Mm-hmm.

Uh, th- it was a very numerical kind of business vote for me, um, to lift up and support because I think to me it was like a mutually beneficial thing, how we're gonna exit, but at s- at this point, we're gonna exit.

Um, the other thing I will offer around the legislation piece that I think is interesting is that it, it- it's almost like the system isn't designed for it to be a winning scenario when you think about the data across the country and in our s- in our state specifically, because if the community holds the board accountable, but the board has the line of governance, the superintendent has the line of administration or day to day, but the community cares about the day to day, so your frontline representative, your representative, like I'm the representative for this area, I mean, you're calling me for everything from my kid's bus is late to I don't like school lunch, and I become customer service, and I'm saying, "Thank you so much.

That's on the superintendent." You know, and then you're answering to people in the community that's like, "I really don't care what you can do."

And you talked about, you were getting into this in the last segment, what qualities are you looking for in your next superintendent?

I think one piece is agility, right? I think that when you start to think about just the change in growth in our community, of the county, with 157 people moving here, top five growing city, that the demographic makeup of CMS, of the board, is going to constantly keep changing.

So we need the agility there, as well as innovation.

I think the community for sure is calling in different ways.

A little anxiety maybe from the students, too, wondering what it's gonna look like.

like.Yeah, and I think some of the bigger things that, so many schools have had curriculum night, which is where you can go and really try to understand how your teachers are teaching your students, and how, um, what they should be learning this year.

Um, and then there are parent-teacher conferences that are coming up, and so you should always ask, um, you know, "What is it that I can do to support my child's learning at home? What question am I not asking that you wish that I would ask?" And then additionally, I always ask for my little person, you know, help me understand the kind of belonging aspect.

Are they making friends? Do, you know, are, are they mean to other kids? Are kids mean to them? And, and what are some of the messages I can make as we kind of develop the whole child at home? Um, so while we have these milestones coming up, it's so important for parents to take those milestones as a opportunity to lean in with the teacher.

They mean something.

If your child gets a report card, you need to look at it and ask questions about it.

If they're at the right age, look at it with them.

Is, is there any kind of balance to it, though? Though there's a grade on paper, but, but it doesn't have to define the child?

Kind of your thoughts on that and the process overall from what you've seen.

So the first thing to remember is that we know that the test day is just a day.

And so if you have a student that doesn't test well, but all their other data and indicators say differently, I think you should ask the teacher to, one, confirm that your understanding of your child's holistic experience is not necessarily reflective in that one day.

I did that last year with my own kid.

I was surprised that one of his testing results may be around mid-year.

And the teacher assured me that sometimes it's just a bad day.

And I believed her and trusted her on that.

Would you just share with us your heart and your mind kind of where it's at generally right now?

Are you familiar? I'm not trying to put you on the spot with all the intricate rules and details of grading schools, but can you share with that that kind of decision and kind of what are those conversations you're having when parents ask you, you know, do you send them being the young one? Do you send them being the old one? How's that conversation go?

Well, I can tell you I'm familiar because I'm in that.

My daughter turned five on August 16th.

And we made the decision to give her the gift of time.

And so that's how we're phrasing it in our family.

We're not holding her back.

We're giving her the gift of time.

What's it like right now inside the walls, you think?

There are going to be people who know

other kids, but there are going to be other kids that are new and no one's going to know every single person in their class likely.

There may be a couple, but most people won't.

And so it is okay to ask questions, to feel uneasy, to not know because everybody is in kind of that newness stage and just validate for them that it's okay to feel that way.

I think that's the first thing.

The second thing is if your child, like my child, needs to be walked through the day, to just kind of talk through, like, you know, you're going to ride the bus.

There's likely going to be someone that directs you where to go.

Do you have any tips on that? I think

I- is that, is that true, though? Can we just kick the kids out the house and y'all take care of everything? Is that how it's supposed to work?

No, no, no.

And, you know, I have wrestled with this question so much.

I'm like, when did it change? What has changed? Have we made things too easy? I am not sure, but I am totally with you that if you want the very best for your child, which we all do, you have to figure out how to become a partner with your child's teacher, not an adversary, um, or not even disengaged.

You, you have to figure out how to become a partner, and here are some of the ways you could do that.

Just like we asked the teacher just a few minutes ago when we said, "Hey, what are the things I need to know to keep, you know, or do this first week of school to make sure my child is safe and learning when it comes to, like, the forms and having the school supplies they need and all of that?" Is one question.

The other question you could ask is, "You know, what are some of the things that I can do to help you make sure you're giving the very best to our students?" Because what we know and the research tells us is that there is no substitute for a high-quality instructor.

Um, what are those resources or ways, like, you know, when we think about, you know, free and reduced lunch or those other type of wonderful resources for those that are less fortunate, uh, what's the best way to direct someone, or where do you recommend they go if they wanna explore potential resources for them if they're in need as a family?

So what's got you excited about District 1?

I think it's that adage around it's like the things that you like are also the things that provide pain points.

But I'm just so excited about our growth and what that means for our schools.

We have three schools being renovated, one new middle school being opened up up here.

We've got tons of phenomenal educators.

We have the Educator of the Year by the Lake Norman Chamber right up here.

We have many students that are signing, so many students that are enrolled, employed, and enlisted.

in front of their face as a screen as a young kid, but certainly by the time you get to high school, kind of give us that breakdown, AI in schools.