects into consolidated process, but special projects.

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Funding partnering with apartments and finally, we have a range of supportive contracts and grants that may be homelessness or funding or other funding. Partnerships they're associated with affordable housing, but not directly administered through the through the Planning Department, like one of the strategic partnership grants that you all are recommending for funding something proposal. This for discussion to on track financial education, counseling, which does.

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Some homebuyer education.

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Oh Matt briefly, is a recommendation around sure.

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The home program batch total investment is 123 thousand for 1314 Calvert's. That includes an annual budget of $75,000, as well as additional funding from our year program income, so that, when he is returned, count doesn't matter.

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Return home program, patch funds, where was I yeah? The recommendation of the committee is to support the creation of 23 different units.

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That investment that includes eighty seven thousand eight dollars to support workforce homesteading corporated the Jasper project. This is a 100. You know complex located at the intersection of Mortensen us 7b in this one area, and this project received the the actual home allocation through the consortium. They did not receive their full request for $400,000, and so this recommended application of funding would bring them to their full request.

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It is a multifamily rental construction project. They are seeking a tax credit where that particular project. This would give them the full request that they had at me and then the tax credit project should know about your work for that tax. Credit in August. In addition, know if that answer on. In the event it doesn't advance.

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That's typically what I see return of funds they'll see this tax credits again, okay through the process, so that in return shared additionally, the balance of the 123 thousand dollars, which is just over thirty, five thousand, is recommended to support asheville area hotel man object. This is a for a single-family development. It's an infill parcel acres, often brevard their original request was for $100,000 process.

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This is the balance that we had available that we will be offering to habitat. It supports roughly one point for you, that's so just between one and two minutes, but with that project they can seek additional funds through the Housing Services program to support that particular development.

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We also are bringing information about recommendation.

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Services program: the committee has discussion from this item at their most recent meeting.

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And that is being included as a portion of this fund. We recommended at an amount of six hundred and eighty thousand eight hundred dollars, as well as the.

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Nine thousand for the mobile phone program and then five hundred 1795 at this time, unprogrammed were available to be allocated through the process which will be coming up in.

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Weeks related to the annual cycle for affordable housing services program, a portion of this recommendation, which I just wanted to highlight it, was the committee in selecting the amount to recommend for Habitat for Humanity, told Haley. Development had reduced by.

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The committee was to reduce the overall.

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Recommended budget reduction manager.

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So the old Haywood they were a good project. This is for phase one. It's a two-phase project that will include six hundred.

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And eighty.

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Thousand eight hundred dollars, that was the recommendation of the committee to apply funding purposes of batter for down in a system. So that's actually assist habitat week. May it be a covering full cost of the home and making out with able to hire so, thereby reducing your investment as a home buyer.

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This is to be paid out to habitat in that by 2020. So, as Rachel mentioned, the budget and habitat will be presenting information about the project, we're fully at a future.

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So the total project is for a ninety eight unit project. There are 38, that's in the phase. One construction is actually already again. We started doing the some work, a property you're scheduled to complete the phase when I spring of twenty point three. So it's a project, the total phase, one financing at six point: eight million dollars. They have previously received an affordable housing services program. Word of $240,000.

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He said that purposes. Was it part, construction.

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Partner assistance, and so the recommendation from the committee provides additional down payment assistance that falls completely within the rameters of the cap $20,000 per unit. It was to be separate.

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Looking ahead to the coming months,.

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Working with community partners homeward bound to the community.

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That organization is working on focusing.

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Have 18 a percent.

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Success ratio.

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Thinking about like the significant project in our next.

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An architectural drawing a mock-up of the building that would be national house correct. We had prior earlier in this fiscal year. The project is evolving somewhat and timing at that, when we talked about it last, they were thinking that they make request in FY 2012 a.

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Received a full presentation once.

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We make a recommendation.

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Just a quick question: um in some of our conversations in the past, we used the the affordable housing services program and housing, trust, interchangeably and I. Just wondered: are you all thinking about those is kind of the same thing: zero, technical distinction, it just.

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Make sure I'm using the right terms.

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Think it's I think now that we have the committee and.

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We have been talking about the.

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Question right.

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And so this up this idea of like special projects, you know just kind of these big things that kind of might come out of wherever I mean my.

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For myself, my my sense is that over time, this might all kind of merged, together into more of like this, is our pool of affordable housing fund that the county is investing and looking at that in a more kind of a way that all those funds are kind of considered together in a competitive process where we invite do basically here's how much money we have to spend community come forward with your best ideas, and so the sort of special projects on affordable housing services fund.

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Might might eventually kind.

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Of get merged together more, but it's it's! We haven't done that, but that's just been sort of my sis for how this might evolve over time.

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The other thing you get into you know legal definitions of what a permeates we have to be really careful about that. You know what a committee is, what a trustee is a song, but for me, I was just educated on what they really what they happen being on the.

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It would not be a trust fund.

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Would be a special designation.

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Thank you right.

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And so you know we, unlike the early childhood education, we're investing a significant amount of money in this arena. You know it's definitely grown lately and this is another significant in the budget glee significance this year, but we actually don't have a policy thing. Funding will be annually preserved at this level every time, so so I think that's probably the sense that we're not gonna reduce it. That's not what the board wants to do, but we don't.

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It's not technically.

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We did create it as a.

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Policy, then that might make it more like the trust. Is that the right way to think about that.

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And freaking answer: I have a condensed adventure if you even put money there, unless you put it aside in a trust party.

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Is everybody hearing what's on? Might.

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Alright, alright.

K

Good afternoon everyone dad watch. This is rusty, mallet for mismanagement. At your most recent meeting with the schools that budget request process, there was a number of questions levy buttons forward. Many were answered, that's something not so we're here to help, hopefully answer any of those for you. What.

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We're not here.

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To do it's a to diagnose and prescribe. That is neither expertise, we're hoping to inspire some more question trumpet and then ask world guidance on what we can do text.

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So the lot of the questions pertain to the achievement gap and there's been some discussion already and so we'd like to just kind of lay out great quickly. What the achievement gap is. It's very most base level and then exported up so you'll see his any significant, persistent disparity between subgroups and achievement over time, and so that can be any two bits it could be between boys and girls or in case of talking most about say, between. If my students are blacks.

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So this is gonna, be just briefly technical I apologize in advance, like you, just want to kind of give a brief on on some of the yes or some information. What we do so far, just with new, very so when you see at proficiency levels there, so our students take a test of the immigrant worse if they score, and three four or five proficiency level considered to be proficient, don't look say: the student was provisioned.

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That means that they fell off to one of those duty, efficiency levels and below that you'll see different tests that we applied via various grades if they offer eight different payments and after reading all grades three through feet, science only had five, eight and high school, no more tests. If you're.

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In high school full time with.

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Us and both Kelly don't take more tests during your tenure and there's your list about biology to math one in three. It's all all. This information comes from via Department or the construction estate, as did most of our debt. So we worked with our partners. We kept them to pc code, I've discussed with him. What we're going to talk about now, our answers. Our questions answer had a great discussion from that.

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To help a lot of them, representatives from I'm from County a natural city on them, and so if there are technical questions that need to be at again to I may refer to it. But you also see if the various things that we're going to discuss today, based on some questions from that last me. So we do have achieved a gap between black, my students, between white and all by three students and then the gap between economically disadvantaged and on its advantage. Students we're also gonna touch on the graduation rate, improve the.

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The Buncombe, County suppose do one of the big questions that came out was what you know.

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The makeup: what does the makeup of each of our districts and so have a quick summary here? Those numbers are slightly round just to make a quick for you, but this is the 2017-2018 makeup of our schools. A lot of the information we're gonna show you it's gonna be over five years, and we know those populations change and evolve over time. So we're just talking about 2017 2018.

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Non non, yes, that means kids from yeah.

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So EVs is defined here. It's any student comes from a family that fill that would qualify for free and reduced lunch, and I can also speak to a little bit more up in a few minutes, but it's are very difficult to get at numbers. There's a lot of security and privacy around it too, and that allowed dig into it.

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The EBS number and the nuttiest adds up to 100%. It.

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Does so your were the.

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All right ready so.

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When we thinking about proficiency, it's really a question of how well students are performing, so they take the standardized test. They're given a level one, two, three four five and the state has defined proficient for your grade level is getting a level three or higher. So we'll start to walk you through some of these.

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Some of these charts to kind of show quality defined as the achievement gap, but to look at for efficiency, so it really starts with a story to take, for example, a particular elementary school we've got highlighted here and you think about all the students that have taken math and have achieved great level proficiency, so level 3 or higher, and you see that for this school, what we've highlighted here you need to build upon this chart walk through that is.

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This is the student subgroup of white students, so you see that person of great little proficiency is slightly increasing each year as they advance and they're, just under that 7/8 mark for the most recent school year. When we think about a gap, what we want to overlay is we want to look at where that line is for the white student subgroup and then whatever other subgroup, that we're, comparing to the kind of the entry point into this conversation was particularly for white students and black students.

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So when we add in that line of black students, we look at their proficiency.

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So you see that blue line is that exact same measure? It's that great percent of students and great level of efficiency, but it really starts to prompt more questions. Why was there that dip 2016?

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Why are they improving over time? And it really helps us to start to highlight what you've heard, what you might see in a table that you try to glue them a little bit more digestible format. So here you can see in that most recent example for this particular elementary school. The.

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Subgroup, the black students up through most recently in math EOG, there was a 17 point, achievement gap, so that's kind of the concept that they walk you through with with district level examples.

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Like I said this,.

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This conversation originally started around really focusing on black students and white students achievement gap. So if we think about Asheville City Schools first, we think about all students. This is just that great level proficiency for all students over time. You can see that relatively consistent over time. This is the entire district. Looking at everyone now I'm going to pivot to the achievement, yeah again, that top line will be the white student subgroup. The bottom line to be the black students up.

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Takeaways here, obviously.

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There's a drastic achievement gap, it excuse it it's continuing to increase and you see that most recently that's 62 points across the district. So.

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I have a question: okay, so there's there's the English and math and biology science test. So this scraps or summarizes is like an amalgamation of all of those in an average of all of those right. So let's say math was higher, but English was lower. This represents an averaging. It's an always.

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Point I'd like to make kind of tie back into the demographics of the account at City. We showed you the coverage for the entire deal. It's in a population kindergarten through second grade. It's not tested for our presented here, it's fairly, even we expect through those grades. But there is you know it's in three three crates that out. So this own show it's our third grade high school, but it is the aggregate of all tests. Okay,.

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So, to continue the conversation, it's important to look at both of our school systems within Buncombe County again, this is the achievement all of our schools so again, relatively consistent over time. They're around that 60% mark.

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So here you see not as drastic but still at a stark achievement gap, even in pumpkin County Schools between our white students and black students.

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Like I said, these charts really help prompt more questions, and it makes us start to ask the questions of. Why is there still a cow? What what underlying factors, systemic or non-systemic might contribute? And you know why do we see these differences and we'll come back to that? So we pivoted from the original topic of white and black students who wanted to say okay, we know that the demographic makeup of the two school systems it's different, so we wanted to look at white students compared to minority suits and see what trends we see there.

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So you've seen that kind of trends for all students as a whole, so I'll show the Asheville seed school. This is white students. Is that top line again, and then you see the minority students most recent achievement gap.

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Jump welcome County Schools here, wait! I'm, sorry, I'm, not following this! This is why you do minority students in the city district. It did in the previous slide show that it was 62. Yes, okay, okay, some Hispanic I'm.

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Sorry, that's per.

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Second, yes, all right, so thank you. Thank you of cotton mills yeah the definition of minorities. Look at that agent, black.

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Last names, Pacific, Islander, multi, racial and out there.

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Only white non-hispanic students would count in the way. Yes.

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What about granny.

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Those do typically get picked up into the white non-hispanic subgroup as far as I'm aware Department of Public Instruction. Is you can't break out that white something further? Well, if.

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It does break down.

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And I'll show the same chart wait: minority students for BOM, County, Schools.

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When you aggregate all white students, the gap shrinks by about 20 points, it's about a 50% looks like about a 50% improvement.

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And you've other sites might show this too, but part of the dynamic with the gap is that those white students and the city schools are actually performing better, which creates a bigger gap right.

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Does it okay, so.

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Be aware of that, because the.

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Is bad but part of part of the math.

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Is that the city in the city, district or white are over performing compared to the county in the state, so that makes it again bigger.

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So so, okay, so the minority students in the city are doing around 40 a little bit less, not gonna the county again so they're in the high 40s. Instead of around.

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Next section is.

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Some of the information that ties in to students that are categorises mouth, the distance- is limited. So if you walk into school today, a lot of types of principals aren't allowed to know. Their student is on the freeloaders lunch, and so it is hard for them as educators I'd, if I need extra intervention until something is coming from best to know specifically additionally, information that allows us to kind of pull almost one here.

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So I couldn't tell you yes, sir economically within the white, so group live and my party so group and flex number a lot of information is just beyond this right now some cannot access I, don't know if that's something we have on presently optimistic, because that we provide a lot of information. However, what we do have is just a whole student body, look of impossible districts, the economically disadvantaged students versus they're, not EDS counterparts, and how we get up.

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So here it's Asheville, City, Schools, you'll, see again they have fairly marked out. It is worth noting that the two chairmen X point the students are scoring high, even other any other shown so far hint much higher. That's.

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Not quite as high or proficiency, the percentage is not quite as high as road.

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So we also heard input from the local school districts on graduation rate, so I want to take a minute and just make sure that we have a good understanding of graduation rate and how we can line up and sometimes not find out other information with the chair. Okay.

K

So when we, when you're hearing graduation rates reported, you often hear the terribly four-year cohort. So what that does is if you enter into one of our high schools yeah, let's go on it grade the apartments cohort. If you leave the district through certain number of means like transferred to another district, etc find occupation, your otherwise you're responsible FETs to have nine to twelve. So it looks at the number of students who started that school very what percentage of them graduate in four years, and so that's what we talked about.

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What's off my fragile, efficient eight, it is also worth noting the graduation rate proficiency and not directly tied together mentioned earlier. You only take four standardized tests across Geopark 20-plus credits in high school, so you could very correct, fail awful what those are not achieve. Proficiency all for those tests graduate on time, fine, just.

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To drill down on that, second I mean: do we understand that they're children.

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Is completely plausible, some of that longitudinal data attracting new students over time, something we very much like to get into just have that's that's a lot at the state. Logistically is a very difficult thing to do.

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Yes, struggling at this level and yet.

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And so my mother's, an educator, there's a lot recently I've also like to mention at this point in time. This is one day this had the best. There's a pencil also shows, if you don't eat up, eat breakfast. That.

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Morning, you're 20 points so I. They.

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Could be I mean these are good numbers. These tests are reliable, but there's just some part of time, but.

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If you've missed a meal, you're struggling in different ways.

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You know what bothers me is one thing that nobody talks about. Since these tests have been in place, we have so dumb it empowered it happy I'm concerned about the kids who get for that. What what are we putting on the street out of our schools today and we're spending.

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It's it's hard, but 4,300, kids, what they adore. You know, I question the leadership and everything else. What's going up.

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So it also provide here D, graduation rate between white students and black students and both of our local education authorities, for you you'll see a little bit more fluctuation over time, a lot of the actual city, schools, graphs or that it's just because they have same place. Smaller student populations, as possibly fluctuations, are a little bit more sensitive, relatively stable. Over the five year. It's almost considered a little bit of a nuance in 2016 finish, graduation rate.

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And I don't need me to pigeon spot to get back I.

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Want to circle back around to Commissioner Beach burners comment about proficiency ice about 12 years, my career in adult education and adult literacy, and this was a problem that had been in existence for we give educational time of students being passed from grade to grade to grade and if I'm understanding from kind of being inundated in the educational world to some degree that parents still have to agree to a child being held back.

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So some of these numbers I think could potentially be reflective that there was a parental support to hold them back in order to increase their proficiency on their.

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Scores so I know that that probably can't be fleshed out. Those are family decisions, but definitely something to take into account.

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This is the graduation.

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Rate same split at the same time, this is the difference here between why.

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Minority students.

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So, at the presentations from the schools you heard about growth, specifically from Rockland County, and it's important to understand the interaction of proficiency and growth and look at both of those pin, because the concept of growth is that, regardless of a student's background, regardless of that support, you can improve them to get them on August 1 and you can have them in a better place grown that in embedding. So that's why.

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There's that emphasis there so when we think about this.

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Growth is truly the academic progress made over time and we'll look at that in the state has some pretty sophisticated tools to locate what was the state average for growth and who's growing or kind of faster than the state average and who's growing laughs a little bit slower than the state average? So we think about proficiency and growth. You want your students ultimately to be highly proficient, but also continuing to learn whether it's a commissioner white tie points of origin continuing to grow.

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So, if you think about this matrix that we've outlined here high proficiency and high growth, things are kicking good. Those students are learning and and they're also growing. Do you have high proficiency but lower than average growth? You might start to ask some questions why? Why is that? What's going on here? These students are performing well enough grow hands much. Similarly, if you have high growth above low proficiency, okay was it an input why they were. You know from prior brave the proficiency. It was locally.

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What's going on that they're growing what strategies are working and then the last example would be low growth and low proficiency. That might work to be a cause for alarm. Okay, what's going on here,.

L

So I'm going to show you this similar concept with our actual Vulcan County, both school system schools Matt. So this is a distribution each each point: there represents an individual school. The blue triangles are Asheville City Schools. The orange circles are Buncombe County Schools. This is kind of where they lie as a school on the proficiency scale compared to the state average and percent of same percent of students that are at grade level proficiency and then on a growth from left to right logo floor, the state average, our high-growth higher net state average.

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So the top left kids test. Well, he just there is none improved.

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At those schools yeah there, a higher percentage is that grade level, person proficiency, but but they're growing, slower or less than that state average and.

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I want to let me.

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Take this a step further, so that I can give you that context of what percent of our schools fall where you think about that upper right. That high proficiency high growth- let's see a third of Asheville City Schools are in that quadrant. Half of welcome County Schools are in that quadrant think about the upper left that high proficiency but lower growth. You've got over half of Asheville City Schools or in that high proficiency about a quarter of welcome County Schools, lower right that low proficiency by high growth.

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You see 12 percent of Macomb County schools and then in that low proficiency, low growth to see 11 and 12 percent respectively, is this for one year standard. This is for 2018 and in room.

L

One thing: that's important to note: that's a little bit you launch tears when you look at this in this aggregate level, it doesn't tell the same stories those achievement gaps that we showed you right at that aggregate level. We are doing some great things in Buffalo County, but we really need to make sure that we're still tracking those targeted examples and making sure we're trying to improve everyone and focus strategies there. If you think about overall there's the concept of high proficiency and this upper half, you know.

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Or kids or fours and fives and and are performing well, there's also high growth. We want to make sure our kids are grooving, while they're, while they're with our school systems, but our goal. Ultimately, we want to make sure our kids are moving into that upper right, quadrant, where they are performing high and they're continuing to grow while they're with us forgive.

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Me, if you, if.

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You cover this: can this.

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Be broken up by race, the proficiency aggressiveness I.

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Don't believe that the growth index can be okay.

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That's a great follow-up question.

L

So we want to leave you with next steps and we want to really talk about what you all want to see from this, where you want to go. Obviously school achievement, the results, those scores, but if you think about that's like half the story, Fisher Beach Ferrari you mentioned be, you know somebody missing on the only there's a lot of inputs that go into the school system and its inputs up until kindergarten and its inputs every single day.

L

So if we think about where the county has a hasn't already, a pretty strategic focus, things like affordable housing, it's early childhood education, its educational enrichment- that was one thing. The school specifically mentioned to us more contact points, after-school program immediately.

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On the right transportation.

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Getting the kids there, public health, public safety and child protection. But it's really important to note that all the things that we focus on as a county to really come back to inputs to that education and we're uniquely positioned to to focus on the elements.

K

And then I mentioned this idea. Yeah we've been one time down there, staff members order well and drink their analytics. It both also their curriculum. Both parties agreed to continue working with it. That's like to see we'd like to use that relationship leverage the assets we have here to kind of provide them some support dive into that analysis, a little bit deeper with them real. This is just the surface we know into. We can track a student over time.

K

We can look into single test and look at the four sub areas that are in there and see. If maybe you know a student, it didn't do well on math because you know actually it's it's the problem solving for a curveball, because they're reading there's a lot of opportunity out there for both the educational authorities, it's to kind of make some way to understand and then better. If our educators or through, was an information to intervene.

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Possible and keep them from going in the grinder for that just ripples down the next stage of their education. So we.

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To hear your thoughts on what what other questions you might have now, what we can come back to you with with our partners.

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I appreciate this presentation and feel like it's helpful kind of really sharpen the focus on a lot of the questions we had during their public meeting recently and, and it sounds good to keep drilling into that data. But I also feel like it's incoming upon us to connect what we're seeing here very clearly into the data we've gotten from the state of black Asheville and the state of black Buncombe County, which shows comparable and frankly, you know, I mean deeply troubling and systemic disparities for black people in our community.

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From the moment, they're born through the entirety of their lives. I haven't seen our local maternal mortality data by race, but I have.

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Yeah so I think it's incumbent upon us at the level of thinking about this sort of a community-wide level to be certainly partnering the school systems. But taking that much better view and saying you know for the 80% of black children in the city school system, for instance, who are not scoring at grade level proficiency, there's seven hundred thirty or so kids.

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You know that it's a crisis. The house is on fire and and certainly and and again, I think as we're. You just connected those dots, but just to reiterate it sort of from a commercial perspective as I certainly see the investments in the work we're doing around early child education and the emphasis on that being trauma-informed and starting at birth, and not just age.

I

For all of that is informed by what we know seems to show the possibility to move the needle for folks but I, don't know how we I mean there's a lot of conversations rumbling across the community about the achievement gap numbers it's I, don't think it's a lack of caring I, don't think it's lack of concern, but but I don't know how to look at this and say anything it's on fire. You know I mean these are crisis level numbers that speak to people struggling and suffering on the other side of them.

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So I don't know, I just want to make sure that we're not the date I like data personally, but there's her rabbit holes that can draw us down and making sure that we're kind of always centering the people in our community on the other side of these numbers, in the way that this is absolutely connected to what we know about the experience of being black in Buncombe County throughout people's lifespan in terms of structural issues and inequities, that's just weighing weighing heavily on my mind and heart to be kind of digest. This information.

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This watch- oh yes, okay,.

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Can miss like me, ask the question about you know you can take that's what you do and so what.

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Trying to do is as hard as it is both some emotion out of this. Go to that because this is about this is about facts about things you know funny, it's just probably you don't have to dig down and find out. You.

C

H

We talked about new kids, not eating some. Some don't be because you know a parent. You know jelly bean yeah you going here. I got you waitin for when you leave the house, and so that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't affect the testing, because we have some money set aside for certain things. It.

C

H

Us that much more accountable to get this really good information, because it cannot we'll make emotional decisions with that line, and it's very easy to do. It's not just necessarily the wrong thing, because it's coming I don't feel good about it. That was my heart, proud in a certain direction. I'm an equally concerned valve making sure that the poverty that drives a lot of this, which goes beyond goes beyond color I want to make sure that both of those being the poverty side, the minorities I've had you know all of our children are struggling.

H

D

We're going to have to have more.

H

Of that, on, you said seven or thirty kids, you know that's that's interested to drill down into you.

D

Know as far as you, the real.

H

Thing, no, because without you doing do so much in tell spouse drilling ikran farther discovering things we wouldn't help them do that I. Have this just bothered a lot of in the in trying to help these kids make better choices from a career stamp? You know and how are the? How are they? How are they tested?

H

You know, I'm talking ever I'm talking all kinds of feel that you need HVAC people, think I mean there's so many people that go to work and get in programs be helped and I'm wondering you.

D

H

The tests, even even you, are we even testing for that I. Don't know I, don't know for testing to see proficiency of people with the paintings as opposed to home math.

D

H

Reading totally different.

H

Totally different man, but some people are they're they're, they're graded. You know math and Lego robotics, but they're just they struggle reading it. So they test. You know, but I want to make sure that we're digging footprint here. You know we talked about two I'll just say this: never I wasn't able to get it haven't, but my friend's son told me sip my: why did they take away the club salad? You know from her food, so the nutrition that the kids are getting in schools and big yeah.

H

You good for me for know whether you know you know. How does this affect? You know some pork isn't a full belt. You.

D

H

Know in really what do Dixie's we're gonna have to drill in this some of that, but that data that these guys can do.

H

But diet mentioned that you know pill school diner that you know, that's done it. You know there are some kids think bandit that he needs no measuring how you know these kids are being taken care of and hailed it's amazing over.

H

Like you know, those never scared, I, think somebody said you can't. You know you're, not gonna paint, educators, it's not carry the numbers of numbers. We.

D

H

E

Want to thank you for what you've done or what you're bringing forth, but what's the most frustrating for me, is we've known these facts. For years we've seen it come. I spent eight years on the school woman I spent 16 years on the University. For that mistake we have seen this information, but darn. It is time for us to do something about it. You know we can't continue to put our heads in the sand and just let these numbers go 62 points.

E

It's just unrealistic when you look at this and you think of the money that we put in scooty, which then went over ninety million dollars when you look at the city, county and and all going down in enroll young, but we need to it's time and I'm glad to see it in the force. We're putting things in play. Sure like the pre-k, affordable housing will looking at attacking it, but we've got to do more inside the school.

E

You can't walk away from it and when I look at what's the numbers and what's going on these schools, look folks I've been fighting this all my life and it's still not again the one that was out there off in the segregated schools.

E

You know I went to college graduating with Amina I, don't know, that's it's frustrating for me with it. Staying I can't sit here and be quiet anymore. You know, we've got to do something about as a community and we do a good job.

E

Because we know what let's do it I mean.

E

Look I can teach the course on that I've been to so many over the years, but nothing.

E

We're just forgetting about the black population in this county when it comes to education and if I hurt feelings, I'm, sorry it's time, because my feelings have been hurt for 74 years every time. I look at this.

M

Thanks to both school systems for being so willing to turn over your data for the county to dig into.

M

What I want to stress to all of us is how we have to be very cognizant that I'm afraid, where we're heading is going to impact our k12 system in a very undesirable way. I I think that a great number of art educators, their morale, because, after talking to a number of school board, members and employees across both districts and I, want to be sure that, in whatever way, we begin to rally around and address these challenges in our community that we are making sure that we are retaining our incredible teaching staff, our assistants, our.

F

Administrators.

M

Across both school systems, because without them we are, we can't do this work and we can look at other data and see students are not entering the teaching profession or those numbers are declining. Nobody wants to be a teacher. This is probably part of the reason why and I want to ensure that we are very cautious in how we wrap our community around our public schools and our teachers to work towards a solution.

M

I mean we're addressing hundreds of years of structural racism, not only in our two schools but across our country when it comes to dealing with public education crisis that we have. It is.

C

M

A community problem: it's not going to take one meeting for us to solve it. I, don't want to be sure that we are. We are careful in saying this is a you're going to dress it down in our other ways.

M

What I would like to challenge my colleagues to do is to spend time and I'm not talking 15 20 minutes in a public school a whole day, I. Think if you haven't done that you're gonna, be surprised what you see the second grade teacher, who is literally picking up the child who didn't have before and is lashing out because they're, hungry and they're interrupting the whole day, and they pick them up.

M

That's what's happened and if we're not in there, seeing it it's easy for us to wag our fingers and lay on bottom lay in areas that we don't know, because it's not our day today, I agree. Food is a huge problem on testing day. They haven't had a meal that night before they take a test. It's those same kids who haven't had a meal and I every single night before they come to school. So I also want to be careful.

M

Like you said, you look at that testing, it's a point in time and how we led to that one point in time. This is a long-term solution and I know people are tired, saying it's a long term, but I think we have to roll our sleeves up and really say this can be addressed in six months, but our entire community I challenge our entire community. Today, not just those in this room to say we're part of the solution and we're going to help. That's all.

A

Thanks for the data, thanks for schools for helping the preparedness- and you know for both districts, I think they've been very very forthcoming with the data and done great analysis on these issues, but it's great to have another solid ated as well to kind of sense. It thanks to you guys for working to do that with the conversation today.

A

You know I, these are these are not new problems, they've been with us a long time, and some things have done, though some things and and I agree that you know our responsibility in this area is to think about both what we can do to support the schools and the best ways we can to address these issues within the classrooms and then but I also think it's very important that we be thinking about these issues and what's happening outside the classrooms.

A

That's that's driving a lot of these results, because some I think.

A

A lot of a lot of these dynamics have to do with the environments that the kids.

C

Are living in you know and that you.

A

Know they arrive in the schools and the schools work hard to do the best job they can to to work with them on their academic and their skills in development, but they're dealing with what you know the world, the world that these kids are living in, so I think there's a lot of things that we can do also outside the schools and need to be doing more on to address some of those issues. I think I think one.

C

Of the and I know there's a lot of as.

A

Well, there should be a lot of privacy concerns around the data and individual kids and stuff like that. I do think it would be interesting if there is a way to do some additional analysis, basically kind of looking at at neighborhoods right and like you know, because my theory is that if you do that and like kids from different neighborhoods I mean they're there most most buckin County, it's very safe County.

A

Our law enforcement does a great job, but there are some neighborhoods in our in our County that have dramatically high higher levels of crime and where, where things happen, on a routine basis, that most of us never see or very rarely see, and so you know how are the kids from those neighborhoods doing in our schools?

A

I think I think if we do that kind of analysis, we'll see that there's a very powerful correlation between kids, who struggle with schools and in some of those environmental conditions are dealing with I mean both school districts have been very clear to us that mental health concerns are very high on their list of things they want to focus on for, but a lot of those mental health concerns are growing out of problems that kids have in their neighborhoods and in their life outside of outside of schools.

A

So, and those are things that that we can do something about- you know we in it, so it means working with schools, but it also means working with the Sheriff's Department and the Asheville Police Department to do things to help address Public Safety and some of these neighborhoods that are not as safe as as they should be. So we're not.

A

This is not even a meeting where we're going to make decisions but I'm glad we're having the discussion under different people have been doing different things to attend different meetings, but I thought I thought it would be great for us to spend a little more time having a commission wide discussion about some of the data so to be continued.

A

D

Other any other comments from commissioners.

A

Before we, we do have some of the rises we need to deal with before on yeah.

C

Bernie like what you say it Beth there, the data is good, I, think the community in each school. For me, we go out into my district. Very camera I believe one school pulls the other apparel I'd like to see the data from community and I think we will see a lot of things change out. There goes right back what everybody said. I think.

H

The difference of what their faces.

K

It's possible: we are looking into that if some of it gets down to its the granular.

C

Is like the feeder.

K

Zone for a given school, but they could, you know they could cut a half. So we're gonna continue to explore what options we have yellow green. So.

H

That's critical and you guys I'm sure can do whatever we ask, and then you know what we talk about is, you know is strategy. We can strategize things dad. We do it all the time and this is required. You some specific, though not I'm,.

D

H

Be just basic: that's what Commissioner I'm okay, my mind left here to talk about. You know if you've been hungry Monday, it really tests. My mouth.

D

H

H

D

Don't why don't we let a kid take a test, its.

H

Hunger seroquel.

D

Calls its gate because.

H

It's scheduled for you, so wives, individual, pretty fetal men. Take it later, I mean if you want to help the child, but do you want to or.

C

You want to you.

H

Know stay focused on the room or.

C

Do you want to help.

H

The child- okay, yeah I'm, not saying we can do this but I'm, saying if a child is hungry, feed the child, don't feed the child, a salad, because somebody says they gotta eat a salad beat that child was on.

H

E

C

Email from somebody.

D

Back, tell me that I'm telling.

H

You see that kid forget the rules. You want to fix this, not the walls down. Y'all heard me say this before you: don't feed kids I got churches over think it's not football player. You want community speed. There are people that will be these children, not walls down. You want Hill black children knock the wall down open the door first, unless know what we can do, but not the walls down you know do. Is it because we need to feed kids yeah? Would it help with growth?

H

Think it I, don't know, but it, but you know, could we look at that? There's our data associated with that with that hill.

H

But I'm just saying that and getting in specific communities and granny you mentioned something that would be really neat to look for it too, because it also I. Personally, don't like the term public education I like talking back kids, not talking about schools, I call my ANCA : Johnston. Now.

D

H

Sir ash vahana from a certain schools and how are they doing and how they trying to knock both walls down to just- and this is gonna I- mean you're gonna get a little bit of preaching from my colleague Commissioner. Why not a little bit.

E

From you, gonna get it from me. You.

H

Know and our background shake what we do and we are, you know you know and I I mean I come out at the very place in southern West Virginia. You know in a coal mining community and it drives there. You know it drives our vote. Mr. Whiteside come out with different community. Both of us have the same same goal, but you guys can find this information time. She'll get a bad rap. You know.

H

Okay, but we need to give you more specifics: county manager can can help with that and she, you know very her brand or vines right and but I get I, get it down to simple belt, got to get out of strata pick to go. Okay, so, let's just say yeah, you know and I know. I know we're on a time schedule, but we got time.

H

Let's just say that an issue is kids being hungry at school. Okay, let's say that's our issue, then we have to then we develop strategy and feeding those children. Okay, we think that feeding those children will help their brains and clay close the gap when we feed all those kids. We don't shame.

C

Them when they got think.

H

I'm gonna pay for their their their appeals. We make sure their faith and in pumpkin county would make sure that I don't know how to do that.

H

Y'all. Can you have you asked for a question? That's my question. Okay, how do we come up with a specific go? We believe that that would, if we do, we believe that we help her children Hillhurst help our schools, health, education, jump them test, enter help them go home, feeling better. We would do some of that. We dabble in it with the with the homework the homework divers I've been to those I've been in the schools in it that that works. That works, families.

D

That are in there, I mean if it.

H

Really does work there. Paisa besides can happen, but does it does help their school to be so good? You need to wrap this.

A

Up in nothing, just just kind of concluding thoughts, I mean I, think you know, I don't have a specific schedule. I do you know obviously we're in the backside of our budget cycle. There's important decisions that we made now there might be others once the state figures out where they're gonna land on all these decisions.

A

But you know part of the part of it. Is that I think the we talk a lot with our partners from the schools a lot during the budget process, then.

C

When we're all done with a budget thing, we're all I kind of.

A

Think it does that's over, you know, but we need this I think we need to spend more time talking about these issues on an ongoing basis, so I think that's one thing I know: I would really like to to be supportive of to be able to figure out the structure for that you know today, but I do think we I do think we need to be thinking about specific policies. You know a lot of things work great day in day out and so, but what are the in?

A

What are they and what are the additional things you know both in the schools to work with the schools we can do and then what are the other specific things that.

C

Are outside the schools.

A

That we need to be looking at that will make a direct impact on these issues and probably other a lot of a lot of other things going on in these kids lives too, that we we can can do better on so so those are those are anyway. These are my concluding thoughts. Anything else before we from any other commissioners, where we move on to the next item. Is this all right all right? Thanks thanks, everybody.

B

I was just saying that we have to put educational partners throughout the year to get more frequent updates. It is just not around budget as rusty analysis.

N

N

So I have gone through and the other letter response.

N

D

A

Sure why don't we just briefly miss some of them I, just a couple of comments. Others might be more in depth. Cities yeah go ahead.

N

Okay, so the first money that they had was on the schedule of expenditures and federal and state awards. Basically, we overstated some revenue on that report and was also a direction that the treasurer had given us or had provided prior county.

D

N

Relay that information, so we were unaware of the change, so we put together a item on our quarterly checklist so that we will review guidance is provided by LTC treasurer's office for whoever may be, and then addition at the end of the year we'll go through and make sure that any procedures that may have changed. We.

D

N

To the C, so we will pick those up and make sure that state second.

D

N

Was related to the other post-employment benefits they're saying we haven't the written policy to review.

D

N

Schedules and journal entries and that sort.

D

N

D

N

The process of developing procedures for that will ensure that all journal entries and current work papers prepared and reviewed by two separate staff members with adequate knowledge and understanding the subject matter again. This goes back to turnover.

N

The third item is wire transfers and the auditors recommended the county formalizing document, its monitoring ministerial functions thanking website, particularly as it's to wires and initiation initiation approval of those wires. I went out and verified with Wells Fargo that we already have those in place, so any three phone wires or templates or modified or creative wire do all the approvals. A way that somebody can go out and create a wire can also prove it. Apparently it was one fire was legitimate wire that actually was.

C

Initiated and proven same person.

N

N

A

Our wire transfers, pretty rare in an organization like the county, was like four.

D

From big payments.

A

Or they like routine small payments, happens all the time.

N

Every time we send money to schools with cities, it's a wire transfer. It.

E

Would be businesses like the county, it's billions of dollars that why I transferred all over the country? How do.

A

So these are not necessarily senior staff. You need to approve these, because these are routine and a lot of them or not. This way well,.

N

Here's most of the wires.

A

N

Setup is a template, so it takes one person to create the template. Another person approving then once it's approved as a template. Anybody with access to wires, which we have that can initiate that template and just going to.

N

The fourth item was around water: surety bonds. There was no reconciliation going on between the planning department finance part again because it wasn't thorough in their department as well as in finance. We have already met the planning and we are reinitiating conversations and making sure that they're giving us information and with reconcilement, so we can avoid that finding at the future. If.

C

N

Around those insurance policies and getting the funds back to the county that.

C

N

Unique situation of the one-time item and we have put procedures in place now and they.

C

N

A monthly annual checklist, any unusual items like that we'll make sure we're properly yeah.

D

That was just an oversight on.

N

That will not happen again so.

A

We don't need any, we don't need any new policies on insurance. We need to make sure our existing policies are correctly absolutely.

N

Construction progress. There were some assets that were in 2017 we're not imported. They were still sitting out there as basically in progress they were substantially complete, should have been recorded and on our books as an actual asset.

N

D

N

Now we have quarterly meetings to discuss projects where they are with.

D

N

Their progress and then finance staff is going to regularly meet with budget staff to us where.

D

N

Parties projects actually complete so they've been getting recorded so.

N

It's it was just if everything going on and the turnover staff duties that should have been getting another beta basis and we're getting down to Gators past. Just so now, we've got people in place. We are in the process of doing cross training, so we have multiple people that are aware of what's going on what needs to be done on a monthly basis, we're updating all of our checklist on quarterly monthly and annual basis.

N

All those are being updated. So we can make sure that as we go through them, everything's getting done and as things change, those checklists are getting updated and that's what a lot of this is just making sure that we're updating the checklist.

N

Management time cards those were not getting updated. That was the old system workday.

N

C

N

Of the sheriff, the deep Register of Deeds.

N

Everybody else.

N

Broke amateur transfer procurement card transaction limit increases. This finding is actually it wasn't issue it might be not even fighting the department director requested the limit they requested it through accounts payable within the late that message spearmint, who then took care of that board. According to our policy, the department director is supposed to do that in writing directly to procurement so that we are developing hate electronic workflow, that is in the process, performance.

D

N

D

And running so that whoever.

B

N

That will go to the department director. They will prove it. So I think it's a beta. You.

H

Know these findings to be here because it creates conversation between the departments and keeps it out no.

E

N

Mean in my mind, that's a silly one, especially when we had.

N

Then we have the revenue recognition. The auditors recommend that the county formalize and document procedures of the recognition of revenue posts in the general ledger. This has to do with the different systems out there. There's automatic transfers that post to the general whether they want to make sure that we have procedures in place. Somebody gives reviewing that for the automatic transfer happens, so we're working on that we will have a reconciliation process to ensure that what went in its correct. So it.

D

N

The fact, but these will be verified, what is.

D

N

There's correct satisfy the auditors recommended may be formalized with policies and procedures over general dispersements, implementing monitoring and procedures to assure controls our operating efficiency.

N

Again, this is being corrected with workday as invoices are entered, they go good workflow and the proper people are authorizing in the prior system. It could have been put.

C

D

N

D

Necessarily getting approved, please.

N

See where it was approved, even though it was approved, so we invoice accrual. This is just a matter of again not updating the checklist to make sure that you're doing the right things at the end of the year. So we will make sure that the checklists are updated. There's no policy in place ensuring that we are getting in places that are for the frontier posted, because if they.

C

Come in after June.

N

30, depending on their for 2019-20, make sure goes.

E

N

We did not have proper procedures in place. Boys should have been back 2018.

N

The payroll accrual the system was set up to do automatic payroll, the new system, the.

C

N

Looked at that they tested it and found that it didn't necessarily and crew the right amount. So the simple solution is be turned off and we will go back to doing it. The old-fashioned way just calculating all.

K

N

Ems booing the.

D

N

Recommend we develop implement procedures and controls, which are complementary controllers for EMS punches are properly implemented, so we are scheduling a meeting with EMS Department mr. talmann, our collections representatives, EMS staff, get synch to make sure we are.

N

Complementary Sheriff's Office manual check process. They have checks for when a removable beast in the middle of the night, they need to give them their funds, it's locked cabinets in the detention center that has a camera on. It is behind locked doors. However, those checks are.

C

N

Signed and according to our auditors too many people have access to. We do utilize positive pay, which means, if somebody were to write the check and not put a do positive, which notifies the bank check has been written. We would get notified on that, so their safeguards in place.

N

This finding I, don't know we're gonna, be Sheriff staff on a couple weeks and talked about. Are these procedures adequate? And if so, then we just make the argument, auditors, that we.

C

N

Enough safeguards in place, if not we'll figure out what the proper state there should be, that will be addressed, expense, reimbursements. So in previous system expense reports we're not getting approved for department heads by county manager or County vendors designate with work day. It was now go through the automatic workflow process, documentation attached and they are gonna go to like mine.

N

She wouldn't approve it.

N

Nobody formally approves it. My staff reviews it and.

D

Make sure that.

N

Conversation and.

D

That was a problem.

N

The next two findings are related to the single audits. The first one is because it was late. So our response to that is make sure it's not late.

N

F

N

To all of you,.

N

And then the final item is the school capital fund. There is a work that has to be filed, 60 days, a project completion and they found that a couple of them had not been so they're just making sure that we have good communication with schools.

H

N

Where projects are getting done so even.

C

Though we don't have.

N

Both or we have to ensure that time and that the beating all the responses, any questions on any of those.

N

I've already signed the original.

I

I'd like to distribute and put on one question, which is sort of what's your assessment of the totality of these findings. This is a much more in-depth process and we've kind of been passed. Your audits and I'm finding it very helpful. But did you look at these 18 findings? What's your kind of the role like.

N

Nonstick our suspect, it really just speaks exactly when you have significant mouth.

N

System, things will fall through the cracks and, if you don't have some coming in and making sure that everything is getting done, these are not catastrophic findings. These are easily fixed and a.

C

N

Of them are related to the software, and some.

D

N

Being fixed by the software so.

N

It doesn't cause me.

A

Alright, one last item, which is on the agenda for the meeting this evening.

A

Mr. rice who's with us today for helping to ask us to look at these policies and talk them through and make sure we're all clear on how we want to handle how the media is where they're located at arpita's. Yes, absolutely.

J

We were asked to review the current policy regarding broadcasting and recording and make some recommendations to improve so I'm, just going to jump right into recommendations, a basically states the same as previous to policy, when we only add that that anybody basically can build the meeting, but as long as they don't repeat from the vision of the audience members, that's what a basically saves.

J

Ve, we met with a fire marshal they came out with in space and they decided that it needs to be stated somewhere. They can't block ingress or egress from the meeting room. So we added that to the policy as well and a areas.

C

J

Person exits must be kept clear due to fire, so we added that in the B section and C and D we added designated selves from media. So you have a shirt short C says a short term media zone located between front right, filler and the Commission desk can be used by media photographers videographers for a maximum of 10 minutes for me and D a long-term PDI. So it's located back of the room.

J

This area is reserved for permanent placement of cameras by media, photographers or video, and then II basically states that the board preserves the right to death c8 where any and all 45s may be placed or displaced at any time. During the meeting, pretty simple.

J

D

Have ten minutes might be a little short.

D

A

Not to just hang out there to get a closer up shot or some video footage, but then that's not where you looking for just hanging out because it's it is in the way yeah.

D

That's right: we don't want to stop people from able to get some and.

A

J

Regular finding where they traditionally set up there is like three foot barrier that needs to beat or not very three.

L

Foot zone that needs.

J

To be cleared for fire, okay,.

D

J

You can't be setting up and coming down tonight.

B

A

Sounds good yeah, so we were talking about you know the times of these meetings in what we were sort of thinking is: let's.

C

Get through the budget, let's get that.

A

Done and then we kind of do an evaluation of so it's just. We won't have all these budget workshops and stuff right Quinn. Don't we just want to have our regular pre-meeting time schedule now.