Board Notes - Regular Meeting for May 19, 2025

View all the business items below here

Watch the May 19, 2025, meeting here

The Board posts all meeting materials to Simbli and also displays a calendar of Board and committee meetings on the OCS website. Visit the Board’s page on Simbli for agendas and minutes. Minutes are attached to each meeting after approval by the Board at a future meeting.
 

RECOGNITIONS

Orange County Schools 2025 Youth Poets Laureate

Orange County Schools is proud to partner with NC Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green to continue the OCS Youth Poet Laureate Program in 2024-2025.

This program gives high school students a chance to explore poetry, develop creative writing skills, engage in student leadership, and showcase their work. Students joined writing clubs at their schools and participated in a two-day poetry workshop with Jaki Shelton Green earlier this year. After the workshop, each student submitted an original poem to a panel of renowned local authors, who selected three finalists and one district-wide youth poet laureate. 
 

The OCS Youth Poet Laureate will be invited to write and present original poems for important school and civic events. They will also be tasked with serving as a positive role model for younger students to engage in creative writing and develop a love of poetry, as well as mentoring and encouraging others to find their voices as creative writers.

This year’s winners who will represent OCS and their schools are:

• Miranda Silva Corro, Orange County Schools Youth Poet Laureate, Partnership Academy High School
• Olivia Carotenuto, Orange High School Youth Poet Laureate
• Alyssa Haithcock, Partnership Academy High School Youth Poet Laureate

These students and their teachers, Imari Beatty (Partnership Academy) and Laura Isenhour (Cedar Ridge) recently attended the Youth Poet Laureate reception hosted by Jaki Shelton Green and First Lady Anna Stein at the NC Executive Mansion. They read their poems and met poets laureate from Hillsborough, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill, along with their fellow laureates from Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and the first NC Youth Poet Laureate.

Click here to view the full presentation

Orange Middle School 2025 Battle of the Books State Competition Winners

Going head-to-head with regional winners from across North Carolina, the Orange Middle School Battle of the Books team claimed the top spot in the state-level competition on May 1, 2025, making them State Champions! 

 

 

 

The team of 12 OMS Chargers traveled to the Unity Center in Statesville (contest hosted by Iredell-Statesville Schools) and earned a perfect score in four out of eight rounds, finishing the competition with 155 overall points. 

Congratulations to: Magnolia Bolduc, Jack Crandell, Malcolm James, Maddie Keatts, Leo Konneker, Alex Lemmon, Lily Mallia, Marla M., Rosalia Panek, Kinley Sayed, Henry Swanson, Katelyn Terrell, and Simon Thurrell for this huge accomplishment!

 

2025 Governor’s School Nominations
 

 

The North Carolina Governor’s School is a four-week summer residential program for gifted high school students, offering advanced study in academics and the arts without grades or tests. Students are selected through a competitive nomination process. Orange County Schools pays the $600 full tuition cost for each student accepted to attend Governor's School. 

The following students will attend Governor’s School in June and July 2025 (from L to R):

• Maria Wilson, Orange High School (‘26) English
• Isabella Morelli, Cedar Ridge High School (‘26), English
• Terra Proctor, Cedar Ridge High School (‘26), Natural Science
• Olivia Sutton, Cedar Ridge High School (‘26), English
• Barclay Arnold (not pictured), Cedar Ridge High School (‘26), Visual Art
   

Selena Masse - Orange Middle School, 7th grade Social Studies Teacher and Holocaust Teacher of the Year for NC
 

 

The Board recognized the 2025 Outstanding Holocaust Educator of the Year, seventh-grade social studies teacher Selena Masse of Orange Middle School, who was selected in April as the first-ever recipient of this award by The Center for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education of North Carolina and Holocaust Speakers Bureau.

Click here to read the full story

CONSENT AGENDA

The Board approved Consent Agenda items, including meeting minutes, personnel report, financial updates, contracts, and policies referred by the committee for approval by the full Board. To learn how the Board considers and adopts new and updated Board Policies, see Board Policy 2410.

 

WORK SESSION (INFORMATION) ITEMS

Spring 2025 Indoor Air Quality Report

Orange County Schools is committed to providing a clean, safe, and healthy environment for students and staff. Indoor air quality testing has been conducted regularly since the early 2000s, with evaluations each fall, spring, and as needed. For the most recent spring testing, the district partnered with First Call Restoration and The Solutous Group. As Dr. Curcio of The Solutous Group begins retirement, First Call will take the lead in future assessments. Testing included visual inspections and carbon monoxide measurements before and after spring break. 

Click here to view the full presentation

Equity Task Roundtable Discussion

 

 

Orange County Schools Board Policy 1030 was established to guide and support efforts toward achieving educational equity for every student. The Equity Task Force, made up of OCS stakeholders, offers valuable input and recommendations to the Equity and Student Achievement Department. Their work is closely aligned with the goals outlined in the district's strategic plan. 

Click here to view the full presentation

 

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

Update Strategic Goal Priority 4

Staff provided an update on existing goals and action steps of Priority Four, and recommended amendments to the goals to better align with the current vision and mission of the district. The proposed goals and action steps have been developed in collaboration with community stakeholders and members of the Equity and Student Services and Communications Departments.

Click here to view the full presentation

 

New Math Curriculum Recommendation (item removed from Consent)

OCS is committed to the ongoing review of curriculum resources to improve the learning experience for all students and to increase student achievement. During the 2024-2025 school year, all OCS staff at the elementary, middle, and high schools were surveyed and encouraged to provide feedback on the quality of the math curriculum resources currently being used, and how the existing resources meet or do not meet the needs of teachers and students. 

In conjunction with staff feedback, district leaders analyzed math assessment data trends in OCS as well as in school districts across the state of North Carolina. Part of the analysis was identifying math core curriculum resources currently being used across the state in districts with comparable population and demographics to OCS. 

Staff presented results from the committee of 40 OCS staff members who reviewed and assessed proposals for a new math curriculum in Grades K-8 and Grades 9-12.

View the materials presented to the Board