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[New Song Starts] [Students in Hebrew] S’vivon sov, sov, sov, Chanukkah hu chag tov. Chanukkah hu chag tov, S’vivon sov, sov, sov. Chag simchah hu la am, neis gadol haya sham. Neis gadol haya sham, Chag simchah hu la am. [Music Continues] [Students in Hebrew] S’vivon sov, sov, sov, Chanukkah hu chag tov. Chanukkah hu chag tov, S’vivon sov, sov, sov. Chag simchah hu la am, neis gadol haya sham. Neis gadol haya sham, Chag simchah hu la am. [Music Ends] [Applause] [Miss Kate] Ready? Here we go. [Music Plays] [Students] I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do. I don't want a doll, or a dinky, tinker toy. I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do. He won’t have to use our dirty, chimney flue. Just bring him through the front door, that’s the easy thing to do.
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I can see me now on Christmas morning creeping down the stairs. Oh, what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes to see a hippo hero standing there. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do. No crocodiles, or rhinoceroses-es. I only like hippopotamuses-es. And hippopotamuses-es like me too! [Music Continues] Mom says the hippo would eat me up but then, the teacher says the hippo is a vegetarian. [Music Continues] There’s lots of room for him in our two-car garage. I’ll feed him there and wash him there, and give him his massage. I can see me now on Christmas morning creeping down the stairs. Oh, what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes to see a hippo hero standing there. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do. No crocodiles, or rhinoceroses-es. I only like hippopotamuses-es.
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And hippopotamuses-es like me too! [Music Ends] [Applause] [Student] Now, Jingle Bell Rock. [Student] Thank you everyone for coming. This is our last song. It's called 'Jingle Bell Rock’. You might have heard it before. Maybe. There might be a chance. You never know. I’d like you to sing along if you know it! [Music Plays] [Students] Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock. Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring. Snowin’ and blowin’ up bushels of fun. Now the jingle rock has begun. Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock. Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time. Dancin’ and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square. In the frosty air! What a bright time. It’s the right time, to rock the night away. Jingle bell time. It’s a swell time, to go riding in a one-horse sleigh. Giddy up, jingle horse. Pick up your feet. Jingle around the clock. Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin’ beat.
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That’s the jingle bell rock! [Music Continues] What a bright time. It’s the right time, to rock the night away. Jingle bell time. It’s a swell time, to go riding in a one-horse sleigh. Giddy up, jingle horse. Pick up your feet. Jingle around the clock. Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin’ beat. That’s the jingle bell, that’s the jingle bell, that’s the jingle bell rock! [Music Continues] [Music Ends] [Applause] [Audience Member] Awesome job, awesome job.
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e [Music] h [Music] the [Music] [Applause] something oh [Music] [Applause] h [Music] to what place [Music] yourself [Music] [Applause] the know [Music] I [Music] let [Music] for Sach [Music] e [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] the [Music] I [Music] you I wouldve that don't tell us [Music] n [Music] n [Applause] [Music] I [Music] the [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] all chamber no conductor I'm fired [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] la [Music] la [Music] [Applause] you job last one I do one more now line [Music] don't [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] woo [Applause] hey I want to just um first of all I want to thank our woodro Advanced string players for performing tonight they they were phenomenal as always and I also want to thank the education committee Dr Roberto Mr Jero M Kus levich and uh uh and Mr shado for inviting us uh here to perform for you it's going to be like a new initiative uh every marking period there'll be a different Ensemble performing as you guys enter and these were the brave first Souls that did it so thank you again thank [Applause] you have a great meeting everybody thank you so much thank you until e they probably can't hear me out in the hallway so could someone give them the message and we're just waiting for some technical issues and we'll be ready to go my God we don't have any problem with heat i s you the link Donna I emailed you the link I saw them somewhere any seats in the middle over there oh that's an aisle yes see we could fit more chairs up here e I'd like to call the regularly scheduled meeting of the Clifton Board of Education for December 7th 2023 to order if You' all kindly please rise for a salute to our flag followed by a brief moment of silence I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you roll call please Mr abrao here miss bassford here Mr brunak here Mr Mahia here Mr Paris here Mr Santiago here vice president Danny here president Smith here we have a Corum um our um mission statement please Dr Danny the mission of the Clifton School District in an open and reciprocal Community Partnership is to provide all students with the quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong Learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a Democratic Society in a never changing world the open public meetings act in New Jersey uper public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act culton board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the daytime in place thereof posted at the city clerk's office Clon Public Library administration building senior citizen Nutrition Center on cable TV and the local press on the district's website and mailed to presidents of parent teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with our policy um folks we're going to start with a public recognition um being it's a tight room anyone who wishes to come up and speak please come up to the podium sign the register that is provided please state your name residence in which you live we're going to do virtual first so that's all right you can be first on the list um state your name municipality in which you live in subject matter you'll have uh 5 minutes to address the board and uh we'll start with uh public recognition virtually do we have anyone in the virtual room seeing none is there motion to close motion to close closed by commissioner Mahia second by commissioner uh abrao okay we'll now open the in-person public portion anyone who wishes to address the board please kindly come up to the podium good evening my name is Laur L Lama and I am the President of the cea today today I'm going to be discussing the policy 5756 I want to give the board a little history in 2017 Governor Chris Christie signed the legislation that had bipartisan legislative support directing the commissioner of the Department of Ed to develop standards for the care and protection of transgender nonbinary students in the New Jersey public schools there was a concentrated study and Survey of the many issues faced by these kids and culminating in the issuance of the policy 5756 in 2019 which was voluntarily adopted by school boards across the state there have been no reported negative effects from this policy since its implementation and the current push in New Jersey to remove this policy aligns with the Nationwide conservative effort to limit diversity equity and inclusion measures in schools or in other words erase them as if they've never existed New Jersey dep Board of Education policy 5657 aligns with both state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on various factors including sex gender identity and expression the policy seems to be designed to create an inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for transgender and gender non-conforming students ensuring compliance and relevant statutes abolishing the policy will undermine the legal framework that protects students from discrimination and hinders the creation of a supportive learning environment for transgender individuals it also emphasizes open communication with students to address their needs while maintaining confidential IAL it if Clifton values inclusivity and compliance with anti-discrimination laws maintaining this policy is essential removal of the policy does not compel nor prevent parental notification it only serves to reduce resources for the school staff I want you to truly think about the answers who is served by removing this policy who is home harmed what is the rush to do this what message is Clifton District trying to send to their students staff and families what happened to teaching and protecting all students the purpose of 5756 is not to separate students from parents but rather to assist a student to communicate their confidential information in the time that is healthy and appropriate for them if a child is not communicating this information it is incumbent by the parent to question why their child would not want to talk to them about it why should a government agency perform this function the law against discrimination explicitly outlines gender identity as a protected class many if not all rewrites of the policy wind up in direct violation of the law against discrimination the law protects students rights to privacy first and foremost this is the law not conjecture or emotional response thank you now if it pleases the board I have two small speeches from two of the other teachers in the district that have a job and they couldn't show up tonight so if that would be okay could I please read it okay thank you good evening because my children will be mentioned I choose to remain anonymous just to protect them as a proud mom of three young adults one gay one by and one trans I am disheartened by the board actually consider making it mandatory for teachers to notify parents of their child's sexual orientation specifically trans individuals my children came out to me at different points in their lives and I would like you to know that not one of my kids told their teachers before me if you build a foundation as a parent of trust honesty and inclusivity in the home your children will want to communicate this with you so the focus here should not be whether or not the teachers should tell the parents but rather but rather why your child feels that they cannot be honest with you teachers often see their students more than their own Mom Dad Grandma Aunt filling the blank your children are not only English math history but are building meaningful relations within the classroom sometimes students feel comfortable discussing certain topics with their teacher if you take that away from them you will put the first nail in their coffin you are ripping away for some individuals their only LIF line you are isolating your child you are neglecting your child and you are purposely harming your child I am sure you have heard the old proverb it takes a village to raise a child meaning an entire community of people are responsible for those children who experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment whether you like it or not we all play a role and you cannot change that instead of feeling threatened by another adult who understands what your child is feeling you should be thankful that your child found a trusted adult in these difficult times you might want to take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself why is it that my child feels more comfortable with someone else although you may not like the answer and the last one thank you good evening members of the board please pardon my inability to be here in person it absolutely does not indicate a lack of desire to be here tonight my name is Caitlyn win and I have taught special education English at the high school for the last six years and have been the and have had the honor of co- advising the gender and sexual Alliance for the past two years tonight I come to you and plead for you not to repeal 5756 and and stop next week's vote a piece of legislation that protects transgender students can be a lifesaver for some of our children the policy prohibits a student's gender identity from being revealed to their parents should they disclose it to a teacher and also provides them with the ability to utilize their restroom of choice along with other protections I appeal to you not as a member of the board but as a human beings with hearts and children of your own I have had multiple students come out to me and seek my guidance when their families have shunned ostracized and all but exiled them for simply sharing a part of their true selves who they really are these children are often stripped of their family's love guidance and financial support resulting in their world's crashing down on them and most chances at a successful future eradicated I understand that it is imperative for parents to be notified about their child's safety and education but if you conceded to a narrow-minded point of view you can quite literally be sentencing some of our students to homelessness poverty assault of various kinds and possibly even death the Harvard School of Public Health reports that transgender youth are more at risk for mental illness including depression anxiety suicidal thoughts and attempts self harm of their non-transgender peers the human rights campaigns reports that at least 41 transgender individuals were violently murdered in the United States alone in 2022 and this was due to the senseless hatred caused by sexuality and gender identity discrimination I implore you please do not allow policy 5756 to be repealed in our district and potentially have our children be added to those horrific statistics or all children deserve to safely enjoy being themselves thank you very much and have a good [Applause] evening good evening members of the Clifton Board of Education my name is Chris canella I live in Loi New Jersey I am an educor Ator in Cedar Grove um next door for 25 years I've been asked to come to speak here tonight by my good friend Lori I also serve as new nj's sexual orientation and gender identity chair I'm asking this board to reconsider holding next week's special meeting to discuss the transgender policy why am I asking just because just holding that meeting is going to cause trauma to the students that um uh just spoke about this issue has come up Across the Nation this issue has come up across New Jersey and it seems that these students these special students who are some of our most vulnerable you heard some of the statistics that Lori spoke about have have become the center of the political world and let me remind you they're just students uh a few years ago um serving in my role as the GSA adviser in Cedar Grove I had the opportunity to meet with some of your students we did a co-activity the GSA of Clifton High School and the GSA of Cedar gr high school and it was so great to be able to see these students be able to be in a space where they felt safe where they felt that they belonged because they had folks that were like them they had fellow fellow students and fellow Educators by the way I'm I'm an out gay proud educator they they saw themselves and what's going to happen if if you continue down this road if you overturn that policy if if they continue to be the center of the political world children okay maybe they don't look like you maybe they don't act like you maybe they don't think like you but they're still children and remember our number one priority is to protect them not to worry about different political ideologies and and and and whatnot um I do want to share a little bit more um and uh NJ just did a survey because you know again this is since it's about politics I'm going to talk politics by a 56 Point margin 74 to 18% voters agree with the statement uh politicians should shouldn't Force teachers to Audi student who is gay or us or is using a different pronoun by a 59% margin 77 to 18% voters agreed that the statement it is up to the student to decide when they are ready to talk to their parents about their sexuality or or gender identity again I understand and being somebody I've done trainings Across the Nation and across the state yes I want the parents involved because when the parents are involved and they're supportive that child is going to survive and thrive when the parent is not involved okay they're not going to survive and thrive however if you have situations where parents are not providing safe opportunities for that student at home the rate of of harm that's going to happen to that student is is enormous and by removing this policy you're going to allow that okay you're going to allow that so again I'm talking politics because this seems to be a political issue children's lives seems to be a political issue right we just had an election and from my understanding a couple board members here were not were not reelected because they probably stood on the wrong side right across the state people that stood on the side of students and Educators they won their elections overwhelmingly okay so if you continue and you want to look at this as a polit through political lens you're going to lose because you're on the wrong side okay so again I'm asking throw it away leave it be and by the way these are issues that the courts are deciding these are issues that the legislatur eventually will decide you don't need to have a a dog and pony show and try to overturn a policy that's protecting children you don't need it thank you [Applause] good evening uh my name is Sue Butterfield I live in rosand New Jersey and I serve as the president of pay County Education associations when I learned that you are considering overturning the policy um I want to just briefly pose to you one question why as I attend Board of Education policies across the uh Board of Education meetings across the county I usually see presentations that include a lot of data and research there will probably be that tonight when uh later on where's the data that supports overturning this policy where's the research that shows this is an evidencebased practice to undertake I know that you charge your administrators and your teachers to engage in best practices is it a best practice to overturn a policy that the state requires that the State Attorney General is pursuing legal action against other districts that are overturning that policy so when you decide to consider that I ask you to dig deep as to the why and to to consider the evidence the research best practices because we are even when we are on different sides of an issue what we have in common is that we are here for the students and if we disagree on things that is understandable but where we flout the law and best practices that is something that's unacceptable thank you good evening sorry my name is Steven culis I live in Redbank I'm a teacher in Middletown where we are currently under injunction for this same issue I'm speaking today on policy 5756 on behalf of those who cannot be it out of fear of Retribution and further targeting because of their beliefs or who they are as individuals as was just said we all desire the same thing the Safety and Security of students and the upholding of the Integrity of the professional responsibilities of the staff we want to promote the parental or caregiver involvement but need to remember that not every child comes from a safe and supportive environment every individual is entitled to civil rights enacting this policy violates those civil rights and actually does the opposite of our aim the Educators who are who are tasked with providing a safe space for our children of our community will be prohibited from doing so accordingly at its core this policy is discriminatory we are bound by New Jersey's law against discrimination to equitably protect our students passing a policy that requires teachers to follow rules and guidelines only for one specific group of students is a violation of the anti-is mination laws and infringes upon the civil rights of students this is the textbook example of disperate Impact versus disperate intent in this case disperate impact refers to the unintended discriminatory outcomes of outing transgender students like emotional or physical harm disperate intent pertains to the deliberate Act of revealing their gender identity without their consent and with harmful intentions which this policy does this is the measure of discrimination and passing this policy most unequivocally violates the civil rights of protected class of individuals so please I ask you to reconsider this thank [Applause] you hi Donna papait I live in Clifton um I volunteer for sweep New Jersey it's an independent volunteer L Group which strives to provide resources and connections to encourage effective organizing and advocacy for shared social justice values as you're probably aware um many schools some not many several school districts have repealed 57 56 which offers projection protections for transgender students they have enacted policies to notify parents of the gender identity or expression of transgender gender non-conforming and gender non-binary students this puts an already vulnerable population at a higher risk for suicide and homelessness more importantly repealing 5756 does not remove the Civil Rights protections this protected group has already been given by the state of New Jersey districts without the policy are still required to comply with the New Jersey laws against discrimination which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression removing this policy leaves School staff and students without specific guidance on how a particular situation should be handled there's really no reason to repeal this except to express hate now in general just to deviate from my speech I think I know the eight board members who are here some of you are my friends some of you are my neighbors some of you I chat with if at a party or an event some of you were my students some of you have family members who are friends with my daughters I don't think any of you are hateful people but repealing this would be a hateful act there's no reason to do it it's not going to stop the separation of bathrooms matter of fact 5756 gives students who are CIS the opportunity to use a separate bathroom if they feel uncomfortable if you repeal it that's gone I mean here's a little minor thing I mean you know the policy talks about calling telling the students what they like to be called I was a teacher for 33 years I'm still teaching the we don't call anyone by their name I mean every kid comes in and wants a name here I have Cindy I had a girl Cindy her real name was Cinderella she met me on the hall on the first day of school and said don't call me Cinderella no one knows it she was in 11th grade I mean God she went 12 years without everyone knowing her name was Cinderella if you repeal 5756 everyone would know her name was Cinderella listen Cinderella isn't so bad I had I had two kids named Christmas I had one kid named snowball I mean that's a real parent problem maybe those are the parents who don't know that their kids are transgender I mean you named your kid snowball um parental rights part of this is the parental right it says we're not obligated okay because it places students at risk okay 70% of New Jersey voters agree that schools should not be forced to out members of the lgbtq I A 2st Plus community and we really should write a policy that's more inclusive and my daughter did and sent it to superintendent Rober toi who I know has sent it to all of you there's no rush to implement this I mean if if if you resend 5756 the State Attorney General is going to sue you so far hover which has been sued for the first 6 months of 2023 has spent over $80,000 in legal fees that's the last thing we need is to spend more money on lawyers God you think you with the city council with all the lawyer money um resending 5756 is extremely dangerous to our vulnerable Youth and to our pocketbooks why don't we just wait until the spring because the court said they would decide on this by the spring I mean that's only like four months away or three depending on the groundhog okay we could just wait three months nothing's going to happen in three months let's wait and see what the court said um our student safety is at risk to Plate politically motivated factions let's just go back to education providing a safe supportive learning environment for all our students and let's cancel this meeting next week and if it isn't cancelled I invite every citizen and Clifton to come thank you it's five minutes thank you good evening everyone my name is Tanya sarez live in Clifton I usually have a written um response but I appreciate everyone who has spoken th far tonight and I agree with what has been said but I do want to share my specific experience as a school social worker for 10 years and having been in uh Social Services for 20 years I have worked at a homeless shelter when I have seen youth come in because they have been discarded by their families due to their um gender or their uh sexual orientation I have worked in group homes for teenage girls where they are in that space because they were rejected by their families due to their uh sexual orientation in schools I have worked alongside school psychologists working with students working through their gender identity because they did not feel safe to tell their parents often times I've been told well then just call CPS if you feel like they're being abused it's not always that simple CPS is looking for abuse neglect um not not always hostile environments if a child is generally safe with food on the on the table with uh parents not neglecting them providing them with a shelter clothing that they need with school Resources with medical resources but they live in a hostile environment where they feel that they are not seen as the human being that they are CPS is not looking into that they're already well overburdened with real places of neglect real places of sexual abuse or other physical abuses so please let's protect our students who live in hostile environments that their only safe space is the schools in which they can talk to their teachers and Educators where they can be themselves at least for six hours in their day because they know what they have to go home to that they can't be themselves they know they have to go home to a space that they don't see themselves as human and that's not fair we are talking about children we are talking about Youth and calling CPS is not not the answer because and then on top of that you're also saying they are allowed to experience abuse until CPS investigates their household that's not fair so please let's cancel next next week's meeting because it's about the children first and foremost thank [Applause] you right good evening um my name is Elias ragdale president of the clion Student Union um first thing and I wasn't really planning on speaking about this but we need more seats in here um if we're going to be recognizing more people you know doing more really good things you know we want their school to come out and support we want their families to come out and support let's at least have a SE for them our our teachers that are being recognized should not be in the hall and I think that's something we can all really agree on um but I want to say thank you to our Administration for submitting the survey to the students um teachers and I even think parents received it um so hopefully based on those results we can all come to a common ground um thirdly I want to thank Mr abrao and Mr Smith for your years of service on the board this is the December meeting so of course um in January we'll have our new board members here but thank you all for your service um and the Student Union wishes all of you a happy and safe holiday season thank [Applause] you is there anyone else that wishes to address the board seeing none motion to close please motion to close by uh commissioner uh Mahia second by commissioner abravo I lost my agenda made anyway commissioner Santiago are you up yet are you up yeah no are you up on the internet anyway to do it okay um yeah my computer went down also so I'm going to do this by uh by hand we have our um our student representative uh to give the uh the student report is she here yes there you are no okay good evening Commissioners and Dr Robert toy um first we're going to start with the clubs and activity updates so um first we have Heroes and Cool Kids um as a part of the club I can say that we have attended our first um training session today sorry not today this is written today um we attended it on Thursday at Bergen Community College and as usual it was a great time we um it was a workshop about resilience and just how to teach the middle schoolers um when we go for our first training which will be the 15th of December so next the Clifton HSA not the Hindu student Alliance um Alliance but um the home and School Association they will be hosting a Grinchy movie night on Thursday um December 14th at 6:00 p.m.
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we'll call the meeting to order and we'll start with the pledge IED alance to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all want to um welcome everybody to this evening's board meeting remind everyone who's are live streaming the board meeting this evening so we'll also welcome those um that are joining us via the live stream um so we'll start with consent agenda items I have a motion to approve consent agenda items motion motion by Earl I I have a second second second by Pat any discussion all those in favor 70 um next we'll ask if there's any Comm uh Community member who is here to speak on an item that is on the agenda or any other item hearing none um we'll move on I think we have some visitors we do we have the high school choir program with their director Mr br you come on in who'd like to sing for us this [Music] evening thank you thanks so much than's Cur going heck of vight across like all the way got to F like I want a straight line across oh cool all right hi my name is Aaron Brooks um thank you all so much for having us tonight um we're excited to be here uh this performance that we're getting ready to do I actually picked it out specifically for being here tonight and then it would just turned out so good that I was like I I can't so it's the idea right that counts um so we're actually going to be performing this at our concert too but you guys performance yeah um this this piece is very difficult um it is something that even College choirs struggle with and I think that you're going to find that our kids have pulled it off beautifully um so our concert is on Tuesday next week and everyone's invited uh it is going to be a night filled with beautiful music and beautiful voices and it's going to be a great experience um I am I am very happy that I ch to be part of the family here at JS County um I truly believe that we have the best talent and I'm not just saying that um and so I appreciate you all for allowing me to be here I will say originally I said no um you know Mr Roller is one of the best salesman out there all right so without further Ado um this is a touch of class and concert choir both um they will be performing glow by her quitter our pianist had to go to the band concert so I'm sorry that [Music] she falls the winter snow Whispers to The Sleep World below winter awes morning breaks ands the Earth [Music] gentle the glory [Music] [Applause] of silver car [Music] for [Music] Anders [Music] the softly falling [Music] snow [Applause] [Music] [Applause] aren't they fantastic more that's all we got folks it was the one song trust me it was a lot thank thank you thank you oh my goodness excluding you I'm a so that was fantastic So yeah thank you for arranging that I um saying as I was walking down the hall um I was alumni Touch of Class concert choir um of course Joel I mean I think most of you know that Joel is music Major and um of class and the foundation that we laid here at the in Jennings County had a lot to do with his decision to do that so um that was great I did great job yeah just a reminder for those online and those in the room again the concert is Tuesday he said 7 o'clock so make sure that you head out and support um the choir um and the music program at the high school so yeah fantastic um all right so we'll move down um under old business we have some programs yes I'm just asking for approval for the jams County High School New course additions um that were the inform at the last meeting okay um entertain a motion to approve I have a motion by Marilyn any a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor 70 and then we'll move down under professional staff there's a resolution yes I have resolution for a correction to a supplemental pay a for certified teacher that I messed up on when I did the original you approved last meeting well Philip I don't know if we can you accept that mistake how dare you I know I felt bad about it we'll make we'll make it up but all right so we'll entertain a motion um to correct that I have a motion by Travis do I have a second second by Chelsea any discussion all those in favor s then we'll move down um under new business we have some Neola policies maybe yes asking for first reading for the Neola policies listed um but asking specifically to separate policy 2510 I'd like to table that one adoption of curricular materials okay so um these are first reading policies so we'll um have there will be no action taken on the first reading items um but we do need a motion for Neola policy 2510 to table that I have a motion by Travis I have a second by Pat thank you any discussion all those in favor 70 and we'll go down and yes I'm asking for approval to add an elective college and careers class at the James County Middle School for next school year um 24 25 okay I have a motion um to that college and careers class at the middle school motion by Chelsea do I have a second second by Marilyn any discussion all those in favor 70 next uh we have a presentation yes I have a presentation for you this evening on our attendance data and goals so as we were looking at data to review our needs for our strategic plan um student attendance became a very obvious need and its connection to achievement so I'd like to present with you information that has recently come out from the state to update what we've been studying and then progress on how that work's been going first semester so this is a um Y national um concern with attendance in October 2023 there was a report from attendance work works that had new data from the Department of Education that showed in 2122 66% of all students enrolled in the US had levels of extreme or high chronic absence and that means at least one in five kids in every school was missing almost a month of school a year that's across the nation um along with that that chronic absence absenteeism is a concern because it's related to significant declines in achievement and also filling in those gaps that were created by the pandemic so to put that in perspective New York Times uh did the data crunching and said that on an average day of school last school year 10% of all kids K through 12 were absent on any given day and dat it even shows that after you adjust for um poverty status and race that us children who Skip more school as we would understand get significantly worse grades they also have significantly lower test performance for achievement this graph shows that um students who were absent zero days in the year are the dark blue students who Miss just one or two days are the medium blue and the light blue are kids who are absent three or more days and you can see for both kids living in poverty and not in poverty the impact attendance every day can have on their overall achievement on assessment so just to summarize things that make attendance important what are the outcomes when you have poor attendance it means you're going to have lower academic achievement at the High School level you have an incre increased risk of dropping out we have decreased literacy rates that are linked to poor attendance failing classes in teens it can be linked to an increased risk of substance abuse and then of course having a poor pattern of attendance in your school years can be linked having a poor pattern of attendance when you're an employee in the future so before we get into some data for both the state and local level just going through some of our attendance terms so attendance rate is the percentage of enrolled kids in a school that are there for specific date or window of time an excused absence is an absence that's reported to the school by the parents for illness or another approved absence reason an unexcused absence is an absence that didn't get reported to school officials for the reasoning or it was for an unallowable reason and finally The Chronic absenteeism this is the definition from our Indiana State Department of Education a student with chronic absent ISM who is someone who's absent 10% or more of the school year so in Indiana it's 180-day required year so that's equivalent to 18 or more days the tricky thing on chronic absenteeism is that counts whether those are excused or unexcused so even if a student had doctor's notes for 18 days as far as the state is concerned they count towards our data for chronic absen ISM student so what does that look like in Indiana this is data from the State Board of Ed showing the rates of chronic absenteeism in the state um over the last five years you can see that spike in the middle that came along with covid and that it has not returned to Baseline since then and what that looks like specifically is these numbers broken down by the number of schools in Indiana so we have over 1,000 schools in the state that in their student population one in 10 of their kids are chronically absent 547 that their population one in four students are chronically absent 270 schools have one in three of their kids chronically absent from school that means they missed about a month of school in the year at Le at the minimum and then 84 schools in the state have 50% of their kids or one in two of their kids are chronically absent what that looks like by grade level um although chronic absenteeism has increased since the pandemic these are trends that we saw solv before the pandemic and that is that usually our kindergarten students and first grade students have some of the highest rates of chronic absenteeism that rate tends to go down through lower elementary and then begin Rising again in middle school and continue increasing throughout high school with our seniors having um the highest rates that also shows that um students living in poverty um also usually have higher rates of chronic absenteeism um many times due to the that they face that might be different than their peers in attending school so that is the state data and now I'd like to show you how our data um actually comes in for jingus County Schools so two years ago and this was part of our comprehensive means assessment that we did um in connection to our strategic planning we had chronic absenteeism rates that III data that's done on a state level identified us in one of the 10 highest um chronic absentee corporations in the state so we came in with just over 23% of our students being chronically absent so this is why we identified attendance as such a big goal for our Corporation is because we knew it was such a high need so this data was based on two years ago I thought you might like to see where we fell on that state chart of the number of schools in each of these areas so this is data based on last school year so Graham Creek and Hayden would have fallen in the category of having one in 10 students chronically absent nve Brush Creek and cpio would have fit in that 25% of their students range about one in four students and we had three schools that were actually in that category of the most chronic absenteeism range of half of their kids of one and two were experiencing chronic absenteeism high school middle school and Sand Creek um this is data that we were aware of as a need which is why we have tackled attendance is such a significant goal at every single building this year so we started by looking at what research tells us will make a difference with attendance and those areas are family engagement being connect students being connected to their school Community Partnerships and extending Health Care access so what that has looked like for us this year is first and foremost School Improvement plans um every school had focused planning and efforts that began in Spring last year and lasted until the first day of school that involved all staff members in creating a school Improvement plan that focused on how do we get out information and what do we set our goals for to improve attendance what kind of incentives can we create to help incentivize student attendance at school how are we going to progress monitor this data so we can be sure we're making active improvements and then I would argue most importantly parent communication how do we build awareness of what the importance is of attendance and that we have a concern that we as a community have to work collectively to correct um Community awareness includes an awareness campaign for families and community members and advocating with um employers to be our partners to talk about what the importance of being a good attender can mean and those Partnerships included Community Partners who help provide incentives um our schools have some attendance programs going on that have had some great local businesses pair with them to have incentives for the kids whether they be popsicle parties for good attendance or even gift card drawings the high school has a very elaborate store students can choose um tickets for and and pick prizes um Partnerships for family support sometimes we have families that say they need support transport transporting their kid to school or they need alarm clocks um need some different supports and so we've worked with family supports and communitybased juvenile and Family Programs to provide support that might extend beyond what we can provide as a school and then finally grant funding how can we use Innovative grant funding to help support this area so some examples and I have to say these are extensively more than this and each school will be sharing those with you on Monday at the work session what they've been doing but just to highlight um for instance the high school has piloted using parent Square for ATT notifications so if a student is absent at midday the parent receives a notification and can respond directly about why they are absent all of the other buildings have been making daily phone calls so if a student is absent the parent gets a um contact directly um student and School attendance incentives have been in place across the district with daily or weekly progress updates um we have buildings where every day they're saying at the end of the day what our attendance rate was can we do better tomorrow let's keep it on track um family engagement conversations to ask how we can support attendance Improvement so as we've identified students in need um that are edging towards chronic attendance concerns for the year we have reached out to families and asked what can we do to help um then we have a districtwide attendance committee where we meet with parents once their chronic absenteeism reaches a range where we know we identify they need additional supports and then finally we are beginning a lot of Community Partnership conversations for additional programming and all of those are summarized to sound like a brief amount of work but I have to say our staff have went Above and Beyond on attendance this year um I could share lots of anecdotal stories of teachers calling to say someone's out and they're concerned about them how can they help to make sure they get back to school um check-in calls intendance parties uh they're doing a lot of things and they're starting to see I think the results on that which is evidenced by this data so what you're looking at is um um in the First Column are the attendance rates last year and the second column is the attendance rate at this point this year and so you can see all Schools attendance rates are up now attendance rate can be deceiving because you can have a a higher attendance rate but still have a high chronic absenteeism rate so we went ahead and dug into that data as well the First Column you can see the 2223 chronic absenteeism rates and the second column you can see the 23 24 chronic absenteeism rates and I think it's clear to see that the strategies the buildings are trying are making a difference and an impact so the way that data was obtained 23 24 that was students with 18 or more dayses absent the second column it's a progress monitoring so we're midy year so we used what half of the 18 would be to say midy year how are they doing I will say second semester is harder for attendance because you get into the winter months and um so think we'll have to definitely keep working hard on so that those numbers don't change um I'm going to read a couple of those out loud because I don't know if you can see them from the audience but Brush Creek huge progress gone from a 45% chronic absenteeism rate to their current rate is 12% um Graham Creek 19% to 15% Hayden already had a relatively low rate and they have held that study at 15% nve has gone from 26% to 18% Sand Creek 40% down to 32% cpio 29% down to 16% really want to brag on the secondary level and the work they've been doing um they the middle school have gone from 53% down to 32% of students and the high school has gone from 45% to 27% of students the exciting thing here is we are getting kids at school so they can learn which we know is linked to student achievement so I think there's a lot of dat from attend that we'll continue to see um as we go forward we have reports set up on these metrics so I'll be able to run these again at the end of third n weeks and at the end of the year for comparable data the last slide just has the sources from the facts anybody who's interested um it's just an update I just want to share some of the hard work they've been doing and that it is making a difference and then making an impact on our attendance rates so kudos to our families for helping us and kudos to our staff for working so hard to make this difference thank you I think it's um I don't know if anybody has any questions for Nikki regarding the presentation guess I have one Nikki on this thing where it says 84 schools one and two students um of course we had high school middle school at Sand Creek do you have any idea of those age or four schools I assume a lot of them were high schools and middle schools anyway I mean is that because of age I did not I do not have that list I could reach out and ask but yes secondary attendance like you saw in that graph how it depended by age we know it's high school is the worst composition of four years of of high chronic absenteeism so one would assume the secondary on their head I just want to thank thank you for for this work you got you easily understood and uh recognized the problem and we apparently made a big job and that is kudos to staff because you do not make attendance change by a one-time conversation attendance changes by making a phone call every single day and following up every single day and so this represents a lot of work of teachers and office staff and everyone in the school to help kids attend I think it was important to sharing because obviously some schools have had a better done better with attendant in the past able to share with other people by working together made a difference 45 huge amazing amazing it is great and I think the Partnerships right we can't as a school corporation we cannot do this on our own um you know on the one slide it has family engagement as number one school connectedness as number two Community Partnerships um I mean that's so um it truly does you know take a team so thank you for sharing that any additional discussion on that presentation if not we'll move down under SC science of reading Grant yes I'm asking for approval of acience of reading competitive Grant um we received $270,000 this will go uh towards reading materials teacher training and staff s sens for training um especially our primary K through three grade um to help with signs reading obviously a motion to accept that Grant motion by Earl I have a second by Pat any discussion 270,000 fantastic it's exciting that's very it's really exciting great um any additional discussion or comments hearing none all those in favor 70 and then we'll move down under I think we're down under professional staff and I a request to permission to fill requesting permission to fill any positions we may have open prior to the next board meeting we have a little bit of space and it's the start of a new semester so just asking permission to fill any spots that we needed to help us get started on the New Year motion by Travis do have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor seven o and I didn't mean to skip over recommendations but there were none so so now we're going to support staff and I think we do have some recommendations just a few yes asking for approval please for J Bailey to serve as a Jennings County High School volunteer FFA FFA livestock coach also asking approval that mass and brusher um be approved as the jinnings County Middle School um RN which we are so excited at the position fill um also asking that Carl pimberton be approved as the jinnings County High School girls head wrestling coach one of our new positions and Bry Wagner be approved as a Jennings County Middle School custodian have a motion to accept those four I have a motion by maryn do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion just a question does Mr Bailey make house calls oh um I'll check on that I'll check on that girl is not serious about that put that on the record no other discussion all of those in favor seven um next we go down to permission to post a position asking for permission to post a support position for the High School athletics um this position will help support individual student needs and any extra needs in the High School athletic department outside of school hours I have a motion to approve that posting Pat do I have a second second by Travis any discussion all those in favor 70 next we'll move down under Finance yes have a lot of donations so I'm asking permission to accept the following donations First Baptist Church missions eight zap bug heaters $1600 value one for each School Anonymous 325 to Brush Creek for student snacks Coffee Creek Christian Church 250 to G Creek for students in need Lisa Bailey $4,000 to Hayden for breakfast lunch assistance nbic $200 to nbe for title supplies cpio United Methodist Church $100 to cpio lunch accounts Jenny County pallets Incorporated $1,000 to Jennings County High School winter formal Jackson County denel $100 to the jchs PBIS Rotary Club of nor feron $1,780 for the junior class at the high school roseacre Farm case eggs to the High School culinary arts class stevenh J ellner $585 to the high school aspire to Greatness luncheon iron Benders Fitness and Nutrition LLC $100 to the high school winter formal and Jimmy's Church of Christ $200 to the high school Panther pantry have a motion to accept those donations question what is a zap bug here I may want to get one I don't know find out wonder I know they cost $200 what they are though I find we not under the discussion phase I have a motion by Chelsey at second my discussion maryn I'm not I'm not talking any [Laughter] hearing none all those in favor 7 uh next we have a resolution yes with four weeks between this meeting and the next meeting resolution authorizing treasure Deputy treasur to make payments of claims without board action card January 11th and to allow the treasur deputy treasur to make transfer appropriation thin education Debt Service and Ops in order to balance major account classifications do I have a motion motion by Pat do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor seven we have another resol next is the resolution it's always made the last uh board meeting of the year because of the year end scenarios uh close out the form nine is a resolution authorizing treasure Deputy treasur the jam County schools to make temporary transfers from a fund having a sufficient balance to a fund having a depleted balance for December 31 2023 cash flow purposes I have a motion to accept that resolution motion by Travis second by Pat any discussion all those in favor seven next we're down under operations calendar yes asking for approval of the 2425 Master calendar um jcca looked at three options and they gave us the opinion that this was the best option it's Top Choice this one um aligns with the career center holiday breaks and it's also really close to this year's pattern same types of holiday and breaks okay a motion to accept that motion by Pat do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor seven I think we're down under other no other hearing nothing I'll entertain a motion to adjourn a motion by Chelsea do I have a second second second by Pat all those in favor seven
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
um I also want to wish everybody who's celebrating a happy Hanukkah this evening the first night of Hanukkah if you celebrate um Miss jensi could you please call the role here here here thank you could we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance United States of America andice for all thank you we begin this evening's organizational meeting with the election of officers in accordance with board policy 9120 the board is required to elect from its members a chairperson vice chairperson and secretary at its first regular meeting following the first Monday in December following the banial town election the votes of each member in such election shall be reduced to writing and made available for public inspection within 48 Hours excluding Saturday Sunday or legal holidays the officer's term of office shall be two years could I have a motion on the election U Miss herrian I move that the banal election of officers of the chesher Board of Education be conducted conducted as described in policy 9120 any discussion the motion before us is that the banial election of officers of the chesher Board of Education be conducted as described as Po in policy 9120 uh all in favor it's unanimous at this point I'd like to call for nominations for chairman of the board of education Miss herrian I nominate Sam Rosenberg for chairperson of the board of education is there a second nomination Mr White author seconding the motion uh no second nomination oh second yeah I wasn't nominating anybody else I thought it was seconding the nomination this one isn't seconded this is just is there any other nominations last call for nominations okay the nominations are now closed I'll distribute ballots please write the name of the candidate in the on your ballot your ballots have your name on the bottom of them so if you could please check to just confirm that it says chair and it's your name on the bottom uh before you write in the candidate point of information yep uh if there's no other nomination is a ballot necessary um because it must be reduced to writing I would say yes oh oh my my apologies thank you sorry some help I am the word policy used to say in ink Quil but yeah does say that yeah the public needs to be I know if it was a law or policy it's policy Point collect the ballots thank you I'll read the votes into the record um Mr White votes for Sam Rosenberg Mr ecki for Sam Rosenberg Miss herrian for Miss Rosenberg uh Miss Rosenberg for Miss Rosenberg uh Mr per for Mr Rosenberg uh Adam grippo for Mr Rosenberg and Mar cullinan uh not that there was any suspense for Miss Rosenberg congratulations Sam you're the new chair of the Board of Education we play musical chairs yeah we can play musical chairs yeah I'm not comfortable with a gavel Adam doesn't trust me with unique view over here different view over here yeah thank you for my first task I call for nominations for the vice chair of the Board of Education and I actually would like to nominate Dr Ann herrian is there a call I'm calling for any other nominations the second time other nominations third time around okay nominations are closed Dr Solen can you please thank you chair again if you don't mind just please double checking thank you [Music] yeah your steps that's good okay I'm going to read the nominations for the record Mr White for for an herrian MR Aki for Ann herrian Dr herrian for Dr herrian Mr perini for Ann herrian myself for Anne herrian Mr grippo for Anne herrian and Mrs cullinen for Dr Anne herrian congratul you congratulations Dr Anne herrian I'd like to also call for nominations for the Secretary of the Board of Education I personally would actually like to nominate Mr Adam gripple for secretary are there any other nominations on the floor are there any other nominations on the floor at this point nominations are closed Dr Solen will pass the ballots out for us thank you you thank you than sure about this yeah having all the ballots I will read the nominations for the record Mrs herck uh Mrs cullinen for Adam grippo Mr eki for Adam grippo Mr White for Adam grippo Dr herrian for Adam grippo Mr perini for Adam grippo Adam grippo for Adam grippo and myself for Adam grippo congratulations Mr grippo secretary grippo at this time I'd like to call for motion to adjourn the organizational meeting of the board first by Mr White second by Mr perini we are journ all in favor oh hi sorry my bad we are adjourned I know I'd like to call the meeting to order Mr zeni can you please call the RO here pres here here here here can every play please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance United States stand indivisible andice all and our my favorite order of business is our student representative repor right go ahead Andrew hello everyone I hope you are all doing well today we'll be reporting on the upcoming events in December at chesher high school um unfortunately Ella is not here today so I will also be taking over for her um so last time we I'd like to follow up on those who asked about opportunities for students interested in trade opportunities um in parallel to the college fair we had pre previously discussed in November there's been a construction day field trip a marine career day field trip and a field trip to a career fair plan um last year there were multiple trade panels available for students and those are expected to start again as soon as possible well as well um I don't have further information on those right now those are just what I had learned about um there are many charity drives going around the school right now sponsored by different clubs organizations Sports Etc um some of the ones I'd like to highlight are the Senate sock Drive the student Senate sock Drive the young Republicans Toys for Tots the neighborhood food drive sponsored by Pure Health and National Honor Society which I am taking part in and there are more coming out throughout the year and tomorrow is Pajama Day to support the Connecticut Children's Medical Center um yesterday there was a Winter concert for the Bandon Orchestra and a chorus concert next Tuesday the fall play was successful and now it is time to move to the next musical Mean Girls and auditions begin this Saturday and I'd wish every I'd like to wish everyone who's auditioning for it the best of luck um on Saturday as well M the mock trial team is going on their field trip to competition um and to compete their uh compete and present their case against other Connecticut teams um Mrs talion and Mrs LeBron sponsor or are the um advisers for it and I was talking to them they're looking very forward to it upcoming as well is Winterfest and so many high school teams and organizations are participating it's an amazing event for children and little kids who would like to come and have a good time see Santa it's decorated very well in the holiday spirit um it's just an overall great event that I think every everyone loves to be a part of uh now that fall sports are over we have we had many SEC and State academic athletes which is an honor for our athletic department our coaches and especially our student body and teachers um I can speak for football because I play football where we I think we had a great season going eight and two beating Southington for the first time in years um unfortunately we lost in the first round at massic but um for now we are just beginning the winter season for our winter sports teams with scrimmages beginning as early as yesterday and throughout the week and Games Starting as soon as next week um Tomorrow there's an interesting opportunity that roughly 50ish students are taking aart in at 8:15 or approximately 8:15 in the morning the US Naval Academy will run the game ball for the Army vers Navy football game through Treasure they will travel travel over 400 miles from Annapolis Maryland to Foxboro Massachusetts where the Army Navy game is being held at Gillette Stadium this Army Navy game is tradition is very special and will be awesome to see all the runners embarking on this uh this journey and honoring the veterans in this process um there are a ton of field trips that are going on throughout the school and one that I heard about which is seemed like an awesome experience was on January 8th which is to New England colleges New Hampshire presidential primary convention uh this happens once every four years obviously because that's when the elections take place but students will get a chance to meet the media and most importantly meet the presidential candidates uh being able to speak to the media and candidates attracts and educates young people into Politics as we are approach approaching the legal voting age of 18 years old I'm actually attending this trip and I'm really looking forward to it and finally on Sunday the jet the New York Jets um are playing the Houston Texans and at that game we are honoring the football coach Don dust um for the for earning the coach of the week earlier in our season um which is an a which I think is awesome because it's one out of so many coaches in um this whole area and all these senior football players are going along with him to support him with our it's so it's our senior dad trip we all go with our fathers to it should be a very fun trip um but most importantly it's to honor coach drust and his achievement throughout this year um and that's it now I'm open to any question questions that you have any comments from board members or questions Dr heran hi Andrew thank you you did a great job we'll we'll make sure Ella knows that that you uh performed beautifully without her by your side um thank you for all that information I'm very pleased to hear about um the father son and Coach uh um football game that's um that will prove to be I think a really wonderful experience so be sure to come back and give us the update on that when you come back next time definitely thank you thank you any other comments I will actually be there on Sunday oh you will opportunist yes um I'm not a Jets fan at all I'm a Giants fan so just being in the stadium is awesome but I will be there to um root for our coach yeah can I just ask to clar the Senate sock Drive is that a particular day or you're just doing it throughout until so it's throughout the month of SE or December um the student Senate runs it it's I I forget which organization it supports but they're collecting socks of any type uh to support those in need so does the public or can the public drop off or yes whereabouts would the drop off um I'd have to you have to drop drop it at the front door okay so when you come through the main entrance you'll there's a security reception there and you would have to leave it there but we would certainly welcome donations there as well thank you Andrew awesome job thank you and our next order of business uh is the school partnership award and I get the privilege of presenting this if you don't mind Dr Solen so at this evening's meeting the recipient of the school partnership award for Chapman school will be recognized the board of Education representative to Chapman will introduce the school's recipient but I wanted to do this for Mr Jim Jinx Jim is the executive director of bike chesher a community-based nonprofit focused on encouraging and improving biking in chesher bike chesher operates a community Bike Share holds public bike safety sessions organizes group rides and advocates for the chesher village bike route Network a 40 mile network of bike friendly streets in cheser according to Mrs Burns the Chapman School princip in addition to Jim's Community contribution Jim has organized and led bike safety classes for the students at Chapman School Jim has taught students how to wear a properly fitted bicycle helmet adjust their bicycles to fit them for safe riding check their bikes for safety before riding how to see and be seen riding and how to best control their bicycle how to watch for road hazards and the importance of avoiding riding at night these critical bike safety skills come in handy when Jim leads our bike to school school day this special day promotes active Transportation along with a social opportunity for Chapman parents and students to connect in the fun of not taking the bus or a car ride to school while practicing their bicycle safety skills Mrs Burns said individuals like Jim are truly unsung heroes who recognize that education is not confined within the four walls of a classroom but extends into the very fabric of their Community Chapman school thanks Mr Jim Jinx for organizing events that bring families students teachers in our whole Community together the chesher Board of Education thanks Mr Jinx for going above and beyond for the students of chesher Mr Jinx can you please come up [Applause] here than I for how tall Jim is that's Smiles right here look at me one more [Applause] excellent congratulations thank [Applause] [Music] you I don't need to I'm not going to duck down but um I just want to say real quick thank you so much for the honor but I mean I don't do all this myself by any means um there's a whole group of people that helped me out especially with bike to school day and with our uh bike safety classes uh notably Doug Levens who I think a lot of you guys probably know from the why um Greg wolf who recently became one of our Our Town counselors is part of our our board and helps with the bike to school day and and bike safety classes um you know so there's a number of people that help us um put on these events and like the school day is you know also very much supported by the schools um by the staff and the principles of each one of our of our elementary schools is they always been very helpful with us uh the police department comes out and helps us um so it certainly isn't myself and it's it feels a little funny to be honored for doing something that is you know honestly just such a joy to to be a part of every time we do it and I I I invite all of you guys actually to uh to come out whenever we have the rides um they're only two and a half miles you know it's not very far um little kids but this big do them so um but it's always a really good time um and just just a bit of a serious note I I just want to say it's it's a little bit deceiving um how kind of or deceptive how important it is these rides um and kind of encouraging kids to ride to school and walk to school um I it looks like it's just a good time which it is but um you know when kids you guys all kind of know this I think but when you bike or you walk to school the kids get to school you know they've they've kind of had that little rush of endorphins and their their you know their their moods are better they're um kind of you know they're um they calm down a little bit you anxieties go down um and that that effect kind of stays with them throughout the day so it makes them more prepared to to be in school and to be um you know there to learn so um the more we can encourage this the the better the better our students are going to be and the better our schools be thank you so right sure thanks again guys um our next presentation is the recognition of the girls volleyball coach Dr Solen thank you madam chair it's my pleasure uh this evening to make recognition of somebody who's dedicated a lot of time and energy to our students uh particularly our student athletes in the sport of volleyball to recognize our coach I welcome up to the podium treasure High School athletic director Mr John parisina been watching Board of Ed meetings on channel 16 when I was eight and I my first time speaking this is I feel like I've made it um you gotta get out more often yeah I know good evening Dr soul and assistant superintendent uh Solano Mr masana and members of our Board of Education it's my pleasure to be here tonight as we once again recognize cheser high school special education teacher and our girls and boys volleyball Coach Sue balone on October 20th the chesher high school girls volleyball team beat Mercy High School three sets to zero helping earn their coach her 600th win in girls volleyball I want to be very clear this was coach Bone's 600th win in just girls volleyball had it been a combination of both boys and girls I would say it would still be an incredible feat for any coach the fact the fact that it's just in girls volleyball is an amazing accomplishment as a matter of fact the next time our boys volleyball team plays and wins in the spring coach bavone will earn her 900th combined win at chesher high school currently 607 with the girls and 292 with our boys during Sue's 30-year career as the girls volleyball coach she has helped lead her teams to 22 Division championships 16 Southern Connecticut Conference tournament championships and four state championships during that time coach bavone has been recognized by several organizations as coach of the year and in 2021 was inducted into the Connecticut women's Hall of Fame when you speak to sue about her many accomplishments she will always be sure to share the credit with her assistant coaches and current assistant coaches Melissa Manning Molly mhad Gina bazelli and her longtime assistant coach Jared aoma thank you coach sue bavone for your hard work and dedication to the chesher high school athletic department our volleyball programs and most importantly to the many student athletes that you have coached over the past 30 Seasons 607 or 899 and Counting congratulations [Applause] suon [Laughter] you ready yile one more one more excellent thank than awesome congratulations to both of you um our next order of business is um to ask if there are any audience members who would like to address the board seeing none we move on to the next um standing committee appointments do you want me to read off the okay thank you the following of the standing committee assignments curriculum chairperson an Marie cullinan board members Anne herrian and Mr perini Finance uh chairperson an herrian board member Mark eki Adam Grio we do have a um openings that are not filled for legislative and liaison which will um decide later Personnel chair um an Marie cullinan board member Mr perini Mr White planning um chair member Mark E and myself and Mr White for planning policy Mr Aki chairperson and then Mrs herrian and Mr gripple members we have um openings for public information and then Transportation will be in as needed so we'll have to come back and discuss those with regards to the education liaison organizations are Aces Mrs cullinan who represent us there Cheshire Education Foundation Mr grippo cave Mr perini and I do want to acknowledge that Mr perini was just recently um selected as secretary um treasur for cave so we really value you there being connected to Cave calendar committee uh Mrs herrian treasure PTA council Mrs herrian advisory Council we do have an opening there professional development committee opening there the school Business Partnership Council Mr eki and Mr White teacher evaluation committee amarie cullinan and Tim White um Town Council will be myself Planning and Zoning Mr grippo and public building commission Mr perini School Representatives um will be Chapman School Mr perini CHS and humiston Mr eki Darcy myself Dodd Mrs herrian D Mr grippo Highland Mrs cullinan and Norton Mr White those are the current committee assignments and now we actually move to committee reports so I'm going to ask Miss slano to report on new textbooks thank you at the last meeting of the curriculum committee as was reported on to the full board um a new textbook for the chemistry class being used for grades that will be used for grades 10 through 12 was put out for public comment both at the chesher public library and in the curriculum office the book is being replaced because um the book is new because the other one is being replaced because it's outdated um the condition of the book is also poor this new book which is world of Chemistry by Steph s zimal Susan zimal and Donald D coost was reviewed in the science department particularly by Susan Chason and Julie Barker they presented this they had actually looked at several books last year went back to the drawing board and looked at a three more this year they used a pretty rigorous evaluation tool a rubric which looked at alignment to the standards assessments instruction learning tasks materials and actually we had four people on that committee it was Jack Hammer Jack alexovich Laura landro and Sue Chason Sue Chason came to our curriculum committee and presented this um a few weeks ago so of the three books that they looked at was world of chemistry Inspire chemistry and introductory chemistry tro they are putting forth world of chemistry they liked the fact that this book um Not only was aligned to the ngss but it was useful for teachers they felt that the performance expectation science and engineering practices all of the components of the ngss were clear they felt that the readability of the text was good to um for a range of students they thought that the problems and the test bank for teachers were very helpful to be supplementary materials so that what they're looking at is to order a class set of books to keep in the classroom as we've talked about before student students don't always take the book back and forth but it is there for for students each and every day and for students who want to take it home that's also an option but this has an online component so with their Chromebooks they have access to the textbook and the portal and all the um supplementary materials that go along with it I'm happy to answer any questions any questions for Miss Lano and no for the online element we have to Ren renew every year um I believe let me just check this is a multi-year subscription by multi you mean how many three five years any other question Tim yeah I'm just curious with regard to the online portion and we've got it over the course of a couple years um with regard to this material or anything else do we ever end up getting any sort of trend analysis any what trend analysis on student performance anything that's useful in terms of that just being online it'd be easy for them to okay just a question thank you I'm I'm not sure if I'm understanding your question but an analysis of if if they're student performance yeah I mean are now I could not link any of our increases to a textbook at this time no or oh it's not even it's not even you linking to anything else it's just in general do you have do you get any sort of trend analysis from them are you thinking we improved our ngss scores by about 133% over last year at the high school so in grade 11 the students take that ngss test and over last year there was an improvement by 133% they aren't taking Assessments in the textbook yeah okay thank I was yeah exactly sorry thank thank you that's right any other questions for missano no so seeing no questions we call for a motion to approve the world of chemistry textbook an and is there a second Mr perini oh excuse me I Mo I moved that the Board of Education approved the purchase of world of chemistry as recommended by the curriculum committee thank you an is there a second Mr perini thank you any comment no no comments we'll call for a vote um we'll move to all in favor thank you sol all in favor for the world of chemistry textbook it is unanimous congratulations thank you you've just made the science department very happy if I could I just make a comment I should have done it before on the comment yeah um I just wanted to say I invite anybody to come to curriculum committee meetings when this material is presented to us because the the Committees that are put together to review new textbooks are done so systematically and so carefully and there's so much work that goes into it that it you know it really makes our job easy to to accept these books that they come up with so if you could maybe I'll pass along publicly thank you to um the Committees that specifically the science committee that U teachers that got together for for this task Madam chair if I may Mr perie I also want to piggyback on Dr hargan's comments thank you uh Marlene and your team and the commun F to work uh not just textbook but any textbook review department has been as an described systematic thoughtful so please let your team know thank you for continued efforts here great we're g to move on to um Finance Mr masana all yours sir good evening thank you welcome to the new board members the board members do have the finance report I I will go quickly on this report there's there's not a lot um that I will add from last month um our budget is 84 84.9 million you know through the month of November so that's five months in we've expended or encumbered 68.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
okay we bring to order bring the meeting to order can um Ru Carl Maria Gary pres Amanda's here here Rick I'm here and I'm here pledge Reliance Rick will you do it this time lead us in the pledge you bet uh please join me in the pledge St flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you thank Kylie do we have any public comments we do not if not um I'd like to have a motion to go into a close session but first let me tell you what we're going to be doing in there we're gonna fire a lot of people tonight no I'm just kidding pupil Personnel expulsion case number four 2324 an expulsion case number five 2324 expulsion cases number 1 2324 annual reviews AR 62324 through AR number 823 24 conference on litigation government code section 54956.9 A current litigation 10 cases cvds 19 3 Civ ds20 22956 Civ dsb 21111 303 c i vsb 222 20303 Civ sb221 8676 Civ sb22 cibb 204 I mean 230 4865 cvsb 231 4073 CIB sb22 23 22171 government code section 549 54.5 and 54956.9 anticipated litigation one case 2 220 to 2105 public employees discipline dismissal release reassignment transfer leave title certificated and classified public employees appointment resignation retirement reduction title certificated classified employees conference with the L labor negotiator agency negotiator Dustin Conrad employees organization Apple Valley Unified Teachers Association conference with labor negotiator agency negotiator Dustin Conrad employee organization CA Conference of Labor negotiation agency negotiator TR Nelson employee organization unrepresented conference with real property negotiator government code 549 56.8 negotiating parties Matthew schulenberg Apple Valley Unified School security matters government code section 54957 consultation with Apple Valley Unified School District chief of police and number 10 superintendent evaluation I'd like to entertain a motion to go into close session now second all in favor I I thank you good okay well bring it to order we're start off with reports our student representatives from uh yakala fine looking group tonight we have H Mo Thomas lle Nichols jcn Diaz Bella Coronado and Emily Curry she corrected you want how to say her name so I bet she'll fix it for us it's cute I did the best I could you did she was cute she just we need know it sound there we go good evening board member superintendent Nelson and assistant superintendant my name is Emily and these are my fellow student council members Bella Mo jenne and Leon we are student council representatives for yakala elementary we are honored and excited to share with you tonight all the wonderful and amazing things that are happening on our campus this year started with a special music video to welcome back to school from Mr Lopez our favorite band teacher really our only band teacher Mr Bradley who is not shy and the best backup singers in the high desert our very own teachers Mr Vic Miss Fels Mrs oric and Miss Rob if that doesn't make you feel welcome at ukula nothing will oh and watch for our Christmas edition to be released soon meanwhile on sports news we play a wide variety of sports that everyone is welcome to play third through sixth graders have participating in baseball flag football and soccer soccer is our most popular with almost 90 students signed up and attending practice soccer season will end mid January with a big game we invite you to come watch us play our esport team is also practicing hard so they can be repeat Champions Mr Clark proudly displays our Esports trophies in his office and shows them off to anyone who visits visits our school in addition to all the sport opportunities we have on campus we would like to share with you all the clubs students have opportunities to participate in we have been caling to tools book club puzzle club tinkering club tutoring board games drama club Esports Lego Club astronomy club stem Club Ceramics Club Matilda Club Art Club around the world club and our personal favorite student council Mr Clark says if you can't find something fun to do at alom you just aren't looking hard enough our hiking Club is still going strong we have grown so large that we have broken into two groups we were able to visit Big Bear and Joshua Tree National Park into to enjoy fresh air and the beauty of the outdoors in addition the student council was able to participate in a Disney leadership conference we highly recommend it Mickey says to say hi we all welcome you to the to the next half of the school year as we host more family activities a dance or two in our ever popular family movie Nights we welcome all you to visit yakala to see all the great things happening on our campus in fact we have a Christmas crafting night game night on December 15th come get your photo taken with Santa make a craft and sip some hot with us thank you for your time and attention and most importantly make it a great day or not the choice is yours now outstanding Vanguard prep amaron sarcus Brooks Johnson [Applause] good evening board members of Miss Nelson I'm Amir sarus the ASB president ofor Preparatory and I'm Brook Johnson the ASB Vice President we are Beyond excited to have the opportunity of speaking with you all this evening this year has been off to a phenomenal start and we can't wait to share all the great things we have done so far as a leadership class focus is to create opportunities for students not only participate in activities but share their voice in order to be a part of the creative process at Vanguard our leadership program believes that students have more buying when they get to help be a part of planning our goal has been to create opportunities to involve as many students as possible in our activities this year every Friday our Falcons get a chance to play fun lunchtime activities and win prizes another way we've accomplished this is through student surveys for our winter formal we hosted a voting form with sixth through 8th grade Falcons Gap as their theme ideas the person who suggested the winning theme received a free winter formal ticket in August we our first s the year let's hulo with a big turnout of 300 students Falcons were able to dance B concessions or cor ice play games visit the painting lounge or even take photos of photo booth with free pictures even had a great time and gave positive feedback one of the things we like to focus on over at Vanguard is s so a part of our core Behavior values that we focus on daily s stands for self-control on task always respectful and responsible students in Vanguard live the sore expectations we demonstrate sore expectations in everything we do not only by showing positive behavior on campus but also serving within our community to help keep our students on safe s Behavior we have started an amazing program called kindness Club kindness Club has been a great opportunity for students to come meet fellow Falcons at lunch and participate in kindest activities we really feel that students who sign up have a dep positive and exclusive experience this year the Renaissance Leal class has started Wellness Wednesday where students can come in during Middle School lunch participate in activities and discussions that support their mental health our October was full of events and service opportunities for our Falcons we kicked off the month with our annual October Fest sock drive as a whole school we collected over 1,900 pairs of socks for the better way in women shelter we hosted a spooky Halloween social for our secondth through third grade students as well as a moving app for our Middle School Falcons Red Ribbon Week was full of spirit days and lunch activities that supported this year's National theme be kind to your mind live drug-free our most participated Spirit day that week was have the power to say Notre drugs where students got to wear superhero shirts Fall Festival was a successful night hosted by ptso where students and their families got to wear their costumes and participate in fun activities the month of November focused on the first trimester Renaissance and celebrating a bronze silver and gold Renaissance Falcons for their academic achievements the theme Was wiie Won and the great Factory on Tuesday November 14th renaissance renaissance hosted a 4.0 party for Falcons who earn their gold tickets in fifth through eighth grade students received a 4.0 shirt and got to party with fun games eat pizza and delicious snacks on Friday November 17th the Renaissance Ry wiie won in the grave Factory was hosted for over 250 fifth or eighth grade Falcons that made our November fund for Falcons campus wide on December 1st we kicked off our Santa for senior tradition where Falcons get the chance to GI the senior of our community a special gift this program last up until December 18th also on December 1st we hosted a holiday movie night for our fourth through sixth grade students where they watched the Grinch as we wrap up 2023 we look forward to continuing building community and planning activities for our fellow Falcons 2024 promises to be filled with even more activities and events we very much appreciated your time this evening and can't wait for the next time V A speak gets the privilege of speaking with you all go Falcons and remember Falcons don't just fly they sore High good job I desert Premier Academy isma [Applause] Solus you better not mess up I don't know why but I'm pretty nervous I did this a lot of times but I mean I'm still nervous I don't know all right sorry all right uh good evening president B board members superintendent Nelson and executive cabinet I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving break November was uh really a great month especially the food we all got Thanksgiving uh I'm extremely grateful for the food that was provided uh this this semester we have 22 students that are graduating we are proud of those seniors and wish them all well thank you Miss Nelson and Mr schoser that's how you say it right okay I just wanted to make sure I didn't want to pronounce your name wrong so for coming to visit us and taking with talking with the student advisory team we feel grateful that you guys have took your time out of your day to listen to us and what we had to say we mentioned a couple of things like more school activities such as a spirit week and events and a new paint job for our school like black and yellow for our school Al uh we look forward to seeing you again in January the mayor youth Leadership Summit gave us an opportunity to make our voices heard in the community we had seven High Desert Premier students that attended we put our our skills to the test they put us together in a group and gave us 30 minutes to solve a Lego set without a guide they gave us this test to develop our commun communication skills our team building and bonding while other groups of students president all right present yeah presented okay sorry uh presented projects the projects were real life projects that were going to be brought up later that month one was the swimming lessons in spring break to prevent children drowning that's the one we all agreed on we all like how you guys are I mean made a choice between that one so that's the one we got I mean it was a good one too I mean I thought I really liked it I mean I I thought the homeless one one was good too but that's the one we chose so but uh the wellness center and our school nurse have created a monthly newsletter for our uh School High Desert Premier students Miss Neo and miss Brian included information of depression and anxiety for our awareness of December as well as techniques and tips for our schools for our our students to cope that's what I handed you guys out so you guys could all see it you guys could take your time and look at it if you want I mean there are two programs I would like to mention that are coming to htpa First Mr Smith is looking to bring the save our sons program this will benefit many of the male students on our campus second we have been using smart pass which is our digital Hall Pass and has been in effect for the last two months and has been great it takes some time to get used to but it gives you a better understanding of where our students are on campus we have a new school club too our golf club with Mr Gonzalez will start next semester today is also National Pro Harbor membrance day more than 3,500 Americans lost their lives that day by remembering this tragedy our community can solve enormous obstacles and learn from them good luck to everyone on their finals and have a great break I hope you all have a good New Year's and happy holidays I'll see you all next year very good Grant Hills High School Hana [Applause] good good evening executive cabinet board members and attendees my name is Hannah for of the Junior pres president at Granite Hills I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving break and I'm very excited to be back here tonight ASB has been very busy for all of December ASB is holding an ornament painting fundraiser during lunch students can come and buy ornaments to paint which ASB will then pass back to our students on Fridays ASB is also working very hard to get ready for this year's winter formal that will take place in January this year's theme is a night in New York and we are very excited our link here is getting ready for cocoa and cram to help prepare prepare our freshman for the upcoming finals week next Wednesday students with 97% attendance or better through first semester will have a special lunch with music games and a raffle for prizes this is one of our very positive ways we are recognizing students for their accomplishments our Graphics class provided swag for the town at Alpa Valley event which was a huge success 27 of our CTE students completed three certifications of skills USA framework certification challenges and will be recognized on December 6th on Zoom the celebration will have the executive director on the call in gr Hills has3 skills USA competitors registered for regional events in the beginning of November theater held Willy won music for two weekends which had a great turnout and I actually did see a few of you there so I hope you enjoyed it the next week theater held auditions for Julia Caesar which will be in January I'll add more info for you guys on that one next month today cougar Bakery hosted the sweet genus competition where students from across the high desert demonstrated their confey skills our choir classes have upcoming holiday performances a talent and burns Noble and a local church we also have many reyles and performances today and tomorrow is our dance recital December 11th is the vocal and piano recital December 12th is the guitar recital and December 14th is our holiday concert our Key Club handed out candy canes at the Apple Valley tree lighting ceremony as well as attending the annual Key Club fall rally at Six Flags when they had a blast 40 Avid seniors went on a 5-day College field trip just before Thanksgiving break students toured 15 campuses from Northern California to Southern California and the experience helped many of our students decide on where they would be attending college next year our 10th grade Avid students also had the opportunity to tour a college campus visiting USD in the Natural History Museum and currently our AVID program is hosting Shadow Days for eighth grade Avid students across the district our mock trial team finished off their season fairly strong last night with a competition against bran kukam kukamonga high school and although we are currently anxiously awaiting our scores I would like to say I'm pretty confident that we may have brought home a win last night the teams had huge growth this year and as Captain we are excited very excited for what the 2024 season will bring us as for athletics our fall sports teams made history this year and they all had their end of the season Banquets for girls basketball the team picked up their first win of the Season against Big Bear on Monday the team is very young and getting better each and every day for boys basketball the team is currently 5 to2 and won the University Prep Jaguar Classic this past weekend with a perfect four to Zer record the team is heavy with experience and looking to compete for a league championship girl soccer the team is currently one to one and will start tournament play over the next few weeks the team is much younger than the past years but the talent level is balanced throughout the field the team's expectations have stayed the same winning its sixth Desert Sky league title in a row boy soccer the team is currently one to one also start tournament play over the next few weeks the team is also much younger than past years but like the girls team the approach this year will be a little bit more balanced the team will be competing for a lead title and expectations are high with this group for boys wrestling the team is currently one to one and we are excited by the number of student athletes as a part of the program we currently have 32 students at the program allowing the school to F the full varsity and GV team for the first time in over 10 years the group is working hard and will be hosting their annual AI ding wall tournament this weekend as for girls wrestling the team has grown to 10 student athletes in the program and the girls have a one toone record for dual meets there are many individuals doing amazing things at the tournaments on the weekends and two student athletes finished in the top five this past weekend at the Santa an invite for girls water polo the team is currently seeking their first one of the Season they're working hard each day and improving their skills to get ready for league play the team is hopeful to make playoffs with an experienced team led by two captains who have been in the program for four years we thank you for your support of Granite Hills and hope you have a wonderful winter break as always marun and gray lead the way Apple Valley High Sophia brand [Applause] all right that's better good evening members of the board and attendees my name is Sophia brand and I'm the Apple Valley High School Associated student body line president today I'll be sharing with you what our students and staff have been up to for the past month in athletics Sund doubles always Excel and we are now entering our winter season our fall Sports had their Banquets to give out Awards and celebrate the end of their Seasons basketball soccer and wrestling started and they're doing incredibly and I want to mention that last night's boys basketball game against Victor was I'm sorry to say to one of the jack rabbits on our board um it was a victory for the [Applause] sundevils clubs and pathways are always doing big things here at avhs and this past month was no different FFA office officers attended Nationals all the way in Indianapolis and drama put on a great series of showings of their play cooking can be murder at the Victorville Christmas Parade band and choir performed and Key Club walked with the Apple Valley kuas Club Key Club will also be ringing the bell for Salvation Army this weekend Sun noes for Christ took a field trip to Concordia University in Irvine and Mast will be taking a Disneyland field trip for seniors tomorrow National Honor Society is holding a donation drive for the homeless to collect canned food hygiene products and self oh my goodness and shelf snack friendly items and sports medicine is holding a toy drive for kids in need outstanding job send doubles in ASB we've been hard at work we collected 185 pairs of socks that were donated to the women's domestic violence shelter in Victorville for October this next part is going to sound like an ad which is exactly what it is so I'm not going to apologize for it but Lon has been planning our very first live game show night which is to take place next week on Thursday we have teams from four different clubs represented and some great prizes is on the line if you're not able to attend I encourage you to tune into to the live stream which will we put on by our camp Academy tomorrow ASB will be holding a free lunchtime holiday craft for anybody who wants to try it out and on Tuesday our junior class T next year's possible prom sites and from what I heard next year is going to be a blast they also have the opportunity to attend the mayor's Leadership Summit and learned a lot about their community and how to get involved in the local government there are so many exciting things happening at Apple Valley high school and I want to thank you all for your continued support we couldn't give our students any of these incredible opportunities without you I hope you all have an incredible break and I'll see you next year thank you for your [Applause] time good job California School Employees Association CA Nicholas Garrett okay Apple Valley Unified Teachers Association Karen Sabers wow look a little different there buddy hi good evening uh my name is Timothy hrie I am the uh segment director for Apple Val Unified School District um Auda and I'm standing in for Karen Sabers yeah we've got a timer going that doesn't need to be going right now oh good sorry good because it's kind of L you're representing it's okay go ahead all right thank you not a public comment actually an agendized item okay you're good all right um so I'm reading uh a prepared speech by Karen so I'm stick to script as much as possible good evening board members superintendent Nelson cabinet and audience I hope the evening finds everyone doing well and ready for the holidays to come if you haven't noticed I am going I'm once again missing the board meeting last month I was at the insurance meeting retreat and tonight I am at I am in sanan Francisco with the Community Schools cohort Timothy Hulk grief our high school segment director has been so gracious enough to read my speech I also knew that superintendent Nelson wanted a buffer between the students and her although I have not been here I have been watching the meetings online and I must say the student speakers are once again going to make me look bad with their great speeches they are doing a great job um since I was not able to attend the board meeting last month I would like to take the time to thank Miss oakar for joining us at our trun or treat and helping to put smiles on kids and parents' Faces by allowing them to pick out a book we were able to hand out over a thousand books on Tuesday evening we participated in the town's Christmas tree lighting we were able to hand out gloves for all ages Rubik's Cubes Spinners with poppets on them and candy canes the left um the leftover gloves will be donated to the parent Center the representative from the town approached the table and thank Duda for everything we are we're doing we do not do it for the recognition we do it for the students and families of Apple Valley as I stated at the beginning last month I attended the high desert Trust Insurance meeting Retreat our current trust and a CBA insurance conference hopefully our future Insurance trust I wish that I could have returned with great news however in our search for insurance and hearing the increasing increases coming we are very nervous this year we bought down our premiums by 25% to keep our insurance rates affordable at a time when most are struggling unfortunately we are not only looking at the 25% increase from that but also the 11 to 13% that Kaiser is going up and the expected rise in the ppos and hmos we are not panicking yet and we will have some reserves that we can use however we do not need to hear from uh we do not need to hear from the insurance trust that we have we do not need to okay that might be a typo uh we we we I I think it means we don't we haven't heard from the insurance trust that we have submitted information to I don't want to even think about how the members actually all employees of abusd are going to react if we are not able to obtain affordable rates Cindy is working hard at this and we are trying to stay optimistic in this Venture on November 16th we had our first district safety committee meeting the district nurses were able to show us the uh stop the bleed kits and that will be installed in every classroom that was very informative and appreciated as we broke into groups and had great conversations about future topics to be discussed and then came back together there were a few overarching concerns that everyone felt would need to be addressed in the next meeting one of those was the extreme behaviors that are being seen and keeping staff and students safe Auda feels that this is a great topic because there are there have been situations in classrooms that have happened in the past month that have left teachers frustrated and some not feeling safe I'm going to preface this by saying that the situations have or are being addressed these situations include the following there is a teacher who called me and said that she couldn't handle not feeling safe she was very upset and ready to walk out I told her to stay in her classroom and I would be right there she has an extreme Behavior student in her class I was able to calm her down we met with the principal who spoke to her in a very concerned and understanding manner uh to come up with a solution and get her help with a student and she felt better however because of being so stressed she did take her baby bonding earlier than expected and doesn't know if she is coming back due to stress I was I was called to another school where many teachers were very frustrated with with the behaviors the consistency in addressing behaviors and the follow through among other things they were to the point that they wanted to meet at the dist district office to protest and say that they were not uh returning until things were fixed of course I told them that we need to handle this differently uh a male teacher was tearing up not because he had these behaviors in his class but because he was seeing what his colleagues were going through I only say that to give you a feeling of frustration they stated that they are tired of hearing build the relationships with the students they are have they already have the relationships but can't make the students get along with each other to ease classroom disruptions they also can't make the students get to class on time I also met with the principal and was able to address the situation and hear what they were already working on uh to help again the principal was very concerned and understanding I was called to another school where the student grabbed the teacher by her lanyard pulled her down and at the same time pulled her shirt off and bit her she has been very frustrated with this particular student and trying everything that she knew to do to handle the behaviors again we met with the principal to come up with a game plan for when this student becomes aggressive with other students and her I received another call and unfortunately the teacher had submitted her resignation earlier that day she said that she had never been so stressed at a job because of student behavior and how she felt that this was the first time she had ever been placed on anxiety medication she was she expressed her concern because she was she has a student that bullies another student continuously and then they begin fighting she was very frustrated with the lack of response and a proctor being sent when the students were fighting among other things the last situation that I will speak about is one where teacher the teacher pours her heart into the class only to be bullied by the students when I attended that meeting the teacher was shaken so badly that she could barely she could hardly operate her computer she was being pulled into a parent conference with hostile parents and ended up having to excuse herself from that meeting as we went up to the to her classroom a student came up to her at her door and handed her a notebook apologizing for not getting it all to her and on time she was allowing him to make up work he then asked her if she was okay she said that she will be he then asked her again if she was going to be okay the student asked to come in and speak with her about the stink bomb that had been set off in her class that morning he proceeded to tell her that he who had who had done it and apologized for how the students were treating her they were writing the n-word on her desk and letting the stink bombs off in her class during one particular period he then spoke about their relationship and how he wants to get back on track I had no idea who the student was and just listened to their conversation and thanked him for stepping up and being kind little did I know that this was the student that the parent conference was about this ordeal with the parent conference continued throughout the week and the next couple of weeks in the end the teacher was told to allow the student to make up a missing assignment even though it went against the syllabus guidelines that was signed at the beginning of the year this teacher walked away feeling defeated with no autonomy for her own classroom and as if they wanted want to get rid of her although some may hear these situations and think it's really nothing or this is a few out of the hundreds of teachers in our district but to these teachers and others that are being reminded that they are probationary and to those that are afraid or nervous to speak up it is discouraging and extremely stressful they just want to teach and be able to help students learn and be successful according to board policy 5131 the governing board believes that all students have the right to be educated in a POS positive learning environment free from disruptions students shall be expected to exhibit appropriate conduct that does not infringe upon the rights of others or interfere with the school program while on school grounds going to or coming from school at school activities or using District transportation prohibited student conduct includes but is not limited to discrimination harassment intimidation or bullying of students or staff including sexual harassment hate motivated Behavior cyber bullying hazing or initiated initiation activity extortion or any other verbal written or physical conduct that it causes or threatens to cause violence bodily harm or substantial disruption three conduct that disrupts the orderly classroom or School environment for willful Defiance of staff's authority you may ask why I am speaking about this and its purpose I would not be doing my job if I did not advocate for the teachers there are many that feel defeated stressed and discouraged as an educator the purpose is to Simply bring awareness of what some teachers are experiencing in our district we know that these behaviors are not go only being experienced by avd teachers but teachers everywhere it would be nice if when a teacher asks for a Voda assistance it would not be looked at as a negative manner sometimes they just want that extra help that extra support we hear why did they call the union they do pay their dues and have that right even if it isn't contractual we really are not involved to create problems for any anyone avoda is there to Advocate support and work together to come up with a solution that makes everyone feel supported and acknowledged everyone is facing challenges whether it be in the work life or personal life let's give Grace and spread kindness in a world where kindness is needed with that being said myself and the other three members of the Safety Committee look forward to the next meeting and appreciate Dustin putting it together thank you and have a wonderful holiday season Karen thank you for listening com uh Tim can you just thank Karen for sending her notes along with you um and then superintendent Nelson I know she said that most of those have already been addressed in the thing but yeah if not we make sure whoever needs to address it iice but absolutely make sure that it gets followed up if it's not it sounds like it is but was there anything good about our district no yeah really that's terrible I mean made it sound like our district is Chino prison we do a lot of good things all right let's go on superintendent comment TR um I'd like to recognize um the elementary students that are here for the first time representing their school doing a phenomenal job at that mic you guys did an incredible job um so proud of [Applause] you likewise our Vanguard students it presented um I loved that the president kept looking and smiling as she was not speaking and it just you guys do an amazing job and I know you have a bright future ahead of you and you're looking at the positions that you most likely are going to hold at both high schools um in the future so it's great to see you in the audience and and participating tonight and as always um the our three high school students that get up and speak with us and participate in student advisory and a variety of things um whenever you're at that mic and you misstep with a word don't ever pause because I misstep all the time it's hard to get in front of people and speak and we all make mistakes and you are doing it on a monthly basis here supporting your schools and representing well so very proud of you you have improved really absolutely um this month has been busy already and today I'm going to go from current to back um today sweet genius took place as you heard at Granite Hills High School it's hosted in their Bakery and um I was able to attend as students were getting ready to present their um concoctions which was a Disney theme uh with a they had to have a cupcake um a doughnut and a CH what the third option was a choice so they'd have a plate with all three of those on it the themes were amazing um and I wasn't able to make it back for the awards at two o'clock but I understand that Apple Valley High School took the all over um all um overall award now I know there's other Awards presented but nobody has given me the update to that so I've been trying to get that information and I'm sure um it'll be shared by our MD um CP team later Mountain Desert career pathway team um the past this past Sunday I was able to attend the last dinner theater performance of cooking can be murder at Apple Valley High School I took my date Mr Nelson um and we enjoyed the fried chicken and uh meal and provided that was provided by Stater Brothers I loved watching The Talented performers especially a few that I know personally from student advisory watching the last performance was fun as there wasn't the stress or nerves that might have been present during the very first um shows they were having fun and we were too on November 10th I was able to attend the Granite Hills um High School production of Willy Wonka as a child yes I was alive when Willy Wonka was um the original movie um I never saw the entire movie as a kid I had a fear of the Ooma loomas what a joy it was to watch the Granite Hills High School production and overcome my fear especially the fact that our Ooma loomas were from Sycamore Rocks Elementary School um the singing was amazing amazing I can't wait for the next performances to happen at both of our high schools I attended the granny Hill scada industry partner meeting representatives from local businesses come together to see what is currently happening in the skada pathway and offer information about current industry standards Mr extrand has been growing the program and the alignment with industry standards so that our students graduate prepared to go into the workforce or further their education students participate student participants shared their projects and one skills team um received commitment from an industry partner to review their journal and data for the skills USA competition which is required at a higher level the mayor's um Leadership Summit I was able to attend that for part of the time while Ishmael was up at the um Podium being one of the um council members and did a great job and um I look forward to hearing what um the town is going to do at the presentation at the next town council meeting they're actually going to honor those students and talk about the projects um the same week we held our student advisories at both um desert Premier Academy and Granite Hills High Schools students focused on and were thoughtful as they discussed topics that were most relevant to their school sites not across the district but specific to the school sites and we have got some great ideas from both um places um and we had already done our Apple High one but we will be getting together again in January several board members staffs and volunteers helped with the Harvest of giving I snuck over a couple times during my masters of govern training breaks that I was on in online um this along with our Sparks of Love support for families is a time we realize how important the family centers are to our community um sprinkle in a day off in honor of Veterans Day a shot graduation a Thanksgiving break a California school boards association annual educational conference and it feels like warp speed and we're approaching a winter break which will bring us right into second semester um in closing I do want to extend our condolences to the Apple Valley Fire Protection District as they mourn the loss of engineer Shepard our thoughts and prayers are with them and with his family very good board comments Rick sure thank you Dennis uh like always um we got some great speakers this is the first time yakala has been here this year I believe but what is some talented young ladies boy every one of them was very articulate I was like really impressed so I don't know if they were practicing or they just have a natural talent but they did did very well I getting a little ahead of ourselves I know we have a presentation here uh recognizing Dennis Bender as the 2023 president but I wanted to take my time here as on the board comments uh to thank Dennis for his leadership uh throughout this this year and I consider Dennis a friend and a mentor for you guys that don't know Dennis is probably might be underestimating but it's been over 50 years with the district as a teacher and 42 as a teacher and 16 B16 of the school board right so that's over half a century uh involved with Apple Valley School District still kicking them okay so um but uh anybody that dedicates 50 years or more of his life to education is an honorable honorable person and it's an honorable profession and I just want to thank Dennis um I've known him since the 70s and um we enjoy each other talking on the phone and having breakfast together and um but you did a great job Dennis this year thank you and uh appreciate everything you've done so with that I'll uh I'll pass it on to uh Amanda all right great thank you um followup uh I know with what Tim said I know um that that was a lot and just like looking at my notes it looks like maybe it was six things I wrote down we have to remember that there are close to 14,000 students in the district and um one of the things that I wrote down multiple times was that Karen wrote the principal was supportive um and I just wanted say thank you because you know she and and she also had met with other staff so I mean I just it's nice to know that those concerns are being brought forward that that the staff does feel safe to bring that forward and it they are trying to be addressed and we all know that coming back from the pandemic that there are a lot of concerns um that we're all trying to figure out how to address and work through um and I firmly believe that we will get through that so um yes there are a lot of good things in this District Mr bender and I also feel like I need to say by the way I work for Victor District but I am not a jack rabbit and I only wear green in December because we had that conversation before we went into closed because M oar was like oh you're in green I was like she allows me to wear green in December yes Green in December only all right my notes this is actual notes um so I had the pleasure at the very beginning of the month to attend um I don't know if that's picking me up a volleyball game over at Phoenix I think it was Phoenix and Vanguard actually um Vanguard did take home the win um but Phoenix hung in there and my understanding is that that was the first game that Phoenix really um was they were stepping up their game um and it went for the full three game for volleyball um they those girls were kicking it like they were really putting up a fight um Vanguard is pretty awesome on the volleyball court though I will say that so um they it was just it was so much fun and honestly the staff was out there supporting I was surprised how many staff members are actually out there volunteering and um Mr admire you were out there um yeah so it was it was it was just fun to be out there um then shortly after that as superintendent Nelson mentioned the shot graduation that's it's just always fun to go and and watch and see those kids and how far that they have come also mentioned we had uh the annual education conference up in San Francisco definitely there were some excellent sessions um on supporting students I will say like it was just so nice to go in and and listen to all of these great ways that we can as board members really focus on setting the direction of the district and support our students and and move forward um I did have the opportunity I broke off from the group on one of the days and got to go to a different lunch and um ran into State superintendent um Tony Thurman and I was actually really surprised he remembered me from when we had had a breakfast with him in May um so I had a good conversation with him um Miss oara I was able to introduce her to the former um president of csba Mike Walsh and so that was another nice um conversation we had about the high desert students and kind of some areas of need around up in here so we're hoping maybe we can get him to come up into this area and and visit at some point but um overall it was just it was a very educational professional development for all of us that were able to go and attend um I have an arrow which usually means I forget to turn the page um I just want to wish everybody uh tonight is the first night of Hanukkah so happy Hanukkah and also a merry Christmas for since we won't see you guys all until the next year so it'll be 2024 when we see you guys again great job students and we will see you guys next year real good thank you Mr Ary I just like to reiterate some of the points that superintendent Nelson made Al also want to congratulate Mrs glisson at Gran Hills High School and the theater arts department just put on a fantastic performance of of Willie Wonka Hannah it was great great to see you there doing your part it was it was especially great to see the the young young students from Sycamore Rocks you know and I know you older students were mentoring them and bringing them along and so it's great to see you you know instilling your wisdom and talent and and giving our younger students that that excitement and enthusiasm for the theater art so I know uh you students and and the teachers and the parents really put on a put in a lot of hard work and it was very evident in the in the quality of the performance just how how much hard work you guys put in so thank you very much it was really enjoyable I also want to congratulate Mrs Heyman and her staff at ciding bow on a very successful um Spirit day I had the chance to go over there and just just kind of take a peek around at at some of the Student Activities on that day and all the students were really excited to to uh get their assignments done get their academics done especially their reading assignments done so they can participate in some of the activities there at the Spirit day so it's very very successful so so thank thank you for for her leaders ship there at sitting B uh like superintendent Nelson said our family center just did an outstanding job of this Thanksgiving in their Harvest of giving the Ninth Annual Harvest of giving Marian torus and her team worked for days to put that together just a very very impressive work um handed out 200 Thanksgiving meals to to families in in our Apple Valley Community and Mrs arar and I had a chance to go over there and help out a little bit and it was just it was really touching to see the impact that these simple little little acts of of caring and love uh just what what an impact that had in the families on our in our community in fact I I saw one young mother in tears just in gratitude just just so thankful for the support that she she was getting through our district that you would not have got otherwise so just just again thank you again to Mrs Tores and her team for a fantastic job and um that that's all just like to also wish everyone a Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you back here next year students get some rest this uh this Christmas break enjoy your time off uh hopefully your your teachers aren't giving you too many homework assignments over the break enjoy your time off and we definitely look forward to seeing you when you come back thank you very good Maria um I'm going to start out by ask asking ishmail did you enjoy your big brother did you enjoy your big brother because you mentioned it at the last board meeting that your big brother was coming home uh for things he did not okay [Music] because okay because I was looking forward to the update yeah because okay we're we're looking forward it's always good when you hear these things and you store it and you wait and for the moment but um I I have to start out with the students from um uh yakala I I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed what you had to share um as you all can tell I am from another country so if you speak so fast I lose what you're saying you know it's like it's like what are they trying to say you guys took your time and you you expressed yourself very succinctly so I was able to follow along and know what your school was about and whoever took the photographs that we saw on the screen was exceptional because the pictures were so clear I wanted to see if I can borrow the camera um and of course of course our high school and middle school students I couldn't uh couldn't say anything more than what all of these people have said about how impressive you are you all were in presenting to us about what's happening at your different schools um as we get ready to go on vacation I am hoping that the parents the teachers the the classified personel law enforcement uh that they all have a peaceful and healthy holiday period I had the opportunity to go to yakala school actually I went twice uh trying to get myself into the book fair uh the first time I went the person was almost getting ready to go for her pet for a parent teacher meeting so I left and I came back um because I needed to U buy books and then I ran off to uh siia school and also ended up buying books because I wanted to make sure that I participate in what you are doing at your individual schools um I I have to say um everywhere I have gone um I hear other students talking about other administrators talking about their district and when they brag about their District I think you have nothing we have everything and how dare you tell me how great you guys are we are greater than you are um so um I just want you to know that I I have never been more proud to be a member of of this community uh we had the opportunity to go to San Francisco um to learn as much as we we can and we had um the best tour guide we had a tour guide who also came for the training but knew San Francisco so shared with us how to navigate that big city um and it was such a beautiful experience uh for me I I left there um with such impressive um experience of how to navigate the district I am hoping that 2024 will give us a better year year um it won't be like this year you always want to be better than tomorrow so I'm hoping that you all enjoy your vacation and U come back refreshed thank you so much thank you um I went to the shock graduation this a program put on for students in our district that are having trouble some of them are actually tearing their families apart and it's run by the sheriff department our local school police and the Marines from um Barstow and it's a about a 16we boot camp and when it was over with what a difference it makes and they went through the graduation it's really uh art rendering to go watch it they have tears in their eyes and then I went to Hisperia um with our superintendent TR she addressed a group of senior citizens probably about 50 or 60 and uh she explained our school district what we do our academic achievements and our safety programs with our school police and um also our family food CARE program and uh it was well received and uh I'm going to tell you she hit a home run it was really well done thank you we'll move on now we'll have the clerk read out any action that was taken in closed session we have a can we can we hold can we hold and do the recognition now and so that we can release the students and I'd love for the students to stick while we recognize you Mr Bender is that okay can we do that you watch yeah they do yeah they do is that okay Bard can we please do that yes thank you we have a second recognition for him so hold up for us oh you have one too yes okay you GNA let me get up I'm or you I'm walking a little slow I had my knee replaced you come when you're ready I'll no I'm not that he was he was asking what was happening tonight what's happening and I said Mr Bender is the board president outgoing and a new board president will be put in place tonight and he he's glad you're staying so um during our annual organizational meeting um we recognize our current board president and talk a little bit about them Mr Bender was elected to the board in 2008 and Mr Ry already covered a little bit of this but he didn't know I was going to as well at the annual Rigo organizational meeting in December 2017 and 2022 Mr Bender was nominated and voted by um his peers to be SE the seated president for the next Board calendar year after serving as a teacher in the district for 42 years he was celebrated at this this Podium at our retirement recognition board meeting in May of 2008 as is often the case with Educators they find other ways to serve students so it is no surprise he ran and was elected to the school board I find it ironic that Mr Bender Who taught history within our school system has also become a historian of the Apple Valley Unified School District as he has been here since our unification there is not an event or a topic brought up that does not have a story tied to it he has a memory that includes detail he can often recall the weather what was on the front page of the paper or the food that was associated with that particular event if you ever have the opportunity to be in public in a public place outside of these board meetings you quickly realize he is a local Legend the and people of all ages walk up and say hi Mr Bender do you remember me they tell him their name and he Chuckles and says oh yeah I do and then with the detail I mentioned before he tells how he remembers the adult who was previously a student and often asks about a sibling or a friend he Associates with that person I know he is proud that during his term as this board president he has begun the process of getting Granite Hills High School Stadium begun since he is the only remaining board member associated with my appointment as superintendent let's blame him that I'm in this role I do not think it is coincidence that we are recognizing his service this past year as board president on December 7th 2023 also National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day very appropriate for someone who taught and loves history and I am honored that I get to present this um plaque to him tonight as the president of um the school boards for Apple Valley Unified School District and I have to say Dennis I'm gonna give you a hug in a minute but um he's been telling me about my son works for um the Navy and he's been telling me about these newspapers that I remember being hung in his classroom um that students um some of you were students in his classroom and would have seen these newspapers and so he told me knowing that my son is just a huge history buff um Kevin works on the um F-18 hornets and Mr Bender kept telling me I've got this this newspaper I've got to give you well he couldn't find the one he wanted to give him but he did find a couple others and this one he my son hasn't seen yet he'll be in town this weekend and it is the cover of the newspaper the day that um Pearl Harbor was bombed and so he has gifted this to my son and Dennis um I I feel honored because he says it's the old the the newspaper that he has that is older than him and so we're super appreciative and it landed on the same day and so how cool is that right so Dennis you've been wonderful thank you it's been a pleasure working alongside [Applause] you you're doing super all you teers sta you all do a great [Music] job you have to stay they're not Mr Mr Bender um the entire team uh the entire board uh felt that it is time for us to recognize you for the beautiful spirit you have shared with us and the love that you have given us and the coaching you have given us uh every moment that we are in your presence is the most beautiful moment I have written down some of the things that you have had to say to us uh that is like a a um what I what do I call it it's it's like um the uh dessert is that the dessert you put over your your favorite meal so this board came together and we put we purchased what is [Music] that we got did youe so we we as okay good oh [Music] Amanda there we go so we figured that since you are going to be S having a special seat at the Apple Granite Hills um stadium that we will get you a stadium seat monogrammed with apple Val UniFi School District with all of the all of our uh um Mission this District values so you have a special seat at this stadium and we have a card for you and you will then see everybody wrote their special message for you that's that insided but thank you anyway for all of what you've done for us and we love you dearly all [Applause] right hey how you doing yeah canect go this right thank you I appreciate it [Music] all Ki can you move come forward please tonight look at how I tell her what to do and she just does it it's like but really she tells me what to do all the time and I do it well um I wanted to take this opportunity on behalf of the board uh to thank Kylie for all of what she she continues to do to make our lives easy and to um prepare prepare us for each of each and every every meeting that we attend and to keep us in line when we um try to get off off the script uh so today we decided to really go off the script uh and not give her any clues um but on behalf of the board we are giving you this present so that you can um go shopping do whatever it need but thank you very much they're waiting for you while she's hugging all of them you guys know she really does run the district all right you um you youngsters you can go home now thank you for being thank you for being here and for doing a good job sorry it took so long thank you for all being here you have a good holiday he's passing you up he have a good one he's passing you up no I'm being her up in you already are I know I got one more year one full year yeah than send me pictures okay okay no no no I'll be here girl I have no idea trumpin bread yeah okay now what do we got to do we have now we are get anything done close session um that was really nice in closed session the board um accepted the recommendation of the hearing panel in expostion case number four those those have another item on the agenda the um you're just doing your readouts I'm doing the readout you will wait to do that one until that you get to the decision about discipline on the actual agenda so I do do next yep just that one yeah in close session the Board of Trustees took action in support of the following recommendation from the superintendent Public Employee discipline dismiss or release reassignment transfer on a motion by Buchanan seconded by RC the Board of Trustees approved the following approve the separation agreement between the Appo Valle UniFi school district and employee number 3609 on a on a vote of 5 Z it okay um adoption of the agenda can I have a motion move second second all in favor I all right presentation of the first interm Matthew schulenberg thank you [Music] Mr see how it goes here no I don't I think I'm good Dustin thank you so much uh good evening uh members of the board and members of the audience that always gets much smaller when I'm about ready to go um I'm up in front of you to talk about first interim and I just go over some of the facts about interim remember this is a report that certifies the financial conditions of the district takes a snapshot these are our financials as of October 31st so I want to make sure everybody understands these the assumptions that are reflected in this particular presentation and the documents you'll see in the consent agenda agenda later on this evening are as of October 31st some different news has come to light as soon as or as recent as I think I saw a headline at 4:30 this afternoon uh about a multi-billion dollar deficit at the state level I think the number in the headline was a $68 billion deficit um so that's not part of this remember we have a first interim we have a second interim that comes up January 31st so be back in front of you with our financials um in March and of course this multi-year projection does reflect adjustments we've made since budget adoption based on the 2223 un audited actuals posting of carryover in any revenue and expenditure adjustments um there are three certifications possible these are kind of my my normal slides we are we will be filing a positive certification which means we meet our financial obligations for this year and the next two years based on those those assumptions and that's just some data on how many districts in this state are qualified or negative at the previous interim reporting period so again we will be filing positive um and there's just some information we use of course we use the state adopted budget as of June we use the school Services dart board with the cola projections those are all the cost of living adjustments uh we use the Sano County Superintendent of Schools common message which is written by a group of uh County cbos throughout the state of California they collaborate on that and of course we use the fmat lcff calculator to calculate our main Revenue sources and again you'll see down there I just want to make it very clear these assumptions are old so this information is old some budget assumptions and adjustments you'll see we did not adjust our Ada from adopted to the first interim it's still the 3 12 375 in the current year that is a three-year rolling average one of the um Ada accom accomodations the state granted Us coming out of the pandemic we've also used that three-year rolling average in our 2425 budgeted numbers but we do use our actual P2 when we get to 25 26 because that is higher than the three-year rolling average as we continue to project slightly increased enrollment as we continue through these years and just down on the bottom you'll see they start December 2009 we were 13,740 and then 19 20 we had a little glitch that year and we're still climbing we're 13772 as of this morning in the district so we're we're pretty close to where we were about 14 years ago just to remind everybody at budget adoption those are the cola amounts for the current in the next two years um first interim adjustments we did not make any adjustments based on the enacted budget however I want to caution you down at the bottom um I was at csb in San Francisco and sat in a presentation given by the Legislative analysts office called show me the money that was ironic that was the title of the presentation because with that multi-billion dollar deficit at the state level they're not going to have the money to show us these next few years most possibly the Lao did talk about the statutory Cola in that uh for next year their estimate now it's that's the lao's estimate there the official calculation will be done by the Department of Finance but the lao's estimate as of last week at the presentation was a 1.27% and the representative of the Lao did caution districts in the room that the state may not even be able to fund that 1.27% Cola so if we look at adopted to First interim you'll see those are some numbers just to compare how the budget's kind of morphed over the last several months again this is from adopted in June to October 31st um this is on the revenue side total total revenue in the budget as of first inter was just shy of 240 million here's the expenditure side you'll see we made some adjustments mostly in the 4000s books and supplies the 5000 services and operations and the 6000 Capital outlay the majority of those adjustments were expenses that were previously budgeted in the prior fiscal year but were not expensed for instance we've ordered things such as school buses they didn't get here so the expense gets moved into the next year because we're counting on them getting here this year that's one type of expenditure that we move and unfortunately no Revenue goes along with those expenditures as we move those because we've booked a lot of the revenue in the previous years all the one-time covid relief Revenue both federal and state those have previously been booked that's why on the previous slide you did did not see a very significant increase in the revenue in the current year a little more detail this kind of shows the effect on the ending fund balance um you'll see at first interim we are projecting this is combined this is both the unrestricted and restricted side of the budget we're projecting about a $40 million deficit spend this year and again that is because revenues were booked in previous years and expenditures that weren't completed in those previous years have moved into the current year much of that one-time money expires in September of 20124 so we're assuming it will all be expensed in the current school year prior to June 30th 2024 so here's a quick illustration of our multi-year projection this is the unrestricted side of the budget we're currently assuming the previous colas in the 2425 and 2526 up there on that Revenue line that's mostly our lcff Revenue if the cola the previous Cola of 3.94 is not funded which is a reality um we're standing to lose between four and a half and $6 million of Revenue in the 2425 year but that unfortunately is ongoing Revenue so that means 25 26 is also less because the cola will be applied to a lower number it's a restricted side you see a huge deficit spend this year again Revenue was booked know previous year those funds are expiring many of the categorical restricted funds hence we're assuming they're all going to be expensed in the current year and we're assuming in 2425 and 25 26 we're getting back to what some might call a more normal restricted side of our budget federal revenue levels off State restricted Revenue levels off and these are just those numbers combined the key on this page is the ending fund balance you'll see in 2324 we're estimating a little under 15 million and then a little over 10 and then a little under 11 in 25 26 that allows us to meet our 3% required Reserve through this particular multi-year projection thus filing a positive certification using the assumptions from the budget adoption through October 31st however when we get to second interim some of those adjustments or some of those assumptions will change based on the governor's January budget proposal and that will have a significant effect on this multi-year projection so some concerns uh what's the governor's January budget proposal going to look like based on the very dismal tax receipts they just counted um what's our enrollment and Ada Trend going to be luckily right now our enrollment is still slightly going up and our Ada is better than it has been the last few years but not quite to preco levels and again some comments on the cola I talked about that a little earlier some Milestones January again the budget proposal this says 58 billion you'll see big State deficit because that's the number that the Lao used last Friday up in s San Francisco the headline today said 68 billion haven't read that haven't read into that one yet second interim financials in January again we'll have some major adjustments to our budget assum assumptions uh March um the negotiations really kick off up in Sacramento again I'll be up in front of you uh giving a second interim presentation the governor's May revision comes out in May that's when we establish our estimated actuals for the current budget year which helps us to establish the beginning fund balance for next year's budget along with the assumptions we get from the state of California and the governor's budget and you can see in June we adopt and remember we adopt prior to the state adopting so when we come back in August inevitably we may have to adjust our budget based on what the state actually adopts but hopefully it's not too much than the May Revis and then of course in September we finally close the books on this year and that of course affects next year's budget at that point any questions hearing none I'm gonna sit down thank you good job Mr Bender the next up is actually to be January January I will be attending the school Services budget workshop on the 19th I believe it is and also capital advis okay I'll probably Mar okay I'd like to turn it over to tr for a second um at this time we would like to pause in a moment of silence to remember ausd family member Joe albre okay Kylie time for comments do we have any public comments I have one lesle sure need to grow thank you I almost feel like I should sit back down after that um good evening members of the board superintendent Nelson and District staff my name is lesie mcnanley and I'm speaking to you tonight as the bargaining chair for avuta last year in the beginning of February I presented our reopener for the current school year which included proposed improvements in class sizes and new school year preparation the two teams have met several times since then and have successfully been able to come to agreement on issues such as evaluation document updates and teacher prep period language our last meeting was September 28th and our next meeting will not be until January 25th we've been asked to wait so that the district can hear from how this from the state how money is looking doesn't sound like it's looking good um if history is any indication it's reasonable to predict that we'll hear a recession is right around the corner and that we're in deficit spending and that there isn't any funding to implement any of the changes that we speak um I'm kind of guessing that if you guys would like me to your fortune I can probably do that too I'd like to remind you of the rationale for our reopener our class siiz proposals were based upon the increased challenges we Face daily in recovering from the learning loss associated with the pandemic and the increasingly tough discipline issues we're facing in our classrooms our other proposed um ideas came from allowing teachers adequate access to their classrooms before the beginning of the school year and some paid prep time should they be willing to forego some of their vacation time to prepare for the first day of school my request is this if I am correct in my prediction that once again there is no funding available for these two proposals what are your suggestions in addressing these issues putting large numbers of kids with attendance academic and behavior issues in our classes will not do anything to help us address these increased issues that we're dealing with and that's what we're trying to we're trying to see how we can get these kids over this hump so we were asked to give the district time and we have gladly please give our proposals some serious consideration thank you thank [Applause] you J do you have any more comments I do not other than everybody needs to um have a wonderful full break and lots of relaxation and um enjoy their families thank you board comments anybody else Rick no Amanda nope Gary no just again Merry Christmas and please enjoy a welld deserve break thank you for all your hard work thank you Maria everyone have a good Christmas and a happy New Year public hearing none at this meeting special meeting none discussion action we have our annual organizational meeting and in accordance with the Ed code 5017 35143 requiring governing boards hold an annual organization meeting within 15 days commencing with including the second Friday in December to elect a president of the board Clerk of the district and the name of a trustee as an alternative alternate who will also serve as a representative at the annual meeting of school and Community College District represent representatives and determin dates of regularly scheduled board meetings for the coming year um for president I'd like to make an I'd like to make a motion for Maria AAR our next president I'll second that motion Mr Bender okay I have a second and motion all in favor I I thank you Maria you have an idea what who you'd like to have your clerk Mr Ben Mr Raley second great all in favor of Mr Ry being the next clerk I I I all right well we had a motion a second I I representative you can volunteer yourself for this position now as I understand it so if there anyone that wants to Amanda did it before sign up for this firing squad go for you want do it again uh Mr RC did it last time but he did not have the chance to actually serve okay so so you want to do it again I think he should hopefully you should I'd like yeah do you want to do it again this I would nominate Mr Ry since he was second amand's motion you need an alternate right uh yeah that's the representative okay we need an alternate will be a need a vote we need a vote on representative all in favor I alternate put Amanda back in and hopefully I don't have to you have a cover for have a motion for that I make a motion I'll second that all in favor I okay but I have your back if you okay we have to approve the meeting schedule here no has interest to serve I would like to be considered as a nominee is there anyone that like to be a nominee uh yes so I do have an interest in um serving as or applying to be nominated for the csba uh delegate assembly but it would have to be um nominated by a local or County Board and then go before so we are the local so we can nominate you right correct yes okay yeah you'll need a motion to nominate her and then you'll have to take a vote a motion I'll second it all in favor I I all right now um our 2425 meeting schedule do we have that I think it was in the pocket all right so we don't no it's in the it's it's attached to us it was an attachment in our board packet in our board packet they were all Thursdays I believe need to vote on there were no surprise wed you need to vote on it motion to approve it I move that we approve it I'll second it all in favor I I approve the certificated and classified Personnel action as listed do you have a motion move call second all right all in favor I I approve sorry I didn't say it recommendation for requested leave as noted do I have a motion I move second all right any discussion all right all in favor I approve the recommendation of the administrative hearing chairperson effective immediately on expulsion case four number 4 2023 through 24 do I have a motion there's a read out I have a read oh that's correct exposion case number four 2324 it's to amend the hearing panel recommendation to read to be expelled to san berardino county superintendent of schools Community School for the remainder of the 2023 24 fall semester and the 2023 24 spring semester student is to complete their Rehabilitation plan prior to the end of the 2023 24 spring semester a motion all right now I have a motion for that I move I second it all in favor I all uh expulsion case number five 2023 through 24 the board accepts the recommendation of the hearing panel in expulsion case number 5 2324 that it shouldn't be expelled to Sano County Superintendent of Schools comunity school for the remainder of the 2023 24 fall semester and the 2023 24 spring semester students is to complete their Rehabilitation plan prior to the end of the 2023 24 spring semester can I get a motion I move second all second all in favor I expulsion case stipulated number one 2023 to 24 a motion I move second I'll second it all in favor annual review number 6 2023 through 24 you have a motion MO second all in favor I I annual review AR number 7 2023 through 24 a motion I second all right all in favor I annual review AR number 8 2023 224 I have a motion so move second I'll second all in favor I I I this a consent agenda in order to uh expedite the meeting Mr Bender yeah before you read that can I ask that we actually pull a few items that I can explain what my remedy for um some confusion in typos and issues with comparisons um so if it if it it's okay with the board um some information that I had provided to you due to some issues clerical issues um number item number two item number 16 item number 23 and item number 24 and then I um will ask that um I have a few that once we get to those I know that there needs to be a discussion um a board member had brought to my attention something that I want to be sure that there's um a topic discussed and then we'll be able to um have a plan in place for future items such as these having to do with an are okay okay so you want to approve all of them but except well I'm just asking because of what I sent out um because of it brought to my attention by a board member I want to make sure that we have the opportunity okay well I make a motion that we approve everything except number two 16 23 and 24 still move second all all in favor I number number two is au a typo um in the process there um was a the background on the public facing document stated that it was a donation to Vanguard Preparatory and yet the donation form was accurate and said it was a donation to Sandy Academy so um there was it's just a a clerical error on the front page but for Trans um for transparency I just want to make call it out and make sure everybody's aware that we are aware now of this um clerical error and can do better certainly on checking those all right you want to just move on to number 16 yeah um number 16 is a consultant agreement that um has a not to exceed $21,000 amount for Joyce Gordon to come out and work with um teachers at Phoenix Academy the original agreement um did not get to the board um when they wanted to start the training we delayed the training so that it could come to the board appropriately um in the district background um the district consultant agreement talks about 12 dates but those 12 dates are half days for um but the consultant agreement that was sent to us has a a typo as well and so the total is $21,000 and what I'd like to do tonight if the board is willing is to approve the agreement and we will bring back a corrected agreement at the next board meeting so that we do not delay their training as amended all right I move that we do that do I have a second second second all in favor I all right number 23 number 23 is um the consultant agreement with s County Superintendent of Schools we have published the date of February 15th on every piece of um information that we have provided to the community about one of our meetings however in the consultant agreement that was provided by the county it said February 14th and we panicked which side made the mistake thank goodness it was not our clerical error on this one it is calendared with the Sam nardino County Superintendent of Schools to serve and support us on February 15th they will supply us an amended contract however we need to get you can you can actually approve it tonight um because our dates are correct theirs were're not okay do I have a motion to approve it second all right all in favor all right all right now finding number 24 this is really Mrs Canon okay go yay okay um so on 24 it's the administrative the AR regulation um and part of the language for AR 61 43 I should have printed this I don't I'm getting old um it has cba's recommendation on what we must change as well as optional what we can change and so as part of this um language for grades one through six we have the option of including two it's it's option D and option e and D is educate what is what did they describe it health principles and practices of individual family and Community Health including instruction at the appropriate grade levels and subjects in and it's the other ones it covers personal Public Safety fire prevention protection and conservation of resources cool those are those are required but D is optional it's venial disease um grades one through six and then e the effects of alcohol narcotics drugs and tobacco upon the human body um I wanted to have a discussion about D specifically um and whether or not this board felt like that one as an optional felt it needed to be included for grades one through six um I personally feel we can go ahead and leave that one out and we can include that for grades s through 12 because we have to teach that in grade seven and also in grade nine as part of the mandatory curriculum um but for grades one through six uh I don't feel like that one needs to be I would assume for E the effects of alcohol narcotics drugs is that going to be part of like our Red Ribbon Week and our or is if we leave that one out does thatoh does not prohibit us from doing Red Ribbon Week in those discussions um okay so we could technically are new yes for discussion those two are the new portions to that um AR and so um we do not currently do that at those grade levels other than things like red RI and week what is the rest of this words you after when I read when I read that um I just don't know if it is appropriate for a first grader to be for this information to even be handed to them them and first even second even third um for them to um be exposed to um you know how do you get venial disease um what happens those are real deep conversations um and I'm not sure that they are in that mindset to even figure it out um you know growing up I I thought you get pregnant by kissing somebody um and now you know better um but these are information that we need to be careful about what we insert in our curriculum for our children to absorb so I don't see why we need to add that because seventh by seventh graders by seventh grade they're beginning to even ask those questions so if they're asking the questions then it's is an appropriate place to insert it in the curriculum for them um for us to agree to work with uh so I personally don't think that that needs to be in from first grade to even sixth grade even they can begin to ask those questions and when they do you get permission from the parent to be able to pass that information to the P that's how I see it all right can someone put this in a motion I mooved I want to just confirm the motion that you guys have right now is for page three yeah of the AR to remove item D yes okay I just a in favor op there's a motion in a second got a motion in a second all in favor I I thank you all right we're done yes we did not take a vote on item two we did State there was a clerical error but since it was pulled it was not part of the original well I move accept the gift accept I'll checking that all in FA all right if there's no further business we'll bring my last meeting of this board to an end as a pres as a president didn't you say you wanted a second close Dennis no we don't I'm just kidding be a funny one here all right all in favor out of here thank you for coming going out with a bang
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
at CHS um the event is for the younger members of Clifton Community to come together to participate in Holiday themed games and activities followed by the showing of The Grinch movie the tickets can be purchased for $5 prior to the event so if you're interested please make sure to come out um for Key Club on the um 24th of January there will there's going to be a um a zoom for the Garden State equality Workshop so if you are interested please make sure to contact the president maram J friend information um the mic the music Honor Society for CHS has been collecting Toys for Tots so the toys will be collected um until December 15th after which the Marines will pick them up and distribute them to various cities um students teachers and parents have been very generous to this wonderful cause so please make sure to keep on giving for our national social studies Honor Society we had our very first induction ceremony and um I'm very proud to say that I have been one of the inductees um one of the first for Clinton High School so that's very exciting um we as a school are very excited to watch it grow so and there will be another induction ceremony in the spring and to wrap up I'd like to thank you guys for the movement that we've been seeing for the um homework policy survey so students staff and teachers received it this week via email and um it was just in regards to their being homework assigned during our breaks and um weekends so if anyone's wondering it's no longer taking any um submissions but hopefully all the students staff and parents had a chance to fill it out um like I said Thank you again it's always nice for us students to see that our voices is being heard and um the clipton Student Union is definitely happy that our proposal has been actually going somewhere so thank you very much and happy holidays thank [Applause] you okay folks this is the time we're going to be doing some uh presentations so if you would just um bear with us as we go through these and try try one more time I got the paper one but I'm going to try one more time I think I'm on yep okay I think we're back here um next we're going to have our um presentation of our pbsis uh program uh for December uh showcase uh Miss Rosa if you would all righty good evening thank you once again for the opportunity to showcase uh the wonderful things that are happening in our um schools and amongst all of our stakeholders uh Commissioners Central Administration this is a tremendous pleasure to introduce um or to present or to showcase the student uh rer Patel from wo Wilson Middle School he is here tonight very happy and excited along with his family and we want to share a couple of words and uh the feed just went out but we'll keep going right but so here we are today we're here to recognize and celebrate the contributions of an outstanding eighth grade student from woodro Wilson Middle School rudra Patel is the epitome of what it means to be Allin and Allin is what woodo Wilson uses as their overarching expectations so Ruda is ambitious respectful empathetic hardworking thoughtful generous and all around simply amazing as a student ambassador Rua has helped promote our pbsis framework at woodo wooder Wilson Middle School over the last three years this year check this out folks rouer was promoted to school store manager a position that was created solely for him imagine that having a position created just for you always helpful and supportive Mr Bea and Miss Morse quickly came to realize that they needed to tap into his abilities and proposed having Rua become the school store manager his responsibilities include but are not limited to supervising and training fellow ambassadors stocking and monitoring inventory and representing the best qualities of what we expect from the student from the students at woodro Wilson Middle School we there's a brief um video that will come up in just one moment that showcases all these things see if there's an HDMI connection problem maybe the bottom one yeah yeah I think it's it's the power the power so everything that has gone right has tonight rja would you like to um say something on behalf of um how are you feeling about this you could come on up you'll help us out tremendously if you do because folks here are definitely waiting to see you so this is our eighth grade student R Patel what's it been like to be all in at woodroe it feels amazing for me to be all in at wood scho yeah how do you help how does what are some of the things that um you help with your your fellow students as an ambassador and now a store manager um from being an ambassador for my first year it was pretty simple I just had to like work at the store go back to back to back in the cafeteria um now that I'm manager I have it comes with a lot more responsibilities such as making other who um are doing their job they must be respectful to the customers and and the customers should be respectful to the ambassadors that's right e for this way watch out cuz we know all the tricks of the [Music] trade good evening Clifton Community here at wood Wilson we have a PBIS school store where students have the opportunity of buying multiple things for doing things right here we have ambassadors that help our students do a plethora of many amazing things tonight we're honoring our school manager for our PBIS store rudra Patel who we can't operate without him thank you rudra for all the things that you do and being the embodiment of being all [Music] in working in the school store is a big responsibility thankfully we have someone like who to help us guys give that to work this isn't a coffee [Music] break folks not only does he have a winning smile but a great personality one more time thank you take a picture mom and dad all right all right ready three two one beautiful congratulations m have to unlock pictures right ready three two one nice there we go do you have another phone here oh you got it I got thank you [Applause] congratulations okay our next uh presentations uh are going to be our students of the month for the month of December at Clifton High School uh we'll start out with our freshman uh commissioner Mia so the Freshman sit in the month is going to be Joseph suniga Joseph's favorite subject is history because he because he enjoys learning how the world came to be today and why we live the way we do Joseph's most influential teachers have been his teachers from fourth and fifth grade because they established a close Bond always challenged him to reach his potential and they taught him many things that he still uses to this very day Joseph's grandparents Inspire him to the most because they worked hard to provide for their families and make sure their parents and grandchildren could live hap happy fulfilling lives Joseph was part of the CHS fall play and plant the audition for the spring musical J Joseph has been able to to maintain his grades and looks forward to being able to take advantage of all the academic programs that CHS has to offer so certificate of achievement this is recognition is certified to Joseph suniga on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education Administration for CHS freshman student of the month December [Applause] ready 3 two one there we go [Applause] congratulations our sophomore student of the month is Cameron villanua Cameron's favorite subject is history because she enjoys learning about where we came from and how it affects the way we live now the two teachers who've been the most influential to Cameron have been Mr Louie and Mrs POI they have given her many opportunities that is that she is so grateful for Mr Louie recommended her to be the choreographer for the is programs musical theater Mrs POI provided her with the opportunity to intern for the theater League of Clifton the person that inspires Cameron the most is her mom her mom reminds her to be a good person and she is always there for her Cameron has been a dancer at her studio for 13 years and is a member of the Performing Arts Academy for dance at CHS this year she was given the title of assistant stage manager Cameron credits her success in high school to managing her time and making good connections with her teachers congratulations Cameron come on up she's dancing Junior sanago please so our Junior student of the month is Errol uh Errol Airi or AG errol's favorite subject is give it up for Erol give it up for Erol so I know errol's Mom and Dad ew and Collins so Mom and I worked in banking for many years together and she's very involved in the community she's been on Clifton committees and other Clifton uh Community organizations so I'm really happy to give this to Errol today errol's favorite subject is Spanish because he really loves learning to speak a new language erol's most influential teacher is his algebra teacher Mrs gir because she works very hard to make sure he understands the concepts and is successful in class Miss Gary Mrs Gir always offers to stay after school for extra help the people who Inspire Errol the most are his family and his best friend Ava his family pushes Errol to do his best to succeed to reach his potential Ava has been his best friend since middle school and she has been like a sister to him through all life's up and downs Errol is a part of the robotics team and really enjoys making new friends and attending competitions arol credits his success to not being afraid to ask questions and not to ask and to ask for help after higho school arop plans to attend Monclair State University and major in engineering congrats Arrow so this certificate of achievement this recognition is certified to Erol Le oriri on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education and administration for CHS Junior student of the month December 2023 with sincere congratulations on your meritorious achievement with recognition by resolution of the Board of Education the desire to excel is the formula to a lifetime of success your efforts have brought distinction to you your family and Clifton Public Schools [Applause] congratulations all right we're do one more two one did you have a camera you wanted me to take one for you [Applause] and finally our senior uh student of the month uh Priscilla George senior student of the month Priscilla's favorite subject is by biology because it connects all of us priscella likes that although we are all so different but at the same time we are all so similar Priscilla's most influential teacher has been her AP Spanish teacher Senora stag going from CP to AP Spanish can be intimidating but Senora stag has been nothing but kind and patient with Priscilla and has consist consistently gone out of her way to give her extra practice at school Priscilla is inspired by her family coming to America from qar at the age of 10 Priscilla has witnessed firsthand how hard her parents continue to work for the sake of her and her sister her parents unwavering dedication support and prayers for her have become her incentive to try her best Priscilla is a member of the interact club and girls learn International serving as the president of these clubs for the past two and three years respectively after graduation in June Priscilla plans study microbiology due in part to her experience in Mr vitello's AP Biology class Priscilla hopes to become a microbiologist dedicated to Public Health is Priscilla here tonight no [Applause] okay all right next we have our employees of the month and I'll turn it over to Dr robzi oh I got you okay um any body okay yes so our first award is for Maurice MO [Applause] capichi so Maurice also known as Mo is the supervisor of Maintenance Mo exemplifies the one Clifton motto as he a self he's a selfless employee who goes above and beyond for everyone MO is always available and works nights weekends vacation days to get a job done within the district Mo promotes positive School Culture by being proactive to deal with situations to make our schools run as efficiently as possible his knowledge of inspecting manufacturing equipment and ensuring the troubleshooting activities are performed before problems become crises is mention worthy Mo loves challenges and thrives in an environment that offers trials often coming out on top of situations congrats Mo have of Mo coworkers with him today so basically the says schools district distinguished Employee of the Month december23 foring service to [Applause] the all right so Mr Smith we can't see you Dr Danny we can't see you there we go I think is you got everybody in there three two one one more three two one nice that's a handsome punch um why they're all uh still up here one of my recognitions tonight our main Department our maintenance crew might not be able to see them every uh every meeting or uh out in the Limelight but without this crew of workers without their dedication and their devotion to this District our district would not be the well-presented district that it is you cannot imagine the um things that come up in a day that these guys have to take care of behind the scenes from leaks and floods and uh disasters and um the list goes on our maintenance crew again because they're behind the scenes they do not get the recognition that they so well deserved so I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the work that you do for this District trust me it is not gone unrecognized we truly do appreciate all you do and I hope the town will get to know our maintenance group if you see somebody in a in a board of edge truck and they're wearing one of these shirts say hello to them say thank you for all that they do because trust me our buildings would not be in the shape that they're in today if it was not for these hardworking guys so again my personal tribute and thanks to you the maintenance department and under the leadership of Mo and Eddie and um doing a phenomenal job um for making our school and our uh facilities look the great way that they are so again thank you all very much [Applause] so okay now we're having a special award for for um our New Jersey exemplary educator award some more in what oh sorry you're right sorry I jumped um Alan would you take the next one Mark Judy our next employee of the month is Lisa salvatoriello Lisa is a nurse in school school 4 and she won the elementary level award this month nurse Lisa has a great passion for caring for others which she demonstrates every day to all her students her Sunny personality and warmth is appreciated by many she keeps parents informed in a timely manner regarding their child's clinic visits she shows great responsibility in taking care of nurses in duties answering phones booking appointments student screenings and swiftly reporting to building medical emergencies Lisa has shown a natural aptitude for managing and gaining the trust of our young patients she is also a member of the school for pbsis committee Lisa is a true professional she exudes contagious enthusiasm and has a deep love for nursing congratulations Lisa [Applause] just make sure it's unlocked we don't want video right oh all right I'm gonna do the phone first in case it locks all right oh wow okay you ready here we go three two one one more for good luck there we go and now this one your camera is probably better than mine all right here we go three two one one more [Applause] congratulations BR thank you Mr President Maryann ozac par professional Middle School [Music] level Maryanne is a compassionate dedicated parent professional who works from the heart giving her students 100% every day she works with a variety of students providing a tremendous mendous help in keeping them engaged and on task she supports children with individual needs she assists teachers in their craft and provide students with a caring and kind environment as they walk into the classroom Maryann is confident and detailed oriented driven paraprofessional in her daily routines always helping students reach their Highest Potential congratulations [Applause] Maryann you want me to take a picture with your phone you ready three two one Mr Smith I can barely see you back there you want to move over move over to the move over there you go okay yes everybody's important three two one there you go one more stay put all right here we go awesome [Applause] congratulations B yes good evening uh uh Kristen hospod teacher Environmental Science High School level Kristen is an environmental science educator in the high school she is always the first one here and the last one to leave Kristen is one of the many dedicated teachers in the district Kristen exudes happiness she always has a smile on her face and looks for a positive in any situation she has made her classroom into a beautiful learning environment and clearly works hard to make the students feel comfortable learn and have fun at the same time Kristen is an amazing co-worker in every aspect she works hard to the students she works hard for the students but she also works hard to make other staff members happy too she always she's always baking and bringing her treats into for the staff she participates in everything she's on the softball team and she can tell you can tell she loves working with our staff and students every day congratulations Kristen [Applause] hospot do you do you have a phone that you want to no they'll all be uploaded on the we website anyway you can grab those three two one there we go [Applause] congratulations okay next we have our special Pres ation and New Jersey acary educator award for 2023 all right um resolved that the Clon Board of Education recognizes the 2023 New Jersey Exemplar educator award which honors two outstanding Educators in the Clifton Public Schools only 123 Educators around the state were selected the Clifton Board of only 123 Educators around the state were selected and we have two of those uh Awards here in Clifton uh Clifton Board of Education and the superintendent of schools Comm commends them for their dedication to education and their strong commitment to the children of Clifton representing Clifton High School our media spe specialist chrisy van [Applause] saders yes okay in the yeah be in I'm we jeans [Applause] congratulations all right and our next uh teacher representing Christopher Columbus Middle School our language arts teacher Sharon [Applause] Schwarz mine's not okay let's see who's in this picture can I see everybody I can see everybody okay three two one boom one more nice congratulations one [Applause] moreit [Applause] son all right I'm going to go before you if you don't mind so I can do these presentations okay folks um going on with some uh presentations this evening um under my announcements I have a few presentations to make uh first uh presentation that I'd like to make um is to um Mr Tom hoko senior uh for all those that may not know Tom um but I think most of you do uh Tom has put out the Clifton Merchant magazine for so many so many years um he is true information about the Clifton District about our Sports programs about activities that are happening in our schools Tom always makes it a point to recognize Clifton schools the Clifton staff and most of all to our Clifton students so I wanted to uh make a special presentation tonight uh to Mr roko for all that you do uh it reads in heartfelt appreciation we extend our deepest gratitude for your unwavering dedication to Clifton your commitment to the well-being and growth of both staff and students is truly commendable shaping a nurturing and thriving Community your passion is the driving force behind the success of Clifton and we are sincerely grateful for your invaluable contributions Tom truly we say thank you I say thank you um for all that you do not only for Clifton but specifically for the Clifton Public School District um you truly who put out uh a remarkable uh piece of of um information for our city and um on behalf of myself and I'm sure other colleagues on the board uh will agree with me we truly are grateful and thankful for that and I wanted to personally recognize you thank [Applause] you all right wow that is a handsome group there three two one oh Tom [Applause] nice thank you to all you guys fol [Applause] that uh next special presentation I have this evening uh folks throughout the uh throughout the year you may go to different events in the district and sporting events and um other events and we have a a group of individuals for many years um have been attending uh sports events in Clifton um Jen algeri tells me that she calls him the jury the jury uh usually sits in their chairs on the field right off the field and um they are true supporters of our kids uh most of them uh do not have any kids in our district any longer um some uh may not have kids at all um but their dedication and the Devotion to uh Clifton athletic ICS has been um remarkable over the years and um I felt uh in my last meeting here that it was fitting to recognize them uh for that dedication just imagine just about every one of our sporting events um they are at each and every game whether it be soccer whether it be football uh basketball baseball lacrosse all those they are there and um joining that crowd uh so many years ago not only is he part of the the jurry um in in um cheering for our students he also is the guy who takes such remarkable photos of our kids um and he does this out of the goodness of his heart he has not paid for it um but he is there each and every game uh taking those photos trying to do that the best that he can with the equipment that he has and um Steve just does a tremendous job um so as part of the jurry Steve also has that that added extra duty of of making sure that we uh we represent and take some great photos of our kids so I just thought um it was appropriate to recognize uh these um these individuals uh some of them are former board members um but all of them have Clifton in their hearts have Clifton students always in their minds um they uh often are making donations to the sports programs um they're active in uh the athletic Hall of Fame and um they truly are great cheerleaders for our Sports programs and U many of you probably have seen them there and wondered who they were um so I just thought it was fitting to recognize them and thank them so much for their uh dedication and devotion so if some of them are here um I'd like them to come up um so first we'll start off with uh Steve Cohen Steve Lucy would you go up and start this [Applause] okay next we have uh Richie [Applause] Ashton hey Bobby Fiero oh Bobby [Applause] here Robert Murphy this one this one this one this one leave that one there that's he's not here he didn't show uh Ralph Tavella uh Norm tahan former board [Applause] member and former board member Bobby diarco [Applause] again gentlemen on behalf of myself and I'm sure my colleagues as well we say thank you for your endless contribution to supporting the uh athletes and the students of the Clifton Public Schools district thank you so very much good [Applause] go okay it's not there not there Miss no the bag is there not the certificate this is Dave's k k so him up yeah we'll make him a certificate Kevin we probably left Kevin we'll get that to Kenny all right okay um I think that's the end of our presentations uh folks I know it was quite lengthy um but um on a resolution you want to wait to resolution let me adopt the minutes first all right let's have the adoption of the minutes of the meeting of November 16 2023 Mo by Mr abrao second second by Mr Paris questions roll call please Mr abrao yes Miss bassford yes Mr br AC yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries I guess just go down the list already just yes just go all right just do superintend all right next we have the uh superintendence report Dr roboy thank you uh Mr President good evening Commissioners uh members of the community faculty staff students uh first I'd like to wish a happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate tonight is the first night of Hanukkah and earlier tonight uh I was able to attend the um the lighting at City Hall which was uh which was really nice and I got a really good jelly donut waiting for me in the car for the way home tonight which is very very exciting looking forward to it I didn't want to eat it before the meeting because I got the black suit on and you know I didn't um on a on a more serious note not that Hanukkah isn't serious but on a more serious note today is December 7th and it is um known as Pearl Har National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and I'd like to take a moment to uh remember and honor the 2,43 Americans who were killed in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 which uh led to the United States's uh direct involvement in World War II uh and war against uh Japan uh if we could just have a moment of silence for those Americans thank you it's one of those days that we should never ever forget um Mrs Rosetti at school 9 I'd like to give uh the school n team a a shout out they had an incredible superhero theme stem night um the third and fourth and fifth grade teachers organized that uh I believe it was Tuesday night or Wednesday night and the students really had a blast exploring different science- centered themed activities and Mrs Rosetti excuse me wanted to extend a special thank you to miss dorri and her amazing robotics team excuse me uh Mrs Rosetti wanted to thank mrri and the amazing High School robotics team for their support and assistance in making the event a success additionally a big thank you to Mr Paris who was apparently a big hit with his microscopes think and lenses um thank you I don't know if that's going to work is I feel like uh very awkward I [Laughter] apologize anyway the students apparently were thrilled to see the microscopes Mr Paris which is great if you can get kids excited about microscopes you get kids excited about science that's pretty cool I was thrilled watching um and finally I want to express our our gratitude to the Clifton Education Foundation for providing us with a grant that allowed us to purchase the necessary supplies for the EV EV this their support was invaluable some good news on the uh CHS uh College front uh yesterday December 6th seniors at Clifton High School participated in instant decision day instant decision day is a day filled with students interviewing with admissions representatives from participating local New Jersey colleges the admissions Representatives will interview the student and offer them a nine non binding accept acceptance to the college right on the spot and students can choose to participate and interview with as many schools as they meet the requirements for uh this year the following colleges participated calwell Drew fdu Felician Kane University Mammoth University Montclair State University New Jersey City University NJIT ripo Ruckers Satan Hall and William Patterson 76 of our seniors participated 76 individuals met with at least one of the schools many of those students interviewed with many schools in fact we had 188 acceptances so 76 students were accepted to 188 different schools just want to go through the list cuz I think it's I think it's incredible and called well 15 students applied 15 accepted Drew University 10 applied 10 accepted fdu 14 applied 14 accepted Felician five applied five accepted C 23 applied 23 accepted Mammoth eight applied eight accepted Monclair State 31 applied 31 accepted New Jersey City University four accepted uh four applied four accepted NJIT I guess they're a little tough to get in NJIT we had 20 apply 11 accepted that's still pretty good that's really good um ripo 25 applied 21 accepted Ruckers four out of four Satan Hall 21 out of 24 and William Patterson 21 out of 21 in addition to those 188 acceptances um our students yesterday were offered almost $1.3 million in in scholarships I want to take a moment to recognize one of my right hands who's not here right now because she's dealing with an issue because I'm running the meeting she's dealing with a district issue um but yesterday um assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Janina kusich celebrated her 30th year uh in the district she started uh 30 years ago on December 6th as a bilingual uh Spanish and Polish teacher um actually at a time where the only foreign language offered in Clifton was espanol and Janina uh in her Brilliance of course rose up the ranks and I'm just so proud to have her um at my side um as our expert in all things curriculum and instruction she's incredible and I just wanted to recognize her publicly even though she's not here Janina we love you and I I have to acknowledge and it's uh I get a little emotional when um superintendents work closely with with board members um it's what we do spend a lot of time together and tonight I just want to um thank and recognize uh fahem Abad drabo and Jim Smith um on behalf of the entire Clifton Community I want to extend my my our our heartfelt gratitude and my personal gratitude for your unwavering dedication and service to the students and staff of Clifton um to Fem I want to express my deepest gratitude fim was an original member of the Board of Education that hired me he was one of my biggest supporters has supported me since day one um I want to thank you for believing in me and bringing me here and keeping me here um during your time on the board you have made immense contributions to our school community that will not long be forgotten and never forget that never forget all the good you have done for our entire school district and our community Jim thank you for your dedication passion your unwavering commitment to the well-being and education of our students make no mistake about it you have left an delible mark on this district and on me personally uh throughout your time as a board member you've worked tirelessly um you've significantly influenced the decisions that shape the educational experience of our students and the working life of our staff your service has been characterized by a steadfast commitment to doing what's best for our students and staff I want to thank you for working so closely with me as the board president for three years we did a a lot together um thank you for helping the district tackle challenging issues for all your work on committees for board president is is is a member of all committees by being the board president and it was a very rare occasion that Jim would miss uh a committee meeting um and as you both transition from your role on the board I just want you to know that your contributions will be remembered we passed the largest referendum in the state of New Jersey and both of you had a lot to do with that um those contributions will be remembered and appreciated for years to come and thank you both for your friendship remember that your legacy is one of positive change and the seeds you've planted will continue to flourish in the form of empowered students and a stronger educational community and I wish you both all the best in the future and my door is always open thank you thank you that completes by report Mr President thank you okay we're going to move into um board committee reports that really helped uh diversity and inclusion uh commissioner Mia thank you Mr President so the diversity and inclusion committee meeting began at 1 pm attendees were myself as serving as chair work commissioner Judith bassford and administrators are going to be Mr jeno um Dr kushal levich um superintendent assistant superintendent um Mr shahada um High School pres principal Mr hamda some teachers that were in the committee as well would include Mrs malama Miss Turk Miss Lopez um Miss Tava and um Miss tesca as well some students that were there as as well so the committee reviewed and discussed policy 5756 um some of the students were there were asked about their opinions on their policy and which they were in support of uh many of the staff also discussed their opinions on the policy and uh overwhelming amount of support was given by both the staff and students on keeping this policy inside of our board um no other further discussion was taken after that the meeting Jed at 135 so I'll work with droi um to determine the next meeting for diversity and inclusion um after that we also did discuss one of the diversity clubs mentioned that there will be an lgbtq plus Workshop in the coming months um hopefully at least three and that will be open to the public um and when that does come out I'll make sure to put it out there for any of you who want to attend those uh meetings but I did want to you know implore our board right now that during this commit committee many of our students you know gave a bunch of support in keeping policy 5756 and many of our staff members as well so I hope we do keep this policy as um many of you guys heard during the committee um and I hope we don't disappoint our students and our staff so thank you again any questions Mr President yes thank you commissioner Mahia did did Administration weigh in at all on the discussion yes Administration also did weigh in on the discussion yes and they they and may I ask what they stated so they stated even if we decided to amend or suspend this poliy legally we are binded to go ahead and still follow through with it so our administrators were on full support of policy 5756 as well did they elaborate on that did they state that they would have to make a separate file and keep it confidential anything like that so legally we would still have to abide to it even if we do decide to amend or suspend the policy as that we discussed thank you were Middle School a few more questions Mr President sure were were any middle school students represented so the diversity inclusion committee is mostly made up of just high school students at this point currently so no grade school students were present either no were any grade school teachers present so there were not any grade school teachers present no Elementary no did anyone at the committee meetings state that anybody was ever outed in this District as a result of their sexual orientation no um based off the committee no thank you anyone else okay thank you uh education special education um Mr Paris thank you president Smith uh the education and special education committee met on December 6th we began at 4M present were chairperson uh Dr Danny uh myself and commissioner bassford for administration uh Miss kusevic was there Mr Jenaro and M Rolo the first discussion was PR uh preliminary explor ation of a drone program um currently there are two companies one is called Telly drone the other called little Ivy uh they were presented for discussion by board president Smith the district will look into the viability of a program for younger grades at this time both the high school CTE marketing program uh has an FAA registered drone for high level marketing campaigns and the media Communications Department also has an FAA registered drone uh the district is exploring expanded use of drones for Innovative student learning programs and clubs as well as inclusion in additional High schoolies uh an update to the homework policy proposal was given by Miss kusevic collaborative question survey went out through qual qual trick survey to 15,000 community members questions mimic the policy change and provide options for stakeholders to give input results will be reviewed for the next meeting a discussion on proximity learning uh was led by Miss Kus levich once again we discussed the teacher shortage the need for specialized certificated staff members especially for high school classes proximity Is used only for short-term Replacements due to the growing teacher shortage by allowing for certificated staff to be broadcast CED into the classroom we keep students current with their curriculum and the program is discontinued as soon as we find full-time person that we can hire currently we're using distance learning for nine class periods at the high school one has been hired uh to take over four of these class periods in January and we're continuing the job search for the other sections a special education update was given by m Rolo um she shared the following information the award-winning IMPACT program at CHS had their ribbon cutting on November 28th for their state-of-the-art new classroom the New Jersey School Board Association recognized the new IMPACT program on November 30th as one of the outstanding programs in the state in collaboration with the cea we are hosting a nurtured heart training with dinner for parents on December December 7th at school 17 so that happened this evening uh the Cornerstone private Special Needs school will sponsor a free workshop for our child study teams on challenging behaviors that will be held on December 11th we're working on changes to the specific learning disabilities policy we are creating a new behavioral special specialist job due to the lack of bcbas that are available we continue to look for teachers and Par professionals if you know anyone interested in becoming a Mustang please let us know sensory calming Corners are being added to both general education classes in kindergarten and first grade as well as special education self-contained ABA classes our meeting ended at 4:40 p.m.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
04 million that gives us about 80% of our budget expended or encumbered all is looking just fine on the budget this month though I did want to note that uh we did see uh several students that had to be outplaced that we could not accommodate with um we couldn't accommodate their specialized needs with in District programs uh and and the district does do a good job of providing for students within District but the result of those students being outplaced is that our tuition out Place line is about $150,000 over budget you know as we project out the remainder of the Year still early we'll continue to watch that if we need to make some um adjustments by reducing expenditures and other accounts we will but outside of that everything is trending just fine in the budget and if you'd like I'll give a quick medical benefits update and then I could take some questions the medical benefits report because it's um today's December 7th we usually get the report for the prime month around the 10th of the month I don't have an updated um medical benefits report through no through November I did provide the October report uh which was updated from the last board meeting um what I did want to let the board know our Reserve balance sits at 1.93 million um on a year- to-day basis the reserve has dropped 146,000 but I got noticed this week that we are getting our second prescription rebate from Sigma uh which is ex estimated to be about $175,000 so that'll get us even for the year and this year's budget if if the board members were here were call you know our goal was to have enough um contributions to offset the claims so that our Reserve balance wouldn't drop and for the first um you know four months and we'll see what happens in November we're trending in line with our budget overall for medical benefits so so that's the update if there's any questions I'll be happy to answer any questions for Mr masana Mr grippo thank you um you had mentioned the the outplacement tuition uh you said that was the 152,000 is an estimated expenditure till the year end or is what kind of exposure are we looking at there so that it is an estimate when we receive um students or when we have students that we have to out place we do uncom for the year what and we estimate what the services that are needed will be and that does change as as the course of the year goes on sometimes those services are reduced from what was encumbered sometimes they'll increase but it's uh as I said it we're five months in you know we've got the rest of the year to go we'll just continue to monitor as we do and the last several years we've really been um you know in a good place with our ourplace tuition you know but it is one of those lines that just you know one or two out placements can really you know throw the budget above uh what was estimated so not particularly worried about it yet but I did want to just put a cautionary note that that's where we are so is that estimate if the number of students outplaced remain steady yes or okay so it's we don't project so the the services that have been estimated you feel are that's what it'll be if the if the number of students are outplaced remain the same correct thanks then these aren't new students you said they would just identify for needing the out placement service these are students that are were in District they're not new students that came into District these are students that were in District that just um you know their needs have exceeded our capacity at this point thank you and you know Miss Robin an carry is our director of pupil Personnel she's very experienced so you know she's U on top of of what students needs and what services we can offer so Mr White and then Dr No Dr herrian can I ask a quick question on the um claims month and Reserve are because I know we're going to be talking about this much in the month of January but um are we trying to get a little bit more than 1.73 months Reserve or not really well we would we would like to of course you know ideally we should be above two months of of claims Reserve you know being um at this point in the year and the fact that we're even to budget seems to uh be on a good Trend and and you know that come January February March when we start the new HSA claim year we would expect to see our claims be below the 1.1 million targeted so we we always cross our fingers as I say with claims um and we'll continue to report and see where we wind up thank you any other questions for Mr masana great thank you Mr masana um I do have a executive we're calling for executive session okay so we're going to call for a motion to move into executive session including Dr Solen Mr masana and Miss Solano to discuss the United Public Service employees union contract with action to follow is there a sec is motion Mr White is there a second Mr grippo did you make the motion thank you please um call for a motion to move in into executive session including Dr Solen Mr masana and Miss Solano to discuss the United Public Service employees union contract with action to follow is there a second Mr grippo great the board is now in executive session e regular meeting back to order and move to Personnel Mr masana you're on again sir thank you Ms Rosenberg u i will provide a summary of the uh contract that we negotiated and have a tentative agreement with the international Union of operating engineers local 30 which represents the uh 25 excuse me the 24 maintenance employees who work for the ch School District the contract that we had with this bargaining unit expired on June 30th of 2023 uh we've been negotiating with the Union since May of 2023 and we concluded our negotiations when we reached a tentative agreement on November 21st the members of the Union voted on that tenative agreement and voted in favor of it on December 5th this week and they um agreed to the agree uh four-year term retroactive from July 1 of 2023 through June 30th of 2027 there's just a couple of um notable items with respect to this this new agreement that's being recommended to the board for approval this evening um and and the biggest being that currently the Board of Ed has been providing this bargaining unit their medical dental life insurance benefits under this new agreement the responsibility to provide those benefits will move to the union iuoe so they'll be providing um Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield medical and hospitalization coverage prescription coverage through opum uh they'll also be providing a Blue Cross Prime dental plan a $50,000 life insurance benefit and vision and hearing aid coverage um which the board never offered that those last two pieces of coverage um also as part of this agreement this group is giving up the long-term disability benefit that they had with the Board of Ed um and in and making that transfer um the board will be paying the Union on an annual basis based on the number of employees at a fixed rate that increases over the four-year contract term um further as part of this agreement there will be wage increases 2% in the first year of the contract that's retroactive to July 1 then 1.5% in year two 1.5% in year three and 2% in year four U those wages are a bit below Market because the cost of the benefits will be higher for the board um the advantage though for the board of transferring this benefits responsibility is that the board no longer has any claims risk on medical or dental um our costs to provide for the benefits for this employee group are fixed for the four-year term of the contract uh for the employees in this bargaining unit they do get a better benefit plan and it's at at no increased cost to them and this contract also is cost neutral as we pay a little bit more for Ben benefits but it's being offset by lower wage increases um the last point that I want to make make as as far as a benefit to the board is that um because the benefit plan is better than what the board offered previously we believe it's a retention tool for the existing employees but it's also a recruiting tool for new employees looking to uh join uh our organization in one of the maintenance positions when they're open um that is the summary of the tenative agreement that's before the board thank you Mr masana um I'd like to call for a motion to approve the contract andry that the chesher Board of Education approves the collective bargaining agreement with the international Union of operating engineers local 30 for the period from July 1 2023 through June 30th 2027 further the Board of Education authorized IES the superintendent of schools or his appointed designate to sign the contract on its behalf thank you is there a second Mr White are there any discussion none so we're going to call for a vote all in favor vote is unanimous thank you may just make a quick comment I I know none of the um gentlemen in the union are here this evening but I just want to thank them uh we have 24 individuals who care for eight buildings thousands of people that come and go every day uh in 60y Old on average facilities plus uh they do a tremendous job to make sure that our facilities are operational for our students and safe for our staff and our community uh and I just wanted to say thank that thank you you for what they do every day and uh for your work and uh going through this this contract process with us so thank you very much thank you Dr Solen uh our next order of business we're gonna oh I'm sorry Tim oh thank you yeah just point of information y uh for the Personnel committee uh a month ago we were I think the Personnel committee was pretty close to being done with the superintendent's goals and then an election happened and I felt the best thing to do would be to hold off on that so just um probably have a discussion about that at some point with the with the new board new Personnel committee noted any other comments no thank you Mr White um planning committee you're back up again Mr masan I apologize to the board members I know I'm occupying the whole meeting tonight but this is important business so this uh before the board tonight is a request to approve educational specifications for a boiler replacement project at Dodd Middle School and I'll just explain quickly that the the project itself has been funded the Town Council appropriated $600,000 for this project last year we're actually out um you know on the street we we have a an invitation to bid that was the walkth through today 17 potential contractors showed up so in order for us to apply for the grant funding that the state has just made available for HVAC projects there are several components and that's what's before the board tonight one the board has to approve educational specs and we have to submit those as part of the Grant application and further the Town Council has to pass three specific resolutions in order for the Grant application to be complete so this is a an additional request for educational specs to be approved the board members that were here last year you remember we approved um Ed specs for nine different HVAC projects we did apply for the grant ground one last year with those nine projects they were all rejected many districts applications were rejected but the um Department of administrative Services invited everyone to resubmit those applications from round one which we intend to do the deadline is December 31st and now we're going to be adding one more so this is number 10 the edecs are pretty straightforward it explains the two boilers that we're placing at Dodd they're a little over 20 years old uh we do need to replace them and again the funding was approved because we do believe that they are near end of life and we certainly wouldn't want to take a chance with losing a boiler plant thank you Mr marciana um so is there a motion to approve the ects for the HVAC project Mr White you want to read it that the chesh that is it on yeah it's that the Cheshire Board of Education approves the educational specifications for the boiler replacement project at DOD Middle School Town of chesher project project number 01522 with an appropriation totaling $600,000 and further that the Board of Education authorizes the superintendent of schools to apply to the HVAC grant program administered by the office of school construction and grants review osgr for the HVAC Improvement projects and respectfully requests that the town of that the chesher Town Council passed the three resolutions required as part of the Grant application to number one authorize the superintendent of schools to apply to das for a grant for the project number two establish a building committee for the project number three authorize the preparation of of at least schematic drawings for the project thank you is there a second Mr gripple thank you any discussion Mr gripple um the 600,000 um I think I answer my own question but so you just said you had 17 people come to make a to to have a make a bid on the project um so the hope is that the bids will come in under 600,000 and that the project will be completed with the money allotted that's the Hope correct 600,000 or less is good right lower is better absolutely and I didn't mention that the grant reimbursement is 50% of eligible cost so it's substantial that's total cost 600 not that's not our 50 that's not our match 50% that's it's 50% of eligible cost so there's usually some pieces of the 600,000 in this case that may not be eligible but the expectation is the vast majority will be reimbursable the hope it's the whole we're not it's not going to be a $900,000 project we pay 600,000 right right okay I know what you were asking that Mr White thank you VIN uh are you expecting this to be on the council's agenda next week I don't know if I missed that or not yes yeah okay yeah it is all right thank you and uh also I'll just say we've looked at this for probably a year or two it's been on on our agenda and I don't know that there's any altern there are there any options that would make me any happier with a a cleaner energy option um we're in this situation it's got to be addressed ASAP because we can't have DOD get shut down so we need to make this happen and so thanks for making it happen Vin you're welcome I I will add Mr White that these are going to be more efficient than the ones that are 20 years old they are condensing boilers so it's better I know it's not what you'd like to see but we're working on that with the new schools aren't we yes thank you very much trying then just for a clarification for people at home what is Das Department of administrative Services they're the branch of the state of Connecticut that oversees among other things School construction projects and this Falls essentially in the same grant program as new school construction projects got it thank you are the any other further comments or discussion points no then we're going to call for a vote those in favor of approving the escs for HVAC project as the motion is on the floor I it is unanimous thank you the motion passes thank you everyone are there any other board members that wish to report on any other standing committees that we didn't Mr White yeah not not a different standing committee but I did want to ask a question of the planning committee and that's probably going to be Vin um if if you have a 30- second update on either energy performance contract or an RFP for solar yes the energy performance contract we provided the information to energia and they're in the process of doing their analysis so we're waiting on them with the um the solar question I did speak to you know our consultant who um has a an associate that specializes and has a lot of experience in solar in Connecticut and basically are waiting for the new planning committee to be formed and um he knows he's being invited okay to attend that planning committee so we can have further discussion on the topic awesome thank you you okay the next item is the approval of minutes is there a motion to approve the minutes of November 16 2023 give some time for you to review them if you did not get a chance to should be on the bottom of your packet there Aran I move that the Board of Education approve the minutes from meeting held on November 16th 2023 is there a second Mr grippo are there any additions or Corrections nope okay we'll call for a vote those who um appr to approve the minutes for November yeah I'll call for abstentions too then right je yeah you don't have to abstain technically you reviewed it and you saw the meeting but if you're more comfortable abstaining that makes perfect sense too so all those in favor one two three four y all those against Nays none abstentions one two three extensions to four a the motion does passes for to four y excuse me the motion does pass thank you Mr secretary are there any correspondences I was supplied with no correspondence unless the superintendent has any we have none oh thank you I shoot you a quick email well thank you Dr Solen all your sir thank you very much uh I'm GNA try and keep this brief but uh of course we always update the school modernization process the last meeting was held on November 30th uh most of the time was spent uh discussing the energy uh issues with each building and how we plan to um provide geothermal uh hybrid systems fully electric at at both locations um that was a desire to be as green as possible and fit within the budgetary constraints of both of those projects so uh the committee affirmed that hybrid Geo thermal uh system at both locations uh there are a series of upcoming meetings to go through the town planning process at this point uh and our next meeting will be next Thursday uh here in downstairs in room 207 uh for anybody who's interested um the last night we had the benefit of being joined uh the board was joined by uh Representatives upus representative linan uh and senators saps and hokel for a conversation about the upcoming um legislative U session and we were able to articulate a number of areas that we hoped that they would focus on everything from providing full funding to excess cost reimbursement and reducing the burden of mandates uh but the real I think the Lion Share of the meeting was focused on the right to read legislation uh is a very quick summary to that update uh I'll walk through that but I would encourage anybody who's interested to go on our YouTube channel and watch uh last night's meeting where we go into much greater depth but in essence the legislation requires districts to provide scientifically grounded reading program uh for students in grades K through three with the goal of obviously making sure students have strong achievement addressing needs for students who had been historically underrepresented or underperforming uh the state provided a hand full of programs the state department of Ed that is that uh they felt fit that instuction um in some cases we supplement with parts of those but they do not represent the heart of our programs we have grounded our curriculum and and program in the findings from the national reading Pro uh panel that published a a ground Rak breaking report at the time in 2000 really outlining six core reading skills uh the legislation sought to ensure reading success obviously for all particularly like I said those who um have been marginalized and cheshire's third grade student performance has been exceptionally High uh in in the area of reading actually math as well but for the case of this discussion reading and um just to give some examples our Hispanic Latino students were the highest performing in Connecticut our students who received special education students ranked second and our students identified by the state as quote high needs either receiving free or reduced lunch multilanguage Learners or special education students we ranked seventh overall in Connecticut with that population and seventh for our entire student population so our students have obviously been uh very successful I think we're alarmed at the idea of being forced to buy a particular curriculum our estimate is that it would cost $700,000 just for the materials for grades K through six uh because we wouldn't want to go k through three and then switch reading programs on kids uh that doesn't include cost of training and uh the time and energy put into that and uh my greatest concern and I know that Marlene and others that work in our uh you know focus on education and reading and our school system are deeply concerned that it'll compromise achievement uh so we appreciate the legislators coming last night and hearing us out I think there's strong support to take a real hard look at this and make necessary changes so that we don't uh find ourselves in a position where we're paying to compromise achievement uh I'll end on a brighter out at do little school tomorrow uh we do a lot of fundraising around the district for all sorts of things and I don't bring all of those uh unless there's maybe some unique wrinkle um tomorrow at D little school they've been strong uh supporters of the Connecticut Children's Medical Center Pajama Day fundraiser for many years tomorrow KC 101 will be there at 12:20 to recognize a couple of classrooms for their work and they'll be cranking our kids up with Dunkin Donuts God bless our teachers for the last couple hours and uh celebrating with our kids so it should be a fun day over at doitt tomorrow that's all I have great are there any questions for the superintendent Mr White and then Mr gero thank you thanks for the report you mentioned that and I'm not going to be able to quote you but you were talking about the uh Next Generation building school committee saying that they are going to be doing two hybrid energy systems for the two schools one at each school so it's a geothermal Electric System in each building yeah so my I am a firm believer that a we could be saving money if it was a full geothermal rather than a hybrid my understanding is that the as of a month or two ago a full geothermal was in plan for the North End school and once the hybrid system that was sort of created for Norton was known then the building committee decided to go with a lower initial cost hybrid system at the North End which will have higher life cycle costs higher operating costs going forward so I strongly disagree with that approach and this isn't a reflection on this is just the committee in general it's the committee that makes that decision yeah and so I I'm highlighting this for the voters and the committee is appointed they're not elected but I am advocating strongly that at minimum the North End School be switched back to a full geothermal uh and that's not just mentioning it here but I've been uh advocating with the Town Council uh and others just to make this clear to people because I do not based on the understanding that I have right now I do not agree with it and I find it hard to believe that I'd be convinced otherwise the key thing for me is lower energy use first of all and second of all we'll be spending less money going forward on an annual basis if we had a full geothermal rather than a hybrid that's all I just want to add a little bit of context to that um because uh you're absolutely correct in the sense that the initial design included a full geothermal at the North End um and when we looked at the geothermal option at Norton and knew that we were wildly over budget uh with Norton unfortunately because of the fact that um the demo on the existing building when factored in pushed Us North well north um so at Norton initially we were 10.6 to 13.3 million over budget uh the North End well better was still 8.4 to 10.3 million over budget at that time so the initial design did include geothermal when we had to make uh substantial reductions in the budgets for both buildings that's when you know and it's only really because we were focused on Norton initially to make those substantial reductions the committee examined through the support of our engineering team uh with a goal of trying to be as absolutely green as possible one and two in the future being able to take it off the grid uh through you know things like solar pan chanels uh that could you know be ultimately connected down the road and the the committee decided with the substantial savings it was $2.3 Million reduction for Norton when we switched to the hybrid geothermal system uh which obviously dramatically reduced our shortfall um again another substantial reduction I think it was at least 2.3 million at the North End to do that even though that building larger um and so that's where the hybrid systems came in and I know that uh our uh chair Mr Gusenberg shared a really good overview that I just got uh this this afternoon and I I will pass it on to the board and put it on our school modernization page so I think people can kind of see the Ed specs initially you know it wasn't to design a full full Geo thermal program but um it was a lead silver design with a million dollars and additional for uh supporting the uh Energy Efficiency of the building and so with all those things in mind the committee is trying to stay within that budget but get as green as we possibly can so I'll I'll post I'll share that and post that with on the budget on the website as well thank you yeah just follow up to that I get it about the budgetary constraints I've gone to the council I said at a council meeting my real request is to get better numbers from The Architects to see what it means geothermal versus the hybrid system but that could ultimately lead to a referendum asking voters for more money I I could see myself supporting that I don't know until I would see the numbers um then I think it would be a really big lift to make something like that happen in an in an expeditious fashion so that we don't slow down Construction in any way I don't want to do that nonetheless nonetheless there's decisions there's choices tradeoffs that exist this is a trade-off that I disagree with right now at least with regard to the North End that's it and and the I think the real concern is as you as we transition into the design the actual drafting work uh to Pivot um it will cost substantial money and the committee decided not to go down that road at this time um but the for those that are interested are on our website too you can link to the NG the ne nextg School uh building committee videos the last meeting as I said really touched upon this so people can go back and what was discussed in in great detail if they choose I think Mr gripple and then Mr per um I obviously feel differently than Mr White uh I think that at least the hybrid system is a a better compromise considering that you get to save $2 million per project and it sounded like you had did you when so it sounded like the the designs were when they were done was 10 million over per location or total using rough numbers yes per location per location um uh so I guess the next question is the for the other eight million per location uh has has that shortfall been overcome and was that done at one particular meeting or has that just been done over a series of meetings it's been done over a series of meetings and the the construct this process is grouped into phases right and so this initial phase there's a certain tolerance of the budget that uh our um representative would is comfortable with arcadas and then there's om as our construction firm there's another tolerance level they're comfortable with and then the Architects have their own perspective on things we really are listening to om and arcadis they work collaboratively to kind of design where that threshold is we had to make significant reductions to get under that threshold and um the committee did that and made a lot of difficult decisions I think the geothermal to hybrid was one of those difficult decisions there are other things like using a chiller beam system to raise the height of the ceiling tiles a certain saves this much money or drop the ceiling if you will put the same ceiling tile height you know saves you know a lot of money in construction over two large buildings like that so things like that or tazzo floors versus a different style floor went through a painstaking process at both buildings to drop those costs within that threshold that I was talking about so we're okay right now I don't want people to walk away thinking oh my God we're eight million over budget we're on budget right as of today um but had to make a lot of difficult decisions to get to that place and I'm sure after the design phase and we go out to bid we'll learn more um but you know it's important to us to stay at each uh checkpoint on budget and that's where we're at um at the uh Town Hall meetings that we had there was a gentleman at the Norton meeting that made uh very convincing arguments about having sensible exterior finishes and was that part of the um cost-saving measures or has that even been broached yet at that sort of choices in and you know you know wood because there was a lot of woodl looking things yeah and this gentleman made a very strong argument against those types of accents yeah we don't have a cedar finish right right Norton and and I think I want to say in places I don't think it was Cedar but it was something like it um that had been proposed and correct me if I'm wrong V but I think all that's been washed out I mean we yeah it has been so um yeah that that was addressed because you know we always talk about our maintenance budget every year and if we're having to repaint stuff those are pretty big buildings in point you know about life costs versus initial cost and as good as it looks will this add substantial lifetime costs and you know that was consideration and been adjusted and uh just lastly one last comment the your presentation last night on our uh reading uh curriculum the data you Pres presented I felt was overwhelming uh overwhelmingly against the proposals that the department of Ed is is I essentially forcing upon us um and I hope that a solution will be found either legislatively or as we discussed briefly uh to uh sort of have an open revolt against them I would certainly support that so that's my last comment we're not looking to go nuclear but uh we we reserve the right right sounded it last night Mr P thank you I so I pck back on something Tim and Adam said but I do want to commend you Dr Solen for the presentation last night uh I happen to have uh the presentation hand out um when I got home and uh my wife friend is like they rejected this I like I I'm just so it was to the point and fual and I I appreciate the work that you and your team put into it so thank you again it was well received yeah I want to you know obviously give U Marlene and Kevin handling a lot of credit for doing a lot of that work and um I think we were in the enviable position where any reasonable person would wonder what the heck is going on so it does happen to make us look a lot e better but it the reason that we look better is because of the work as I said to Kevin and Marlene last night that you know our people with their leadership do on a daily basis to support our students in their reading achievement so um thank you for that on their behalf as well yeah I I just want to say I I understand where Tim's coming from but you know it's it's a game of compromises right and I guess you know was it the best deal uh everyone walks away unsatisfied is a good deal so I just want to remind the board that this project has been years in the making and and I go back some time to get to something I don't want to see this side railed at this point um it seems that one fast of this just does not want to compromise and I don't want this being held hostage because of that I trust nsgc I follow the meetings uh we all handpick these folks lots of talent so um I hope when folks do go there they're not speaking on behalf of the board personal um so let's just be careful with that because at this point we got less than three years to get a school building two of them up and running it's a massive dual project I'm happy that they found a hybrid option uh but I I appw them for not revisiting this we got to move on G again yeah I just want to very quickly um shout out big thanks to our Representatives who were here last night for that legislative meeting I've been doing those legislative meetings for eight years and that was the most productive one we've ever held um I'm not sure why I don't think it was necessarily the topic but um really nice to have four legislators here and have a really good back and forth conversation with them so thank you Representatives Lenahan and zupkus and Senators hell and Samson to that earlier point you know any reasonable person could look at this when Republicans and Democrats are high-fiving each other literally and holding hands I walked out and saw cats and dogs hugging in the streets it it was uh it's pretty evident what needs to happen here any other comments for the superintendent I I do have to say um I sentiments exactly I thought it was really productive it you know it's nice to have that type of discourse and wish that we could have it more frequently um and to Tony's Point uh we did sit here and select some really Stellar High Caliber individuals on that committee so I think I I'm based on what you're saying we're right on SCH so I really hope we don't derail this at all but I do I do get what you're saying Tim I just hope that side research doesn't throw us off of our timeline as originally scheduled so okay thank you Dr Solen um old business there are no old business it looks like yes sir uh so curriculum is there I I I know the be being are we planning the curriculum meeting in January due to the waiver anything to talk about that or is that be later just curious you want to have a curriculum meeting we Monday okay I didn't see it here yeah I didn't see it either so it is on the on our calendar January do that no I I didn't say didn't check my I see hand there are only two items on the agenda a couple of field trips and an overview of the multilingual learner situation I'm good thank you okay so just point of clarification there is a meeting this coming Monday December 11th at 7 o'clock great awesome thank you and then we move on to new business and um I guess it's my my turn so I do want to take a moment uh just for a point of personal privilege if you will indulge me I do have some words um to say and I do have to read it because I will get emotional if I don't so on the first night of Hanukkah I begin my first meeting as your new board chair and to those of you here and not here and at home that celebrate I wish you peace love and a happy Festival of Lights it's not lost on me the significance and the responsibility of being selected as chairwoman of the Board of Education if my research and historical understanding of treasure serve me correctly to be the first female person of color as chair is a momentous event as I know how much representation matters consequently I like most people um in such a situation have the compelling urge to say something first I would like to thank my colleagues on the board for this expression of confidence in me I have but one goal and that is to serve to the best of my ability to achieve this goal during the period that I serve is to continue the respectful collegial and collaborative relationship that we have which has aided in moving the work forward in support of the district mission and vision the evidence is clear in the consecutive years acknowledgement by cave as being a board of Distinction I want also acknowledge and thank my predecessor Mr perini for leading the pack well we're Ram so it's a herd especially through such difficult times to obtain that recognition second and also on behalf of my newly elected and reelected colleagues Timmy you're back I want to assure the community that chesher public schools is and continues to be in good hands the volunteer members that you have elected have demonstrated the utmost professionalism and each of my colleagues on the board is an intelligent and reasonable and rational adult who is is immensely passionate and concerned about the welfare of our district and all of our students furthermore within the district we have a group of talented dedicated professionals and support persons the kind of persons who will Faithfully care out the board's policy and will work with the board in molding each component of the professional and support staff into a highly effective and efficient team I also believe that the board the administration teachers and students working together in a mutually supportive manner will make this District the model for the state if not the nation as I look towards the future I and all of us here recognize that we have a lot to celebrate about our challenges continue to be great though but the potential for meeting them exists hence success is attainable let us the board the professionals and support Personnel of the district the students the parents and the community pledge to work together and meeting these challenges if we truly commit ourselves to such a pledge history will show that we in our day met the demands which our times required of us so on this first night of Hanukkah I end with this excerpt from Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem the hill we climb the new dawn blooms as we free it for there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it if only we're brave enough to be it so please continue to be the light for our town thank you and then I have to call the meeting into record the dates meeting dates into record you don't have to help so um happy Holidays happy New Year we'll be back in session on January 11th 2024 at Town council chambers with the highly expected presentation of the superintendent's budget then we move to January 16th 2024 at dad middle school for 7 o'clock public budget viiew administrative review of accounts moving forward to January 18th 2024 Town council chambers at 7:30 the Board of Ed business meeting and then January 23rd 2024 back at do middle school for 7 pm another public budget review administrative review of accounts and then January 25th 2024 dad Middle School 7 PM more public information meeting board members responses to the superintendent's budget possible adoption of the Board of Education budget and then January 30th if we need it we will be at dot at 7:30 it's a special meeting with the Board of Education to adopt a board of ed budget and then the uh cheser Public Schools does have a break which I'm sure all you kids know out there December 25th to January 1st will be our winter break so we are closed and then January 15th we will be honoring Martin Luther King Day schools and and central office will be closed and that's it for new business um is there a motion to adjourn Mr White second miss cullinen all in favor to adjourn it is unanimous we are adjourned
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
any questions I have a just a comment yes uh we also the committee also requested that um the Drone the Drone program become part of the open house a demonstration so we can entice new students anyone else okay um just a correction for for the minutes um um commissioner Paris I believe is the chairman of that committee not Dr Danny so if they could just correct those minutes okay we're going to move along yes I'm sorry yes um based off the minutes from the committee would you say that the teacher shortage is one of the biggest issues that our district is facing right now uh considering the amount of discussion we had on it yes and the and the difficulties that's presented as far as uh us looking for alternative methodologies where we can bring content to students but looks like about half the classes that were currently being uh taught this way are going to be eliminated very soon because we have a new hire coming on board so we're down to it looks like I think five four or five classes left all right thank you very much commissioner pretty good okay any other questions okay we're going to move on to um unfinished business um Mr President can we move unfinished business until after the we get through all the presentations and because I have something for unfinished I'd rather it go after I think it's going to be a lengthy discussion okay you don't mind yep thank you all right we'll move on to um education Administration um we're going to do um the first three are going to be uh held uh so we'll do four through 13 please president Smith yes I believe we want to read um item number four yes I have yes all right so we'll do that separate also all right so let's do five through uh 13 Please Mr abrao seconded by Dr Dany any discussion roll call please Mr rrao yes M Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries um if we could have a movement on number four please by Mr abrao second by um Miss bassford um discussion yeah I asked this um I asked this resolution to be put on um this res resolution is a recognition of Mr David zot um if you don't know who Dave zot is Dave was a um U graduate of Clifton High School a very good uh football player he went on to play in college and also in the pros um he will be the first Clifton resident first Clifton graduate uh to be nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame he is on the nomination right now uh we hope that he'll get elected but uh this is a substantial um credit to Clifton uh and to Mr zot on his nomination to the National Football Hall of Fame so uh this is in recognition the board's recognition of that uh momentous um achievement uh so that's what this resolution is anything else roll call please Mr abjo yes Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries uh Mr zot was invited to be here uh but had a previous engagement we'll make sure that we get that uh the certificate uh sent to him um he is he is local he works for the New York Jets right now so um he is local all right um we'll have a motion please on ea1 motion motion by Dr Danny second second by Mr Parish uh discussion all right this Le this reads uh resolved that the Board of Education recognizes fem Abad drao and expresses his gratitude for his dedication and service to the community and students of Clifton serving as a board member since 2007 17 Mr abrao served as vice president in 2019 from 17 to 23 Mr abrao served on the diversity legislative and policy committees as chairperson he was also a member of the Athletics HSA liaison technology Municipal Alliance Finance negotiations student liaison and Judiciary Transportation Food Service education special education and security committees um do you want this oh yeah so um you want to read that um so pay County School boards there's a certificate here of appreciation this certificate is proudly presented for honorable service to Fahim K abdrabo Clifton Board of Education seven years of service whose dedication and service to students of their Community have contributed significantly to the advancement of public education in New Jersey all right so I have a roll call please on ea1 Mr abrao miss bassford Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries if the uh full board would like to come up and we can take a picture Miz so we'll just read it to record so uh motion on ea2 recognizing fasaad motion by Mr abrao second by Mr Mahia discussion roll call please Mr abrao yes Miss bassford Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay next uh we have uh ea3 please motion by Mr abrao seconded who was that Mr Mahia uh vice president Danny you want to read it yes resolve that the Board of Education recognized Jim Smith and expresses its gratitude for his dedication and service to the community and students of Clifton serving as a board member from 1994 to 2006 then 2019 to 2023 as president 2021 2022 and 2023 Mr Smith served on all committees athletic itics diversity education special education facilities Finance negotiations Hasa liaison legislative Municipal Alliance Personnel policy residency security student liaison Judiciary technology and F Transportation Food Service he also is a member of the municipal Alliance policy and resid residency committees from 2019 to to 2020 and the pay County School boards Association certificate of appreciation this certificate is proudly presented for honorable service to Jim Smith Clifton Board of Education 16 years of service whose dedication and service to the students of their Community have contributed significantly to the advancements of public education in New Jersey [Applause] okay roll call please Mr abrao yes Miss bassford Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes and president Smith yes motion carries TR I wouldn't be surprised [Music] um U fim and myself will hold uh to our comments to uh under commissioner comments uh and Mr uh Awad uh will uh make sure that the uh his award gets uh sent to him okay so let's move on to uh Personnel please uh we have uh P1 and we go through p32 motion by Mr abrao second second by Mr Mahia uh discussion seeing none roll call please Mr abjo yes Miss bassford yes I'm abstaining on check 214 720 and also on P um 26 rest is yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motions carry all right next we move on to finance and Facilities we have uh uh F1 through f13 motion by m Mr Paris second by Mr robber drao discussion uh just like the public to be aware of uh F1 which is a um um a donation uh sent to uh School number 14 um in the amount of $25,000 for an electronic sign uh at School 14 we uh truly do appreciate and thank the donor for for that great donation okay roll call please Mr abrao uh yes but I'm have toing on f13 Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes on 13 only yes say are you saying yes your name only for the abstention yes sorry Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motions carry okay we're going to um where do you want me finish business now yes okay okay uh Miss bford yes I would like to make a motion to cancel the Clifton public Board of Education meeting on December 14th regarding policy 5756 transgender students legal reasons Middletown maror man alipin English town Regional School boards East Handover townships are currently under litigation with the New Jersey attorney general due to the amendments to the transgender policy costing the district's possibly thousands of dollars many boards around the state are supporting keeping the policy until litigations has rendered a decision policy these there are no I and uh just so my board fellow board members know I did a lot of uh research on this for the last couple of weeks and through emails to Mr Ross there are no other policy in the Clifton Public Schools polic handbook that protects this class of students in any way shape or form costs for the special meeting security $1,000 I checked this out with the superintendent and administration thank you very much for your hard work on this the attorney no offense about $1,500 and if there's any other cost for um any kind of um research that you have done the ad AV Department about $600 and other ancillary costs about um say almost $3,000 $4,000 also this is lame duck session what what actions May the outgoing board take um between the election and organization a board of education is a non-continuous board body which life lasts only from organization to organization a board May bind a successive board when only authorized by Statute such as where the legislative uh specialty permits boards to enter into multi-year contracts collective bargaining agreements and the super superintendent contracts that span the lives of several boards after the voters have elected a new board that permitted activities of ongoing the outgoing lame duck boards during the short period from April it also um I'll I'll reference November annual School elections are limited however occasionally there are matters that ongoing outgoing board must address during the short lame duck period between the school election and the organization of the succeeding boards routine actions such as the the approval of purchase orders for goods services or the approval of use of facilities are examples of the matters that may uh properly be handled handled by the outgoing board other more significant matters including the approval of individual contracts the awarding of salary increases and increments um and or legal matters for the next seceding school year may be inappropriate um refence Novak versus the Board of Education in Manville um s Dora um boards are urged to consult with their attorney to make sure the outgoing board's actions do not improperly absurd the authority of the successor board Gillis versus Hillside Board of Education wherein the commissioner affirmed that upholding Novak was determining a sitting board absur um the authority of the incoming board when lame duck boards rescinded the superintendent's existing contract this just an example um this is a lame duck issue um I'm urging our board to take that into consideration that the new board should weigh in on this it's a very very hot topic for school districts that have a November annual election organizations do not take place until nearly two months after election is comp uh compared with the weeks in between election and organization of a school district Boards of Education should with the advice of the cons um consultation of the attorney take take their lead from Municipal counterparts and such on such on etc etc the closer the action Falls within the time period prescribed in Novak versus the Board of Education in Manville the most likely it will be called into question and possibly cing the district legal action which is money that we would in budgeting during the lane Duck Session boards are urged to the consult with their attorney to make sure the outgoing board's actions do not improperly absurd the authority of the successor board modifying the policy will cause uh suit to the district we cannot amend the policy action to the policy should uh once again go to policy committee for discussion again their way in from the students the staff in the community in multiple discussions not just one special meeting uh matters such as this will greatly affect the board um that forms on January 1st 2024 the new board should have the weighin and because this is going to really affect their tenure um thus this read this meeting needs to be canceled so my motion stands as I'm I'm making a motion to cancel the December 14th regular meeting regarding policy number 5756 can I ask some qu my there's there's a there's a motion on the floor let's do a motion and then we'll have questions on that okay there's a motion on the floor debate until there's a second correct motion on the floor by Miss bassford to be clear CC to cancel the December 14th per correct period end of story that's it second by Mr Santiago discussion Mr brunak okay so so we had this we had discussed this at length over here right and what she mentioned over here is this policy that doesn't protect this status of people I have never heard ever that any student has ever been outed as a result of their sexual orientation or whatever and what we discuss with this policy as well is that it's applicable to grade school students as well so this is I don't know if it's applicable to prek kids too is that right does anybody know if that's the case or no regarding this policy I would presume districtwide districtwide districtwide so you're saying my six-year-old son could change his name to Francine right he could change his name to Francine and his teacher going to have to accept it accept that name change and then she has to tell the principal and then they have to make a file on that right and then they're not allowed to tell me or my wife that's the biggest issue with that we discussed at at the meeting and I asked commissioner Mahia I asked commissioner Mia earlier did anybody from that committee meeting reference ever suggest that they were added never because this District I've I've never even seen a report in history that anybody's ever been added for something that's so private to you in the first place your orientation and now you're telling me with a straight face I I didn't even hear anybody argue that they that it's normal is it normal for a fifth grader to change it or for a 5-year-old to change their name is it normal for them to to change their identity is it normal for me not to be able to know that as a parent so this is my concern here that we've never had a even even in the 90s when I went here when I went to CHS I've never heard of that any of my gay friends lesbian by friends none of them ever this Pol this this District I don't know any District whoever ever outed it so this is what's going through my head yeah it's a Hot Topic it's a Hot Topic but it's so important I think it puts this this this thing this policy puts a district at risk as a result of it I didn't hear any par I haven't heard from any parents yet or anything if you think it's okay that that this school district or any school districts any school district keeps a secret file when they're six-year old when they're 5-year-old if prek is included if your three-year-old changes your name and or your identity you think it's okay for this district and you're saying it doesn't put it at risk so yeah this is kind of an important topic thank you yes commissioner Mia so during the last Bo meeting your mic your mic is on I can't hear so during the last board meeting you were the one who um motioned for this to get suspended no am I correct for what oh you just yes yes I made a motion to to suspend yes absolutely policy so now you're going back on your decision because you did do your research and you realize that this policy is needed policy 5756 is needed in our district to protect our students protect our staff protect our district so now you're going back on what you said last meeting yes or no can I answer that if am I allow to answer the question I'll let you answer it thank you so um I did a lot of research I was approached by a lot of people in the community both parent staff students but I did my research down in the state I have a fiduciary obligation to this District it's going to be uh a financial burden if we get sued um there was amendments that came in from a particular Community member that I would like legal to weigh in we can't amend it but I'm being told by my counterparts in the state who I highly respect both County and state to wait until the litigation comes out from the four districts that are being sued by the Attorney General before we make a decision I wanted to um I'm going to be very careful because people are going to twist my words no matter what I say and it's always the way it happens around here I was very upset that we were told that this policy was mandated when it it was not it put a lot of it wasn't fair to the policy committee to put this through we rushed it through without knowing that we could have really taken our time to have public meetings on it we thought it was mandated and that was with the advice of our former councel not you that gave it to us had we been giving that information that may that policy never may have been in the books this policy needs to have weigh in from every single stakeholder in this District staff students and the taxpayers when I did my research and I had people confronting me about this I felt the best thing to do and I talked to Administration was to cancel the meeting so we have time to digest it do our own research as individual board members come together and then we're prepared for the onslaught of public session that this meeting is going to incur all right thank you thank you so based off that you did realize that after doing your duty you realize that we do need this policy may I go ahead I realize that we need the policy to protect the class of students I'm not in agreement with some of the things in the policy I have to also worry about staff being being brought into a lawsuit if they protect that student and not tell the parents and something happens to that child there was many questions so my work and I don't know why I'm under the gun here about my what my my reason was because it was other people so I'm hoping that everybody else gets put on this and just so that my rest of my fellow board members know when I was summonsed to the diversity meeting I didn't know what the diversity meeting was about I went into a cold so I wasn't prepared I was I would have had more information for the students I had to really be careful with what I said because I didn't want to avoid discussing that with you guys as well so going forward I wish I would have gotten a heads up so I would have been prepared but I wasn't and I wasn't also prepared for that night Mr brunc came to me about putting something on the agenda I am a firm believer of seconding a person on this day's request for information so that we can have discussion you may change my mind but when I got confronted by many people in this District about the importance of of protecting this class of students and right now according to my res search is being on policy this is the only policy that we have that protects this class of students I have to ask for the cancellation of this meeting thank you the only reason I'm asking is because I implored this to the board and my fellow colleagues last meeting I said we need this policy we need it I came in last year because I had friends family members who are being attacked because of this in my own personal life and for me to neglect them is for me to neglect my own family my own friends people I've been friends with 15 20 years you know people who friends who've been friends with my parents you know longer than I've been alive the only reason I bring this up is because I am looking at an article right now tell me if it's wrong where it says that you believe and that you see the biggest issue currently right now is parental rights that this board is is facing before during the committee reports ask commissioner Paris what is the biggest challenge we are facing right now now one of them is our teacher shortest Dr roosi can you agree with me can you please State the top five biggest issues you think our board is facing currently if you can well teacher shortage is definitely in the top five um this issue policy 575k 55 is uh a big issue funding is always an issue and we'll we'll learn more about that in February but I would say those are the three biggest things all right thank you so the point of this is do you want to stop this now because you believe maybe the next board will probably have the other side whichever side anyone picks I believe we can get this down toot today and doing the right thing in protecting our students our staff as I mentioned before in my diversity committee report a bunch of students teachers faculty explain that we need this policy and I don't want to stop the meeting that we have next week only because I know there are going to be members of the community here to implore that we need this policy because what's going to happen we're going to cancel that meeting and what everyone's going to keep bringing it up bringing it up and then boom we're going to have to do another meeting we should hear from our constituents we are here to represent our community I don't believe in playing games and getting rid of something only because you think it might benefit yourself or your politics your image your brand our students deserve this protection our community deserves this and I implore this board to vote to keep 5756 thank you very much Mr President um anyone else may I before I go Mr so I just want to mention so last meeting you know my feelings on this policy have not changed since last meeting I said exactly the same thing um it the law it would be incredibly expensive can you imagine how much money it's going to be to go up against the state um we can use that money for teachers I said it last meeting um you know I think think about the intent of this policy right the intent of this policy is to protect students that's the intent of the policy full stop is to protect on top of that a subset right trans students we heard today right there are plenty of trans students who are open and out to their parents this is a group of of of students who they know for their reason fear of being ostracized fear of being um verbally abused emotionally abused some physically abused right these are a specific subset of these students for that reason that they're scared and they just cannot come out to their parent or Guardian that's the intent of this policy and you know a lot of times you know I too talk to a lot of people I hear a lot of things and a lot of times there's this kind of what if hypothetical situation and we can make a what if hypothetical situation that ends often times they catastrophize and they always end in some horrible demise if we do this thing it what if what if what if what if and we can create wha ifs until we're blue in the face right but the intent is it's to protect these students and that's all it is it's it's you know it's not preschools students Etc the intent of this law um that we have to abide by is to protect those students for fear of coming out um and that's really it and why would we not want to protect the students we protect the students all the time um I just want to if I can really quick mention from the New Jersey school boards Association code of ethics for our Schoolboard members letter C I will confine my board action to policym planning and appraisal and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board is consulted those who will be affected by them who is most affected by this the students I hear a lot about everything but hardly anything about these students who are affected by that um additionally F I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interests or partisan Pol political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends um we need to revisit these School uh code of ethics um and my feelings and you know position on this have not changed I totally second that we should cancel that meeting and I totally am all for keeping this policy thank you Mr President just let me stick by Robert's Rules anyone else that hasn't spoken on the issue yet then I'll come back to you mark okay Mr Paris I I think the issu is ultimately being tested in in the courts now is who's going to Prevail student rights or parental rights the basis to my understanding that the state is basing their litigation on is the state's anti-discrimination law and that this policy supports that and those districts that are being currently taken to litigation have actually amended their policies to to state that it would be mandated that par parents were were told uh about gender questioning uh students I don't think it would be very wise for us at this point in time to resend the policy or abolish the policy or suspend the policy um because it is in accordance at least it's the position the state's taken it's in accordance with the the state's national discrimination uh anti-discrimination law so we we should hear this sometime in the spring that was what I heard Also I spoke to one of the uh experts some a school law expert felt that sometime in the spring a decision would finally come and uh certainly we should always as Mr uh Santiago pointed out we need to air on the side of students having our schools as a safe place um so I would also support um definitely canceling the meeting and as well as enfor keeping the policy in place certainly until that time that we even have some clear visibility as to um the validity and legality of changing such a policy yes Dr Danny um I have to say that I um Echo the sentiments of um Mr Paris um you know being with the Pake County School boards and um you know haven't spoken to the lawyers and that and that they're saying this is in um litigation and that as you had stated Mr Paris that you know the spring um it doesn't mean that we can't have a discussion um and it might not even be any discussion because it might be just whatever comes out of litigation so I think you know being mindful of um taxpayers and you know again as um how much this would cost I mean also the the amount of the meeting um I I just think that the timing of the meeting too I mean it's um you know I'm just going to say it's it's the holidays and it's just a time of love and and peace and and um you know being thankful for what you have and and I I just I I you know that that to me again like I said just um doesn't resonate with having a meeting at at that um that time um and to be again coming up for a vote then after that when there's so much litigation and then it might cost us um financially and like Mr Santiago said I mean to use that to put that money to better use you know and hiring you know whatever power professional part-time or something like that so you know to justify that we might be in litigation I think for me right now is just um I I think it's just we wait and I mean the policy is is the policy so I would just be in support of cancelling that meeting um that's it anyone else you Mr President F yeah first of all I want acknowledge the room because if you have somebody of this this nature coming out you know you got an issue uh Miss Butterfield's in the room and you know if the P County um education association's here you know there's an issue and what I'm trying to say is you know do parents have a right yes do students have a right absolutely school is a place of protection and for many it's home number one before their actual physical address is okay you know I'm going to be honest this is to me is social versus religious simple as that and why do I say that I say that because as somebody who believes in God and faith in abrahamic religions it tells you what it tells you about gender and whatnot but in the Social Democratic world we talk about protecting identity protecting children and protecting making sure that we build a safe Community for all but what I I don't my issue is not 5756 there is parents right my issue I'm going to piggy back off for you Richie sorry commissioner Mia is when you motion and don't tell me you did your research this has been discussion for months two meetings ago I asked for the financial situation that we would get into and I believe you were here if not it was I think you were here when I asked about that I think it was two meetings ago so the public can know how much it would cost if we were to be sued and go to court but yet nobody stayed nobody nobody said a thing stayed quiet but then we motioned last meeting to put this and not only did you motion you coached and advised Mr brunak on how to go about it and don't tell me you're being attacked all right because that honestly I'm sick and tired of that default I've been quiet and it's been building up for a while and guess what it's my last meeting I got nothing to lose and yes I do believe in lame duck all right sessions that is for the state the federal and it should also be for the Board of Ed and if anybody know what Lan duck is in simple terms of her definition what how she stated I'll sum it up basically somebody gets elected in November you get a new board new legislators coming out in January people will vote a certain way just because they want to burn the bridge they want to burn down the place okay and I totally believe in that working for a legislator working for a member of Congress understanding what it is I fully believe and matter of fact I actually was going to abstain on this as well not voting yes or no okay but you know what I'm sick and tired of that default excuse over and over and over for the past God knows how many years I've been on here okay we've talked about financial uh uh responsibilities we never got the answer no offense there's no way for me to give you an answer how much litigation is going to no I I I wasn't throwing anything shade to you I just I'm just I'm stating facts for the past few for the past few meetings I'm just stating facts but then you want to take it back cuz friends and whatnot have been telling you and approaching you the last time I remember when friends or anybody approach you you tell them come to the meetings we don't talk about it in public and you you're not a a board member off the de if I mean if I'm wrong tell me I'm wrong personally they should have came tonight and spoken about it so we can all hear them as nine board members rather than I heard this I was told this blah blah blah blah blah enough you know honestly we need to figure out what is important to this District whether it's going to be protecting our children or parents coming up here and saying you made a mistake the gentleman that spoke said because Jim and I lost we're on the wrong side of History I'm sorry you know what I've spoken about 57 56 and protecting our children over and over and over and over and over but they know and I know where I belong on that you know okay simple as that so to that gentlemen I disagree with you yeah all right listen we get into this I'm going to call it business as elected officials as board members and education for one purpose and one purpose only and that's a protection that's why I did not want that vote to happen last meeting because I wanted people come up and speak so we can hear it for for ourselves once and and get it over with should we have this meeting next week I told you way I was going to vote I just mentioned it I still think we should have the meeting no disrespect to everybody that spoke it's not about I understand if we have the meeting children going to be children going to feel vulnerable and attacked because we're having to meet because there's going to be a lot of spewed hatred coming next week I get it wholeheartedly I'm with you but all due respect there are people who I think should be given the opportunity because if not next week they're going to come the meeting after if not then they're going to come the meeting after I really think it should be put to bed be done with and that's it I mean obviously listen you've heard from every single individual tonight you there's a sense of how everybody's going to vote on this it's really clear everybody has made it clear that's it anyone else that hasn't spoken yet I'm just going to make a comment real quick um you know transparency on a board is is so important um and anytime I ever got information I always made sure I shared it with my colleagues um but someone gave me some information that this uh lame duck crap was being brought up tonight um so I did my diligence and called the state attorneys um and um yeah that doesn't apply to this so don't don't be listening to any lame duck um you know I'll just show you thousands of dollars of contracts that I'm signing here if I'm lame if I'm a lame duck president then these mean might as well just throw in the garbage waste my time anymore um the lame duck situation was put into effect when Board of Education elections were in April which was read earlier in April you had an election and then a week later was the reorganization meeting so in that week they did not want major contracts and things signed during so that was a lame duck not two months people not two months so the lame duck crap is a bunch of garbage um so I did my homework and called the state so if anyone wants to uh see my notes from the state attorneys on that I'll be glad to share it with you but if this full board had made have made aware of that we could have all discussed that but it's always on a last minute attack um of things uh Mr M here you brought up something before about um comments that were made you know uh about the the uh important issues of the district or where were those comments made oh so it it's made to the Press oh which which I believe we have a policy that no board member should be talking to the Press correct interesting and that was made when interesting right after the election very interesting the state state also was very interested in hearing that comment so um there'll be other stuff happening on that very soon um so I'm not discrediting any board member for changing their mind however could you read was it was it ananymous vote last meeting to have this special meeting yes so everyone voted to have the special meeting and then less than two weeks later everyone's changing their mind oh you weren't here okay no so everyone that was you voted no you that is correct all right so there was one no for the record yes I was the only one who said it okay that's why I was asking them for the record um so you know the board's entitled to do what they want to do but there's a cost involved in this as well we had to to advertise this meeting um so there there's there's cost involved in this so it just not should be something take taken lightly um it doesn't give a good look that a board advertised for a meeting we want the public to come and give their their uh voice and then now you're canceling that um hey I'm all happy for it I I surely did not want to come back for another meeting so um let another duck sit here and do that whenever you want but uh uh this duck will be uh not be be uh adhering to any of that but again I just think it's it doesn't show a good light of this board um and you know I guess if the board had been appraised of this and we could have discussed this and um information could have gone out to everybody about this um it may have had shown a different light on this but um I always respect uh each and every board member for their uh their right in their decision so that's why if there's ever a second to to something I always give a second so that the board member could we could discuss the item um not everyone's going to agree on it but if there's a board member that feels emphatic enough about um having this meeting that's why I would would back that board member in in just hearing uh to what the people coming would have to say not that I'm agreeing or disagreeing with the topic um but obviously we'll do what the board wants to do so uh Mr um brunak if you would thank you Mr President these these four boards I were ref referenced before who did I want I want to commend commissioner Paris for clarifying the lawsuits board against those boards because they amended the policy to mandate stating something to the parents this policy does not this is not what we this is not what Our intention was over here commissioner bassford said the last meeting it was as simplistic as this policy is nonmandatory it's a non-mandatory policy Strauss Esme did a catastrophic error with this and at this point I don't even want to use their services anymore do we have to do we have to wait now and ask them if they're right on this if this is mandatory or not this shouldn't even be a big issue people want to make it a big issue because they some people love to play politics I don't I want to do what's best for our kids I want to do what's best for our kids and you're saying over here this is a Hot Topic or whatever but what you don't say is every single one of these every single one of these districts that they amended their policy or they abolished it and they implemented another policy that is exactly why the Attorney General's office sued these districts every single other District which I haven't heard from any of my colleagues on this board have any of those PE any of those districts that have just outright aboss this policy have ever been sued file suit by the AG's office please correct me if I'm wrong please correct me if I'm wrong so well it's not because I did the research I've been doing the research in anticipation of this meeting next week Mr President being being that I'm being cross-examined on the stand let me let me respond first of all M brunc you came to me to make a motion you wanted to learn how to make a motion under what business and I and I assisted you correct did we have any kind of secret uh thing going on with that okay thank you secondly during that article I did state in the article because I was called after the me after the election and I said very clearly in the article it was my personal views and opinions I wasn't speaking for the board so my words are being Twisted once again by several people it's it's we have until I don't know how many more days sour grapes I don't know whatever you want to call it I'm asking to cancel the meeting because I'm being told it's going to be a circus and I don't want to bring the financial burden the fiduciary obligation that we are going to undertake to this District until next year until we get legal advice from our attorney my information came from school boards because I'm sure I'm going to be told I'm plagiarizing on that it was sent to the attorney it was cleared by the attorney maybe I wasn't specific enough to say that those four districts were being sued because they amended the policy I'll go back and rechange my words I don't want to amend the policy I have we have have a protected class that we have to worry about sometimes people do make mistakes and they don't admit to their mistakes because they're not humble enough you can laugh all you want Mr abrao the voters spoke thank you all right anyone else want to discuss this so even we have the meeting next week we don't have to vote on it correct the motion so so the way I have researched this with the state attorneys and you could correct me if I'm they're wrong or I'm wrong so basically our policy states that we have to have two readings of policy okay so if you want to abolish this policy you would have to have the first reading tonight and then a vote on the second one at the special meeting next week you could also make to abolish it you could make a second meeting you could to to resend your policy it's two readings when those two readings occur is not magical either tonight the next meeting a meeting in January could be a meeting you could do it now if you want it well my point is that it's not a matter of tonight and the 14th it's that's your bylaws require two readings to abolish a to resend a policy right that's so there's not a so my understanding of the motion that was made I I apologize no um and so um the the reality is that what I understand the effect of last two weeks ago or whenever it was motion was for purposes of having a public discussion it was not to resend it was not to amend it was not to do anything it was to have a public discussion on 5756 that was what I believe to be the motion the minutes would reflect if I'm correct or not I don't know I believe I'm correct I'm pretty good at about these things um but my recollection is that it was a motion to allow for there to be public discussion on the good bad or the indifference of 5756 it was not a motion to resend it wasn't a motion to place it on the agenda P to be resend did none of those things were were discussed or or um acted upon when you guys voted to say that you're going to have a special meeting on the 14th thank you very much for clarifying that for the public cuz I think some of them weren't aware of that so thank you very much so the motion before you is are you going to cancel or not the 14th the 14th in and of itself was simply a an an item a matter was being brought forward for discussion with the public with with the board um in fact I remember pretty distinctly a discussion that it was going to go back to committee for purposes of of having input by the various stakeholders which I believe happened if I read the minutes of that meeting this evening correctly um and so you know you have an action item in front of you now to to cancel a meeting nothing more nothing less and everyone has spoken I'm not looking to stop debate that's not my role um we can sit here all night and have this you know this continuing dialogue it seems that all the board members have spoken my suggestion is to call the the question to be done continue the dialogue what you wish so in answer in answer to that yes it's just a special meeting that that but you asked and I'm giving you the answer to it because we have two readings of policy if you wanted something to take place next meeting you'd have to do the first reading tonight or you could make a motion to suspend the two readings and just do one motion at any time you wish those are prerogatives that the board has and none of and none of those things eliminate the legal requirements that you comply with the law against discrimination in the state of New Jersey right having a policy not having a policy a different Pol anything other than creating a different mandate um which was enjoined and restrained by the court which is why they we waiting for the court to now act in three or four months um that's why those other districts are in court they they they foed a different requirement into into the Mandate no no pun intended on mandate um but the on on the legal requirement and the Attorney General brought them to court a restraint was issued by a judge saying that those policies that those districts implemented are not to be enforced until the merits of the action are decided so in fact those districts Lost in My Parliament the first round of that it's not you know that was just one step of this process so whether you adopt anything other than adopting a new policy that has a separate or different mandate in it um I don't believe is necessarily exposing this District to potential legal action by the Attorney General's office whether you resend the policy or not doesn't stop the the district from enforcing the guidance issued by the Attorney General so if you were to ask me my opinion my opinion would be do nothing wait why why get yourselves in in a in this controversy and and rile everybody up over something that is largely out of your hands anyway and if you don't want my opinion don't listen to me and do what you want and that's fine too I'm you know I'll be here all night you know I me make a motion to call the question that's lovely so it's a motion to call the question please call the question so there's a motion on the floor in a second to cancel the special meeting on December 14th I'm ready Mr AB roll call abin Miss bassford Mr brunak no Mr Mahia no Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith no we have motion does not carry no it does can it does carry the abstention goes with the affirmance the affirmance are the yes there's four yes three no one exstension Roberts rules it's you should have actually said president not voting but we'll call that for a different day um the abstention yeah so the abstentions go with with the yes vot majority the majority was cancel the meeting four votes in favor of canceling the meeting three votes not in favor of canceling the meeting and an exstension motion carries no meeting no meeting motion carries and you can call the state on me if you like any other unfinished business move mov on all right we got board member comments um let's see I think it's Mr Santiago right let me just check yes sir s thank you president Smith um congratulations to all of our employees of the month um and to our students um I wanted to just pile on to the to the kudos to the maintenance team um the school 11 HSA uh does their annual tree lighting and it was going to be raining and and they reached out and I talked to Dr Rober toy and um he was like well we'll see if we have some tents or something and there were two tents and you we were able to get those up and uh have a great a tree lighting and so I wanted to thank Mo he was out there uh Stefano and Mike who were here I think Stefano was here Mike I saw and so thanks to them uh very much for for helping us with the HSA at school 11 uh congrats to Mrs kusevic on 30 years she is an asset an asset to our district congrats for 30 years and I sincerely just want to say Happy Hanukkah merry Christmas happy K Quanza I wish everyone a peaceful rest of the New Year sincerely and um an even better amazing uh 2024 thank you uh Miss bassford yes good evening thank you to all the speakers that came how about that uh eighth grader at woodo Wilson Ruda Paul uh Patel what a what a what a what a personality see him going places soon in in life congratulations to the students of the month congratulations to the employees of the month happy Hanukkah I was um happy to uh participate at the manur lighting over at the city hall today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day something that was uh always stressed in my home uh my father's a World War II veteran um happy K Quanza happy boxing day Merry Christmas to all um my wish for the New Year's that you have someone to love have meaningful work to do and have things greater than yourself to believe in that you have a reason to smile every day and a shoulder to cry on when you need it that you keep your integrity even when the choices are hard that you love deeply give freely forgive willingly laugh easily live well enough to be grateful every day happy New Year Mr punak thank you Mr President want to wish all my brothers and sisters in the Jewish Community happy Hanukkah I want to wish everybody in our district um Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as well and finally I want to wish commissioner aljo and president Smith continued success I I wish you both of you continued success in your future ende endeavors thank you very much everybody and God bless America have a good night everybody thank you Mr uh miia um thank you all for coming tonight in support of the LGBT um Q Plus Community um happy Hanukkah for all those who celebrate it was a great lighting presentation over at City Hall congratulations to all 183 students um who ended up getting an ID yesterday so congratulations to them and congratulations on that scholarship money you know $1.3 million goes a long way in high Ed um and I just want to you know personally State I wasn't attacking anybody today today what I did was my duty as an elected official on this board to always vote for what is right in terms of our students our constituents our faculty members our staff members and for this District you know when I first decided to go on and run I messaged a few people you know current Commissioners you know asking how do I do what you guys do how do I get on it you know sadly I didn't get any responses you know um um there was one commissioner in fact who you know took the time out of his day to actually talk to me tell me what are the things I need and what did I need to do in order to be um a candidate in all this you know I like to thank him for all that um it's sad sad see that this is going to be his last year so thank you commissioner Abra for you know sitting down with me and telling me what are the steps you need to take in order to be a candidate because unfortunately when I asked people people didn't think I was qualified enough people refused to give me the forms people refused to believe that I actually want a seat on this board there was people who were celebrating saying that they were the true winners and calling my victory nothing but lies so thank you for all those for supporting me thank you president Smith for you know your mentorship thank you for always being there for our students and support of our staff faculty members our par professionals thank you for all the hard work you guys have done for this District I know it goes a long way looking back at h um during High School I remember um this board was filled with Commissioners who actually looked like me and that goes a long way you know when I was in elementary school unfortunately I didn't see that many City County State you know presidential anything who look just like me and today I sit on this board with not just one two three four who look exactly like me who resemble someone who thinks like me someone who acts like me someone who I see myself in um and thank you for pushing for that diversity you know thank you for those who came before them who led for a path for me to be on this board and you know I can't thank any of you guys enough for that um thank you for the district for giving us you know three brand new board members I know Joe has been here on the board before but thank you you know he's another great guy from the Bonnie Village another person who's representing along with me and Mark over here so thank you for adding another botney kid onto this board cuz at the end of the day we're all here for the same thing pushing for our students to go forward in life so thank you have a great day everybody thank you um Mr Paris thank you president Smith and a huge thank you to president Smith and to commissioner Abad drao for your time and all you've done to really help the students of this District uh truly is appreciated and thankful wish you both the very best um pretty much everybody said said it all so at risk of repeating myself I I do want to call out Miss kusel levich uh she's really the glue in this uh organization as far as uh learning goes in this District so 30 years that's quite an accomplishment and uh I hope she has 30 more um thank you to the strings that came tonight and Mr Louie it was really nice to have some uplifting music before we started and uh just happy Hanukkah happy K Quanza Merry Christmas and let's look forward to a great new year for our kids thank you thank you uh Dr Danny um thank you Mr President uh so I do want to say um it was really Lov to hear the students um playing when we came in that was really really nice uh thank you and um congratulations to miss kevich um for all the years that I've been on the board I mean she does just such an outstanding job um really a a credit to you know u in terms of leadership um for you know women in the district to look up to for all that she does um congratulations to all those who were recognized for their accomplish ments this evening um and um you know thank you Mr abajo known you for the seven years you've been on this board um I mean for the most part we we we got along you know I mean we disagreed but that's okay I mean that happens we always amicably disagreed um and I do wish you the best of um success and whatever your future endeavors hold and thank you for your you know dedication your years of service to the district and trying to improve it and you know um thank you and um Mr Smith it's um been very nice serving you know as VI as vice president with you don't cry you know I know sweating I know I know it was just timing it was timing um you know thank you I I know that your uh heart's in the right place you've always um you know been as uh Dr arber toi said very involved um very rarely missed um any of the committee meetings and um you know there are so many committees and you know you were always there and um you really do care about the students you care about the staff about everybody um you really care to make sure to see a lot of the the projects and things that were going on you really had um your hand in things um so you know thank you you definitely both of you have you know left a mark um and it left a mark on me left a mark on the district um and I do wish you the best in your future endeavors and um you know hopefully we'll see you at the podium or virtually or something putting in your input on things um so again thank you um and uh Happy Hanukkah um to those uh celebrating a lot of Jewish friends so you know that's that's exciting for them um Merry Christmas um happy K Quanza and happy and safe New Year to um everyone and that's it thank you thank you commissioner abjo thank you president Smith uh Happy Hanukkah Merry Christmas uh Happy K Quanza and happy New Year I apologize for not making this uh evening's Hanukkah festivities uh actually if you notice I came 2 minutes after at 7 o'cl 7:02 cuz I was um had a previous engagement prior um seven years really went by quickly um there's been a lot of accomplishments and you know a lot of things I look back at that would have done differently um I didn't have anything prepared honestly for this I'm so I'm just going to go off the cuff you know and I really meant when you get into something particularly this type of business in education it's really the children you know all stakeholders at the end of the day result to the education to of the children for the most part it's been a real pleasure over the past seven years with the various Commissioners working with each and one of you um you all have assets that bring to this deis into this District that has really shaped this Administration this district and the future as somebody who was born and raised in Clifton all of his life graduated 03 trouble here trouble there um when were kids um you know to give back to your town to your District to me honestly is a dream come true no doubt about it no payment necessary because the past board members have done well for us our teachers have done well for us our personnel and staff have done well for us have given us a lot which was actually mentioned takes a village to raise a child so why not that child grow up and give it back to his own The Village that's what it's about coming back and know I'm not sour I'll go I'll talk about that a little bit you know God works in mysterious ways puts you in places in front of people that we don't understand sometimes but you have to have Fai and Trust faith and trust excuse me okay well I did lose a election not going to lie welcome the next day my pants I went to work it is what it is we win some we lose some you know my daughter asked me she's like so how' you do did you win like no I lost she took it harder than I did but you know what to me it wasn't a teaching lesson to me was a teacher lesson to her particularly because as an 8-year-old I wanted to understand life happens and we move on that's what we got to teach our own children we teach our children in our Community what we want our children personally to learn and that's how we should treat every one of our children our child how they are our own every decision made we have to hold be held accountable because honestly one vote will shape thousands of students current and future and that's how we have to do it you know I'm going to underline it Danny Dr Robert toy I think you are the superintendent of superintendent if we can clone you and I really truly really believe this and put you in every County and every municipality I think the state will be so much different that's how highly I think of you I think you're an amazing man sorry you're an amazing gentleman individual father you've become a friend I think to many of us you're a phenomenal superintendent that doesn't look over people's shoulders in administration I've seen you in action and I think we all have and I think you're a phenomenal leader um hopefully Clifton will have will be lucky to have you until you decide to retire uh for years to come I'm not going to go around the days but I just want it because he is the CEO and leader of this district and to make sure that you know it was a pleasure to and an honor to serve on that committee when you were hired and honestly I knew you were it just by looking at your res before you even sat down in that chair in front of all of us STI with a little QR code and all that stuff um so I really don't have anything else to say but I'm I'm going to say something I need to get off my chest I've talked about it in previous board meetings I've gotten hit for it cuz people like to twist my words but you know I honestly just want peace in the world whoever side you're on there should be no sides you know few and I'm for the legal side I'm saying this in my own capacity not as a board member you should get up and say I'm kidding well it's been done in the past um what happened on October 7th is tragic what's happening now is tragic senseless killings around the world I'm not just talking about pal bus palestin is I'm talking about Ukraine I'm talking about in Africa I'm talking about in Europe I'm talking about everywhere when you hear a child suffering we got to make believe that that's that child in our community making sure if a child's suffering anywhere it's a child suffering everywhere the fact that Injustice is one place Injustice everywhere everywhere that's how we have to treat Humanity that's what I honestly came on the board because of the fact that we want to do and serve better in our community and do well whatever whatever and and this is just my last thoughts whatever you decide to do treat it as it's your own child treat it as it's your own Community treat it as though it's your relative treat it as though it's for you as they say what you want for yourself you want for your neighbor what you want for yourself you want for your brother what you want for yourself you want for your sister that's how Community should be all about and on that note thank [Music] you thank you um putting uh thoughts together for this meeting um became a little uh more difficult of a task than uh than I thought it was going to be um as you start to write your thoughts down and emotions start to play um I found myself you know rolling and folding up into the garbage uh different uh different notes that I had taken um if you know me I'm a person that uh usually does not speak from notes uh usually speak off the the top of my head um you know I usually don't speak very long um but if tonight you'll indulge me I may be a little bit longer than I normally do uh normally I'm a very quick uh speaker right wow that was something anyhow um that was good when you when you um when you decide to give service back to the community um you have to make you have to make some tough decisions um and I think people sometimes feel that you know running for an office or being part of a of a and having a title to your name is you know it's just uh going to be a piece of cake um let me tell you so you know over 16 years ago when I was approached by people at that time Mr miahi was the youngest uh board member um elected to the board of ed um I had had a previous history of dedicating my time and Devotion to uh kids through uh mostly through the uh Recreation program um I was a volunteer here for different uh activities uh through Recreation um I had been a um basketball coach a uh baseball coach soccer coach um and uh as well as a teacher so I felt my dedication and devotion was to kids and I wanted to find a place of where I could use my talents and my experience in helping kids in in my town um and someone approached me and said you know I think you should run for the city council uh you'd be a great councilman Etc and I said well what do they do for kids and basically the answer was that they did very little little in their capacity to help kids um and I did not want to just have a position just to hold the position I wanted to make a difference in assisting and helping so someone then approached me and asked me to be to run for the Board of Education and as most people in the past especially um would tell you nobody knows what a board of education is nobody knows what they do the only thing I have gotten over the 16 years is well you must make a lot of money that has up constantly especially with kids um it's as all of you may know this is not a paid position um this is truly a dedicated volunteer position um so again get on the board of education and um I'm then told you know you you got to you got to take some committees that may not be real important ones right now but you'll get on the better committees as as you progress and I thought to myself you know what does that mean I mean every committee should be important to the board not just certain committees um so it was always like the kind of running joke that uh you know the new guy would always be put on Transportation like that was supposed to be one of the lowest Committees of the board and um I found out quickly that's not the case I mean um imagine having to transport all those students in the city and make sure that they're eligible for free busing and not only with our kids but having to bus um kids that live in our town but go to different schools out of town so it's a tremendous job uh so there my point is there is not one committee that is more important than the other they're all very important so I felt my talents were best utilized at the board of education level after my first term I was approached that I should run for something higher um and again I said you know my talents are work best working with kids and I didn't run for the Board of Education um because I wanted to use it as a stepping stone for something higher um and here we are 16 years later and I I felt that I still had worked to accomplish and contribute to this district and to this town the voters unfortunately didn't see it that way um but very surprisingly just about 10% of people came out and voted in this election of a town of nearly 990,000 people whether you voted for me or you voted for somebody else to have less than 10% of the people come out to vote is absolutely disgraceful that tells me people don't care they don't care about the education because if you cared people would have been at the polls and today there are so many other ways of exercising your right to vote you have mailin you have um early voting and then you have election day so there is no excuse that anybody doesn't go out and vote but in a town in a district that majority of your tax money goes to education and less than 10% of people came out to vote is upsetting is upsetting and alarming that we're more worried about other Petty topics in this town than worried about educating kids we're more worried about other Petty things in this town than worrying more about the teacher shortage our space shortage these are topics that this town should be actively concerned about because those are the challenging topics that this board is going to be approached with and very soon now but having the public to come out and only 10% did so is very alarming thank you to the 10% that did take the time to vote but people it's extremely important you can't be successful in a town where people don't come out and support and vote it can not and will not be successful because what are you left with then you have different groups that form for their own political reasons and when that small amount of people come out to vote that little group can influence how the vote goes doesn't mean it's what the what the town wants or what the town feels but those are the people that came out and voted voted it will be extremely alarming to this town and to this board if that type of election and process continues because what happens here is Li are made during the election process and you get that small group of people that come out and vote and you get them to believe the lies then you're operating with a group of people that won an election with their lies imagine how damaging that can be moving on on any topic that happens in this town on anything that occurs it will be operated on lies and our kids deserve that our kids deserve to have a group of people come out and tell lies so that they could win an election or win a seat imagine how other topics down the road if they tell their lies and there small group of people come out and vote for it how it could be destructive extremely destructive to our staff and students and I hope everyone is aware of that and their eyes are open you can't have a district where kids could be affected because people make Lies when I first got on the board one of the things that I was always told was you know well this board we you know we all don't get along but we make sure that when we come out here that we show the public that we are unified board and then if our objections or our uh concerns about other board members or their policies or their ways are fought out in the back under uh certain topics that can be discussed in the back as we see in other forms of government we see fighting going on in meetings we see people disagreeing with each other at meetings this board that represents students can't get involved in that they've got to remain dedicated and United to the kids that they represent and I've said it so many times if people would remember the reason why they ran for the board there could never be problems it's when you start to get involved in the other reasons that you want to make yourselves a part of on the board that's where the trouble starts but I always kept the students number one and our staff number two always close to heart when I made decisions if you you don't have the support of your staff if you don't have a staff that feels that they're important that the work that they do is important and how they educate our students if you don't have a strong staff your district will fold and I know that because just recently at our convention and speaking to other boards from other towns telling us of the problems that they have with their board and how their board never can get past a certain topic because there's just so many issues and so many problems because they did not keep students and staff utmost in their minds and I have to credit this board on the four years that I've been back working uh with most of you the the new board members that just came on last year I have to credit each of you because you always had students and staff at heart our last contract with our bargaining units the board was so much more willing to work with the bargaining units to come up with a fair and Equitable contract and with all of our baring units up this year I encourage all of you to continue on that movement forward for so many years our teachers in this district and our staff in this District in my opinion were not fairly treated the way that they should have been and while this board over the last 3 years has tried to catch up with that it will still take some time but it's in the right direction and I encourage you to please keep on that direction please be fair be honest and be devoted to each and every one of those groups that you will be bargaining with that they are the people that make our students succeed and help our students succeed and are there for every kid no matter who they are so please I I encourage this board to please continue to keep our staff utmost in your mind and to always remember remember you're here for students keep all the other garbage out of your of your mind and of your ability to serve I ask you please just to do that and if you do we will continue to be a successful District I can't begin to uh TimeWise I can't begin to go through everybody that I would to uh thank um but first to my colleagues thank you all for the ability to serve with you many of us did not um many topics we may not have agreed upon but we still respected one another and I thank you all tremendously for that I thank you for the last three years to give me your confidence in allowing me to be the board president who was just the person that kept everything aligned of where it could go that's the only difference you people did all the work and I thank you for all the dedication that you did and I encourage you to keep that up with whoever you put in this seat as president thank need your support they need your help and they need to know that what they're doing is in the best interest of the board so please whoever you put in this seat please think about that that's someone who will be here to act as a leader to not be a person that's contentious you need to be able to work together so please consider a person for the seat that will be able to work with every board member and not hold personal agendas personal gripes personal feelings that will only destroy this board I hope I have represented all of you well I did my very best communication was very important to me to make sure we were all kept up on the issues that only encourages boards to be able to freely communicate with one another to not act as if you secretly trying to go against board members because that will only be destructive to the ultimate goal of staff and students there's so many groups that have been so supportive to me over the years we truly I I commend them all the time but we truly have a great group of people that run our district from teachers to secretaries custodian maintenance Paras administrators custodians everybody working together and I think Dr roosi through this board truly hit it on on the nose of coming up with a slogan that could represent and tell people what Clifton is about one Clifton how simple it was but unless you have a board that works together with admin with Administration to accomplish one Clifton it's just a bunch of words don't let it be a bunch of words please continue to live that motto in that goal each of you in your own way has truly been an inspiration to me I'm truly thankful and grateful to each and every one of you for not only our professional time together but for your friendships people should know that you know this board sometimes spends in a week more time with each other than they do with their own families so while it's not a a mandatory it definitely helps in having a close and strong friendship and relationship with your fellow board members and I thank each and every one of you for that and hope and pray that we will continue on with that that friendship to my vice president Dr Danny it's been truly a an honor to have you as as my vice president we were able to throw things uh off each other and come up with the best possible solution or approach on how we were going to do something uh just knowing that I could call you and um and make me laugh um you know uh those car rides to dinners and things are uh uh going to be a little bit uh quieter for you or um but I I thank you for all that you've done on that for administration to um to Mr Jenaro and Miss kusevic I was around when uh Miss kusevic was hired 30 years ago um this district has tremendously benefited from having her as an employee in Clifton I I could go on for hours to talk about all that she does but I think most of you know what she does and if you don't please call and set up an appointment with her and she would be glad to explain to you and show you on a particular day what she does truly dedicated to Mr usy and your whole business department I thank you for always having uh everything in order um remember folks we're dealing with one of the largest budgets there are for for boards and to have a business office that has always been on the money no pun intended um is is truly a a tremendous asset and you were trained by one of the best God Rest Your Soul miss Karen Perkins was was a number one in what she did and to pass that down to you um you guys have done a tremendous job there and uh I commend you and your department uh for all that um I'd have to say even through storms even through computers down and stuff like that our employees never missed a payroll um under the business department control so um we know that that's very important so we thank you to Mr Jenaro um you know know Mark and his father for so many years his dad was a great uh educator and uh uh as well as uh Miss Lama's uh predecessor uh at the helm of uh teacher representation uh Mr Jenaro just is a hardworking and dedicated employee who sometimes takes on too much responsibility and Dr roosi has to pull him in a little bit to uh but his dedication and devotion is is seen throughout this District so so much for Mr shahada I cannot begin to express to you how much I've seen you grown professionally on how much you have added to this District have helped this District it is um truly truly remarkable on the work that you've done for us but most importantly um I cherish and value our friendship um will continue to be good friends and I know that you will continue to do great things for Clifton uh so thank you for for all that you've done to our new uh attorney and his staff Mark uh even though it's been a short period of time um things have been I have to tell you when you don't hear from the attorney that's a good thing good thing that means they're doing what they have to do um so since since being on Mark and I have spoken very little and that's a positive thing so um I know you'll to continue to uh do wonderful things for our district and representing us and um I'm so glad that I was able to be part of the board that uh that brought you into Clifton so I thank you and wish you all the best and and last but not least uh to the guy the reason I really got involved back on the board of ed I started to be at some events where Dr roosi was at and he would get up and speak and I just was so blown Away by um his knowledge his uh devotion uh in speaking his Devotion to to Clifton um he had only been appointed uh superintendent uh maybe four or five months before um I start to to get to know him and um I felt that he was going to do do great things in Clifton and if I could help and be part of that with my experience from the past um I wanted to be a part of that and it was because of Dr roosi that I got back involved again and um I thank you for that it's it's truly been a remarkable and wonderful relationship um we worked so well together um there was never opportunities where we were uh throwing things at each other and uh banging on desks and whatever and I've seen that with other presidents with other superintendents um but I think the main focus continued that we were here for kids and the staff and uh it made it so much easier to be able to uh to get along and and do things um in no way Dr roosi did I ever want your job um I hope I never showed that um you did a tremendous job on your own and um um I learned so much about what it takes to run a district what it takes to be a board member and what it took to be a um an active and good president representing the board and I hope I did that for you and for your for your department um but um as everyone has said before Mr abrao and you know everyone um we are so fortunate and lucky to have you here I hope Clifton knows and realizes that um and I know there will continue to be great things happening in Clifton because of your leadership and your dedication and your devotion but most of all I am so thankful for our friendship our friendship that no election can take away from ever can that be taken away I cherish our friendship I value it and another important part of that relationship was getting to know your kids and they're they're just such great and wonderful kids and seeing how well you um how much you love them and how much they loved you it truly opened my eyes to not being a parent seeing that that love between CH children and their father um I I truly was so impressed by it it um Felt So Good by it and um I often you know said to myself um you know Dr rosi puts in a tremendous amount of time and takes his time away from his kids let's not try to add to that and do what we can uh so that he could be with his kids U and I think one of the things that this board did was keeping our our committees um virtual so this way our staff could get home um operate their committee meetings and then they're there for their family they don't have to wait another hour two hours before they get home so I hope the board will continue that but uh drzi i i u am so honored to be able to have served with you and um we will always be friends I will always Cher cherish that friendship and uh you have you have four wonderful kids and um I feel as if they're part of my family they're a part of me and um I wish them all and you nothing but the best and I know we'll be hearing some great things especially about his uh his son Danny you know watch out he's going to get he's going to be playing football for some colleges and you watch we're going to see him in the NFL so uh some some some great kids you have there and uh I thank you all I thank the public I thank for my supporters again I don't want to keep here all night I told you I would keep it short so um thank you all thank you for the opportunity to serve um and um I'm still be around I will not be going away so you'll be seeing me thank you [Applause] um I normally do this um I normally do this at the end of the year um Mr mccy um most of your kids are probably gone by now for the camera crew but um I can't begin to thank you enough and thank your crew for always making sure that these meetings are televised that there the sound is on and the pictures on and all that stuff without that Mr mccy we wouldn't be able to function this uh as a board so we thank you and your kids for all the great work and um to our security crew um who have just been a tremendous asset to this town to this District uh we're only going to see better things happening with them but guys we thank you so much for your time and your devotion and your dedication to kids and um I I haven't spoken to one of our security Specialists that said that they don't like their job they truly truly enjoy what they're doing and they're doing a great job so thank you all and um we'll move on to a new business any new business for the board I for the future put batteries in these clocks batteries are in the Box kidding oh but they're in the Box I was told um the or is your reorganization yes yes yes okay uh the board's reorganizational meeting will be held on January the 4th at 6: pm here at the uh the boardroom um there is no executive session tonight so motion to adjourn by Mr ABJ by Mr Mahia any objection Noe so ruled thank you all e
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
okay we will call the meeting the order first item is the approval of the agenda and we have added item number 13 which is request for ad State professional develop so I would entertain a motion to approve the amended agenda motion by Allison second by Josh all in favor say I I any opposed same sign motion passes 60 and approval of the treasures report questions motion by Brad second second by Allison all those in favor say I I the oppos same sign motion passes 60 approval of the minutes from the there's a motion by Josh to approve those minutes and a second by Chad any questions comments all those in favor say I I I any oppos same sign motion passes 60 and approval of the invoices just a few on there Patterson Grant with paying out uh for that P at professional development Grant there you can see some reimbursements there you also can see that um lobbies applied for the beef program through USDA we a to purchase over $10,300 worth of beef were reimbursed by USDA which is a good deal for us and then also we did graduation Alliance Bill and that our space Le flow through are the largest ones in that places any other questions the that's presented motion by Allison and second by Josh all those in favor say I I any oppos same sign motion passes 6 and Reconciliation and cash balance report those are uploaded to the paperless board meetings and the cash summary any cash balance match the treas report which matches the bank okay recognition of visitors speaker so item number eight is H back discussion so uh we ask ask put this back on the agenda I brought Chris back and uh explored some Productions that you have in front of you uh the W room which is estimated about 40,000 uh going back to water would only say 5 to 6,000 so those are the reductions off the original ones there I thought Chris would be here to answer any questions you have going forward here if we were to decide on like a different project or anything like that would we have have to redo like quality studies and stuff like that that would have to be part of a different project it would yeah that's correct so we would have to I mean that would be an additional cost or also included in the next correct you say different project you me different location than the gym is that yeah okay yeah so we've already paid for the air quality paid for actually generic P has also been paid for not be paid out of V so if we did have to if we decided to change gears into with a different project or location we would have to pay the engineering and quality stud as far as if the wait room is taken off of the project um do we have to Reid that at this point I think we just look at everything as deduct from the contract is how I would recommend just based on where we're at the time frame going through the bid process he enrolls us into January as far as getting equipment here on time being able to complete by the end of the summer which I know is important I would propose that you look at it as a voluntary deduct or as a deduct of contract so we we would have to approve the original proposal and then do like a change order correct kind of a a brief overview through everyone again so the LA so the the original bid was $48,600 and from our last meeting we had we had two duu um we made some adjustment to the equipment pricing and we've got an we got a different electrical contractor those combined are real close to $30,000 for a deduct on those and then you took the gym on top of that or the I'm sorry the W room it'd be another $40,000 so the Project's getting closer to the Esser number but it's still it's still what's our number 350 350 so if we take that deductions off we're looking at 14 so we're looking at and I think you were we have to put our engineering and Esser and all that stuff back in there yeah we'll put that back in there so that would go up to that's a little bit about 30 right under 30 I think it was 20 y for structural electrical mechanical engineering air quality study envir so that should back up to 9 and then bill and I were kind of talking the other way we can kind of look at this is you could flip it and not address the gym that would keep you with your your funds all the deductions and everything if we go at the 480 bid I checked for 120 that's right at that after everything's paying 120 for a brand new too bad that bid 480 can I clarify what you mean by that whole thing and not do the deductions no do the right just do the 120 do weight room the gy okay we do have a little deductions I mean he's already created the the 30 but not the other you're talking leave it run new gas line not okay so hold on we have emotion and in a second so for what we'll continue for approval of the bid as so now we're just having further with his 30,000 in savings but not the additional removal of the boiler and all of that so like the boiler would still be removed from the equation we use the gas we go gas we're going to do it gas okay I just want to make sure I was understanding what you really meant and do the waight room so the uh bed as presented less the deductions is that what the motion is see you'll just see that motion right there the deductions will come after oh gosh okay so we're gon 30,000 just this right here okay that's what the motion is and just the basement right just the basement not the extras at the bottom right this here here this is an addition so it' be bor $8,600 so I've been thinking about this a lot since the discussion last month and I struggle a little bit because you have on the one hand there's the Sesser dollars that are sitting there and you hate to not utilize them um because it is it will benefit to use them but then on the other hand we're finally saving money and capital outlay and we're not in a hole and so I've kind of struggled with um just because you have money saved does that mean you want to spend it right away um so I've kind of gone back and forth on that a little bit but it is also significant bang for your buck at this point like that's the that's the best deal we're going to get for $120,000 um yeah the other thing you could look at it too is it is helping our system that is in there now right because we're cutting a big chunk of it off uh so it doesn't have to supply the work as hard that unit already that is the boiler system that is in the junior C high is getting close on its last leg too and and so my big thing is we we're kind of helping two stones at one time you know hopefully it'll stretch out that boiler system a little bit long right and just to be clear on funds there bill so with the projected income into Capital outlay through the rest of the year yeah and then current encumbered cash or unencumbered cash so um I guess just to put this out so with a million do additional in capital outlay through the remainder of the year and then so far an unencumbered cash balance of about 176,000 even if we pay off our lease purchase which is every intention of happening this year right um that still would leave even if you pay that 120,000 that still does leave money sitting in capital Outlet to carry over I guess my question would be for a district of our size with three buildings what should our goal be for saving to Capital outl you want to try to pay save money up to do projects to pay cash that would be your goal to be able pay cash for everything and not go out on these purchases or anything like that so it's going to vary a little bit the higher you get you have a project depend what project you're saving a projected mind you start saving toward that project so you can get it completed U but you're going to go up pretty quick after this year especially if we pay the 354,000 off of the other which that's saving about that's saving about $25,000 in interest long our yearly payment that was well our yearly payment's right about $ 85.9 it's about but that's the principle and the interest is another 10 or 12,000 we've been paying about 100 little over 100,000 yeah plus the salaries we took those out I know but that's not in there I'm just money that we've been using out of that I I would guess if Capal probably go up about 200,000 at the end of this year at 55 which is high as been for a little while I think we probably, 700 even doing more routin lus you know there still things we got to do to every build we'll be looking at the the year now Maj it's not major projects this is more but in the past those projects we've earmarked for the next year's budget they've been they've been approved and paid for after July one yes so this would be moving back to paying in real time out of your currenty not your future money correct okay and the 176,000 uncovered that means we've already accounted for the bus purchase that's taken out of there already and then the carpeting that we're going to do at Wilson that's already is already yeah so this is your unencumbered after all the promises are made on all the other purchases that's that's the net so you have to kind of remember that anything that's been approved to pay has already been encumbered which anytime you encumbered it just basically moves it over your margin you can't spend you have un income or cash is anything that's not scheduled to PID so I also kind of wanted to point out like our all the projects that and things that they've had earmarked or kind of the wish list of things to do over the year putting new H pack in the gym has been one that's been on that push list or to-do list for a long time and yeah this would be the best time to do it because we have that extra money we get the most bank for a buck and we all know that prices just keep going up so it's not like we will ever have a better time to do this in fact you talked about that if we they don't order this month I'm going to guess what guessing there going to be a possible price increase this time after the first of the year one of our vendors has been going up a percent every month which seems a little ridiculous to me but I would expect I would expect one for this project be the same boat soon well there has been a motion in a second is there any further questions comments or discussion okay hearing none we'll move forward with the vote all those in favor say I I any oppos same sign I motion passes by thank you Chris yate moving on to item number nine the board member position district report sets out the districts that I showed you last time on the map and general presented this is a resolution that would adopt those districts and require District to publ notice in paper for one week or and I show you this would be District number one basically most of the city of Wilson the Southwest uh Corner would be in District County Wilson Township Doren there District three is the city of fla District Four is all Township in in the district and then Blacky and valy District Five all this over here Lincoln townships sections in Ash Creek excuse me yeah Thomas and green garden and Buon and Frederick farmer Township D6 makes any sense and what you gave us is the are the legals to those yes yes so the resolution sets those out gotta I shortcut of some of the descriptions just say all all of the Township in us2 makes it fairly simple down reached out to people that had questions for in didn't really receive any addition if there this question and I don't know if this has even exist if somebody's current position was changed to where they at the next election do not represent that District I no but I have no idea they would have to change at the election at the election right that's is even if they weren't their term was up at the next election even though let's say they have a four-year term now that we're changing it we come up in two years would they have to I think they could finish their exp I swear to that but as long as they remain in the school this right when we publish this how long before they become truly effective it'll become effective uh with publication okay so so do you take care of that publication or you are um either way how you want to do AET so this whole thing would need to be published in newspapers what you're saying I a legal notice yes okay it has to be a paper of General circulation in probably be the ellworth paper because that's our County so okay I think you you adopted both great Ben tribute we did both yeah we did both we could do both I guess yeah there's going to be some expense for sure so then after this is published I'm just going I keep asking questions here after this is published we have so many days to wait before we can app point or somebody to take the position that's empty now like well District Two yeah so you can appoint immediately after it's published start your notice for for appointment you got to publish for two weeks that's what I'm asking okay so we have to have 15 days so we publish it we wait 15 days and then we could take applic we could start taking applications for notice of or letters of Interest I think is what you called it if you want to you can but we we can't do anything with them until after 15 days okay very good the county clerk will be able to tell us for sure that the person who applies in that in that District right because they'll have the new ones they'll have that and and also you that's in the resolution too at the end Ian it says uh that you need to furnish within two weeks each election officer count yes remember doing that the last time I do I even have a copy of the old letter so yeah I do that I sent it to each County election officer or County Treasurer whatever all five counties yeah okay questions if they approved the resolution tonight which is entitled 23121 it won't be published this week too late too late it's too late for this week yeah it's be next week so probably somewhere in the middle of January maybe not by January we have to take a look at the calendar C okay we could go ahead and and put a little public notice up there notice of Interest there's a notice of Interest a letter of interest okay okay right yeah okay approve the resolution second so the motion by Brad and a second by Allison all those in favor say I I I any oppos same sign motion passes 60 member resignation as much as I would like to give Roger hard time and not accept it they uh make a motion approve resignation from the board so just for clarification board member Roger Robinson has resigned his position and there [Music] isation a motion by Brad and second by to accept the resignation all those in favor say I I any oppos sign motion passes 6 do thank him for service and board vacancy resolution this is what has to be published in the paper no action can be taken within sooner than 15 days from the time this is published um again proba published this week but no action proba be taken till the next board meeting at the earliest letters of Interest I would think you wait until the publication position okay would be my recomendation you want to authorize the superintendent to do that after publication to do the next notice that VY take next think a week behind so if we publish it's going to be in this Thursday's paper already we already sent it to the oh you did yes I was just anticipating the vote so if it didn't go through I'm going to call them tomorrow and cancel but it's going to be published this Thursday for the vacancy of I think he wants to wait until you put this in the paper oh we want to cancel it yes he want to put this his put this in the paper now is there a time limit we you can publish it immediately after the publication you don't want to put it in the same paper it's a weekly paper Okay so the next week the next week will be published for the open spot and then within 15 days of that we can take action which will be real close I'll have to count yeah okay I so you want me to call the paper tomorrow and cancel this noce for the okay then don't put it in the paper okay just avoid the paper a week from Thursday what if we yeah I hate to put this week you want to put the district the new districts in the paper the very first thing was put the district lines in the paper okay before we even have the big because there will be some people in the old District too makes sense well people that have actually some people will change District so we be eligible okay got some people not eligible with the new lines right as I kind of look at it yes so I'm G to put this in a week from Thursday this big old resolution okay okay yeah I don't think cancel Thursday cancel this Thursday my call tomorrow or I may send an email tonight have them cancel do we need to put electron I guess if they want to see electronic version can we put it on the website or the map so they can look at the map and this here too some people need to know they're going be curious EAS okay okay okay so just for clarification for anybody we're going to be posting public thank you I'm like publishing the new resolution for the new District positions board positions and that'll be in the next paper not this week but a week from now and then after that a week after that in the next newspaper publication then we do we will publicize the board vacancy and the board will take letters of interest and we will Appo appoint someone from those letters to fill the vacant position can choose to interview also okay you see the letters of interest if you choose the interview you can actually intervie so actually tomorrow or tonight I can actually there's a new thing that the Elsworth independent reporter does this called column and I can just go ahead and change the date of publication from this Thursday to next th no I can't either because it's GNA be two weeks two weeks yeah I'll fix it two weeks I don't know why this is so hard one option might have I don't want to confuse might oh I can yeah the great b Paper is three times a week the new District so get do sooner and put it on our website okay that would get it to where it could be addressed at the January meeting okay if we have to wait that extra week I think we missed the meeting by like days I understand what you're saying so this big thing will be in the paper and that starts as I know if you got both papers we do so the that document in front of you Tam they all need to sign that for the resolution okay so nobody leave until you sign this not even okay so I will move that we approve the resolution for the vacancy to posted by superintend following the publication of resolution whatever than I'll second okay motion by a second by Josh any further questions or discussions okay he none all those in favor say I I any oppos same sign motion passes okay 12 the superintendent search [Laughter] okay here's my letter ofation we had a couple items I know that we needed to kind of nail down this month before and one of them being the questions I uploaded the questions and Mr Lowry assisted me and helped me to figure out the majority of the questions that people wanted to ask uh as you can read and he explained it to you those questions that had three or more people we Circle thinking those were more higher priority and at the very end of all the questions these were additional questions that Kayla presented so I visited with Mr cist about that adding questions that were not on the okay ASB questions and he said you can you just need to eliminate some up above because you don't want to ask more than 21 so if you're going to pick any of the questions at the bottom then you need to eliminate some questions at the to does that make sense because he wants it down to 21 and 21 we uh it's going to have a couple of two three board members are going to have to ask every board member we're supposed to ask three but we only have six members now so then somebody's going there's going to be four of you ask four so if you want to go by these what we have is great I will pre I will uh develop this and then I hope it's okay with you guys I will choose like I'll say you know Tamara chat Allison number one I'll say Okay Tamar you're going to ask question 1.1 and I'll you know I will let you know ahead of time what questions you're going to ask and I'll leave you a little space underneath they can joh your notes and you're going to ask that same question to each candidate so you can keep your notes straight or whatever um we went ahead and gone through if you can see what Mr Lowry circled in the columns on the right on the left like two out of three on the opening questions four out of 13 per curriculum so there wasn't really a lot of curriculum questions to be asked I thought I uploaded that publicly maybe I didn't okay um you can right but I don't know we put it public you know what I mean thank you want to copy that okay sorry I thought i' sent I thought I sent it to you I did too no because there wasn't time to sent you an email you were out of the office and it it was an error message I sent you an email and it says I'm sorry I'm out of the office till like November 3rd and it was the dates did not drive at all and that's the only email I had for you so yeah I don't know why that happened I think that's what happened um okay so the questions in the column um you can as you can see U the circled ones we did like three out of 13 or five out of whatever um so we'll take let you take a look at those and let you review Kayla's questions at the bottom which I think are very good questions too so um you guys need to decide or narrow it down or whatever candidates will answer the questions same don't matter how you kind of are is going to have like is on the curriculum no matter kind of how you ask that question they're going to probably have a an answer to the so just so you know that these questions may be asked differently but you may the same answer I that way enough that person can answer same answer can be onal yeah so I would my thoughts are that we just kind of stick with um the KB questions because I feel like in general it's even the ones that Kayla submitted are asking kind of the same information as what was what would probably be covered in the answers provided um with the questions that were listed by KB and I agree that we probably don't need to ask all four communication questions just because I think very redant because I think we have 23 cires yeah yeah 23 cires 21 yeah take two of them out should you thinking take one or two of the communication ones out or is there somewhere else you think we should so you think maybe get that down to two of the bo that's important to you guys of course that just tells you what questions are important to you because you every single one of those communication questions were important but then there was less than 50% of the curriculum questions which maybe it's because you just don't understand or I mean you know I there's a lot of variables behind why you choose why you did the situation you know of the district so two and that would be good with that that's a good idea so then you would have 51 would be out and five4 would be out okay well there's your two that get to the 21 and you're down to 21 unless you went to substitute because just like you were saying I feel like like 51 and 52 as basically the same thing it's just increased communication between the district and the community and the other on how would you manage effective communication with District staff parents students at the board so I mean that's still pretty inclusive does everybody consens yeah you don't have to take any motions you're just looking this over and by consensus you're going to just let me know which questions so stick with the KB questions and just take out those two lows communication okay and that down to 21 yeah that's for sure does any do you feel like we need to add any question questions like take another one out of budget or something to put in one of the rest the rest of them right you take that two out of communication almost everyone's 50 except for ccul has so many questions it's like the leadership personnel has a lot of leadership you only have three out of 11 but almost everybody bed at least one question in leadership but there was just two two two there's a three you know number there was one there was five so those those that have four and five are two three actually six six yeah so are you okay with um me U assigning the questions or do you feel like you really want to ask a certain one and I'll put your name by it nope okay it's amazing how much I still have on my computer from the last search it's not necessarily a good thing do we need to are you good on as far as we're having yeah I'm to still work on that I I want to I want to kind of visit with Mr C Christen he may not tell me but I I hate to book a caterer and last because we don't have we only have like two or we only have three or only have four and he's he's blocking out the whole rest of the week like Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and you know I hope we have four it's amazing if we would have four the last time we had three in an alternate when we interviewed the last time so um we'll see how that goes but uh yes and uh Kayla gave me a suggestion and we have some suggestions to for caterers so yeah I think we're going to be okay there and then um if it's okay with you we Vis I visit with Mr Lowry and he's willing to do the tours which according to the KB search they want the candidate to visit with the superintendent so what better time was when they're driving in a car and have a conversation also help shorten the yes we we kind of went over the schedule we haven't done anything yet perfectly down yet we're gonna visit with the administrators I'm sorry just after school for yes and Toby even though he's not gonna be here but no yeah we got you down we're yeah I'm working on the schedule I had the sample schedule we had from the last time U the last time we started almost all day and had lunch and supper but I'm thinking we can kind of condense it we're trying to so I Vis with Mr uh Lowry and so we kind of just penciled in some time so I'm definitely sharing this with you before I get it out there yeah for sure so does that sound okay to have him help and he's been very helpful with me already we kind of did this I was questions through me already so so consensus we're going to go ahead and go with the ones that we've got Circle eliminate the two on the other and I'll get the sheets out you guys can practice practice okay and as far as us being available in the time and stuff on those days when we could potentially have interviews it'll just be the supper and the interview correct that's all you guys will have to do it's just the supper and the interview um so we were talking about that too the interviews will probably take place right here um we talked about having catered meal at the library at high school it's quiet um close the doors there's a game on Tuesday night if we do an interview right away the next day so I'm kind of shooting for Wednesday Thursday we'll see how many candidates we have that's kind of tentative it's not definitely s so yes um yeah because I want to see all this go to the buildings see everything yeah but no you guys should just be evening just dinner and then the interview right maybe hour and a half hour an hour and a half for the interview I don't know I'm being conservative Yeah question yeah PL of my questions for sure yeah and those will all be meetings but there'll be executive session yep all executive sessions in fact I looked back on my minutes for when we interviewed um Mr Clark and the others but he applied and even the dinner was executive session so if there is um a spouse attending with the candidate they would be invited to the executive session for the dinner then they would need to leave read a book or something yeah we we'll make it work so anybody have any questions on questions on the question I'll fix that questions about that superintendent yeah we'll keep in touch with you emails and stuff to see as we get closer the times and all that but I know that Mr CIS made a comment that he didn't really want to let us know how many applicants you know and I understand that too and just kind of give me an idea of how to get stuff scheduled so okay so item number 13 request for out ofate professional development uh Bambi Freeman has an opportunity to uh be a demonstration artist at the National Council on education for ceramic Arts uh she'll also attend the conference they are actually uh taking care of her room that for being the uh demonstration artist U there is a registration fee of flight it is in Richmond Virginia March 20th through the 23rd I would recommend that we U support her and U I believe she'll bring back and be beneficial for she's an awesome AR teacher we very fortunate to have her and she's done great things and she's been here so I it would least we can do to support her on this i' to approve motion by Allison and second by Josh and questions or comments I might just add that that will come out of professional development and we do get a little state aid for that so that helps so all those favor say I any oppos same sign motion passes 6 Mr President I move that the board go in an executive session to purs to the Kansas open meeting act to discuss non Personnel for the topic of class classified positions and substitute and subal positions to Pro protect the privacy of individuals to be discussed and returned in Open session in this room just okay uh return back in this room at o'clock with superintendent Larry and John Sherman to be second motion by Josh and second by Allison all those in favor say I I I any oppose same sign passes okay we are back in Open Session I move to approve Jennifer Summers as a custodian for Central Plains Junior Senior High School motion by Allison second by Josh all those in favor say I I any oppos same sign motion passes 60 I move to approve christe Mason as accounts payable for the district office motion by second byh can I verify that's not of employ it's a new employee yeah not a current employee right the same name exactly the same name exactly yes so yes a new employee with the same name okay there's a motion by Alison a second by Josh all those in favor say I I and the opposed say sign motion pass is 6 just going to apologize in advance I have no idea how to pronounce this last name I move to approve Tyler Shel ban as a substitute teacher for central plains and Beth pachic as a substitute parent for Wilson Elementary School what sh there you go fine there you go did pretty good what he said the motion by Allison is second by Josh all those in favor say I I any oppos same sign motion passes 60 I move to approve Sarah Burkhead as the dance coach for Central Plains Junior Senior High School motion by Allison second by Josh all those in favor say I I any oppos same sign motion passes 60 okay board m reports um I will report that there is a booster club support Club that's being formed for Central PLS Junior Senior High School more to come in January about that M president I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Brad Brad for his service eight and a half years on our board we appreciate that certain as president uh SC here appre all the time uh we do have a uh we will be presenting him with the ksab service award uh when it the postal service has not been nice to us we' hope to have that today but uh we do thank you for your service one more one more you just thought it's actually just sitting in your office thank you we do appreciate it yeah been very very good to work with and I've appreciate years that we've been on the board been years before that too it's been an interesting ride but it's it's been good ready to pass the torch so I think it's I feel better having someone that's going to fill the the seat well so it's it is Bittersweet I joke about it but eight years it's a long time put into something and and so but I wish everybody best of luck I appreciate it to thank you administrative reports our bank statement equals what we have in our activity account winner music program last Monday it went well with many in attendance as I was told so that was granny Eve for me so I wasn't there December 11th um our sixth grader or just today the sixth graders took the community that care survey questions pertaining to how they feel about school friends community and family so they did get that completed today this uh the 13th of high school a class is going to come and visit with our pre3 and prek4 and have some activities for them they've come over a couple times already and well received and the high school kids have done an awesome job meeting and working with the kids December 14th second grade to the collap community center in Hollywood Legion the 19th will plan some fun activities for the kids kiddos it's going to be a pajama day the 20th is our last day of second night the second n weeks it's crazy that we're halfway through uh winter parties and dismiss at 12:30 teachers will return January 3rd the kids will come back on the 4th and on the um January 5th the cosmos fair is coming back for another visit to work with our third and fourth graders uh pertaining to robots and then service projects we PRK through six made door decorations for various assisted livings and nursing homes and those were delivered by last week to Lions Hayes Ellsworth Hoisington great B and Lacrosse they were really cute they did a nice job uh we're currently doing a holiday food drive collecting for a local Pantry um H&B employees will be donating food for 13 of our families in our community greatly appreciated and our Junior Senior High students are currently um getting gifts together for 28 of our elementary students pertaining to the giving tree and then our new fifth grade teacher has been attending some robotic trainings in Hayes um going up there on Saturdays and spending her whole day and um she's received a lot of um the product and stuff that we need to start a robotics program so we're wanting to Pilot it with our fifth graders um starting January 10th so we plan to put out a letter to parents to see if they would allow their child to stay with us after school on a Wednesday um every Wednesday because they'll have two events that they'll actually compete in and they'll as well so um we'll find out you know how many are interested and Mr Larry said the kids could jump on the activity bus and get back to their communities and stuff so we're going to Pilot it and see there's a lot of high schools and Junior highs I know now starting or not starting but have been doing some Robotics and I just think that Hands-On stuff is just great for kids so we're going to Pilot it this year and see how it goes so any questions thank you congratulations Alis the only reason I know shff will because I with one sever years guess I asked all the wrong people when we were out there uh our bank statements and Reconciliation Report matched the Kanas Community Care the survey that J mentioned has been at this for our eth 10th and 12th graders that were signed up our fast Bridge reading assessment for it's taken care of we have 23 boys and 18 girls out for high school basketball 19 boys and 18 girls up the junor high uh there's a winter moratorium December 24th 28th which not practice practice again on the 29th NHS as M mentioned is sponsoring The Giving Tree for elementary students believe students purchase for tomorrow we have a lady from great B I can't tell her name is SK coming over to discuss the you entrepreneurship competition for all of our students they that build a business plan and different activities if they so choose to do that and then we have teachers will to work with those kids if they want to do those things um but that's tomorrow Junior Senior High music program is the 18th in the auditorium at 7 o' the first semester to 20th mail grades out of the 3rd of January classes resum 4th we have a FAFSA parent night on January 4th from 6: to 8 uh this year's FAFSA has been LED Back to December usually this released in October it's not going to be released until the end of this month so start filling those out yet made it better so they're going to we're going to see how much better they made it when they release it uh we will have winter royalty on the 12th of January and our Hall of Fame ceremony will be the 2 of February during the half time on the youth entrepreneurship is that through Barton County or through Barton County okay she say present 7 through 12 it's about a 15 to 20 minute program she said she'll go through what all the requirements are and then if they want to make stay around and visit with her about okay for Wilson Wilson Elementary uh this past month third fourth and sixth graders attended the Exploration Place uh this past Saturday we had several Wilson Elementary students attend the district elementary choir concert at for State University uh the Wilson k6 winter conert will will be tomorrow at 6:00 some additional information that I have is Caren more our fifth grade teacher has started at math club after school math club for students uh just to help encourage more math participation uh for Christmas of course we have the Festival of trees in the Commons area uh we are going to do some Caroline downtown and also we'll have a Christmas movie at this time tomorrow I will have completed evaluations on all staff up there certified staff been really good to get in and and do that to to get into all the classrooms any questions on that okay superintendent uh we have attended to zoom this month on our accreditation ke accreditation uh we will be having a peer review in April and uh the ksde checkin will be on May 2nd we had a good audit on graduation Alliance and lik Side Learning we only had minimal deductions which is really positive after last year there is a request going into the state to see if they will review the audit last year and do the same procedures that they did this year which would recover quite a bit of income if they did uh we did have a wellness meeting with KSD this past month the wellness coach uh Andy Griffin uh charge of our nutrition uh worked with that along with one of our Cooks picked up that information uh and I will tell you that as of tonight complet did all of our donations for our tax credits U Farmers Bank gave us the last donation tonight that completed us to the maximum credits that we had plan to have a meeting in January to determine the direction uh within the plans that they submitted the tax credits it was for a daycare center we need to review that I've had conversations with uh Barton County Economic Development Group at advancing daycare depart uh they have it they got grants for two facilities they think with a new cycle for Patterson comes around they can get another Grant uh for a DAT Care Center uh we just need to decide what direction we want to take at this time with the PS that we have so uh trying to see if we can't get that started now we've got those funds so that was completely any questions is there a timeline to utilize those funds so we receed through the tax credits not to my knowledge just we had to be they all had to be sold by the separate I'll be working with the Department of Commerce she didn't tell me they're stackable which means you could put more money toward a project and sta that is Grant so we get another whether we do or ABC correct me if I'm wrong too that was um part of Kiza is having like an active PTO or booster club or something but was that part of ke said what is that uh site Council yeah um you can have other organizations but a site council is probably what you thinking know think one of the papil need to have some type of an adult organization support this um site Council sometimes is used as a advisory also on different issues and then open Agenda I might be as I said next next mon is organizational so the location times be set January I did also want to go back um just to clarify and mention I know there was [Music] some rightfully so um just consideration after our a it about the activities account and and funds up at Wilson and just to clarify that was dealt with as soon as the administration became aware of the issue and the board was aware of it but we cannot discuss any Personnel matters any further in Open Session as far as that goes did not involve all through and that account has been closed just to clarify that so any other items for next month's agenda I know in January a lot of times we do also bring up like board evaluation or superintended evaluation but I know in this case it's since we have a new board member coming off and have just lost a position we're going to kind of put that on the backboard for now question here for the superintendent sege he'll go over the candidates that they have selected I believe right yeah they have they have because the deadline on KB's site is January the 3 and then they'll have a selection committee and go over those and then they'll have recommendations at that that we'll set up interview dates that another thing that I had thought of that we haven't done a little while is board goals you guys used to always have board goals and I know we've got some transition going so we may want to get back on track with those in February yeah maybe we'll go in February I have them still on my computer from when you did them with Mr CLA so we can definitely revie those and think about getting back on track up especially and they need a little bit of yes um and just for clarification too uh the principal position that is open until February yes February the first plan would be to through with a committee interview and then also some type of meet and greet staff present to the board a recommendation on the febrary we kind of did February because we wanted to wait through Christmas break because once they get if they are working at a school they have time over Christmas break to gather all their documents that they need to send in for their application so we did that date so wa and we've got it out there so anything else okay if not I would entertain a motion to a Jour so your last motion nailed it second by Alison all in favor say iOS I all of you buddies says no who was the second I'm sorry Alice
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brief just a brief hearing to it's a a public hearing for a revision to this this current budget so uh we'll begin with that and Kimberly Doug Dale would you lead us through that sure it to pull up my budget um PowerPoint all right so um in December we normally do a budget revision so this is our first budget revision and then we'll have another budget Revision in May um that'll be our final budget revision um and so we just have to have this done no later than December 15th so we're right on track um the things the thing that really drives the budget revision is our enrollment so um Arizona Department of Education looks at our enrollment and then they say yes you need to do a revision no you don't need to do a revision um and you um don't have to do a revision if you need to go um up if your enrollment goes up but our enrollment is decreasing so we had to do a revision as you you can see um from our adopted budget um we've decreased about um 80 um ADM um and we always go a little bit High when we budget um in uh July um that's just traditionally what school districts do so it's not um surprising that we would be decreasing and we are still declining um when I looked at our enrollment this morning we are still declining a little bit yeah uh maybe a dumb question but no dumb questions uh looking that we got group a and Group B what's the difference good qu that's a good question so uh group a is just our uh regular student body population and Group B is our special populations like special ed elll free and reduced lunch gifted all right well I noticed that and then I noticed that the group B has actually gone up yes and the group a has gone down yes so um school districts all across the nation are increasing in Special Needs students um it's just something that's happening um in the United States uh so our we actually have an increase in our ml budget and that's just because of our carryover um so we had a decrease in our enrollment but we had a car we had some carryover so we had an increase of 1.5 million um and that'll actually um decrease more if our student enrollment um continues to decline um in May when we revisit it it could go down more um just depending on what our enrollment is our Capital funding is on um prior year um student and so that was just adjusted by $144,000 um it's not as fluctuating because it is on prior year en enrollment and our Capital that's what buys buses that's what buys technology that's what repairs buildings things like that classroom site fund that's what um pays for um teacher um what in the old days we called prop 30 or1 that's their performance pay um and that was just increased a little bit by $149,000 um and again we um when we do the payroll and do all the benefits sometimes it's a little less than what we expected it to be when it all comes out in the wash all right are there any questions those are the major things that um were changed in the budget yes one thing you said was that the capital funding is based on prior year enrollment yes but our m&o budget is based on current year year correct can you explain why or is that the legis the in the wisdom of the state legislature correct I use that term loose yes so back in the olden times um we used to be um even um even since I've been in education we used to be on um prior year um funding for M as well um and that CA the change came about um because of charter schools because charter schools are on current year funding and so there was some issues going on with Charter Schools and lobbying and whatnot and they got it changed so that now public schools are on current year funding for M as well I know any questions anybody had comments other than those derogatory against State Legislature I'm just kidding just kidding thank you Kim oh thank you so much thank you all right right that concludes this public hearing we'll be offline for about 10 minutes and then we'll start up with our regular board meeting at 5 o00
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[Music] here at West Chicago I've been a part of the drama club for all four years of my high school career and I've done pretty much every show I'm on the speech team I've been on that since sophomore year and this year I'm actually speech Captain I'm a student ambassador starting this year I've also been a part of the film club for the last 2 years and I also do the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning [Music] I would say that the community here at uh West Chicago High School is is very nice there's a lot of really great people out here there's a lot of diversity there's just a lot of things to do here it's it's very nice and [Music] diverse try new things out if you're not in any clubs definitely try a club because there's clubs here for everyone there's activities for everyone there's sports that some people may like and just try to get invol involved it makes high school a lot more fun and you'll meet a lot of great people I'm planning on going to college and majoring in theater after that I'll just see where life takes me my name is Alex Bradley and I'm the October student of the [Music] month
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[Laughter] good okay good evening everyone I have 6:30 um if everybody's ready to get started we will do so I'd like to start with the Pledge of Allegiance if you're able please stand czy to flag United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all okay the entire board is an attendance so I will call the meeting to order um Dr Roberts if you wouldn't mind thank you Mrs Wen we try to start each of our meetings just with a restatement of our vision mission and core beliefs so a reminder that BCS C Works to be the choice to learn work and play and our mission is to develop expert Learners by partnering with our community to invest in people our six core beliefs we all can rise to the challenge of high expectations learning is most effective when we have Choice flexibility and see relevance we Thrive when our physical social and psychological needs are met our community and School District are stronger when we partner with one another we flourish because of the diversity and variability in our community and our democracy and Democratic institutions are strengthened by civic-minded citizens thank you okay we are going to gavel out of the meeting first thing and go into our public hearing so Dr Phillips if you wouldn't mind getting us started Dr Bosman as well thank you Mrs Weldon U this is the second of two public hearings uh related to the Envision 2030 project timeline um and the next slide shows that timeline um going back to the spring this is just a review many of you would have uh seen a slide similar to this in the past but we started back in March with um a public planning session with the board um leading into a lot of work in the spring and summer defining what our facility needs were and then uh two more public input or I'm sorry two more planning sessions with the board in July and at the end of October in between those two meetings we conducted uh somewhere between 35 and 40 um public input meetings with more than 400 stakeholders giving us input and feedback and suggestions um and then last board meeting was the first public hearing tonight's is the second public hearing and the approvals are part of your packet tonight so following the second public hearing um we have request for approval for three of uh resolutions which are the same resolutions that we would have for any uh lease rental bond issue um and then of course as we discussed last time between um 2024 and 2030 then each year will be a series of bond issues planning design work with the staff um and then of course the uh facility work itself okay good evening thank you for affording us some additional time um don't fret I won't take you through all 26 slides like I did last time of all the individual although I would love to you know I I enjoy those things but I will not uh tonight because you've seen that and and the public has as well but just um three slides for me is just a reminder of of where we are and what we uh what limitations we have in place and how we propose to solve them so you see on your screen that um The Learning environment primarily at the elementary schools are in need of renovation um to match our instructional styles that we have with our our fantastic teachers that we have in bcsc North Side Middle School um in need of renovation as well uh we have capacity enrollment restrictions in place due to our facilities currently um we've talked um to the point of exhaustion about uh the demographic study and the projected shift from the East to the west and what our plans are to to combat that um as well as um renovating and adding facilities at our high schools to accommodate demand there in the CTE coursework and extracurriculars and uh frankly I I am not excited to be at the table to make decisions on districting and how we're going to serve students in this community if uh if we do not have the facilities to support them um busing kids from from west to east across the river longer bus rides uh that is not excitement I'd like to avoid that if at all possible as Dr Phillips mentioned we have Financial opportunity to do so um as you see and I and know as you have heard without increasing the tax rate um in terms of Renovations this is nothing new from what you've seen before uh but just to reiter reiterate and recap renovate our prek to6 learning environments at the elementary level construct the 12th Elementary on the west side of town renovate North Side Middle School and update equipment and furniture at Central Middle School as well as a few other sites and then expand our ctec for programming to meet demand as well as extracurriculars it's the same um graphic that you had seen last time and that has been made available publicly uh but it's a synopsis of the existing square footage that we have in our buildings as well as projected um additional square footage to accommodate these needs and then a checklist of uh the potential scope of projects on the right hand side by building um that we've used with cso's cso's partnership and and and help to develop the estimate that we have that you see at the bottom there're totaling around $36 million this last side is just a summary of the three resolutions that you um we were requesting approval for this evening as part of the the packet later um the first one is the the the most important one and that's the authorizing a maximum bond issue of 3 $6 million for the facility improvements that Dr Boseman described and as we have shown shown you in the past with a bond Uh current bonds rolling off of the books and maturing and being paid off um steel public fin Finance came in last time and you heard from those folks that we do have capacity to complete these projects without increasing the the property tax rate like Dr bosan mentioned and um it is our strategy um our recommended strategy as a district that we do not pursue a uh referendum for that purpose because it would raise the actual taxes on those folks act at the tax capsule already whereas if we do it um in the if we do not go collect signatures and have it put on the ballot ourselves um it avoids anything changing for the tax structure for any taxpayer in the State uh in the city right now or the the entire School District taxing district the second um the second resolution there is one that actually starts the the public notice of the determination that'll run on Saturday and then the third one is really just a formality it's something we do for every bond issue that allows us if we spend money for example running the um the ad in the Republic on Saturday we can reimburse ourselves from Bond proceeds for dollars that are expended prior to the bonds being issued we we very rarely use that with anything beyond um you know 40 or $50 for public notice cost of Public Notices and that's it so we're happy to take any questions uh I'm not sure how you want to handle handle Mrs Wiman from the board first and then from the public as we did last time yep okay anybody from the team have any questions we've heard this a lot hasn't changed much but just the case so just for clarity purposes this approval is to set that ceiling every project will still come before the board for a subsequent approval of scope size and deliverables as those are scoped out that's correct part of um it'll be two parts one side will be the finance part and that will come each fall when we do the budget basically we'll have our assessed value and we'll know how much we're going to issue that fall of that year the other part on the facility side will be Dr Boseman and his team um bringing the facility plan to you for that that following year okay anything from the team okay at this time if there's anybody in the audience who'd like to ask any questions you can step up to the podium that is separate from the blue blue sheet since this is the public hearing portion of the meeting hi Mr Delp my name is chub Delp and I live here in Columbus uh I'd like before I begin I'd like to wish each and each of you Merry Christmas and I would especially like to thank Dr Phillips for his education for in finances of this bond issue I really appreciated the effort that you put in thank you very much sir all right you will be voting uh approving a $36 million addition to our physical Plan before you do this I wish to inform the board of facts that I believe are relevant to your discussion over the last six years homeschooling is the fastest growing educational system according to a study conducted by The Washington Post and is growing at a rate of 51% private schools have increased seven 7% during this time and public schools have dropped 4% in enrollment over the same period it is important to note that this study was conducted in Eastern Kentucky and Manhattan New York school districts excuse me the the increase excuse me I'm lost my place in Anderson South Carolina the rate of increase was was 378 per.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
uh welcome everybody this evening to our regular business meeting of the board of school trustees here on December 11th 2023 uh thank you all for coming this evening uh with that I will ask uh Mr babjack to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence if everyone could please rise to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you you may be seated item two on tonight's agenda is our Board of school trustees resolution of accommodation Awards the first one being our Crownpoint Community Library bookmark contest winners we'll get to those and read those individually and also our 2023 Corporation Christmas card design design winners as well uh with that can I have a motion to approve the two accommodation Awards this evening so moved [Music] second our technology person in the back Mr Gill should probably be up here in about 30 seconds because I going to figure okay we're good he figured it out see that's why people that in every Department no that's me oh okay we're good to go uh we had a motion by Mr Smith seconded by Mr babjack question or discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5 z i I'll present those two Awards so if I could have the following individuals come forward face the crowd Lexi Stanis Stannis is that correct Elliot stiger Rory Reed and Lauren Clemens all good okay so I will read the accommodations resolution of accommodation the Crownpoint Board of schools trustees is honored to commend these individuals for meritorious achievement here be hereby resolved at the board of school Trustees of the Crownpoint committee School Corporation wishes to express sincere congratulations to these individuals for winning the Crownpoint community library book bookmark contest Board of school trustees publicly recognizes this achievement and renders it permanently to its minutes to be preserved for public posterity so our K through two second grade category winner from aarthur elementary is Lexi Stannis our third through fifth grade category winner is Elliot stiger third grader Eisen Hower Elementary so is I assume our sixth grader is not here we'll make sure we get her that award and that was Rory Reed and our our ninth grade 12th grade category Lauren Clemens 12th grader CR Point High School not here is either okay so congratulations these I'm are you part of the next accommodation award I'm sorry I did not know that I apologize so why don't you go ahead and explain the contest and what we have here time thank you all the um all the grade levels um these are two of our four winners we were excited to print those bookmarks up uh we printed them up and had a presentation at the library the girls won not only um bookmarks for them to distribute to their family and friends but they won a special water bottle where we had their bookmark printed on it uh so and we had the display the library where people could pick up those bookmarks and we already to reorder them another time all 500 bookmarks are already gone already so we're really excited about that so we're looking forward to doing this every year well that's great I greatly appreciate and congratulations to you young ladies on on the award so we're going to get some pictures here from Miss Allen and then yeah oh we have the artwork or the picture of it yes let's make sure BR we get that or do we have that do we have both of those and parents you can get a picture after Miss Allen's done so you get a nice set picture if you'd like stay there for one second here I think you want to get a picture from Dad here thank you and thank you very much so if I could also have come forward at this time CED Herrera does I say that right okay CED Herrera and Emma Kalin Emma's not here okay okay come on forward get to take Center Stage all by yourself Crownpoint Board of school trustees is honored to commend CED Herrera for meritorious achievement here here hereby resolve that the board of school trustees the Crownpoint Community School Corporation wishes to express sincere congratulations to seled ninth grader at cpoint high school for having a winning design for the front of the school corporation's 2023 Christmas card the board of school trustees publicly recognizes this achievement and renders it curently to its minutes to be preserved for public posterity day this 11th day of December 2023 and for those of you that oh haven't seen it here is ced's design for the front of our Christmas card so on behalf of the school corporation congratulations and then we also have for to you want to get for that picture all there we guess if it does it again we just use okay yes folks you're you're welcome to leave you're more than welcome to stay as well but okay you're welcome it out again I think so okay because there's three okay thanks guys thank you item three tonight is a public hearing hearing hearing for additional appropriation so I'd like a motion to suspend a regular meeting and open the public hearing on additional appropriation so moved oh motion by Miss Bas and second by Mr Vasser yes all those in favor please signify by saying I I motion carries 5-0 with that 3.02 patrons comments on hearing item there being none we'll move on to item 3.03 resolution 839 education operations fund additional appropriation Mr Reese thank you Mr President uh members of the board uh tonight we've held our public hearing regarding our additional priation for the education and operations fund as measure where those budgets are adopted and passed in the fall uh of in this case 2022 uh for the calendar year 20123 um even at that point when we ask you to pass those budgets we don't even have a funding formula for the second half of 2023 let alone the start of the next school year to know what our funding is or our therefore our expenditures will be as we kick off the 2324 school year uh so with that we've we we continue to make good business decisions and at the end as we come to the end of 23 need your permission to U spend the some additional money above and beyond the approved budgets uh we have uh excess cash that we're able to use to do that as well as some additional revenues that have come into play Since those budgets were adopted uh so with that we're asking for your permission uh your approval of of additional $2 million for the education fund and $3 million for the operations fund you've heard the recommendation of the administration for the approval of resolution 839 for additional appropriation in the education Fund in the amount of $2 million and the amount of $3 million for the operations fund may I have a motion for approval so moved second motion by Mr Smith second by Miss Basin questions or discussion there being none all in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5-0 thank you Mr ree item 3.04 can I have a Mot to close the public hearing and resume our regular business meeting motion by motion by Mr babjack second by Miss Basin all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5- Z with that item four on tonight's regular business agenda patrons registered comments there's there being none we'll move on to item five our consent agenda Dr Terrell thank you for your consideration this evening we have the minutes of our regular business meeting we have our Personnel agenda and then the voucher registered checks as listed you've heard the recommendation for the shortest consent agenda I've seen in a long long time uh may have a motion for approval of the consent agenda so moved motion by Miss Basin second by Mr Smith question or discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I I was opposed I abstain one abstain so we have a motion or four approvals one abstain with Mr VAs on the abstain Diana okay item six 6.01 approve resolution 840 related the Crownpoint school uh Corporation agreement with the CPA 20123 2025 Mr Kiwa yes thank you Mr President and members of just bringing to you today a resolution which allows us to continue practice when we hire a new teacher First Years of their employment point they receive a $3,000 contribution in a in year four though they do receive a $3,000 increase to their base salary the herb recently has taken issue of this our cont and it's fored us to pullu out of our contct bring this resolu Contin fingol for all of our new teers to for that $3,000 inrease to the asking for the approval of this resolution continue process thank you Mr Kiwa you've heard the recommendation of the administration for the approval of the passing of resolution 840 may have a motion so moved second motion by Mr Smith second by Mr babjack question or discussion just for those may be watching at home Mr K did you just explain what herb is or who herb is well they basically it's the the employment board that that talks or monitors all employee relations for the state of Indiana and they monitor all the bargaining agreements between schools and and unions across the state of Indiana and there's a rubic we have to follow and U they took a little bit of an issue with this language and they requested that we uh go ahead and thank you Mr Dr CH and uh requested that we uh you know take that language out of the contract due to the fact that they just you know did didn't agree with it that's enough for us I just want to make sure people understood it wasn't nothing between us and the absolutely uh Teachers Association nothing at all we're excited that we kind came up with this uh creative solution and and frankly we just want to thank the Teachers Association for uh thinking creatively with us this bargaining season to keep this this wonderful facet going in our contract our in our agreement thank you very much thanks any other questions all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5 Z 6.02 policy additions and revisions the second reading and adoption Mr Aiwa thank you back on there thank you Mr President uh yes last month we brought to you uh a second set of policies to have a first reading for consideration and adoption and as you can see right there uh We've listed them again for you this evening uh that's policy 2300 disclos disclosure student list uh policy 4013 uh for homeless students 4304 criminal organization and activities in schools 4340 acceptable use of Internet filtering software and policy 5530 uh exit interview designate we ask this evening that uh we wave the second reading and approve these policies to put them in play uh going forward as of this evening so the we are requesting the approval from the board this evening you've heard the recommendation of the administration waving the second reading and approval of the policies revisions Replacements and additions as presented I have a motion or move to wave the second reading and uh move to adopt this resolution motion by Mr Smith a second second by Mr Vasser questions or discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5- Z thank you thank you C Point High School physical education equipment Mr Reese thank you Mr President members of the board as part of the planned uh construction at the high school we now have the ability to utilize what used to be the old weight room as the new cardiovascular and Training Facility as part of the curriculum uh that was adopted last month um this is planned equipment to move into that into that now available space uh we we are utilizing the sourcewell national purchase agreement contract uh for pricing on this with Fitness fitness and exercise Solutions we also made sure we not got some more quotes from some other vendors just to make sure we're getting the best deal so with that we're recommending approval of the weight room and cardio training equipment and installation at Crown Point High School the amount of $185,900 to fitness and exercise Solutions you've heard the recommendation of the administration for approval of the weight room and iio training equipment and the cost of installation at the Crownpoint High School in the amount of $185,900 is more cardiovascular think treadmills um Arc Trainers ellipticals but the weights themselves were I think we we traded those we trade those in traded those in obtain new weight equipment and then this is replacing that this is going into that space into that space correct this is new equipment brand new equipment thanks any other questions all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion car series 5-0 year end and year-end business office procedures Mr ree thank you Mr President members of the board ask for permission tonight as we complete the end of the uh calendar year which is our our fiscal year for our budgets uh we ask and since this is the last scheduled board meeting of the calendar year we ask between uh today's date December 11th and the end of the year December 31st have your permission to pay bills through that period uh one make sure we're on time with our payments uh but also to help us close out the the fiscal year at the end of the calendar year for us uh the other thing we ask permission we don't believe this is going to be necessary but just in case something crazy were to happen uh we also ask permission to do inter fund transfers uh in in case we have a shortfall we want to make sure all of our funds finish uh in the black uh so with that any any bills we pay between now and the end of the year or any transfers we make uh will come to you uh for approval at the January board meeting so with that we're recommending permission uh to pay bills between now and December 31st and do inter fund transfers as necessary you've heard the recommendation of the administration to issue checks prior to board approval and temporary inter fund transfers if necessary for December all checks issued after the closing date of the regular business Docket in December will be brought to the school board at the January meeting and be included on the January claim dockets may have a motion for that procedure sove second motion by Miss Basin second by Mr Smith questions from Mr Reese all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5- Z thank you Mr Ai and Mr ree for all those today we have item seven superintendent discussion groups 7.01 start with you Mr vasor if anything from Cedar Lake we were at we met last Tuesday evening and U there was nothing that was discussed that affects our school system whatsoever thank you Mr Smith uh this covers October November September October November I think is a recapitulation but uh most of it has to do with facade grants but I did get a summary if any of the board members want to see it which has to do with the areas of the districts for the Redevelopment commission the tax increments the the dollar amounts area so if you guys would like to have a copy of what I received I'd be happy to forward it along to you so just sharing information and knowledge thank you Mr Smith we'll move on to seven there's nothing in Winfield so nothing to report at this point um 7.02 director of Elementary education Mr China thank you Mr President and board members just want to take a few moments to highlight and recognize our Bulldog buddies preschool program uh Direction and Leadership of Christy Elie uh our Bulldog buddies teachers and staff work with about 180 of our littlest Learners at our at four of our seven elementary schools um those four schools have really done a great job embracing the program and the teachers and instructors in the Bulldog buddies program and all the staff have really done a great job this year creating uh true truly an inclusive environment with all types of Learners learning together uh they're working hard to engage with families and also to into the community and connect with the community um and I can tell you if you're ever having a bad day you can go and visit one of our preschool program or one of our preschool classrooms and you will leave there with a smile on your face those students truly love coming to school uh each and every day um lately I've been L lucky to attend and hear about uh many of the different holiday uh programs and events and music programs and lots of different um philanthropy that's happening at our elementary schools this time of year um our schools put so much thought and hard work uh into making these meaningful experiences for our students um and I just you know this time of year it's it's great to reflect on my first six months in this position um and I I'm just truly grateful uh for all the hard work that our teachers and administrators uh par professionals front office staff custodians cafeteria everyone um for everything they do to create meaningful experiences students both inside the classroom and outside the classroom in one quick story uh had a principal send me a message from a parent about an hour and a half ago and this was a student who got redistricted to a new new school and it was it was a long message but it was just really heartfelt and really really great to see that this student was very sad to leave their previous school but um here in December um the students doing well and they're they're really happy to be at their new school so um our our teachers and our schools have done a great job adapting to a lot this year um but uh it's been a good good start so thank you thank you Mr China uh director of secondary ele secondary education Mrs Ramirez thank you Mr President and board members I want to take an opportunity to invite you to two upcoming um events at Taft Middle School schol we have an orchestra concert tomorrow at 6 p.m as well as we have then a band concert on the 13th same time 6m um if any of you were able to go to the high school this past weekend for their Holiday Spectacular they had for the first time ever band choir and Orchestra all came together and performed and it really was a remarkable um experience for both the audience and the students who collaborated with their um respective directors and um this is available on YouTube so you miss it and weren't able to view it you can watch it if you're looking for some um holiday spirit but it really is a great performance and a great tradition that they just started this year at the high school combining all three of those um so we do hope that if your schedule's allow that you'll continue to take advantage of those opportunities at the high school they're also gearing up for the end of the semester with final exam starting this week um which I'm sure the students will be very excited um to complete and to demonstrate what they know and what they've learned this year the high school also um is continuing to Community efforts through an angel tree they are doing a shoe drive a coat drive and really it's pretty impactful when we see all that our students our sponsors our teachers and admin are doing throughout the corporation at the middle schools we've seen collections um of white socks that have been donated to the Benjamin Jr VA Outpatient Clinic they also just recently raised funds for the Lake County Animal Control and for Phil's friends as well as then ta also did in angel tree for students and families that are in need this holiday season wheeler um continues to um pursue their philanthropic philanthropic opportunities as well and really just instilling this culture of thinking about others and really being very service oriented so I'm very appreciative and very proud of all that the secondary is doing to support our own students as well as the community um and rounding out if you were able to attend um wheeler had the first um musical performance in the past five years they had the lion king um on December 1st and 2nd really another great Showcase of our students Talent so I think when we start with our artists our artists that were here with us today really it Scopes um from drawing to Performance and we're very fortunate to be able to have so many opportunities for students that our parents are supportive of and that we have sponsors and administrators supportive of so um wish you a happy holiday and hope that you can join us in some of our holiday celebrations taking place throughout the district thank you thank you thank you director of exceptional education Mrs pascus good evening president Angel and members of the board um I wanted to share um two important items with you this evening the first would be the results of our um rating from the state on um what they call RDA results driven accountability and each School District receives an annual determination based on on um data reports were required to submit as well as the 17 IEP Federal indicators um and we were uh rated meets requirements which is um means we're in the top 75% of districts in the state um and we're level one which we're just we don't need specific intervention so um I want to thank all of our staff and um administrators and families because without them we couldn't have done that um Al our December one count is an annual count of students with disabilities that um is used to calculate some additional funding the district receives we were up 66 students um with IEPs so that's pretty significant for us and we're definitely feeling that um and I think just areas of Interest would be our death or hard appearing population went from 20 to 24 in a year that's pretty significant um our autism population went from 183 to 206 that's also significant um but some of what we want to do is now dig into our movein data we had over 200 students move into our district with IEPs and um many of those students came with some significant needs so we will track um dig into this and track their eligibilities and see what part that played in our numbers Mr pasc what is the total number then Corporation wide so I do an unduplicated count Mr Reese will explain the duplicated count in a moment but we were at 1437 thank you Chief human resource officer Mr Kiwa thank you um just one brief but important uh note to share as we begin to move into the next calendar year is we will begin to sharpen our pencils and begin discussions about Staffing as we roll up our numbers from uh this year into next year I say next year I mean next school year so those discussions begin as soon as you know January and as we walk into February we're we're starting to Target where uh what our staffing uh needs might be so uh we really want to make an effort to be early in this process so that we can you know start any interviewing and targeting and get some closure on some of this uh not only for Staffing but for budgetary reasons as well moving forward so we're looking forward to uh rolling up those numbers here as we uh roll into 2024 and that's all I have this evening and happy holidays to everyone thanks thank you 7.06 Chief Financial Officer Mr ree thank you uh Mr President um as Mrs pascus was mentioning December one was a big count uh for special ed and contributes a little over $6 million to the school corporation uh part of the state funding formula uh this year uh was a a significant increase in those numbers of students and she mentioned the non- duplicated number we're allowed to have a duplicated number for those students who have uh either in in the states words severe or mild moderate uh disabilities if they have communication issues as well that's a duplicated count so with that our duplicated count this year is up 150 students um we up to 1732 so number Miss pases gave you was around 1,400 so about 300 students with a duplicated count just to give you an idea if you look back three years our average growth in that student count was about 70 students even if you go back six years the average growth was 70 so 150 in one year it's almost a doubling of what our average has been the last few years uh so I want to thank the technology staff uh Tammy loosemore out of our office with it handles our data exchange and Mrs pascus and her staff for making sure we capture all those students who have IEPs to make sure we we get as much funding as possible uh to provide those services for that student and truly about two weeks to make sure we got everybody dialed in uh they did a remarkable job with the with the new student information system to get that done uh with that it also brings me to uh a point where this is uh my 365th day as an back as Chief Financial Officer and I want to thank the board for this past year Dr Terrell the rest of the cabinet administrative team it's been a um very rewarding year to come back and and slide right back into this role and um personally very rewarding for me um to come back in and and see what we're doing for students in the community I I really appreciate uh the opportunity again so I just want to thank you for that and I wish every happy holidays thank you Mr ree uh 7.07 director of communications Mrs Allen oh she must just no list or nothing thank you good evening I want to thank Brooke Robinson who is our music teacher at Eisenhower Elementary she and I recently collaborated on teaching a Learn Academy session for our teachers um she reached out and she said I was thinking about teaching something on parents square and I said so was I um so we collaborated and named our session parents square with Brook squared best title um but it was a great session and I was really glad that um she thought to collaborate and it was nice to have a teacher perspective there as I um worked through that with all of our teachers um also big thank you to our curriculum team Jeremy Walker Annie basser Amy mallister and Joe bisc um as well as Matt LeBlanc Dan White and Brian trap at the high school we had our ambassador session there last week we talked a lot about technology tour some classrooms and obviously everyone was just wowed by the uh work that our students are doing and a special shout out to Mr lanc who 3D printed little miniature bulldogs for everyone to take home with them which is awesome thank you thank you 7.08 superintendent of schools Dr tail thank you uh this this evening uh just want to bring to your attention um appreciate the fact that we still have that we continue to have uh people here in our Administration on cabinet who continue to lead um not only just here in our district but at the state level as well uh Mr Kiwa recently was able to present down at iasbo at the same time that the uh superintendent winter conference was going on and we actually had people leaving the superintendent conference to go over by planfield I believe is was and and go and listen to Ry talk over there about HR stuff so appreciate that and the continued reach there as you know Brook is um doing that still leading our uh public relations uh administrators throughout the district um want to let you know at the winter superintendent um meeting I was elected as the president of the Coalition of growing and Suburban schools in our state so a looking forward to leading in that capacity this year um kind of a shock to walk in and it's kind of like if you're not there you get voted in but I was there and they they voted in so but appreciate that and look forward to that um but with that that leads right into my my second point tonight and that is just a a note of thank you to our administrators to our teachers to our community uh to you uh the board um where I ever I've been it just seems lately over the last two or three weeks we've heard nothing but man we can't believe how good things are H going on in Crown Point and that's everything from the Athletics with football and and soccer and girl soccer making runs and the different things there but to our um Fine Arts programs to our kids programs to the things that are happening in our buildings to walking into the state superintendent conference and having the individuals who lead like our Board Association or our superintendent Association or our iasbo association coming up and saying all we see is the great things that are happening in Crown Point and that's a lot to do with social media it's a lot to do by Word of Mouth um so thank you to Brooke and what she's done but she started that and now it's just gone into where we have so many people that continue to share the the great things that are happening here um and I just appreciate that so thank you to everyone and again as has already been echoed merry Christmas and happy holidays to all those who are out there as well thank you Dr Terell with that 8.1 other business of the board yes Mr Angel uh if I may um part of our uh requirements is that we serve on Redevelopment Commission and I know that you go to Winfield Mr Smith is in ground point I myself and go to Cedar Lake for those meetings and uh just wonder if there's something we can discuss that we go to these because they're required to go to but yet there's no compensation to go to these meetings is that something that we can discuss as a board um to answer that's not something based on statute we're allowed to get paid for Mr Reese because you'll explain better than me so I have to duplicate it I'll let Matt kind of explain the statute on that the two of them sure so two parts of the statute one uh you're allowed a board member to be on each of the different Redevelopment commissions that position is appointed by the Redevelopment commission not by the school board so if you're appointed by the school board that's where you can Garner um a a compensation for being part of a committee um but since you're not appointed by the school board you're appointed by the Redevelopment commission that's why we're not allowed to compensate you for that Redevelopment uh participation so in answer that Mr V I'd say we probably need to reach out the Indiana School Board Association and see what channels we can you know so-call approach that well and I wasn't U it sounded self-serving okay but I'm thinking even in terms of gasoline and things of that nature not just getting money to go somewh and we we were appointed here by our board to serve in these not by the Redevelopment commission we approve the appointments for those select things but we're actually appointed by them so there's no but but not not by a name by just a face correct so we're not technically by law have to appoint or if they recommended somebody we could say technically no in other words but it's kind of our serving Duty as board member if we somebody would like to fill that role to actually so we have a voice in the room so it's more of that from their perspective even though from ours it's going to do us yeah yes because we really don't have a voice we don't unfortunately yet but they're still working on that down at the state Mr Smith yeah in in a bit of transparency I sat on your position for quite a long time and a couple years at least and had conversations I believe with Todd and Matt on this exact issue because I felt the same way so had discussions about this before Crown Point does pay the Redevelopment commission appointee the other two do not so I do get paid through the city to attend so did Tom Hoffman for 15 years or so I don't know what long time serves so my position is paid which makes it even more unique and strange that the other two are not which doesn't feel right frankly I'm not getting paid tons of money I don't care about the money they don't take the position for the money but the point of it is and just want to be transparent with the board members that the Crown Point position does compensate I think I mean it's I'm to compensated Tom's compensation I don't know if they'll always compensate I don't know I don't know whose decision that is I I I have no idea the other positions do not I don't believe so based on that information what I would say is um I'll make it a point to reach out to both Redevelopment commissions find out kind of their structure so to speak with not knowing when field or Ceder lakes and just see what I can come back with it I mean it's very frustrating to sit there and can't say a word no yes it is it's very very frustrating because we're just representing the students and the individuals that elected us for the community to make sure it's best interest of their decisions if it affects school children so okay I mean I don't know where in Winfield and Crown Point but we don't we don't even sit with the commission members oh Windfield you sit in the crowd as well yeah Crown Point you sit up at the table okay all right theyve made they kind they allow me to speak just for the record I don't speak often because that does none of my business but they do allow I don't get to vote as somebody that hasn't served on any of on any of those it begs the question if there isn't participation or voice why why do we even attend it's more for an we can get that we can get information from their minutes we can you know what what's the point I guess is we could why we've probably never also held strict requirements to attend if something else is there you can't make it we can get that information like you said from the right but you guys have always done a very good job of of being there but and I can tell you mine's more of Word of Mouth from those individuals rather than being their in attendance right being that for one Winfield isn't an active participant so far in the Redevelopment commission compared to others like obviously Crown Point's very big and uh Cedar Lake is moving in that direction where they have a lot going on well especially now with the development yes right so and a new board and a new board so and I think that's something that we might consider too is as the changes happen in January there might be an opportunity there for that conversation to see if anything is going to change okay thank thank you for that you're welcome so um we have one the reorganization meeting needs to be scheduled which we uh go back and select our officers and approve the appointments for those Redevelopment commissions so we need to check calendars before the what date well so the reorganization meeting if we go with the corresponding date to last year would be January 4th a Thursday and we in the past have done this like first thing in the morning um one thing that I I want you to consider as you're looking at your calendars is we also intend to have an executive session attached to that meeting to talk about the former administration building and the process that we're going to go into to as we look at um whatever the decision is of the board whether it's to sell the building keep the building um reutilize the building whatever that might be but we need to get some legal uh advice on that property and start that process as well so if everybody could check their calendars we just have to do it before what date before well the way that the calendar rolls this year before January 12th it's days out but the 15th is Martin Luther King Jor holiday so offices are closed so it needs to be before the 12th so if the Thursday works obviously I'm I'm not going anywhere for the holidays not sure with you others but we can schedule the 4th at 7:30 but if we need to move at a different day are you thinking that um with the exact section that that's like an hour meeting then or probably total total an hour yeah for yes our reorganization mean literally is 15 minutes stops so looking tentatively tentatively but if we can sooner but if somebody could check everybody check their calendars family event 7:30 on the 4th good it' be great if we could walk out with that tonight set I mean and and here's why because Diana has to make sure that she posted and with the holiday she's going to be out of the office and rightly so over the break so if we can get that we can have it so she's automatically posting it ready to go so so everybody just verify we everybody seems to be good with it so we'll go ahead and get that date scheduled Tim if you check calendars and all that and yeah okay I have understand as you know multiple Okay calendar but if you let us know then we we'll wait to hear from you to put put it in fine print I'll make sure I relay to Diana okay that' be great any other board business and then once Sor the other part of that too is we need to let our attorney know so she can be there as well so okay so with that before we get to board statements of appreciation recognition normally the two I'm going to mention would be under that category because he's individuals provide a little bit more I think they should be separated so first is a letter we're writing to Cheryl zck our attorney for a long time she is retiring so this letter reads dear dear Cheryl on behalf of the board of school Trustees for the Crownpoint committee School Corporation we would like to offer s sincere appreciation for the several years of service you have provided to our school corporation throughout the years your representation and councel have been greatly valued congratulations on your retirement and best wishes in your future endeavor so Diana is going to drop this off along with this little token of our thanks to her tomorrow at her office she was unable to make it tonight so thank you thinking about going her son is actually participating in the Taft band concert on Thursday so I might just show up call her out of the a oh she would kill me she yeah that wouldn't be good we' probably get a rais in fees for next year I don't want to do that so that and the other mention is just uh to a departed longtime employee and board member Jerry caravana unfortunately passed last week uh I stopped at his wake on the way here and uh when I came on the board I didn't know Jerry too well other than just meetings and sporting events and that but when he was served as a board member I got to know him with the little conversations we can have at the isba meetings down in Indianapolis and what a wonderful human being and it was all about what he could do for kids and making sure that they had what they needed and he just served the Crownpoint Community for over 40 years with teaching and Schoolboard combined so uh May Jerry rest in PE peace and blessings to his family during this difficult time so uh we can move on then to our own board statements item nine on the agenda board statements of appreciation and recognition Mr vaser I had the opportunity um last sometime last week to tour uh cmpl high school with Mr Marsen and Mr Jin F me and U one thing that I noticed was really caught my ear because it didn't catch my ear and that was there was construction going on in the building I was I we covered every probably every square inch of that building construction was going on but he never heard anything it was amazing felt like it was like Nehemiah in the Bible you know no sound was made and um I just who whoever coordinated that if they been in the audience but that was really impressive that nothing was Disturbed I was really impressed by that thank you Mr vasor and think about that with almost 3,000 students there as well just what could be but isn't so yeah it's pretty impressive yes it is thank you Miss bason um so I had the opportunity last week to go to the Timothy ball um first grade informance which instead of a performance for music we talk about all of our very high-end music things that we're accomplishing so I got to see first graders do some singing and dancing and participate in that because parents did not get off the hook easy so um they did a wonderful job it was really fun to see how it all starts and then how it's translating at the end um which leads me to my second opportunity um at The Rotary meeting last week I was able to listen to and I'm sure I'm butchering the actual name of it but it is the crom point I think it's a coral group it's not just the choir but it's a special performance um Coral group that they have and they did an amazing job during lunch um entertaining us with their um vocal capacity and um and all of their holiday songs so that was a great way to get into the holiday spirit which leads me to my last thing sorry I'm always very long winded um I love our community if you can't tell um so the last thing is having been a second grade teacher in Crownpoint this is like such a fun time of year and also an exhausting time of year for for all of our teachers all of our staff our administrators um our custodial staff everybody is involved in that so thank you to everyone involved in making um the holidays memorable and exciting for the kiddos and I hope everyone has a very restful break after that and gets to decompress and enjoy their own holiday with their families thank you thank you Mr babjack uh just want to say Merry Christmas to all the administrators support staff teachers uh everybody in the in the organization uh hope everybody gets time to enjoy time off during the holidays because it's been it's been a whirlwind um of a first first semester this year so hope everybody enjoys time off with their family and friends thank you Mr Smith so I just want to uh I did not know that Miss zck was retiring so that's news to me as a fellow colleague but I just want to again say thank you and Echo those sentiments because not only does she represent the school corporation well and the administration and all the issues we have going on on a weekly monthly basis but she also led the board very well uh through some difficult times and so just thank you Cheryl for everything that you've done not only for the school corporation but the board as well and thank you for guiding and leading us so well uh I want to build off what Miss Ramirez says I've been in several different Community areas I went in Centier bank today and all Crownpoint High School dance club uh I think it was boot donations I saw the same yeah yes and so I but I think that's happened four times in the last two weeks so Miss Ramirez you are correct it's everywhere and it's it's awesome to see our students our schools our building leaders get behind causes thinking about other people and uh so I also want to thank our community supports who are out there doing it like sener bank and there's so many others and I none of them are coming to mine right now but if somebody knows any please feel free to add in but it you know we're only as strong as our community and man our schools and our students get so much support and it's wonderful to see so thank you to all those organizations out there who are generous enough to let us uh teach our students well and to think of others and to give and willing to give their time and efforts to other people so uh and then lastly I just want to Echo the sentiments to the board merry Christmas happy holidays to all you and uh man we have a lot to be thankful for so uh when you look around this room in particular just the administrators and the people we have in place what a blessing it is and look and that just goes from the top all the way down to the bottom so when we talk about grounds and lands uh you know the grounds Crews the building Crews cafeterias the workers the teachers uh we are very very fortunate so just want to say m mer Christmas happy holidays to all wonderful families wonderful students and sure makes our job easy that's for sure so thank you to everybody appreciate thank you Mr Smith my sentiments exactly pretty much copy what everybody has said on that regarding the holidays and the blessings to all you and your families um I was approached actually three different locations just this week with how and I'll admit my culture and artistic aspect it's not there for the most part but I also respect it I'm just I know Sports I've been around Sports since I was a kid I do I was approached three times about how wonderful it is to have an auditorium at our Middle School Atta and how The Lion King went well the band concert there went well and these are three different individuals so other than knowing just outside it wasn't even with my regular line of work it's just they approached me and said just how outstanding it is to have that venue available for their kids and it kind of just hits the sentiments what we touched based on how fortunate we are here in Crown Point and I keep bringing back that all of this is being done without a tax increase and when you just put that in perspective for those of you that don't understand it's unfathomable almost that you can do that and it's all about providing the best quality education and those additional supports that we offer with the Arts with the sports and everything else and so we are an amazing community and once again I thank all of you that you know our contribute to that being here fellow board members our administrative team our teachers our support staff and everybody that's involved in that because we do live in a wonderful community and I can tell you we try to make sure that those decisions are being made not just for each individual but for everybody involved in those decisions so with that I will wish Merry Christmas and blessings to you and your families during this holiday season with that I will look for a motion to adjourn so Move Motion by Miss Bas second by Mr babjack all those in favor please signify by saying I I motion carries 5- Z thank you
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good evening we are excited to um give the superintendence award out to some very special guests and we are going to start with mayor Steven Collier if he could come forward mayor Steve CER a champion for Lawrence Township Schools over the last eight years mayor coler's unconditional support for our schools and Community must be commended the city's motto great Community Great Schools is true because of your leadership ship the level of Pride and commitment to our schools and Community is directly related to your own Pride hard work ethic your desire to serve all is noticed by those who serve beside you and by those who have benefited from your service your service to Lawrence Township did not stop with your retirement from teaching in our schools your time as a council member and now mayor of our city are commendable you have have been a servant leader and a cheerleader for all of Lawrence the schools the city and the people that call it home thank you mayor Steve CER for your dedication and life of service we are honored to present mayor Steven Coler with the superintendent award congratulations right up [Applause] there [Applause] he's got some more guests thank you [Applause] next we are honored to present an elementary World language program we would like to congratulate the following individuals if they could come forward tro notor Natalie Schneider Georgina Schneider Carl ble Connie Davis Adisa danz Dominique Franklin and Jane and Giles Kevin ker Kathy Prince Williams and Natalie Stewart for their commitment to our language program takes a village Lawrence Township Schools was awarded the American Council of foreign language teachers actfl Elba D Woodruff award for exemplary Elementary World language program Lawrence Township received an outside nomination from actfl members from our partners at Indiana University our selection was solidified by parent and student testimonies about a robust program narrative highlighting our commitment to diversity and Equitable student outcomes for all we are honored to present the group with the superintendent award congratulations [Applause] to go thank you for [Applause] for those of you who were here specifically for the awards if you want to go home to dinner and to the rest of your work day we understand thank you okay that is always a favorite part of my workday with the board okay um we'll move on to our next item which is our Blue Ribbon update Mr Smith Madame President Dr Smith members of the board I have to say we've had a mild fall and winter so far so that has proved beneficial to our overall Renovations LC uh baseball continues on we're hoping to astro turf maybe even start this week soccer stadium is going up along with a new concession stand uh LC pool is getting close for concrete pore of the main floor and other areas within that uh deep well as well as locker rooms in the main hallway Ln the uh nor or East wall of the field house uh is going up actually we're there today and it's almost complete the new Plaza entry is almost bricked and ready for storefront to go in new locker rooms are continuing on this work here as you see the locker rooms as well as the next slide uh the World Language rooms uh will be complete and turned over to the building winter break the old pool actually it uh in the last week uh it's almost ready for concrete so it's almost uh filled and prepped for that bells are Middle School auditorium the concrete floors are in they're putting in some last concrete walls and uh uh storefront and windows are next uh classrooms in phase three there's four five actually five classrooms and phase c as far as part of the teachers lounge and and Tech area those will be complete uh winter break as well um the auxiliary gym uh again will be complete turn back over to uh the building winter break Fall Creek Valley main office back half uh continues with its renovation in the special needs Area Office Space uh conference area restroom and a washing uh area uh will be complete and turned over uh winter break site work as you see here uh we're finishing up some fence work and uh the rest of the asphalt and tennis courts will start back up uh once the weather breaks the new lecc site it's really hard to see we got some more pictures later that will allow you to see the footprint of this new building going on that new site fantastic I have I have never seen a more beautiful the fields next to the forest I have never seen anything so beautiful in at high school really gorgeous um and and appropriately beautiful for our students um any questions for Mr Smith board yes Mr Smith I just want to say that I had the opportunity to go to Fall Creek Valley um for something with my own personal work and um the group when the principal was telling us about the dedicated area for the special needs students and the fact you indicated that there's area for them to um make sure that they have the bathroom and Facilities there I just want to say how amazing and what a state-of-the-art facility for our special needs students so thank you for thinking of all children especially those um that sometimes we know um aren't always at the top of our list and so um and not that they're not in Lawrence but I think um the the leadership that you've proven is is truly tremendous and sure that that also is uh kudos to the design team as well as to other members of the cabinet so thank you got a great director special ed who keeps pushing us I was thinking that that might be part of it too so thank you very much great Point Miss dun great Point um if there are no more questions we'll move on to our SE second item the request for the approval of the plans and the bid documents for LCC Madam president Dr Smith members of the board I do have a team here to help present this information they're going to be coming Schmid and Associates Jen Carroll and Anna Marie barell with Schmidt they'll give you a powerpoint to start off with to give you an over a general overview of the building PL site plans and uh colors and then they also have a little treat for us with a video that gives us a 3D walkthr of the building as hopefully we'll see it on completion so at this point I'll turn it over to Miss Jen Carroll okay can you hear me okay fantastic um Madame President Dr Smith members of the board thank you so much for letting us be here tonight and thank you so much for the privilege of being involved in this wonderful project um so I'm here as uh Roger said to talk about the new um Lawrence education and Community Center uh we have a rendering of the exterior here behind you and you can see the view of it um that will be coming to life from the Civic Plaza that is across the street from the building um just a really high level overview it's a twostory building it's about 46,000 square feet and primarily it is made up of professional development board community space um divided by a large Central corridor from the other portion of the building which is administrative office spaces and support spaces uh it's being bid in two packages the first package um I believe we're going to address a little bit later is the early equipment for mechanical electrical to make sure we get that going um but the second package is what we're really excited to talk to you about tonight which is the balance of the project um so next slide please so here is the site plan um so you can see that the site um Roger showed a picture of it earlier it's bound by Hawkins road to the north uh wheeler to the East and the building is um aligned right uh across from Memorial Park Drive and then there's that Civic Plaza to the southeast uh We've Got U if you could go back yep so we've got uh parking for the building there you can see there's 241 spaces and then um adjacent to the building just to the West we have the accessible spaces and a couple of places for electric vehicles including Chargers there are uh rain Gardens um throughout the project site for storm water management and we have plantings that are going to be complimentary to what's going on in Civic Plaza and the rest of the um Fort Harrison reuse area which is where the building is obviously located let's see so um I'm gonna have to ask you to go back I'm so sorry okay so just a couple of things to note um so the main uh Community entrance is the one that you see um on the left kind of down nope the other side yep okay um so that would be the entrance that people would use when they're parking and um entering the building and then you'll see when we go inside that there's a main Central Corridor that ties it across to that other entrance where we were hovering before so um and then we've got two more kind of um staff entrances to the north as well so okay thank you appreciate that so here's that that um image again of the site aerial I went ahead and Trace that so you can see that a little bit better but if you wanted to go out to the site you could do so tomorrow if it's not raining and and actually walk that perimeter and see the scale of the building it's kind of neat so there is the site um so moving on into the floor plans um so I'll just Orient you a little bit so the actually the second floor plan is the one on the left and the first floor plan is the one on the right um so down in the lowest portion in the lower right hand corner of that you can see where we have those Community rooms um so it has two um operable partitions so that that large space which is just under 6,000 ft can be divided into three sep separate spaces we have it laid out here showing some tables and chairs um we figured you can accommodate about 220 215 people with uh this particular configuration of tables and chairs um but we can also lay it out with uh rows of chairs and you could um put about 330 people in that space so there's a lot of flexibility a lot of um options for how you would use that um to the left um we've got a Board conference room that's kind of in a a a private area off of the back um that has a um kitchenet and a restroom as well so we'll see that when we get into the um into the video then moving back out into that um Corridor space we've got a secure vestibule which you would enter when you come off of that that Community side um so it would have um a reception desk where people who don't have credentials would need to be LED in um through that secure set of doors into the rest of the building and then once you're in that um Atrium you can move about more freely though we do have additional Security in the building as well there are public restrooms there there is a kitchenet that can be used for catering um and then just kind of moving north of that large space is where we have administrative areas um operations the Lawrence Township Foundation human resources and build B excuse me business and finance are all there on the first floor um we've laid the spaces out so those departments are clustered together so that they can share conference room spaces um they can uh they'll be sharing uh restroom spaces work room spaces uh there's a small staff kitchen area and dining area and we did that to create efficiencies in the floor plan so when you move up to the second floor which again is that plane on the left um there's a balcony um to the South there that overlooks the um the two-story Corridor space and that's going to let in a lot of daylight into that portion of the building it'll be a a tall light filed space and up here on the second floor we have the office of the superintendent including spaces for the assistant superintendent uh the office of technology early childhood exceptional Learners curriculum and student services so that is the floor plan so we're going to show you a couple of images here um and then we'll show you the video but this is the the main building entry so you can see that reception desk that I mentioned and then to the right is that line of security before you would get into the rest of the building um this is a shot from the um kind of the non de side of the uh PD boardroom looking toward the desk that is going to be very similar to what you have here and then another shot looking the opposite direction so it' be a big light filled space as well and then um a shot into the central Corridor that I spoke of and then I think um we just wanted to give you kind of a taste for the interior finishes that we're planning for the building um this is the pallette that we've been reviewing and um what you're going to see in the video so think that's it okay so I'm going to narrate this just a little bit so we're headed into the central Corridor through those secure doors and then on your right we're going to enter the large um Community PD boardroom space this will be a uh We've designed the technology in this space so that it can be used when it's one large room but um also so it works when it is three smaller rooms that's the small kitchenet there and then we're going to move into the Board conference room back into the PD space community space okay and then we have um some waiting spaces that are that are associated with each of the Departments so that was an example of one we have a couple of um conference room setups where you can have two or one conference room combined together we sort of flew through that and then here we are on that second floor balcony area waiting space before the assistant and um assistance superintendent sorry the superintendent assist super superintendent offices and we have the superintendent Suite um group of rooms space for a work room there and then into the superintendent's conference room and we've got um another office there that's that thank you excited are there any questions I I this may seem a silly question but you know I know that it's the video was beautiful and set up with um minimal Furnishings to just show what it could be is it safe to assume we'll be bringing our some of our own Furnishings that we already have into the new space Roger uh we will be equipping the building with all new furniture we'll be leaving the other Furniture here and we'll be repurposing in some areas throughout this building uh as well but the new building will have all new as we move into it so we will put the we now own to good use oh absolutely we've done that for the last several years okay yes sure okay that's that was my only question Bor do you have other questions it's a yeah it's a very beautiful presentation thank you for that visual um I just had a clarifying question the board PD room will continue to also serve much like here where it's open to the community is that correct with the movable Parts actually we're going to maintain both buildings so okay the amount of PD that we have uh will suit us very well of having a professional PD there as well as in this and also open to outside entities as approved by the district okay thank you any other questions okay thank you so very much for for the presentation for being here with with us and um it's very very exciting thank you very much oh I did have one more question the plantings will there be any native plantings there will um the plantings are um they are native they are I believe the landscape architect refer to them as adaptive native so they are drought tolerant they're pollinator friendly um yes there will be native plantings included in the landscape so much absolutely and Roger would you also share with the board uh that we have to have approval from the ReUse Authority explain that process for the public yes absolutely um so we have met with the um the FH the Fort Harrison reuse Authority I think three times now uh initially we met with them to to help them understand our concept and the direction that we were going to head with the building we got um their their go-ahead to move we contined to develop the plan we met again and then most recently we've met while um the drawings are are very close to complete at this point um we have had um good feedback from them um and there's really there's just one question that they had about whether something could be called a sign on um that they were going to have to work through but otherwise we have u high confidence that we will be uh submitting the drawings and um the material pallet to that group and receiving their approval um we're shooting for before the end of the year on that great fabulous thank you I guess then board we will move on to uh Mr Smith the request for the approval for the mechanical and electrical bids which as you said just said was phase one correct if you remember no uh November 13th we brought to you some long lead items uh mechanical areas uh to go out to bid so that we can have them uh during the time of the build and the the bid recommendation for the new Lawrence education Community Center uh phase one mechanical electrical bids were received December 1st uh two bit categories uh with five contractors bidding in those two uh bid columns bids came in at about 250 under our estimates again that is a good thing um good competitive bids and the GM contract for coron Garcia uh for this phase one which phase one and two is a combined overall uh for the building itself but this phase one is 599,000 $535 and it will be a recommendation coming to the board in our action items yes Mr Smith I know in the past we've asked about um this bid in that it met all of our initial criteria um but it is substantially lower than some of the other bids and just for the members of the public can you just talk through very quickly the bid process and why this this uh contractor was chosen over others uh yes uh per state statute in our Indiana bid process we sent out the plans and specification so we attract uh biders uh to come in contractors to come in and bid that uh uh information this is not the complete package so this is a lower portion of the overall building itself mechanical long lead items and each contractor has the exact same information uh we set a date in a time and those bids are submitted on or before that time of day uh we open the bid in front of those contractors and they all were here and uh then we take that under advisement based off what they submitted uh low high uh we look at all that to make sure that their bid covers all the specifications number one and number two is does that cost kind of mirror what they are presenting because in some cases we've had low bid did not meet specification because they forgot something so that's way we vet that core goes through that with their engineers and uh estimators to make sure that all those items are accounted for and then they're evaluated based off low bid meeting all those specifications now Mr Smith you oversee major projects explaining with Corey is Corin Garcia's role in this just for the public the board knows but the public doesn't cor and Garcia are a construction manager contractor that we have hired uh to do all of the they they will actually oversee 100% of the build and they hold the contracts uh that we approve uh for the build of this project as we've done on the high schools elementaries and now middle schools and also this particular project okay thank you very much um we'll see that later in the meeting um now um Mr miles um 3.4 the request to transfer funds thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board uh at this time of the the year we come to you uh needing an approval for a resolution to transfer funds between our education and operation funds again we do this uh once a year um to make sure both funds um are whole made whole per state statute so this is uh will be a request for action item later this evening the also uh just to note we don't know the actual transfer amount yet we'll know that at the end of the year once all the books are closed so we will report that back in uh at that time and Mr miles can you please share with the um public and um with the board why we don't have our financial statements this evening sure um due to the timing of the month of this meeting normally normally we would present the previous month's statements uh and financials at the board meeting since this uh meeting Falls earlier in the month uh we don't have haven't had time to to complete that process so we will present those in January as well there Aid we did have have a couple holidays in there as well yes yes and it's it's also um you know for the for the public to understand our schools operate on a year our education operates on a year from July 1st to June 30th but our financial fiscal year is the same as the calendar year from January 1st through December 31st which is why we have to arrange that transfer of fun mons now corre December correct yes we we kind of get to juggle two different calendars we any questions for Mr miles okay thank you um M leant yes our after care rate update yes madame pres president Dr Smith members of the board um tonight I come with just a quick proposal to look at possibly raising our before and after care rates uh you'll see the current rates are on the screen right now the last time we had a rate adjustment was back in 2016 2017 at that time we did not increase rates we just added a rate to have both before and after school care bundled together and we adjusted some of the employee and sibling discounts luckily we've been able to provide um wonderful raises for our staff we did have some Grant funds through fssa um so we haven't had to raise rates until recently so as we look at the next school year for the 2024 2025 school year there is a recommendation that we would raise um each weekly tuition rate by $5 and raise our registration fee by $5 we would still maintain the additional child and the employee discount rate of a discount of $15 a week I'd be happy to take any questions questions board I have a question is the fssa grant still still in place um no that was all a part of the car's dollars and so um we actually had to commit when we took those M that funding to not raise rates during that time for families okay now have one more question um if there's a family that is uh experiencing economic hardship where would you direct them to or what's the process to the first thing we do is always direct them to ccdf which we do have the application link um on our website and then if they would go through that process and be denied for any reason we do try and work with our families no thank you I did have so do we um accept ccdf oh yes okay that we're licensed for that reason and so it does seem and this is that the rates are extremely affordable and are even lower than what is the recommended threshold so I just want to make sure that um we are giving gratitude to those of you that are planning the budgets because um this is a very affordable option for working families and so thank you for continuing to make that happen for our B family absolutely I do have one additional question for our teachers is there any um accommodation made to lessen the fees or do they pay the same fees as they get $15 off a week for every child that's in after care that's great as a parent who availed myself of before and after care many years I deeply appreciate the affordability I know in years past we've had opportunities where before and after care had been free at some point yes was that primarily through grants if I recall yes yes part um one of those was with the 21st century Grant and then during the summer we did use some of our um car's $3 dollar to support that I think it's it's outstanding that in a in a time of high inflation and increased wages um and I know it's not a small thing to families who are are on a strict budget but that we are only raising the rates $ five dollar a week and so Kudos as to to what Miss dun said kudos to you thank you okay um I guess board we are um ready for our committee reports um Amy do you miss Norman do you have something from the Foundation I don't have any current updates from the foundation unless Miss Lawrence do you have anything to add I was unable to attend the last Foundation board meeting because I was in meetings all evening that evening we got you back Miss Norman and I were at the meeting I I would say for the foundation just reminding that we'll be gearing up for our Gayla in March and so information for that will be coming out very soon and we're working behind the scenes with sponsor sponsorships so if anyone out there would love to be a sponsor for our Gayla we would be gracious to have you join us and have a great time with us in March so and that location's at the ballroom again yes we will be returning to the Indiana Ballroom Roof Ballroom in March same location and I just would like to thank both Miss Norman and um Miss Lawrence for serving uh Miss Lawrence has served on that board for many years and Amy serves as our board representative so and and Dr Smith um is always in almost always in attendance so um I of not I'm I'm in my last term though and I'm required to to not to not take a consecutive term after this so thank you my family would my family will be very happy about that news that's right all right Miss Pucket do you have an update for the Parks and Recreation I do we have Winterfest that is still in full effect at Civic Plaza the skating rink is open Friday no Saturday and Sunday Saturday and Sunday from 2: p.m.
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to approve no it's just a vote I think the motion y we already have the motion all right Amendment passed okay so all in favor of the motion with the amendment the amended motion yeah all in favor I'm I as well any opposed okay motion passes all right thank you so much all right thank you NC you guys don't have to sit here if you don't want to want to you're welcome to I don't want you okay Lisa you are up and then if anyone Lis L thank you for having me sorry jumping I'm just really hungry now I [Music] know goe thank you for having me so I'm here I was here two months ago to talk about the EPM piece of Med delegation now I'm here to talk about the bigger piece of medication delegation and what it is is a process that's going to allow the nurses to um delegate the administration of medication to students to non staff like administra or teachers it's not for an everyday basis it's more like an emergency um if a nurse isn't there or a field trip where it's just um a particular Med um it is not all meds it's a very limited list of medications um and it can only be something taken by up it cannot be any injections any inhalers anything like that um it's quite a process um I've had to do some training as well as the nurses which we've all done already um and what that would Encompass if it's approved and moved forward um we would need to get some policies in place because we do not have a policy in place for that um if it's approved we get some policies in place um I would train the other nurses how to train the staff and it's an all all voluntary we cannot force anybody to do it it's voluntary if a teacher wants to do it or an administrator wants to to do it um to to do the medication piece um and along with that goes you know proper training evaluation a couple times through the year things like that so that's pretty much what that is um I could go into a lot of detail but I there's not a lot of time um do you guys have any particular questions I was just wondering what what are the allowable medications um I don't know exactly off the top of my my head it would be something like say a vitamin or an enzyme something like that it would be an ADHD medication and it would only be for students that have been taking this medication it Cann be something new um and I would have to get a complete list um because they they broke it they didn't really give you specifics they kind of broke it down into groups um and again even if we did go through with this a parent would have to approve we couldn't just say you know um superintendent's going to give meds today the parent has to say who is this person have they been trained yes I want it no I don't um again it's helpful in an emergency if I'm not there there's no other nurse that can cover or if there's a field trip and we can't get nurses and it is something say vitamin for example um you know superintendent costell could give it if she goes on that field trip that's kind of what it is but we don't have a specific list medications that we're voting for um I feel like it was in I I don't know if Nicole sent that she said she it was the state it is not in that piece it's in the PowerPoint piece that I had shared I don't know if she shared that with you no I did not see that um okay I can resend that um it's very vague it doesn't give a specific name it's just more like an ADHD medication something like that so like classes with drug yes nothing prodct it's it's very minimal should we have that before we vot I don't think go ahead I don't think that's the intent of this evening about the type of medication this is really an intent to move forward with the process of creating policies to to do this delegation itself the the medications are the medications but we we can certainly provide that list down the road it it this was something least brought to our attention this summer mik we had you talked about signing you chose not you're absolutely right not to sign it because we didn't have a policy in place we had something in place but it expired at least it C well the district has had Med delegation for in the past years years right I can't speak for what's happened before I came in but I don't think it was being followed properly um and the certificates expired so that's why we're trying to get this back up and running again what do you certificate I'm sorry certificate what do you so um if this is approved then I have to apply I have an application that I have to fill out where it's just like the EpiPen application a little more extensive and it would be school committee chair The Physician myself and superintendent signing it the state house toit dph and then it comes back and then we can move forward with that and then the district would have to create policies on so you then you said policies would need to be created so are you talking the school committee would our policy subcommittee would need to create a policy on Med delegation specifically what medications who's going to be able to do it that kind of stuff I don't know how detailed it would have to be it's similar to the epinephrine one but it would just be for other medications where we could list those Ms okay or the process of it I'm sorry is the policy before or after the application I would say after I mean if you guys aren't going to approve it then why yeah why are you going to make a policy if the state doesn't approve it but I would assumes this is a standard this happens all over the state district they are online District yeah and again the district has approved it before but I think I don't know what happened then with covid things just kind of got put to the back why there was no policy in place I don't know I mean I just started this February it makes sense for emergency reasons I just want to know what we when we vote what are we doing are we creating policy are we creating something that someone's going to go run with what are we voting no just to that we can move forward looking at creating a policy and I can sign application and I can sign application so the vote is for the application to approve applying to the state and then once the state approves they the state will approve it without a policy correct ability to Gove forward and create the policy there are other districts that don't have policies you know why that is I don't know but I feel like if we're going to do it right yeah we do the policy um yes that's basically why this came about Le brought it to our attention first we did not have this in place and there was no consistency on how meds they shaking their head no how meds were delegated for field trips who was taking the information people were trained by the nurse at the time individually that is not okay so this vote won't actually allow this to happen yet it still has to well we have to and then we policy by then we'll know what classes of drugs we're going to allow maybe you can policy subcommittee can I would think you can stipulate in the policy no narcotics no yeah Ian follow state it can't be what you guys it has to be it's a law so we have to follow the state state law yeah yeah what the state law that we have doesn't have those details in it so we would need know what that is before just vote on right I did send I think to Nicole a big presentation all about it and with the meds but she may have left that piece out um so I can resend it um sure yeah can you resend that or uh Nicole do you have that was it didn't I give it to you the first time two months ago but maybe you got lost oh maybe that's in the dra from the last time it could be that was probably in the drive from the last time um so maybe you just forwarded the the 20s something page Med delegation doc the last time you came it was in October two months ago yes October but I have no issues resending it assuming this goes forward whoever gets to do this will there be additional s or any money no this is voluntary okay this is voluntary it helps the teachers in each grade level of if a rep from grade level want to take this on just help them be able to to have security knowing they're doing this properly right and also that we know we have we're not woring about a lot of times we've been trying to find nurses to go on the trip that's they've gone through this in principles trying to send a nurse because there are some significant we can't so we have to send a nurs hard to find nurses that level with with a number of medications that are very routine and very very you know safe for for and it's nothing other than U Med by mouth you know no injections no two feeds no inhalers anything like that and if protect it protects our children and it protects us because we have a system in place to do this have a policy in place and it takes off the table should anything God forbid happen that that we have not done this improperly or without without the necessary training that we need to the majority of time they will be a nurse because there so many conditions and disorders so the chances of they not being a student with a seizur met or you know something like that I mean you know a seizure Etc a nurse has to be there so this it's it's going to be minimal minimal just in case that emergency we can't get a nurse or we can't have a school covered by a nurse whatever and that along with the what you did last time which was approve the EP pen right was huge because that's that is a big one too just having that alone was was huge to have in place but I think this finishes the whole process off once all right so we don't I didn't see that PowerPoint in the drive so if you I don't know what happened I I thought i s I could have made a mistake no worries I want to send it to poll so she can send it I do that tomorrow I am okay with voting because I feel like this is just an application um and I feel like we need to move forward because I do think this is important and I I did hear similar things to what you said that we used to have it and things may not have been followed according to policy in the past and I understand that their children needed to get their medication so um does anybody else have any other questions or opposed to voting tonight on this should we be specific in the motion so what exact we're approving as far as application policy waiting on additional information for the specific drugs yeah or classes I mean it's based on Massachusetts law too yeah okay so um Mike do you want to make the motion uh sure she in theic Jess do you want to make the motion make a mo to um to start the application process for medication administration for staff members and also to start the process of looking at protocols for the above mentioned [Music] um yeah massach state laws okay so she she has motion on the table a second okay is there any discussion about that motion good thank you right all in favor I I'm and I as well any opposed okay motion passes Thank you Lisa let me know when you need my signature and I can stop by okay yes I did not bring the form but we yes I'm at bees every day me too yeah I'll see you there thank you okay awesome thank you all right so um what do you guys think about moving the mcast update up yes all right are you guys ready to [Music] roll while you're setting up does anyone want to take a brief two minute does anyone need a bathroom break or break while they're setting up all right being two minutes two minutes on the timer I
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help last night oh no problem good meeting wasn't it yeah good Lively discussion now the an Union High School District Board of Trustees meeting excuse me of December 12th 2023 is called order at 3:15 p.m. the following members are present Jessica Guerrero Katherine H Smith Amry renold tro and Brian O'Neal staff's requested the following amendments to the agenda page two of the agenda whole close session items 4.7 and then replace page 12 to correct the date on item 15.6 you said page 12 page 12 yes it's the last page of the agenda section yeah that that page right there Kathy that one yeah that's just pull that one out and and put that one in there you go yeah but this is only matter oh yes it should it should say page 23 of 24 sorry about that uh okay do I have a motion to adopt the amended agenda so move second Motion in a second all in favor say I I opposed for zero uh public comments seeing none uh the board pre will now move to close session thank you
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and in Bronx School in New York the increase was 38% the point here is that these changes are crossing urban and rural cultures the primary reason for this changes are parental engagement I make no judgments on the above facts however I do believe that this board should do would do well to seriously consider them when considering when deciding on classroom materials and large increases in physical plans that encumber a school system financially thank you very much Mr [Music] D good evening my name is Mandy keel and I'm one of the vice presidents for the Columbus Educators Association and I'm also our CA representative on the bcsc districting and Facilities committee I last spoke during the board meeting on October 30th about our members overwhelming support of financing any facilities projects through the route that bcsc is currently pursuing as I shared that evening it is mutually beneficial to our members and to taxpayers within our community if we Finance these projects as existing debt rolls off which keeps our tax rate neutral without an increase in taxes for any of our local taxpayers our members are also aware of course that these funds may not be used to hire additional staff or to increase compensation on a personal note I have taught it Southside for over 15 years now and consider it my home away from home even with its of maligned brutalist architecture style I love it um however when our school was built over 50 years ago it was never intended to be used as an elementary school and I've often asked my students to guess what subject was taught in my classroom during its days as a middle school while they eventually stumble upon the correct answer through a classic game of 20 Questions none of them have ever identified the clue hanging in plain sight in my classroom the leftover remnants of a World Language classroom are the metal metal Contraptions that still hang from my ceiling with the bulky old headphones mostly hidden from view inside that at one time some of you may remember this would have been lowered from the ceiling students would have put those on as they listen to passages and then their teacher would have been able to listen in all of the elementary schools in bcsc along with the original Northside Middle School were built 40 to 60 years ago and while our members continue to do an outstanding job of teaching in these often outdated spaces the children of our community deserve the types of collaborative and updated learning spaces that are now so visible at Parkside Elementary again we appreciate bcsc Administration and the board's efforts to preserve the eventual renewal of our 2020 referendum in 2028 as it established a higher compensation model that has made such a significant impact for our members and on bcsc's ability to retain staff and has and as and as has been the case with the Parkside and the Schmidt renovation project we look forward to continuing to be part of the planning conversation surrounding Envision 2030 thank you thank you Miss K else Kathy good evening uh my name is Kathy Orin and I work for the Community Education Coalition we're a nonprofit that works in partnership with employers with community and education Partners on a mission to increase education outcomes aligned with the needs of Workforce and I'd like to make two points today as you consider uh the approval of the capital projects before you one is that the capital projects um tonight that you're you're reviewing are vital a talent attraction and talent retention strategy to our community and they're also key to the Future of our Workforce and our economy the second point I'd like to to make is that putting the capital projects to a referendum would actually be a lose lose lose for students for taxpayers and for our current and future economy I'm asking that you vote to approve the capital projects um I would like to ask for your support that these projects move forward seamlessly without a referendum and without the risk of increased property taxes the national Workforce short AG is a critical challenge facing our community um as well as the nation having highquality facilities that support 21st century education models and aren't overcrowded is a vital Workforce Talent attraction and retention strategy we need more people that want to live here while they work here the preschool expansions that were mentioned here our community is a child care desert with parents struggling to find Affordable Care so they can work the expansion of capacity for three and four year olds is again vital to helping more families participate in the workforce and access to highquality Early Learning opportunities are a predictor of better education outcomes and really better overall life outcomes for our kids it's true that over 60% of our jobs need some postsecondary education After High School and a majority of those jobs need something less than a 4-year degree and that's why the Career Technical education expansions that are part of this project plan are really going to help more of our students be ready for work and ready for life after school and finally the addition of the 12th Elementary School is really about planning for the future the need is real and we need to enable bcsc to plan for that reality the cost of not planning for a 12th elementary school will be detrimental to students and detrimental to our Workforce and as you've heard there's enough Debt Service rle in off to enable these projects to be bonded over the coming years with no increase to taxes that demonstrates good planning and good stewardship on the part of bcsc leadership board approval of the plan will enable bcsc to plan and execute the projects in the most financially efficient and effective manner if the community gathers signatures and petitions for a referendum and if the referendum is approved we know that property taxes will go up and if the referendum is not approved facilities expansions will be delayed and will be pieced together over time in ways that are not financially efficient the cost to the taxpayers even this will cost taxpayers even more money over the long run and we'll have schools that still aren't up to 21st century standards so I thank you for your consideration I hope that you will approve the capital projects proposal and I hope that you will encourage this work to move forward without a referendum thank you very much thank you Miss or mayic Gro I'm a Bartholomew County resident and father of three and I just have a quick comment more than a question um the budget that you guys would uh be voting to approve this evening is a half a billion dollars not 36 million and you know maybe that's okay I'm not necessarily trying to say that it's not um but it is a half a billion dollars um and I've spoken with many um community members many of your constituents and um I just think there's concern over um ensuring your community that commun not only is that only those dollars being spent [Music] both improving education and necessary dollars um but efficient um which I appreciate um but there just questions over the efficiency of that money you know when it comes to gymnasiums and weight rooms and things like that um those are nice to have and I like to have them but um is are we funding the most important things first um to educate our children um and then I I don't know just a reminder to the board just just to ensure that we understand where the boundaries are I think there was some confusion um last time on a budget boat with the high school teams model um you know when you vote this money through does does that roll it out does that allow the bonds to start being issued just we can collect the money we just can't spend it until your approval or what does that mean and and why would that be different than um just kind of doing it piecewise with the board just some some thoughts to think about before you approve $500 million um of our community's money so anyway thank you for your time and consideration I I might ask Dr Phillips it's 306 million not 500 million can you help with the discrepancy the 36 million is the the amount of the bonds that we would issue the total payments it would include interest which was approximately if the interest rate was what um the folks from steel shared last time which was I believe 7% was the was the maximum that would include about approximately another 200 million in in interest but it's the actions of the board as have been the case any of these Bond issues the board only authorizes the issuing of the bonds right right to that dollar amount and and then I think just to the other point I think Mr Schultz said it being we would approve every year in the fall what bonds are issued as well as the specific project details that's correct available right each year okay right thank you H sir good evening my name is EXC me my my name is David da and uh I thank you very much for all the effort that you all put into this and your staff has uh I am a representative of the district facilities committee that uh serves on your behalf and that committee has spent many years uh uh listening to all the reports studying all the elements uh that uh the staff presents to us and so we've asked a lot of questions on your behalf about these uh various uh projects and uh this one I think is quite creative in that uh you know our goal your your goal is still always as representative our community to work on the best educational opportunities uh for our students within the the budget constraints that you have to live within and so I think they've done a really good job of that in analyzing that and from the district facility standpoint I think uh we strongly support uh this effort in trying to provide the best education facilities while still uh maintaining uh um the physical responsibilities that that you you have for on behalf of our community um we have visited the Parkside and seen the elements that have done we are also very aware that you've got buildings that are 40 to 60 years old uh they just don't meet the the needs of our students and again I think it's important that uh uh that you uh reference that and I think you're taking a good good um uh good efforts in trying to make sure that happens uh there is uh continuing to be growth and shifts and uh I've always been reminded uh in this committee that there is a four-letter word called redistricting and uh you really want to avoid that if at all possible um and I can speak from that from past experiences uh having also U uh heard things uh at the board level uh again the learning environment is important uh there's been many good points made so far I think it's really a A plus to your creative staff to think about the financing that and the value that's created uh through this creative financing and I think that will be very beneficial and uh again I think um uh the flexibility of your facilities uh not only for today but for the future uh you know 60 years ago or 40 60 years ago people planned on these things thinking they were flexible well it's pretty inflexible nowadays and I think that's one of the things that we've seen from some of the uh professionals that your team has hired to uh look into uh those future uh facilities that not only do a good job for you today but will also serve our community you know the 20 40 and 60 years from now thank you very much thank you Mr D good evening my name is Kermit key i' like to thank you for your time and wish you all a happy holidays uh the reason I'd like to talk to you guys is I'm one of those victims of the redistricting uh my oldest daughter went through Southside from kindergarten through fifth grade she went sixth grade at Mount Healthy her and my old son had to get up at 6:30 to be at the bus each morning at the bus stop at 6:30 to ride from Countrywood Farms right next to Shadow Creek that goes to Southside all the way out to Mount Healthy now thankfully you guys got some of the transportation issues works out but still I get up and I take my daughter to school my youngest who's in third grade I take her there at Mount Healy at 7:45 in the morning but I have seen all the growth out in that area I've seen Fox Ridge I've seen all the houses being built at you know Terrace Lake CU I drive through there all the time and you just see the growth and it's obvious that a 12th Elementary School is is going to happen I don't study National statistics to learn what's going on in my own neighborhood what I can see with my own eyes and verify so I definitely recommend that we move forward with this project and I encourage you to vote yes thank you thank you sir good evening board my name is Jeff logston and I'm a lifelong resident of uh Columbus I'm a product of bcsc through Taylorville Northside and North two children K through 12 at bcsc a wife that's a 25 plus year teacher in bcsc my oldest son is now in his second year teaching in bcse um I'm the president of Applied in BLX Laboratories here in Columbus we employ 175 uh team members and growing I say all that to let you know I'm very vested in the continued uh success of the school corporation and what we do I'm encouraging you to uh vote an approval of the capital projects plan for two specific reasons uh the first is Columbus exps high quality facilities in our education system sufficient is not enough as I said my wife teaches here in town she actually teaches at Parkside I've seen firsthand the improvements in that facility I've seen the benefits for the educators the students and actually for uh employers from the standpoint of we are trying to attract and retain new Talent into our community they may not be able to see the long-term quality of the education we provide but they will see our facilities they will judge us by our facilities sufficient is not enough the second reason is you have an efficient tool in front of you tonight we as taxpayers hope that our governmental entities are efficient operationally and financially you have a tool before you you can approve the capital projects plan instead of going to referendum that tool allows you to be efficient both financially and operationally those are expectations from from us as community members I would ask that you vote in support and pass the resolution for you thank you thank you mrst good evening thanks for having us all here today um I'm Laura Garrett I'm a mother of elementary students and I wanted to ask you as well to follow actually Jeff nailed a lot of what I was going to just say so I support what he said but also to say I mean what a treasure we have to be offered such a significant plan with no increased to make our schools the very best they can be as a parent as someone who moved here and grew up here and um we have excellent schools but our facilities need help I also think another big benefit of this with the new elementary school is the neighborhood schools that we've lost so as our community gets more and more disconnected and our kids are busted farther and farther away from their friends having a school close by is important and we need another school on the west side of town so I I first commend you bcsc for coming up with a plan that I is such a win-win scenario and it again proves to me while we're here and why we have our kids here that you're looking out for us so thank you and um have thanks yeah Miss scar hey Nikki I have a question for so Dr Phillips was brought drew the public comment that it's a decision before this board on whether it goes to a referendum or not my understanding is we are approving the project resolution that decision sits with the community and anyone in the community on really if it goes to a referendum of my misunderstanding that's correct the this one was unique in that back in March we were thinking that as a district we would actually lead the drive to to put this on a petition but but after receiving feedback from the community and and CA um we decided that wasn't the best the best path for us for us so it does rest rest with the community then essentially on a refence correct that's correct and then the other question I had for Dr Boseman I think four folks mentioned the Parkside experience and so I just want to make sure his parents are going to hear and I know many of us have toured myself included and seen the great Wonders that is Parkside is that the parental expectation of standard of quality quity that we're expecting to see based on each school's unique challenges and the ones that come off to the top of my head are Mount healthy's open open concept CSA Lincoln's restrictive square footage um Miss Keel mentioned southside's lorious uh cement and concrete barriers so I mean I know all these will be challenges what's if I'm a parent in the community what's my expectation or experience of my school that's a great question in terms of quality learning environment the answer is yes how that looks May be differently um achieved um than what we we've done at Parkside so Parkside as you know is about a $1 19.5 million um project we have um we spoke last time we have some other other facilities that we think we can get to that um high quality learning environment without spending $1 19.5 million obviously uh you mentioned Lincoln is a good example fod is another another good example um you know I know you know this but Columbus uh Columbus only has three schools um off the top of my head that does not have architectural significance to them our buildings are very unique um that's both a challenge and and and quite frankly a really cool opportunity for us so um those things will look different in different facilities uh but some things that we've committed to um that you've seen in previous presentations are um high quality learning environments they are pre- six buildings which include dedicated stem Labs Wellness areas uh for for therapists and those folks working with with students um new furniture new technology um I'm missing one off the top of my head but those we've dedicated um as a top priority for all of our facilities moving forward but to your point that would look different uh differently in some places versus others so thank you okay any other questions or comments you already had a turn you can do do you really have something okay yeah like respond question that were asking yeah okay I'm just um I'm just trying to understand the what exactly it is that you guys are voting on I guess when we're we're voting through you know the $500 million but then we're saying each year we're going to vote again I'm trying to understand like what the difference is between just doing those you know yearly blocks of voting this through versus you know what are we doing tonight voting it all through is it does that make it irrelevant or I'm just trying to understand how that process works sure if they vote say you guys vote it through tonight and then every year you just say no it's like your vote tonight didn't happen or I'm good good question Dr Phillips I think you understand the question I do I'm going to answer it in in two parts because they're two separate issues the the approvals that the board will will make going forward in the following Falls are related to the the budget for the following year and so we will adjust the amount that we borrow in that given year um based on the the assessed value growth to make sure that we achieve keeping the tax rate flat which is the commitment that we've made publicly 72,000 times in the last few months um and so that's all that the the board won't say yes let's issue bonds this year for 40 million million they will approve the budget that pays the rate against those issues this is the only only time the board will have to approve the actual issuing of the bonds that's part one and I'll let Dr Boseman chime in on the other part if need be but these projects um the the the from a management standpoint these projects need to be approved um we need to understand as a district that the board is supportive of moving forward with with these projects so that we can plan how they're going to be phased in over the next six years because it is incredibly complicated um how each of those Renovations is going to occur at the elementary schools and how that would play in with when the 12th Elementary is built and how U we figure out how to house kids in those buildings during the time that the renovation has happened so it would be really difficult for us to move forward with just say three or four um Renovations of elementaries now not knowing whether not the following year the board was going to approve the 12th Elementary for example so um knowing that the board supportive of all the projects being done in a in a tax rate neutral manner allows us to move forward with planning and design allowing our Architects to move forward with designs um without having to wait each year to do that um and coordinate in an efficient way that allows us to redistrict one time and not multiple thank you Dr Phillips so how does that differentiate the two situations though so I mean just saying like hypothetically this board could vote support for the 500 million we start our projects but then the next board votes no in the middle of a project or something like that like we vote through the the three projects you were talking about and then the 12th Elementary the next board could vote no to or is it already locked in because of tonight's vote the request in front of the board tonight is to authorize a maximum of issuing $36 million in bonds what boards do in the future is up to the boards in the future I can't begin to predict what that might be I can tell you that's what the request is in front of the board tonight so the the bond would be issued but you would the district would have the money to spend but it would just sit there without the board's approval or how would that work I guess is what I think a lot in our a lot in our community are trying to understand if I can suggest perhaps we finish any public comments or public comments during the public hearing portion and then we can close the public hearing and at that point staff can respond to any additional questions that they'd like yep I think that sounds like a good motion so I think Eric if you can give us a minute to move on and then we will have people available for questions I hope that's clear to all the board members before they vote tonight thank you yep thank you okay any other any other comments or questions of course sir I'll keep my comments brief hi everyone my name is Cole Bennett and I just want to speak in strong favor of vision 2030 I'm a Columbus resident born and raised attended Parkside North Side graduated from Columbus North in 2019 um I can truly say without my C4 experience I would not be a nurse today um so I spent the last three years in the northwest suburbs of Chicago where I got my nursing education it was interesting to talk to my peers about my experience in High School getting to go to clinicals at Columbus Regional Community Hospital and some of my friends were like what we've never had that experience before we didn't have opportunities like that so I really want to speak in strong favor of of Envision 2030 uh so that my children and their children can have the same experiences that I did with uh bcse thank you so much thank you Mr Bennett okay I think that concludes our public hearing we are going to gabble back into our um um meeting and we will turn it over to Mr gel for best practice sharing and instead of Josh G we're going to have Whitney gains you didn't look like Josh I'm sorry about that no Josh was unable to be here this evening so Whitney's going to take over and give us uh our presentation on the Columbus virtual pathway yeah so I no offense to Josh but I think I'm probably a little more prettier than Josh Keel but um he really wanted to be here today he had a serious family emergency and I'm just grateful that he trusted me to present to you guys tonight so I'm going to talk to you about CVP um creating a community of virtual Learners and I'll skim through some of this stuff I know that you guys receive the slides so um if there's anything you want me to revisit I can do that too so our vision here at CVP is to set the standard for virtual learning um and our mission is to provide students a safe flexible personalized online learning environment that Fosters academic personal and social growth in a competitive Global community so we have like six pillars that we try to focus on at CVP um accountability balance flexibility Community growth and empathy and I'll touch a little bit more on community later in the presentation so where have we been um or where did we start kind of I am also somebody who grew up here and CVP was not here when I was in school so where did it come from so we started in 2018 2019 um because people were seeing a trend and some of the parents were taking their students out of inperson school and leaning toward an online learning program so we wanted to make sure that we could capture those students and still keep them in the district and provide support to them so that's kind of why you see our numbers were lower initially and then something happened in 2020 I don't know if you guys remember um there was this thing like a pandemic or whatever um but obviously our numbers skyrocketed and I think what we saw is that a lot of families when when being exposed to the program that this was a learning style that really worked for their families so our numbers have been pretty steady over the last several years um right now our current number is 346 in our full-time student enrollment and 386 in our part-time and part of that decline in our full-time enrollment is because this past year we did eliminate RK through five learning program so that um caused some decrease and typically our numbers will increase in second semester specifically for seniors and some of the other things to or into mention is that we do serve a lot of diverse populations so we have 177% of our students um receive special education services um we have multilingual Learners and 50% of our students are free or reduced large and where are we going so now we kind of get into the good part um so obviously we want to set the standard for virtual learning we want to ensure sure that bcse has a viable option for any student that's seeking an online education and we don't just want to be a regular online platform because they already exist that is something that we know we want to make sure that we offer services that stand out above what they can already receive and how does that happen so as we talked about one of our pillars were community and how we do that um is with facilitator accessibility opportunities to connect high quality instruction and engaging families and everything that we do we always are really intentional to make sure that we're doing it in a way that promotes the Universal Design for Learning so we get to talk about facilitator accessibility so one of the things that's special about CVP is our staff Works in a physical space so we work and are available during school hours Monday through Friday um and people don't have to schedule an appointment students can come in parents can come in like we are physically present um for our families and we also are part of the community so one of the things that you'll recognize with a lot of online platforms is you probably will never meet your instructor in person um most likely they probably won't live in your town they might not even live in your state so there's definitely that connection piece that you probably will not have with somebody that understands the dynamic of where you're actually learning so all of our instructors are part of this community other thing that we have been intentional with is we understand that when students are online virtually they sometimes miss that organic social interaction that comes with being an inperson school so this year we definitely have been more intentional of trying to kind of bridge that Gap so we've started a connections Club where our students and sometimes their families get to come and we support other activities in the community or we have our own um this November we definitely had um Connect 4 competition and turkey bowling and I never saw myself as like a bowler but after bowling with the frozen turkey I really think there might be a new future for me sorry Dr Roberts but it might be my new calling um we also have a student Resource Center which is similar to like the high school resource area um but it's really been impactful because even though our students are online virtually sometimes they really struggle with like a course or content or a specific lesson and they really just need that in-person instruction sometimes mom dad or Grandma also need that inperson support so really happy that we can provide that too um we do study group sessions and we do senior projects which is really nice coming from somebody who actually did a senior project at East a while ago we won't say when but I did one and so I really love supporting our students high quality instruction this is something that's really important to Mr Geo our principal um so basically the way I understand it is we did some research to figure out what is the top um online or virtual course provider and whatever it was that's what we wanted so that's what we have we switched this year to Ed minum um and they are Indiana's top virtual course provider for 5 years running so they are the best um and it's been really effective um I know as an educator we found it just the ease of it and the variety and the high quality of instruction one of the things we're also able to offer at CVP is like live lessons so what that would look like is Miss Caruso who is here somewhere from CVP for her US history class she does lessons where some of the students are able to come in person and they're really able to do like work in group projects and really like do a deep dive on a lesson um and so they get that connection piece but they're really able to work together and Foster that type of learning and that's been really successful as well and this last part is really important because I think what I've seen um as a parent and now as a teacher in imperson school the teachers have a lot of contact with the kids they play a large huge role in their success being able to monitor them redirect them all of those things but in a virtual platform our parents are those people in a lot of way so they hold a lot of responsibility to kind of be our eyes and ears um for the students so we understand that so we really work hard to engage the families like the whole family so we do like quarterly Open House events we do workshops and some of those workshops look like us helping families learn to navigate a Chromebook learn to what parent Square power school and that they're two different things um and just also how to navigate aded minum it's really hard to monitor your children if you don't know how to navigate their thing because we know if you ask every child did they do their homework they're going to say yes um especially if they know you do not know how to double check um it also allows our families to have regular contact with facilitators and administrators and really like they don't have to have an appointment like it really helps to build those relationships and Partnerships with our cohort team like our principal is really great about he attends their cohort meetings regularly they're always in communication obviously we have a large part-time population we also have a lot of full-time students that might take a C4 class or an exploratory in person so really fostering that communication so that none of our kids kind of fall through the cracks has been important and lastly our senior celebration we just had our first one this may and it was great um and it was nice because like I said previously like when some of our students finish school it feels like the whole family finished school because the whole family was probably pushing them along this process so we did a nice celebration we were able to celebrate the whole family and some of our students the idea of like going from having school at home to being in a graduation with a ton of people is extremely overwhelming but we still want to celebrate their accomplishments so that was really great and I know you guys could listen to me talk forever but I know that the best way to really understand the impact that we have on our students is to hear from our students so our first one is Carter Gant she's a senior she's a full-time CVP student and East is her home school so we'll hear a bit from Carter my name is Carter dant and I am a senior I chose CVP because I went through a really hard time with my mental health and I was struggling to learn in the classroom setting CVP has been a tremendous help with me being successful these teachers have open arms and are willing to help you and do everything they can in their power to help you succeed you just have to admit that you're struggling with school and find resources that help you I would want other people to know how flexible and welcoming CVP is around here it revolves around you if you want to come in and do one-on one um sessions with your teacher that is amazing and they really appreciate that but also if that doesn't fit into your schedule then you can just do a Google me or Zoom to make it more convenient for you so around here it really does revolve around you you are the main priority and everybody will do anything to make sure that you succeed after I graduate through CVP I plan to attend Huntington University to play golf and my major is undecided and one thing special about Carter is that although she was a CVP full-time student she was still able to play play golf for East um and the next ones these two are special to me Javon and Dante Lawrence um they both have IEPs and have autism and I teach special education so I am their teacher um and they are in 11th and 8th grade they've been with CVP for a couple years and they are thriving like they are doing so well and we get to see their family and meet them and I think all of my colleagues agree like they just bring so much joy to to us as teachers um because this type of learning environment for them really allows them the opportunity to thrive and they are just excelling so now we'll get to hear from the Lawrence boys and Dad Lawrence Javon what do you like most about CVP I I like how easy it is to get like help and resources because it's it's literally you can literally get in like a click of a button I like how you can go on your own page you know if real school you kind of go on more of their P than rather than your own place and there's no rush to get like super rush to get something done I just really like that all right Javon what would you like to do after high school I I I would either like to be like a photographer or a firefighter After High School nice are you taking photography class no no no not yet but I would like to Dante what is your favorite subject in school art and what do you like about art I love how you can be creative like there's so many different styles of art it really just interests me in art I mean like I said it's just art all right what would you like people to know about CVP um CVP is a great program I just like to let people know that your family you can have more family time with your children you can get to learn different lessons the easiness of how you can navigate through the programs it's been excellent and it's just a it's a good program to to to be in sometime it takes the peer pressure of being in school and you're at home with your family you have more caring about your sub you get to spend more time to research different things you can work on things it's just a fun program CVP is the best program I wish that when I was in school we could have had something like that and I did not pay him to say that just flag um so yeah and we have a couple more testimonials I won't read those in detail you guys can read them um at ear Leisure but we have part-time students who sometimes just use CVP to take their government and econ which is great when I was in high school it was long Dr ago um we had to take it like in summer school like during the summer before our senior year or we just had a really full senior case load so that's been really great and then we have some other um full-time students that you guys can read so thank you so much for having us and now I will try to answer your questions and if I do a great job I take all of the credit and if I don't do a great job it's Mr gel's fault yeah what questions do we have yeah Mr n um first of all I want to thank you for your presentation and and we visited a while back and and to to see what you have done to put yourself what I would say above the typical Virtual School the supports and the focus on relationships and things that would be easily lost otherwise my only question is you um said 50% of your students are free or reduced lunch so do they have opportunity to have that free or reduced lunch and do they take advantage of that that's a good question so we don't serve lunch at CVP but I don't want to give you the wrong answer so I will let Mr G give you that answer I will not get myself in trouble but I will make sure that he'll give me answers tomorrow yeah thank you thanks yes thank you very much I Your Enthusiasm is much appreciated and I what might be your best guess as to the students served CVP 6th through eth graders as opposed to 9th through 12th graders as far as like enrollment yeah the yeah the total numbers the percentage of middle schoolers versus high schoolers Yeah we actually let's see if I can scroll back to that we have that I think oh yeah oh yeah okay so our sixth to eighth graders are our smaller pocket yeah and it gets more and obviously we have made a lot of Juniors and seniors um who it's been really effective because CVP allows them the opportunity to graduate on time that they probably wouldn't have any person school thank you and I apologize no no no thank you for I saw that I spaced it I've have one question on the same slide so I'll take advantage um what would you say is your best explanation for the inverse relationship of an increase in really part-time since covid I mean of course we had a lot that were full-time at that point but it kind of it looks like that's trending upwards and even though the fulltime is trending down so what would you contribute that most to yeah so I actually talked to Mr gel about about this one as well but so our part-time enrollment has increased for a couple reasons so one of the reasons is just um we're becoming more knowledgeable like people are becoming more knowledgeable about CVP um and the other reason is because right now all three high schools offer like a designated resource period where they can work on their online courses um so it's something now that the schools are um encouraging some of their seniors or Juniors to do as an option um because it's something that they're able to get that support while they're in inperson school as well so that has also contributed to a lot especially having the cohort teams if you have a senior and they are not you know they have a class they need to make up then their their advisor might suggest it as an alternative while they're here is to add in a course um through credit recovery program at CVP so so just to follow up on that that so you said they have a resource designated resource time that's with a staff person to kind of keep them on track and and moving forward right yes a staff person at their home school so whether east north or CSA and then the other question I had was for middle school and for I guess early High School is there an intentional effort to like through the through the traditional schools to get the word out about CVP like is there any knowledge about it sh during orientation I mean I haven't personally heard about it but I've seen the building and plan to visit and so I was just wondering is there any Communications effort from the home schools to kind of get that word out there um I'm I'm not for sure about 6 through eight so I don't want to misspeak I know for our high school ages it is something that um the new teams like they are aware of and one of the things that Josh does he meets with the cohort teams and they're able to assess like students that might be a better fit for CVP um or you know we don't want it to be students just want to go they want to be at home right so we really assess each student situation do we feel like they would be a good cand and do we feel like they would be successful at CVP thank you question so so I think they slowed the assembly line down there of questions um first off you've done a great job tonight so I know you kind of said I don't know that I'm ready for this but you've done a great job so thank you I hope they caught that on camera so I don't know when your next review is but two thumbs up right so um I I think somebody mentioned home school earlier and there was a article on a paper in June uh funny enough I received it from somebody outside of this room about a week ago and um it homeschool is growing right it's something we can't ignore with this being the closest thing to homeschooling that we have do we have any ability you probably can't answer this today but it's something to think about especially from a marketing standpoint do we have an ability today to show those students performance when they were in school and when they went home or just their performance period and so I think this this helps us show that if this is a good path for a student it could replace homeschooling some people are going to want to be home at their home no matter what um but this might help us to try and take a little bit away from the homeschool population and pull into this if we can show the value of it right yeah so I don't have specific numbers and I don't want to missp speak but I do know as parents are talking to their homeschools about maybe is unenrolling their children for whatever reason I do know that that CVP does come up in a lot of those conversations like hey we have this option this might be you know something for you to consider thank you as a daughter who is a part-timer and You' think having a mom on the school board you might have a resource to help you navigate school but she does not okay she is on her own and she found this program and is taking an art history class I think online and so she can fit Another Science in and that's just a great opportunity for kids to get ahead she's not sure what she wants to do she can double up on things so it can really Propel students and again I don't know how she got the information but she she seemed to get it so you guys are doing something right thank you very much for that thank you so much yep good any other questions no thank you very much thank you as you can tell Whitney really was nervous about presenting thanks thanks [Applause] Whitney I wish I look like that when I was nervous not I okay a school board member reports um I will we'll start with Public Work session since my name is up there so we held a public work session last week um we primarily focused on the two policies that are up for um vote tonight which is 2520 and 9130 so we had a lot of discussion as a team it was an extended Public Work session it lasted about an hour and a half just to make sure we all understood each other's perspectives we could ask each other questions um we had the benefit of having some Librarians in the room I appreciated them leaning in and giving us some information to help us all figure out where our heads are at on those topics so that was the primary um focus of that session last week and then Mr Schultz would you like to go through Hall of Fame yes for the education Hall of Fame the team met virtually uh made the selection and that award and name will be given in the February Schoolboard meeting very good okay I will start down at this side any other um where are we at board member reports any other board member reports Mr Bryant do you have anything no Mr major um Redevelopment commission uh met a few weeks back and we met with the city council uh it was a joint meeting and there was talk about the riverfront project that uh just this last week city council approved so um that that along with some tip creation uh for Sixth Street and Washington Street mixed use development um no Health Trust meetings in the last two weeks so uh pretty light right now good Mr Stenner no report even Mr Gs yeah I've got a couple things here if anybody can take me serious while wearing this suit but um so uh Mr Nan Mr Schultz and I uh last month went to the Indiana School Board Association region 10 meeting at the Pines in Seymour where we're able to talk and hear about all the legislative priorities of the school boards Association um coming up in in in uh next month's short session of uh the Indiana legislature which is scheduled to run from January 8th through the through March 14th the word is already out that they aim to wrap up by March 8th making it a uh an even eight weeks but just uh to highlight there are many legislative priorities from the school boards Association just to highlight a couple uh their number one priority is teacher retention and student Support Services grant program there are currently three unfunded uh grants that that Focus around largely school counselors and school psychologist both of which uh Indiana U I would I I'll say it uh fails miserably in terms of the recommended ratio of school Personnel to to students and and so the School Board Association recommends that those three Grant programs be combined and uh and actually be funded a couple other highlights in regards to uh referendum issues um the the School Board Association is is making a case for um the the state to clean up uh very wordy misleading language in in terms of uh ref referendum matters that appear on ballots and then just one other uh one other highlight uh to mention um in terms of curricular materials I I think most of us have heard about this uh isba seeks clarification on is seeking further clarification for just what schools um can issue fees for in terms of curricular materials and what they cannot and uh is asking the legislature to certainly address this year's shortfall uh by mandating that textbook fees be eliminated um when the budget reopens in 25 um in terms of um what the state legislators are prioritizing one is um I read three and looking at uh what to do with the school with the state's third graders that do not achieve the cut score on I 3 uh roughly one in five third graders across the state were below the cut score and another priority uh of theirs being what to do with chronic student absenteeism uh again roughly one in five of the students across the state were chronically absent last year meaning 18 plus days of absenteeism per school year and if you drop that to 10 to 17 days of absence a year uh 40% of students across the state last year were going from school 10 to 17 days so um yes all those things and then um lastly um from the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation uh last you know the Saturday before last December 2nd the school Foundation had had a good presence um in the Festival of Lights Parade uh many of us walked along the school bus that was all lit up and distributed uh candy C4 also had a float and the band was well represented and then a couple notes from the executive director Nicole Cunningham uh she wanted me to pass on that uh the end of the year is coming near and it would be a great time to consider a donation to the school Foundation um a reminder to anybody out there that may hear this uh scholarship application deadline is March 1st and bcsf stars.org is where you can go for a list of all the scholarship opportunities out there and then lastly congratulations to Caitlyn Hodes of Rock Creek and Jonah henriksson of Parkside for being the school Foundation students of the month thank you Mr sh hard act to follow isn't it Mr n um the high ability broad-based planning committee committee with the longest name around um met last week I think it was and um a couple things from that uh one is that that the group of people that organized the high ability um meeting the needs of high ability students they do a better and better job every year of making sure that they reach um every possible kid so that kids aren't overlooked and that everyone is tested to see if they would qualify the other thing is so at least when I think of high ability I traditionally think of our um academic challenge programs but we have many many students that are identified as high ability and they're either in grades prior to academic challenge or they chose not to go into academic challenge so a lot of our meeting was around those students um and they are um the people that run this are working on professional development for the teachers who have a cluster group of high ability students in their Elementary classroom it's it's a little tricky finding the right balance of how much do you prescribe what's done and how much flexibility do you leave because those programs are very different from school to school in terms of how many students there are um but there are a lot of students out there getting high ability needs met that aren't an academic challenge and the last thing I'll throw out is that it was mentioned in this committee that if um the the staff person in charge of hi ability if that were a full-time position more attention could be paid to hi ability secondary students so I'll just throw that out there thank you Mr Nan okay we'll move on to Cabinet reports Dr Robert yeah the only one we have specifically listed up there is just a reminder of the various policies we still have in Fr front of us uh these were introduced in October again uh last November and then I'm just putting them in front of you again no specific recommendation on approval of these tonight we have those other couple that you mentioned earlier Mrs Wen from last week's Public Work session but these recommendations are based upon legislation changes and and just getting them in place too so we'll be bringing those back to you in January for formal approval that extra list cabinet members any other reports okay all right move on to public comments so um just if you're if you're new here today just to uh make sure you understand the process when you come into one of our meetings there are always blue sheets up on the table up there and if you'd like to speak you write your name on the sheet um I will call you to the podium in order that you've signed up you will get 3 minutes It'll be listed here on this um clock and you'll get a buzzer and I'll ask you to stop when the buzzer when the buzzer goes off so you'll be able to see your time as you go um if you have intend to speak on a topic and you feel like somebody is already represented your thoughts you can pass or you can come up and say I agree with so and so and and pass that's okay to do just let us know where your head's at um please do not use the names of individual students staff members or specific roles it's the same thing as using name so um just please refrain from doing that and keep things General um I think I've covered the 3 minutes and then lastly it's our practice um you know getting up in front of room being on a camera having it recorded can be really intimidating for some folks so we want to make sure that uh we conduct ourselves in a way that makes it you know open and welcoming to everyone so please no cheers or deers this includes outward gestures clapping any verbal cues um any creative ideas I think the idea is we just want people to feel like they can come and talk and and have their voices heard and be respected while doing so okay so with that we will start with Amy London good evening um I'm here this evening to speak on behalf of the Columbus Educators Association I am Amy London I am the president of the uh teachers union CA um on behalf of the association I want to thank all of our Librarians that we have in bcse as well as their support professionals um who work in our libraries day in and day out with our students um I would like to praise them for their professionalism and patience as conversations regarding materials in our libraries have been a frequent topic in various places in our community I would also like to thank all of those who came to the meeting tonight to support them I appreciate that um the elected CA Association building reps have uh put together a statement that they wanted me to read it is our CA public statement of support for our Librarians and the statement is as follows we as the Columbus Educators Association acknowledge and support our Librarians and educational support professionals and their commitment to acting in the best interests of students without interference as president of CA I can guarantee the continued support from ca for those members who work in our libraries I appreciate the collaboration with the BC Administration on this subject and I wish you all a happy holiday thank you thank you Miss London Lisa angelis angelis I'm sorry I got that wrong I'm sure I got it wrong you aren't the only person to get that wrong a lot I'm Lisa Angelus um thanks for letting me speak tonight I wanted to say a little bit about the school material review policies that you're have been debating um in particular after the last working session it occurs to me that the library content review process should not allow challenges based on the suitability of subject content and style for the intended audience and should be based on um alleged violations as it pertains to the legal definitions of obscene or harmful to minors um if not somebody like me or anybody could challenge pretty much any book and it's we're leaving it to more of a subjective open interpretation I see that as a potential really waste of time and money I don't think it's worth doing I think that the bar is purposefully set the way that it is from a legal perspective to prevent good literature from being removed from the shelves of the libraries um that being said I also think it's really important that we do not remove materials from the libraries while the review process is undergoing um if we do we in other words if something's being contested don't simply remove whatever it is that's being contested while it's being contested because there may be a slew of things be contested for a variety of reasons depending on how your policy is written um and you might end up with empty shelves like they did in Hamilton County until they got wise so that's just were my thoughts a couple of thoughts about the the policy and the process that you may follow thanks thank you Mary mels I want to say that um since we no longer have the right to vote for our school superintendent in the state it is important that we think carefully when we are voting for our Schoolboard members um and the people who are here to serve and I want to remind you that when we vote for you you're here to serve everyone in the community not just your pastor your religion your personal views so you need to leave those things outside the doors when you come in and consider everyone that you represent in this diverse Community doesn't matter what they're doing in Florida or Eastern Kentucky or the Bronx this is Columbus Indiana Bartholomew County and we are an especially diverse Community but I also want to remind you you don't just represent the people of the community but you're also here to work for the teachers The Librarians all the people who work in our schools all the way down to the janitors so keep that in mind that the decisions you make affect so many people what I had to say thank you Miss Ms uh Michelle car hi as a bcsc parent I want to thank those who understand that books like the news reflect life that life isn't perfectly peaceful life can be messy life can contain curse words even from the most unexpected person even as a high schooler some of the best people I knew could string together the most Fantastical line of expletives you've ever heard so I assure you that these words are nothing new to today's teenagers just as they weren't to myself life can contain Curiosities lack of understanding violence abuse and so will books life will contain love Rel relationships that are good and bad life contains people who have been formed from a myriad of experiences and individuals that learn that no matter what anyone else thinks them being who they truly are is a thing of beauty so two will books represent these Journeys life contains good and bad decisions and being able to see characters live through these experiences can help a young person make a better decision life can hit you hard and many of us have experienced tragedy and Trauma in our own lives sometimes such events can leave us feeling alone and even if we have the best support system it can be really hard to explain these feelings to others and even if you have someone that can help you it's really hard to get them to understand so if you can find a character that resembles these experiences it makes you feel not so alone and that can make a world of difference just to know that someone has had this experience or understands this experience can help this alone feeling dissipate and sometimes that is the most important thing in the world in the end books are going to be messy because we are humans and we are messy books will challenge us and make us feel uncomfortable because life is messy and life is uncomfortable books will get comfort and Aid to those who feel isolated because let's face it folks sometimes we aren't great at making sure people don't feel that way and even if a group of people or one person doesn't see the value in a certain book doesn't mean that it won't hold value for someone else I understand the need to adhere to the state law and I would like to caution against taking it further than that law because if we remove such Reflections and make everyone read the same rose-colored worlds we lose the opportunity to grow and better ourselves thank you thank you Miss car Carla Craig hi I am Carla Craig um I love out in Ville work at Mount Healthy school and tonight I just want to thank you all you have a tough job and you are not going to make everybody happy so I appreciate your taking on this position I appreciate your hard work I appreciate your time and I appreciate your caring for our kids so um thank you very much for that I do really quickly just want to say I am I have maybe missed our Mountain healthy girls playing basketball because of the change in schedule but thank you so much for what you do and I I acknowledge that you have a tough job thank you thank you Miss Craig Kermit key thank you again for the opportunity to come to you again and once again I want to wish you all a happy holidays I am both a writer and a parent of bcsc I was just preceded by my daughter's librarian at M healthy and I would just like to say you cannot compromise with extremists you cannot build consensus without Liars dads for moms for Liberty have no interest in bargaining their principles they have made clear that they ideas supersede all others anyone that disagrees with them is called trash the material is child born and therefore its proponents must be pedophiles they appeal to a god they have created in their own image as the authority to what is right and wrong because it is only their reading their understanding and their values that matter is not their intent to protect families or children or strengthen the community but to impose their ideas above all others if you have any let me remind you of this quote from the Republic last week in discussing his thoughts on the draft one board member said I still object to no parental consent for themes of sex violence and drug use but at the end of the day majority rules majority rules that's not a compromise that's a concession that's a concession with the promise of returning this fall with three new dads for moms for Liberty on the ballot the public school board must stand up to these extremists the same way our nation did and World War II they must be defeated because they will never compromise or negotiate we already see them changing tactics by focusing on budget issues and targeting diversity as something too expensive to consider they have to broaden their appeal because 33% or 43% will not cut it in 2024 do not add a jot or tit beyond what the state demands let the majority rule thank you thank you Mr key uh I'm going to say Curtis axom I've got a question for so I've been the last month Hey sir could you do do that just um for the recording it'll it'll help to make sure people on the on the thing can pick you up all right so in the last month I've talked to three different teachers in two different um locations throughout Bartholomew County all three of them have been tenured and all three of them in the last six months have been attacked by students now that may not be physically that's online that's throughout the student group just throughout whatever the student felt like they needed to do when they've asked for support the emails have been received the conversations have been had but it's been dropped there whether it's been in this building or it's been farther they're not sure they just know that they had sent information in and it went away so they haven't heard anything back asked for responses I know two of them have sent email responses through and that hasn't been responded to so if we're not going to back our teachers up we're going to let this go whether it's some kid that's got in trouble and they're mad because they got in trouble right and the parents have let them feel like they had the responsiveness to or responsibility to attack somebody like that that's fine if that was one of you in a professional manner you could take somebody to court and deal with it right we're sticking our teachers out there to fry we've got Johnson County who's growing at a rate faster than bartholomy County and pay rates probably exceed relatively quickly Jackson and Jennings County are growing right now all these are within the driveable driveable commute to Bartholomew County I don't know that there's going to be a reason if we let that keep going on and it's a fact it's happening I don't know there's going to be a reason for anybody to stay in Barony County if we're going to let him keep getting kicked and attacked unless we're going to be there to stand up for him and actually deal with it me professionally I see this stuff Nationwide I deal with different school systems and different organizations and I don't know that letting things be quiet and letting things die is a good answer so that's all I got thank you Mr some Mr grow good evening I'm Eric grow and I'm still a Bartholomew County resident and father of three I just want to take a moment just to Express gratitude for being able to speak in front of my constituents tonight not everyone gets afforded that opportunity um regarding the policy you'll be voting on tonight around Library content and procedures um I urge you I beg you to adopt a policy that ensures you don't give harmful or potentially harmful material to our children without consent our children are minors they dependents by definition they can't consent to this material so I'm simply just asking you as a father um you know before you give my child um potentially harmful content ask for my consent first and you know I understand the justification under current law and precedent um that the content outside of the potentially harmful within a material um has literary value that justifies um the questionably harmful content um in a work um but you know just consider that I mean we wouldn't take a parent that harm their child but more often than not they do good for their child we wouldn't hold that as a standard to say well the the good that they do has value that um justifies that bad I mean I pray that that never becomes our standard um and you think about it another way I could take an actual work of pornography a a Playboy magazine I could cut the spine spread out the pages write a rich literature through those pages that incorporates that material put it all back together bind it now it's acceptable for our libraries because it has literary value even though it contains in its entirety that material that we would absolutely say is not appropriate for our libraries so just some things to consider um with current standard the point is is that you know we can set higher standards than than just what's required by the law and I think this is a clear situation where um we're called to do that that it's necessary in this situation um but there's mounds of Publications um of literature on this stuff um one example you know the harms of porn and porn addiction um are well established especially for our youth um so that's just something to consider in all of this um so please you as a father consider adopting um policy that does not that ensures you guys don't provide harmful content to our children um before getting consent to do so thank you thank you Mr gr Mr Delp okay you're good uh Sunny Courier pass you're going to pass okay uh Laura Garrett [Music] she I know I know um I'm okay with that I'm okay with that we still have room thank you you realized the Acoustics in this room are horrible oh hearing aids I'm having a hard time hearing Miss would you mind just stay can you hear me yep y good can you all hear can you hear me yes uh good evening clock is on my name is Suzanne Smith my children went through the system here and turned out beautifully they love to read uh they are one is uh and two of them are retired but at any rate uh they also have a hunger for knowledge and they don't take any just anything for granted in terms of information so I'm also a grandmother and a great grandmother I've been a teacher librarian reference librarian and a school board member and I want to tell tell you all you stand on the shoulders of giants and I think that uh 30 years from now what you do uh will be past history when I was on the board we were we were not sidetracked by the flavor of the day or the protest of the day or whatever was going on in the country polarizing our world we were able to enact or enforce Title 9 which got girls into sports and we have a few girls I'm sure that are have no idea girls weren't always able to play sports and so we have some title n uh uh facilities we were able to pull our Corporation kicking and screaming scaming into the computer age teachers I was so unpopular with teachers they did not want to do it um so we marshalled funds and we were sick and tired of sitting on chairs in the bleachers uh to see concerts in the gym Memorial Gym and so we planned in Marshal funds and so forth to see to it we'd have an auditorium and a music wing and it later came to fruition these things don't happen overnight I just want to point out to you a few ethics uh considerations as school board members um it's a high responsibility but your membership demands that you understand the basic function of a Schoolboard member is policymaking not administrative and you need to know the difference you need to refuse to play politics either in the traditional sense or in Petty um situations and by representing at all times the entire School community and 30 years from now your names will not be you know famous but what you decide is crucial what you decide is so important and so uh on behalf of all the teachers here all the parents we very much appreciate your service I would not serve on a school board in 2023 if my life depended on it thank you so much you are underappreciated but we really do appreciate you thank you very much Miss Smith do something about the Acoustics in [Laughter] here I don't know what brought Laura away but I'm grateful she delegated Miss Smith that enjoyed that thank you very much um Richard Stafford good evening hi Mr shepher I'm here primarily to say thank you uh to the teachers and the Librarians of these schools um I'm a grandparent of three children and and the school system uh one of them reads well and refused to read for for a couple of years her teacher and the librarian kept working with her to find something that would pique her interest and they succeeded and now she's bringing home books and checking selecting her own books um every week interestingly what got her attention were books in World War II dealing with Germany now there are pressure groups throughout the country we have seen them that oppose different kinds of literature and some of the material that she is and will be reading about World War II about Nazi Germany uh are opposed by some of these pressure groups but this child is learning she's learning not only the facts of history but she's learning what happens in society when diversity is rejected when certain groups are targeted some of that material will be violent some of that material could very well be sexually violent because we know what happened during those years but her need to understand not only for herself but for her future is large it is only through the dedicated work of our teachers and our Librarians that she has had the opportunity to grow and expand and who knows what she'll get into next I urge the board not to go beyond state law because there will be always pressure groups to say let's let's not teach this let's not allow students to en encounter that they will encounter it they will get information all of them are on Facebook Instagram you know it that information will frequently be wrong and harmful if they're not getting that information through a source where they can process what they are reading thank you thank you Mr Stafford Nancy merbitz thank you it seems that some hope for compromise with those who are oh excuse me with those proposing reforms and restrictions to our School libraries they seem reluctant to realize the Nationwide Christian supremacist efforts underway against the very idea of public secular education so I'm bringing tonight examples from our very own purple for parents of Indiana the acknowledge driving force behind the campaigns of the four dads purple for parents of Indiana is a group avowedly dedicated to exposing the indoctrination and sexualization of children in the public education system end quote purple for parents Facebook page features as its profile picture a cartoon school board meeting where the members prepare to vote on social emotional education and they're attached by strings to various ghouls labeled as teachers Union's globalists big Pharma and Marxism a scroll through current and past post on their Facebook pages turn up various items of interest in a video interview with Ronda Miller one of the leaders of purple for parents of Indiana she talks about the Nationwide effort to repeal obscenity exemptions that currently protect reading materials with educational value quote Indiana is one of the many states with an obscenity exemption for educational value there is a coordinated effort across the country I can tell you to repeal this and we hope to make Indiana the first end quote purple for parents of Indiana also supports and promotes donations for the production of a film called The Mind polluters per promotional materials of the filmmakers the mind polluters is quote an investigative documentary film that reveals the graphic comprehension SE comprehensive sexed and social emotional learning being forced on children of all ages through the public education system for Christian parents public schools are not a safe or neutral V venue for their children's education the mind polluters exposes the dark realities of the intentional grooming of children into a world view at odds with the Christian faith a worldview of rampant sexuality homosexuality and transgenderism normalized through the use of pornographic and pedophilic materials in a video interview one of those filmmakers says American public schools are quote definitely against Christ our goal is to educate motivate and Inspire others to get involved in their local communities to defend their families and biblical values end quote excerpts from and information about several other individuals and groups specifically allied with purple for parents a featured organization public school exit the mission the mission of public school exit is to facilitate an exodus of American Children and Families from government controlled education thank you there's lots more thank you Miss mbin okay that concludes our public comments to for tonight thank you um everyone for coming out and sharing your thoughts with us we do appreciate it um so we are checking our time we're at 10 after 8 um we have our our votes to conclude I'm going to say power through unless anybody on my table says they need a quick break we all okay scream at me okay all right 8:30 is usually my my time so um all right now we move on to how okay Mrs Wen I have some requests for approval starting with old business we had have had a few meetings um over the last month so minutes of the executive session of November 13th the minutes of the public work session of November 13th the minutes of the regular school board meeting of November 13th and the minutes of the public work session of December 4th we did have another executive session tonight but we'll have those meetings for you next time additionally uh we have Neola policy revision recommendations policy 2520 is the selection of Library materials and Equipment policy 9130 public complaints and concerns I think you have the most upto-date revisions of those policies based upon conversations that have been held uh so those are my recommendations I understand that you may wish to take these votes in a in a couple of different ways here so I'll turn them back over to you for adherence to Robert's Rules of Order okay okay do I have a motion from the board I'd like to make a motion that we vote on the old business as presented by Dr Roberts letters A and B separately and then to further that if I may um under letter B I would like to make a motion that we vote on the policy uh 2520 and policy 9 9130 separately as well okay so um do I have a second to split those I think need a yep I don't think we do either I'm looking at Mike just ask for we're okay so to make it clear for everybody there was a 3A if you go back one slide just there you go so 3A is minutes so I think what we're going to do is we're going to vote on 3A and then if you go to the next slide we will vote on 3B policy 2520 and then policy 9130 so we'll break them into three different chunks through individual motions that will come from the board members at this time is that okay Mike legitimate okay a formal motion so Todd made a formal motion to break them into thirds Jason Jason is second all those in favor of breaking into three say I I I any opposed very good thank you now we start over I move that we approve um the minutes under letter 3A old business as presented by Dr Roberts thank you Mr greson Mr major for first and second all those in favor of approving um item 3A minutes please say I I I all those opposed say nay motion carries thank you okay and I would move that we approve policy 2520 as presented by Dr Roberts under letter 3B I second okay thank you Mr Grimes and Mr n is there any discussion on 2520 I have a few questions uh so Mr mckyer from a legal perspective a lot of discussion has been around the law and the requirement and I recognize that there is a minimum statutory requirement by January 1st however I do ask is one of the ask was or options presented was collecting parental consent and protecting possible criminal complaints from your legal opinion does providing parental consent provide BCS an incremental legal defense argument in the case of that kind of situation yes or no I have a client that is very fond of saying he wants a one-handed lawyer because we often say on the one hand and then on the other hand so I'm going to give you a two-handed lawyer answer there you go if there is a concern that there may be claims filed against the corporation uh related to materials in the libraries I think having a a consent having an optin in Theory May provide an incremental uh additional defense on the other hand what the value of that defense defense would be I cannot tell you I think those claims would generally be hard for someone to Prevail upon and would be challenging to push forward so yes there may be some additional defense there I don't know what the value of it would be and then the second question I had is in regards to the statutes around obscenity and harmful to minors does the statutes depict different suitability levels within that in regards to Children let's say 5 to 12 in our elementary age versus those that are 13 to near adult or 18 basically adults in our high schools and middle schools or is it a single standard that's simply applied to all the statute includes one test for materials to meet and that would be the test for the materials regardless of the type of materials or intended age for them real real quick what about location is it because we have not I don't think we've talked about this but um I had in my notes for one of the questions I was going to ask and you it might be appropriate now is um last week when we went to the law seminar um there was a lot of discussion about library books but they kind of shied away from books in classrooms how do you propose we include or exclude based on the term Library does that does that refer only to the main library in a room or a library of books that may be in a teacher's possession the statute that was approved includes the word or the phrase Library materials from other seminars that I've gone to over the course of the year when there have been representatives of the Indiana library Federation or the isba present they have have indicated that the legislators um are are meaning libraries the the actual School library not necessarily classroom connections uh classroom collections the policies that you have in front of you utilize that same word School library and I I would tell you that my opinion is that that means the school library collection not any collection of materials that may be in a classroom so this this obviously I don't know that anything I say tonight is going to be popular with everyone here but um do we feel like there would be risk to a potential lawsuit for a book in a classroom that may not be managed by the librarian may not be part of a library collection I'm I get a little concerned that if someone says well this is in my child's room and I don't like it um there will be somebody at some point that will say that so generally speaking any materials that would meet the definition of obscene or materials harmful to minor miners those materials are going to have challenges regardless of where they are located um but the policy that you have related to challenges and reviews is specific to libraries so if you if you want to expand that policy that wording would have to change whether there is risk there or not people can file claims over any number of things um I don't know that assuming we are not talking about materials that meet that definition of obscene um I don't know that that feels like a a high level of risk for the corporation and I think the the re the other reason why I asked that too is we've I think added correct me if I'm wrong I think we added the suitability element as well and so that poses another challenge and so that's why when I'm talking about risk it's overall risk because there is no librarian then in a classroom so who's who would be the one that would be challenged in a court of law then is it the teacher or is it the principal so policy 9130 includes an additional provision that was added after the last Public Work session that would allow for potential review requests if a parent or member of the community within the corporation alleged that a material uh that an item had been inappropriately selected based upon the criteria that are outlined in policy 2520 that list does include a suitability component it includes several other uh criteria as well so that process in the draft that is in your packet is in item J if that policy is approved with item J included there would be a formal process there for those challenges for other reasons besides just obscenity or being a material harmful to miners to move forward so so we we have to we have to vote tonight right you have to have a policy by January 1 which which as as we have said several times I think if we if we look at our policy today we have pretty much most of that anyway right we already have cataloging of books we have a complaint process so a lot of the work that we've done over the last how many meetings have we had for this a dozen I I don't know probably a dozen meetings on this and we've already had a policy that I did we we cataloged today and we have a complaint process today so we really had it all solved a long time ago um when it's all said and done I my concern is because we've added or proposing to add I think pretty much everybody was fairly aligned with adding suitability and that's why we put it as a proposal um I I don't know if we need to from here forward begin to have some conversation around what's in the classroom as well because someone will consider that either curricular resource material in a classroom or Library material and in order to protect the teacher the librarian the principal and the corporation I think we need to have something that differentiates those okay I would just add in in terms of the policies that we are looking to approve uh in January 2510 would be one of those and I believe based on conversations we want to make a very distinct separation with libraries because of the the state statute as Mike has indicated it was very specific to that place and then have classroom instruction materials and other equipment and so forth and so that may be the opportunity to have additional languages in 2510 as as is necessary which to this point has not yet been approved okay okay so I have a motion in a second for item 3B policy 2520 any other questions or comments before we uh at this point I'm motioning to amend policy 2520 to State the following language in the fourth paragraph following the Indiana statute notations that the corporation shall identify and receive parental consent PRI prior to providing access to media that depicts themes of drug abuse drug use excessive profanity Intense or persistent violence inclusive of guns murder child abuse and rape and themes in descriptions of explicit sexual acts okay second well hold on Mike I need help I already had a motion in a second and I think I need to make a decision on that before I can accept another motion is that correct I just want make sure I do this in the right order so is I think Mr Schultz's motion is a motion to amend the motion that has been made which I think would appropriately be what Mr Schultz is proposing is that the policy be approved with the additional language that he described okay and so he is asking that the motion in front of the board be amended okay to the updated updated okay so I think just so everybody up here at the table understands um we have a motion in a second for policy 2520 adding the consent language that Logan just requested and so we will vote on that Y and then we can and then we can can move forward with anything that might come after that is all right and and yes and it it's really a motion to amend what you would then vote on to approve but yes that is is substantively what you're being asked to do okay okay do we have any questions regarding the consent language that Logan has we're voting just on the amendment is that correct just on the amendment yes okay yeah real real quick just um some comments here uh last Friday I was up in Indianapolis and there was around uh I don't know what 150 to 200 superintendent school board members and school lawyers from across the state uh when they kicked off the discussion uh the very first discussion was about library book legislation and one of the first slides that was shown is probably slide two or slide three was amazingly a large full screen explicit material on the way basically is what it said um I was just kind of caught off guard to see in a room full of adults that we had a notice uh of explicit material right so if a notice is needed in a meeting like that with adults why can't we have an opt-in section for students this allows the parents to have a decision to allow those students to be able to have made available to them material with extreme explicit material sexual profane and vulgar material it gives the parent and the ability to make that decision while I was there on Friday I talked to several other board members superintendents and uh one of the things I mentioned was this optin and they felt that that is a lower risk option than to leave it open to interpretation by basically doing have we all seen the little disclaimers that come across all of the medical and other uh commercials that's basically what we would do here is give the parents a disclaimer that says this is the material that's in our library do you or do you not allow your child to partake and I think that um when you think about the risk that's out there and the potential for uh someone to um you could call it frivolous uh but have multiple complaints for multiple books I think that by not having the optin it leaves us at a higher risk and allows some of that material to be exposed and exploited and put uh your Librarians and others In Harm's Way from a legal perspective okay thank you any other comments or questions from the board members on this topic so we are voting on a motion to amend 2520 to include a consent language that Logan has proposed here tonight okay it had a motion it had a second all those in favor of 2520 with the additional consent language please say I I I all those opposed please say Nay Nay n okay so I think that was 52 um against okay um I think I go back to the original motion which was to approve 2520 as it was presented it was also seconded and we've already had discussion um on that I believe does anybody have anything they want to add in terms of discussion on that before we vote okay so the motion in front of you is to approve 3B 2520 as presented to us tonight all those in favor say I I all those opposed say Nay n n think it is again 52 policy 2520 as presented passes okay let's go again I would like to make a motion that policy 9130 be amended to strike letter J from the library uh materials section thank you Mr Grimes do I have a second second thank you Mr Bryant any discussion or questions from the team and to reiterate this Jay could you read that for everyone so that they know what it is Mike please thank you you I don't have yeah yep uh item J says the following notwithstanding any provision of the forging matters regarding School library material section to the contrary a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in a school in the school corporation or a Community member residing within the corporation May submit a request to remove material that they contain was inappropriately selected for a school libraryies collection given the guidelines described in policy 2520 selection of Library materials and Equipment any such request for review shall be handled following the same general process as described above including the possibility of a final appeal of any decision to the board thank you Mike yes Mr Nell um so under our current policy where we start with an informal complaint and then if that decision if the person bring bringing the complaint doesn't like that decision then it goes to a committee um those our current policy does not limit those complaints to only um things that are harmful to miners or um what's the other on um obscenity so so really what Jay is saying is it's okay for someone to have a concern about a library book that that isn't just those two things let me give you an example this is I'm telling this story secondhand so I'm assuming it's accurate but one of our libraries had a book about um a Hispanic family that lived under a bridge and actually one of our staff members saw that book and said is this really what we want to have out there about hispanic families that they live under bridges and the librarian looked at the book and decided that book wasn't appropriate that that has nothing to do with obscenity or are harmful to minors and and I think that um well and I'll say with conversation I have had with Librarians they're okay with wider discussion they had more of a concern with just saying suitability by age they wanted a wider discussion about um first of all the book as a whole and what we're saying is if you see material in our library that you don't think fits our guidelines then maybe you should point that out I I trust the system and the policy that we've been using and to me this is as close to that as we can get with the new legislation and I okay I hear a lot of talk about don't go above what the state requires and I I don't know that it's going above or going below I think it's just that we trust our parents in our community to bring legitimate concerns and we trust the process we've been using to filter through those I have a question around Jay um essentially does Jay apply to all levels of of review and the current proposed so for example the administrator the librarian review the committee review The Board review it applies to all levels of the review correct the intent of Jay uh in saying follow the process follow the process described above the intented would would be that that same process including all of those levels would apply for materials that were alleged to have been inappropriately selected so essentially by removing J We're creating two levels of Standards we're going to allow for an informal review that may or may not allow for that librarian it's going to be a little bit different because in reality Jay would apply to the recommendation of an informal review but I'm assuming we're allow latitude there but we will then strap all all subsequent reviews to a different level of criteria I I think with with J included with if Jay is not included there would always be the ability for someone to have an informal conversation with a librarian or with a principal there's nothing prohibiting that however if Jay is not included there is not a formal process for it to move beyond that step but to actually remove it you have to meet the standards of the policy so in reality that principle unless they're going to claim a weeding situation or subsequent solution they're they're strapped by a policy 9130 in terms of how they review that novel 2520 includes language related to the maintenance saying there shall be standards for the maintenance of the collection which I think would govern what happens in that General weeding situation what a librarian would say is an appropriate consideration for that weeding I think that is a question for the librarian yeah um but in terms of 9130 which covers the review and challenge process if if it is included if if item J is included in 9130 there is a formal process for those complaints for other reasons related to 2520 to move through the system and potentially end up in front of the board if item J is not included in 9130 there is not an ongoing formal process for those uh for those items that have been been asked to be reviewed for other reasons to move beyond that informal conversation with a librarian and to be clear that's provided to constituents today by practice and written in administrative guidelines correct the current the current policy only addresses instructional materials but uses the word Library uh books which has created I think some confusion um by practice I think there has been uh reviews in the past after that informal conversation and I I think it's I mean and I appreciate Mr Grim's motion men and I think at the end of the day we have to at least speak truth a little bit about like the the discussions here is we're not talking George Orwell's 1984 or te Kill Mockingbird there's never been an I've never been a part of an ideological argument on books this has strictly been about how much adult content is too much and the graphic descriptions of violence graphic sexual descriptions which were read here I mean made the board cringe and honestly sent itself into its first recess in at least a couple years from what I've seen and so I think it's fair to say that the board policy should reflect the criterias all the way through the review process and not provide a offer of symbolic possibility that that may occur C okay any other questions or comments from the board members so the motion that received a second that we have discussed is for item 3B 9130 removing item J yes sorry feel like I have to say it's really not about do we think it's bad content or do we think there's too many bad words in it it's about does does it fit the guidelines that we have in 2520 that's really what it's about yep understood understood and it real quick Mike you amended this based off of the last Public Work session right we had conversation at the last Public Work session and in my rough tallying of of comments from various board members I felt that we had a handful that were supportive of including this I felt that we had a handful that weren't supportive of including this and for an ease of your all's purpose I elected to include the language in the updated draft um so that and it's in one spot so that if you all don't want to include it a motion along the lines of what Todd has made can can be made if you all want to included it can be approved as amended or as proposed okay okay so I'm going to summarize once again so everybody knows what they're voting on okay it's 3B 9130 removing item J and I'm going to ask for you also to show your hand if you say yay or nay just so we can be super clear who's voting which way and I'm going to ask um Dr Phillips to tally for me okay you watch us like a hawk Dr Phillips please okay so just a a quick quick process question so if the motion made by Mr Grimes passes we still don't have a policy 9130 that would be a subsequent Vote or I I I heard Mr grimes's motion as removing that item and so I think then there could be further discussion but but I think there would then need to be a a vote as as amended because I heard him I if the mo if the motion is only to strike that paragraph then I think that's all that happens with this vote if the motion was to strike that paragraph and approve it as otherwise presented then you would be done what did you say Mr Grim I thought you were well CR do thetion go back no it's okay okay do do we want to do it separate or together I don't care I would move okay okay so I'll change my verbiage here a little bit I move that we approve policy 9130 with one exception and that exception being striking letter J okay thank you and I second you second that motion just to be really clear and if that and if that is the motion then this vote would would do it if it passes we conclude so we are voting to approve 9130 without item J all those in favor please say yay and raise your hand yay all those opposed please say n n 43 approved 9130 without item J okay move on to item four we'll we'll try this here uh we may have similar um divvying up of items as we get through Robert's Rules of Order and by the way Roberts does not need mean me I've had that think Logan was indicating earlier he had that question it's not not me um so request for approval for new business we have field trips and professional Lees got a list of supplemental contracts a lot of them this time school fundraisers you have our list of claims and payroll the amount for December 11th um $1.9 million payroll for November 13th $8.4 million that included two regular payrolls you can see the work periods covered there pre-run from November 1st through November 30th was a little over $4 million and then we have uh new policy payment methods for school sponsored events that uh was presented to you we then have um three uh resolutions regarding um the public hearing today so project resolution a preliminary determinations resolution a reimbursement resolution and then an early literacy achievement grant that was just passed through by the Department of Education and I think that is it and uh so handle that as you may but you may want to take those first few yeah I I'm going to ask maybe in the easiest sense does anyone on the board want to take a letter out of the consent agenda to vote on separately any letters that you'd like to be voted on separately I would move that we vote to approve number four letter C through F and letters H through K together and a separate vote on letter G okay is there is there any other input that would say you want a different anything else you want taken out of that batch so it would be C through F and H through K and we'll remove item G for a separate vote take out hi J you want hi J okay all right so that would mean we would do C through F and K we need to put these all on one slide Dr Roberts this is hard to follow in the audience I have a I have a piece of paper be able to see them because the print would be so small so we so so I think the proposal is C through F and K okay so fil trips and professional Le supplemental contracts school fundraisers claims and payroll and and the department of education's early literacy achievement grant that would be the first first grouping then we would do G then we do would do hi J hi J together yep okay can I have a motion please from somebody to do it in that order I well okay so prior to uh Mr Brian second I will I will move that we vote to approve letters or number four letter c through F and K thank you Mr major okay so we are voting to approve letter CDE e f and K all those in favor please say I I I all those opposed please say nay motion carries thank you okay let's move on to item G would anybody like to make a motion on item G yeah I I move to approve G is written okay thank you Mr major do we have a second second thank you Mr Schultz are there any discussion items for item G yeah just to um just to explain this one to everybody so back in the spring I attended an event at Columbus North High School was a track event was Outdoors um they required the tickets to be purchased through a digital means so they did not allow you to pay cash they wanted you to pay with a credit card I had my bcsd badge was able to enter um no issues at all but my daughter who was with me had to purchase the ticket so I attempted I say attempted because the server was actually down to purchase with the credit card through their app a ticket for her um there's probably about 20 people behind me that were trying to do the same thing but again with the server down you're not going to do too much digitally right so I don't know if any of you tried to pay uh with digital means but server down can't pay um so we had some discussion and eventually they put us through the line and they were allowing us to pay with cash there were several people behind me again this roughly 20 people came in behind me and paid me uh with cash so this this kind of brought to light uh you know an issue that we have where um I I don't think that there's a problem with the school preferring the method of payment with a credit card but I believe that cash must remain an option for payment for all school events this event made me realize that there are many people out there that do not have credit cards and are not able to be in a position to procure one we have what a 40 to 50% Fair reduced launch rate and that's that way for a reason right not everybody has the ability to pay with a credit card and so while we talk about our drive for Choice flexibility and partnership with the community requiring payment methods that prevent others from possibly being able to attend an an event we've in essence broken our partnership with the community this policy that has been written does not prevent a school from having a preferred payment method of a digital choice but it ensures that we have Equitable access to the event by having cash as an option I have a couple comments yes so I mean and I'll keep it very brief because I know we're all running up to time and I apologize as I just did a little bit of research on this cuz honestly this is one area that I've not experienced I've not been to any sporting events in the last couple years my kids aren't there yet but traditionally I wouldn't see this as a board requirement in life I think this is one that there's some local decisions but the concern I have here is for parents is this is not a corporate uniformed experience so as you go to school to school it's different um and I think that creates inconsistencies which then creates frustration within the community also I think not allowing cash option like Mr major discussed this is really just saying that it has to be an allowable option it doesn't have to be the preferred um The Wall Street Journal published that our poverty population so in this case we'll look at possibly some of the free and reduce is three times more likely not to have access to credit cards and our Hispanic population is seven times more likely and so in reality um as we want to be the choice to have access to our Ed education we also need to be the choice to have access to CR athletic programs and I think if if we're not going to provide a cash alternative um at certain sporting events then we we got to we're going to have to have some discussion because at the end of the day um what happens if Taylorville Elementary decides to make that choice and have only credit card options where the majority of their population is disenfranchised and needs that ability and would honestly like the ability to go there but this will now create a barrier and we don't want to be creating barriers to our athletic events I I don't again this doesn't dictate that this is a preferred option all this says is that it has to be a required option to Grant entry for those that have the cash available to be able to see the athletic event thank you any other yes Mr nellan um first of all I personally think this crosses the bar into micromanaging um but also I have to share that in my conversation with the athletic director at North about this he had a list of 13 Reasons and 13 advantages for them doing this things like it actually saves them one staff person in ticket taking um it simplifies their bookkeeping it leaves no room for human error um there's no dispute about where the money went and all of the almost all of those advantages are lost if we go to the Dual system because they're still keeping track of tickets somebody's still collecting money the advantages of of the ticket list is gone when you have both systems together thank you commiss nelan okay so we have a motion and a second on um 4G are we ready to vote any other comments or questions okay all those in favor please say I of approving item 4 g i i all those opposed please say Nay Nay n do you need to do hands do we need to do hands I thought I heard four or three but I just want to make sure should we do it again four n three y okay so motion does not pass um okay now we have i a h i and J left for decision tonight to be clear this is the Invision 230 this is the Invision 2030 2030 and the three different kind of bullet points we reviewed earlier today in the public these would be the three resolutions representing the public hearing do a motion from anybody at all I move that we approve number four letters Hi and J as presented by Dr Roberts I second thank you Mr Grimes and Mr Allan any comments or questions before we vote I do have a one more clarifying question just because of the public comment this vote does not require the expenditure or issue of B I'm asking this as a question not as a statement does this vote require the expenditure of spend funds and or the issuance of bonds as part of this resolution or is this simply the authorization to put it out to the public to allow them to decide if they want to be in a referendum or not these resolutions authorize the district to issue bonds we legally cannot do so until the public process plays out which would start Saturday when we post the notice if you if you vote in the affirmative on these three resolutions this evening it would be the last board action before we move then to start the process of issuing the bonds and closing on the bonds probably in so there'll be another board action prior to the issuance of any bonds not board wide action no just uh a lot of signatures as you probably remember from the last time we issued bonds with a lot of the closing paperwork and those kinds of things um let me confirm that real quick and just make sure there's not another was on the ice Miller timeline that they shared with you last time maybe an easier way to put it is after this is what allows you to borrow money through the bonds every vote after this is allowing the expenditure of money that was borrowed correct so the next vote would be we want to do this Improvement it cost $12 million approve yes or no right yeah correct there there are no more board actions in regard to setting the limit for borrowing that's the last of this the first the next step if once the public process plays out the next step for the board would be approving the amount that we would borrow in calendar year 2024 in the projects that would be included there um seeing presentations on the design from Mr fun contam approving contracts for the first of the bond issues that would happen during calendar year 2024 again this is just setting that maximum ceiling and starting the process for the the public to to either choose to pursue a referendum or not okay Logan do you feel like your question was answered are you're okay Jason what's that your question was answered I just want to make sure oh yeah any any other questions or comments from the board oh I got I got a few pages okay yeah I'm sorry I'm going to be your um the difference between leaving and staying so um I've apologize in advance but uh you know I just I think that this is a very big deal this is an extreme amount of money and so please just indulge me with a few minutes here so since January Logan and I have been visiting schools unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the first visit which was CSA Lincoln so I have to make that one up but you know just curious uh I I've been to almost all the schools in the last year I don't know if everybody else has been to all the schools in the last year or two um it would be interesting to know because being out in the schools you see a lot of things uh during visits we were able to observe make observations on classroom size building age condition of the buildings many other things when we received the full list of improvements for the 11113 November 13 meeting we had better understanding of Facility by facility Improvement plan this was the first time we really had a good comparison especially with the cost and that we saw what was being done by school lots of questions arose some were answered and some were not um to reiterate to everyone this is a $36 million bond which means we're going to in essence borrow money that comes with a financing cost of 1997 million that means that this is a $53 million expense that we're going to make a decision on tonight ultimately when we met on 10:30 for a strategy session I noted during that meeting I was sitting over by that column right there that it would be great if we had an opportunity to have a review of this as a board and go through the many different items that are on the list and understand the plan better as I confirmed a few minutes ago we've had probably better than 10 I I said a dozen I'll give them 10 meetings on policy for library books all right there's no money spent there and as noted we already have cataloges and we already have a challenge process what we have not had is a full Board review and discussion of this $36 million set of bonds that they want to that we want to issue this is a tremendous amount of money and while there are definitely needs again I've seen the needs I agree that there's a lot of things that need need to be done we've spent more time on that policy discussion than we have in spending based on the questions that I've received from the public and questions that I've had on myself um there's some things that have been noted that I just want to get some clarity so earlier in the year there was a survey that was conducted and there was a teacher that actually proposed consolidating 10 through 12 at Columbus North creating a Freshman Academy cons ID ating middle schools at East freeing up Central Middle School to be the new elementary school that would have saved us $60 million I think it's 62 or 64 is what the new elementary school is I I don't know if we discuss that as a group as to whether it makes sense I can tell you I am not from Columbus I am from terot terot North and terot South hate each other as much as Columbus East and Columbus North do and I can tell you that all of you that graduated from one of those schools would probably despise the fact that your school was Consolidated with another but when you think about the future of this County in this city $60 million could go a long way being spent in other ways to revitalize downtown or to bring new companies into the community if we're seeking to improve a uh provide an improved educational environment then with this change that we're suggesting what do we expect to see is an educational Improvement no facility has ever made students perform better student performance is tied very closely to teachers teacher aids parents curricular material and as I was reminded today the amount of food that's in their bellies when they start the day the amount of security they have at home to get a good night's sleep right those are the things that are important to students in learning so a great example of another area where I think we can improve we talked about at Mount Healthy and Mount Healthy um based on the cost information we've seen there's only two schools that are going to spend less money than Mount Healthy to make improvements Mount Healthy when you walk through it is like a big dut you walk in this big kind of circle you're going up and you're going down depending on the way the Topography is of the of the building there are no walls in between classrooms so in between classrooms sound and noise can travel which makes it really hard I don't know how there's a lot of really dedicated and great teachers that are there every day that you know take it on the chin trying to be able to teach in a classroom where they can hear two teachers down $197 million is what we've set aside based off of the last presentation we had this is a lot of money I don't know where it comes from I don't know how easy it is to find $200 million in a Community I know we talk about tax rate neutral I don't know what we've talked about as tax impact and I say that because the money has to come from somewhere and it's from you and I don't know if we currently have a plan to collect this money I don't know if our debt that we've been relieved of allows for this expense um in addition to the 300 million but if it's so easy to find $200 million to pay for financing costs that gains nothing you gain Nothing by paying interest all of you know that that have a mortgage why is it so hard to find money to pay teachers why is it so hard to find teachers AIDS I've talked to numerous people about teachers AIDS we don't have enough of them we can't get enough of them right it'd be awesome if we could could have a teacher Aid per classroom I know that that's probably not realistic but there are places that they're sharing a teachers Aid amongst three classrooms 200 million how where could that money go um I mentioned uh yep I mentioned that um the plan that we've got presented again I believe that there are things that need to be done to every school but I have a concern with the reduction in capacity at every school that is being proposed with the changes that we have an example is Clifty Creek currently has 658 students they've gained 41 over the last year currently they're at 77% capacity but if we move to the Future capacity post renovation they'll be at 97% that means you cannot grow in that school you just can't CSA Lincoln 366 they already at 105% capacity when we reduce the capacity due to improvements they go to 113% again we talk about overcrowding how many kids per classroom we've talked about how many kids per school but how many kids per classroom on this list that I have here um when we look at the ADM and we look at the future capacity changes uh with Renovations Clifty Creek and Richards have both gone up Smith has gone down that's anomaly on the on the east side but when we look at Mount Healthy and we look at Southside both of them slightly decreased in enrollment over the last year that's the side of town where there's growth you've said it you've driven it you've lived it why are the schools losing students in those areas right so I've got a concern there um when we speak of growth and we think about the trends with especially with ADM and demographic studies that were presented to us on 1023 the projected enrollment from 2021 to 202 or 2033 is down it's down less students why are we spending $60 million on a new school if we have less students I understand it may not be popular to move kids or redistrict I understand that we've had several people now at least three now I think that have come in here and had similar complaints I don't I don't disagree that it's not the right thing that it's that it's the right thing to do I think it's wrong to do that but at the same time $60 million for a school that we couldn't fill quickly I know there's a lot of talk about um CR and building this this uh new housing and um medical are area on that side of town and that's what this school would um support but even with that that that those numbers are not in the projections that we show so I don't know if that's an oversight or if that's real but there's no increase that I see that would justify 60 million on a new school um one of the last things I have here I've talked to several coaches and athletes I understand the need for space however I do not believe we need to spend $50 million on two gyms and two weight rooms we have talked about this in the past I I was able to get a tour Logan was with me as well of St Peter's gym which has multiple area for basketball bleachers they have a front area with locker rooms and upstairs as well um that cost them a little over 5 it was right around $5.3 million with inflation I give him 10 million you could do two gems just like St Peters for 20 million just save you $30 million do we need to build another facility two facilities three facilities four I don't think we need to do that I think if we're mindful I I I made a comment about pole bars and I don't think everybody thought it was funny but it's true the reality of it is if you talk to people especially the coaches and others that need this space they need a roof and four walls with a floor that they can play on right football players don't care how pretty it is it's going to get dirty baseball players softball players that are coming in before their season starts they just need a place to play catch to hit balls right so it's it's something that I think that's interesting I had asked previously for PE weight list how many classes how many teachers how much space was needed I did not get a response for that so I don't know when we say it's for PE space I don't know that it's Justified if we can't give a number to somebody that asked for it I know that we're concerned with the size of schools and Southside is deemed too large we've talked about the ideal classroom size but we've never gotten to a number I don't know how we get to a number I know we did a survey and there was some public input and they said it was 700 kids would be about right but I just I don't know what the right size is for a classroom does a classroom 30 kids or is it 20 kids I think we could probably if we went and looked we could find justification that smaller class sizes yield better grades I think it gives more personal uh interface between the teacher and the student so if anything I would rather build more classrooms in schools and hire more teachers the last thing is I want to just make sure that [Music] um there are 40 schools that have more students in the I 3 um testing than Southside and 21 that are worse um southside's doing a good job they're our fourth best school but we are 246th out of 364 for our I scores that means 68% of the state is doing better than we are all right so I want you to think about this I want you to think about where we spend our money how we spend our money I know we need to make investments in schools I think the keys are we have to look at HVAC security and Roofing as the immediate expenses I think we need to then have a good plan for rolling out the next round I think $36 million today is too much to commit to I think it's more wise and I think it's more logical for us to chunk this out one bite at a time and make sure that our investments are being made more in our teachers our AIDS curricular materials along with welcoming back our parents into schools thank you okay Mr major is done do we have any other comments or questions from the board members on this topic okay so Mr I would just indicate that part of what I heard was that um we weren't being very responsive to the questions from the board and um I will say that Dr bosan and Dr Phillips have been over backwards to make sure this board is as informed as is possible regarding this large request for expenditures I I would agree with that I'll make my comment um to give my vote away before we vote um I can say that I'm going to absolutely vote for the capital projects uh plan and as a Schoolboard member and again as an educator for 33 years I I absolutely uh sit up here with with kids first and foremost in my mind and um while I agree that the quality of teachers and Tas and other school personnel arguably matter the most in the proper education of kids the the reality is times change and Facilities do matter um and need to be updated and kept relevant for the times and the needs of kids that's thank you thank you Mr Grimes I think I'll join and I mean giving the vote away I mean at the end of the day I support the capital projects on the broad on the the broad breath of them I think at the end of the day 306 million with $180 $190 million and uh carrying cost for interest is a large bite and that's why I've asked repetitively you know are we committing I think there are immediate needs I've been in all the elementary schools the only thing I caution is that Parkside is an experience it's not one that can be easily replicated across our school portfolio just given the unique architectural needs of our schools and so I caution that and I also caution some of the later spending so I mean that's one reason why I believe that the board has the ability to essentially move project by project and for example like Mr major I share similar concerns around the gymnasiums which also I have requests of joint requests that were not given and so I do have some of those uh concerns as well however for the elementary schools I think there is a lot of opportunity needed and similar to north side which again I attended and I don't think has seen any renovation since my attendance honestly I saw a very similar furniture from when I was there um and so I just wanted to kind of make that statement okay thank you Mr Schultz any other questions or comments from the board okay um so we have item four h i and J there was a motion there was a second um and there has been discussion those are up for approval I'm going to ask for um a show of hands along with your vote just to make sure if I can ask Dr Phillips to tally again for me so all those in favor of approving items 4 h i and J please say I and raise your hand I all those opposed please say nay and raise your hand no okay thank you motion passes 621 okay okay I request approval of the HR recommendations as presented this evening thank you Dr ple do I have a motion from the board motion to approve the HR recommendations as provided by Dr ple thank you Mr Schultz have a second second thank you Mr Bryant all those in favor of requesting the HR recommendations please say I I I all those opposed motion carries Dr ple thank you hey Dr ple sorry hey one quick um I haven't looked in a while where where where's the corporation with open positions currently we currently have one I believe we have one position teaching position out of a couple thousand it's pretty good odds lot of 769 teachers we have one opening thank you okay board input and review Mr Bryant can I start with you please anything you'd like to conclude enough Mr major yeah I did uh get some responses from some principl so uh CSA linoln Athletics ended their um season for both the boys and girls at 10 and0 for the first time ever so thank you Mr Finley for the update and best of luck on upcoming Super Saturday uh I got a later update that did not hit for the last time from Mr Mai at Clifty Creek and they had a wonderful Veterans Day event the choir performed many songs and created a video that was shared with me uh the sixth graders uh helped to greet veterans and to read poems to them the school provided great support to Veterans and the many families that attended uh shared their gratefulness in that so thank you for that um I do have one thing that I would ask is uh I've gotten several responses from um through my daughter uh about the uh Super Saturday being way too early this year and um there are several cheerleaders that are upset because they've not had as much time as they'd like to prepare for that it's usually in January and this this year it's about a month or so earlier so they were hoping that uh some consideration might be put in next year to hopefully put that back to its old time um so that uh the kids can have a little more time to put uh into giving a good show to everybody and the last thing I wanted to just uh tell everybody thank you for their time uh be careful if you're traveling over the next uh several weeks and to have a Merry Christmas Mr stanner um wonderful presentations tonight um very interesting how things are changing and work with the CVP to uh try and keep up with some of the changes um I always um am impressed with the U Lily endowment working with the Heritage fund announcing two Lily Scholars each year uh neglected to write down their names but I noted that both Lily Scholars this year are at East High School or enrolled at East High School um maybe one of them CVP or maybe one of them CSA uh congratul ations to them both and their families thank you good thank you for M Mrs W for giv me just a moment uh Janet WMA is here in the front row this is Jan's last school board meeting with us she has been a uh been with the Republic for how many years now Jenna yeah so in our board meeting we always invite her to a board meeting before just to make sure she has all the agenda topics and and so forth and I think she's done a great job representing the Republic within our community so wish her the best yay be close to family in Illinois I believe right Jenna yeah yeah thank you okay um I would just like to maybe thank my my peers here on the board we we covered a lot of really heavy stuff tonight and kind of put a pin in some things that we have been working on for months and months and months um I also echoed Dr Robert's comment there has never been a question that I have wanted to have that I've not had a very thorough immediate response I feel like the whole staff that we get to work with here does a phenomenal job um helping us understand the situation and forming our opinions and we take this amount of time because we I like to believe we come into this with an open mind and we need to we need to fill that up with information and help us make the best decisions and we've all we've all made those decisions tonight so um anyway it was it was a good night in terms of us kind of getting through some some big steps on a few topics um and I also just want to go back to um the best practice the CVP I those sessions I appreciate they are in here because um I have so much to learn the our school corporation does so much work um and you think you understand something and then you see presentations like that and you realize it's so much deeper so much richer so many caring enthusiastic people doing work and it just makes feel pretty good about what we do so that was awesome aome Mr gra first off thanks to the community members that were here and spoke this evening Andor just uh simply came as interested invested stakeholders in the corporation um Lots going on this week robotics has some things going on best wishes good luck also uh elementary basketball wraps up Super Saturday the cheer competition um best wishes to the music departments at East and North as they have holiday concerts later this week good luck to the wrestling swimming diving basketball teams at Northeast is the in rivalry week and then um lastly I I would just like to say I I've voted the way I did tonight on on a few issues because as a school board member I feel that my responsibility is to help govern the schools I know I said this at our last Public Work session and and I think there's a difference between governing the schools and attempting to run the schools and and I certainly um you know outside of kids first I I keep that in mind as well when decisions are made um and try to uh walk that line between governing and attempting to run the schools thank you thank you Mr Schultz so running after Mr Grimes and listing all the athletic things I had but uh I I did catch one that he didn't have which is a Central Middle School spell Bowl team is going to the state finals so uh congratulations to them also want to thank the presenters and speakers and very similarly to what Mr Grime just to you know justify my position is ideologically right I kind of presented this in a prior meeting I see a child's say education like a board table around it you got family members teachers pastors important figures of this child's life but at the end of the day the head of the table as the parent and so I always feel when it's possibly at risk of hurting the child that's where I feel like we have to seek that consent from the head of the table thank you Mr Schultz um so I have three commendations that I want to mention tonight one since the last board meeting I went I attended a meeting at the commons that was hosted by IU Columbus and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce they brought in four economists from from from around the state that talked about the future of the economy in Indiana and in baramu County but my Commendation is to Natalie Perry who is um an economics teacher at North she was there with 20 of her students oh and I that was the highlight of the thing for me was was see that um also since the last meeting I um was able to attend the East High School performance of the Musical Chicago and it was outstanding and I would um send commendations to the music and drama departments at East it was it was great and the other one is actually to well um Mr major was talking about visiting schools um and one of the things that I have Come Away with especially from the elementary schools that we have visited is how above and beyond our teachers go to make situations work that that are seem unworkable I mean when you see small groups of kids working at tables in hallways um and you see teachers at Mount Healthy putting up barriers to make enclosed spaces when there are no enclosed spaces um the list goes on and on um and and for those teachers I am glad we're moving forward sorry um with our um vote tonight and I would reiterate that Mr or Dr Phillips and Dr Boseman have gone above and beyond in terms of answering questions sorry good thing is the end of the meeting so one other thing so I was at North High School and we went through four years of of reconstruction and um the year after that when we had the new facility two of my teachers and I were doing a workshop in Westerville Ohio which is a fairly upper class suburb of Columbus Columbus Ohio and and we walked into this very nice high school where we were doing the workshop for their teachers and we all had the same sense that this is the first time we've walked into a school and weren't envious um and that was a wonderful feeling and I look forward to when our elementary teachers especially can experience that very good thank you Miss Weldon yes Mr I found that Mr major can save me he knows the names of the two Lily Scholars at East yeah I think it I think it was Sanji Patel and naughty Harris good okay um upcoming dates so we have our next regular school board meeting on January 8th that is a reorganizational meeting so every year we we revote on our executive committee on the board and that will take place on the 8th um and then we have another regular school board meeting January 22nd happy holidays to everybody please enjoy your break meeting adjourned
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