Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting will be called to the order, beginning with the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence.

Approval of Agenda

So that there is agreement between board members on the agenda, and the amount of time spent on the meeting, the board shall vote to approve an agenda for the meeting. To the best of its ability, it will follow that agenda, and allow for the chair to move the board through the agenda as specified.

Approval of Minutes from Feb 24, 2020

Public Comment

Our Public Comment period is for members of the public to address the board. Each member of the public may sign up to comment at the meeting and will be allotted two minutes. The board will listen, but may not directly respond to any comments. Our meetings are open to the public and public record. As such, if your comment is about a private matter, please contact the board via email, or speak to the board chair privately.

Prestige

Presenting JISCH monthly Financial Statement.

Student Fees 230K . Increase is to account incoming fees for the rest of the year.

IB- 132K increase is because they didn't spend their budget from last year.

Pupil Service activity. 80K increase is because a field trip that wan't taken last year and rescheduled for this current school year.

Coronavirus- JICHS School Plan

SCHSL Amendments to Bylaws

Changes-

Article II Student Eligibility Section 10 D Transfers

Article III Student Eligibility Section 10 M Transfers

Athletic Report

Presented by Athletic Director Jeremy Holland.

No Athletics till April 5th.

School Leader Report

Presented by Mr. Thorn

Principal’s Report March 16, 2020

Academics/School Update of Events

Coronavirus Preparation

Admin and the Leadership Team are working on a plan for eLearning or virtual school day should we need to miss school for an extended period of time. 

Callout 3-10-2020 Coronavirus

This is James Island Charter High School with an update on the Coronavirus. 

JICHS has taken all precautions recommended by CCSD, DHEC and the CDC. We have purchased additional soaps, disinfectants, and sanitizers. Our classrooms are always equipped with hand sanitizer, and we have plenty in stock to replenish as needed. Additional hand sanitizer stations have been placed in high traffic areas. Our cleaning company staff are wiping down stair rails, door handles, student desktops, and lavatory sinks nightly. The nursing staff sent CDC recommendations and handwashing videos to advisor teachers to share with students. Flyers and posters from the CDC have been posted around the building.  

To best protect yourself from the Coronavirus, the CDC recommends following normal seasonal flu guidelines. Those steps include: washing your hands, covering your coughs, staying home when sick, and immediately throwing away used tissues and similar items.   

On the CCSD website, there is a page dedicated to the coronavirus (see below). The page contains updates and resources from DHEC and the CDC. 

Please visit our website or the CCSD website for more information.

Note: Thank you to our school nurses Constance Olds and Lidie Collier for taking a leadership role at this time by informing and educating our staff and students on the Coronavirus. Thank you to our Maintenance Department and the cleaning crew for all the extra effort to clean and sanitize the building as best they can. Marty and his maintenance staff have repeatedly replaced the soap dispensers in the boy’s bathroom. Students are constantly ripping them off the wall, sometimes the same day. The latest model they installed is endorsed by the California Penal System.     

Professional Development

The staff meetings this year have been run as PD sessions for staff with a focus Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT) using the AVID handbook. The topic last month was Growth vs. Fixed Mindset. The topic this month is on language registers.  

ACT/SAT

We managed to administer the SAT and ACT this year without having to disrupt an entire school day. This was due to a variety of reasons. In the past, all third-year students had to take one of the tests.  Students now have the opportunity to opt-out of that requirement. We decided to go with CERT testing versus giving the PreACT to 9th and 10th-grade students. Students take the CERT test in their core classes.  They may take the CERT test 3 to 6 times a year versus taking the PreACT as a one-time test. CERT provides the school and students with data throughout the year.            

Dinner and Discussion Event Thursday, February 27, 2020 

Clearing the Air About Vaping- We had two outstanding experts from MUSC that presented and answered questions. Approximately 20 people outside the school attended the event. One more event is planned for later this spring. Despite the efforts of the assistant principals and others, the events have not been well attended.   

March 12- 13th Annual NHS Charity Dodgeball Tournament  

Team Average Joe’s dominates; wins the championship. Were not as good as we once were, but we were good once as we ever were. The bigger winner Sara’s Cure.  Thank you to Mrs. Mangum, NHS, and the students that participated. Thank you to the staff team “Average Joes” for volunteering to throw balls at our students.  

Team Averages Joe’s Rosters 

Captain- Timmy “Nye the Science Guy” Thorn (how do I get out of this at this point?)

Greg “The Ecuadorian Nightmare” Webster

Hillairy “Downton” Brown 

Nolan “Allday” Davis

Megan “Bookworm, Barbwire” Barbee

Lloyd “Seal Team 6” King

Colt “the Troubadour” Campbell

Kim “Scissor Kick” Cohn

Brian “Double Entendre” Garvin

Andrew “Natural Numbers” Drake

All Abilities Week March 30-April 3

There will be events planned throughout the week. On Friday, April 3, there will be a charity basketball game with the students from the Unified PE class. This was a huge success last year.   

Powder Puff Game

The Powder Puff game is March 27, 2020, from 12:30-3:30 pm in the Backyard. Teachers may take their classes to the game. 

DUI Rodeo

Mr. Edwards worked with MUSC to plan a DUI Rodeo for March 16. This is an annual event that we do before the Prom season.  The event took place during 1st and 2nd periods. Teachers signed up for their classes to participate. Classes with upperclassmen were targeted for this event. The students rotate through six stations.   

Prom

JICHS Prom 2020 is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 2020, from 6:30-10:30 PM at the beautiful Charleston Gaillard Grand Ballroom! Our 2020 Prom theme is “Night On Olympus” (Grecian). Postponed- possible dates are March 29, 30, 31.

Performing Art- Spring Musical (2nd Annual)  

Student Recruitment

School Choice Application (2-21-2020)

January 28, 2020 - Online and paper application window opens at 12 p.m. (NOON)

February 1, 2020 - Choice Fair: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at 4 locations: 

1. C.E. Williams Middle School, 640 Butte Street, Charleston SC

2. Laing Middle School, 2705 Bulrush Basket Lane, Mt. Pleasant SC

3. Military Magnet Academy, 2950 Carner Avenue, North Charleston SC

4. St. John's High School, 1518 Main Road, Johns Island SC

• February 28, 2020 - Online and paper application window closes (4 p.m. for paper application drop-offs; 6:00 p.m. for online application submissions)
• April 3, 2020 - Families notified of acceptance
• April 23, 2020  - Offered seat must be accepted or decline.

New Activity Buses and Vans

Coach Holland, Lynn Shaddrix, and I are looking into purchasing two new activity buses and possibly two new school vans. Our current activity buses are old and costly to maintain. Our current vans are older but function well. We could use bigger, newer vans for longer trips. In general, we need more vehicles to meet our demand, especially in the spring (sports and field trips). We will work through the Finance Committee with this project to see what we can afford and then bring our request to the board.    

Technology Update

Technology has been immersed in state-required testing.  So far, this has gone more smoothly than in past years,

Technology is responding to uptake in teacher workstation repairs.  Technology is currently doing research on e-learning plans in place across the country for events that may potentially interrupt the normal day-to-day operations of the physical plant. 

School Safety Update

• School Security Update
• Metal detectors conducted twice weekly.
• Met with a parent who had information about a student possibly selling drugs in school. Working with the SRO to investigate further.
• I found a grant for security upgrades and will be working on getting it submitted in the coming month.
• Conducting scans of the parking lot looking cars parked illegally.
• Relocated SCS positions to address students loitering in the hallways.

Construction Update

CTE Wing and Competition Gym- no updates to report since last month. 

James Island Bus Lot

The Charleston County BZA Board did not grant an appeal hearing for the JI Bus Lot. CCSD has filed an appeal at the court level.  

Busing 20-21 and Beyond

We are working with the CCSD Transportation Department on a plan for busing next year and the years to come. The plan is to install a trailer for the JI Bus Manager and their staff. The goals moving forward are improved service, getting all students to school and home on time, and increasing efficiency to reduce cost. If the majority of buses can do two runs, that will reduce the number of buses and staffing costs. For buses that are shared, CCSD and JICHS will split the cost ($300 per day/2 = $150).         

Executive Session

• Contracts- 
• Personnel- 
• Legal- HS Athletics Issue
• Student Privacy-  

Motions From Executive Session

~ No motion

The Meeting was Adjourned

The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:36 pm