Reader

and scholarships convocation I'm Mary Gad the principal of chesher high school and we're thrilled to be able to celebrate this wonderful occasion with all of you to honor and celebrate the many successes of the class of 2024 at this time it is my honor to get our ceremony underway and introduce the honors choir under the direction of our Coral teacher Mr Greg Bell please rise as they perform our national [Music] f [Applause] [Music] s in through the night our flag [Music] still of [Music] [Applause] thank you honors choir and Mr Bell can we give them one more round of [Music] [Applause] [Music] applause thank you and it's now my pleasure to introduce assistant principles Mrs chrisen pels and Mr Dan tartarelli to announce our 2024 book award recipients good evening everybody award recipients you can come on up to the stage on either side to to receive your award starting off the book award of Harvard is presented to a junior enrolled in college preparatory courses deemed most worthy by the High School faculty in the areas of scholarship and character this year's winner is Malachi [Applause] [Music] B good evening everybody the Yale book award the book the ale book club award is presented to a member of the junior class who is respected in the school Community for his or her leadership humility and integrity as well as academic accomplishment this year's winner is Ben career the Smith college book award is presented to a young woman in the top 10th of the junior class who exemplifies academic achievement leadership and a concern for others this year's winner is Eva [Applause] [Music] Kim the Brown University book award is presented to a student who ranked in the top 10% of his or her class and holds a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher the student must also be involved in extracurricular activities and community service hold a leadership position and command the respect of both faculty and peers this year's recipient is Matthew Reed [Applause] [Music] The Bowman award is presented to a high school junior who has demonstrated extra extraordinary service to the common good and an unusual passion for inquiry Discovery and Innovative thinking this year's winner is Daniel a Al Al Shel the University of Connecticut Avery Point campus is pleased to offer their book award to a student who is recognized for excellence and who is pursuing Marine Science Maritime studies for research and activities the student nominated for the category of coastal and Environmental Studies this year is Danielle Chamberlain [Applause] St Michael's College book award is presented to two students who rank in the top 10% of their class these students must demonstrate sustained and sincere commitment to community service activities in their high school and local community in their local community organization students must exemplify social conscience and Leadership within their community service Endeavors this year's recipients are Jack Joseph and Elizabeth [Applause] [Music] [Applause] shackner the Gettysburg College book award recognizes a member of the junior class who has distinguished himself or herself in the study of American History the student is chosen for his or her dedication to scholarship and is among the top 10% of the class this year's recipient is pegy [Music] Wang the Trinity College book award is presented to a junior selected by the administration and faculty who is an outstanding academic record and has been enrolled in college prep courses the recipient of the Trinity College book award is James [Applause] [Music] boy every year chesher high school is honored to have a Civic group in the town budget money to send a student from our school to the American Legion boys state leadership program the student must be in the junior class and be a citizen of the United States the student is chosen on the basis of friend less good sportsmanship and interest in the political system our award is sponsored by the kianis club the recipient for boys state is finan [Music] [Applause] hickey treasure High School is honored to have a Civic group in the town who provide money for a student to attend the American Legion Laurel girls State leadership program the student must be in the junior class and be a citizen of the United States they are chosen on the basis of friendliness sportsmanship and an interest in the political system our awards are sponsored by the quanas club the recipient of Laural girl state is Cali hir the D good citizens program honors an outstanding young person in the senior class who demonstrates the qualities of a good citizen this student exhibits dependability service leadership and patriotism this year's recipient is Ella Paul now it is my pleasure to introduce treasure High School assistant principal Dr Morin Reed welcome and congratulations to everybody it is now my pleasure to introduce CH excuse me I am CHS assistant principal Mor re department leaders will now present their Department Awards presenting the department award for special achievement in art is Joe custardo Department leader of the visual [Applause] arts good evening everyone the student receiving this year's award for special achievement in the visual arts has worked tirelessly to strengthen and sharpen their skills as an artist and has been an intricate part of each course they attended in their four years at Treasure High School their motivation and willingness to develop their work to the highest standard by welcoming and capitalizing on feedback from their teachers and peers shows the pride and dedication to the subject matter and to their finished artwork this student has been the foundation of their AP drawing class and the state of Connecticut Scholastic Art Award recipient I'm certain the student is on a path to success in their journey toward a career that builds upon their creativity and attention in detail as they pursue a degree in gra a design at OT College it's my distinct pleasure to congratulate Sophia harmer as this year [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I'd now like to introduce Leslie peir the business department [Applause] leader good evening the business education award is given to a student who has demonstrated a thorough understanding in the field of business and has maintained a high level of academic achievement and integrity the recipient of this year's business award possesses a strong work ethic integrity and excellent leadership skills what stands out most about our recipient is their eagerness to learn all aspects of business and to gain a deeper understanding of these Concepts our recipient has taken seven business classes including three college level courses um at CHS and next year will continue their studies at yukon's School of Business please join me in congratulating our business education award recipient Jessica Jona [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] next I'd like to recognize our outstanding student in the discipline of accounting this student has has earned recognition from the Connecticut Society of CPAs our student is exceptionally hardworking intelligent humble and kind our teach her teacher has said that her analytical skills and ability to comprehend college level material are remarkable and their active engagement and questioning in the classroom has helped other students learn our recipient is pursuing an accounting degree in the New York City metropolitan area please join me in congratulating Emily [Applause] [Music] Zen our final business award tonight is the Susan zwick future educator award this award is presented to a graduating senior who is pursuing a degree and career in education this student exemplifies all that was meaningful to Mrs Wick including being a positive role model possessing high moral character having a caring personality willingness to help others and most importantly demonstrating a passion for education and lifelong learning the recipient of this year's award exemplifies all of these characteristics and more our recipient's enthusiasm for teaching and learning is contagious he is pursuing a degree in education at Southern Connecticut State University and I know he will encourage and Inspire children far into the future as they learn and grow please join me in congratulating Matthew Smith first year [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] educ next I'd like to introduce Greg Bell who will be sharing the awards for the music department the chorus award is given annually to a student that exemplifies the hard work and dedication needed in a performing Ensemble but also and just as importantly provides the spirit that simply brings joy to everyone around them this year's recipient has an incredible amount of talent and the ability to be a featured soloist and an absolute star but as a true leader they take coaching as a compliment setting the tone for the rest of the Ensemble and they are willing to help in whatever way makes the Ensemble better this person could always be counted on to lighten the mood in a rehearsal with their sense of humor and their preparation and dedication is never questioned it has been a true privilege for me as a teacher to have them in my class these last four years and I'm thrilled to present this award to Gia [Applause] jell I'd like to please introduce Miss Andy Conrad for the band award each year the band award is given to a senior band member who demonstrates the near Indescribable level of dedication responsibility drive and collaboration needed in a high school band and someone who contributes to and fosters a positive environment within our Ensemble the recipient of the band award this year is all of that and a natural leader in our band this student is like a sponge when it comes to music and is always reaching higher for themselves and the people around them they hold an ATT sectionals with other students to help them improve and has even gone as far as to write and teach the Cadence that our drum line will perform at the Memorial Day par this Sunday this individual can often be seen encouraging and uplifting other members of the band both musically and emotionally and their undeniable positive energy and attitude in our band will have a lasting impact on the culture that we are growing working with this student has been an absolute joy and so on behalf of myself and Miss heler I'm pleased to present this award to Brian picot [Applause] up next presenting The English Department Awards please welcome The English Department head Mr Ian [Applause] wilderman uh the department award for excellence in English is given annually to the senior who best embodies the attributes of an effective communicator and literary scholar and has refined and showcased their skills over the past four years teachers of this year's winners share that she is a diligent student and deep thinker she has an uncanny ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear and concise way thinking at an incredibly sophisticated level while remaining humble and down Toe with her classmates we wish her the best as she continues her studies at George Washington University the recipient of this year's Department award for excellence in English is Arya [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Des the department award for excellence in writing is given to a senior who has demonstrated Superior skills in writing and distinguish themselves as a talented and inspired writer teachers of this year's winner share that they are one of the strongest writers the department has encountered while their academic writing is remarkable their creative writing and poetry is where they truly shine their voice both in the written word and their contemplative Dynamic delivery is unique and Polished beyond their years Awards and Publishing are surely in their future and we wish them the best of luck next year at yell University the recipient of this year's English Department award for excellence in writing is squirrel of lands [Applause] uh Mr Galvin was not able to be here tonight but sends this congratulations and ask that I present the awards for social studies the social studies award this award is presented to the student who has shown a tremendous passion for history and the social sciences attaining Superior academic achievement and all related coursework conention and self motivated this individual is an exceptional student who was described by his teacher as someone who demonstrates an incredible passion for the discipline of social studies whether it be history geography or political science their contributions to the class reflected a deep inquisitive mind and enriched The Learning Experience of all it is my pleasure to announce the winner of social studies award Ben grg [Applause] the community contributor award is given to junor who demonstrates a genuine concern for the well-being of others and dedication to community action with an exceedingly kind heart this individual is a dedicated responsible and natural leader most importantly he always finds a way to give back to the community whether it be as lead coordinator for Winterfest or their involvement in the CHS student Senate and the Rampage the recipient of the community contribute award is Malachi Bia buy guy that's why I got the award I would now like to introduce Miss chy to present the awards for [Applause] theater the technical Theater award is given to a student who has been consistently involved in the theater program as a member of the technical staff of our Productions we look for a student who has been involved in the drama Department throughout their High School career has demonstrated understanding of the value of working collaboratively and has shown commitment and talent in their work this year's award goes to a student who has been involved with the technical staff starting out as a production assistant and moving up the ranks to Stage manager always willing to take on any task needed she demonstrates leadership Independence quick thinking and a strong sense of respons responsibility and through it all has earned the respect of her peers and the faculty she has grown from a quiet voice to a strong confident professional woman the technical Theater award goes to Sophia har [Applause] [Music] the Theater award goes to a student who has been a dedicated member of the CHS theater program and a successful participant in theater classes for their High School career this student is hardworking committed to the success of the whole production and always working towards self-improvement she has performed in roles large and small and arrives ready to work and eager to learn the student has grown tremendously over her four years in talent and confidence she is a dedicated member of the company who is committed to a high quality performance and a someone her peers can rely on the student has a passion for the Arts a strong work ethic and a creative Spirit the drama award goes to Ariana Lua [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and now to present the World Language Awards a welcome good evening and welcome every year awards are presented for World languages the selection is made from Seniors who have achieved excellence in verbal and written skills uh in written and verbal language skills this year the awards are for excellence in the French language this student has always given her best in French elevating her family's French speaking Heritage she has brought a consumate work ethic to her studies and a long lasting commitment to the pursuit of deeper understanding and application of the language she has actively engaged in target language conversation including competing in the French at the Yukon ECE trivia bow this last November she expresses herself with complexity when writing as well she appreciates cultural nuances and she makes the most of the opportunity to expand her experiences she brings not only academic Excellence to the classroom but also a consistently positive attitude and willingness to help others the award for excellence is French goes to Jessica [Applause] [Music] [Applause] n for excellence in the German language in seventh grade the students's German teacher quickly recognized his talents in German his hard work quick grasp of the material and attention to detail have persisted throughout the years resulting in his outstanding achievement of being awarded two gold medals in the National German exam his teachers appreciate his achievements his enthusiasm for the German language and the Perpetual smile on his face the award for Excellency German goes to Michael [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Mayan for excellence in the Latin language this student is a highly motivated highly intelligent hardworking student who excels in Latin he is humble in his abilities is a cohesive member of the class and fully enjoys the history and culture of the ancient world he is more than deserving of this award the award for excellence in Latin goes to B Gray [Music] [Applause] for excellence in the Italian language this student has a strong sense of teamwork and leadership in the school environment he is a role model to his peers and the definition of an ideal student he has a strong interest in the Italian language and culture the award for excellence in Italian goes to Thomas Henry [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] for excellence in the Spanish language this student surpasses the expectations of the class in all all areas determination perseverance and commitment were unwavering through her entire Journey taking Spanish she has placed tremendous dedication and effort to achieve the high level of language fluency she now possesses her writing skills are remarkable and her speaking skills are just as impressive she has always demonstrated an incredible disposition towards learning and her positivity is simply infectious she creates a f a friendly learning environment with her peers thus making the class rigorous but yet fun the award for accent in Spanish goes to Maya C [Applause] at this time I would like to introduce to you Mr Sean mq and the chairperson of the Career and Technical education department the technology and engineering education award is presented annually to a student who has demonstrated Proficiency in a wide array of courses offered in the area of engineering and Technology this year's recipient has consist ly shown strong leadership in our department and ability to creatively think problem solve and work productively with his peers this year's recipient can be described as inquisitive consistent patient dedicated and most importantly a leader he always showed a desire to learn more about topics that are taught in our courses his quality work was consistently exemplary and he thrived in our Hands-On classes his work habits have been described as quiet and disciplined but yet he recognized his moments to lend a helping hand with his peers to bring his expertise to the table he's leaving us this year to study construction management and there is no doubt in our minds it would be very successful in this field we are proud to present this year's Technology and Engineering education award to Braden MC valy [Applause] the family consumer science award is presented to an individual who has maintained High academic standards and has shown an interest in pursuing a career in culinary arts Child Development or related consumer Sciences this year's recipient made an immediate impact on her family and consumer science classes in particular The Culinary side of it she is an Adept Baker and entered culinary arts with a strong skill set because of this she became a natural leader within small peer groups she moved through the advanced classes and stood out through her products and her performances during catering events her talents were on display when she chose to make a wedding cake for her Mastery based performance assessment she made an incredibly beautiful multi-layered multi flavored cake for a wedding with over 160 guests in Wilton Connecticut the feedback was very resoundingly compliment we are proud of Katie and we wish her well we're proud to present this year's family conserv science word to Katie [Music] [Applause] Bo and unfortunately Mr dcus is still at the SEC track tournament pres I will be presenting the yearbook award as well the yearbook award is given to a student annually who has consistently proven the ability to dedicate and significant amount of time effort and passion to the production of the Chester High School yearbook this young person walked into the classroom on day one with a Clear Vision of what the yearbook should look like for the class of 2024 they repeatedly went above and beyond to ensure that all students in the class were on task and meeting deadlines they were able to balance many Personalities in levels of motivation inherit in this course and push through deadline after deadline it was a natural fit that this person should be one of the co-editors of the yearbook and they made it easy to keep the progress and to produce a fantastic yearbook submitted on time much gratitude and thanks to this year's yearbook Award winner on behalf of Mr narz I'm proud to award Sarah raal [Applause] now to present the mathematic Awards Department chairperson Lisa ver I'm honored to be here tonight to present the math department award to a student who exemplifies what it means to be a student and mathlete here at treer High School the student has taken the most challenging coursework in mathematics here at chesher and was described by all current and former teachers as a phenomenal student with a great attitude that's always looking to understand mathematics at a deeper level the student is hardworking studious respectful personable humorous and always willing to work with others the student is a four-year member outstanding teammate and captain of the greater New Haven math team this year she participated on the New England math team as well as a team at the math competition at Southern Connecticut on a day off from school the math department award goes to Lydia [Music] [Applause] buers I would now like to introduce Julie Barker to present the science department good evening the Fred Willets award is presented in memory of a chesher high school science teacher this award goes to a student in their first year of chemistry who has shown the qualities that Fred prized so highly excellence in the study of chemistry broad intellectual curiosity and promise of future academic growth this year's recipient engages actively in science research and Innovation they were part of the first Us South Kore Korea Global Research and education program in 2023 and they participate in a variety of Science and invention competitions such as the Connecticut Science and Engineering fair and The Invention Convention Mrs Chason reports that they are an exceptional student who puts their best effort into every assignment they ask insightful questions that demonstrate deep thinking about science Concepts this year's Fred Willet award recipient is sucha sovas the ban law science award is presented to a member of the junior class in recognition of outstanding academic achievement good character and Superior intellectual promise in the field of science this year's recipient has been a leader for the plant Mars project is a member of the US South Korea Global Research and education project and serves as vice president for the science National Honors Society working with this student I have found that they are always driven to succeed with a scientific mindset and our natural leader both in the classroom and beyond their science teachers agree that this young person exemplifies the characteristics embodied in this award this year's recipient of the bowan LOM science award is Malachi Bay [Applause] [Music] the senior science award is presented to the senior student who has displayed A continuing interest in the pursuit of Science and has maintained a superior academic record throughout his or her High School career freshman year saw hybrid learning a challenge for us all however Mr alexovich says that our senior science Award winner had an interest in science and an engagement in class that shined through even through the computer screen fast forward to this year and our award winners friendly and outgoing personality complements their intelligence and passion for science I have had the honor of having this student in AP Physics for the past two years and can share that they are always willing to accept a challenge whether it is in understanding complex science Concepts or in taking what might be a record number of AP tests they've also demonstrated strong leadership they're a dedicated member of the science National Honor Society and it's been my pleasure to work with the student in their role as Club president running meetings planning activities like our science fund which brings the love of science to younger students doing a science midterm exam review session and organizing presentations of science projects to name just a few of the activities they' organized next year this recipient is is moving on to the University of Connecticut to pursue their passion for science this year's senior science Award winner [Applause] Daniel now please allow me to introduce physical education and health teacher Dan [Applause] [Music] Lee good evening uh each year We Gather onwards night to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of our students many of which are ready to embark on a new and exciting chapter in their life it's only fitting that we take a few moments to recognize and honor a member of our faculty who after four decades yes that's 4 years of dedicated service to ches public school system is preparing to embark on a new and exciting chapter in her life at the end of this school year Mrs Cassie Sullivan will be retiring for the past 20 years Mrs Sullivan has served as our district chairperson for physical physical education and health during which the growth of physical education Health in our district has been unprecedented under her Guidance the physical education Health in our district has become synonymous with activities and initiatives that promote student engagement collaboration teamwork student leadership problem solving and community service Mrs Sullivan's commitment to meeting the needs of all students can be best seen in her efforts to spearhead to the design construction and continued development of Chester High School's extensive project Adventure Course which has become a model for for schools throughout our state although her accomplishments as an educator are impressive they pale in comparison to who Mrs Sullivan is as a person and a leader she is dedicated hardworking empathetic insightful caring and supportive from the perspective of the High School PE and health teachers including myself she's been a role model and a mentor who we admire and respect who has always been there to celebrate our successes while helping us through those difficult times who has always given her best regardless of the challenge while always expecting the best from us who is always willing to make time for things that matter who always puts the needs of others before her own simply put Mrs Sullivan absolutely the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] best I'd like to invite she is this Sarah Mick a teacher at the high school down the podium for a special presentation uh since humilia is one of Kathy's traits that we admire the most we thought it f not tell her about this because she would definitely not approve um besides who doesn't love a surprise so on behalf of our colleagues in the physical education and health department and the countless number of students and teachers Mrs suin has taught coached and inspired throughout her career I excited to announce from this point forward the cheser high school physical education Health Department award will be known as the Katherine Sullivan most outstanding phys [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the obvious next step is I'd like to introduce Kathy suan the chairperson of physical education Health thank you so much I work with the best department in the whole town so I I can't say anything more than that now I can't see my paper to the awards for physical education and health are based on demonstrated excellence in physical education through individual team and lifetime Leisure activity units as well as the application of the principles of the health curriculum these students have also scored in the top percentile on the state Connecticut physical fitness test since their freshman year they have been outstanding Role Models giving 100% in class and always supporting and encouraging their classmates both are exceptional students who always think of others before themselves they are respectful always go above and beyond and help without ever being asked they will be sorely missed next year we wish them both the best of luck as they graduate on behalf of my department I am pleased to announce that she is recipients of the physical education and health Awards Kyle Seer and Stella tessio [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] all and the mic over to Mrs moring Reed I love the excitement that all the students share with their classmates as they receive Awards thank you for that I also like the excite the excitement that our colleague our um teachers share for each other with their colleagues so I'd like to offer a round of applause for all the department leaders and faculty for taking the time to be here tonight and to celebrate the achievement of our students [Music] we have a group of seniors who deserve to be recognized for their achievement as Eagle Scouts please welcome Tim orett from Eagle Scouts troop 92 and Samantha oosuki from Eagle Scouts troop 198 to honor these students this year we have four Eagle Scouts in the class of 2024 um for those of you not familiar with what an eagle scout is uh essentially to earn an eagle the eagle scout rank it's a seven-year Journey that along the way the Scout vows duties to God country others and self hones life skills like first aid and personal fitness develops care and respect for the Environ performs countless hours of community service explores numerous careers hobbies and practical life skills through a variety of merit badges practices effective leadership skills in leading the troop as well as other projects nurtures respect for God by respecting others beliefs and pledging to live his own life by the virtues of the Scout Law and on his honor pledges his example to influence the betterment of society through citizenship in the community and and all of his contacts with other people so to earn the eagle scout rank the Scout also has to plan um plan develop lead and complete a major community service project so as we announce our our four Eagle Scouts I will we will explain briefly what their their project was so our first first Eagle Scout from TR 2 um he installed a handicap accessible walkway that led from the parking lot to uh a theater or Amphitheater area at the Quin Pak Valley oton society's riverbound Farm Sanctuary over on cheser road that is Tyler [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Karen our second Scout also projects at the aabon society's uh riverbound Farm Sanctuary uh this this uh Scouts Eagle project uh involved uh repairing and and expanding a trail at the at the property along with installing appropriate signage he also did a second project that um that helped to educate uh the visitors to about uh the native species of of plants that are there by building plant boxes and installing signage and explanations about them and those plants can also be used to help repopulate uh sections of of the sanctuary and that second project earned this scout the bsa's National Conservation award the first person in in uh the Connecticut Rivers Council to do so so I'd like to call out Daniel theza [Music] [Applause] the third Eagle Scout from Troop 92 um also did a project at the the riverbound Farm Sanctuary he uh repaired some a trail that was eroding away from from water runoff by installing uh a rock wall basically to provide the support provide better drainage and other improvements to the trail that eagle scout is Jonah hangan guess Jonah was working late so he couldn't make it today I'm from TR 198 and the eagle scout when it came time to for his project to select it he drew inspiration from his passion for baseball he oped for a project that reflected his love for the sport building and replacing three of the field boxes at chesher Park for the benefit of countless baseball and softball players for generations of Club to come Jacob [Music] [Applause] J at this time I am pleased to introduce Greg Bill Bell Coral director and the CHS honors choir to perform the call by Spectre arranged by r [Music] into a quiet [Music] this way [Music] it's to say [Music] it's feel it you have [Music] [Applause] please welcome John parisino athletic director who will recognize Chester High school's booster scholar [Applause] athletes good evening the Chester high school booster club takes pride in achievement of all student athletes and is pleased to recognize those senior athletes who have earned a combined four or more Varsity letters and a minimum of two sports the athletes must also demonstr at strong academic performance by maintaining a GPA of a 3.0 or higher it is now my pleasure to call them up and recognize them I ask if you could please just hold your applause to the end Riley Balon all right Riley you did better than the than the audience I'm love B fighter playing softball who won today in the semi-finals Tyler [Applause] Ken Lucas chimore oh you're here good job congratulations Alexa s Kyle seir Dan duza Tan Danner Addison Emmons James Ferraro Ryan Fraser Julia giardina Kathleen Hall Alexander Kalin Chris kolansky Logan craniac Ryan k I squirrel LS Julia Ruben Matthew Smith Valerie tacis Stella Tessier Tessa Troi and last but not least Mia [Applause] Vientos ulations to our sty each year the cheser High School athletic department acknowledges one male and one female senior athlete with an athlete of the Year award after the retirement of former athletic director Steve trone in 2023 the award was renamed the Steve trone male and female athlete of the year in appreciation for all of Mr har Mr tron's hard work and dedication to Athletics just like the recipients today athletes for this award are nominated by their coaches for their outstanding athletic accomplishments during their athletic careers and then the nominees are voted upon by all coaches at CHS the recipient of this year's Steve trone male athlete of the year is a captain for both the football and lacrosse team in 2023 he was recognized by the USA Today as the boys national lacrosse player of the year next year he will continue his athletic career both in football and Lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame congratulations Matthew Jeffrey [Applause] [Music] fortunately but unfortunately Matt is competing right now in the SEC semi-finals on our field the recipient of this year's Steve trone female athlete of the year is a two-time individual class L state champion in swimming she also participates on a class L state championship relay she has been recognized as an All-American and will continue continue her swimming career at Penn State University congratulations Julia [Music] [Applause] [Music] bu it is now my pleasure to call back up uh Mr D le for the Excellence in leadership [Applause] scholarship the right T Le Excellence leadership scholarship which is named in memory of my son Ryan and sponsored by the Ryan T Lee Memorial Foundation is awarded annually to a senior student athlete who served as a captain of a Chester High School sports team the recipient is chosen by a committee comprised of teachers coaches and administrators based on this following criteria the individual Embraces the challenges of inter Scholastic Athletics and the leadership responsibilities associated with being a team captain the individual understands the importance of taking interest in others and exhibits the qualities of a great teammate the individual demonstrates outstanding sportsmanship and takes pride in representing Chester high school and the individual actively seeks opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others and is dedicated to making our school Community a better place this year recipient this year's recipient is a three- sport athlete and a two- sport Captain who who has embraced a variety of leadership opportunities within our school Community taking time out of her already busy schedule to make a positive difference in the lives of others with a combination of hard work empathy and resiliency this year's re recipient truly goes above and beyond the call in order to help people from throughout our community in speaking to one of her coaches this is how he described this year's recipient she has given her team and her sport her all in both leadership and effort she is an admired leader a friend to all and has been a key contributor to our team throughout her High School career so on behalf of the Ryan Lee Memorial Foundation is my pleasure to present the 2024 excellence and Leadership scholarship to ktie [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Hall over the course of four years at Chester high school students may earn honor rooll status through their coursework tonight we recognize those students who have been on the honor rooll for at least three marketing periods in an academic year for three or four years joining us tonight are the senior class advisers Mr Tom Manning and Mrs Gina War Burton to read the names of the recipients of the honor rooll medals PTO Representatives Kathy carluchi Tracy H Carolyn dudak Nicole gallet Kim wdon Amy teer and Denise tzakis and our school counseling department leader Michelle boss will present the medals please try to hold your applause until the end of all the recipients Michael Anastasia meline Bailey Riley baldoni Emma balinder Julia Bardo Sophia Bates Jillian Beardsley Daniel Beer Madison berer Max Bernstein Julia Baka Austin Blair Kevin BL Rocko body Caitlyn Bowman Jack Brewster Hannah Bui Lydia buers C Koo Jocelyn kamacho Ethan kandell Carla carangelo Karina cartiera Lucas chimber Alexa Sone Allison corus Abigail cigana Virginia Pella Kyle seir Daniel duza Emma danaher tan danaher Ella Davis Sophia Del raso Arya Desai Madison Deano Amelia Divine Lindsay deer Kira Donovan Angley Jura Andrew Elliot Aiden Erikson Miriam Fami Caitlyn Fanning James Ferrara Eva fiala Emily fiser Molly Fletcher Juliana joso Braden georgescu Julia jordina Emma glassie Jeffrey Gonzalez Trevor Gould Benjamin gray Ryan Grove Kathleen Hall Jonah hangan Kate hangan GR hany Sophia Hara Kennedy Hart Ryan Hayes Thomas Henry Vana hwin alre Ava hul jiwan Wang Adia Jane Jacob jck Juliana jeromeo Matthew Jeffrey Claire John Savannah Jones Ana Josef Isa josa Maya kovich lilac Kieran Young Sue Kim McKenzie Nat Christopher kolanski Taylor kazlowski Logan crak Caleb crew Brian kenowski Ella kules Joshua L Master meline Lans sha Lawless Jack langle Paige listo McKenzie Lewis Mora Lanka dcy Lynn Serena Mora Michael mayano brayen mcnali Robin MC unali nanavati Jessica jono Curtis no Mary nent Carolyn OD Nicholas Papa kasm Pasha Ella Paul Brian picado sha puyer Ava prior Emma Renaldi Elias Rivera Christopher rfor Pina rhani Julia Ruben Evan Russo Caitlin shiavi Ali shalava Olivia Scotty Michael shweky Matthew Smith Kirsten Spagnola Kelsey Stern Gage Stevenson Kira Strauss Rory staltz Ellis suori Noah sule Carl tacket John Paul tuse Katherine Teeter Valerie tzakis Genesis Torres Tessa Troi Alysa Underwood Mia Vientos Joshua wildstein Kobe Jang [Applause] [Music] before we recognize our local scholarship winners we would like to recognize the finalists from the National Merit Scholarship program Dr Gad will make the presentations congratulations again so far to everyone and out of the 1.5 million students who enter the National Merit Scholarship about 7,600 students qualify as finalists finalists are chosen based on their abilities skills and accomplishments the National Merit Scholarship Corporation evaluates the finalist academic record information about the school's curricula and grading system two sets of test scores recommendations the students activities and Leadership and the finalist Zone essay I'd like to ask our finalist for the treasure High School class of 2024 to come up to the stage to be recognized Austin Blair and Daniel duza [Applause] there are some other individuals who deserve recognition for all the behind the scenes work they do to make tonight possible Mrs Lindsay D'Angelo Mrs Melissa Martin and Mrs Donna loel in the school counseling career center work very hard or organizing all the donors and materials for the scholarships because of their dedication we as a school and Community are able to offer many scholarships the next time you are in the school counseling office please take the time to offer them your kind words of appreciation I would also like to recognize my assistant Mrs Michelle shannel she does a lot to make tonight's event special it is through her hard work and diligence that the many many many details of tonight's event are double and triple checked to ensure everything is as accurate as possible thank you lastly thank you to Kathy carluchi Tracy Hull Carolyn dudak Nicole gallet Kim baldoni Amy Teeter and Denise tzakis for being here tonight and thank you to the PTO for their generous donations for tonight's program each year members of the senior class apply for scholarships offered by our business Community the scholarships being presented tonight represent the generosity of our community and businesses for our students the total amount for the scholarships the class of 2024 is [Applause] $3,797 we have a couple of new scholarships this year here so first I would like to introduce Kathleen delisco Cohen to present for the first time the Samuel Mark Cohen award [Applause] first I would like to say that I have laryngitis um not a great night to have laryngitis so um please bear with me good evening class of 2024 first I would like to say congratulations to each of you on your outstanding achievements my name is Kathleen delisco Cohen and I am the mother of two chesher high school students Olivia and Ava delisco my husband Sam was an actor and screenwriter in Los Angeles California he was born and raised in New York City in Far Rockaway Queens he was a young scholar who skipped degree he graduated from the University of Rochester attended Columbia University and Harvard University where he studied theater film and psychology he decided to travel through Europe in his 20s where he learned so much about different cultures and Lifestyles Sam had many talents he not only did well academically but he thrived in extracurricular activities he especially loved the Fine Arts that's when Sam decided to live out his dream and moved out west to Hollywood he was fortunate to land rolls and television and movies where he worked with the legends from the 1980s 9s and early 2000s what a life he lived I'm grateful for the time I had with Sam and the memories we made as a family I also worked with him and co-wrote a screenplay for a short film I learned so much from him about writing and life he enjoyed spending time with his stepdaughters on Friday December 1st 2023 in the afternoon Sam unexpectedly passed away from Sudden Cardiac Arrest he died in front of my daughter Ava I was still at work to say that we are devastated is an understatement Sam made such an impact on our lives and those around him and who knew him that I wanted to do do something special to honor his memory Sam attended all the school musicals from the time he spent with us in cheser he was so impressed with the Productions especially last school year when he attended The Adams Family to see Ava and her castmates he was blown away by such talented students academics and the Performing Arts were very important to Sam so what better way to honor him than to begin the annual Samuel marohen Memorial scholarship award this award goes to a senior in musical theater who has shown commitment passion creativity and Talent on stage I am pleased to announce that the very first recipient of this scholarship award goes to angsley Jura for her outstanding performances in her four years as an actress on this stage congratulations ay and I wish you the best in your college Years in the future [Applause] next I would like to introduce Alicia and Erica Grasso who will be presenting the scholarship winners of the alfons M graso Memorial [Applause] Scholarship good evening I am Erica Grasso and I am Alicia Grasso we are grateful to be here tonight to present the alons M Grasso scholarship in our father's memory this is the 30th year thank you this is the 30th year that his scholarship has been awarded like you we also attended cheser high school but a few years ago 1991 and 1995 Al Grasso also known as Mr J was a member of the booster club as well as held the title of president for many years along with being the biggest teser high school sports fan whether he was stocking the concession stand traveling to at least one game for each team for each season for every year or shoveling snow off of the football field for a Thanksgiving Day game he was there what he wanted the most was to have as many students participating in sports as possible for you to have fun and study hard he valued the life lessons that an athlete learned being being a member of a team he taught us that every member of the team is important the managers the star players the coaches the Bench Warmers everyone without everyone you can't make a team tonight's award recipients showed us in their essays that they have experienced and learned exactly what meant the most to our dad teams build confidence in sports relied on their teammates and coach like their family members and develop leadership leadership skills that you will use forever this scholarship is awarded to two athletes that value the life lessons that they have experienced over the past four years I'm sure you will agree that tonight's recipients have given and appreciated all of their athletic experience thank you for allowing us to recognize our our father's dedication to CHS Dad thank you for being an inspiration we are proud to present the 30th alons M Grasso scholarship to Cella kahill and Mary [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] nen think we're missing one we haven't met you yet you're Mary congratulations Mary thank you all [Applause] for our final new scholarship of the evening I would like to introduce Captain Nash of the US Army from the Yukon Army rooc [Applause] program ladies and gentlemen faculty members and the class of 2024 today I'd like to recognize this remarkable achievement by an outstanding individual Among Us military leadership is an honorable service one that demands dedication selflessness and the highest level of commitment when a young individual steps forward raises their hand and takes the oath of office a contract is formed between them and the government binding them in a lifelong commitment to protect and defend the nation and its citizens in return for his pledge The Reserve officer training Corp training will promise our future leader the finest training equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in his duties and secondly and perhaps most significantly they are entrusted with the best leadership possible shaping them into an exceptional leader who will guide others with integrity and honor today we have the privilege of recognizing an extraordinary individual who has displayed exceptional leadership potential it is with immense pride and admiration that I stand before you to present the prestigious army RC scholarship this student Bound for the Citadel will receive 100% tuition coverage starting his software year along with a monthly stien of $400 as he embarks on this incredible journey let us offer him our congratulations and support for his continued success I present this award to Tyler Karen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Dr Gad and I will read the names of those students receiving local scholarships Mr Tom Manning and Mrs Gina War Burton senior class advisers will present the students with their Awards William Allen Daniel P martinook scholarship Michael Anastasio III Cheshire High School band parents Association scholarship Riley Bon parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO and the friends of field hockey scholarship Emma bider booster club athletic scholarship Education Association of chesher scholarship Highland school PTO scholarship Ray deloise friends of softball scholarship Julia BTO friends of field hockey scholarship Julia bevaka booster club athletic scholarship Austin Blair Balo scholarship kaanas Club of chesher scholarship Lombardo family scholarship Megan Welch Memorial artistic [Applause] scholarship Emma BL chesher Lions Club scholarship Kevin BL St Bridget of Sweden Parish men's scholarship Kevin Bueno chesher High School band parents Association scholarship chesher performing and Fine Arts committee scholarship in memory of Richard W Conrad Christopher Wilby memorial fund for the Arts Stella kahill alons and Grasso Memorial Scholarship Carrie Brown lacrosse scholarship Carla carangelo booster club athletic scholarship Lewis Rose CF scholarship Ray deloise friends of softball scholarship Tyler Karen Cheshire High School boys outdoor track scholarship Henry e Hank Carson VF W Memorial Scholarship RC scholarship Karina cartiera Chapman school scholarship Osterman Community Foundation scholarship Ryan Farley Memorial student Senate scholarship Alex Clark Lewis Ro CF scholarship William a fry Memorial Scholarship Alison chorus Brendan mced Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the dod PTA chesher High School girls soccer parents Association scholarship chesher Soccer Club scholarship friends of chesher Public Library scholarship Joseph H fan Memorial [Applause] Scholarship Kyle seir chesher travel basketball scholarship [Applause] Daniel duza chesher high school boys outdoor track scholarship St Bridget of Sweden women scholarship Emma Daner calu real estate scholarship kiwan Club of chesher scholarship Michael D Pano senior Memorial Scholarship Michael feder Rico booster club for outstanding service to the community parent teacher organization scholarships sponsored by the CHS PTO Rotary Club of chesher scholarship tan danher James Dempsey lacrosse scholarship Madison Deano Lor's truth Memorial Scholarship Amelia Divine chesher Junior Women's Club Janette Richardson Memorial Scholarship Education Association of cheser scholarship the partika foundation for giving Incorporated First Congregational Church of cheser scholarship McKenzie Dudek booster club athletic scholarship chesher Junior cheerleading scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO the partika foundation for giving Incorporated and Le Jura chesher High School girls soccer parents Association scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO Samuel Mark Cohen scholarship Andrew Elliott chesher Chamber of Commerce educational assistance grant scholarship Addison emmens chesher High School girls soccer parents Association [Applause] scholarship Aiden Ericson baseball parents Association of chesher scholarship Jack for NOA Steven friedler Memorial Scholarship [Applause] Molly Fletcher Kathleen P regon Memorial Scholarship chesher Lions Club scholarship Kathy Mente so Foundation scholarship Moren SE Hall Memorial Scholarship Ryan Frasier Greg Greg skina Memorial Scholarship William a fry Memorial Scholarship Emma glassie Henry eh Hank Carson VFW Memorial [Applause] Scholarship Jeffrey Gonzalez Greg schema Memorial [Applause] Scholarship Katherine graziosa chesher Fire Department William M Gro II Memorial Scholarship chesher Junior cheerleading scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO Caroline Greenwood cheser High School band parents Association Color Guard scholarship Ava Chester lights of Hope Scholarship Christopher Wilby memorial fund for the art Arts Carrie Brown booster club scholarship for outstanding service to the community and parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO gwan Wang Balo scholarship cheser High School band parents Association scholarship Adia Jane Norton school PTA scholarship Jacob jck baseball parents Association of chesher scholarship Don Malone is scholarship sponsored by the dod PTA Claire Jean friends of chesher Public Library scholarship Phyllis klous Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the chesher women's Democratic Club Chase Keegan Daniel P Martin scholarship McKenzie nap B scholarship Taylor kazlowski chesher Chamber of Commerce educational assistance grant scholarship chesher fire department William M Grove 2 Memorial Scholarship Michael D Pano senior Memorial Scholarship uster Community Foundation scholarship and the Ray D Lise friends of softball scholarship Ulus chesher travel basketball [Applause] scholarship Joshua lamaster Lois R CF scholarship [Applause] squirrel lwn Chester high school girls indoor track [Applause] scholarship Paige listo Matthew Costa Memorial Scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO Darcy Lynn cheser performing in Fine Arts committee scholarship in memory of Richard W Conrad Morgan McDon booster club athletic [Applause] scholarship Robin MC chesher Community YMCA scholarship [Applause] Mary Margaret nen alons M Grasso Memorial [Applause] Scholarship Caroline oday Dr James D trone Memorial Scholarship kasum Pasha austman Community Foundation scholarship Ella Paul chesher Education Foundation General scholarship Greg J Florio Ed scholarship Moren SE Hall Memorial Scholarship Rotary Club of chesher scholarship St Bridget of Sweden women Society Brian picado F High School B parents Association Henry percussion scholarship and Highland school PTO scholarship Ava prior friends of field hockey scholarship Emma raldi Chester high school girls outdoor track scholarship Christopher rasher booster club athletic scholarship chesher High School boys soccer parents Association scholarship chesher Soccer Club scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO and the St Bridget of Sweden Parish Men's Club scholarship Sarah Anne rowald Chester Lutheran Church scholarship [Applause] Kaitlyn chiavi chesher Community YMCA scholarship Kelsey Stern Highland school PTO [Applause] scholarship Kira Strauss First Congregational Church of chesher scholarship Rory staltz Balo scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO Katherine Teeter chesher High School BP parents Association scholarship chesher police benevolent Association Community Foundation Chiefs Memorial Scholarship dittle school scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PTO Valerie tzakis booster club athletic scholarship cheser High School B parents Association John L cuner scholarship Edward R ason Memorial Scholarship parent teacher organization scholarship sponsored by the CHS PT Stella Tessier booster club athletic [Applause] scholarship Tessa Troi chesher Chamber of Commerce business Women's Alliance scholarship Alyssa Underwood Damen T Romano Memorial Scholarship John P O'Reilly Memorial Scholarship Mia Vientos booster club athletic scholarship chure high school girls indoor track scholarship Don wonis scholarship sponsored by the dod PTA [Applause] let's have one more round of applause for all of our amazing [Music] [Applause] [Music] students I know that I speak for Dr soul and our superintendent and Mrs Solano our assistant superintendent our entire high school administrative team our department chairs senior class advisers and the entire faculty when I wish the class of 2024 are absolutely heartfelt [Music] [Applause] congratulations we are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments to our community members and organizations who made these generous generous scholarships possible we are so grateful and humbled by your annual commitment to Student Success and achievement you go above and beyond to recognize and support our wonderful students in closing I'd like to again thank Mrs Michelle Channel Lindsay D'Angelo Melissa Martin Donna loelle and of course Dr Morin Reed for pouring so much energy into planning this evening ceremony I'd also like to recognize Mr Michael salamini quietly in the back who provides audio visual support and make sure everything is exactly as we need it for these evenings I'd also like to thank our custodial staff for their hard work setting up and cleaning up the auditorium I also want to thank all of our faculty members for their dedication to our students and their growth as deep thinkers Community contributors athletes and Scholars and of course we would be remiss if we didn't thank our parents it is through your tireless effort and endless support that our students achieve so much and shine so brightly kids give your parents a round of [Applause] [Music] applause finally just one more congratulations to all of our wonderful kids we are so proud of you you've really lived up to all that we hold dear and chesher high school you should be proud to call yourselves chesher Rams so good night everyone have a safe trip thank you so much for being [Applause] [Music] here Coop this stola we wanted to add Mr no I don't want to I don't want to

sites and facility um take minutes for us um so I'm going to turn it right over to car okay take this sure so um and thank you de for being here um so today is really just to follow up on the LA from the last uh meeting that we had where we spoke about sort of the proposed changes for DCA um some of the C savings involved of course that that we sort some of the Genesis up for the changes um kind of happened very quickly there's a small window with which to make um substantive changes to construction design so we kind of did take advantage of that and you guys have been absolutely amazing with responsiveness and pushing me back and forth and it's been a great been a great team effort and keeping on track so um I just wanted to remind folks because I think there was a little confusion on this last time a bit or just um you know I was saying I think maybe not even confusion but I need to take for granted the fact that some of your original presentation around the academy and its original design happened with with different groups of board members over time and so not everybody has had the benefit of having those deeper conversations especially those initial ones so this was the original um plan planogram and if you look at the west campus we had twoy set aside we wanted to blow out if you look at the lower left quadrant the Environmental Conservation renewable energy we have a whole Greenhouse over there that was a big um piece to get that in was a really important component but we didn't have enough slots if you will the number of kids to actually have that be its own Academy but that's a high Dan um that's a pretty that was a pretty dense one so much so that we wanted to have that that beautiful Greenhouse in there and we had some plans for that um but as you can see that Environmental Conservation and renewable energy uh in that column under the emerging Technologies and it doesn't really fit in that was its own kind of a hanging chad in the business sector if you will so in the when their opportunity came to make some changes um and then to make it a complete high school campus we took that last um that last one and turned it into its own Academy which was kind of on the on Deck um one of the one of the the ideas and there was definitely some more but that was one um that was a real one that we lamented that we wish we could have more slots in so that renewable energy turns into now three Pathways it's very dense so it's certainly enough in there to um interest three different different different U Avenues in that area it's extraordinarily um prosperous area if you will in terms of the the research and where kind of 21st century jobs are headed this is one huge sector um it's being funded um across the country quite well it's um an area that we can also harness in terms of um funding and and grants um and also too A lot of the emerging jobs are also in sector so you talk about AI technology talkability those it's a very very hot um hot area there's a lot of jobs but not a lot of uh training and interest in those so um we're super excited about that um so that's what it looks like when um it's together in sort of the new in the new model that's what we embedded into the attach packet into your agenda um Michelle you were just walking in my te just go back one that's okay just to catch you up so this is the original proposed you see the Environmental Conservation and renewable energy was one of the pathways and that was sort of one that we was kind of hanging out by itself in the business and so that just becomes its own Academy so that's kind of where but that was one of the original original designs um in terms of the summary of changes and so what we had to do is we had to go back in and say okay on the Middle School side of the house we had these labs and science areas how do we then retrofit um the Middle School space to now serve the needs of the labs and so the way that we did designed the labs the first time it was what are the needs of the labs what will kids be doing in these labs and me how do you design a great learning space to match um pedagogical needs and the pathway interests and so um with a lot of back and forth and a lot of wonderful collaboration um we made some design plan changes uh with the support of uh frier Architects and of course the city city Partners um and then our own internal knowledge about the curricular type of uh programming that that we hope to have those in those areas so that's it's okay so um so here's where the changes were and this again predominantly the Middle School area that's converted to high school so on floor two and the numbers are IR relevant for you you know most likely but um we took the old band room it's now the clean and renewable energy demonstration lab that was one of the larger rooms that would have the most equipment in it and so we kind of made some decisions around making sure that the larger band room and how it was was la out would able be able to house um some of the some of the training equipment that we want to see in there room 207 which was an instrument storage room sort of nearby was now going to be clean and renewable energy 255 was an art room which will be clean and renewable classroom kind of you know there's a storage in the classroom 235 was an old art room will now be the high school digital art so it's still serving art but just configured her high school we and we named 242 and 237 were the maker spaces so the Middle School side originally had design maker spaces in there so they didn't have um necessarily Academy pathway Labs but they had maker spaces for design seem to be a design design Concept in there so those have been converted and we opened it up a little bit so there's some more flow through which was a great idea um to get that in there and that will be used for the green design and environmental stealership lab and then c206 which was a just a classroom will be used for Z space lab the space labs are probably the coolest thing that you'll ever see and at some point we we get into kind of sh what those look like but they're It's a Wonderful it's a it's kind of a it's like a computer but it's it has the ability to almost 3D hologram out components so if you're talking about a wind turbine and you want to understand how the inner all the inner pieces work you can you can air air it out and move pieces in and change propulsion and that's what call it uh it's going to be the Iron Man lab but the zspace lab has you can program almost anything in it so any kind of um high tech thing where it might not be practical to have um a 16-year-old working on some type of equipment but certainly in a in a simulation environment like a a simulation environment you can do things and get good simulation hours and training and um so that's a whole another love to talk more about that simpli but that's going to be a zace lab and anybody can use that from any of the C um yes these changes you're talking about are they design changes or they construction and renovation in other words has been established and has to be yes knocked down and then redesigned and reconstructed great question so most of these are just their their changes in terms of what the space will be used for and there's some some minor modifications like we had to you know cut the best person to speak to this but where we said okay you know we just open this wall a little bit this would this this would flow into that room and that would make sense um in some cases it was going through to check to make sure that all right if if this is a classroom um and now it's going to be used for more of a lab does it have the appropriate uh um School electrical storage you know what are the what what are the what does the space demand and do we have that in there so I don't think that there were a lot of I think you spoke pretty well and we all kind of had that in mind because of the unique position that we're currently building this building as we speak we're not just moving lines on paper um Anda and her team and principal Donan they really kind of understood that this is repurposing space and a lot of those things are currently um under review and in evaluation with our design team now just to ensure that as K said the building infrastructure that needs to be there to support these spes to lab is in there um and fortunately I think I think we'll be in pretty good shape because these were maker spaces these were design spaces these were science labs um so for the most part um you know trying to mitigate cost impact is is is is U critical for us and um also providing um you know these great spaces for students so across aerial effect on any of the construction cost we we are mitigating that as much as as I said the building is being constructed currently um we haven't formally uh since these Ed specs haven't yet been approved formally approved by the board of that we haven't been able to formally direct our construction manager um to and designer to uh start formal design here um but knowing that it's coming we have been able to redirect some work some you know construction Crews from an area that we know will be affected so that they get too far ahead of us so that we can still have that opportunity to implement any changes without having to go back and uh rework demolish new walls things like that so to the most exent Poss thank you so um I'm going to go back to question what is the it's being evaluated we're we're too early [Music] to but we're voting to approve we're right well I I believe the motion is to uh recommend for the approval of the edtec which is the programmatic CH so the edpc doesn't really have any budget or cost associated with it it's primarily the program and curriculum that's going to be used from these okay so tonight has nothing to do with cost okay anybody else that's pretty much it you know the summary of the of the room changes on the the actual plan Ram so look at the plans again at the point you notice that those things are changed um third oh third floor sorry get to third floor um okay thank you so on floor three so similar pattern an old older science lab um is now going to be used for sustainable food and living um room c311 which is another science prep room will now be used for aquaponics lab um which is very cool so some of that sustainable living piece it's um it's aquaponic if you've ever seen it it's uh it basically looks like a big fish tank but the way that you can um so the fish survive and thrive feeding off of what's growing on top of it which is also edible so um it's almost like it's not Hydroponics it's aquaponics and so it's a compl living system which is um something that's that is growing right now but it also teaches the students about um there's nutrition there's aqu Aqua um acquisation there's all kinds of um interesting science con Concepts in there uh for the students and that going to be a huge huge room because they're very heavy and that was something we had to come around with with our um you know the floor design to make sure that we're not putting something in it that's too heavy but just enough to for the kids to understand the concept of how how big is a t 500 a gallon so you know like something like the size but you know like that and you could grow things on top of it so the the fish um living and eating and wasting are is the fertilizer so it's table you guys to come and eat and then you know gives off own carbon dioxide self sustaining once you have the tank and 500 reinforcement FL correct okay thank I think we put a drain make sure that there was a room with a drain in it that smart yeah uh and then the um 315 which was an old it room the small room is now going to be part of a prep room for the aquatonic lab so be able to store some of the supplies and and stuff so um so not a terrible amount of of changes but um we did have to work through you know re looking at the floor plan and and uh the flow traffic and kids and supervision and which rooms would be the best would have the least amount of changes um as the mention things are already on the move so it's just really about rearranging the furniture a little bit question recap maybe can help me out what differences would this facility have or not have at has as a case in point we talked about an auditorium or something else a gy is there anything that wouldn't be in this facility that we have in the other facility sure in uh over there we do not have an auditorium we have a black box uh shaped a little differently than our current one it's on both sides but there is no Auditorium there is one say over there over there academ the um we do have there will be a gym there there's also two Fitness rooms that um when discussing Sports Performance are more like yoga and bicycle Studios so you can take PE classes there um other than that there's no outside facilities there's no Fields there's no like you know basketball courts or anything like that yeah there's no track there's nothing like that locker rooms yeah there's two locker rooms that kids for changing yeah but they're not team rooms there's nothing like that so Athletics of sports would be the largest drawback where say deficit in terms to be compatible or not compatible yeah and you know the current plan right now is to send X amount of buses over there every day and they drop off at dber high school because we generally don't start practices because our teachers don't get out until 2:20 from wraparound time so by the time those buses lead the two they'll be at D High School by 220 and practices go on the play the band all that stuff thank you it it also this also helps us on supervision big time because I remember you know we first started this one of the huge issues we all talked about with the you know having uh basically Middle School and High School in the same facility dis alleviates that all the things that we were looking at for doorways and is this locking and this can't go through the nurse office now can be one nurse office things like that running I'm not saluting I'm just trying to BL that's a great salute that's a great salute you just have to bring your thumb inside know that's [Laughter] not so original plan was in the first iteration there was a going to be a th students 1100 students on the side and then 360 so now that's combined so it's like [Music] 140 L can I propose that some future date that we budget for the Academy the only one we had or I had it's the one that was a couple of years ago so you're kind of morphing into another another item so um the last time we were here actually requested to see some more the details behind the some of the the savings the C savings so we we have that um but it's almost I'm afraid to even really go through because the with the budget and how we just you know with the Staffing it's almost not say relevant but it has to be redone and for example even in even in we originally doing the cost savings you know we had in there five guidance counselors I'll use that as an example but we've been hiring since we first pass U created that budget we've been hiring a little bit over time so I don't know if we'll need five we might need three um so and same thing with some of the other Staffing so I think we can actually win on some of the Staffing and certainly heading into next some is Staffing for this year is going to go a long way to helping make that weak um for 20 certainly early next year you should have a better idea I think yeah sooner than that I just think that we got to once this we nail the rest put the operational correct important to nail it yeah at it and just dotion make a motion that the sites and Facilities committee recommend to the Board of Education approval of the education specifications dated May 22nd 2024 of the danur Career Academy project a second no by second by all any discussion all in favor number uh so Cara just mentioned the the Staffing projections we're sort of in a hold on that until we get a more solid Baseline um we should have something probably in the next month or two I think so yeah and we're like I said we're expecting a little bit more cost which just we didn't want to not address it today because we you know folks did asked for it and we do have some of the documents we want to look at it but I I wouldn't they don't hold water to them because because they and then the last item is just um some hand dryers at DHS um we learned that there are some problems with some paper towels some hand dryers so rich and I have U pulled some quotes on Dyson hand dryers depending on which model and how they get hooked up and whether there's electric electricity already in place could be anywhere from 500 to ,000 per unit so we're going to be going around the high school identifying ones that need to be upgraded some of them have a good accelerator some of them have a little bit more Antiquated ones so we're going to do a um a little bit of an analysis and come up with a quote of what that would cost so like I said we're looking at you know if you were to do the whole High School it would probably be about $20,000 but I don't think we're going to have to do the whole school how many we want we said what did we say 40 40 yeah yeah I went to the ladi's room by the auditorium washed my hands and there was no paper towel and the young lady goes there's never paper towels that was just shocked yeah well the we purposely put hand dryers in a lot of the gang style bathrooms as opposed to paper towels because they end up getting stuff down the toilet and we had toilets CL so that's what we fight with yeah I I'm also partial hand towel but U the new hand dri no it was just it it didn't have a hand dryer so I was just that's a great idea yeah wonderful idea so we'll we'll have more on that as we complete the uh the inspection that's it anything else any other questions anybody Terry I I was reading about the HVAC Grant we got $188,000 I think it's a little bit more than that but yeah that's what uh that's the word we've gotten I don't believe it's official yet we haven't gotten the official statement but we've gotten word from the state that we will be be getting that money back for reimbursement from what we spent on air purifiers over the last few years thank you is that what was expected yes anything anything else I have a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn word

m now go would all Pap mean lar senior oh wow right calling meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. uh marel can you help us with the roll call today is a special board meeting of May 21st 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

I [Music] d a [Music] h [Music] he [Music] la [Music] [Applause] [Music] what [Music] w [Music] to I [Music] he's going to be in little right here [Music] he [Music] oh [Music] fire [Music] m [Music] out [Music] la a [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] la h [Music] good afternoon you may be seated good afternoon in Bueno tharis parents family members students staff and dignified guests welcome to the 2024 Savannah High School commencement ceremony my name is Mike pulley I'm the proud principal here and today I will be your Master of Ceremonies this is a great day as we are excited to celebrate together their ceremony is a is both joyous and solemn occasion please let us remember to be courteous to those around us we need to be respectful to our seniors during the ceremony so please no air horns or noise makers please remain seated while filming or taking photos and remember to keep the recording device at chess level to not impede the vision of others seated around you please keep the aisleways and the walkways open throughout the ceremony today's ceremony is being live streamed and will remain on the district's YouTube channel to view at your convenience it is so great that we can all be together today to celebrate the class of 2024 without further Ado let's begin yes at this time I'd like to introduce Samantha Solano our ASB president who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance after the Pledge of Allegiance please remain standing for our national anthem that will be performed by our very own Savannah High School band and choir thank you Mr pulley will the audience please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance place your right hand over your heart ready begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing where Savannah band and choir play our national anthem [Applause] the what so we together the rock is the through the night that our was still there [Music] [Applause] thank you you may now be seated thank you Samantha before we introduce our distinguished guest today we also want to take a moment to honor and remember a cherished member of our Anaheim Union High School District family trusty Anna L piery who recently passed away after a valiant battle with cancer truste Pier's dedication to education and public service began in 1968 and she spent over 37 years nurturing the minds of Young Learners promoting educational excellence and advocating for our community today in each of our graduations ceremonies we have reserved a seat symbolically for trusty piery to my right this is a tribute not only to the graduation she Faithfully attended year after year but also to her indelible impact on community and the lives she touched let us remember and honor trustee Anna L piery and her enduring Legacy of kindness dedication and service at this time I'd like to begin the ceremony by introducing our distinguished guests please welcome Miss anamarie Randall tro president of the Board of Trustees Miss Jessica Guerrero assistant Clerk of the Board of Trustees Mr Brian O'Neal Board of Trustees member Mr mattuda superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District Dr jiren Fred assistant superintendent Educational Services Mr Brad Jackson assistant superintendent of Human Resources Mr Rob Robert salivar executive director of educational services in addition I'd like to thank our teachers administrators support staff and our counseling staff who have supported the graduating class of 2024 now please welcome back to the podium our first senior speaker Samantha salano thank you Mr pulley good afternoon friends staff families and my fellow graduates my name is Samantha Solano and I am so honored to be able to speak to you all today it is wonderful to see so many people here to commemorate the class of 2024 I would like to reflect on the previous 13 years of our education but first I may ask my fellow graduates how are we feeling today it is such a Bittersweet feeling isn't it it is difficult to faom how quickly we all grew up together without even realizing it as the young adults we are I can proudly say we did it are these years of us waiting for this very moment turn into months weeks turn into days days that have now turned into hours and minutes bringing us to this EXA exact moment I think we're all going to miss here and keep it clean like a washing machine from Mr Rubio looking ahead I'll admit I'm nervous and maybe a little scared for what life has waiting for us all but the future isn't something we enter the future is something we create we all went from Reading picture books together to reading chapter books finally we are closing this wonderful chapter of our lives and entering a new one lady [Applause] before I finish I would like to thank my wonderful sister America who taught me how valuable my education is and how no matter what happens in life to always chase your dreams as we are finishing off we're going to finally take our big steps en ties a brident past but we must remember once a rebel always a rebel congratulations to the class of 2024 we did it [Applause] thank you Samantha please welcome our second senior speaker Ruben [Applause] ceros thank you Mr pulley good afternoon Rebels today is Wednesday May 22nd 2024 and this is our graduation we stand at the precipice of a faithful occasion the graduation of the class of 2024 As We Gather here today a strong blend of excitement and uncertainty permeates the air reminding us of the gravity of this Milestone pause for a moment let us sink in today is the culmination of years of dedication perseverance and growth it is the day we once gazed upon from afar the day we sometimes doubted would ever arrive but here we are together ready to embrace a future that awaits us I stand before you all not only as ruin but also as a beacon of congratulations to each and every one of you your journey marked by triumphs and tribulations has led you to this momentous occasion Your Presence at Savannah and here today is a testament to your resilience and commitment to Excellence reflect on the endless contributions you have made to the class of 2024 whether through ASB RSVP sociedad GL apic Key Club or any other Avenue your impact has been profound and enduring in the words of the Visionary Steve Jobs he said you can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backward so you have the trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future you have to trust in something your gut Destiny Life Karma whatever because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path and that will make all the difference I implore you to in pursue your dreams with unwavering determination remember we are but a series of dots moments in time decisions made challenges overcome yet it is a line that connects these dots The Narrative of Our Lives that truly defin Rems us though the path ahead may be daunting Have Faith In the Journey believe that the dots will connect leading you to places Beyond Your Wildest imagination our four years at Savannah have left an inerasable mark on our lives shaping our character igniting our passions and fortifying our resolve while we may reminisce fondly on the friendships forged the lessons learned and the memories cherished Let Us carry these Treasures with us as we venture forth into the unknown high school they say is an instance of Life a crucible where we discover our strengths confront our weaknesses and chart our own course let us take pride in our journey as Rebels honoring the bonds formed and the Lessons Learned along the way as we bid farewell to this chapter of Our Lives let us embrace the future with Open Hearts and open minds be kind to one another lift each other up and above all be the architects of change in a world hungry for Hope and compassion Rebels go forth and show the world the Brilliance of your spirit the depth of your character and the magnitude of your dreams for today we embark on a new beginning a beginning not defined by endings but by Endless Possibilities it can be done congratulations class of 2024 the world awaits your greatness thank you Ruben please welcome our third class senior third class senior speaker Ruth nwin thank you Mr pulley ladies and gentlemen esteemed faculty members proud parents and most importantly the exceptional grad of the Savannah class of 2024 today is a day of Celebration marking the culmination of years of hard work dedication and unwavering determination graduates as you are being engulfed by feelings of excitement and anticipation I urge you to take a moment to ground yourselves and fully be present please look around amongst your peers and realize how much you've grown and matured alongside one another feel a sense of camaraderie for the challenges you've overcome together and and pride for earning the privilege of wearing your caps and gowns today each one of you has earned your seat through your perseverance through hardship and commitment to continuous Improvement each Journey may have looked different many of you have faced numerous challenges late night studying balancing extracurricular activities and overcoming personal hurdles but through it all you've shown resilience and perseverance which have led to this remarkable achievement however this achievement is not yours alone it is a Testament to the unwavering support and guidance of your families friends teachers and mentors please take a moment to express your gratitude to those who have stood by your side throughout this journey beyond your success and achievements I want you to remember the importance of Integrity empathy and compassion in everything you do I encourage you to create a meaningful change in the world to to care for others to be a Voice of Truth and reason and to advocate for yourself and others I I hope that you illuminate the lives of the people you meet and the places you explore and leave an enduring mark on the world just like you did at Savannah High School while your time at Savannah may be ending it marks the beginning of a new exciting Journey for us all cherish the moments you've created and the lessons you've learned and step into the future with courage compassion and a firm ability firm belief in your ability to shape it and remember no matter which path you take you'll end up where you need to be last but not least I I would like to take this moment to to to thank my immigrant parents and for all the sacrifices they made with my success in mind and my older brother Timmy for enduring through every hardship first and always supporting my dreams and aspirations congratulations again to the class of 2024 and remember that Limitless potential resides in all of us so go out into the world and truly embody an unlimited you thank you [Applause] wow Samantha Ruben and Ruth all spoke so eloquently much better than I'm going to do about their educational Journey while at Savannah high school we are so excited for our Rebels as they embark on their next journey I want to share with everyone that Savannah High School is truly an amazing place it's one-of aind school because of our commit and caring teachers and staff members at this time I'd like to recognize and acknowledge the Savannah faculty and staff for their dedication and preparing these students for the last four years let's give them a round of applause the class of 2024 is a special class you've all had an incredible ride to get to this point and I could not be more proud of you this year has been remarkable and I know many of you enjoyed it to its fullest you've had to navigate through many challenges of high school that not many have faced over the course of this year I was able to witness your kindness and compassion for one another for your families and for our school Community the class of 2024 is in a class of its own and I would like to recognize several student accomplishments from this amazing class it is now time to recognize some of our academic Awards our seniors have accompl accomplished seniors as I announce the academic award please stand to be recognized with Applause after all Awards have been recognize then be seated students that have achieved Career Technical education CTE pathway please stand dual enrollment please stand remain stand seal of biliteracy and seal of tril literacy Google certificates state seal of Civic engagement golden state seal of recipients a through G completion and academic honors students who earned a 3.5 GPA or above look around you give it up for these guys you may be seated again the class of 2024 is ready you are ready for Life College and your next career Adventure as it is very evident in your Capstone interviews you all gave just a few weeks back many of you shared your educational journey and how education is working for you we are proud of you as you continue your journey some of you are entering the workforce others will be attending community colleges and others are attending universities no matter where you are headed you have all gained and developed many skills which we all call the five C's and with them you are ready to Take On The World student as you reflect on your four years at Savannah High School one thing I hope is clear during your years of high school you were challenged and you might even have struggled at times but with this struggle came the opportunity to learn from one another your peers from your teachers and from those that you cared most about what you learned was how to persevere how to persist and ultimately How To Succeed again I want want to remind you all that you are ready for college career and life and we know you will go on to do great things in our community nation and World congratulations class of 2024 we have arrived at the moment you've all been waiting for I am pleased to introduce our dignitaries who will be presenting diplomas to our graduates president of the Board of Trustees Miss Anna Marie Randall tro assistant Clerk of Board of Trustees Miss Jessica Guerrero and board of trustee member Mr Brian O'Neal Mr Hogan camp and Miss Alvarez will now read the names of the class of 2024 graduating seniors please respect each of our graduates and hold your applause until all of the names have been read are you ready Al yeah at this time the first row please stand and begin to make your way to the stage it Samantha Solano Ruben ceros Ruth nin Anastasia Baron ashwak Muhammed Habib Banu yit Benitez Romeo bamontes cayon sincere Brown Brandon comp po Kobe Canela Joshua Castillo Kyla Castro Dana donor Destiny sea Kenya Cervantes Gomez Kim Chavez Vanessa halam Valerie Diaz fella Hernandez Calderon Daryl Doe Pedro Javier Victoria fa Isabella foronda Nan Lee Matthew Galindo Ana Moreno Julian Gamboa anel Munoz Ramirez Aaliyah Garcia Daniela Ruiz Matthew Gomez Hassan [Music] Varela Eric Gonzalez friia Chelsea Marie varquez Alisa Goa CA Sonia Ahmad Eva Aria ran Amed Betsy peris Michael Al Mustafa Stephanie pinetta Rosales otoniel Al Joselyn PR Melanie AR Mia kintana Vega sabba ascar Sada Carman Rivera Jesus baras Maro Cassandra Rivera Oscar Rivera Robert Hernandez Ashley Rodriguez Gomez Shahar isma Alandra salana Gomez Kier Keith Anthony Sanchez sarifa kqa candy Sanchez Isabella Krauss Ryan Sandoval Jamaica Nicole sento Molly lafer hey Jean Lim Stephanie seura Cruz Roseline leemon Gonzalez Axel Serano Amy yamas Christopher seevilla Alysa Lopez Karina [Music] Solomon Valeria Martinez Samuel sto paa Martinez Gomez Aran Turk Jacob Melendez Christina Marie toocha Monica Mendoza samanta Janice agilar Vina MAA Alex Aguilar Pablo Helen Molina petta Julio Cesar AG Kevin nvz NAA Alba Kyle NN Joseph albaran Marana Paredes Michelle Alcudia [Music] Dalia palosa Carmen Mariel amares Irvin Tran Jose Alvarado Paulino Kathy Tran Mia amini Elena Tren nittan Anan Christopher ugalde Kalin Anaya Angie Valencia paa Anaya Natalie veva Roberto Andrade Janet hiron Hernandez Carlos aino Janelle Andres Allison aramburo kandra Caba roombo Samuel Aro Michelle [Music] Flores Dominic arous Reuben Gino Luis arous Sergio Flores sto Cesar arano Francisco Rodriguez Melina arano Jade Bravo Arisa Anthony Brown Giana bruselas jerk Reyes Joselyn Cabrera Emily Savala Jonathan Calderon Mary Abigail aalin Juliana Calderon Matthew kamacho Kime agil Jay Camargo Luis Aguilar eliso KES neli arano suset Canadas sherlene ARA toar Enoch kche Ashley arita Valencia Joseline Carvajal Fernando arola Anthony Carmona Evangeline atanasio Melissa gansa Eddie kasas Royal Austine Eileen seos Caesar Aila David Chapman Mariana Aila Danielle Chavez Katie Jasmine bakaro octav Chavez Joseline Bandera Gustavo Chavez Padilla Ariana Barfield Natalie Decker jasher Baron Eric deled Cornelio Jasmine Bautista John Kenneth De La Cruz vivana Bautista Kevin Delgado desire Basera Matthew Delgado Bianca Beltran Nicholas Delgado Luis Benito Phoenix Dio Carla berola Darlene Diaz Anthony Bardo Christian Domingo Amanda Bonia Jack elel Eduardo chav Diana elisondo John Chavira Jacob esel Jonathan Chas aino Annabelle Estrada Jose Chi wera paa estada Delani Aliah SOS ceste escar Saga Valerie Colosso Angela Estrada estada Ricardo [Music] contas kaani faras mes Amy contas Mendoza [Music] Maria Felix valuel Jonathan Cy Carlos Ferman Samantha coronell Aaron Flores Rodriguez Fernando [Music] cortz Dante Henderson no DNE Cho Brian ernandez Brian Cruz Diego Hernandez Isabella Cruz itel Hernandez Jorge Cruz Hernandez jayen Hernandez Mia Cruz Rama Juan Hernandez NYY Daniels Vanessa Hernandez Emmanuel De Jesus Dominguez estan Hernandez Teo Suri yuritzi De Jesus Dominguez Patrick Hong Michael DEA Cruz Allison Holly Alexia froso ichaso Lisbeth Islas Anthony Fuentes Oakley Jaso leani for Juan Hai Cyra May galves Kylie gimenez Alandra Garcia lesie gimenez Angelica Fernanda Garcia Kylie follow fua jerson Jose Garcia Solomon Kua Katie Garcia yoseline Lara Ramirez no Garcia johanes L Roa Omar Garcia George leles Jaden Robert [Music] Gilmore Brian Martinez Melody Gomez Fernando Martinez Analise Gonzalez jelle Martinez Moises Gonzalez Kenya Martinez Mario granados Martinez Sabrina Martinez Jacob green Jean Carlo Martinez ver Katie gav Maria Martinez Denise Gutierrez Megan masel Dyan Gutierrez Natalie Medrano desire Gutierrez olivarez isah Mendoza Adam Le Cynthia Marino Matthew lemus Danielle Mahia V Moana Le Ana Jace [Music] Meyers Dave libres sha Mira Hugh n Jason Molina Cruz Roberta Loa Ricardo Montano Z Montero Matt Lopez Miranda Morales [Music] Monette Lopez Gala Lorena Moreno Cruz Lopez Martinez Mark morelo Lucas Loro Danielle Perez Andrew Luna Jesus peris Stuart long Kaye peris ten long Lori Perez Jan madugal Clarissa Perez mag carela Andrea mangubat Katie fan Darlene Martinez Perez Jason picardo Jesus Lopez Kimberly pinetta Alexis Martinez Anthony ples Ashley Martinez Destiny po carpo Benny Martinez Alysa Marie prudencio Eileen Nava Flores Naomi prun Angel Navaro Rivero Noel Spencer pulmano Michael oon Donovan Quintero vgo oo Gabriel Ramirez Isaiah Ooa Glory Ramirez Sean o Conor Jesse Ramirez Joy okama Chiara Ramirez Kang on Andrew Ramos Andrew or rco Perez yeah you did desire Ramos Anthony P Adrien sandal Jasmine P Tapia Milton Santiago Luis anel Padilla Saragosa Edie [Music] seura Andrea Camila Palma Santiago sarafin Oscar Pastor Harley Sierra monteroso Sarah patino btia Kendra Smith [Music] Julio Julian simani Axel Perales Immanuel sto Eileen Peralta Savannah Steiner Vasquez Joshua perea Diaz Haler suale sapet briene pz ashon yui tling Matthew renel Mia Tapia kevino Axel tees Isaac Ria Esmeralda Torres yahir Reyes hael Torres Liliana Reyes [Music] Nunes lesie Torres Selena Roso Tatiana Torres Emily Roa Maya Treviso Devin Rodriguez Dominique Trung Jennifer Rodriguez Delgado Alexander umana sto Samantha Rodriguez Velasco Yousef Suite anel [Music] ran Martin Marquez Enriquez Diego Rosas bonap anel Rosa Sanchez esala OKO Benjamin Salas esamia Valeria Salasar Chelle Mayo Jessica Salgado Raiden salad day Alexis Sanchez Karen Sanchez Cindy Valdez Diego valdovinos Karen Valenzuela ug VAR Jason verela [Music] en en Enoch [Music] Vargas Ashley Vasquez Genesis Pamela Vasquez matute Joslyn Vasquez when she Jennifer Velasquez Rodriguez Melissa VZ Bradley velano lis anel vasana Eugene we zier white Abigail Williams Michael Janis Jesse sapen Jude Sayad Ruby Zuniga good job you guys good job class of 2024 please ride it gives me great honor to present the class of 2024 to the Board of Trustees for certification please welcome to the podium assistant Clerk of the Board of Trustees Miss Jessica Guerrera Guerrero who will now certify the class thank you principal pulley as a trustee for the Anheim Union High School District it is my honor and privilege to officially certify that the students present here today from the class of 2024 have all duly met the requirements of the State of California and have completed the prescribed course of study established by the Anaheim Union High School District students you may now move your tassel from the right to the left congratulations [Applause] thank you assistant Clerk of the Board of Trustees Miss Jessica Guero graduates please stay standing here as we play our Alma Moder by our Savannah High School band and choir [Music] toes we to you heart through all the years heart will ever be by true to you [Applause] [Music] thank you class of 2024 graduates please be seated one last time [Music] well everybody thank you for attending the 2024 commencement ceremony for Savannah High School families and friends please remain seated until all of the graduates have recessed out of the stadium graduates please follow our distinguished guests as they exit the stage and Stadium parents family members and Friends our graduates were notified earlier to meet you at your vehicle after the ceremony remember to take all of your belongings with you as you exit the stadium and enjoy the rest of your day congratulations once again class of [Applause] la [Music] [Applause] [Music] n la [Music] [Applause] la [Music] la la a [Music] a [Music] a [Applause] [Music] pap [Music] la la [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] la [Music] la la [Music] [Applause] la [Music] la [Music] [Applause] la e J felt actually

because that is our deadline because the Lunch Ladies do need time to make all these orders and then it also reminds students that if their account balance is below -20 then they order will not be processed this is an example of The Panini it shows all of the customization op options um there are the same customization options where if you were to wait in line you'd have the same like availability to pick all these so after students select all these options they submit their orders I personally receive them and after I receive them I send them to Val which is our head lunch lady and Val will print out all these orders and all the other lunch ladies are going to make all of them and store them all in a heater where students will go up and state like their first name last name and they'll get their order hasslefree since we began in late February we've had over 950 orders with 90 constant users a day and we've generated over $5,000 for this school and we're projected to exceed a th000 orders by the end of the year we have two different types of Revenue plans one would be a a student pays a 75 cents convenience fee and the other would be a contract with the school district so the service remains free for the students and the school districts would give us the contract someone would come evaluate our business and then we would take that monthly amount and then apply it first semester our future plans is we plan to spread the word inside our district and hopefully to other districts using social media warning announcements and flyers around the school we believe that students should know what they're putting inside their body we want to do this putting by putting the nutrition information on our website so students with allergies can stay safe and students who want to be healthy can stay healthy over this summer in the course of the first semester of next school year we plan on developing an app to increase the users experience and the efficiency of our lunch line and right now through Quest we've reached out to St Charles East and St Charles North through the help of the district manager and they're both huge fans of what we're doing here and we're hoping by the start of next school year we can go to those schools too thank [Applause] you any questions from any of the board members or any others I I just want to say this is incredibly impressive and that presentation with this larger room Bravo to all of you that takes a lot of courage and a lot of skill so it's the closest I've ever come to feeling like I was on the other side of shart tank so nice job so I I I'm just wildly impressed I mean you find a Target you know what you do you got a business plan you Market did it I have heard nothing but fantastic Word of Mouth which as you know is the best way to spread this stuff so I mean more power to you I hope you figure out how to keep this thing growing and moving and and all the school districts that I work around and with I you know give me a card I'll send it around so thank you thank you thank you thank you so much thank you everyone thank you guys so I got so excited about giving all the Su getting all the good stuff that Raquel reminded me that I skipped items to be removed or addended from the agenda so Tom are there any items to remove or add to the agenda not at this time well that was unexciting so thank you all right so public comments and we do have people signed up today so uh welcome to the meeting of the Board of Education if anyone wishes to address the board this evening please see our recording secretary and to submit a form for addressing the board please put your full name and address on the form in general the board will not answer question questions or engage in dialogue during public comment this does not mean we do not take your concerns or comments seriously the board values active Community participation in District Endeavors and encourages people to engage with the district using the appropriate channels and systems designed with your input in mind board members are not involved in the day-to-day operations of district and cannot engage in District business individually if you have a specific question or would like to further engage with the district you may submit your questions using the link on the website and an appropriate staff member will communicate with you you our BPS 101 Communications manager Holly dman will now explain the procedures for public comment and call up the speeches Hol thank you president Meadows uh speakers will be called up in order of form submission the first form received is the first person invited to speak when your name is called please come to the podium so that you can be heard all individual speaking will be limited to three minutes I will be putting a timer up on the screen so you can see for yourself where you are at in your limit anytime during this meeting written comments may be submitted to our recording secretary Cindy Rodriguez at my right there is a large crowd this evening we have 18 forms that have been submitted if all three if everyone takes their three minutes plus time to transition between each person we will go over our 45 minute public comment Max so our suggestion speakers that concur with past speakers are encouraged to State this for the record without taking any additional time to ensure the maximum number of speakers in the 45 minutes if the period of public comment ends before your turn to speak you can submit your comments and writing and they will be included in the meeting minutes speakers should conduct themselves with Civility and respect towards others our first speaker is Sarah Barrett [Applause] good evening my name is Sarah Barrett I am a bavia Community member a bavia High School parent a bavia public school teacher and a proud member of the bavia Education Association today I here with my fellow Bea colleagues to show our appreciation to the administration and board's recent recommitment to Transforming Our educational environment by addressing immediate concerns and building a foundation for sustained Improvement and Trust the 2324 school year was all about the new new members to the school board a new superintendent and new contracts for us teachers much of this was and is welcome change in BPS 101 now I'm the first to admit that teachers can be difficult at times when it comes to change we love our seasonal bulletin boards and we have our favorite read alouds but occasionally we are able to see the important impact change can have and we not only welcome it we embrace it and then there are moments where we no not only want to change We crave it coming into this school year the desire for change was strong we as Educators recognize that staying stagnant is not in the best interest of our students we wanted to see shifts in many of the processes in our district to align more to the needs of our kids but I won't lie as the year progressed the feeling of same old Sam old crep back into perception and conversation in retrospect as we find ourselves at the close of the 2324 school year we see that this year was needed as time for our new leaders to learn and experience what it means to be part of BPS with that said the thirst for change has been and is very real we the teachers have faced mounting professional responsibilities unrealistic goals increased struggles with life worth balance and decreased morale we we have felt left out and left behind on decisions made in the name of student growth and achievement we have been disillusioned by unfulfilled promises and unclear communication we have not had our voices heard or our concerns recognized however with this Administration and board's renewed commitment to addressing these and other issues we feel that it is possible to leave these struggles in the past and set our sights on a positive future as we leave this school year behind and shift our Focus to the 24 25 year we look forward to working with the administration and the board in the name of change we look forward to working together to not only rebuild but improve the foundation of trust amongst District stakeholders we look forward to taking time for honest conversations true collaboration and creating the educational environment we all envision and want for the students of bavia we are here and we are here to work with you thank you our next our next speaker is Scott [Applause] bear like I walk slow hi my name is Scott beer for those of you guys that uh don't know me I'm a social studies teacher at the high school and I'm going into my 20th year atav Public Schools normally you see me up here talking about uh wrestling uh but today um just a little actually probably a little background on me I uh served on a negotiation team um I've been a building rep for the past several years and tomorrow I'll be uh reading names of our graduates on stage uh I've uh lived in bavia for the past 12 years my wife and I moved here because there's a palpable sense of community um uh I relish living in the community I teach in uh and I as a teacher and Coach I believe that teaching and coaching is something not only that I do but things I try to live out all the time uh this district is very important to me uh and that's why I'm here tonight and I think that we're at a very important Crossroads uh first it's my perspective and I uh believe that it's mutually held that we as a district have not always lived up uh to building and sustaining uh a culture of one mutual trust uh and two collab decision making it's also my perspective that we've arrived at this Crossroads uh and that is a serious recommitment to building trust and collaboration in large part because of the advocacy of our Bea leadership uh so to our outgoing uh ba president Todd you are an exemplary teacher your students tell me all the time um you're a great listener you're one of the most empathetic people that I've ever known uh and you are a Relentless Advocate uh for students and for teachers um I you push everyone around you to be better um uh to your successor my good friend and brother uh Drew Ray uh I think you'd acknowledge that you have big shoes to fill uh but I know that you'll fill them and to the room I want everyone to know that uh Drew uh is one of the most committed uh to students to his fellow colleagues uh to the district and to the communities I give him my greatest congratulations so uh I I see as that an opportunity here uh one uh I having renewed leadership on the baa side side uh I feel that we have a very engaged School Board uh and I've personally seen meaningful and good faith cooperation across the negotiation table when I served there and I know that uh you know the the good faith visit that Tom uh Kim made to our exec board in the fall uh where he listened to us for a long time and I I think um heard a lot of our concerns and so uh these are all great things but I think we know we have lots of work to do uh and it's imperative that we actually do it um this past week at exec board I listened to my sisters and brothers in our elementary schools talk about uh teachers in their buildings being apprehensive maybe fearful of speaking at uh in a venue like this or showing up to a venue like this and I think we all know that our students are best served in environment where teachers aren't fearful they know that on big decisions their voices will have been heard uh and they feel empowered and lifted up uh in their important work uh when they and when they know that they're on the same team uh as building and central office leadership so our kids are counting on this counting on us to get this right uh and I look forward to the work ahead thank you Scott our next speaker is Justin Allison [Applause] distinguished members of the board superintendent Kim our ba president ton Swanson I want to thank you for your leadership and for teach me way back in the fifth grade to our next president Drew Ray congratulations and your experience will help lead the Bea and our students and lastly to the bavia community my name is Justin Allison I'm a proud product of bavia public schools I'm an Alum of JB Nelson BHS class of 2003 I'm what you call a lifer or for lifer my wife and I reside in town um this is my finishing up my 16th year here and um I've had many uh influential Educators and supporters in this great town that have given to me and I knew way back in elementary school this is the path that I wanted to take to be an educator and give back to this great Community our great Community what makes it great is the Deep Roots within the fabric of American history one of intolerance to hate one of inclusivity and one of true collaboration throughout my career I've worn many hats I've been a building sub a certified history teacher a special education teacher and currently an ESL teacher and a uh Bea rep I'm also finished uh just this past weekend the 12th season as a head coach for girls track and field with that context and as a student of History I feel the moment to be an advocate for our members and our students is now fulfilling these duties requires a strong culture of togetherness and continuous commitment to work together and effectively benefit all of our students and our student athletes as a collective we're here tonight in good faith to support the recommitment and implementation of the identified actionable steps as a lifelong deep rooted Batavian the time for talk has long passed we stand here tonight in a display of solidarity to say and implement the words of Dr King put thin paper to thick action and together it can be achieved thank you all next speaker is eileene Sullivan good evening I'm Eileen I'm in my 38th year in education my second year here in the district and seventh as a pair of professional I have a bachelor's degree and two masters and some I began for doctorate I have been a teacher a coach an athletic director a director of academic studies assistant principal and a principal Care Professionals are not compensated for experience nor for any degrees pair of professionals are not paid when we do not work in accordance with the school calendar I got a 32 cent raise last year I got a $60 increase in my rent it takes me two and a half weeks at 32 cents an hour to pay that $60 increase I do not cost bavia School District $83,000 a year District pa pa of professionals earn roughly 20,000 per year that's barely above poverty it's baffling that district is willing to pay an outside agency $83,000 per pair professional yet refuses to remedy the PA of shortage through a more cost effective means through a pay increase for our district PA professionals 10 BPS Paras cost $200,000 versus 830,000 for 10 projected Agency paas for the next year meeting our students needs and ret retention of qualified committed Paras should be our priority not simply putting Warm Bodies into our classrooms who may or may not know what to do the consequences of our Outsourcing of Paris have been tried and failed this school year it increases the possibility of not meeting our students required accommodations District administrators and this school board I encourage you to be leaders in this area where par professionals are paid their worth and we attract we keep qualified Personnel not short change our students nor our faculty we've lost talented men and women because of the poverty level pay in closing I and some other Paras asked that if a proposal to spend this exorbitant amount of taxpayer money for outsourcing of PA professionals comes before you that you hold and make the decision after reviewing pros and cons and the full dollar impact of pay raises versus Outsourcing of par positions shown side by side openly transparently at a board meeting thank you in order to be informed and for us to be unified as one thank you Eileen thank you very much our next speaker is moli [Applause] jersa hi my name is Molly jersa and I will be a sophomore at bavia high school since seventh grade I have used my voice through emails and presentations to help our schools change I'm here to speak about the new strategic plan that maybe will be voted on tonight last Friday May 17th a student used eyeliner to write the n-word on a brick in our Auditorium this traumatic experience for students was swept under the rug no email was sent about the incident no support was offered to the students who witnessed it nothing was said many students including my seventh grade brother have experienced harmful actions in the halls and classrooms and on buses on a daily basis they hear slurs that affect their academic performance self-confidence and future their voices are not heard instead they are met with silence which adds trauma for them it makes me distraught to see my brother and other students daily come to a space where they have no sense of safety or belonging their traumatic experiences are being concealed as students we are asking for your help yet again we need your help with the bullying in our schools we need your help with the racism in our schools we need your help with the homophobia and transphobia in our schools we need your help to create a place where all students belong the current strategic plan is not specific enough to fulfill these goals and it does not contain prioritized measurement goals or the means of achieving them the Strategic plan does not hold any timelines which leads to no accountability it is crucial that metrics are clearly defined regarding timelines and goal expectations we need to hold those who are resistant to the necessary changes accountable why are we rushing something that determines the future of students there should be time for collaboration problem solving and criticism we should not have one person deciding the future of our students instead decision need to be made by a diverse committee according to our vision statement our graduate should be curious resilient empathetic and proactive but the Strategic plan proposed shows no support on how to achieve the this goal the plan is not specific enough for those students who need the most help we know AP students have enough academic help and we know they can Excel what about students who are over identified for special ed services what about the El students who don't Excel as fast as other students training should be given to student teachers so they can assist students in a timelier and more effective manner while also better understanding the perspective of their students my message is one coming from someone that has to deal with the trauma at school every single day we need actionable steps measurable outcomes and a timeline that holds everyone accountable for creating a district where every Bulldog feels valued and respected I resilient from the trauma the school district has allowed me to experience I'm empathetic to those students who are experiencing what I have I'm being proactive right now to speak up for those students who can't or won't you won't know what I have gone through until you walked in my shoes being told what I am told and being treated how I am treated you will never feel my pain when I am discriminated against but I want you to know who it has made me become it is the responsibility of the administration and board to make sure I feel welcomed at school it shouldn't be my role as a 15-year-old to carry this daily burden that is your responsibility to fix [Music] our next speaker is Chris [Applause] low good evening board I'm Chris low former School Board member tonight I'm here to address the proposed strategic plan for our district I changed my mind on what to say after reading in the paper about the Bea's discontent they are here to address the same issues we tried to address to years ago then we decided to recommit to a new era of collaboration after realizing we weren't being very collaborative there was little accountability in that agreement because here we are two years later talking about the same issues involving the same people in the same committees and I'm guessing we're attempting the same solution perhaps I'm the only one who notices this but there appears to be a pattern to the board's Behavior a problem arises we pretend we're shocked and saddened such a problem exists we say the right words and claim the right values we promise to collaborate with those who we acknowledge are being harmed and then Implement Solutions without accountability or deadlines with the same lack of results I hope the lack of progress is due to a fear of change and not intentional because our children are enduring the same pain at the end of the day it is the children on the fringes that suffer they've been coming to the board for years and have yet to see progress that positively impacts their lives I'm confident you'll hear some of those stories tonight I encourage you to track down the sto students who have spoken in the past and ask them if their lives have improved this plan is expected to last at least 5 years if if the current strategic plan is any indication it will last much longer in the proposed plan the mission state statement lacks purpose the vision is written as if it were already accomplished and we have a list of strategies and key metrics without Clarity of whether they are suggestions or requirements we don't know how these will be prioritized when compared to the old plan there is no more accountability than last time thus no reason to believe the outcomes will change I've been told the details will be worked on after the plan is passed and that calling it a plan is a misnomer because it's more of a vision what is different about this plan that will require the board Administration and staff to act differently what power will this plan give to the voices currently going unheard if 6 months a year two years from now the data hasn't moved how will this plan advocate for those being harmed words mean nothing if not backed up by actions if we're committed to making change we need to do so in writing so the community our staff and children can hold you accountable specific metrics for judging success might not be appropriate in a strategic plan but linking to current data for each reporting period is the board should create and identify metrics for the first reporting period and include them when passing the plan updating them by ually on set dates these metrics and reviews should be should be required and are critical for success and necessary for accountability this has been a collaborative process started almost a year ago many people have put their time and effort to make their concerns known we hint at those concerns in this plan I encourage the board to reach out to stakeholders especially those by harmed by current systems and finish the work they have begun thank you for your time our next speaker is Kathleen [Applause] Meeks good evening superintendent Kim and BPS board members my name is Kathleen Meeks I've been a resident bavia for the past 13 years I'm a fellow public school teacher my husband teaches in the district and we have two children in the district um thank you again for your time and consideration um in addition to being here in solidarity with my fellow IA members and Par of professionals and brave students willing to speak tonight I wrote to you a few weeks ago about something specific in concern to consolidation of class sizes at some of our elementary schools that will be happening potentially next year um anecdotally we know the importance of small class sizes but again according to so much research especially recommendations to the Illinois State Board of Education um average class sizes in our state are well above the national means so this means we need to work together maintain smaller class sizes in our local districts in regards to standardized test score improvements evidence from research finds students from low soci and economic backgrounds and students of color benefit even more from being assigned to small class sizes and the overall population and these gains are not just confined to better test scores but small class sizes are also predictive of positive student outcomes for all students later in life related to graduation rates increased rat of college enrollment College quality College completion savings Behavior home ownership to name a few in summary small class sizes at the elementary level are the most predictive in the elementary years as a baseline standard of equity to best meet the needs of all students specifically in regards to HC Storm I'm learning which has some of the most diverse needs in the district and also some of the highest opportunity gaps I'm encouraged that Equity is being prioritized in this District as a way to best meet the varing needs of all students class size is something tangible that can be prioritized right now in that vein I want to reiterate that although I'm outlining specific reasons to First focus on small class siiz at HD storm I'm advocating for small class siiz at elementary schools in the entire District formulas used to make class sizes the same size at every elementary school should be a baseline to work from but it should not dictate policy and a response of complex influencing factors is not transparent or sufficient enough real systemic change means learning more about what leads to better outcomes for all student populations and prioritizing the areas of highest need first I encourage the board and other community members to scrutinize this data more specifically the Illinois school report card and push for small class sizes as our goal at all elementary schools and especially hope to see this maintained at HC Storm for the reasons I just stated thank you again for your time your consideration um thank you um to the board for your additional unpaid labor the service requires and thank you for your time our next speaker is Martin burn good evening and um let me first say that while I'm not wearing red tonight um I do want all of the Bea members to know that they have my full support and solidarity and great appreciation as well um I want to Echo everything thank you I want to Echo everything that's been said tonight I'm speaking to you tonight to ask that you do not approve the proposed strategic plan in its current format this is a big decision that should not be rushed one of the values listed in this draft plan is integrity the draft explains that this means that the district is quote committed to maintaining honesty and transparency in actions and decisions there is strong evidence that the use of AI was significant in drafting his proposed plan if this indeed is the case the district must be honest and transparent about it what prps were used and to generate what content the district did not need to rely on artificial intelligence to do this you had a detailed and lengthy feedback process from our stakeholders what message does it send to these stakeholders who share their important experiences perspectives and ideas as part of this process that AI appears to have played such a large role in crafting this plan AI can put something together that is lots of educational jargon and sounds good but it cannot provide a detailed and effective Strate strategic plan for bavia public schools GPT does not know our schools better than our own stakeholders please be honest transparent and specific about the role that AI played in creating this draft furthermore this proposal is simply not a sufficient plan to deal with the challenges we are facing students continue to endure hate motivated incidents at school slurs are common place in this District students of color remain overidentified for discipline and underperform academically according to our own data these problems are not getting any better our schools are not getting any safer it does dawn on me that the last time a board meeting was not held at the rjac was almost 2 years ago to this day when it was held at the Rolo cafeteria due to a larger than usual audience which assembled because of these same problems this time tomorrow I will be graduating from this District I will see most of you and and many others in this room there we will be celebrating the great things about this District we will be celebrating the good times but any celebration of these things we like tomorrow night is incomplete without a proper examination of the things we don't like tonight A Metric listed to Foster inclusion and belonging is safety and bullying incident rates I have a lot of questions about what this means but let me tell you that these rates will not begin to show you the problems when students experience safety and bullying incidents they don't report them why because when they do the trauma will continue I've expressed specific concerns about this to Administration I've been listened to I was told what I wanted to hear but I haven't seen or felt anything actually done to solve the problem to ensure that these bad things that keep happening stop happening we're not going to solve any problems by wishful thinking I ask board members to ask questions and do not accept vague answers this plan is nothing but a rubber St for more of the same I hardly believe this plan truly reflects the experiences and ideas that were shared in during the feedback process and if it does I know a much different District than you do thank you thank you Martin our next speaker is Frank [Applause] kmack hi good evening uh my name is Frank cosmac uh stole my opening line sorry for not wearing red uh for all the teachers of this great District um I am a one-year resident of bavia and could not be happier the school's been amazing the community's been amazing no complaints at all but I do have a growing concern over the potential class sizes and the increases throughout the district as a child of two retired Public School teachers with over 80 years of experience I can attest to the home strain that is put on to teachers families when class sizes are increased I can also attest as a student of a large class size of having that feeling of being left out as a parent I don't want that for my kids I don't want them to experience the need and the sorrow of feeling unincluded because the class size is too large what is the perfect class size there are so many great organizations that recommend the ideal class size for elementary schools I highly recommend we listen to them iea Nea recommend the ideal class size for our elementary schools sorry I'm not very good at public speaking um I failed that in high school and [Applause] college um I also implore you all to remember why you took these positions I'd like to remind you of your kids that went through these schools are at these schools now and what would you want for them I know what I want I know what my neighbors want and then I also need to implore how critical it is for small class sizes to help build a sturdy and strong foundation for our community I think bavia is great I regret not moving here sooner because of how great this community is we need you guys to please work with the community with the teachers to maintain small class sizes throughout the district and I also have one last question for you all if you truly believe that bavia is the Greatest Town shouldn't we step up to it shouldn't we prove it thank you very much for your time and have a great night our next speaker is Katie sueki hello my name is Katie siki I'm a parent to children at two bavia schools and I'm a co-leader of a weekly dropin for Fox Valley lgbtq middle and high schoolers including many batavians I'm curious how the Strategic plan is all you've come up with since I attended my first Pavia school board meeting in January 2022 at that meeting a bunch of children told horrifying stories of being harassed and bullied for having black or brown skin being gay or non-binary and for daring to be something besides a straight white athlete they said the adults they reported these incidents to took no action repeatedly until they just gave up reporting many of you were at that meeting and you committed to learning and doing all you could to examine and change the culture in bavia schools I want to believe that you spent this past 2 and a half years doing more than the Strategic plan suggests you did that you've attended conferences on youth mental health that you joined cohorts and collaborated with folks with diverse lived experiences and backgrounds who could teach you about being other in a town that is 85% white and upper class I want to believe you read books took classes got certifications and did whatever else you could to learn about the culture of bullying that's been fostered by the adults here and how to stop it I hope you went to St Charles in Geneva where the youth I work with report better school experiences and asked their boards what they're doing I hope you're about to share all the knowledge you've amassed with parents teachers admins custodians so we can build and support this bavia school system you're strategically planning for knowledgeably and together I want to believe this plan was written by you thoughtfully and that you understand the concepts you outlined on a personal level I want to believe this plan marks a beginning where don't listen to bavia kids each Tuesday Express hopelessness about being bullied while adults look the other way that the adults in this District let them down so often they sometimes have to leave school or Worse hurt themselves I want to believe this is the last time kids need to share and relive the abuse they endure desperate for you to understand and care we need to see Swift and clear action and results from this plan it will not be successful if you haven't spent this time learning outside of yourselves about bullying and white supremacy culture don't make this another example of adults in the bavia school system looking the other way when something felt uncomfortable or they didn't understand it thank you our next speaker is Jared sueki [Applause] hi my name is Jared siki I'm a resident of bavia I'm also a former vice president of a school board the Atwood Heights district 125 and I'm grateful to say that in my six years on that board I never once put a student in a position to have to come before my board and beg for help um because they were being unsupported in the six years I never once had to experience that and tonight we've experienced it twice and I don't think it's even been the first time that that's happened that wasn't in my notes it was just something that I was thinking about as I was sitting there um so the Strategic plan has specific outlines and goals regarding diversity and inclusion I wanted to just emphasize that your decisions have an impact on decisions made by other government entities some of which can be inconsistent with your own strategic plan halty is an organization proposing a development near HC Storm which will have costs above average home costs and in P P's own words will add diversity to bavia by drawing affluent individuals which I don't think is in line with the what we hope when we talk about diversity in bavia a letter from this board read as a glowing endorsement and used by py representatives to get that proposal approved the letter from Agents of this board helped get that approved which I'm told is inconsistent with what was asked of Agents of this board it was as I understand it only asked to agree that there would be an interest in taking cash for the development and not explicitly endorsing the development but PTY certainly used that letter and emphasize this board's love of the plan in order to get that passed please understand that you have an impact on other government agencies and use your influence to support all students and the points of the Strategic plan that requires support from entities outside these walls like developing an inclusive and diverse culture here at BHS as well as in bavia as a whole trust is earned where actions meet words and from what I've experienced over the last two year years we have words down pretty well and I think we need to work a little bit more on actions and those together will rebuild trust that seems like a lot of people are saying has been lacking um I also just happened to pick this shirt this morning but once I heard that it supported the teachers I just I just rolled with it and I actually changed my shorts too so our next speaker is Caleb [Applause] Anderson hello my name is KB Anderson I am the co-chairperson for belong Fox Valley we are a local nonprofit committed to creating safe and affirming spaces for lgbtq folks and allies to gather and create Community I host the weekly drop Center um that actually has several members of the um bavia several Pavia students which is why I'm here to advocate for them on their behalf please know that I'm not here to complain and point fingers directly because I don't know all the specifics these wonderful teachers back here can help you with that but I can say that accountability is important and we need to listen to our youth and I want to make sure that I can provide a vital role in helping this community create respect for the Youth all Youth and diverse communities but especially with lgbtq youth because that's directly what I what I work with so I'm here to offer some insight and suggestions on how the district can support the teachers and staff and the students that being said accountability like I said is extremely important and I do believe that adults should be held accountable for not supporting youth youth um when they are being bullied and need additional support some of the information that they have shared with me physical bullying being threatened by other students in public and private spaces like the bathroom verbally assaulted and misgendered stalked and Cyber Bullied by their fellow students they've been told by teachers that they're overreacting and everybody just needs to be able to get along they felt unsupported by adults and don't believe that telling an adult would make a difference some students have had folks throw food at them during the Lunch Period they say that they don't have a teacher they can trust and some have even changed schools for me personally the most disturbing thing that they have told me is how frequently other students tell them they should go kill themselves multiple times by multiple students so I'd like to share some information from the Trevor Project the Trevor Project is a leading Suicide Prevention nonprofit the lgbtq youth in the United States they conduct a survey every single year from the youth and I'd like to share a couple of those statistics in 2023 the youth shared 39% of the time youth considered attempting Su suicide lgbtq youth specifically 46% of those individuals were non-binary and trans more than one in 10 youth have attempted suicide in the lgbtq community 49% of Youth ages 13 to 17 experience bullying increasing higher rates of suicide some of the experiences that they have in have shared from their schools 32% have been verbally abused 21% have not been allowed to dress in affirming clothing 11% of disciplined students 11% of students were disciplined for taking action against their bullies our youth have access to more information communication and forms than they ever have thank you Caleb okay thank you our next speaker is Gabriel Caputo hi thank you my name is Gabrielle Caputo I am a parent and Community member for 10 years in the bavia community I came here tonight wanting hope but have found myself a little bit discouraged hearing some of the stories from these amazing kids and teachers and of issues going unaddressed I'm here tonight my primary focus was my concern around the poor academic performance especially in the elementary schools and wanting to know what was going to be different what was the school going to do to improve the performance I'm not so encouraged after hearing from people who have been in this community addressing the board without action here are a few numbers I'd like to share with you US News and World reports ranks I'm going to speak to my specific school hooverwood at 303 out of 600 schools 58% of the kids in that school are not at the state reading levels if you go to the report card it's a little bit better 50.9% of the kids aren't achieving State uh proficiency levels 103-4 Z2 Public Act aimed at literacy amends the Illinois skill code noting students who are not proficient readers in third grade are four times more likely not to finish high school if those students are from low-income families they are more than six times likely not to finish high school that's alarming I also in my preparation for this evening looked up the Illinois school code 105 section 34-1 a65 door security locking it is in this code I did not find any anywhere where it is acceptable to allow an elementary school to prop their front doors open with milk rates yet that behavior has been allowed for more than a year going unaddressed when I asked the leadership about the incident the response was my responsibility for the school ends at 3:30 I find that wildly unconscionable to have a leader of a school making that type of statement what does that say about the leadership how could I expect anything better from that school with that type of leader I've asked the teachers what will be different next year I've asked the principal I've asked the um the district's Chief academic officer I understand that you can't answer questions tonight but I'm hoping that somebody gets back to me to tell me what will be actionable the Strategic plan our objectives they are not it is not a plan and I do not see anything that will be actionable next year so I beg of you to share with us what are we going to do today to help the kids today improve that performance not years from now thank you our next speaker is Renee Craig [Applause] hi my name is Renee Craig I have two daughters attending storm one is finishing third grade first grade one is finishing third grade this was our first year in this District I would like to add our family's voice to those exper expressing concern regarding the proposed class size increase for second grade next year from what I understand class size will go up from around 17 students per teacher to about 23 students or more per teacher that's at least five more kids for one person to teach five more Minds five more sets of behaviors five more sets of diverse needs we moved here not even one year ago exactly because of Storm's ability to support a d diverse group of learning needs we did not accidentally land at storm either we toured schools before we looked at houses our children were underserved in our previous district and there is no doubt that that large class size was a contributing factor I volunteered in the classrooms weekly in that district and saw it happening HC Storm was a particularly desirable school because of its small class sizes this year both daughters have thrived at stor stor I have never been able to say that before moving was a big risk and we could not be more happy with the outcome storm has some very special things going on skillful caring teachers supportive parents a great PTO and small class sizes the community of teachers parents and administrators are all fully engaged everyone wants the same thing to educate the kids as someone who has seen both sides of a school system working and not working I cannot believe removal of support for something that's so clearly effective is even being considered especially after the transformation I have witnessed in my own kids in just 10 months you fail everyone when you increase classroom ratios and teachers especially they are your primary resource they need and deserve support even the best teachers have limits to how many students they can engage you can indeed stretch them too thin an overloaded classroom means that teachers cannot teach everyone it means not every student is learning up to their ability the situation starts to erode the valuable relationship built between teachers and their students and the erosion ripples out to parents and administrators regardless of the size of a student's needs my direct experience has unfortunately shined a bright light on what happens when there's too many students and not enough teacher energy you fail everyone let's not let this happen this community cares so much about education and so do I thank you our next speaker is Amy ER hi my name is Amy artt um I'm here to talk about the HC Storm second grade being condensed from three classes to two um I have two kids Logan who is currently a first grader and Madison who will be starting kindergarten in the fall having been around the current first grade group for two years seeing them in sports in the neighborhood at school events and on playdates I feel like I've come to know a lot of the kids really well this is a diverse group with a lot of different needs this is not a group to test class number limits with I've emailed Mr Mila and I'm aware that a lot of factors go into making these decisions knowing these factors I still deeply believe reducing to two classes would be a huge disservice to this specific group of kids I worry that the teachers will be in survival mode focusing on putting out the biggest fire while kids who are also quietly needing a little more fall through the cracks I know my own experience with my son Logan he came home every day from kindergarten with a behavior chart but now that he is in a smaller first grade class class Mrs Torgerson has been directly reaching out and creating Solutions and finding ways to empower Logan to make decisions that put him in a position to behave in an acceptable way he has grown Leaps and Bounds this year and these empowering learning moments have given him confidence and skills and have boosted his self-esteem I can't help but think his kindergarten Behavior plan may have been related to limited capacity to redirect in response to the teachers being stretched too thin the large class group left the teachers relying on this tool as a Band-Aid and I know a decent number of other kindergarteners who were given this same behavior plan it's a Band-Aid not a solution my husband and I supported the chart 100% And the teachers um we loved his second or his kindergarten teachers and we really um we spoke with them on a regular basis we're sad that our in incoming kindergartener won't have them we just have reservations about going back to these larger class sizes and feeling that the teachers are drowning and unsupported or at their wits end we have loved all the teachers we have come in contact with at HC Storm I know this is not an issue with the quality of the teachers one person can only do so much I don't even want to consider that this may really happen but if it inadvisably does I would love to hear a solid plan for additional support for the students and the teachers thank you our next speaker is our next speaker is Katie [Applause] Payne in the interest of time will Alexis Porter and Liz both stand closer to the podium so we can get through your comments please thank you thank you hi my name is Katie Payne I have four daughters in the district next year they'll be at the high school middle school and two at HC Storm I recognize some of you for my work on the core committee where we analyze the state of the school buildings I was happy to volunteer my time because it was on Zoom not so many people and because my daughter's handicapped and I wanted to ensure that the district is accessible for all students this is where I come to the number of students in these outdated classrooms the study found classrooms have high noise pollution harsh lighting and varying temperatures since the referendum didn't pass we can't change this environment um so let's think about what we can control the number of kids in this classroom my daughter Julia has a hard time getting around if she falls it usually leads to a concussion since she can't um she has no shoulder um motion um it becomes Danger for her not only my daughter but those with ADHD anxiety autism they're already kind of triggered by this environment that they are in um it will become harder as there is an increase in the number of fast moving obstacles I mean students in the class while we all agree it would be best to have the smallest amount of children in the class I would like to take it a step further and say having a large class would prohibit the accessibility of classrooms and make it so those with disabilities seen and unseen are not able to learn thank [Music] you our next speaker is Alexis [Applause] Porter hi I'm Alexis Porter uh I go to BHS um I'm also an older sister um my sister sister is 12 years old she's just started Middle School um and I would move the sun with my bare hands for this little girl um and watching her suffer on a daily basis because of not only being a bigger girl but um being black is I had to deal with it in middle school and watching her go through the same torture every day it just reminds me of the same torture that I went through um and she's told me that the bus driver knows this is going on and has done absolutely nothing about it not doing anything but also going for her so that's awesome but she's reported it a few times school's done nothing um we can't do anything me and my mother we just sit back and watch because of what can we do so just watching it's it's pure torture it's because as an older sister you want to do something so bad and you can't you what can I do somebody please tell me what can I do besides sit back and watch and lose my mind every day because I had to go through the same thing being bullied being called a every day every day not only that but we're dealing with it in this school too I mean a few days ago my friend was called a niggaer in the hallway what did they do nothing I'm amazed because what I've done this one time two years ago and the same thing is repeatedly happening over and over again so I'm begging y'all please do something because I can't keep sitting back and watching my sister go through the same thing that I went through there's no thank you our next speaker is Liz hi I'm uh I'm Liz Carlo um I'm a sixth grader at Rolo Middle School this is my first year um I want to talk about the bullying and racism that is going on at at the elementary schools specifically Target at fifth graders all throughout middle school and all throughout the high school um so being a young African-American female can be difficult especially when bul when bullying turns into racism on the bus being called names and targeted the bus the bus driver doesn't do anything about it he just tells the children to sit down he doesn't actually talk talk to them about it um the consequences for the action is not equal to the the trauma it causes a kid yelled at me calling me a really the really bad word for um multiple times and the consequence was one week suspension off the bus being called the N word may makes me feel like I'm worthless or not care about how I feel it has me it has mentally changed how I feel about about learning being at school and how I feel about myself I don't think I don't like writing the school bus and I don't feel comfortable these comments are these comments have not only changed me mentally but has made me feel less and less sorry less and less about myself causing me to have Suicidal Thoughts from time to time this has happened to my older sister before me and she has spoken multiple times and nobody has done anything about it except giving them a talking to or whatever have I've seen this multiple times happen to my friends too what they have to go through and just looking at that makes me feel like why can't we just why can't we just do anything about the bullying the racism the name calling so I'm asking you guys we need to do something to change this for the elementary school children from kindergarten to fifth grade going up to middle school going up to high school before they have to experience this themselves being up here speaking right now we need to figure out a way to change to change this before they have to go through the things that we that I had to go through the Suicidal Thoughts all that is not okay and has mentally changed a lot so what I'm asking you guys is just to change this fast before we have to deal with bigger problems that result into horrible actions that you can't turn back on thank you for your time have a wonderful evening [Music] president meows that concludes our public comment thank you very much appreciate everybody taking the time to come up and speak I'm sure some more will be talking about that at the end our next item is the consent agenda according to board policy we designate a portion of our agenda as consent agenda for those items that usually do not require extensive discussion before the board did I oh I jumped ahead all my notes are written I apologize BPS Partners so I I'd like to invite Todd Swanson up if he's hiding back there somewhere got all my yeah first off I would like to thank the students and the parents and the community members and our staff members that were brave enough to come and talk for some of them to come and talk again I know it's not an easy thing to do and I almost wish that every one of our board meetings was held here at the high school because our Jack was too small so more and more people could hear the messages that were shared tonight so I really appreciate everyone that came out to speak tonight uh today was a day when I certainly lived up to our district motto of always learning always growing I learned today firsthand the influence of the media it has the ability to empower and to Enlighten while also having the potential to sensationalize and divide in my final moments of addressing you as Bea president let me assure you that each and every one of the Bea members here tonight is not here to dwell on allegations of En eroding trust or unresolved issues with Administration that is old news just to make sure that there is no doubt the Bea is here as a unified organization to State publicly that we are committed to working with Administration and the board to help our district move forward together not simply acknowledging the issues of the past but creating A New Path built on the foundations of equal voice shared responsibility and authentic collaboration we are also committed to having open honest conversations when there are speed bumps in the road along the way because there certainly will be that is one part of the real news of this evening that I wanted to share with you as a board and then when I was getting my thoughts together I had another thing that popped into my mind and it was actually something from superintendent Tom Kim and I've only known Tom for a little more than a year now but he has instilled a quote in me that I will take with me every day as a leader and it's this quote as a leader you need to constantly look behind you to make sure you have people following you well I'm looking behind me right now I've got people following me so it is very clear that the Bea is behind this very message and I want to thank my Bea brothers and sisters for their unwavering support and Trust the other news that I wanted to share with you which is far greater than anything that has transpired today is my chance to officially announce to you that the next Bea president that will be working with you for many years to come is my esteemed colleague and Union brother Drew Ray now don't let his Youth and lack of gray hair fool you drew carries with him the skills of being deeply thoughtful and reflective along with being a compassionate listener he has a streak of healthy skep iism that doesn't allow him to jump to any premature decisions or conclusions striving to always have all the facts that he needs he has immersed himself into the leadership of the Bea over the last few years most recently as vice president and building rep at the high school there is no one that I would trust more to carry on the work that began during my six years as president of the Bea he is legit and the real deal and I am proud to be able to pass the Baton over to him and let him have his first board partner address with you so without further uh hesitation I give you our new Bea president Drew [Applause] Ray um before I thank Todd can we please give a round of applause for all the people that came up here to speak their truth tonight a social studies teacher that makes my heart full and I love to see it um Todd thanks for the kind words if there were a Bea Mount Rushmore Todd would be Lincoln Jefferson Washington and Teddy Todd is the very definition of what it means to be Union commitment tireless advocacy empathy for days and a strong conviction that public education is the Bedrock of our Democratic Republic Todd I don't think that our members will ever be able to truly convey our appreciation for your dedication leadership but no matter what please know that our Union is strong because you are strong our Union perseveres because you persevered and our Union is more united than it's ever been in the past 11 years that I've worked in this District because you were there for every single one of us for some of the most tumultuous times in our careers and I know that you will continue to be there for all of us as your role in the union and District shifts and on a more personal note Todd you've been a mentor a role model and most importantly a friend thank you for everything you've done for me and for everything that you've done for the Pavia Education Association I don't where you went Todd where'd you go there today I stand up here for the first time as the incoming president of the bavia Education Association as I've grown into my role in our Union over the past decade I've realized that this work is not just about my students at bavia high school or even my own children Davis Ray who will start kindergarten at HC Storm this fall and his little sister Leona Ray who will join him the following year this work is about all of our kids for the Bea and every other stakeholder in this District every kid is our kid thinking about this work through the lens of our kidss truly encompasses my view of our Union what an Educators Union does is support its members that they can support all kids so to the board of education and our District administration if it hasn't been made clear to you already tonight the Bea is ready to continue to do right by our kids your recommitment to working with the Bea is welcomed and a necessary step needed to finally address the trust transparency and communication issues in this district and as you all know you can't put students first if you put Educators last when we demand a seat at the table we are advocating for our kids when we expect the collaborative structures of this District to truly function collaboratively we are advocating for our kids when we expect the communal knowledge of our Educators to be used as a valuable asset in the decision-making process we are advocating for our kids when we demand that every square inch of this District be utilized to embrace all marginalized students we are advocating for our kids and we simply ask that you think about how the decisions made in this District might impact our classrooms we are advocating for our kids it's time that all of us move from just talk in the talk and finally start walking the walk moving forward together onward and upward onward and upward to everyone in this District my doors forever and always open in the name of supporting our kids and finally to my Bea family you are the reason why I'm so passionate about our profession and the reason why I moved my family here from The Early Childhood Center to Elementary up to Rolo and the High School I hear you and I see you our officer team and executive board hears you and sees you the students of bavia we hear you and we see you Bea I'd like to share a quote from the 2024 IA representative assembly that was held this past spring we had so many great speakers at this event and if I'm being totally honest I don't remember exactly who said this but I wrote it down as soon as I heard it and the sentiment has stayed with me ever since you are not the thermometer you are not the barometer you are the thermos at you change the temperature Bea have we done a lot of great work together this year absolutely is there still a lot of work to get done absolutely but that's the thing about our job the work never ends when all 423 of us stand together shoulder-to-shoulder when our voices are Amplified we can and will continue to advocate for all of our kids thank you for giving me the time to speak I look forward to working with all of you so that we can do right by the students of bavia Public School District good night and good luck thank you thank you drew welcome to the podium and look forward to working with you uh next is Kevin bman vice president of [Applause] Besa thank you excuse me let me adjust this thank you uh you know in the old vvill term following a swans and Ray tag team is truly a tough act to follow and yes I am old enough to remember vaudville you young people here are not so if that went over your heads it's okay I'm here tonight just to update you on some of the activities that Besa and its many members have up to in these last few weeks uh as we wrap up the school year the Executive Board of bespa has worked closely with the top administrators and our Jack to work on some of the issues facing and of concern to the par Professionals in the Early Childhood Program and uh helping to work out some concerns uh Staffing par professional positions with the district uh we met this afternoon I think we made some uh good prog ress but we'll continue to work on those collaborative efforts over the summer and into the next school year best for workers joined our our uh education Prof our partners in Bea at the dayong uh strategic plan Workshop April 26 we also worked with our Bea uh brothers and sisters and served as a vital part in supporting the recent map testing at RMS but and the math and Ela plac testing days at RMS Bea members served on the district's planning many planning committees including Insurance rack and the Strategic plan Committee in addition to their regular daily duties besta members also assisted with three track and field meets at the Rota middle school and the middle school Conference Track and Field meet May 10th at Pavia High School several actually many be besta members will also assist with the eth eth grade annual dinner dance which takes place Thursday night many besta members concluded another year serving as athletic coaches and sponsors of extracurricular clubs at the high school and middle school besta Personnel played an important role in the successful operation of the after school activity bus program that operated throughout the school and concluded its service May 10th at RMS the program provided safe and reliable transportation home to hundreds of RMS students who participated in After School athletics and of a variety of clubs and educational programs the Besa board working in close cooperation with Susan Thorson our IA Regional representative recently completed four listening sessions with our members in the various work categories our building secretaries our par professionals our maintenance personnel and our campus monitors Hillary Kennedy campus monitor at RMS was a finalist for the title of employee of the month at the middle school for the month of April and finally I'm happy to share with you the good news that it was recently announced by the school district that Tory prior a longtime campus monitor coach and besta member at the high school will be inducted into the Pavia High School Hall of Fame with a 2024 class of as District staff in duct E I will have much more to say about Mr prior in September following the official induction ceremony but I wanted to take a minute tonight just to share his good news with you tonight so thank you and have a good evening all right next is board liaison committee reports student oh student just whatney here student ambassadors thank you very much are you guys back there somewhere okay hey guys I was trying to skip things sorry no she told me I WR it down I need to learn to take notes on something else lower this mic there you go that's better hello everyone my name is Dre and I'm Zara and we're the student ambassadors and um as the school year is coming to the end and we wanted to highlight some few things that were happening this month um one event that happened was the incubator pitch night and as someone who participated and also attended I can tell you this was incredible and exciting um the amount of effort and skills that student put into their pitches was truly impressive and so congratulations to the winning teams um last week he also had a choir performance um This was um they also had an uh the end of the night with like um uh the end of the night by honoring the seniors which is also really important and we also had the amasty Jazz performance which showed a lot of talent and also dedication to our students all right we also had mock trial recently they had gone to the Cane County Courthouse to compete against other school uh personally I was a part of this as well and it was an awesome time learning how to be an attorney fortunately we were able to win as prosecution bring home an award and we had an amazing experience with that um along with that there's been some other activities graduation is tomorrow so we want to honor the seniors um looking up in the hallway there's actually a board of all the different colleges they're going to more than like a hundred different colleges across the country and even some abroad so that's an really exciting thing to mention and another exciting event was the meeting and celebration of Spanish Learners at the high school with their Virtual Reading buddies that are eel students at H storm elementary school so they kind of celebrated by playing games and activities so it's cool how they got to meet um some lots of sports accomplishments as well girls track and field uh recently went to State they had seven different events qualify for State five of those events placing at State um lots of broken school records and tons of hard work so a huge congrats to them boys and track and field is this weekend so stay tuned everyone and along with that we also had a fifth grade track meet that happened so so that was it's always really exciting have an annual event it's fun to see personally I competed in this when I was in fifth grade truly brought my passion for track and field now so they I think Al gson took the win for that and ultimate fby also had their first Duane Conference tournament winning their Spirit award U and also our girl soccer team made it to um uh Regin oh I can't forget pingpong Club they had their end of the year tournament so that's always exciting um lastly as student ambassadors and members of the steering committee we would like to voice some of our own concerns firstly we recognize the efforts being put into the incoming plan however to ensure progress is being made we wish to highlight the need for accountability and proof of it the need for strong and specific action items within the next phases and proof of collaboration with all stakeholders to create these goals and finally the need for utmost transparency with the community to Foster trust and truly ensure an effective plan with that being said we also wanted to encourage a message of unity and collaboration these Implement implementation will take efforts and action from all perspective from the board members teachers staff and students to make a real Difference by working together we can achieve our goals and create a positive impact in our school community and education thank you thank you thank you guys nice job this year I wasn't able to turn around V but you described it very well with your words and I know there was some technical issues so I apologize for that but thank you for all your work this year you guys did a fantastic job and um really elevated the stage so thank you uh next I guess our board liaison committee reports Sue do you have anything down at your end of the table sure I can just report that last like a week ago tonight um we gave out the um beefy scholarships uh at senior Awards night and it was very nice and all these seniors were awarded so it was very nice that's it okay uh yeah Equity committee uh had their last meeting um during that we had discussions around they had discussions around um culturally responsive uh communication so kind of speaking to the way different cultures May hold conversations notes of aggressive versus assertiveness um you know people speaking with different volumes and different inflections and just kind of how to um think about that when it comes to students in our schools um there was also some feedback that we got from students from uh having different uh committees uh reach out and ask questions so we were able to go over some of the concerns come up with a few uh ways that we can try to have immediate action and we did that was shared back with the students um so there was progress on that um I believe we will try to meet later in the summer Tom yeah yeah so we'll be also working with the Union on some of the because it's a a committee that was created through anou um at the last collective bargaining session so we already have a meeting on the calendar to talk about some structures and and just what this looks like moving forward so so just one of those examples that we are trying to work together in making sure that uh we meet the needs of everybody students and staff uh the insurance committee did meet on May 9th uh during that meeting assured Partners presented the financial tracker Uh current projections show that we could be looking at a significant deficit which will significantly impact renewal rates which could be as high as 15 to 177% for next year without significant interventions the committee was presented with some options to help control costs that would go into effect to next year's plan some of these changes include capping physical therapy and changes to glp1 drug coverage to align with other public SE sector employers as well as dental vision and life insurance renewals were discussed as well and I just want to say I've served on this committee for two years and I uh I appreciate the hard work that the committee did these are some really challenging environments we're facing on health insurance and I just appreciate all hard work that they it took to to do what's right for the district you all right so Rec met on 516 uh we went over the new food service which Josh will be presenting later tonight um we also went over the transportation um that was already approved in our April meeting and then we also went over the I'm sorry that was a March meeting and then we went over the cleaning service that was awarded in April um we also just reflected on our uh 2024 year and is kind of regrouped and said what did we like what did we not like what should we focus on for the next year um and we did go over some of the insurance stuff too but other than that that was really it thanks for Rob yes um so the curriculum committee met on April 25th unfortunately I was uh sick that that particular day so I wasn't there but the team did send me a couple of the highlights um I think they worked on getting the the um schedule and agenda and um all the details set up for the curriculum week meeting I believe it's called June 3rd through the 5th so I think many of the teachers will be involved in that um and then probably the other highlight is just the uh they work through some of the process for adding supplemental material um how that process works um supplemental material into the into the curriculum so um I think that's still ongoing um Brad did I miss anything no we got it thank you we have some action items on the stiping committee so I'll just wait for that okay discussion all right no problem anything else thank you all right thank you very much well since I read half of the consent agenda headline I will just say these items are generally recurring in routine and can be grouped together for efficiency um as they do not require extensive board discussion Steve would you like to would you please share the information regarding the consent agenda absolutely five .1 and 5.2 is the approval of our April 23rd uh 2023 regular meeting and close session meeting minutes 5.3 uh is our Personnel report 5.4 is our monthly payroll and bills 5.5 is the uh authorization to destroy close session recordings from October 25th 2022 uh 5.6 is accepting some donations uh thank you to Studio Office Depot and Aurora University for your generosity for several of our programs uh 5.7 is the appointment of our Auditors 5.8 is the approval of the Frontline education software subscriptions 5.9 is the approval of the school her Pro subscription 5.10 is the renewal of our Cisco Flex support 5.11 renewal of our Microsoft volume license agreement 5.12 renewal renewal of our power school support 5.13 renewal of Chromebook service contract 5.14 is the approval of meal price increase 5.15 approval of our stoploss insurance contract 5.16 is the approval of our contract extension with the insurance provider 5.17 are curriculum contracts 5.18 is our textbook on display 5.19 is our textbook approval and finally 5.20 is the approval of the consent agenda thank you sir anybody have any questions for Steve or anyone on it oh I just have a question so I'm just curious with all of the um the tech stuff like the front line the Tyler Technologies The Cisco Microsoft power school enrollment messenger um is that always annually or like can we ever do a multi-year on that longer walk today sir most of our contracts are yearly just because of how the cards fall when you renew uh we basically have multi-year agreements for a lot of these that are paid out annually as well so like power school is a good example F lock in the rates and then we pay those annually a lot of these work like that um some of them we also keep short on purpose so we can change our minds later if it doesn't work out we've had that happen with a few products that we've used in the past but most of the time these large ones like this are always happening every year and I always shop around to try to get the best rates and try to lock them in like that and then I just apologize if I missed it but it's Savvy is that an annual or is that multi-year so it it Savvy is who we get our Chromebooks through uhuh and that number is still fluctuating due to us going to the fouryear Cycles on our Chromebooks so that's still kind of plateauing to some point um we're adjusting this year it actually went down quite a bit because we're on our Cycles we already have two years already started so that's actually lowering that cost right now it will go up a little bit once we get to the fourth year but then we'll be kind of a plateau at that point that's covering like your accidental damage things like that with these Chrome books but that's basically when you buy them you get one year up front and then we start renewing as they come through to that cycle does that make sense yep fully does thank you sure thank sir thank you any other questions I had a question I was wondering if Dr new newerk could take a few minutes and talk about 5.18 and 5.19 and just for the community walk through how the textbook approval process works sure so those are anchor materials so the board policy describes how anchor materials are adopted and that is the board of education's prerogative for anchor materials there's two other types of uh resources within our classroom supplemental materials which are used by some and then responsive materials which uh teachers use to teach about things that are happening in our community uh in our environment and those are the there's different levels of responsibility so the board's responsibility is for these anchor materials that will be exposed to all students in a particular program particular grade level so a textbook is the primary resource in this case we're talking about um a primary resource for um an ILP class so we're putting that on display for a period of one month to gather public feedback about that and those are kept at our central office and then we've had a AP psychology textbook that's been on display we've not received any comments on that from the public but we do that so that the board knows if there's any feedback from the community about an anchor text that's going to be adopted thank you any other questions uh yes I'm I'm assuming Tony would speak to 5.15 um if not whoever would be I'm I'm really curious about the decrease in price since that doesn't happen too often I'm wondering what occurred I'll let Josh Buck refer to that one sorry Josh add time okay so every year our insurance broker goes out to the market and does an RFP looking for the pricing they use our members like our data on our members so as our population changes as we have different fluxes in our who we ensure that's a component of that they also look at how much we utilize stop loss if we're utilizing it frequently the rates go higher if we're not using it they go lower so that was a good day when I saw that number so so there's no reduction in any services that are no no not at all thanks thanks Josh yep thanks SJ good question anyone else okay hearing none I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda for all items so so moved by Raquel second by oh Sue I think Cindy will you please lead us in a roll call Vote Yes yes thas yes yes yes thank you very much Tom is there anything to share this even under reports um the foyer reports are presented as noted in the board book and then as treasur report goes Tony anything unusual nothing unusual would not okay thank you all right we move on to action item 7.1 approval of recommendations from stien committee Steve I believe this is yours as well yes but I also have a special guest here tonight Shelby gages uh one of the co-chair along with myself of stiping committee we're going to step up to the podium here and get going all right hello Board of Education thank you for taking the time to listen to our update on stiping committee first we just kind of wanted to talk about our work this year because actually this is my first Year's co-chair um I should maybe start with my name Shel GES I'm from the high school um I teach PE I'm also the activity director here so I'm serving as co-chair on the stiping committee and this is my second year my first year as co-chair um our work this year has been really powerful because we looked at a timeline that gave us a really good scope of the year and it led our work so we decided okay this is what we're going to do in August September October November and then we communicated it to our um community and then we use that going forward and it sets our meeting agendas and really gives us a goal towards our work so it's been really awesome to actually put it in place from creating it last year and now to this year yeah um first of all I want to say Shelby's been fantastic and uh shout out to the Bea uh contract bargaining that we had with the Board of Ed uh last year where we added co-chairs because I think I saw Jake WTH who's also a co-chair with me on joint committee having a co-chair has been awesome and I'm very appreciative uh with that um you know we we uh we did a lot of our work and uh I think I shared last month when we did our update uh that we had uh like 29 requests costing about $110,000 and we had $10,000 to spend and we uh we did our best to uh honor as many requests as possible that made sense that kind of uh uh flowed through the uh some of our core values that we developed a few years back and we were able to uh uh support 13 requests and uh stay within budget um but then we uh kind of Came Upon three stiens that we really wanted to honor and that's why we're bringing those um to you tonight and we'll we'll uh speak a little bit about those um and then certainly if you have questions at the end uh Shelby and I would be more than happy to uh answer those uh I'm just going to speak to the first one um you can see what it is it's the Elementary uh mentoring stiens I saw uh Kleen putton over here I know she has been involved in that over the years and uh we both of you have okay thank you very much good thanks Megan um and and and how that works just to give you some background is we actually uh uh have high school students who uh come come out to all of our elementary schools and and mentor and support um our different elementary students uh in the past that budget has been picked up um I I don't know if it's been varied over the years but most recently uh we've been using some uh cni money uh I don't know was it Sr funds I'm not exact SRA funds which is now dried up and uh we believe in this program and the impact it has uh at our elementary schools along with bringing back our high school students um to the elementary schools and and we felt like it needed to be support obviously the total cost of it is about what our cap is on an annual basis so uh that was very difficult for us to fund but that's one the first one that we believed was uh worth bringing to you for approval all right the second one is for Esports and I've actually personally been working on Esports for many years um it's been an emerging sport within the ihsa and that falls under the branch of activities and in the conference we've been talking about as a duaine conference for many years like we have to bring on Esports so we would have been well this year we actually were the only school that did not have an Esports team so I worked to get two sponsors and I actually found two gentlemen awesome sponsors that have already hit the ground running this year and are doing the work to get our club and team started in Esports the kids are excited these are students that are not in other activities that can go to Esports and again choose a club or a team and so we're asking you to fund the cost total of 5130 um our third stip in that we're asking for today is fine arts director this would be one stien and this individual has been currently doing the job for many many years they oversee all Fine Arts sponsors and teachers and This falls in the careers of art media Graphics design music I mean it's endless and so the work that he does is with accounts budgeting calendars fundraising and again just helping support those teachers and sponsors in these roles it is a Non-Stop job that happens all the time and both of these um again would go over our budget for that total of $10,000 so we thought it was important that we come to you today to ask for these three stiping requests and we have all the totals up there for you to see and um we went to cabinet with us first and then that's how we got here today so thank you for considering these requests any question questions thank you I just have a question I'm just curious the Esports is there a set game that they always play or does it change like with per tournament or yeah so it kind of is what your school does but then Esports has many different games that they can do um many of the video games if you're just not very aware of the um Esports world have a mature rating we are staying away from those at this time and so we are figuring out Seasons with within Esports and certain games that like fall in that season then it could be like a 5we season six week season 8we season and that's a game that you play For That season um I recently learned we've traveled to weaton North to see their facility and learn about how to get this started because their program there is a two-year thing and it's phenomenal um they told us that the different games are akin to different sports so where like soccer may not speak to you and basketball does Super mar Mario might speak to you or Donkey Kong might speak to you so that helped me kind of vision that but it kind of goes in different seasons based on the IHS EA Esports timeline and then how many students are interested in this right now oh gosh so far this year we've had 40 I mean you walk in this room and it's packed full of students and it's really exciting so across all four grade levels or yes across all four grade grade levels um when you actually compete then it just depends on what the game is and if you compete in teams of five or multiple teams of five thank you just want to say one more thing about Esports shout out to Dave for helping support some of that work I know behind the scenes he's been looking into that and supporting and the other reality with this is this is as Shelby shared this is an emerging Sport and as you increase uh there's other costs that come along with it I know that these guys have been researching so there may be a day in the future if this this continues to grow that we may be coming back to you with more requests so just a fair warning I have a comment on the uh Elementary mentoring program my daughter lilan who's a fifth grader has been uh benefited from that program and I also have a dear friend whose daughter participated he's actually my daughter's named lilan his daughter's named lean and she was the mentor for my daughter and so I've seen it on both ends the impact it's had on both girls um has really been magnificent and to have the older kids come back to a grade school and provide that mentoring has it's been a reciprocating benefit so I think it's a fantastic program and I think it's money that would be well spent any other questions uh yeah I I guess mine is more of a maybe for Tony for something like this when we do have an overage is that something that is already part of our budget and allocated how does this affect I guess our budget it will have effects on the budget of course um we're in the process of building our fiscal 25 budget right now so our next fiscal year starts on July 1 and it's a little early yet to know where we're going to land but we hope to have that for you a tentative version of that budget for you at the next month's meeting okay I spoke to Steve and I just said I will be voting no on this simply because they were given a budget told to stick to the budget I think these programs sound great and if you can find a way to work it into the budget that's fine but um I think um Shelby if you want to talk to me later I'm on beefy and we do beefy grants there might be some way that we can work this in I know we can't pay stiens or or like for people but equipment maybe we can work something out that way so but that's just so when I vote no it's not that I don't like these programs just I'll speak to that as well um I think that the annual budget is is uh in need of review I'll just say it that way to be kind when we have groups of children children kids students that want to be actively participating in things that they find interesting and and we say we're not in our budget it's really hard for me to accept that as an answer I have been part of this committee for this year um I probably attended half of the meetings at that and I love seeing the updates I know how hard and thoughtful you went you all thought through this um there's representatives from every grade level there there's a lot of thought that was put into this and in my mind having just approved $330,000 to upgrade our phones or software improvements I'm fine with this expense and I might be talking to Tony about finding ways to improve and increase it because keep in mind there was nine groups approved so there's a lot of rejections that were sent out and I've heard from Plenty of parents how how upsetting it is for their student to not be able to be part of a group that they want to be so that's just my thoughts thanks RJ good points thank you can can I ask a question how long has the budget been $10,000 is that is there any historical off the top of my head I can't recall but that was a subject of the Bea contract that's couple years isn't it um I don't recall the top of my hand there were there were years uh I think I've been here for three or four Bea contracts and there's been years where it was probably 10 or $15,000 maybe when I first started here and then there were some years where there was no budget and we kind of had to uh do our best to make things work and then in our most recent bargain we added the $10,000 back into this new contract thank you I guess I maybe you can Dum this down for me honestly like in in different terms can we talk about the next budget and then include like possibly this conversation of an overage for this in the next budget or is this coming out of this current budget I'm confused about that you know because I mean I do see the value in this but I am worried that we voted for so many new positions and various things there are so many needs that we do have um but are we able to hold off on this and until we are talking about the next year's budget or is this a little confused on the part is why are we doing this now yeah can we I can we wait and and I don't know this timeline for this particular ular decision but I would imagine we could probably wait yes and that would be a question for next school year this would be for next school year yes so so we would need this uh approved if the board so chose to um in advance of the school year starting yeah so in essence we're voting for an increase of $3,197 no 23, 23 but we had 10,000 that's already been accounted for it's so another 23 okay it's about the 10 to be clear to the board 2 $3,000 and the grand scheme of things is not going to I mean it is break the bank right um although as you remark Danielle like there have been a lot of things added and I do have concerns about that in the long term I do expect that our budget will be balanced and healthily balanced for fiscal 25 however in fiscal 26 and 27 that's where I start to get my my Palms start to sweat a little bit is there are other expenses that we know are coming due and money will be tight and there's a lot of things that could happen um monetarily to us from economic conditions those sorts of things that we can't anticipate but um we do know that there are some lean times ahead and we just have to be certain when we're making these decisions that one we're serving the needs of students and two that we do so in a sustainable fashion but I think you're going to be safe if you approve this tonight from a budgetary standpoint but the on in the totality of all the expenses that we Face we have to be careful about what we make decisions upon and we have a lot of competing priorities as what as any school district does thank you I'm just curious really quick so the the orts coaching I mean so technically is that considered a sport so then if my child signs up for it then I'm going to pay the sport fee correct so Esports falls under activities because it's an ihsa activity so as the activity director I would oversee it so it's different than paying like a fall or winter or spring Sports fee you would still pay a fee if you were on the Esports team but it would be significantly less it would be a jersey so that we could compete against the Duane Conference teams and it would be like right now they've already engaged in a fundraiser to raise funds for next year so that they can keep those cost down because they want like very little cost to happen out of the pockets of the students okay okay any other questions okay I will ENT entertain a motion to approve the recommendation from the stipend Committee in the amount of 23,123 thank you very much motion passes for items 7.2 through 7.4 Josh is making his way up to the podium to be presenting to the board Josh all right well we're in a cafeteria so we should talk about food with no food with no food we're going to talk about food yeah but no food but no food for eating um so what we're going to talk about today are two separate action items but they're so similar I'm going to talk about them together okay so we are going to look at our K8 lunch and breakfast program and our um High School lunch and breakfast program so here are just some facts about the program um again it's just to get context about what's going on in our breakfast program lunch program at the K8 building um got meal prices up here we've got annual or average daily consumption um some key things that I'm concerned concerned about or want to investigate more are breakfast in particular that number is low um 1.77% of the RMS population participates in breakfast every day um I feel like that's lower than it should be and we need to look at that in a more systematic way so I'm just putting that up there for you guys to look at and me to learn more about if we go to the next Slide the high school is not on the national school on program so it focuses specifically on Revenue so every item that's sold offsets and and we try to balance it out we don't get National reimbursement for free and reduced lunch so we are up 4.9 4.29% from last year on our Revenue which was good um but it's food and I think the most important part about food is it has to be wanted and appreciated by the people that eat it so we had this great opportunity this year if you go to the next slide to go through a process of change so every five years we have to go out for bid for a new food service provider but the state of Illinois changed that process to allow us to do what's called an RFP or request for proposal what's so great about this is it's not just about the lowest cost it's a we can put other fact factors in um number one thing is taste right we want to taste what we want to eat and we want to like it so um in a little bit you're going to hear from some students who got to participate in some tastings so let me just run you through the process really quick because I know it's been a long night um this started back in last year did some surveys with um rack and some brainstorming reached out to parents did focus groups at two elementary schools middle school and the high school to formulate the process and the evaluation for the RFP put the RFP out at the end of this 2023 year go ahead thank you um and then the process started and it was a long process but it was a good process uh we had eight Food Service um companies come on site to see our facilities they were All Amazed by this sign that's in the cafeteria area that you can't see that says lunch ahead and they all wanted to know more about it so that was very exciting um and of those 85 put in a proposal um to win our business so if you go to the next one and this is where it gets fun so we've got Rees here Rees you are a trooper you stayed all night thank you come on up re was one of our are um five elementary students we also had five middle school students who participated in a ultimate tasting day at RMS so the floor is yours hi my name is Reese and I go to Grace MCU school and I'm here to tell you about my food tasting experience I'm thankful for this opportunity because I don't order school lunches at and I think the food could be way better for example my friend went to school for chicken nuggets and got the tater tot got tater tots and beans not a complete meal another example my friend rid grilled cheese on the menu and got a hamburger bun with cheese on it with apples sauce on the side the best foods we got to try were the orange chicken smoothies Grant sandwich and mac and cheese because they were fresh healthy and filling I would definitely eat these things for lunch some of the meals that I did not like were dumplings sandwiches parfait smoothie bowl and fried apple we are kids we don't we don't want anything too fancy we just want consistency tasty and filling food thank you nice job and thank you to rees's Mom for allowing her to stay up past her bedtime and join us with this uh long night it was a fun night at RMS we sampled a lot of food um middle school kids were running up and down the hallway trying to make room for the last tasting uh it was a lot of fun we did a different approach with the high school we went on a road show and I've got three of our lunch ahead ladies here come on up and uh you guys can tell us about what the Road show was like well reys came a lot more prepared than any of us but um so we went to on a Monday we went to where was that uh we went to Rochelle High School and that's where we tried Arbor um their food system it was really fun um that's going to be like the bottom picture on the left there we they had so many samples for us to try and we really enjoyed just about all of them and then on the Wednesday we went to asigo and Matia and then we also had oh that was Friday you can talk about Friday but we went to asigo and Matia on the Wednesday and those were both really good we what I liked about that was that we got to go to their cafeteria and pick out what we wanted so like we could know what they were actually serving and what like it actually tasted like what their lunch was actually like not getting food brought to us like that they may not have like out for students and both of those were really good um I really liked Matias I like their um program it's how much is that for a meal like it was like $3 and something for a whole meal and it had like all the nutritious um Foods you and drinks you needed so I really liked that and I thought that was a great for students who might not be able to afford such expensive meals and it was really healthy for all the students so I really liked Matias and then on Friday um we did quest which is the program that we had and they came to us so we were in like the back room um it was very good food there was like Caesar salad there was uh I don't know steak tacos steak tacos Pizza acos all these things um so it was like a full course meal which is really good um and that was Quest so what we were using before thank you we SP lot of time together drove on a bus ate a bunch of food I did make them fill out rubrics so it was a little like school um and at the end of the day we took the kid feedback we took the financial feedback and what was really cool is they all diverge to one company um so what we're recommending to the board is that we go with Organic life for both our K8 and BHS programs for food service this would be a one-year contract um how contracts work in food service is it's kind of like baseball you sign a one-year op one-ear contract and then there's four like Mutual options so we review each year and we can just renegotiate the price and we don't have to go through the whole process but at every year there's always that ability to move on just so you guys have context questions so I just make sure um organic life they will offer different foods for people with dietary Su as far as like like kosher gluten-free yes that's a really good question so um they will not offer like a gluten-free option tons of it every day if you need glutenfree they have a process so that they know that they're making the food that you need um it doesn't help their business model to have all those different options available all all the time but if a student or students need that that's something that they can provide what's really nice about their system is their menu has an option where you can click on and see like what is offered daily that is gluten-free or dairy free and all the different options so at least that gives a baseline for what is available each day and then they will work with students on their needs will it work with the lunch ahead app well that's going to be the best part about this is we're going to figure it out um every single company was ecstatic to work with our students um and actually the companies you guys were being so kind when you were up here uh they were grilling them they were asking them tons of questions about how their business works and how they could integrate their lunch ahead into that process so it was a lot of fun other questions no the only thing I was going to say is we reviewed this as a part of rack um with Raquel and I and I the process was very diligent I really loved the fact that you guys were able to kind of involve the students in that and then some of them being as Discerning as you were that recognized like going to the place instead of having them bring you food gives you a little better idea of what they're like um I also think you know as as a person who's got family members that have allergies is one of the things that I've been kind of keyed into and and I appreciate the cognizance of it because like you know when you have like a gluten allergy you don't always want to be like highlighted that you got to go get something special but it also takes different care to prepare those meals because of those sensitivities and those needs so um I'm hoping like this one of the things I thought about the lunch ahead element was your ability to kind of get a lunch that doesn't highlight that you have a special need of something some sort and you can be kind of a part of the group and inclusive in that so I appreciate the process thank you sure thing so real quick did we go up in cost on this yeah so actually it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be because as you guys know inflation is just everywhere so I've got last year's contract um so a lunch like reimbursement rate was $3.25 so that's what we pay Quest this year if we go with Organic life it's $3 30 a lunch so there's an increase uh the breakfast did go up a little bit more than that um it was 175 their proposal was 195 a lot of that has to do with as you saw we don't have a lot of participation and you do have to have someone on site to provide breakfast so if you're not turning out the volume gotta charge more so and this was the lowest priced proposal as well as the best tasting proposal which I was not expecting I was expecting to come up here and say well we're going with company that the kids wanted but it costs a little bit more but we're going to do what the kids wanted I got the privilege of saying we're doing what the kids wanted and we're getting the lowest cost which I was not anticipating so you said you're looking into the elementary the the breakfast on the elementary school side because yeah I want to learn more about that um I have hypothesis but nothing that's like a concrete answer so well maybe since the food tastes so much better hopefully they'll maybe make it and they will come kind of thing right y not not so much on the selection here but uh just curious on uh subsidized meals how do we do that are we is there so there's two different ways CU there's two different programs so at the elementary and middle school level we're on the national school lunch program so the federal government reimburses us subsidizes those meals for us at the high school we are not on that program so it's total revenue so if a student has the need for a free meal we give them a free meal but we have to cover that cost through the program at the high school so that comes out of our budget then that comes out of like the food service Revenue so that's why it's important to generate as much revenue at the high school so differen is here than the middle school we have a coffee bar right so that's another way to generate Revenue to offset other needs yes that's correct you have rough percentages on subsidized lunch how much we do well 18% of our population is free and reduced lunch so 18% of our population has the opportunity to get launched for free every day any other questions from the board okay hearing none I will entertain a motion to approve a one-year renewable Food Service management contract with Organic life with an estimated annual cost of $76,900 cents for the K8 national school lunch program so moved so moved by aens seconded by RJ Cindy please lead us in a roll call Vote Yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you very much item 7.3 anything else to add no that's the high school one yes okay thank you any questions from the board on that one okay I will entertain a motion to authorize a one-year renewable Food Service management contract with Organic life with an estimated annual cost of $767,500 yes sler yes gilber yes yes motion passes thank you Josh on to the approval of a postage machine lease yes well no uh slideshow on this one um this one is because of the United Postal Service they're changing their standard um but really using this as an opportunity to evaluate how we do postage uh we have currently three postage machines in the district RMS BHS and rjac we looked at the metrics we met with the administrative assistants at each building and we came to the conclusion both anecdotally and with the metrics that RMS did not need a machine they used to have it because of sending home map tests and report cards and they don't do that anymore um they actually only did 404 mailers in the entire 12mth span that we looked at so it's not worth having a machine there so we are reducing um one machine in the district we're renewing this for 60 months it is an increase substantial increase but it locks in the rate for 60 months so it's one of those things where it's nice to lock it in and keep the service going sorry it's not as exciting as food service any questions did you visit any post offices no and I'm trying to make sure that our staff doesn't have to the kids visit post off all right thank you all right I will entertain a motion to approve two 60-month leases through Pitney Bose for posters machines at BHS and RJ so moved by Raquel second by RJ second sure RJ all right Cindy please lead us in a roll call vote yes yes thank you sir Dave you're up approval of Chromebook web filter contract got to follow leases what's that you got to follow postage leases I don't have slideshows I don't have kids looking at sorry all right so I'm here for our Chromebook web filtering um previously uh we had a filtering product we used in our classrooms on a four-year cycle um that of course came up due this year again inflation went up almost 40% um so I had to start shopping around um so we went through a process we evaluated almost five of them uh two of them were out right away just due to sheer cost so we were down to like three um due to feature sets things that they offer and whatnot we pick light speed systems as the best option um it's basically what we had but better uh we've had a lot of nice features that have come that are actually included in this where the previous one securely was charging I'll call it allart per per license basically so it was more of like a modular based system um light speed actually made a bundle for us um so this worked out very well um so the total amount this is for one year I wanted to go one year just in case it's a bad experience we can jump if we want to next year will look at a multi-year if we like it still and I'll probably lock that in at five and try to get a good rate on that when we do that any questions has this been um tested in the classrooms yet yeah we tested uh sixth seventh and eighth grade um they've had probably the most issues across the district with a lot of the filtering issues in that building um it's been well improved with the teaching staff they like it what are some of the features that you appreciate about this one not to get in the tech nitty-gritties but there are certain categories uh that securely failed to catch alcohol it light speed catches a lot more um we could be specific I sent you that one message about that's what it's going to help you with yep okay exactly um there's there's an easy way to get around the filter and I was made aware of I let him know and he took care of it so yep that's what just like we we got a lot of calls like that and this this product it's not 100% they never are but this is a lot better approach and I think moving forward this route will help a lot more on our end and staff so um you did six seventh and eth so let's say student is playing games the teacher will see that yes that's an option as well we're not rolling that out completely we demoed it but we're not ready to roll that just yet so if the te if the student does get ACC whatever they're playing a game and we haven't roll it out but it do to say they we did and the teacher like go in and say nope yes and take it off yep most modern filters do that securely wanted a lot of money to do that so that's one of the first things we were looking for of many that was one of the features these guys do offer and I'm sure they meet all the standards for student information security yeah yep the biggest thing is the categorizing stuff that it's so much better than what we've had securely we had them almost 11 years so that's you know they haven't changed that much in 11 years unfortunately but the price is the main driver of this any other questions so you said it was a 40% increase what is it is it 40% with this one or 40% is why you started looking and therefore where did you end up approx this is probably I would guess I don't have it off math probably 20% more than what we were paying okay the biggest thing is we had a Consortium price with a bunch of other school districts in the state right that pricing of course was really good it was almost three bucks a kid well now it actually went up to almost eight bucks for the same feature without the other stuff we already had right so it was pushing 14 bucks a kid okay I had to look appreciate it yeah I'm sure doing like multi-year versus this one year that's going to help it it will so like next year my hope is that number goes down a little bit and then we can lock in a rate but I it's hard to tell cuz I'm any everything goes up they call it uplift so like every year there's a percentage regardless but I'm hopeful that it isn't drastic next year and then we can lock her in for however long the term makes sense and we go from there okay any other questions all right I will entertain a motion to authorize the purchase of light speed safety security and impact bundle at a total cost of $2,433 18 so so moved by Raquel second by second was that down there Aaron okay thank you Aaron thanks guys all right Cindy please lead us in a roll call Vote Yes yes yes yes yes thank you software purchase that's me so we're seeking the board's approval to purchase two pieces of software from Panorama education the first piece of software is their Student Success platform this would be a new piece of software for us that really assists our building level intervention teams so we have teams that meet on a regular basis to review student data student progress in their interventions they're oftentimes looking at five different sites to get data in their team meetings it's very ineffective process for them so this is a a piece of software that would link up with those pieces of software that we use for different interventions and be able to see it in One dashboard so this will help us to see the effectiveness of these interventions who needs interventions who can transition out of those interventions so that's the first piece Panorama also does student surveys uh we currently use a product called Desa which looks at the seal skills and assets of our students uh we're seeking the board's approval to transition to Panorama the reason for that is a couple of pieces one is we believe that the the Panorama student surveys more closely align with the district's vision of Social and emotional learning and the castle competencies that underg our system the other piece is that this is student reported data and you'll see when Tom goes into the Strategic plan is that student voice is a huge part of the Strategic plan currently right now teachers do reporting on Desa in the elementary through middle school and then they we see students start to answer the Desa survey in high school uh this would be all student voice really increasing student voice of students to tell us what's going on with them both socially and emotionally so we um have informed CAC of some of this work we have taken this to different teams including our counselors social workers School psycholog ologist and those members of blit teams so the people most affected by these software have been consulted on this um in the notes I put we did some surveys of them most staff were in support of making this change any questions I have a question um which you answered quite a bit of them but um so the student successes it says um data sources track evalua intervention effectiveness of the student building District manage academic social emotional Behavior data in a singular platform I I understand how we measure academic but how do we measure the social emotional behavior of data that would be through this survey that we're surveying the students with I'm trying to think of the right way to say like I understand what that but like so if I get an A like I I understand that right like my grades but is there I guess the curriculum is academic correct like and you can manage that but the social emotional how do we is there like a curriculum for that that they put the data in is what I'm trying do you understand what I'm saying like yeah our levels each have a Social and emotional curriculum a tier one curriculum that they go through uh we're constantly working on that to make it better but they have a Core curriculum for social and emotional learning yes so is that where that will pull that from for this the data you the data would help to see if that is working if that Core Curriculum is working but it's not directly tied to it it's not the curriculum itself okay if you don't mind you you submit your questions via email and he'll jump to you and get a response thank you all right any other questions okay thank you I will entertain a motion to approve the purchase of Student Success Plus student surveys from Panorama in the amount of $62,400 so moved so moved by Sue second by second second by Rob Cindy please lead us in a roll call Vote Yes yes yes yes yes thank you very much uh item 7.7 approval of high school sidewalk Rehabilitation project hello Mark yeah I'm talking about concrete so not nearly as exciting as um Josh is um so this one was on my radar but because of this winter had to be bumped up quite a bit um people think the winter was very mild it was but in the World of Concrete that's not good a lot of freeze and thaw um so I had Sil Engineers come out and do a survey of the entire High School um all the grounds and this particular area that we're looking at is what I call phase one and it focuses basically from the Fine Arts entrance all the way to the Wilson Street side entrance um and how they did this is they surveyed the entire site and then you get basically three readings you get a red worst yellow and in the middle and then a green um and this area was I would say probably 70% in the red um it wasn't like that a few years ago um so it drastically got worse um and there's some timing that we have to get in with this one because the fine artart schedule doesn't completely you know go with the school schedule um they're very busy in June so we had to fit this in in really like the first two weeks of July there's another big event that happens here and it's the 4th of July so we have to worry about that one so literally there's a very specific window that this had to be done in and really to get six bids how late we went out from concrete is very good um so I was happy with that and they came in much less than what our construction manager had um projected Ed for Budget wise um this being phase one obviously there's other phases so um phase two and phase three will be coming at a later date um there also is a phase four since they were out looking at this um looking at improving some walkability around the high school um we did add some seating outside for lunches looking to kind of add to that as well and some other you know opportunities for students to sit and you know as they wait for rides more seating areas as well thank you questions no photos huh yeah no photos have we used the company that they're recommending before the district has not but um lamp who's our construction manager has if we delayed on this what would the impact be well if we delayed on this the impact would be you have trip and Falls so yeah if you know somebody trips on there gets gets hurt it's on our grounds um so so that would more than likely depending on the injury would be much more than the actual cost of the work and there's a rating that they do as far as you know curb height is there certain you know concrete Has Lifted so much um so that's what the red was so we're at a point of um needing to have this done so Mark are we talking just if I'm thinking the Fine Arts entrance correct yeah so actually around to here not no not how do that no so so where the garage door is by the find Art Center That Sidewalk piece follow that towards the bus lane on the Wilson Street side to the main entrance of on that side on that side sorry I should go that way categorize that as the student entrance okay so because I think of that as the main I but we're on that Wilson side okay that would have been a really good bit well that's why I'm just trying to get wrap my mind around it okay so we're just kind of doing that side right okay are there no other areas any schools that are in the red um those are but much smaller and so we'll kind of handle that not to this volume so we'll handle that you know as they come up part of our regular main yep part of the regular maintenance obviously the scope of the high school is much larger than the other schools I wish I had I wish there was pictures um maybe this is an odd question but this is bavia fine art center but it doesn't matter that it's poav fine art center just matters that it's our property mhm there's no shared responsibility from anyone else that utilizes we own the center just completely that shared why did I think that there was I thought there was Financial I guess I'll have to talk about this other I thought that there was a financial um partnership oh Dominic's gonna do it there isn't a financial partnership okay there's a cost to utilize the facility for some reason I thought there was something with the with the city no okay there is not it's our Auditorium and um it was added on to the high school in 200 I don't know what the year was when it was finished maybe 11 um or 10 or 11 um but it started with the additions in 2009 and uh it's operated is a High School auditorium but it also operates as a true and genuine Fine Arts Center that uh one we have a um a uh program where the community is invited to see all sorts of Great Performances in the finance Center and that does generate revenue for us it helps us maintain the facility and pay for the staff um and um we also operate it as a an auditorium to support our elementary and middle schools their music programs and their performances uh and it's also expanding into um uh digital media and all sorts of opportunities for students to participate in those program offerings and so it's really a u a quite a facility no other high school I believe in the area certainly that I'm aware of operates a facility quite like this one but it is not a partnership is operated entirely by the school district I think the scope of it is what led me to think that maybe then so okay and I'm sorry Dominic that I did not give a very good description of all the things that you and your team do so my apologies but it is truly if you have an opportunity to visit the center or any of the performance es it is truly extraordinary and our students get to participate in producing those experiences for folks and it it's amazing and a lot of times when big actors and performers come to town they spend time with our students and um it's it's pretty awesome opportunity and with that glowing review from Tony any another question I hear or no Noe okay we're good all right um side I will entertain a motion to award bavia High School sidewalk Rehabilitation to tro mcneel Paving in the amount of $71,000 so moved so moved by Aon second by Sue Cindy please lead us in a roll call vote yes no yes yes yes thank you motion passes amendment to resolution authorizing the intervention in property tax appeals Tony yeah uh this is amending a current and standing resolution that I think dates from 2020 we often intervene in property tax appeals uh because it's in the interests of the district and our taxpayers uh and these are not for Residential Properties per se these are for large commercial industrial properties U where the district and the other taxing bodies would be at risk of issuing refunds to those property taxpayers and in some cases um that is a fair thing to do and other cases it might not be uh and so these are cases that are presented to the K County board of review or they're also presented to the property tax appeal board which is in Springfield or in some very rare cases they are tax appeal that are filed in circuit court and um what ends up happening for school districts in particular as I always say we're we're the Big Pig at the trough when it comes to property taxes that's a phenomenon that is very common throughout the the CER counties of Chicago um especially here in bavia uh but so school districts have very much of vested financial interest in these in the amounts um compared to other uh in terms of the property taxes that are at stake compared to other taxing bodies and what's up happening if if school districts don't necessarily intervene is that the property tax burden shifts from Residential Properties or excuse me from commercial and Industrial properties to Residential Properties and the reason for that is because of the tax cap so in K County we're tax capped all of the public bodies are capped uh and so that means that there's a finite amount of money that can come in terms of new Revenue to those taxing bodies in a given tax year and if commercial and industrial property have they hire lawyers that do this work on a full-time basis to file these appeals and they generally file evidence that's favorable to them and their the case that they're making but what oftentimes happens is that evidence to the contrary isn't filed and so the boards of review or PAB aren't always aware of the counterargument and so there can be a tendency can be a tendency for them to favor those particular property taxpayers and like I said the result is isn't that the school district isn't is going to lose money it's not generally the case although they could be on the the hook for refunds um but Residential Properties are going to pay more in the long term so that's the basis for this resolution it we get tax peels in our office on a fairly regular basis and when it makes sense to intervene we do and those are generally large dollar amounts dollar amounts that start in um six fig numbers and can be higher um so we're judicious as to when we intervene sometimes we have to hire up uh folks to do appraisals of those properties and there are costs associated with it and we certainly work with attorneys to to do this work because it in and of itself would be a full-time job otherwise um but um so this resolution would update the resolution that we have on file one because um we have we're working with a new law firm we want to make sure that the board authorizes that but also to make clear what the process is and that we keep the board apprised of these appraisals when they when they uh or excuse me these interventions when they come du so we're basically giving you the authority to do it yeah but you will still let us know what you're doing exactly kind of like what's happening what always happens yeah just to confirm because it's kind of hard to hear down here sue you were basically stating that he would be keeping the board informed as to decision- making processes and caps or limitations on what we might allow or something on that sort yes okay so maintaining the same effective practice pretty much status qu yeah okay any other questions okay I will entertain a motion to adopt the attached resolution authorizing CH the Chief Financial Officer to decide on manage and report on property tax appeal interventions to Pro to protect the financial interests of the district so moved so motion by Sue second by RJ Cindy please lead us in a roll call Vote Yes yes yes yes Thomas yes yes yes thank you motion passes before I move on to 7.9 Tom has graciously gotten a number of sodas for us down here so if anybody wants one come grab it um but other than that uh Tom are you going to lead us on the discussion regarding the Strategic plan I will thank you um first I want to just um bring attention again to gratitude and thanks to folks that spoke tonight um to the Strategic plan um also sharing concerns and highlighting things that they wanted to make sure that the administration and the Board of Education uh continue to be aware of and are reminded of um what I'd like to do is start by using a presentation that was uh created to help walk through the process of the Strategic plan tonight and it's up on the screen now all right so the Strategic plan um we the district currently maintains a strategic plan on our website um as it exists now there is a strategic plan tab along side it an equity Tab and alongside that a portrait of a graduate um the the work has been done in in a variety of series of times where the district has engaged in that process um from my understanding it's been about 10 to 11 years since we've done a comprehensive overview and review of this work so what I plan to do on the next slide table kind here is walk you through the why for a strategic plan process and the Strategic plan itself then talk to talk to you uh share what the process was walk through S the critical components of the mission the vision the values and then the commitments within the plan talk about our priorities that were gathered through the uh strategic plan process um what that integration will look like and how the portrait of a graduate fits in based on the feedback we received and then what those next steps in implementation will look like um hoping to bring some clarity about the um points raised this evening about collaboration and I think this is one of those critical uh aspects that will support uh what is being asked for and what is needed in this District to make sure that we can execute a strong and viable plan for our students all right so why do we have a strategic plan um a strategic plan for a school district is essentially the guide that's uh used by the school board to uh help govern the district and provide us with accountability the board of education's framework uh to oversee all of our work and how you evaluate me as the superintendent is a part of that work through the Strategic plan process this is probably one of one of three key pillar responsibilities that a board of education typically will have you know setting essentially the goal posts of what our District's work is secondly maintaining the Board of Education policies in our board handbook and then third hiring of your employee as the superintendent right so those are three of those big duties in this particular aspect when I transitioned in with the with the board sorry let me screwed up my feeling um we had talked about my evaluation and what those goals might look like and as a part of that outcome the board agreed that uh you would like me to undertake a strategic plan process this year rather than waiting to year two so in September of of this year um I presented what a plan might look like um and the board approved that and that's what we moved forward with so why have a strategic plan in essence if we were to boil it down um this is our framework this is the board's framework that guides the district's vision and actionable goals and all the work that we'll be doing carrying it forward all right to speak to the process uh one of the things we started with when we looked at the model I had shared with the board that collaboration and voice was a a large part of informal feedback I'd been receiving as I was uh meeting with various leaders inside our district meeting with folks outside of our district within the communities and our strategic partnership groups such as Bey the Chamber of Commerce Etc um one of the constant highlights was the strength of our students uh the belief in our students and their ability to to uh do great things because voice and collaboration was also a critical factor in the feedback I'd been receiving sometime a lot of times models that districts embark on when they create a strategic plan for uh as a board and as a district is that they'll gather representatives from various stakeholders to represent certain themes or areas of interest and have them represent the voice of the rest of the people um as I presented last fall we agreed let's use our students to lead us through this work and let's make sure we capture all voices so employees in fulltime all full-time employees were invited um and and uh certain groups that were employees that typically did not have to work on the Institute days where we gathered the feedback um they were compensated if they were willing to come in and participate in our vision sessions uh the vision sessions being the in-person feedback sessions uh for anyone who participated in our process so our Bulldog ambassadors were selected uh building leaders assisted me and identifying students that um would be able to help us lead the rooms where the adults were were providing that feedback um as as you noticed tonight we had several student speakers some of those very speakers were our Bulldog ambassadors in this process um and in total we had approximately 66 68 students participate in leading these Vision sessions so I I want to commend and thank all of our Bulldog ambassadors and the parents who supported them uh in this process we were able to engage using students from fourth grade to senior year and so that was a pretty uh wide range of age group of students but it was an amazing job that they did and I think they're really to be commended for their leadership opportunity that they took advantage of uh Consultants were hired as the board might remember I was authorized to uh uh have an expenditure of up to $20,000 with our two Consultants that was approved by the Board of Education um I want to thank them as well for their work uh just to report for transparency we came in at approximately $16,300 on this project uh keeping in mind sometimes this Consulting work can range up to even 120,000 so I just want to say thank you to those two for helping us through this work and um a lot of the creation that they were able to work with me on and then finally I want to thank our steering committee so as a part of the accountability process and transparency uh we had representatives from Bea Besa uh students uh the Board of Education and parents all mixed in on a steering committee uh at at each checkpoint during the process the steering committee was given access to seeing the work in its raw form and what was being drafted and synthesized into a product to can keep us moving forward we met last Wednesday evening as a steering committee to review the final draft that's being presented this evening um this was a completely voluntary effort and I do want to thank everybody who served on that committee uh on the following document that is in the board book and publicly viewable uh I did list the names of the folks that were uh like that were served on the steering committee and we'll get to that at the end of this slide deck all right so the phases uh through this process as I had mentioned earlier in-person meetings were called Vision sessions uh surveys were used throughout our process as well and as we gathered all that feedback we built out themes so phase one started with the board approving the process and then uh we spent the next couple of months preparing for this uh work then in December we began with our very first survey that went out and also began training our Bulldog ambassadors the students so we conducted a training with all Bulldog ambassadors at rtoa Middle School in December to prepare them for the work they would be doing on January 8th then in phase two we began our vision sessions um that took place between the months of January to April and that's where we engaged with our stakeholders um both inside and outside the district this did include more survey work uh as part of that process process in phase three uh which I referenced just a moment ago this is where we came to our final Vision session work and then uh created the final draft which was again approved or reviewed by the steering committee last Wednesday and um given approval to bring to the board this evening there were some minor adjustments that were requested by the committee which I made and that's um what is presented to you this evening phase four um at whatever point the board decides to approve this this um document this plan implementation and collaboration begins so I think the board has heard um a good amount of feedback about where where do we get specific where do we start to select specifically what those Target data metrics will be in terms of growth and gains and attainment that is a part of how we will collaborate together as a district and again this is coming from the feedback that's been collected over the last uh you know six months since December and I'll walk you through what that process may look like and show you the structures of our strategic plan now I know there's also been some questions about what does what does the Strategic plan purpose serve for a district and why is the board may be involved in this so if you can see this infographic um this kind of highlights what the structure of the Strategic plan's purpose is we gathered all the feedback uh through surveys and vision sessions so we collected that data and feedback synthesized what that Mission Vision and and commitments would look like then brought it down to what our organizational strategies and organizational metrics would be based on that feedback so um making sure that the data that we would Target aligns to the three key priority areas that were identified through the surveys and the vision sessions now you see there where it says up to that point that's been the governance and board area of your work once this plan gets approved So eventually whatever point the board decides once this work has been approved that's that's the board's directive and and Direction and vision setting for BPS 101 after the approval process that's when we will then talk about specifically under those key metric areas what those goals should look like and again for full transparency that'll most likely be my evaluation so I will make sure that as the superintendent of the school district I'm owning and being held accountable to the data that the district's uh Board of Education wants to ensure is being um how I'm leading the district and what we're doing together across the board and from there then we talk we this is where the collaboration piece this is the execution where when we get to implementation and how we carry this work forward this is where we need our Bea our Besa and our Administration collaborating coming together sharing our expertise thoughts and understandings about the work and resources that have to be um you know developed or or moved forward in terms of uh meeting our plan that the board has set forward for us um in this next slide this will also be highlighted in the Strategic plan draft if you take a look here uh these are these are literally drawn out of the plan and these are some of the items that you'll be reviewing And discussing tonight um okay and again this is a gathering of a wise swap of feedback and input that was given um Mr kilberg and Mr arandu both board members sat on our uh steering committee the raw data was presented and then shown how we synthesized it and asked the steering committee to make sure that this met what was being submitted To Us by all the stakeholders at each checkpoint of the process all right we wanted to ensure that um there's a lot of different language and a lot of different input that was given not all of it matched depending on who submitted information or who participated and shared that so there were ranges and edges of where some of the outliers were and then we could see where the concentration of agreement and consensus were uh in terms of the work that this District should focus on that was how we we synthesized that feedback so what's in front of you is representative of what the majority cons feedback and input was I say I feel like I'm saying feedback a lot I apologize we've also heard about commitments um that was a part of some of our public comment tonight and it is without any doubt that commitments were also U being asked for through the feedback that we received primarily largely in our internal Vision sessions and internal Sur survey that was launched in BPS 101 so if you take a look here as noted and you heard earlier this evening there is a strong strong commitment and desire to do what's right for students and their learning um there's a strong desire to make sure that our district is inclusive and finds ways with a sense of urgency to create a sense of belonging and inclusion at at BPS 101 the the commitment to collaboration which I wholeheartedly support and again I would encourage that that's that's an Avenue of how we will tackle this together and then finally the idea that we are going to commit to continually improving and growing as an organization um and again I use the word organization because as a board of education that's what you that not trying to tell you you know things but you are my bosses but as a board of education your focus is the organizational well-being right at a at a very large scale of the district these commitments are really strong indicators and characteristics of an organization's growth mindset and and I and I believe that if this plan and the feedback we received would support that all right so then here are the three priorities I'll let you take a second here just to review I know you may have it in front of you but please take a moment all right these three overarching priorities were established after the December surveys and then that was verified and then continued as the as the focus point of the work when we went into our vision sessions so number one being under enhancing our teaching and learning practices one of the things you'll see in the second document is there's a pretty wide spread of how we may want to approach that strategically as an organization and there are some metrics key metric areas that have been identified that the board um if approving will set goals to specific goals uh fostering inclusion and belonging under priority two again same thing here um this was identified as a very large common theme there are specific key metrics that are being recommended based on the feedback that was provided through this process and then lastly the operational excellence and resource uh resource stewardship of our district um again it's in this similar vein this was a very overarching theme we heard loud and clear there are buildings in need of either repair or Replacements there were desires also shared about how how do we create learning spaces that that match the the strength of what our district is and so I do think all three of these areas the key metrics are going to match how we need to approach it based on the organizational mindset uh with whatever the board approves so th this slide here talks about our strategy integration how everything is very interconnected and you will notice and the draft that's before you inclusion belonging and equity in our work and in our district is embedded in all three of the key priority areas it's not separated it's embedded in what we should be doing from every facet of this district and when we work whether we're in operations teaching and learning um in any role embedding this language into the into the district's strategic plan should as an organization move us in a direction where we're thinking about these things from every role and every position we all have including me as a superintendent and again those key metrics will help guide and hold me accountable to helping you hold the organization accountable to this the portrait of a graduate was also an area that we we surveyed and made a Target area for feedback overwhelmingly um I think and the steering committee supported that the portrait of a graduate was very well either supported or uh desired to see as work for our students um where we need where the feedback came in was this particular portion of our District's website felt siloed or maybe even a little disconnected from what our District's overall strategic plan has been and again I think part and this is a a a guess based on the feedback I read through all the work um this was developed in 2021 by a committee uh that included Bea and administration members however I think at the time it got created it was again something that was done in isolation of the rest of the Strategic plan and for whatever reason it never clicked into the organization's fiber and the fabric of what we do and how we want to support what our students look like when they graduate so having seen all that feedback you'll see in the final draft that's in front of you board we incorporated and melded that into the language of our strategic plan to bring these things together so the idea would be eventually when the board approves whatever our organizational strategic plan is that we will be reorganizing what our District's website looks like to incorporate and reflect that that's more of a how we do things rather than a standalone item as we do the work so when we get to next steps in implementation um again one of the Hallmarks of how we're going to get this work done is by collaborating together um making sure we've established clear targets under our growth and of key metrics and again that'll be one of the charges that the board will be issuing to me um develop specific strategies to achieve those goals that is where the collaboration and work will happen through our collaborative structures that exist through our our district whether they be through the collective bargaining agreement or other ad hoc committees that need to be created to get this work done and then um de establishing a new data data dashboard um if you take a look now it's it's been a little since we've updated the data dashboard but our plan is once approved and once metrics are set the data dashboard will be updated live so so any stakeholder and Community member can come to our data dashboard and see where our progress is and you know if we're heading in the right direction right so before I move over to the next document I just want to say one more time thank you to everyone who par participated in this process um we had I believe over 2,200 points of data and feedback through this entire process and some of our surveys and vision sessions included even more than that because there's numerous topics being covered um I want to thank folks for being flexible I know there was um we we took some of the time during our professional development days Institute days and I want to thank people for allowing uh this process to take some of that time and and work on our strategic plan together I also want to thank everyone who had their hand involved in volunteering to do this work or lead the work all right okay before we move over to the document is there any questions board or are there any questions yeah um the 2200 respondents can you give us a breakdown of who they were like uh did we have that information I'm trying to recall so we we had approximately uh on the 1366 I don't you know what I can I can provide that as a followup to you yeah and I'm I'm just I don't want to guess I don't want to go off the top of my head okay rough numbers and my point here is this I want to make sure that if I remember correctly it it reflects a good all our constituents all our stakeholders you know parents community members teachers staff um um you know whatever else there may be but uh those are those are the ones and I just want to make that point to make sure that you know that input those survey responses what's going into this is reflective of our of our uh Community cor right and I'll add a point that they were it's not just surveys we had these Vision sessions I can uh I'll speak to one particular one I attended at Rolo Middle School that was uh led by our students and one of my leaders sitting in the front row right here she did amazing job but there were very robust conversations from in my group we had someone who had just moved into the district we had somebody whose kids had graduated and was providing input and um it's one of the better things I've ever attended as far as attendance we had I think over 90 people on a Saturday and um the discussions were wide ranging and they were respectful but they were also challenging and so uh some of the data was compiled during those types of sessions so how did those you said they had 90 people at those how did those 90 people get selected do you know how they there was an invitation people chose to come and attend so it wasn't a select thing it was you want to attend went out wide anybody could have attended we sent it out through me we we sent it out through Messenger um social media and asked for uh folks to sign up so we we chose the space after we close the survey because we want determining on how many people we would get that would determine where we should hold our mission session okay all right so one of the key things you kind of said earlier was other strategic plans will sometimes invite specific kind of thought leaders or stakeholders to come in to kind of represent their Concepts or interests or ideas and that sometimes gives you a a could potentially give you a skewed perspective as to what the community might want and the teachers and the students because there was a lot of student involvement in this yeah um speaking from previous experience at a former District that I worked at and um assisted with a strategic plan um in fact each theme group you know was given a limit of of four to six members from various you know Union leadership and administration so and parents it was kind of limited in that sense uh not limited that's probably not the right word but to your point like you had Representatives who wanted to speak to that area but they were representing the mass behind them here we invited everybody to be able to participate and have an opportunity to talk okay and then we also kind of backed that up knowing not everybody is always going to be comfortable in some of those spaces that the the the individual survey was able to be given and those surveys were Anonymous so the one drawback is is you know if there was some interesting feedback that I had read through the survey I would not be able to actually say like hey Craig can I reach out to you I'd like to learn more so all right so right now you're looking for questions about the process not the actual plan uh yeah or just any general questions because eventually here tonight there's a couple more things I wanted to walk through but then the discussion I'm going to turn over is is to the Board of Education this is your opportunity to talk about it it will at some point be your plan that you're owning and voting on um because once you do that those are those are my orders on how to move forward all right I I apologize I didn't I should have just stopped you in the middle of the presentation the portion for establishing clear goals data targets you had that nice graph up there where it was showing that it's part of phase four and I believe it's a District staff is responsible for that do you want to go back to the slide says collaborate stakeholders yes uh Bea besta Administration on implementation planning okay I wanted that's what I appreciate I wanted to clarify who the who is District staff because that could be that's kind of a yeah it's seemingly a cross-sectional group of Bea admin and best okay I don't know the history of it so if I'm completely off on that's fine it's unusual to me to have let's just say staff members create metrics or goals for targets that I want achieved I'm not not sure if I'm coming across accurately here but I'm just working out my own history if I have objectives that I want met I usually give the metric I'll I'll say this is what the Benchmark was and this is what I need achieved perhaps it's just different in in this world well part of our process for evaluations is our student learning objectives which is the data that's worked um is established with with teacher input on what those metrics will be for their evaluations is one of the reasons and it's weird to say this that we have so many Fantastic faculty here happy to support this because they will be part of the goal creation process what will be part of the goal creation that they will be part of creating goals and Target I think they're going to be part of the work having not I think my apologies let me back that up they will be part of the work in developing specific strategies to carry this out so that we can achieve what our goals and Mission are here and the timeline for phase four says say summer of 2024 that means that our goals are me to be created before classes start mid August well that's when we're going to begin you know I'm eager to get moving because um you know we've talked to for example uh some of our baa leaders and officers that I'd like to kind of hold like a a summit this summer to be to start planning out together what the structures and work should look like with the administration so we can start uh taking a look at the work that's currently ongoing and how do we how do we continue you know is it going to be meeting what the board's looking for through this new plan and if it is let's make sure we have the right voices at the table so so for example some of the work we may have we may be in agreement about some of the aspects of our curriculum standards that we are moving towards but maybe there's a disagreement and and just differing opinions about the resources we need to procure so that we can be successful in in supporting our students learning that would be maybe an area that we have to work on right and again I'm just trying to draw an example um to help put some thought into an example here all right thank you so the steering committee met last Wednesday yes steing committee and so everyone on I don't know if everyone from that committee was in attendance but whoever was there they said yeah we think we're good and we want to present it to the board yeah they provided a couple of mod ification requests which I did and that's the draft that you have now in front of you so I can speak to that rockel yes um I think we might have had one person missing but I mean we did have I think a very good cross-section I mean a lot of the partners are in that committee spoke tonight from Bea Besa and students as well as the board and we did have robust conversations that did modify this document um know it was great because people wereing bringing different perspectives the education perspective private sector to try to create a more comprehensive document that has a little teeth to it so I would say at every meeting we would get in uh Tom would present the data we would go through we would have about a week to review it Rob correct me if from I'm wrong there'd be a lot of comments uh hundreds of them sometimes and we would go through them and basically we would review that data pretty methodically and then Tom would uh synthesize uh hypothesis of what the data was saying to us and then we would have a discussion if what he was presenting was an accurate representation of the feedback we were getting and I uh again Rob jump in here anytime you want but uh we would have discussion and then we would settle on a spot where yeah we were in agreement and I liked about it was we did have all these different partners so everybody had a voice I agree oh that your spot on here that's exactly how it went recel and uh um I did we have maybe four or five steering committee meetings that those various milestones and um it was very methodical I mean it was really data driven Tom if you want the numbers of the survey responses I think somebody asked that there was the first survey from December through January we received 1,357 responses um 149 of those were for community members not at all related to The District 212 were students 323 were BPS 101 staff members and 673 were parents and guardians of current students thank you thanks Hol so if this goes go through tonight the phase four implementation and collaboration you know you guys get together you set your goals your data your action steps are we going to vote on those to make sure that we're in line with those and like we're like yeah we're good with these we can hold people you know these these are our goals that we want to achieve yeah I think when when you start taking a look at some specific metrics that again may end up being being a part of our conversation with me about my evaluation but when you when at whatever Point whatever version the board feels comfortable approving those key metric themes those are the areas so like you know if we're taking a look at course enrollment numbers and the representation behind our course enrollment that would be the theme and then you as a board and I will talk about what is it specifically in there that you would like us to take a look at and trying to grow and push our district with you know is it um and and doesn't necessar have to be one area right but um again it's a pretty aggressive in my opinion just my opinion this is going to be a really good and meaningful aggressive way of trying to approach um the work so you know the other area I look at is um the U employee representation retention and recruiting right so again another area that already is reported on our school and district report cards but what is the what is the gain metric that the board wants to look at and talk to me about right but then that's the work that we will do in terms of what our strategies will be to achieve that and one thing roel add is that at the last meting one thing the steering committee U wanted to implement that Tom agreed to was that um whether we vote up or down on this if we do vote up on it that the steering committee will have continual updates I think quarterly as this progresses and again that would have voices from the Bea besta student voice parent voice and the board so as Tom's putting this work together the steering committee will U be checking in to make sure that his work is aligned with the work that's already been done so a theme tonight was collaboration I think that's a good way to help ensure that we are getting collaboration through the implement process if we move forward with this so one of the things I will say is you know nearly as one of the longest serving board members on this board which scares me to no end um but is that um you know the old strategic plan was done 10 plus years ago and then would just be kind of met on an annual basis to see if there was the board felt there were any adjustments or anything else that needed to be done to it and not having the history or the knowledge at the time that I was going in it was I was kind of afraid that I wasn't aware of what we were missing and what we weren't hearing and so one of the missions when you came on Tom that a lot of board discussion was was kind of go out and find and help us understand what's needed in the direction that the community wants more than just the seven of us here per se so that we can understand that our own kind of perspective won't buy us our out approach our outcomes on this as much as an opportunity to really understand what people need and want and talking about a strategic plan that was 10 years old needed really needed a new shakeup and I think this begins to show that because of kind of the language and how things are infused instead of on silos I think there's a number of good things that are starting to come out of it okay um if you don't mind then uh we'll go through the actual document and then I'll continue this conversation so essentially I already covered this with you in the slides but just a reminder um that the Strategic plan that a board approves is our organizational framework this is this is exactly what articulates the vision of the district and what the expectations are from the Board of Education all right um if you look at our process I just covered that but here on the next page you'll see more detail um that I explain to you we've been referencing this as our North Star this one once again whatever version the board decides to approve approves it we as an organization will use that then as our Guiding Light how to do the work and which direction we're heading together as an organization um okay I'm sorry to interrupt yeah don't no no go ahead um year after year year we work on goals so I just want to clarify yeah this will be our North Star like you said but that doesn't mean that every year we won't review what we want goals to be I just want to make that clear because it's not as if you're going to say well this is what you told me to do and it's two years later and you're still this is what you told me to do as as much as it is that we're voting on this to be the North Star this is not set in stone um on what your yearly goals will look like continuing moving forward am I accurate with that that's I think you're accurate but I also want to make sure I'm clear on something so what's recommended is The Five-Year Plan because if we're all to work towards progress and improving whatever area that we're we're going to tackle if we change what the metrics and goal focus is from year to year I think it's going to be hard at some point to determine have we actually made success towards that right like you want to is that is that what it makes sense but my my it's not set in stone if if something happens that's needed and would create value for the change we would change it I can give an example it's the pandemic okay oh you know you know if we sat to the seven or 10 year plan that was approved for Lisa Hitchens there would have been a lot of different Focus than what had come out of the pandemic and the different styles of teaching and learning environment um I don't remember going over the Strategic plan when she was our superintendent when we look when every summer when we met to discuss goals for the year we didn't go back to what our Northstar was for the Strategic plan right we every single year talked about what the objectives were okay so yeah I'm trying to get the right mindset here on there's no way in heck I'm voting yes for something if this is going to be set in stone and there's no way we could adjust things as we move along mhm or is this going to be something that we are all understanding that could be fluid and needs to be opened up and talked about it's not like a contract set in stone I wouldn't imagine it's a contract set in stone I mean I would think that if the will of the board was saying something wasn't working and something really needed to be re-evaluated then then we would work with it but frankly kind of at that point you know it's kind of what Tom has been talking about kind of on the accountability side if there's something on this that is kind of skewed about it we need to get to the bottom of it and figure out what it is is I would make it I would pause it an argument that for some of the reason that people are feeling as if that things were kind of aimless is because we really didn't have this right so we were we were kind of being brought to us some goals as a board and then we were discussing those under the generalist opes of some sort of you know Target we were trying to hit but we didn't really know where that was or what we were trying to achieve and then because things were so separated it's almost like okay let's work on this let's work on this let's work on this let's work on this so I think the framework that's here which is a better way of my head of kind of looking at it allows us to organize those goals in a way that if an outlier comes in then we can at least understand that's an outlier and then how do we adjust to it or do we delay reviewing it you know and make a conscious effort about that as opposed to kind of sitting there on a Saturday morning going well what do you guys want us to do next year okay yeah it's not it's not a contract but it was diligently done so need to give it time to develop yeah and I if I can make one comment here on this too um which is you know I think it we got to be flexible I I totally agree with that if we need to make some changes but let's not just you know be Hasty in making changes to the goals let's kind of see how they play out because what to me is more important is you set a very um set a goal that is challenging that has an end end result of helping our students that's that's the bottom line okay now we're going to measure Tom on a yearly basis on how he's doing in achieving that goal now if we find that the trend isn't going in the right direction actions that we're taking in support of that goal need to be re-evaluated so instead of just changing the goal let's look at what actions we're doing to try and get to achieve that and change those but with that being said if really you know it comes to a decision where we need to change something we we should be flexible in that yeah my thought process is just more on when when yeah when it's need when would we reevaluate yeah I mean it's a fiveyear plan right so at a maximum really it would be at five years that we would say okay let's re-evaluate and readjust this you know but maybe there's some trigger said as a maximum as a maximum five years we at that point we could those on the board now or then could commit to saying hey let's re-evaluate this and go through the process particularly in the process that uh Tom kind of went through I mean I've seen plenty of strategic plans that Brad in Consultants that just seem to rehash the same six points over and over and over again you know so I think that this process allows people to kind of get to it and get to the meat of the matter faster all right I'll let you get get to it okay I I appreciate the conversation this is what's needed um all right so then moving to the uh grid with our phases uh I already explained this in the slide deck so I won't uh belabor this but this is this is the process we we embarked on and in in a little more detail and explanation going to page four um this is where we move into where our mission vision and values and commitments um will rest on this page uh page four of this document and again if you sense that there's language embedded for example in the vision statement that's being drawn from our portrait of a graduate you would be correct um Again part of the feedback came back was it feels siloed it feels separate but it's worth having this is a really worthy thing Endeavor to see our students become that so as a vision statement if all things are working and working well then that's what our students should look like as they graduate BPS so and the values on this page are elements or concepts that get applied to each priority in some capacity yeah I think this is a collection of what people said is really valuable and important in this District um or what they believe is important to the experience at BPS 101 and what or what should be something we strive for as our values so that's that's why that that those seven points are there everyone must be much quicker at soaking this up than me I've read this so many times and I still have questions so I'm sorry who is we when it says we is we the district the board at all times throughout this entire thing when this gets approved we will represent the organization so how are we expected to be recognized for our Excellence which one was that one Vision St vision statement statement you're back up top sorry okay sounds like we want to be rewarded for improvements do you feel that that St I mean this is RJ this can be a conversation for you and the board do you feel that being recognized for our organizational Excellence should be recognized for our students Excellence is that what you would prefer I don't want to change the vision statement I just want to understand it better I don't I don't understand who wrote it where it came from did it come from did all the different Vision groups all the students and the faculty and the the members of society this was trying to pull everything together to create a succinct vision statement yes since no one else has questions on it I'll just let it sit there no I I going no keep going it's fine it's a good discussion point I mean I think I can see your perspective right we and then are excellent right the way I look at it and this is just my perspective we is a universal term across all contributors and all people involved in the district in total right so I'm asking who we yeah right no it's a good question fair so like it's not just the it's not the board is we it's every teacher every student every you know perah every custodian everyone that's involved in the district business and in educating our K children on all capacities you know and then when there is Success that is measured by some Metric we have that one would celebrate that success also across the entire District can I ask this RJ so I mean if you're having this question other people would yeah I mean one thing I struggle with in Academia is like all the acronyms and you know like do you think having like definitions for some of this stuff in the document would be helpful sure unless it's established somewhere because we as an entire Community BPS 101 all stakeholders reading this and what I've read makes sense if we are doing all this because we want you could put in there we the BPS 101 Community if if that's what if that's what's the intention of it mm I don't want to change the intention I just want to understand it make it clearer so that it's understood I think that's a good comment yeah I think it's a very good comment I might have been so close to this for so long sometimes as you can't see the forest for the trees so I'm glad you're bringing this perspec okay and I noticed a comma where they sh been a semicolon dead crickets I'm laugh it's 10:26 so I'm making note of this s we should just continue another day yeah got it all right um moving on to the next page then on page five this is where we begin discussing the priority items and those are the three priority areas that I showed you on the slide deck presentation um so when we talk about organizational strategies these were again drawn from the feedback that was submitted through survey work and from Vision sessions um and hopefully a lot of the participants who may have submitted or participated will recognize these themes if they were one of the folks that submitted this uh so if you take a look at those organizational strategies they're followed up by key metrics under each priority item and again based on feedback that was collected through this process that's how we arrived at these key metrics being the ones that should be identified as what we may what that would be recommended to the board of education so each bullet point like the first bullet point represents the metric for strategy one no okay overall overall overall correct thank you that's a good question it's not necessarily aligning to which priority it's or strategy so strategies informs strategies of developing and moving progress on Priority One and the metrics of how Priority One might be measured yes okay I would presume that the metrics would be a part of this phase four discussion process as well right to make sure are there other ones that are missing are there other ones that need to be fill or developed so that they align to the values maybe a little better or otherwise reinforce that priority okay so priority two and priority three are structured the same way way organizational strategies which are followed by key metrics to be um again as a part of this overall District's vision and and work could you talk a little bit about and that's to anybody on the steering committee that's up here the family and Community Partnerships because that's one of the first ones I've seen that kind of look out side of the district a bit Rob Aon do you mind if you want me to speak to the feedback on that one okay um so in that particular area a lot of the feedback spoke to the fact that we have uh areas of our communities that we serve as a school district um where we could do better in engaging and reaching those those um families and students one might be for example specific example I was given is was uh the district doing uh finding ways to engage with home languages in a stronger manner that was one very uh resounding theme that we received um another one would be trying to find ways to do some Bridge programming to reach out to the families you know and and engage them and bring them into our school environment or bring the school environment to them okay you will notice some of these organizational strategies board it is going to require your participation too um one of the things I want to bring your attention to is when we talk under cre prior key priority two uh under number two Equity Audits and action plans so a part of the work here as a board will be we'll probably need to take a look at our board policies that governs this district and ensure that from a governance standpoint as an organization are our policies updated and meeting what the needs are for our Learners and to support our staff Brad also mentioned earlier uh when talking about the Panorama uh survey approval so under item number three of key priority to there's social emotional learning and programs and again there we're going to be highlighting the opportunity for students to share where they're at um especially in the uh non- High School grade ages because that is currently being done by adults for the key metrics that are listed here do you know if we have benchmarks or a way to have a benchmark before the next school year starts can you say that again do we for the the key metrics that are suggested mhm some of some of them just off the top of my head I can't think of where we are with it currently what I'm wondering is do we have a current status on a benchmark so that we could have a goal to show that we actually improved or would we I guess I should just speak in general I that's my suggestion that we should have it okay um even if it's something is a survey or an engagement result you can always start off the school year with that survey to create the Benchmark and say thinking of your previous year how did this how was it so that we could set the Benchmark for moving forward I don't want one of the metrics that might be a really solid measuring stick to not be used in the first year because oh we didn't have anything to base it off ofh but at the same point I don't want it gone because of that if we have to we have to start somewhere right but we've already started from zero on a lot of things uh on the equity audit and action plans I'm aware that there are third party Equity Auditors and reviewers is that one of the things you guys are considering I think that's a part of our work where we collaborate uh with stakeholders to determine and then even who that might be you know um making sure everybody feels comfortable with who might do that if the board's going to leave that in the plan plan my recommendation would be we look at a um maybe a third party you know outside eyes coming in taking a look at our organizational practices okay and policies right and policies too okay yeah was there any discussion about um collaborating with other other districts as far as how any way measurable anything I will tell you that other uh correct me if I'm wrong time but other other strategic plans were definitely looked at how they were created and what their mission statements were and that type of thing okay not on like a forward basis I'm just throwing it out there wondering if that was what you say I didn't hear on a long-standing basis I think the tricky part of this is every board in every school district approves a strategic plan that looks different from each other because you're focusing in on what the needs of your organization are and they're not the same from one District to another or to the communities you serve in one to another which by the way you looked at what three or four other districts throughout the country at their strategic plan uh it was it was more than that okay we looked yeah so you know I just and again part of this work was understanding other District uh strategic plans both in Illinois and outside of Illinois yeah but let's just say there's another school district that is excelling at one of these things right like I don't know like the family and Community Partnerships I we'll say West like they have a really good program in place so we can we can reach out to them and say hey how did you guys do this what did you do how did you get this involvement I mean something I mean you know something like that I mean we could I think we've I mean you even heard through the bidding process you know we we've done site visits right and I think if I understand Brad help me with this there have been times where we do collaborate with other districts who might be using certain resources or programs and take a look at it and we send uh kind of like an exploration team is that right yeah Danielle's approving that I asked something else thank you Danielle no no I'm I'm holding my questions until the end oh oh we're not at the end we're not no I I know oh God go ahead I thought you summarized priorities one two and three yeah I did you know I I've gone over so I don't want to you know be too redundant here yeah I know for the sake of time so all right and then the portrait of a graduate uh follows the three key priorities again some those that language there especially the highlighted bullet point should look familiar because that's what's embedded in the previous page as well then moving to the next steps and implementation which seems to have uh been some of the questions here tonight uh for the board you'll see here as we look towards the next steps and we do look towards the collaborative aspects of getting this work done um we also will be building in a biannual report to the Board of Education uh along with that data dashboard we will bring that report to you um including one of those reports being an end ofe summmer AR on how how the year went and I think doing it in the form of a board meeting so that you as a board can also have a discussion about this and review the progress on an annual basis is important and that's that's one of the factors RJ I think you were asking earlier that's a part of the accountability piece all right so that does bring us to the end of the document um I kind of want to be able to just take notes and listen to the board deliberate okay can I start I've sat I've sat quietly RJ just hold on um I think um well thank you for you guys for putting everything together Aon and Rob I know that um you've spent a lot of time on this I I just kind of from my perspective this is the first time that I'm hearing this put together we got the board packet it's a lot of information it's a lot of um just kind of trying [Music] to my words are broken because it's so late so bear with me but just really trying to kind of reflect on different things that as a community member as a board member that you know I we're brought to the table I know some of the feedback and so I think one of the things I keep coming back to is I understand that we want to approve improve this and then goals will be made but I almost feel like it's a backwards way to do things I'm really not comfortable I don't I guess I'm going to say I don't understand how some of the real key issues that we have um fall into some of these sections and I think that if I understood some of the goals or even some of the I think where you have different um strategies in place you might have a better understanding of what is within those strategies from your discussions in your in your steering committee meetings maybe from your questions that we don't all have so I want just to kind of put that out there is we're coming here to the table with a lot less information I am not in a position to vote on this tonight because I have questions and I don't understand as a board member how like I said whether it was the community whether it's baa what's going on there's issues that I don't understand how they're tied into these strategies and with the metrics um I'm just not quite comfortable um looking at where they're at I'm going to use one part is safety and Bully incident rates I'm not comfortable using that as a key metric until we address that as a board because we just listen to students and listen to representatives from different groups talk about how our students don't feel comfortable reporting bullying incidents we have school I know for for from experience and I know Lizzy who came up and spoke um every day she is bullied on the bus every day and she did not report or any of the incidents because she and her sister her family have gone through such a system of getting nowhere so I'm not comfortable with some of these metrics until we're really addressing them so maybe we can have discussions of how that can be applied so we're not stopping things I'm just not comfortable until we I I feel like there's just some information missing and I'm not understanding how we can kind of put this stuff together I guess that's my broad feeling about it can I can I just throw one uh clarifier out there so the public is also very aware of this um I know there was concern about um this being a discussion and action item tonight I just want to remind everybody when this was approved in in September I was really clear that the goal was to try and approve by June but I made a promise to you as my seven bosses I know you hate it when I call you my bosses but that would try to bring a draft to you by May so totally within the scope of if we're not voting on it tonight that's okay nobody has to make a motion so sorry so I I'll throw this out there now I think to address what you're talking about but so one of the challenges as a board is if you listen to all the comments is there's a call to action and then there's a call to proceed with caution and slowly so it's sort of like take more time get more more info no we need to act now there's a problem and it's challenging and I do agree this is a you know to to Define our Northstar as a really big it's one of our key jobs as a board member as a board and um I do think our process was a good one but at the same time something Rob and I have talked about is you know there's always those people that were just not reaching we're not hearing their voices some of them were probably heard tonight and so one thing I would like to throw out there is um I think we should wait till next month to vote on this and I think we should also uh I don't want to say that's a call to action but if someone didn't feel like their voice was heard in the creation of this document you know there's a board email that's open to anyone and they can they uh can express fully what their thoughts are and I would feel I would like to give people it'd be have to be a limited window because we'd have to gather that data have time to process it and then have the steering committee have a chance to review it again to make any recommendations before Tom would present it again next month but I think it would give everyone on the board more time to digest this document to have more conversations with Tom and it would give the community sort of another chance to provide feedback um and then next month you know we could vote on it and we could vote up or down but I think it would give everyone just more time give them more members in our community would be another opportunity for them to to provide that feedback yeah are we able to discuss a way to make sure that the board can I mean I can have a conversation with Tom but I would like to make sure that you guys are all aware of that conversation so that it can help you when you are looking at the Strategic plan and same thing if roel sit down with Tom and asked some really good questions that might help feed into this I'd love us to be able to discuss how to do that since we cannot have back and forth obviously outside of this the boardroom um because of again we're all coming from different perspectives different places different knowledge um and I think that would be extremely helpful um so like I said I I look at this and I there's just pieces that are missing as far as you know is I'm having a hard time understanding how we're going to make goals and have measurements and deadlines but we're going to vote that before we understand what those things are so I don't I don't I'm I'm a little lost on that part like I said I feel like this is a little backwards cor so I don't know if yeah goad totally understand what you're saying okay um would like it be appropriate maybe at the board retreat potentially yeah so I mean I think a couple of things one Danielle I think you ra some very good points um I think some clarity about like almost really ex like exactly what we're voting to approve or amend really is like and it's kind of related to I question before is the way I see it as like the priorities when you see a lot of these strategic plans they're just priority priority priority priority it doesn't give any background to it and so I think these strategies which are fairly well kind of understood and the key metrics are are ways of giving us a hint as to how things might be um applied to it but I'm not sure the key metrics are locked in yet as to what those are so the opportunity and correct me if I'm wrong like the ability to kind of for in that phase four to say hey we're going to look at this metric for bullying and are there holes in it is it not giving us the things we need and that's kind of like a comment you could give to say hey I think the priority is good but the key metric is wrong or needs to be evaluated I I don't know if I have enough understanding of any of the metrics to be able to say it's wrong or right but I you can certainly question it so I think maybe some time to figure that out and I was going to kind of point out as Tom said that you know it is an action item to give us the ab ability to if we determine that we wanted to or needed to approve it or not approve it tonight but kind of procedurally we would just not make a motion to it so we would just let the motion effectively the action item die tonight and then it would be put on at the next board meeting so we wouldn't be voting against it per se so yeah I'm good with that um just for clarification on the metrics so you've listed those in this document but the next step and correct me if I'm wrong down okay you're going to collaborate here with all our stakeholder our partners and establish the goals agreement we may not need that particular metric to measure the success of that goal so it by the fact that it's listed in that document doesn't necessarily mean that we'll use it for the goal if that makes sense so they're going to establish the goals and then they'll see what metrics they're going to use am I um yeah the only caveat I would say is that the the key metrics that were identified I I just want to remind the board again is being compiled from the feedback that was received so I would you know if you're asking me Rob for my opinion I wouldn't say that you don't have to use them because I think In fairness to everyone who participated in the process I think we need to be transparent that that data is being um displayed on our data dashboard um if that makes sense I if if so for example um let's use one of the areas that was brought up again let's just use achievement test proficiency and growth right um that was brought up quite a bit in the in the work we did but if you were to say well we're not we're not going to necessarily establish a goal under that area I would argue we should be still be displaying that data because that was what the feedback from this process solicited does that make sense it makes sense but then I think Danielle's concern about well is the data any good for that metric if we're not collecting all the information that's it may not represent what actually is happening I think that was your point with the bullying metric yeah is is there a reason we can't vote on it after we've established the goals I I think that's what I'm where my brain goes that's where I'm is there a reason that like who decided this order so this is the order that I've seen at other areas and that's why like the ones that I've seen are just you're voting on The priorities and are those the priorities that are going to be focused on the goals get enacted by Direction later so that you're establishing a this is the direction we want to go so that the time and effort involved in developing the goals and the metrics and and the understanding of that are being supported by a priority level that we've heard through the process yeah but then we've essentially voted on goals that we never saw right well I guess we're saying we're going to vote on the the like what needs to be done but not how right like the what but not how right because that's the how will be done with every right stakeholder so I think part of our job then in EV valuing the superintendent we should is what he's implementing yeah getting us to those goals and if we're not and frankly I'm going to be just to clarify these priorities let's just call it that for that's what's listed here so these are our priorities and then that we'll collaborate to set goals and metrics and then when we're evaluating the superintendent are we getting there or we not are the systems you put in place helping us achieve those goals am I accurate Mr Kim yeah and we wanted to use the to prove that and what I will say about the thing that um I think is different RJ than previous and I don't want to smear anyone that came before us but uh like something we talked about in the steering committee is that we need to have you know like in the private sector it was brought up like there smart goals like you set a goal with a specific number and we're trying to achieve like I'm in sales so we're going to grow 10% and sometimes I feel like in the past we haven't really had like a like we're trying to hit a number so we don't know how to evaluate right like well we got the goal but what are we getting there I don't know are we forward backwards and so one of the things that was discussed I think that's in here but maybe not is that our dashboard now will be much more uh visible live we're going to own it everybody's going to own it and so it's something that anyone in the community could access at any time and we would have our goal and where we're at where we're going to it so then when it comes to evaluating now we can have a lot of discussions on if what we're measuring is actually helping us achieve a goal at least we have something a data point to to start with and now that might be adjusted over time so I'm going to use your example to way how I see this the Strategic plan of the goal you just talked about was to increase sales your your goal was to increase it 10% the overaging idea was we're making a group decision effectively to increase sales there's other things that determine whether can you support the sales that you do right so you need to measure all of those together to determine can do you have the staff load do you have the people do you have the quality assurance needs to be able to meet those so that if you sell those you can succeed right so then when you say okay how much are we going to that's what implementation phase is is to say okay we're going to say an achievable metric or goal is 10% because you guys have heard me say a million times my wife is a speech pathologist she establishes goals and all that other stuff and you need to make your goals so that they're achievable because they're smart goals right so you don't set them too lofty but they're still looking at a Target way down the road of what you want to do that's my perspective on this so just I thought your example was a good one to kind of in my head how I see the two differences in there and one thing I want to say is um people might notice I take notes when all the speakers up there one of the speakers really even quoted Martin Luther King and said uh thin paper to thick action and so I don't want to diminish the work that's been done in creating this document I don't want to say it's thin paper but honestly any document create is only going to have enough value if we're going to be as a collective Community bps101 our partners to then hold ourselves accountable to the light of day so then a year from now if we put something and we set a goal Tom could do a presentation where he's going through those metrics and the entire Community is going to own that and some will be successes and some will need a lot of work and some might be failures but that's the key part I think is that we're not going to hide for run for it we're going to have the fortitude to say yeah this is a goal we decide to measure Mark we're not doing that we got to come up with something different we have to take action and I think the metrics in in this type of thing is then will give us a c action say yeah it's not good here you go a b and c now we need to act but then I think the key is that we all own it as a community it's not the board it's not the teachers it's not it's we're all in this together because I one thing I will say is the one thing if I had to point to one thing about the process that was really sort of inspiring for me is was always about how does this help students how does this help students that was you know students were leading it anytime we had any discussion it would always come back was this going to how is is this going to impact students in a positive way so I think no matter what the board approves that for me is the key component that we have the the guts to then say okay yeah Tom we're going to hold you accountable you got to get it done and then the whole organization the whole Community Falls in line to make sure that we get there because again our kids that's if there's anything that we can all agree on so we want to give them the the opportunity to reach their true potential what I mean based on again feedback I I think you're hitting on something is that there's there was so much feedback in making sure we also acknowledge that uh you know we are in in the in a people business we're we're in the business of helping students grow right and I think when we talk about whether or not they've hit benchmarks as to what the nation or the state standards May dictate which by the way is not aligned state to state the nation is not aligned on what those Benchmark data should be just and by the way we're also switching from the SAT to the ACT next year that was just announced recently so we have to keep in mind that a lot of the feedback came in play was talking about how do we provide learning experiences and growth experiences for students that have IEPs students that are are English Learners students that come from a variety of backgrounds of Learners in our district and that's part of the reason why the idea of growth and always learning and always growing is such a strong reminder of what our Mantra might need to be so that we are working on if students did not hit that Benchmark of what the state average might indicate but did did some of these student groups grow and can we celebrate the growth I think that's really important empowering kids to feel good about the fact that they made gains that maybe started the year not thinking they would do and and and through the support and the work of the district they they hit it or they've grown you know more than what was um statistically predicted if you want to say it that way are there any other questions is there a general consensus to not make a motion on this tonight I'm generally seeing heads what not yes yes okay I was framing it in the positive T yeah so okay so um with any other questions but I would you know encourage the board members I I think you know Danielle would we'd have to put some thought together on how to make see if there's a way to share information or it goes to Tom and Tom says here are the things I've kind of heard thus far as a summary because we don't we need to be cognizant also is we want to be diligent we want to make good decisions but got to start implementing at some point in time and the summer is always shorter as every teacher who remains here today will tell me it's shorter and short feels shorter and shorter every year you know so we don't have a lot of time and frankly we've got basically two and a half meetings you know to hear any development in that before he gets a chance to get enacted and that takes some time so I do agree that from my opinion and this is kind of the last moment if if you guys all agree if you have comments and time to try to spend your next week or two digging into that to get to Tom so that I do like what Aaron brought up is get a chance for him to get back in front of some if not this the steering committee at least key members of the steering committee to be able to kind of synthesize that into the document so it gets a chance to get out with us for a chance for us to really review it and see what the adjustments are um can I just get a little more so help me understand exactly what my next steps are please that was clear enough no I well I when you say syn syze more synthesize what if you get comments or questions from other board members who may or may or the community or the community Through the board members or through whatever the document we should set a deadline for when we're okay um so if I have questions I'll reach out to you Thursday and say hey can we meet and go over my questions and concerns and then if anyone of the other board members wants to do that and then yeah then like on your summaries say hey these were the issues brought to me okay and this is my answers or this what I'll be working on maybe for time saving if there's multiple of us like we did uh for some of the questions we have before on besta we could perhaps have two of us yeah since that doesn't reach open meetings act save on time your your time and he could he could collect all the questions too yeah we can oh yeah we just put on a do if you want to do that but I I mean I'm going to be respectful of time but I want to make sure we get the right decisions right so if you want to get me questions and I can help put them together and um if we kind of establish it by Thursday of you know Tuesday Wednesday of next week give some time then that way he can look at it and understand what kind of comes from that and then it's the community emails the you know 101 link on contacting the board that's a good way because all of us get that email um so that we can see it and decide if that um is a reinforces any of our thought processes or opens new avenues of discussion is there a timeline Tom that you would kind of want to close that window so you have time to well January 23rd is our next Cindy when's our June board meeting 25th of June 25th you said January I oh so I like boy that's a long time out my apologies everybody getting punched let's pull up the calendar hang on oh you want a lot of time okay no I don't want that all right uh so if okay so June 25th board book is Du by the 21st I mean if you want to work round numbers in my head can we go with the 11th do you think by the 11th do you think you could get stuff back by the 11th meet with people and my almost initial request would be to get I mean in theory this is tweaks and adjustments based on commentation not holistic changes so everybody would wor and so I guess that date about the board book or the day before would be reasonable to give time to respond okay from our perspective would be prepared for the meeting I say by the 20th so that's when the board that's when your final would come out by June 20th and then what you're saying is about a week in a couple of days is when we' want to make sure you want to be able to get it to the steering committee and talk with them about it um I will certainly uh reach out and see if the group would be interested in meeting one more time um but if we do that if we do that um I'm just looking at the calendar I'm just kind of wondering if we get comments to you by the 6th that gives you about two weeks almost to get synthesized I just don't know whe what the committee will be able to meet okay um you know as of last Wednesday we ended with them understanding their commitment was completed okay so I don't know I can't speak for that okay it's fair I mean I know Aaron and Rob I'm going to make you be be there that's for sure we'll be there um but I can reach out and then maybe give those that feel that they're interested and maybe it cares it depends on the extent and extent of the comments you received as well so if if I have Clarity here just for clarity sake uh by June 20th the board excuse me by June 21st once the board book is published you will have your revised with any last tweaks and feedback that has come through either board member questions or contact the board process between now and we're calling it probably what juli June 12th that's okay for you June 12th whatever works for you to I don't know I know got to pick a date all right June 12th all right so that provides almost a three three and a half week window for folks okay okay so June 12th we'll close June 12th all right all right thank you so uh we are not at this point in time entertaining a motion for the Strategic plan thank you for bearing with us for that discussion everyone um board matters item 8.1 I don't have any particular board matters and there might be a mutiny if I come up with one so we will not be discussing that anybody else has something that they want to bring up so then we will jump into administrative comments Tom is there anything you want to bring up yes okay thank you um just wanted to share that BPS 101 has been hosting exchange students since 1959 I don't know if you're aware of that but we go through an organization called AFI and I had a chance to meet with this year one of our one of our current exchange students here at BHS her name is Josephine and she's an exchange student from Kenya um in talking with her I asked her you know know how's your school experience been cuz she's going to return home on June 4th and she shared that she really enjoyed her experience at BHS loved her classes uh not necessarily because of all the subjects but she said I loved my teachers so I I thought that was great she we laughed because she named some subjects that she didn't enjoy but she definitely loved going because of the teachers there so um I want to thank AFI for making that happen for Pavia because the coordinator volunteers her time to make that happen um last week we hosted the second annual thank you brunch uh which is led by Amy Nelson and this is a a small token of gratitude towards all of our Community Partnership groups that support things such as the toy drive that we do during the holiday season um um chip in is represented there to be thanked uh for the work that they do supporting students and families so I think you get a feel we beefy is also a part of this uh morning brunch so we have a lot of great partners ships that exist for BPS 101 and you know when we take a look at what's coming up next and all the support we talk about graduation um one of the graduation ceremonies I was able to attend was last Friday for our sale program at the Mid Valley cooperative and it was just amazing to see all the member districts gathering together to celebrate all of our successes of all the students that are part of the sale program and it that it was truly awesome um and continuing to speak of esses just a reminder that we'll be having uh our opportunity to see the class of 2024 take the spotlight tomorrow um as they graduate and I'm pretty sure that it's going to be not only just a great night but also a pretty emotional night for our students parents and staff um what I love about graduation is that it's a great reminder of our why uh why we're in education why everybody who works in the school district uh does what we do um and then on a final note I just hope that people have been able to learn a little bit more about asian-americans in our country through the Asian-American native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander month of May um as a son of immigrants uh who immigrated from South Korea it's uh for me I always enjoy these celebrations of all of our heritages in this country I think it's a wonderful opportunity to learn about each other learn about our backgrounds and cultures that have made this uh our nation um you know and I think about the conversations we we had tonight I think about the work that's been done for the Strategic plan I think of my mom and I'll tell you why my mom worked really hard uh to make sure me and my two younger brothers had a quality education uh we moved around a lot had a lot of different things growing up that kind of impacted the way our family structures looked but in the end she worked really hard to make sure that we were receiving a quality education um one of the things about my mom is she never pushed me or my brothers to go into a certain pathway she never said be this be that or be that she always just said you know work hard take School seriously try your best and I apologize AMA because I did not do school all the time so and I was probably a big stressor for her but she always just said pursue what you think you should pursue that's all she ever said and I think about what we're trying to talk through tonight and I appreciate the discussion and the conversation that the board had here um and I look forward to supporting the work I also want to say there's been a lot of celebrations lately the last few weeks and I want to say I appreciate all of the educators all of our support staff all the leaders in this district for everything you've done I know from the bottom of my heart I believe this and I know this whenever we get to that point that it's time to move forward we're going to do it and we're going to do it together and we are going to be supporting our students I know that and I believe it I believe that this District um is ready for it we've heard people make comment about that tonight and so um one of the other reasons why is boor I just want to thank you as I'm wrapping up my first year thank you for being uh really supportive bosses I think we've had some great conversations and an opportunity to get to know each other and it helps me understand your lens as to why you serve on the board um I look forward to continuing this work and I as I warned you you are going to have to do some work yourself when we move forward with the Strategic plan all right so uh don't say I didn't warn you and uh so I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night and uh that's it and thanks to everybody for sticking around all right thanks Tom board comments any volunteers to kick it off can I start sure absolutely sir I haven't had enough time to talk yet yeah believe it or not I actually have some more things to say so I just want to get it going um definitely thank you to everyone who's here tonight um I love seeing this many people at our meetings and it would actually be wonderful if we had to do this every single month I mean that with sincerity um it's late in the evening obviously and the energy and the focus that I have is because I'm drawing it from everyone that's still here it reminds me how important this is um sometimes we have meetings with 10 or 15 people at it and maybe a hundred views on YouTube and you know question like who's paying attention to this and who's who's involved in this so I appreciate the lovely reminder you're all sacrificing your time stuck listening to me think out loud so I really appreciate it um and I think one definite truth of all this is that we're all here for students we're all concerned about the students we might have different ways or thoughts of how we could help them but we all want to do it so uh you're still here thank you for your service I really appreciate it you've always been thoughtful and insightful thank you so much it's been a pleasure and Drew is Drew still here all right starting on the gray hair then um Drew I look forward to working with you um Todd I definitely appreciate you addressing the news article that came out today it did catch me a little bit off guard so I appreciate it it's a great reminder to go go to the source if you're not sure about something if there's a rumor out there we know that that happens plenty um Aaron and Rob and Tom thank you all for your effort that you put into the this uh strategic plan I really appreciate it um it's not lost on me that out in the atmosphere people are thinking that this is really fast and we're moving really fast but as someone who spent four years on the building our future together plan to then put the referendum out and be told this is too fast I understand you guys did a lot of work and so that so that all the the people that were involved in it um I kind of wish I understood this perspective back when we put the referendum out to to try to address a little bit better so um I appreciate all the work you did um give me a second here let's see Tom again thank you I've had a lot of rough bosses but I've never had seven that are questioning my work in front of the community so I appreciate everything you're doing I think you are doing a great job and I'm very happy that you're here I I continue to be happy with everything you've been doing you you've been giving me nothing but answers to all my questions and believe it or not I actually met met Tom earlier this week and I still have questions so thank you for it I appreciate it um sorry said I didn't know that yeah it's embarrassing to say um some other thoughts for the past two years we've been asked to address Dei as quickly as possible and now we're being asked to kind of slow down and really think through it I don't know but I I hope that means that we've actually made some progress so I hope at least to have that perspective that nothing's been done nothing's been done that we are finally showing that we're listening and we hear you and we do want to make sure that it's right um lost my spot I definitely think we've got a lot of opportunities still and a lot of things to consider if you all remember during the referendum years a few years ago we actually had people that were talking about closing schools down like why why rebuild schools just close the school down and now we have people here concerned about the classroom sizes so things change that was part of my point of wondering about like we can't just have a set goal in mind we can't just set to one thing imagine if we said yeah we're going to build that we're going to get rid of that school and all of a sudden um so just bringing that for perspective as well um to the students who spoke Molly Martin Alexis and Liz um I really appreciate your willingness to speak up I hate that you had to do so um I'm going to remain hopeful that soon that these incidents will be reduced and followed up by them by not happening at all um however I will never think that just because the student doesn't speak up that that means everything's fine I just want you to know that's a commitment for me um and I know that uh we say the right words I heard that before so I won't say anything else to the matter hopefully the action will speak for it finally graduation tomorrow congratulations to all the students finishing up their year not just the graduates everyone else I know it's a long year um it was fun seeing the HD storm faculty here my daughter was crying last night about leaving uh Mr stansik is he still here he was here but she was crying last night because she's going to miss him so she's going to join K kids next year just so she can see him more often so um I know there's a lot of great teachers that have that so I appreciate all the teachers wrapping up the year as well so thank you everyone that's it Rob I'm up I'll be quick here so uh I'll lead off with congratulations to the class of 2024 look forward to celebrating with you tomorrow night um congratulations to Mr scr on his retirement good luck to him and his family in their next phase uh Todd thank you very much enjoyed working with you in our short time here Drew look forward congratulations and look forward to working with you in the future here um lunch ahead I think are gone here too but uh great idea I've been hearing about it uh for several months now um and very impressed with the the way those students uh presented they were uh very professional so uh really enjoyed that um and I think oh yeah final thing is uh thank you to all the speakers and um you know it takes a lot of courage to come up and speak in front of a group and uh um I do appreciate it and um you know we we heard we heard uh what you had to say so thank you okay so happy Asian uh Pacific Islander Heritage Month happy Jewish American heritage month and I mean was had a lot of people speak about um bullying and um what they have to go through so it's also mental health awareness month so let's just be mindful of mental health and we have summer coming up so we all just need to decompress um get some vitamin D and just be you know take care of yourself uh thanks to Andrea Woods for inviting me to the Hoover Woods living wax museum it was a really great experience um I think the students did a really good job and it was It was kind of cool what they did um for the teachers uh apologies for the tardiness in not saying my appreciation last week but uh thanks for all that you do um I know it's a tough job and it's not always the 9 to or 8 to 830 83 whatever it is the 8 8 to three I'm so sorry um anyway it's a lot it's more than just a day's work so I appreciate that uh congratulations to the class of 2024 um to all the speakers tonight I appreciate you taking the time to come out and talk to us um I think a lot of us have had you know heard all your voices and we have um as kind of R.J said we have some thinking to do and some actions to do um and then congratulations to all the spring sports like the girls track I know boys track is coming up this week um I don't remember whatever I'm so sorry can't think uh and then uh with Summer coming up I just hope everyone has a happy healthy and safe summer so again I also want to thank uh everybody who attended tonight or who reaches out to the board via email or comes up to me on the street when I'm at Limestone or at a ball game um I hope you can tell from the discussion we had on the Strategic of planet does inform our work it's absolutely essential to for the functioning board to get feedback from the community and I agree that it's great to see this many people it's amazing that you this many people are still here uh so I Sal I salute you for that but um yes if we had a 100 people at every meeting that would be fantastic so I I appreciate and again as some of my colleagues says it takes a lot of Courage we had people speak on a variety of topics I'm sure some of them were not aware that there' be a packed house um and so I commend anyone has the the courage and the conviction to come and speak to us and I would encourage people to continue to do that uh it does lead to change I want to thank our BPS Partners Todd I think I think you at the last meeting but we'll give you another shout out and Mr Ray we're happy to have you on board and look forward to collaborating with you I also want to congratulate principal scr I think if there was somebody in the BPS community that was more beloved than him you'd be hard to find him so I'm really happy for him that he's going to get a chance to enjoy his retirement um again I want to thank all of our student speakers the entrepreneurs that came up here and speak I mean I I'd probably hire him a heartbeat to join my sales team based off that presentation so very exciting what they're doing and then I just want to thank everybody that helps this machine operate the teachers the Paras the AIDS the principes the secretaries administrator nurses Food Service workers bus drivers Mr Anderson and his team that keeps us warm safe and dry uh David back there that keeps our technology operating it's part of our crucial infrastructure and then really also the army of parent volunteers that help this thing work that support our children I I sometimes joke that I think this current generation loves their children more than my parents generation did because they're so involved providing so many resources and and um you know I think we're just blessed in this community to have a community of people that want to support our children um and then I like to usually keep this BR but I do want to be a little selfish because this is the last meeting of the school year and thank some people that impact me and my family and and my work so uh I first want to thank the community for electing me to serve I take it very seriously it's very important work uh I don't think any of us up here take it for granted uh we all do it because we want what's best for our kids I want to thank my wife Kathleen and my children um it's 11:15 my daughter's graduating tomorrow I'm sure my wife wasn't thrilled that I'm going to I spent uh four hours here away from my daughter but they understand uh the value of what we're doing up here if it wasn't for their support I wouldn't be able to do this so I want to thank them for that I do want to thank everyone on the board um everybody here is doing this for the right reasons we all are different phases of Our Lives we all have different perspectives I think that is a key component to an effective board and so I want to thank them for their service and their families that are supporting them in in their mission and then I want to thank um our board secretary Cindy Rodriguez she supports us she keeps us organized she provides us documentation when we need it I am always asking her to print paper it's much to her annoyance probably but she does it without complaint and I also think when you walk in rosley Jones she's often the first person you see and I can't think of a better representative for our district because she really cares about kids and family so I want to thank you Cindy for your work um to our superintendent Tom Kim you survived your first Academic Year I don't see one gray hair in your head somehow uh that's admirable for someone that's all white but um I agree with some of the comments uh your passion is undeniable everything's about kids your energy I sometimes think you have a Doppel ganger because if you follow Tom on social media he's at everything and uh I know that takes you away from your young family and your wife but uh I appreciate your work and I know that you know there's a lot of work ahead that you're excited to do and and then I do want to thank um or recognize the class of 2024 my how many to get emotional here I'm tired and emotional but my daughter Emma Rose will be uh on stage tomorrow so today to BPS has a tradition where uh after rehearsal for graduation students are allowed to go back to their grade school if they attended a bavia grade school and our school is JB Nelson which our family's been a part of for 13 years and uh you know you stay in contact with some kids some kids go off and they do different things you lose track of them a little bit but you see them all together and it's almost like a class reunion everything sort of comes back they're taller their voices are deeper they're adults but um it was really pretty special and then one of the things that was special about is we were leaving the kindergarteners came out and so it was sort of this full circle moment and it's like boy I just remember when they were that and I what I think about with at least I'll speak to my experience with my daughter is um how much of a community it takes to get to commencement um I mean I remember a year ago today on commencement my daughter was in a very severe accident car accident toled the car I got a I got a call from a stranger you don't know why I could hear Emma crying in the background you don't know who I am I'm with your daughter Emma she is okay she filled in the details and she stayed with her uh until I could get there to comfort her and this was a total stranger who was actually heading to commencement and stopped what she was doing to care for my daughter and as a parent I mean it's nice to know that we live in a world where people are going to look out for each other and so that's part of what I think makes us special so I'm going to leave us with one quote I'm going to butcher this but it's something that I heard recently that stuck with me and it's verit vuler verus and it translates to Vigor grows through the wound Vigor with the V and basically what means is turmoil and tribulations is what helps us grow and become strong and so you know tonight was painful a lot of it but I believe it's going to make us stronger and when I see the families tomorrow granted we're in a we're privileged in here in a lot of ways and we have a lot of support but your kid doesn't get to commencement without some tears and some struggle and some pain and some self-doubt and so when I see that celebration and I finally realize now that part of it's cuz we survived it and we're flourishing now and we came through the other side and so I just want to just really thank everybody that supported my daughter and our family and um when it comes to the board I just want people to know that we're listening and we're working and we're going to do our absolutely best to get this right and move forward so thank you good luck Daniel okay uh yeah I definitely Echo the Gratitude here um I did prepare something beforehand and I'm really glad I did because it's so late I don't think I could say everything I want to say without it um so um I'd like to acknowledge everyone who came here to speak and those who came in support I realize it's not easy to speak at these meetings and it's increasingly difficult when you're speaking about issues that affect you your children and the community while I appreciate your willingness to speak to us and share your perspectives I do see and understand understand that for some of you whether you be a student parent or staff it is because you feel like you've had no other option but to stand up here and be vulnerable and for some relive personal traumas um and I know some of you have been here before some two years ago some even longer um so it's it's really hard to just kind of think about that and put that in perspective you know um it takes a lot to stand up here and it's not just talking in front of a group of people people but it's reliving things and it's again because you feel like you have nowhere else to go and you've kind of this is where you end up at so um for those of you that that just speak to I just hope you have the support to lean into know that you've been heard you were cared about and you matter tremendously to this community I think about how many of the discussions that I've had with the community and those who have come to speak to the board and I see the way that our society often approaches communication and I think it's a bit out of date it seems to make things harder on us because it doesn't always support the sharing of perspectives or effective documentation so I want to share this we often fear and resist sharing our perspectives because of what others will think or we worry about Making Waves your perspective is just that it is yours and it's valid if anyone is upset with with that with you speaking and sharing it perhaps they need to sit with their own discomfort or responding a productive communication method ensures documentation to provide transparency and Trust whether it's a strategic plan or discussing issues we need to realize documentation is a way that we ensure we're all on the same page while it provides guidance and action and accountability so I'd like to wrap up by saying to all the seniors out there whether you're taking a gap year you're deciding to go into the trades staying home uh to help support your family or going off to college be very proud of this moment graduation is is not a given and I can tell you that from experience I come up here and it's hard to get to this point but I I had to get my G for personal reasons and so I do understand that it's not always something that kids just I I I just heard so many comments you know it's what's the big deal everyone graduates but it's not um so there are many obstacles that students face during their academic careers recognize and take pride in the fact that you have done years of work fought against adversity and have remained resilient and determined don't ever doubt your ability to accomplish something because you have shown by getting to this point if you put an effort and continue to push you absolutely can be successful stay driven even when the path changes find strength in those uncomfortable and hard moments and continue to be the amazing people you have shown us you've already become I'm so proud of you and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you um and for everyone else I hope all of our students families and staffs have a great summer and we will see you in the fall thank you for sticking with us you guys that's it Su sure I have a two and a half page speech prepared no you don't I'm just kidding since it's 11:26 I'm just going to say thank you to all of you who stayed through the whole thing and congratulations to all the graduating seniors who I'm sure are not watching so thank you and good night that's it uh I will keep it equally as brief just wanted to say thank you and it was right along what Aaron said about like thank you to all the kind of teachers uh graduates volunteers admin superintendent Tom Kim for your amazing first year um we kind of charged you with a lot of um kind of lofty goals and aspirations that we had at the beginning and you came in and said hey I'd like to do the Strategic plan and I think one of my questions for you was do you have time because you also have a district to run while you were doing all this stuff so um I think for the timeline that you were able to produce and what you were able to produce I think it's given us a good um document to review and to discuss and to hopefully act upon uh one thing I do want to say and I don't normally do this but I wanted to spe specifically do it today um I appreciate everybody that came and talked today not just because of their message but because you know it was really in my opinion kind of like the true kind of moment of really like civil discourse everybody's clearly had a lot of passion about what they were talking about but they were able to kind of articulate in a way that was um put in a a form and a possibility of being able to be received than it was so I'm going to run down this real quick because the other thing was I believe everybody got an opportunity to speak because everybody took their time to be succinct and get their point across and effectively seated some of their time to later so I just want to appreciate and say thank you to Sarah Scott Justin eileene Molly Chris Kathleen Frank Jared Caleb Gabriel Renee Amy Katie Alexis Liz Todd Drew Kevin and our student ambassadors darit and Zara so thank you very much for everybody uh go class of 2024 looking forward to seeing everybody tomorrow enjoy the day be safe and thank you for a great year so I will if I get my agenda right because if I can remember it right now um I will um entertain a motion to adjourn Some Mo some move second all right so by move by who me all right Andel and second by su let's say um all in favor I oppose it is now 11:29 still today folks meeting is a for

meeting has been called to order and roll call please Madam Secretary sure Mr alre here Mr gyos here M rup is here Mr swales here miss s stumbris here Dr Hall president Brown here okay let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance L by board member Alex gagos and our mission statement read by our secretary Mrs Cheryl rup I pledge allegiance 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 and our mission is to empower each student to positively impact the world for a bright new future thank you both for member Mr guyos and Mrs R okay got a public comment here written and I have one that is emailed so the first one here that I have in person is end of the year close out oh by our own cmea board president Mary Brad oh good evening administrators ladies and gentlemen of the board and all of our honored guests I wanted to take this time on behalf of myself as an individual to say thank you and on behalf of the cmea association to thank you for all of your hard work dedication and commitment and for working with us collaboratively over the years um we have not always seen I Tai nor should we always C Tai but we've all worked together to do what is best for the children and families of this district and to make this the best district there is we have great staff great administrators and loving caring people who put our children first above them Beyond themselves all the time it's been an honor and a pleasure these past 20 years to work in this district and as my last official Duty I'd like to introduce our new cmea president Christine quinland and yes she has my number on speed dial she had this thank you all have a good night thank you wow anybody would like to comment on Mar's I would like to say something something okay sorry I'm late just but Mary um you um have done great things you have fought for your I hope they know how much you fight for them I hope they know how much you care for them students staff and I and I believe that you're going to be greatly missed not that the next person won't do good but you are going to be missed um I'm proud of the work you've done I know you I mean I'm sure you are but I think that at the end of the day big shoes to feel and I thank you for all the battles and even battles when I wasn't on the board and I apologize for anything I've ever done to hurt you or wrong you or in inappropriately but you've always been somebody who fought for your people and I really admire that well said Thank You D all right you were you were president when I came on the board in 2017 um you were always involved even when you weren't president and then you Faithfully came back again when they needed you you're here so many hours I I don't know how you do it after teaching all day and then doing all this so I admire everything you do appreciate it and I know everybody else appreciates it too so get some well-deserved rest you're here yeah thank you anybody else go somewhere fun not Chicago I'll say a few things under the superintendent update well thank you thank you board member okay I do have an email public comment and I'm going to ask one of my board members Jamie if you would like to read this I am very challenged with these small world uh words see I already said that okay or or Jer I'm kind of I'm like I get I get set up usually I ask for bigger font but that is really small this email is from John I hope I'm saying this right Puda PUD good afternoon I see the school board is pushing to build new schools and would like to tear down the existing schools I also see that there is a strategic plan Planning Group that has been meeting for future strategic planning per the 201u site members will meet more than one time next month to finalize analyzing critical factors such as student performance and growth educator quality Community engagement and facilities and operations questions that I would like answered does the strategic planning include discussions as who exactly will pay for any changes if implemented and what the cost would be does the school board try to inform the community about any legislation that is in process so that new money might be provided to the district to reduce the school taxing amount from the previous property tax bill as seen below $7,300 of our current tax bill goes toward 201u I have lived here for over 30 years and have not seen anything about legislative support other than school board question on voting ballots has the school board reached out to any of the state senators Representatives or Governor asking for specific legislation could you please provide so that I could ask our Representatives help along the same lines I see that house bill 4866 was supposed to supply more funding to some schools would this help our district were we as a community asked to contact our representatives for that support back in 2019 the voters rejected the referendum for a $65 million Bond did I miss something how was that new High School South wi addition paid for was bond fund was renegotiated and the line extended the cr21 portion of our property taxes have greatly increased over the years excluding the supposedly home value increasing the 2011 school taxing body in 2017 was $5,300 the 2011 school taxing body in 2023 was $ 6861 the school taxing body in 2024 was $ 77323 note that this is not our Total Property Tax Bill only the cre 2011 portion of the property tax bill back in LGC government Information Services stated that cre Illinois in Will County paid three times the national average for property taxes I understand that the state of Illinois needs to pay more towards education and the community should be pushing for this so our property taxes can be reduced as a school district should as a school district should be the leaders for getting the community involved in order to force our legislators to help if legislation is being introduced we could help support how about this for an ongoing student project how about weekly articles in the videt paper since it's a local paper we as taxpayers did not supply you in open checkbook in order to spend as you see fit to add facilities that we pay for with our tax and no direct engagement the 2011 U portion of the bill is excessive and completely out of line thanks John Puda thank you so much Jamie appreciate it if there's any replies to be made the superintendent would do it as necessary okay thank you any other public ritten comments or emails anything okay thank you thanks again again Jamie at you save my eyes all righty next up board updates any board updates okay I'm trying to solidify some dates again for a couple different things I'm talking to our iasb rep on some things not only for some training for us in July at one of our our only meeting going to have some double duties on that particular date in July so look for some updates for me coming soon hide off the press on a couple couple couple three or four things okay hopefully next day or so all right if there's no other board went to I did I did attend the distinguished Scholars uh banquet um with Lamont and um he asked me to speak MH and I was not prepared and uh he gave me like 10 minutes to uh prepare something but the way I when I'm at uh an event I pay attention to what's going on and so and when things were going on I should have been preparing my little speech but I didn't and so I kind of uh crashed and burned up on uh stage he said you did well I'm really glad that nobody else was there to see me we was there you just to see us yeah so uh I'm really glad that uh I got to be a part of that um it was uh a great honor uh those kids are super talented and um and they're all headed towards uh straightfor success so I was really uh proud to be there thank you very commendable and I can again say one thing about this board there's a lot of events going on throughout this district and and I try to make as many events as possible but when I can't make it I can rest assure that one of us as board members will try to fill the Gap so I really appreciate all you guys do really do thank you all right administrative updates superintendent I have three this evening um the first one was just to um give awareness in the community of mon in particular we are going to be having um some safety drills over at our old MEC building um we are going to be having all of our responders in all of our communities come together to practice at that building between 8:00 am and 400 PM so the community can expect to see a lot of um First Responders out there they're going to take care of traffic controls and those things such as that um The Village has also alerted members within the community as well to alert them so they weren't uh concerned about that but we're really excited about this this is actually the focus is going to be on telecommunication the real purpose of this is to really make sure that our responders have good communication between the various agencies for example fired to police and so forth um as they prepare for this um so again it will be between 8 and 4: um if there's any member of our staff that would like to come and take a look uh we are invited to come between 1200 and 12:30 um to take a look to see how that plays out um and then our next step in moving forward to this would be starting to do some tabletop exercises next year so we're really excited to be able to use the building one last time for uh a cause that will be helpful for um the district what day is it that is tomorrow tomorrow okay yeah um the next item I'm going to have uh Mr surma give a little bit of an update on Tiff uh I know that that's been a conversation that uh we are um anxiously awaiting for Mr serman can you give an update please I can um if you recall and this is concerns University Parks Tiff five that is dissolving at the end of this year if you recall back on March 26th University Park tabled a motion to dissolve that resolution uh there was a reason for that we're in agreement that that should have been done that way uh in the meantime our legal council myself and the legal council of University Park have had discussions on creating the resolution and that so that resolution has been created um we shared it with our bond councel to make sure that they are in agreement with it they added a couple things in there uh and so we're all in agreement on the resolution question is is when is that going to be passed um last week um I received a couple emails from John ISO our legal councel who's handling this uh stating that they didn't know if they could get it done on the 28th which is their meeting of May but for sure they'll get it done in June but then we got notification that they may be able to get it done on the 28th today I sent an email to their legal counsel John Murphy um who has said to me that he was meeting today with University Park um to see if they can get it on the agenda agenda I haven't heard yet he said he would follow up with me I haven't heard yet today if it's going to get on the agenda for the 28th or not but he has promised it will get done in June um so that is the update on it I don't know if anyone has any questions about it but just kind of give you what the update is on that's just part of the process because the next one is filing with the county right it is so once they approve the resolution then it'll be filed and and their their legal counsel will take care of that we've already had those conversations to so you're telling us before your last date you're going to have that resol that's what I heard you know you tried to push it you tried to push it out I didn't hear ju lie so that means you taking careas not let him get away with yeah I have been told that I won't be able to leave unless I get this taking care July 1 July two we're working hard on this and and we're working with up on this John ISO is handling in and working hard on it so that's our goal is to get it done um you know I would love to get it done by the 28th of May you know and that and that's again what I'm pushing for but again they have promised that they will get get it done you know in June and I'll make sure that okay these tickets that I have in my back pocket to fly overseas you and your wife they're going to remain in my back pocket till we see that okay know than say okay and I have one very last uh good news um I wanted to talk about Mary brg a little bit more so um some information I found out is uh Mary Bragg started her career different than education back then she worked in the office as a Firestone Tire and then to target as a comparison shopper her dream of becoming a teacher eventually found her back at school where she enrolled at Governor State University to earn her bachelor's degree in education in ' 04 and later her master's degree in Administration in 09 Mary has spent her career teaching science at the middle school starting in 8th grade and now finally in seventh on top of teaching Mary also wore a variety of other hats she helped run the district's mentoring program been a grievance chair and an AR for cm mea later on she became the cmea president twice Mary's become an active member of cmea region 26 where she became a vice chair and eventually the region 26 chairperson she represents 12 Local Union um our area at both the state and the national levels for iea Nea and gives our Union a voice at State and National legislation working to improve conditions and education across the country after serving in our district for 20 years Mary has finally decided to take on her next great adventure retirement when asked what she intends to do with her spare time she smiles and says she's trying to visit every National Park in America there Mary can feed her passion for the open classroom the national park tonight we want to recognize Miss Mary brag for her dedication and the services for the creep Monon School District we will miss seeing you at every board meeting yeah on behalf of the Board of Education the school district we want to thank you for serving as an educator and a board president thank you so much Mary so oh Mary you're not done you got sure I'll take the big one well the big one you yeah cuz you oh okay is the biggest plan we can [Laughter] find oh wow hey Sheryl Cheryl can you stay up can we get a picture with every other four members don't run all the colors go together up there they do she finally [Music] got that's why I wor oh wow look at that that's not right [Music] very nice yeah got it your fing slow catch of the joke the best part all right we also with the farewell of in this role for Mary we also want to make sure we welcome Christine quinin to the team to the team as the president so give her a hand as well that was [Laughter] good and we do have cookies back there for the audience so grab your cookies anyway thank you all I'll a few yes Mr Brown yeah actually our superintendent did something like Mr hollyfield said you know their speech and like two minutes before I supposed to speak so I have nothing BR Mary you temp yeah I like to use the word extemporaneous you know kind of to spare the moment but a lot of my colleagues had already spoken some words that I would have spoken on your behalf and probably you've been here for 20 years and I've known you for more than half of your career here and it's always the the same that say that says something like the good alwayss the bad we have buted heads on a few things but I can tell you if there's anybody I want on my side to fight for me it will be you you fight for your team you fight what's best for the district for the kids and I think I spoke to you a couple years ago maybe five six seven years ago and hug you and ask for your forgiveness and we've been hugging ever since okay so Mary I wish you well with all your future endeavors your new chapter in your life that you are about to write I think you leaving your duties as a president of the teachers union in good hands with Christine we spoke uh what a couple about a week ago we sat at the table both you and and Christine and it was very cor I feel good that the union relationship and the administrative relationship is is going to be great and it's because on how you conducted yourself over the many years so invite me to the forest to see the open classroom with you okay and so I'm ready enjoy if there's anything I can do for you ask Dr Hall thank you thank you guys oh on me all righty next up on the agenda is the consent agenda and first I would like to ask if there's any anything someone want to pull out of the agenda and vote on it separately please state it now if not I would like a motion to approve the consent agenda as is so moved second second I hear a second second second by Alex any discussion hearing none roll call please Madam sec SEC AR sure Mr gagos I miss s sters i Mr sish hi M rup is and I Mr alook I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion Carri next up under action report is business I will like a motion to approve the resolution debating the working cash fund of Creek mon community Unit School District number 201 U Will County Illinois in the amount of million dollars so moved second Nelson second by Alex any questions comments hearing none roll call please Madam Secretary Mr Alber I Mr gyos I M rups and I Mr swales hi Miss sight stumbris I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry okay I would like a motion to approve the resolution appointing Jason I always get his name chopped upsk Jason O over oversky I think I said it did I say that right no no okay all right we got to get a right say what we're okra like okra like the okra okra good enough Jason all right H so Jason and as the school treasury of cre mon School District 2011 you moved second moved by Cheryl second by Alex uh any comments statements anything looking forward to it yeah keep the money tight hear no other further comments or concerns roll call please Madam Secretary right Miss site sters I Mr swales i m rson i Mr gyos I Mr alre I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion Carri like a motion to approve the resolution authorizing the donation s of other disposition or surplus of surplus property limit to student desk student teers teachers desk teachers cheers and half moon tables at Creed Elementary Boro Elementary ketta Scott Magnet School mon Elementary and tala Elementary so moved moved by Alex second second by Nelson roll call please or any questions first concerns if not roll call please Mr gyos I Mr Al i m rson i Mr swales I miss site stumbras I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry like a motion to approve the established to establish a date for the 2024 amended budget public hearing on July 11th 202 June June June June 11 correction 2024 so moved move by Alex second second by Nelson any questions or comments hearing none roll call please Mr alre I Mr gigos I miss rup and I Mr swales I miss site stus I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry like a motion to approve the contract for burn and Jones Construction to renovate the creek won Middle School Upper Deck in the main gymnasium in the amount of $68,000 mov second bill was second by Alex M any questions or comments hearing none roll call please Madam Secretary Mr swales hi Miss site stum I Mr alre I Mr ggos i m rson i Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry and the last action item under business is I would like a motion to approve the contract from be construction to demolish and renovate the creek mon middle school locker rooms in the amount of8 $84,700 moved second second by Alex you moved okay move by Bill and second by Alex will this and will this and the prior item be completed by this summer before school starts yes yes okay sorry I jumped in there for comments and questions before you offered up no that's all right you you read my mind okay any other questions or comments I guess I do have a question this is what we talked about for um as far as last week right I'm just trying to yes the lockers okay with the presentation right with okay okay no other further comments roll call please Madam Secretary in your rating all right Mr Al hi Mr gyos I M rups and I Mr swales hi Mite stus I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry now on the Personnel in culture that's Bravo 8 Bravo I would like a motion to approve the insurance committee's recommendation for 2025 2024 to 2025 employee health insurance rates so moved second second by Alex any comments questions or concerns all St holders are on board yes okay yes okay good to know so we had two PR this questions asked by board member Nelson and we had two clothes in answers that's good maybe I should phrase my questions I know they just don't phrase open no open all right you guys really try to get home and cut your grass huh all right do we have any old business to share we need to take we need to vote we have to take the vote we have to take the vote on insurance you see I'm trying to get home cut1 thank you sure so on 8v1 uh Mr Alber hi Miss s stumber hi Mr swales hi M rups and I Mr gigos hi Dr Hall I president Brown hi motion Carri sorry about that thank you guys having my back there all right now are is there any o business hearing done is there any new business uh there was something in I think one of the F FYI from uh ukara something about uh a conference in DC or something like that for our students yeah what can you tell me more about that like I I can tell you a little bit and then miss per can help out for the rest so um so we have educator Rising students those are students that are becoming going to uh become teachers and so forth we are we have a program at at the high school that you know supports that they go to all the events the exhibitions and so forth so um our school district was uh asked to be on um um on the panel um for the uh trip at at the DC and this is the first time ever so I asked Lamont I said what was the uh what was the criteria for that he says our our district has done everything uh is um going to all the exhibits doing everything they needed to do so we were asked to them presented that so we were uh really excited about that um Miss Perkins is there anything I missed that you can give more details to so our students this is the first time the state of Illinois has sent delegates asks for our students to be part across students across the nation that are going to school to be teachers and so as part of the pipeline they bring the group of students together to have conversations with their uh peers Across the Nation so they'll sit in panels five of our students um of the seven seven of them are going to compete and five of them will be part of this National panel to give their voice and agency about um going to school for Education this is the very first time that the state has sent any delegates to this that sounds awesome that's were there other schools from the state that represented or was it just they they did not tell us who we beat out okay but um we're we're representing the state of Illinois that is awesome wow and we also have 17 of those um young students working for us for summer school that is the most that we've been able to employ so 17 of them will be joining us for summer school and have a mentor um to help them through the summer um program that's awesome do they get paid like more than the board MERS they they they get paid yes even after the state of Illinois took away our funding for that we we found a way wow that's that's that is that is a very good feat yeah good question Alex thank you superintendent for sharing that and assistant superintendent for clarification okay any other old business that was that was new bus was new business that was new business any other new business okay we do have a reason to go into close session and that is the for the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees going have a motion to do so for the reason stated oh number 11 I missed one okay also litigation litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative Tri tribul or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent in which case the basics for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed session meeting that's five Illinois compile statute 1202 Charlie with a C1 now can I have a motion to go into close session for those reasons stated so moved second move by Alex second by Dr Hall roll call please M secretary sure Mr gigos I Mr Alber i m rubson i Mr swales I miss s stbr i Dr Hull I president Brown I we are in close session for uh for about 29 minutes and then and no further action shall be taken after that so thank you public for joining us have a good evening and if you have time to cut your grass please do so before the rain come in

board meetings and I know mention that every year but it's dedication to that helping at the Strawberry Festival day of caring and general board governance Cooper we appreciate that very much William J Clinton is quoted as saying volunteer volunteering is an act of heroism on a grand scale and it matters profoundly it does more than help people beat the odds it changes the odds our work at the United Fund is about changing lives with the help of local resources and we strive every day to beat the odds for many the United Fund board of directors and staff appreciate Cooper's participation and thank you for your service in representing your peers and helping us change lives over the past two years we wish you much success in your future endeavors and are confident you leave here well prepared for whatever life holds congratulations and boiler up [Applause] good morning my name is Christopher fle and for today's a I speaking on behalf of the Community Action Coalition and the Greensburg prevention group The CAC and gpg work to reduce alcohol and tobacco use and drug use in our community especially among our youth one of the ways that we encourage you like you to make smart choices by publishing our be the wall role model posters this year we were happy to have two of your own classmates featured on our posters the students were selected because of their ability to make smart healthy choices at this time we would like to give them a momento and their scholarship check for $200 for their efforts as a be the wall role model thank you for making healthy choices AA Wilmer and Jesse hat please come forward at this time the CAC and gpg would also like to announce the new role model for the 2425 poster series earlier this year 11th graders applied to be featured on the new posters our committee reviewed all the applications and today we are pleased to announce this year's winners representing Greensburg High School congratulations Ariana Hamilton and side [Applause] Miller good morning my name is Nora Bruns and I am the 4 Youth Development educator for theer County and today we would like to recognize our senior 4 members along with giving out the 4 Council scholarship these seniors potentially started their 4 journey in third grade and maybe even earlier if they were Clover buds or what we now refer to as many 4 4 AG can be a huge commitment and not just for the member but for the entire family in their years they've built life skills by Leading Hands-On projects in areas like science Health agriculture and Civic engagement for has help them grow confidence Independence resilience and compassion we would like to honor their commitment to for each today by presenting them with a certificate of recognition and official forage honor cords please help us recognize Carly Adams Justin bad Olivia Evans Lily helm Kayla Kramer and Daniel [Applause] kinsky we thank you for your commitment to 4 and to your community and wish you the best of luck on your next adventure on to our forage Council scholarship our young individuals for this exemplify the spirit of dedication hard work and community service that 4 stands for our scholarship recipient has not only excelled academically but has also shown exceptional commitment to their community Through countless hours of service they've demonstrated leadership res and a drive to make a difference they have a unique story of perseverance and passion that inspires us all as they embark on their next Journey whether it be in higher education vocational training or other endeavors we have no doubt that they will continue to shine and make impactful contributions to the world they're the Future Leaders innovators and change makers and we're incredibly proud of their accomplishments let's take a moment to applaud their hard work and dedication [Applause] congratulations to Justin B who will be receiving a $250 scholarship your 4 AG family is rooting for you and we can't wait to see all of the amazing things that you will achieve [Applause] good morning I'm Linda White I'm here representing chapter T peo from Greensburg The peo Sisterhood is one of the largest community-based organizations in North America with almost 250,000 members Theo is committed to helping women achieve their educational goals by Pro providing loans grants and scholarships the peo star scholarship recognizes the accomplishments of graduating high school young women who want to pursue post postsecondary education in presenting this $2500 scholarship the members of chapter T and Greensburg are pleased to recognize our Honore she demonstrates excellence and Leadership extracurricular activities community service academics potential for success our peo star scholarship is proudly presented to Jana G good morning I'm Alex Helms with the decer county puru a Alumni Association our association was founded in 1978 with the mission to promote puru University agriculture programs in decater County to this day we still strive to achieve this Mission as we support decer County students pursuing higher education in the field of culture at Purdue by providing scholarships this morning's recipients will receive a $750 scholarship after theyve completed their freshman year of Purdue and enrolled in their sophomore this year's recipients are Cooper Williams Carly Adams and Justin B [Applause] good morning seniors and congratulations my name is Philip G and I'm here this morning with my wife Dr suel and Reed G you may be interested in knowing that Dr Goddard was the superintendent of public instructions for 16 years she held that Statewide position longer than anybody in Indiana I'm very proud of the fact that I was able to endow a scholarship in memory of My Father Judge Gard I'm even prouder to be able to to present such a scholarship in an auditorium named in his memory the Gard Auditorium my dad had a very big footprint in Greensburg and Deo County and I wanted just touch on a few things so that you know who he was dad was a naval officer in World War II he retired from the United States naval reserves with the rank of Commander he taught at Notre Dame he taught at Princeton he taught at Ohio State and Dartmouth dad returned to Greensburg and became a lawyer and um became the County Attorney the City attorney the prosecuting attorney and the circuit court judge for 30 years all in all he held public office for 42 years he's a recipient of two seore of the wall bash Awards the highest civilian award the state can present and he was surpass president of the Indiana trial judges Association he was known Statewide his Civic involvements were too many for me to touch on in the time allotted to me for this but I do believe he was a rotarian for 75 years dad also and along with his brother played on the National Volleyball championship at the YMCA something that he was very proud of but one of his biggest interests were the welfare and the futures of the student at Greensburg High School dad was your biggest fan he attended almost he attended many many functions even after my two brothers and I graduated from Greensburg High School dad was attending um basketball games for the Pirates well into his '90s he had a special seat that nobody said in it wasn't by design that nobody said there except that and uh it was it was really nice his sense of fairness and legal scholarship was recognized Statewide he authored a book for jury instructions that is still used to this day in courtrooms dad never met a stranger and could walk with royalty as easily as he could with the common person with all of this in mind it gives you an idea who my father was and I'm pleased to announce the recipient of the Judge John W Gard scholarship to Zachary [Applause] nce for I'm here with Russell wi Hoy uh who with his wife Nancy established a academic and Leadership scholarship that we're going to present today Russell as many of you know still participates in Greensburg Athletics as our JV softball coach and it's Russel's honor and his wife ny's to present his Scholarship today following first one please come forward CH comr she is a recipient of this year's scholarship [Applause] good morning my name is Renee springmier and I think you all know Mrs mangles we currently serve on the Greensburg Community Schools Education Foundation we are here today to present a total of six scholarships these scholarships are made possible because of those who have generously donated to the Education Foundation we are excited that our previous five $2,000 scholarships have increased to $33,000 this year and our newest scholarship the Virginia Garvey female athlete scholarship has increased from $500 to $1,000 the first recipient of the foundation's academic scholarship for $3,000 is Alison Foster [Applause] the next recipient of the Greensburg Educational Foundation academic scholarship is Adriana litmer [Applause] and the final Foundation academic scholarship goes to Zachary m [Applause] the Greensburg Community Schools Education Foundation Technical vocational scholarship in the amount of $3,000 is awarded to Bryon Kelo [Applause] the Virginia Garvey female athlete scholarship for $1,000 goes to Kayla Kramer [Applause] and the class of 1968 scholarship for $3,000 goes to Ava Wilmer for good morning again congratulations to the class of 2024 I am Dave Green here with my son Brad we are here to present for the 26th honor roll award in the name of Joyce J green Mrs Green is unknown to all of you but I'm certain somebody in your circle parent grandparent relative or friend probably knew maybe was a student of Mrs Green Mrs Green began her teaching career in the fall of 1967 at that point her M Mo was that she was going to invest in and with the students of Greensburg Community High school there's no doubt in my son mind and mine that she did that manyfold and because of her thought to that uh she passed in 1998 in the establishment of her scholarship The Joy Jean Green Memorial Scholarship that M Mo we feel is being carried on she is still investing in and with you students of Greensburg Community High School in this class of 24 there were several very good applicants for this award our committee looked at it we met after we had scored everything and we decided that uh there are two of of you in this class of 2024 that are very very worthy of this honor your reward as we present it to you is worth $11,000 in monetary value hold that up son your name will appear on this plaque will be a permanent Memorial to Mrs Green and be uh housed in the main office office with that said I would like to have the students as we call you uh please come up and we'll present you with your award the first recipient of the Joyce J Memorial scholarship award of 2024 is Miss Emma leap [Applause] [Music] our second recipient in this class is Mr Owen Stevens [Applause] thank you very much again congratulations we have a memoral day service coming up or a holiday please be safe and enjoy thank you [Applause] good morning my name is Jamie Hulk camp and I am here to present the Adam Hulk Camp Memorial Scholarship I would like to start off by saying a few words about Adam Adam was a Greensburg graduate in 2005 he was a farmer in decar County his entire life his passion knowledge and versatility for all things agriculture was impressive he gained a degree in a systems management from Purdue University in 2009 he worked for several years as a manager at at Premier egg in St Paul and here in Greensburg and held a position as an account manager for an agriculture software company that allowed him to travel the country all while working on his family's Farm one of his favorite jobs on the farm was hauling cattle to Nebraska in his Kenworth occasionally with our dog Brantly in the passenger seat spending hours catching up with his buddies on the CB radio as he drove he even coined his basement Gathering space after this the bull hauler Saloon in 2016 Adam and his father took a leap of faith and established their own Farm together hul Camp family land and livestock as his wife I experienced all of the dedication hard work and faith that Adam put into all things agriculture Adam's life ended far too soon in January of 2021 at the age of 34 while completing his his routine morning chores on our farm Adam was incredibly intelligent talented and capable in many Arenas he had goals that were as high as the sky though he measured success a little differently than most his success was rarely measured in dollars he measured his success in the smiles on the faces of our daughter and nieces during their trips to the river in the semi to deliver grain he measured it in the anticipation and excitement he had for teaching our son all he knew and loved about farming and he measured it in working with his father building their legacy and living out their dreams together he certainly didn't have it all but by his measures his life was incredibly successful agriculture is vital to the future of this county country and the world agriculture needs individuals that are leaders Innovative Risk Takers and can think outside of the box in a world that continuously expect expects us to do more often with less working in agriculture takes a broads set of skills and knowledge an ability to be flexible and often think quickly and an obvious willingness to get your hands dirty this scholarship was established as a way to support youth with these very special qualities in Decor County honor Adam and give back to a community that has given so much love and support to my family and that we're proud to be a part of I want to thank the de the decor County Community Foundation for their help and support making this scholarship possible the past 3 years I want to thank all of the scholarship applicants reading the essay responses on what agriculture means to them brings an immense amount of joy to my heart heart and reminds us of the deep meaning love and respect of agriculture in Adam's life I do want to mention that our scholarship does hold a fundraising event which is a Jeep and sidebyside ride that we call Adams fundr run this year our event will be Sunday June 23rd and starts and ends at the INX BG Hall last year was our first event and we had approximately 120 vehicles that participated with lots of family fun at the hall following the ride if you're interested in further information about this year's event please visit our Facebook page Adams funr run I'm pleased to say that the total amount that our scholarship has been able to distribute to recipients has increased each year it has been awarded and we are happy to be able to award two scholarships countywide this year primarily from the efforts of this event the event also ensures that we will be able to honor Adam and support youth through this scholarship for many many years to come our scholarship application includes an essay question what does agriculture mean to you I was very touched by this recipient's response it was certainly from the heart and felt very aligned with a response I feel could have come from Adam himself I believe that this recipient can make a difference has a bright future and can do great and important things for the agriculture Community he has been a leader for agriculture during his high school career and I am sure that will continue through various avenues for years to come I am happy and privileged to award the Adam Hol Camp Memorial Scholarship to Justin B [Applause] I'm Sarah on par I'm Sarah helck uh ironically I'm awarding a scholarship for the Greensburg United Methodist Church and it's for a nursing scholarship in the amount of $1,062 and the recipient is Emma leap [Applause] good morning everybody uh my name is Ethan elders and I'm very excited to be here today um on behalf of the Chrisi elridge Memorial Scholarship Foundation to be giving out our annual award to one of you graduating seniors here today um for those of you who don't know my mom christaf was uh actually a student at North cator High School just down the road uh while she was at North cater she was uh a diligent student she was a a fierce competitor in uh North CER Athletics and she was also very very proud of her involvement in her Local 4 club uh where she was actually the first woman to be awarded the Tom Swain award for animal Showmanship uh shortly after her time at North catar her and my dad who was actually a student here at Greensburg High School uh went on to Purdue University together where she got her undergraduate degree in social work and then later went on to the University of Pittsburgh to get her her master's degree in social work with the helps of uh coming back to Greensburg and being a uh a family therapist and uh ideally going back to to to North cater and coaching women's sports there um shortly uh after uh receiving her her master's degree um we moved back to Indiana um after moving around a little bit before that actually and um my mom was uh diagnosed with with cancer unfortunately at the beginning of the summer of 2004 and before we were actually able to move back here to Greensburg um as a family she passed away um at the age of of 33 and um she had some very good family friends uh some of which are here today um who decided to start this Memorial Foundation as a way of honoring her memory by giving out a scholarship each year uh one to a student here at Greensburg high school and one at North CER High School um and uh we look to give the scholarship to students who have a very similar dedication to their schools and to their communities uh my mom loved the community of Greensburg uh she obviously as a a social worker and a family therapist was uh very dedicated to its young people who are the future of this community and uh I'm sure if she was still here today she would um likely be coaching women's sports at North Gator and uh would be here instead of me giving out the scholarship to to one of you bright young people um and so it is with great honor that I present this year's award for the chrisen Nai ELD Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to a um brilliant student to a proud member of the Greensburg community and to somebody I've been hearing um quite a bit about this morning and that is emite congratulations good morning and congratulations class of 2024 my name is Amy Bray this is my husband Larry uh and we are honored to be here tonight to present the calling Bray Memorial Scholarship in memory of our daughter she also graduated from Greensburg Community High School in 2019 it's been 2 years since Colleen passed in a car accident on her way to work she packed a lot of living in those 21 years she was already an accomplished dog groomer a successful small business owner and she was planning her wedding I'm going to share we're going to share a little bit information with you about colen for two reasons one we're just incredibly proud of her and her story story and her story is unlike uh not unlike many other young people today so we're hoping that her story resonates with some of you and provides some guidance in folk all of Colleen's lives she loved animals humans were complicated for her but animals just made sense she had a way with all animals especially dogs um she would sit on the floor with a a dog that may have been aggressive or or scared and she would just sit with them and meet them where they were she was so patient and kind and before too long the dogs were licking her face and rolling over for belly reps she was truly gifted in that way however in high school she really struggled academically even with all the love and support from home in school she lacked interest in nearly all subjects in high school she failed to connect any return on the investment she was being asked to make in her studies of course this was frustrating to her parents um Larry and I worried and wondered about what her future would look like without a traditional college education for us we prayed about it a lot and one day it finally clicked Colleen's potential couldn't be measured on a report card Colleen had impeccable work ethic she was an Unapologetic advocate for Animals she was patient and nurturing she had passion it just wasn't in school so once we got it we started to see her path and so did she she not only got excited about her future she began to flourish and within 2 years of graduating high school she completed a dog rooming certification she opened and operated her own small business and she had a very long list of very satisfied customers who loved her some may be in the room today one day she said to me Mom I can't believe I get paid to play with dogs all day I looked at her in amazement because I realized in her short 21 years Colleen had already figured out what most of us don't figure out in a lifetime she found a p passion and she figured out how to get paid for it we all know that when you do what you love you never work a day in your life and that's one of the keys to happiness therefore the calling gray Memorial Scholarship is a little different than most it doesn't include academic requirements this scholarship is open to anyone who resides in decar county and is willing to use their god-given talents and passion to help animals in some way that shares callings genuine and Unconditional Love of Animals students and adults alike are eligible to apply for the scholarship because not everyone realizes their full potential before they're 18 Colleen scholarship is managed by the decater County Community Foundation and our applicants range from students pursuing a doctorate in vet veterinary medicine to vocational students learning V Tech dog ging dog training and animal behaviors to adult entrepreneurs trying to start an animal wfl business and we know Colleen would want to support all of these Endeavors because the real winners are her beloved animals with all of this being said it is with much pleasure that we're able to present this $1,000 scholarship to a Greensburg student who embodies Colleen's love of animals and we're proud to award this scholarship to Shelby AEL [Applause] good morning nice to see all these smiling faces out here wasn't that long ago 1967 I was also sitting in the Greensburg High School auditorium seats wondering if these people would ever quit talking and just get this all done right but I'm here to tell you a bit of a story about the scholarship that b and I have put together over the years for my parents and maybe give you a little bit of an idea what can do with your life Glenn and Joanne were high school sweethearts they moved to Greensburg in 1955 and I've been exactly six years old and they purchased a retail store and they raised us four kids myself my sister Pam and Jeff and Melanie and we also attended Greensburg school system and went on to postsecondary education they were Merchants here in Greensburg they had the moris Tre Value Hardware Store in the v Department store my mother was a very beautiful and kind and generous and internally driven person my wife is the same she made the best of every situation my father had Integrity he was trustworthy and his handshake meant something and he believed his word was his bond so it gives me great pleasure to award for the Glen and Joan Moore scholarship $11,000 to Owen Stevens [Applause] and these could be even quicker R International is a worldwide service club that has several Club all over the place and Greensburg club's been here since 1920 you probably haven't heard a lot about us and that's okay we used to be a very quiet club and now you can find us online so we really Comm intoed the 21st century we every year ask for uh service above self compositions to be written and turned in and judged and we have two winners here today of a $500 service above self scholarship award for the Greensburg Rotary Club Ava Wilmer and Claire kn [Applause] good morning my name is jeffi and I'm here along with our children Travis Elena and Jenna and I just want to say congratulations to all the senior class and I said we are here today to help celebrate my husband and their father Brian Nai who we lost to Leo blasto mon which is a for of brain cancer a little over 18 months ago um if you guys knew Brian you knew a stranger who was always glad to help someone no matter what um he was loved by many in our community and that community supported us through our journey with his illness that sport continues today in the form of the Brian naby Memorial Scholarship um he entered the workforce 20 right out of high school 25 and worked at a local Factory for 25 years as a maintenance employee and then he retired from there and then came here to the community greens Comm schools and worked as a maintenance person and throughout that 29 years he had mentioned that if he had to do all over again he would like to do a job in probing one of the trades so with that in mind I said our family and Community has help created this Fellowship to help support a graduat that plans to continue his education around the trades and hopefully could do as Brian did enjoy what you do every day and help others along the way so it is my and my family's pleasure to announce the winner the first annual Nai Memorial Scholarship to Justin Atkins in the amount of [Applause] $1,000 thank you congratulations are all your graduates my name is Dennis Collins class of 57 and I'm here to present scholarship in my brother's name uh for track his name was Paul L Collins he held a record in three events and uh they were broken later by Stan MAV scholarship goes to Carson mord for $400 [Applause] after my brother's death U him and I play in the high school band and we play trombones and my my motto was always play louder in the trumpets but my band director in the trumpet section never did adhere to that so we didn't get a done a scholarship for Dennis and Paul Dwayne Collins this year and this is a first year has been done and he goes to car [Applause] it's a whole lot of um really good scholarships to go out to a Wonderful class um all of the people that have been before me I'm Tammy winning with the decor County Community Foundation all of these scholarships were started by people who lost someone they loved wanted to commemorate something they loved and um you're going to get an invitation if you receive a scholarship and there are some parents out here um you don't get a chance really to talk to the people that give you your scholarships but so many of them would love to talk to you um we're going to have a meet and greet the first time ever so you're going to get an invitation if you can at all make it it's just going to be come in grab some snacks and um get a chance to meet the person who made your scholarship possible and I can tell you it means a whole lot to them because they are signing up to come um they're looking forward to it so so rather than tell you a long story about every one of these I just want you to know that they are all important you guys have worked your tails off to get where you're at today and I will I tried to go through and organize them so that you don't have to come up here A whole bunch of times if you're going to get several but we'll see how I did first up I am presenting for the um Henry a and Ruby Ernest family scholarship and that will go to Eva Bower and that one is for $1,500 [Applause] it's okay I like hearing your medals jingle and if you'll stay up here Eva I'd like to give you another one uh the Knights of Columbus Council 1042 scholarship congratulations this next one I had to get confirmation on how to pronounce her name um I would like to give the William H gravy scholarship and it's for $2,500 to Mila [Applause] winel she's not wearing Jingle Bells if you'll stay up here um I would also like to uh present the Bernie and Lucy Layman scholarship um I'm going to look up that one so I can let you know it's a very very wonderful scholarship um where's it at Bernie and Lucy Layman that is $5,000 a year for four years so it's it's it's like we're taing over and right back the Joanie Bostic Memorial senior pirate Spirit award also goes to [Applause] Mila Okay um I have nothing to hand out um to Cooper Williams but I can announce that he was our Lily scholarship winner we actually run that process for Lily endowment and they handle the paperwork and do all of that for the student but we're sort of your contact so Cooper Williams we'd like to congratulate you on receiving the Lily [Applause] scholarship the process for getting the Lily is pretty gruelling and anybody who's not ever been a part of it can't even begin to understand how much pressure all these young people are under so we always the decator County Community Foundation gives out for the four there are five finalists and one gets the Lily the remaining for each get $5,000 a piece and I would like to present Jana comr Emma leap I'm going to get something wrong up here just yet I know it Lily Kay if you'll come up we'd like to present you with the decer County Community Foundation the $5,000 scholarship for being [Applause] and Miss Lily congratulations to them um next up is the Addie M Austin Memorial Scholarship that goes to Bryson [Applause] Kelo and don't just grab this envelope and run because I got a couple more things for you Grayson also receives the roads deas family vocational scholarship and the Steve Hunter Memorial Scholarship congratulations [Applause] Bryson next up is Miss Shelby AEL to be receiving the Addie M Austin Memorial Scholarship [Applause] let's see Shelby this is for $993 41 spend that 41 wisely congratulations Garett [Applause] Sebastian this is also the Addie M Austin Memorial Scholarship obviously they divided the amount available into fourths because you got 99341 also congratulations Lexi swango I've already let the cat out of the bag you are also receiving the adim Austin Memorial Scholarship for congratulations next is theel maare IU Kelly School of Business scholarship and that goes to miss Claire naobi [Applause] the Arnold D deonis MD scholarship he was a doctor when I was a kid so it's been a while um goes to Hunter [Applause] springmier the First Federal good citizenship schol yep First Federal good citizenship scholarship that just rolls right off goes to Angela [Applause] Kates you put a robe on them and they they don't run where they go they walk sedately congratulations Angela next we have um another First Federal good citizenship scholarship and that goes to Milana [Applause] Kramer and Milana I'll have you stay up here because I have another one for you uh the Martha L Frost scholarship you I have another award from the Steve Hunter Memorial Scholarship and that will go to Daniel [Applause] kensky all right I would like Mr Hayden peas to come on down do we have Hayden here there he is all right um I have the Steve Hunter Memorial Scholarship that will go to Hayden while he's making his way up here I'd also like to announce that he received the Greensburg Community High School class of 1941 and 42 scholarship the class of scholarship and the Mystery donor trades scholarship so you take all of this and you make good use of it CU all these people care about you [Applause] congratulations okay another Steve Hunter Memorial Scholarship and this will go to Cameron Schwarz [Applause] and now that I've turned the paper over I see on the other side everyone who received the Steve Hunter Memorial Scholarship received $825 each congratulations um next up we have um the Holly Peters nursing scholarship and that was started by a teacher who used to teach here I don't know if any of you I don't know when he retired Mr Bill winning started this um he just passed away this last year but the Holly Peters nursing scholarship will go to Emma [Applause] leap and as Emma makes her way up here I want to let her know I have another envelope for her Emma is also going to receive one of the Bernie and Lucy Layman scholarships which is $5,000 a year for 4 years so it's a $20,000 envelope congratulations now I don't know all of you so I don't know if Maggie leap and and Emma if they're related or not but I'd like to have Maggie leap come up please are we twins oh I'm I'm quick Maggie is going to be presented with a Bernie and Lucy Layman scholarship also for $5,000 for four years and I'm sure that LE family is Joy I have yet another Bernie and Lucy Layman scholarship to give out um this one goes to Carly Adams [Applause] as Carie makes her way up here I'll let you know years and years ago there was um he was a principal a teacher a school administrator that Bernie Layman nobody knew he had money but when he passed away he made almost a $3 million donation to The Community Foundation in order to Grant these scholarships and it has grown and it gives out about 12 scholarships a year and they are some of the few scholarships we have go for four years and it's an amazing amazing gift so there you go congratulations next is the Meyer and Wilma shriber Memorial Scholarship and this will go to Ava [Applause] Wilmer congratulations and I said I would go till I ran out of envelopes I have one more left uh this was also started by former former school teacher here Mr Bill winning and he started this in honor of his mother who was also a school teacher her name was Dortha winning so the Dortha a winning scholarship will go to Justin rmer [Applause] so congratulations to all of you um you've got the invitation to come to the meet and greet we would love to see you but more than us loving to see you the people who started these scholarships would love to get the opportunity to meet the young people they're sending out into the world so and whether you're going to college or to a grade school or going right into the workforce just give it your best do your best at whatever you do and hopefully I heard someone say earlier if you can enjoy what you do that's half the battle and I love I love being Santa Claus and handing out scholarships but I have to thank the people who created this scholarships and trusted us to give them out so congratulations and go out there and take the world thank you have a couple Awards here to present first off the DAR Good Citizen Award for $175 to Jana cmer [Applause] and the international Optimus oratorical District Champion they receive $3,500 and that is Claire Nai [Applause] hi I'm Bailey AER from Central Credit Union for many years Central Credit Union's members and further education is the next step to await to achieving their dreams that's why the Loretta and bird scholarship program was created named after cra's former CEO and president Inver the scholarship gives CRA and the CRA Foundation an opportunity to invest in our CRA members um each year we are awarded $2,500 scholarship per Centra service center for graduating high school seniors applications are evaluated based on academic achievements school and Community involvement and a written essay related to financial literacy I'm honored to announce Ava lmer as the recipient of the conrat Norma Banbridge Memorial Scholarship and the amount of $500 Addison Barnes pedit TR Kappa sorority Donna little $11,000 scholarship Zachary niece TR Kappa sorority bar pan $11,000 scholarship Owen Stevens Farm Bureau scholarship for $1,000 Kayla [Applause] Kramer Sai Iota Z sorority scholarship for $1,000 Milana Kramer Daughters of Isabella scholarship each $500 Zachary n and Kayla [Applause] Kramer hey I'd like to recognize um those students receiving the Next Generation hoer education award this is a $10,000 award renewable for four years Cadence hoit and Morgan [Applause] K the Mitch Daniels early graduation scholarship in the amount of $4,000 each goes to Zoe bird Trinity Finley Veronica henkins helmet Wen Taylor and Chloe Williams would also like to recognize those students who have completed the requirements for the 21st century Scholars award that award is equal to state tuition for four years with the following students please come forward McKenzie Austin Michaela Bell Zoe Beltran Diego Sito Marcos Alexa Condon Cheyenne cordre Robert iser Olivia Evans Riley Hofer Patrick Howard Zoe Jones Bryson Kelo Chase Moore Abigail Sebastian Garrett Sebastian Francesca Vero Elliot Weber Caleb Whit and Leela Worman [Applause] okay we have individual students going on to their colleges Awards now so um David Oriana is going to Arizona State and he is receiving new American University scholarship for $10,000 renewable and also the AR Arizona State living and learning award for $5,000 renewable David please come on [Applause] up Madison current is going to go to deul university and she is going to be receiving the VIN vincenton award for [Applause] $133,000 Madison ponsler will be going going to depal University and she will be receiving the Frank Braden scholarship this is a scholarship that's renewable scholarship in the amount of tuition room and board and book stien totaling at least [Music] $297,000 brayan Han is going to go to Handover college and he is receiving reing the presidential scholarship for $24,000 renewable and he is also receiving the campus experience award for $4,000 Owen Stevens is going to Indiana State and he is receiving the network scholarship for $9,000 renewable [Applause] we have quite a few students going to Indiana State univers sorry not Indiana State Indiana University Elena Osborne will be going there and receiving the Provo scholarship for $1,000 renewable we also have Claire Nai and Macy boltman receiving the Provo scholarship for $3,000 renewable [Applause] along with Emma leap and Claire Ginder going to Indiana University with the Provo scholarship as well but this one is for $4,000 [Applause] renewable Cadence Hoy will be going to Indiana University she also received the Provo scholarship and the direct admit scholarship this is $2,000 renewable along with a $500 [Applause] scholarship and then Jana cmer will be going to Indiana University as well she is receiving the Indiana County fee remission which is 88% of her tuition is renewable every year that's about $41,500 along with the Provo scholarship that is 4,000 re [Applause] no Riley hoer and Kayla Kramer will be going to Indiana University Indianapolis and they are receiving the Crimson prize scholarship $1,000 [Applause] renewable Justin rer will be headed to Manchester University he's receiving the dean scholarship for $220,000 renewable visit incentive scholarship $500 renewable and the Legacy scholarship which is $1,000 renewable Jake Taylor is going to Marian University and he is receiving the St Clair academic scholarship this is $16,000 renewable [Applause] Addison Barnes pedet will be going to Ohio West lean University he's receiving the Marian Crawley $500 renewable scholarship and the Monet scholarship which is $30,000 [Applause] renewable we have the following students going to Purdue University receiving the presidential scholarship which $44,000 renewable Koopa Williams Annie pumfrey Lily Cay Adriana litmer Justin B Hunter spring Meer and Morgan Kane [Applause] Wyatt Clifford will also be going to Purdue University and he will be receiving the sponsor National Merit [Music] Scholarship Shelby fers is headed to Purdue University as well she is receiving the Eli Lily scholarship renewable for full tuition this is approximately $40,000 [Applause] 25 Carson mcord is going to Rose Holman Institute of Technology he is receiving the Merit scholar for $22,500 renewable Rose Homan Grant which is a $2,652 renewable Rose Homan Endeavor scholarship which is 1,250 renewable and an early notification scholarship ship for [Applause] $1,000 three students are going to University of Cincinnati they are receiving the Cincinnati Century scholar for $2,500 renewable Molly Richard Maggie Lee and Ava Wilmer [Applause] Drew Bru buk is going to University of Cincinnati Claremont and receiving a $500 [Applause] scholarship emry Jackson is headed to University of Delaware she's receiving an athletic scholarship for 4 years with a little more than $228,000 she's also receiving the University of Delaware Merit totaling over four four years $26,000 in the blue hen ready program scholarship which is $598 renewable Brooklyn Adams is going to University of Indianapolis and she is receiving the founders award which is $ 14,353 in the room and board award which is [Applause] $739 last but not least Lily helck is headed to the University of South Florida and she is receiving a $4,000 scholarship thank you Mrs herd and congratulations to our class of 2024 before we hand out our athletic awards I would like to say a few thank yous I would like to thank all of our student athletes for how they represented Greensburg High School this year and for all of their successes I would also like to thank all of our coaches for their hard work and dedication to our student athletes I would like to thank our Administration staff and teachers for all of their support and help and I a big thank you goes out to June rney for all of her work in the athletic office and everything that she does for our students our Awards this year our first award is our Royal Club award this award is given to athletes who have lettered an aid Varity Sports in their four-year career this is a tremendous accomplishment for our student athletes to achieve the athletes are awarded a plaque with their name on it that Mr Myers will give them today as I announce your name if you'll please come upstage to receive your plaque this year's recipients and we have nine this year first is Carly Adams next is Jana cmer next recipient is Milana [Applause] Kramer next is Justin [Applause] Atkins next is Wyatt Clifford next athlete is TJ Gorman our next athlete is Jake [Applause] Hawkins next is Cameron Schwarz and our last athlete is Hunter spring Meer [Applause] our next athletic award is our class of 1921 scholar athlete this award is voted on by our head coaches and takes academics and Athletics into consideration this year's female scholar athlete is Jana cmer and this year's male scholar athlete goes to Cooper [Applause] Williams our last athletic award is our top female and male athlete award this award is also Al voted on by the head coaches and takes into into consideration an athletes four-year career this year's top female athlete goes to Carly [Applause] Adams in this year's top male athlete goes to Justin Atkins [Applause] again congratulations to the class of 2024 and the best of luck good morning and congratulations to the class of 2024 my name is Jane reallyy Mrs reallyy I'm here to present the Randy reallyy Memorial Scholarship in memory of my husband Randy who lost his battle with melanoma cancer on July 16th of 2020 my husband Randy was a 1979 graduate of Batesville High School we won't hold that against him he was a caring and hardworking person he participated in the school to work program when he was in high school working in the grocery business he continued to work in the retail business his entire life he worked his way up through the business from a cashier stock person to managing over six convenience stores and eventually owning his own convenience store Randy also had a love for the outdoors he eventually opened up RJ Bait and Tackle which I continue today he served 25 different locations even with his busy schedule he found time to coach softball and Mentor young people in our community Brandy was also the primary caregiver of my father who had Alzheimer's for 5 years Randy was all about giving of his time to help others and encouraging young people to do their best Randy would often tell our children and the people that worked for us it doesn't matter what you do in life be proud of your work be honest respectful and on time through the generous support of my colleagues family and friends we were able to establish the Randy really Memorial Scholarship fund the scholarship is open to seniors in area schools no matter of their plans if they're going to college joining the military or directly entering the workforce sometimes an individual just needs a little help to get off to a good start on their new adventure in life this year we are awarding a total of three scholarships of $200 each over the Easter weekend my children and I read through over 70 applications from the area high schools we selected one from Mil one from Jackson Del and one from Greensburg this year's recipient from Greensburg is Owen me Meadow through our early childhood education pathway our students are offered the opportunity to complete their childhood development Associates credential before graduating high school their place based educ education experience is a 4-year process that requires 120 hours of lab instruction 480 hours of field experience working with young children an extensive observation and interview process with the IV tech department chair the completion of the professional portfolio and passing a national board exam their senior year I am proud to announce our 2324 CDA awarded recipients mcken Austin Eva Bower Morgan Kane Madison curret kayin Powers Justin rmer and Lexi swango morning class of 2024 my name is r ricado and I'm presenting on behalf of the Greensburg uh Community High School uh academic team two scholarships $500 each to W Clifford and Macy bolman morning congratulations class of 2024 to my honor superintendent to present the following scholarships first we have the Shriver Memorial Scholarship it is in the amount of $500 and it will go to Wyatt Clifford and Wyatt can also stay here for the next scholarship it is a Sarah kinker scholarship for $500 and as I said it also goes to W Cliff next we have the Bessie sepon scholarship for $993 and he goes to Lexi swanga the Maui trust in the amount of $3,217 goes to Claire [Applause] G the Robert S low scholarship for $500 goes to Macy bolman the Lillian Knox education scholarship for $500 goes to Eva B [Music] the Robert French Memorial Scholarship for $1,000 goes to Adriana [Applause] lner the G Business Degree scholarship for for $2,000 goes to Lexi [Applause] swango the Gard technical degree scholarship for $2,000 goes to Hayden peace [Applause] the god vocational degree scholarship for $22,000 goes to Bryson [Applause] Kela the Gard the Paul produced scholarships and amount of $1,500 goes to Zachary nce and Morgan [Applause] Kane the Bobby Burger Scholarships in the amount of $1,500 goes to Zachary nice and Owen Stevens [Applause] [Music] the Bernie H and Mary L Humphrey scholarship in the amount of $1,500 goes to m winell [Applause] that's the superintendent Greensburg schools I just like to say the class of 2024 job well done we'll finish the whole uh year next uh week and June 1 so just thank you for job well done seniors we really appreciate your career your K through 12 here with Greensburg [Applause] schools all right we're down to the the last few things here so we'll finish it up strong first off is the ivtech Community College Indiana college Corp each student has completed one year of college they will be given the green and white chords so come on up and get your cord students are Carly Adams Justin Atkins Addison Barnes ped Hannah B Justin B Eva Bower Macy boltman Morgan Kane Wyatt Clifford Blake Collins Jana cmer Lily corer Hannah crra Tyler dwinger Olivia Evans Shelby Forker Claire Ginder Thomas Gorman brayan Han Lily helmet Riley Hofer cadence Ho Emory Jackson Zoe Jones Bryson Kelo Kayla Kramer Milana Kramer Emma leap Maggie leap Adriana litmer Carson McCord Owen Meadows Zachary n Claire Nai Elena Osborne Madison ponsler Anne pumfrey Justin rmer Molly Richards Cameron Schwarz Hunter springme Owen Stevens Jake Taylor Francesca bzo Mila winell Cooper Williams and Ava [Applause] Wilmer we have students earning variations of the academic honors diploma technical diploma or both the academic and Technical Honors first with students that earned the academic honors diploma they receive a gold chord please come forward Brooklyn Adams Justin Atkins Addison Barnes petett Leon Bogart Andrew musk Claire Ginder Carter helmi Cadence hoit Bryson Kelo Milana Kramer Madison ponsler Molly Richards and Adam underill [Applause] the following students earned a Technical Honors diploma Alex Keaton Chase Moore Vanessa Porter and kin powers [Applause] the following students earn both the academic and Technical Honors diploma they are also receiving a gold cord they are Carly Adams Kaye Barnes Justin bad Eva Bower Macy boltman Morgan Kane Angela Kates Wyatt Clifford Blake Collins Jana cumer Alexis Condon Lily corer Hannah crra Tyler dwinger Olivia Evans Shel Forker Thomas Gorman Jesse hatler brayan H Lily helck Riley Hofer Zoe Jones Kayla Kramer Daniel kinsky Emma leap Maggie Lea Adriana litmer Carson McCord Owen Meadows Zachary n Claire Nai Elena Osborne an Pumphrey Justin rmer Caitlyn Roselle Cameron Schwarz Hunter springme Owen Stevens Lexie swango Jake Taylor Francesca bzo Mila winsell Cooper Williams and AA Wilmer [Applause] at this time we want to recognize the class of 2024 salutatorians the salutatorians for this class are Madison ponsler and Ava Wilmer [Applause] at this time it is my honor to recognize the classic 202 four Val victorians they are Carly Adams Jana CER Claire Ginder and Maggie leap great job l [Applause] a few closing remarks before we conclude today's program I'd like to take a moment and recognize the retirement of four staff members from Greensburg Community High School first off Mr John Pratt social studies teacher at Greensburg Community High School Mr Pratt has taught for 12 years at gchs and 17 total years in education Mrs Kelly Sparks English teacher at Greensburg Community High School Mrs Sparks has taught 6 years at the junior high and high school and a 34 years total in education next Mrs Diana Swagman gchs cafeteria Mrs swag man has served students for 33 years and also makes some of the best cookies and Pie anywhere in Greensburg lastly Mrs Carla Baloo special education teacher at Greensburg Community High School Mrs beloo has spent all 40 years at various grade levels for Greensburg Community Schools we wish you good health and happiness in future years we will greatly miss all of you [Applause] the awards earned today by the class of 2024 first $ 32,5 21 from Awards and scholarships from local community organizations and from trust funds established with the school corporation we thank that local support for all that they do for our students in school next 3,571 376 from Awards grants and scholarships from postsecondary education institutions those total monies in excess of 3 million 89189 have been received by the graduating class of [Applause] 2024 congratulations to all gchs students and staff and special congratulations to the members of the class of 2024 I'd also like to thank the parents family members and friends and attendance today for for your unwavering support of your student sitting in front of you by my calculations it's about 11:27 now so this is a message to the students and teachers watching students will eat lunch from approximately 11:30 to about 12:05 and then they'll go on to their finals at this time those students are dismissed to lunch this concludes today's honors program we thank you for your attendance and we'll see you June 1 for graduation

m members of the board and attendance president Corina Lera present vice president Andres Kino present clerk Andrea for Shelton here member Linda Chavez present member mfam present members of administration interm superintendent Dr amazan present thank you Mar uh now for the land acknowledgement Board of Trustees of the alrock Union Elementary School District does hereby acknowledge that the district schools and Facilities sit on the traditional lands of the MMA alonei people and the Board of Trustees further acknowledges with respect and reverence the MMA alone people tribe of the San Francisco Bay area for their stewardship of these lands if you can join me on the Pledge of Allegiance IED Al to the of the United States of America to the repic for it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all thank you um now we'll uh move on to item 2011 um and this is an item that I brought forward um so establishing the task force to review analyze and explore the repair repurposing and refurbishment of the facility at 600 Sinclair Drive San Jose California formerly known as a m facility for purposes complimentary to the district's educational Mission and that address the of the district's Community um as we know this is an item that uh many of us have got been very excited about um if not all of us uh and um some there's been a lot of um work and um exciting news publicly you know city of San Jose has earmarked some funds um you know we have some possible uh a possible Avenue right like I see it it's tangible and so um for purposes of like moving forward together I think you know there's a couple of conversations that are happening in silos that's exciting because it mean like there's funding possible fundings in different like Pockets so I just thought it would be appropriate to bring it together right with the district so that once August comes around it's a little bit more uh like the foundation is stronger versus like different groups coming and talking you know at different times um so that was my thought and bringing that conversation you know and bringing it together as one um and then just kind of going back in how we created the workforce housing you know which Now is really a reality right it's happening um so I thought of that you know because when we have a group that's one meeting and um you know you see it I I I think if we keep working on silos is something I might be like oh that was a good idea right like but if we bring our energies together I think it's something that you know we could possibly see um and so you know that was that was my idea and so back when we I you know kind of went back in um how we formed that Workforce housing and um how we move forward you know at that point it was the board president the vice president um obviously the superintendent um COA was also um on on that committee and then state holders um and you know I know Andrea FL Shelton served on the committee prior to being on the on the board um and so that's something similar that you know I was hoping that we can um establish today um and to move forward you know to hopefully that happening so um I guess since I brought it I motion to establish the SAS task force um and if I can get a second and then we'll open it you'll accept an amendment establish task force and appoint yourself myself fact we working on this already if you yeah perfect thank you and um you know purposes of like the president and board presid board president perfect um I think it just makes it clearer um and then um so Mar did you catch the Amendments no I we couldn't I couldn't hear just to include um board president pintto I'm sorry vice president I'm already promoting you um vice president kto and myself on the committee okay um and then okay so we have a second I'm going to go ahead and open it up for public comment and then bring it back for any other questions or comments from the board any members of the uh audience wishing to address the board on this item please come forward welcome good evening members of the board um president my name is Gonzalez I am a commune member part of s and an organizing in the community last time that we talk about Maxa we were here trying to defend it to bring it alive and I am excited to hear that now a Tas uh Tas committee is um in the in the table I just want to remind that we had a lot of people here asking for Community parents and youth to be part of this of the task force so as you're planning please keep them in mind let's make sure that they have a voice and on the recommendation and on the decisions are going to take thank you thank you good good evening everyone my name is Veron mad I'm also parent leader with EMP z may um I also have couple children here in the district um and also actually U I was hoping my daughter could join but but she couldn't she has homework but as we were talking about this she was really excited and talking about how this could be an opportunity center right for youth um and as we think about and really reimagine how task force look uh they look with community in community um being community-led and that means it's parents it's ADV kids and it's also our youth right our youth were here advocating for that as well and they have so many great ideas um and they're the ones that are going to be potentially using it um I also want to advocate for uh our youth uh have disabilities uh neurod Divergent uh families who have you who have children that are neurodivergent that we don't forget about them and that we also allow them to be uh have a space in that task force um and once again I'm here to remind everyone that virtual comment te could be a possibility we live in silicom Valley and um we just make it harder and more impossible for folks to being able to participate unfortunately um and especially of many families who want to be here but because of transportations because of many different goal things are not able to be here so once again I'm here to Advocate and continue to uplift that there is a way there is a mean to getting public comment and getting Community engaged and we all have those um and it would be very to our benefit so again ad advocating for that and advocating for that task force to be in community with community and not to forget from away from our youth and also our families with disabilities thank you thank you um any members of the board wishing to ask trusty floor Shel thank you um yep um in support of this I I like the idea of um there being a forum where ideas can be transparently discussed in a sort of UN potential Vision I've you know been wondering what's happening with is is it able to be refurbished right and I'm hearing like yes yes okay well and we don't have any official updates coming here because I don't think we have an official you know um forum for those coming back so I appreciate this um my question would be will the list of stakeholders come before the board for for approval so that we can make sure that like how will people get on the task force so my uh thought as I mentioned would be just like we did for the um Workforce housing and um at that point was it I don't know how that was dis went ahead uh put forward Chi and the two members from the board were us and then we went ahead and developed the stakers which included a variety of of various group Senior People bus people um is um similar so I'm sorry the wi is the board or just the two board so uh trusty we we were chairs of the workforce housing back in 2021 I think when we U formed that um and so community members stakeholders in this case right looked different uh because it was for Workforce housing so it included obviously teachers I'm just saying the how we were the ones who developed it the committee okay came up with you'll be open to us making suggestions as to who should who could be on the task force absolutely yeah okay yeah and I think also um there'll be some obvious ones that I think today you know we heard about um so I'm excited yes all the and then sorry my last question and then our regular meeting would have regular updates from the task force just like you guys would bring work group uh report outs report backs to the board I yeah I think depending on like you know if there's a meeting before you know but yes that that I think um also is a part of it because like you said there's some movement happening and also you know um it's for communication communication transparency that's great thank you yeah uh trusty yeah thank you mam president uh you you mentioned in your uh statement that there may be some funds for the refurbishment of uh the MOX building so uh I wanted to ask you or Administration if there has been any funds or ear marks uh to The District in you know in regards to the moxa building for purposes of uh public information so there was a a mention of a earmark from um federally from the city of San Jose and so that was to me when um I guess when I started hearing you know some of these ear marks towards the building and I said okay we need to come together so nothing that's been like approved and you know we haven't received any monies for it but there is possibilities um of monies you know for what that future the future site might be uh you know supplemental question and whe was there a a dollar amount floated or or is this uh still hypothetical at the moment I think there was 3 milli is that correct Senator P put forward a $3 million your mark three million okay okay thank you yeah uh truste chis so she said that $3 million is that in the PO of now or just hypothetical hypothetic hypothetical it's exciting right possibilities but yeah so any other questions comments uh trusty just a clarification that I want to remind everybody that this is an advisory body the end of the day the final St Bo so just that so folks don't think that there's a body that's going to have a say and it's ultimately going to happen as a result of the committee's work now it still has to come back to one more thought as you embark on this task force that um the notion of using some non governmental entity as the receiver of dollars um I just trying to think about like private folks trying to to fund this you know again because I just hearing things um it'll be interesting to hear if private donors want to give to um to public agencies or if they want you know tax breaks or something which we can't do I'm just trying to think of like nonprofit donation donations to nonprofits give you know them a write off so I don't know how this is all being structured are are we alen rock seeking the funds right um so just things like that to get clarification it would be really um interesting like what are the key questions that the task force is going to try to um have answered because it's complicated so I I commend you and look forward to you making this all work out thank you trust Flor Shelton and I think also just to remind us you know good points because all those is like as we move forward and then just to remind our community that we still haven't as a board decided that that building is going to stay right we have pushed that decision to August so it'll all be a part of the process but at least if there is money if we can save it you know then okay if that money's there you know asking those questions too to those that are willing to you know put them the money out so thank you for uh making those comments um and you know any other thoughts or questions or opinions to please send them our way okay um if no others then we'll bring it to a vote all those in favor of this item please show by raising your hand all right uh item uh passes unanimously moving on to item 202 uh appointing one member of the board to the district's budget advisory committee um board policy administrative regulation 3100 um I know that at the last meeting we had a discussion um and I uh did hear uh trusty Flor Shelton who was interested um so for purposes of moving this meeting forward if I don't see any other motion any motions I'll go ahead and motion uh trusty Flor Shelton to be um uh appointed to the budget revisory committee to join trusty Chavis second uh second by trusty Chavez all right I'm going to go go ahead and open it up to the members of the audience any members of the audience wishing to address the board on this item please come up to the podium all right seeing none I'll go ahead and bring it back to the board any questions or comments from the board all right seeing none we'll bring it to a vote all those in favor please show by raising your hand all right item passes unanimously thank you um item just I'm sorry and our meeting is May 28th corre Tuesday 6 p.m Tuesday May 28th at 6 p.m ready Tuesday May 28th at 6m join them thank you so much for your leadership on that um okay we'll move on to item 301 approved third interim financial report fiscal year 2324 uh drasa yeah thank you um assistant superintendent Chang will introduce this item thank you Dr amson and good evening uh Madame board president and members of the board um tonight the administration is requesting approval for the third inter report um as presented in the memo that was circulated to the board um just a key some key highlights that I want to mention in the uh sec in the third interum report is that uh one key change that we made from second to third was that there was a line item of1 million and other adjustment where we were planning to use the learning recovery Grant and other one-time funding sources in the um in the restricted uh program we're recommending that we use that money in the current year instead because um coming next year there's going to be some additional restrictions and obstacles to use those funds so um in our consultation both internally and with the staff at the County Office of Ed um this was the recommendation to to utilize those funds in the current year um and then other notable change in the restricted general fund uh we added uh 3 m3.5 million in Wellness Center Grant um that the board just approved recently and then this year year was the first year that we receive um prop 28 money um in the amount of about $1.3 million so those were added into um the restricted general fund as well um so with those changes um staff is recommending that the board approve the third en board as presented thank you I'm going to open it up to um any members of the public wishing to address the board on this item at this time and I'll come back to the board with any questions or comments okay see I'll come back to the board any questions or comments from the board trusty fam yes question to Mr Chang manam president uh I'm aware that the last Friday the governor had his May Revision in the budget I've heard that there's been an increase to the cola for 2425 has is that incorporated into the third interim uh it has not um although the governor um released an early May revision back in May 10th um a lot of details were still um coming out and was released on May 14 and actually this morning was um School Services uh budget Workshop that was presented so um due to the timing we didn't have um time to incorporate all those changes because we're still waiting for those dat appr and so the third interrupt does not reflect some of the updates um as as presented on the May revise but Madam president is a supplemental but uh based on the school Services Workshop could you confirm you know for purposes of public information that you know is there an increase in Thea for this schol year 2425 there's an increase it went up from 76 to 17 okay and this um the Cod will be adjusted in our um budget for next year okay thank you thank you very much questions prusty Flor Shelton thank you um I asked this last time that the wellness center was brought up and I I am again I'm thrilled at you know the successful application and what it means for um expanding social emotional supports in our schools I just want to ask um again if you could just remind me and all of us the length of the grant um and the capital versus operating because as we take on these grants I I want us to be I plan to be um skeptical right as to the expectation it sets for services and what that does to us in terms of um needing to maintain those ourselves grants are great and then they end and they create expectations about whether they're sustainable or not so um I just want us to I want to get as clear as possible as we set forth on this great adventure as to its sustainability the the wellness grants are um effective as of now 2024 to 2026 and I will get the exact uh cap I'm sorry the operating uh piece um for you when when we uh when we meet when we meet again right I can send it to the board as well and repeat it um to the public I know that Dr artigas is still um you know uh working those details out with um other things such as Staffing um as as we speak so I'll get that clarification for you and that there's a hope of being able to either get into the system where we would be reimbursed either through calim or ma or any of these many healthare reimbursement systems so that could be the sustainability model yes stff I'm going to just strongly you know recommend that we build that into to um the system so that we have some way to keep these going so we don't again have a a cliff at the end of the grant thank you noted thank you any other questions or comments okay CNN will uh bring it to a vote all those in favor of um approving the third interim financial report please show by raising your hand all those opposed please show by raising your hand okay four uh approved and one oppose um by uh trusty Chavis um thank you so much all right item who motion who second I I didn't hear it um I uh I don't remember we had one we haven't had one all right we're getting excited um I thought I did all right so any motions excited for 3.02 I was excited I did open it up so that was okay so any motions for purposes of moving this all right moved by trusty Quintero second by trusty Flor Shelton let's go through this again um any members of the audience wishing to address the board on this item Cas see none uh any members of the board with any other questions or comments all right we'll bring it to a vote all those in favor please show by raising your hand all right uh four four and all those against this item no uh trusty uh Chavez no item passes 4 to one moving on to item 302 approve a budget solution option to be incorporated into the fiscal year 2425 budget and multi-year projections Dr anas yeah thank you Bo president um assistant superintendent chain will'll go ahead and uh introduce this item as well thank you and good evening again um you may recall that uh on May 9th at the board meeting um the administration presented the uh board with six uh budget solution plan to consider um hopefully by this time the board has time to process those plans and um at tonight's board meeting meeting We'll be asking the board to select um one of those plans or make any modification to the plans um to for in order for the administration to incorporate that into uh next year's budget and also its multi-year projection um just to remind the board of the timeline after tonight uh assing the board make a decision on one of those plans um the staff will be putting together um the uh proposed budget uh which will be bringing to the board on June 13th uh for the public hearing um and then subsequent of that on June 27th be um the date of the board meeting where we're asking the board to adopt the budget and the multi-year projection um but before we get into the conversation of discussing the plan um I do want to take a moment um and introduce and welcome Miss um Francy Heim uh Francy Heim sitting over there is um a FIS expert assigned by the County Office of educ ation um and she's here to offer um some perspective from on behalf of the county um and also it's available for the board to ask any uh follow-up question as well so welcome Miss Miss Francy thank you very much and good evening Bo president Board of Trustees uh superintendent as CA indicated uh my name is Francy Hine I am a retired Deputy superintendent from elderado County Office of Education and then as a consultant in a variety of capacities um and often as a fiscal expert for a number of school districts including La unified I had the opportunity to work in alumrock in 2018 I was assigned as the fiscal expert at that time and um at that time the district was addressing significant issues associated with financial accounting issues uh and the impact of declining enrollment and the discussion at that time was the need for the school district uh to have a plan to close and consol consolidate schools so before I I talk about my role as a fiscal expert I wanted to start uh by thanking the Board of Trustees uh for your work serving the students and community of alen rock um you have an incredibly difficult job you're balancing the needs of your community and your students with the reality of maintaining fiscal solvency for a school district that's gone from over 11,000 students to somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 students and losing 4,000 students and how difficult that is to realign the school district and we are very much aware of of the difficult decisions that you have facing you little bit of background um at the last District budget report which was back in March at second interim the county office made a finding uh that the district was qualified and what that means is that they have very grave concerns over your fisal solvency um the district and I know you know this but you you've this issue has as I say going back to 2018 when we talked about this um the one-time covid funds from the state and federal government like a lot of school districts those were used to pay for a lot of ongoing expenditures and sort of giving you that ability to delay the decision and patching the budget together with those one-time dollars and time has run out on those one-time funds and The Time Is Now to face these difficult decisions uh at the same time the state of California as you know is facing some really serious budget challenges as well so while in the last couple years we have enjoyed very large cost of living increases um we are not seeing that the cost of living increase is just a little over 1% and the state of California is facing a huge budget deficit and so at this point in time they have come up with some one-time kinds of solutions to F to deal with some of the budget crisis they're facing but the Outlook is looking really dire for 0405 and 0506 the revenues are down considerably in the state of California uh so it is that perfect storm the one time monies are gone declining enrollment continues and the state of California is looking at those reduced revenues I'm sure people in the community have asked the question of well what if you just don't take action to do this um to close and consolidate schools and so I wanted to talk a little bit and just describe that sort of sequence of events that happens um and those are a sequence of events that are outlined in the Education Code so the county office is charged with fiscal oversight of school districts and that first step is qualified and which says we're very concerned we're looking to see action by the board that says you're moving toward fiscal soleny without that movement the county office has uh the next level which is a negative certification uh or a finding of a go lack of going concern uh they can also look at disapproving your budget at this next cycle all of those means that they are very much concerned that it's that the district is going to become insolvent without that lack of action so the next step there there's a series of of events that take place but essentially there is a fiscal advisor at that point in time and the fiscal adviser is different than a fiscal expert uh the fiscal advisor has stay in resend Authority and they have the authority to move the district and the board forward to achieve that sustainable balance budget without closing and consolidating those schools the district will become insolvent the numbers are there um there is a huge budget Gap that's been covered up with one-time funds um and at that point in time the district would be faced with looking at a state loan to meet payroll commitments along with a state loan uh comes an administrator appointed by the county as defined in law that replaces the superintendent and essentially the administrator has the full authority to run the school district the board has no Authority at that point in time and that administrator will take action to close the schools and I know you know these things but I also say this for the benefit of those in the community as well um and I know that you take your responsibility very seriously um I I sort of a cautionary tale um and as a point of reference is Englewood Unified School District in Southern California I actually happen to be um working with them at the moment uh they are very similar in that they used to have 11,000 students and they have 7,000 students they had to get a state loan and they have a uh the County Administrator Dr James Morris uh if you were to Google Englewood you would see headlines in March of this year that they are closing another five schools at the close of 2425 and that is at the direction of that state appointed administrator um so I I would I want to close I really I want to acknowledge uh the difficulty facing the the board making these decisions I know that each and every one of you takes your responsibilities to the community and the students very seriously and this action weighs heavily on you um but the time has come and action is required to maintain the fiscal solvency of the district so thank you thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions um if it's okay with you we'll go ahead and and unless you are are done um we open it up for public comment first and then will you be here I will be here yes and if if that's okay then yes we'll come back absolutely um is that are we done with the presentation yeah okay thank you so much um so I'm gonna go ahead and open it up for public comment we can't ask her any questions is that what you're saying we will all right we're going to open it up for public comment first and then we're going to come to questions and comments from the board okay um any members of the uh audience wishing to address the board on this item please comeing to the podium welcome thank you and Dron um I'm here tonight to speak on this item um I completely understand that we do need to close schools or restructure our district um however um I didn't say my name my name is Delinda mendosa I'm from Adelante I'm a teacher I teach second grade and um when you look at the plans um I hope that you consider the Dual language model um I saw that there was some restructuring of the Dual language schools and creating a middle school to put the Dual language middle schools um as you consider this please think about how this will affect the families that come to our school um the families at our school have multiple children some in middle school and some in elementary so think about yourself as parents um do you want to drop off kids at two different schools um it's kind of like hard especially if we're trying to um keep students um so please consider that how we might be displacing some other students while we're creating a space for others students um also think about how this affects the TKA du language model uh the student profile that we want to attain um we've been working on this for many years and I feel like this is kind of just like crumbling that vision for us um also think about the school culture that having the middle school students has on the elementary they see them as Role Models they want to be them um their uh bilingual Role Models um if you have ever come when we have projects happening at our school you see the middle school students interacting a lot with the elementary being um in the classrooms helping them we have reading with them um for Pi Day we had the middle schoolers come in and teach the younger ones about Pi it was amazing um not having that is impactful and I don't really want to think about that happening um regardless the decision is yours andk completely understood thank you time is up thank you good evening my as is here again please do not make adalante Academy AK through 5ifth let's not forget all the research and planning that went into creating adalante for an entire year prior to its opening I'm sure one of you can find it and read it before you regret your decision that was never the plan for the stol immersion school that has shaped and molded successful students into amazing professionals during the season of graduations we have Alum from adalanta class of 2016 graduating from universities such as the University of San Diego CSU Channel Island Santa Clair University Sacramento State and many more it is no secret that the common factor here is Adelante dual Language Academy K through 8 you may have duplicated another dual language school but you have not you have yet to duplicate the unique culture adalanta Academy has as a former parent of of Atlantic Academy What attracted us as a family was the concept of a k through eight school and we are at a district k through eight schools give students the opportunity to just be kids and not feel like the pressure of middle school and feel the pressure of middle school students at atlante grow up together and build relationships that stay connected even beyond their Elementary years Adelante creates Familia that is something that will be hard to create in a sixth seventh and eighth grade school trust me parents will leave the district if you make this change I leave you with one of our adante quotes a good start means a promising future thank you thank you good evening board member sandraa Alam Rock Educators Association president I am coming tonight as you guys make this difficult decision we have had these decisions um happen in the past and I know that we've started a a new trajectory that's going to involve a huge immense amount of community involvement and Community input but one of the things that I still feel is lacking with this plan is the fact that you guys are putting the cart before the horse and choosing an option before everything has been sought out and looked at in one of the options it says to close three middle schools leaving two left if if you take the 3 6900 students from those three middle schools and push them into the other two middle schools you're not going to be able to do a lot of the subtraction that was put out in some of those options you're not going to be able to maintain just one janitor at each School site you're not going to be able to maintain one principle and one vice principal by exponentially increasing the amount of students the people are going to need to follow as well so I don't know how you can discuss this as a group areas behind doing what is in the best interest for the students and the community here but we need more long-term thought out plans before we decide on an actual number because those numbers aren't the numbers that we will end up with and we don't want to be here again in a few years thank you thank you good evening Veronica Talton vice president of area speaking tonight as a performing arts teacher just want to um just say how um sobering it is to know the decisions that are before the board but to stand here just to say because there's no um solution that is going to appease every one um but I want to stand tonight and advocate for the performing arts schools in the district there is only one vapa middle school and that is George middle school which I am a part of and only three vapa elementary schools Lindell Linda Vista and Kuran and tonight I'm missing the band um Performing Arts uh program because I'm here tonight as serving as an area representative um again I know that this decision will be very difficult that there will be some who will not be pleased with the outcome some will um but again we have to do what is best in the interest of all the students I could selfishly say please save only the schools where I work but again it is not about me it is about what's best for the families in this district and we know that they have other options many of which are charter schools in the area and so I just wish you the best as you're making this decision but again want to advocate for the Visual and Performing Arts programs and we do have prop 28 money and I do have um handouts for each of the board members which I brought also because I serve as the Santa clar County Arts now representative for Crea California so I have that information I'll pass out to you later thank you thank you my name is Wendy C I am a second grade teacher at adante as well as a parent fourth grader there um I started at adante my career my teaching career 18 years ago um it was brand new school um and that's one of the thing one of the things that most attracted me to work there was knowing that it was going to be a a k through eighth grade because it was going to build the community all the hard work that we've done um it's been it's been around just building a community making sure our students from K all the way through a have are comfortable feel like a Familia um and making it a k will break that um some of you have had your children at this school and you know what I mean we are teachers are focused on building um a Familia Kinder and eighth grades eighth graders see the little Kinder gunters as the little brothers and little sisters the same thing with the little ones they look up to the to the Middle School my daughter is a fourth grader and she's already looking forward to um being with the other kids in Mesa right or being part of like the president in eighth grade and that's because she sees those kids in eighth grade um I urge you to please do not separate arcade through eth program we've we've worked very very hard and some of you have seen it um so I urge you that you think about it carefully and that um you leave atanta a k through thank you thank you all right seeing no others uh questions and comments from the board trusty Chavez you had a question never mind okay that was answered um any other questions or comments from the board thank you uh back to chavz just one uh can you send that email that the county sent the board president so that we could see um I sent already forward it again yes because I didn't receive it so I'm asking to receive it this time thank you okay I'll make sure to print it as well and hand it to you that's not necessary thank you you want me to email it the same well we'll figure it out I want I'll make sure you get a copy of that uh trusty Flores Shelton uh thank you are are we getting a presentation on the options again or no because we had the we already got it well do we have that uh maybe that one summary sheet that was presented to us that can just be posted yeah we can we can mirror that I think that would be great to see what the options were I know that they were all presented at the last uh board meeting um I do have this um form that has uh first choice and second choice of the different options so I I still have the I'm still talking okay yeah thank you I still wanted to ask a question sure yeah um So based on the what we received at the last hearing I remember um assistant superintendent Chang talking about Ming estimates So based on tonight's decision they'll go from estimates to actuals or for the June 13th meeting and and so they would be like cheed up or like some of the concerns about I'm just trying to understand because I remember like averages they like average cost savings there'll be actuals in a month or are these the actuals right now no these These are estimates and we won't get to the actuals until we identified um actual schools um and also um identified the additional uh reduction in Staffing um that would occur sometime next year um and we will get true numbers when we um start doing the bumping um as a result of any staffing reduction itself so then my question for the county office is um the estimates that we have that are put into our budget you know that's all accepted because um because of the process like you're you're you will take the estimates as um face value even though they may change in in the world of budget estimates are estimates and you don't know till all the pieces are done until the year is over so we look at the quality of work and estimating uh there's been a lot of thoughtful um time put into that and I absolutely concur with P Vera until full implementation these are just reasonably good estimates based on historical knowledge associated with closing schools and those will Che up later and that will be fine for the county office and any like learnings from Englewood you brought up Englewood so I'm gonna like just in terms of um like did their estimates change did the actuals come in shorter um well I guess they didn't make any if they are scheduled to to close the five schools at the Clos of 2425 so they don't know the answer to that yet either so thank you thank you yeah when you go on to a board you never sign up for this isn't what you envision and it's not what I envisioned at all um came on and the idea was that we were gonna fight to reverse the declining enrollment and the attempts were made we brought on Dr Bower who uh her charge was to come in and defend the district um and she did I give her credit for that I thank her for that because prior to that we spent a significant amount of time getting proposals from Charter Schools Non-Stop and that's all we spent our time on it was very sickening actually now that I think about it because when she came it was a completely different environment we had a proposal to put five charter schools on the Okala campus um which is wrong and so um yeah obviously I'm prefacing that because I'm trying to think through this stuff because it's it's a lot to take in I've been looking at it and there's no easy way of trying to figure out how to how to explain this to to the public but uh we don't get U we're not here to go to the chicken dinners or simply to go to the fun stuff like the graduations I'm really looking forward to those a lot of energy there and it's really exciting um but these are the real decisions that we place here to you and however that being said I'm I'm concerned about simply looking at this and saying well I'm going to go ahead and support the most Draconian one option one because it yields 11 million uh in in some some change in savings um I I want us to go through this and understand what exactly those implications are much like was mentioned three middle schools um what is that going to do that's going to leave us with few sites and the ones that are are doing all right in ter terms of enrollment are to the north into the Foothills we would leave the flat LS with nothing other than some uh TK through eight and so those are some serious concerns that I think we really need to dive into and talk about or not pursue this rout um and figure out what other strategies we could look at within what we've been given um so that that's uh that's something I want to make sure that we talk about additionally I brought it up before uh I think the conversation to start now as to what we're going to do with any vacant sites we do not want to relive uh the situation we've had with d Maxa site and that times for example the option one with 10 sites that are that are going to be there that possibly be uh vandalized and destroyed so I get it we're not going to be able to resolve that but I I would ask us that we take into account those issues as we go ahead and and select an option um that allows us to demonstrate that we are making tough decisions should have made a long time ago but uh I I at this point I'm concerned that if we move forward with for example option one chop off three middle schools we would be left with only two sites and more than likely they would all be to the north out here the ones that have the the more uh decent enrollment um I'm also concerned that there are some of our competitors are falling apart some of the schools are closing as we speak and the sad part is if we were to take this action and kids would be left without us their home school that they could come to for example DCP and their last recharging was failing then the County Office of Education staff reported that they were not doing well uh and they were allowed to move forward with that we would more than likely be able to lessen the impact that we're having on our school sites we would bring some of those some of those kids back we just saw the failure of one of their high schools um and so I'm hoping that we are uh figuring out as a district how it is that we can continue to reach out to those parents and tell them that we're here um if in fact they fall apart and bring them back so we can possibly lessen the impact and the number of schools that we have to actually shut down comments thank you any others JY P yeah thank you manam president I I will say you know this is a for lack of a better term this is I mean you know I I'm going to be upfront about this this you know a as a elected board member in this is a form of it is humiliating at least from my vantage point and it's sort of like uh uh I I get it you know no uh I you know when I was appointed and elected to a subsequent full term I you know I I believed in you know and deep in my heart that you know we would you know and believe me when I said I think we've we've done as much much as we can to try to boost enrollment in one form of another heck I mean uh even throwing out the endless shrimp for for that matter too uh all Red Lobster but uh you know I think that you know not not to dismiss the the gravity of the situation I get it uh you know and I'm going to say that there's going to be some form of a consolidation but I I do think that maybe this this consolidation has to be somewhat staggered uh you know you know beyond the the six options presented the boring part of it is I I think it's a combination of knowing what to do with the facilities uh adequately preparing you know you know for the Fallout uh of of consolidation uh and also I think you know per you know uh get you know to buy us a you know a little time let's I get it that the state budget and the and our local revenues might not get any better in you know in the next two to three uh FIS Cycles uh but I do want to say that uh you know I I'm not disagreeing that we need you know we need to achieve some fiscal savings uh in the here and the now uh but maybe you know I I think that we you know as a body we might want to consider you know stagger you know uh staggering it you know so as so you know give us a chance to you know uh consolidate in a in in the least disruptive Manner and hope maybe if we're able to uh find alternative uh Revenue generating uses for uh uh for the former School sites you know maybe you know uh we have to do the SMART because it's sort of like a game of Jengo right I mean I you know uh I I I too am committed to fiscal solvency this board has committed twice by way of two resolutions but I think at the same time we we we don't you know uh an improperly done consolidation might you know I don't want to send any more parents to other charter schools that we can help it too so I mean what is it the old saying and enrollment is like one in the hand is better than two in the bush so I I I'd like to you know maybe put it out there for consideration of a you know uh a more staggered plan for consolid we know we some consolidation now and maybe you know let's take stock after that that initial wave of consolidation you know take stock and see it you know can recalibrate the second wave of consolidations any other questions or comments I guess I'll make mine and then we'll go around okay um so thank you staff for um you know really taking the time to sit down and um look through what the options can look like um seeing how we can put a cush in there and see how it can maybe be a little bit more uh doable for our board or easier um you know having six options um you know I want to take us back to when we had that hard uh meeting with the aptitude Community you know there was there was an idea brought forward to start looking at how to um you know start doing this work we didn't do it then for different reasons you know know um and and here we are right thinking of some of the ways that we learned there um you know appropriate or not appropriate maybe we didn't you know talk to community to identify school but we're able to push it back to now here today um and I think it was pretty loud and clear from our uh representative that represents the Santa Clara County Office of Education um and I take I know you all do too right but I'm speaking for myself I take my Ro serious and yes I'm in agreement like when we signed up and said you know I I vowed to you know be here and serve I never thought of this moment um and anybody can sit here when there's a lot of money and vote I and keep spending money and it feel good and take pictures and go and speak somewhere and be invited um but this is probably the least favorite part of this of being here um and you know we haven't even identified you know schools or families but it already it already I can see their faces and it breaks my heart um you know I've been talking to my husband every night about this um it breaks my heart you know whether it's one school or 10 schools either way um it's just it's not not good um but it's something something that we need to do um and at this point you know I hear about buying time it was pretty clear to us there's no more buying time there's no more time that we can buy no matter how much money we had there's just no more time that we can buy and um you know we get we get to make some tough decisions um how we do that you know I I I want to also have that hope right I'm that type of person that I want to have hope in that you know we might have students that just come to back to alen lock from our community into our schools and all of a sudden right because if I remember correctly in the op that were presented and the way that this would be rolled out is it wouldn't start right away um you know we start looking at closing schools in 25 26 20 25 26 um so it's not now right so that's a good thing I think for me is between now and then if we have students come back then it's like hold on guess what we have money we don't have to close all the I don't know I'm going to say seven schools that we said we would now we only have to close five so you know we don't have to because we have all this money now and we're generating These funds and you know the county sees that you know we're we're good our budget looks good for the next three years or you know the things they're looking at um so I look forward to that where we have to reverse maybe you know we identified seven and we only have to do maybe two because so many students have decided to come back to alamu um but that's not the case right now and we are in this reality as we hear so there are just some thoughts and you know again this is um this is when a real need leader is needed like this right here during the toughest times is when real leaders are needed here to make those decisions because I could easily say sure let's not and not run right and leave it to the next board and leave it to but no I'm here to um make tough decisions as a leader because I S signed up for it and I'm thinking of you know the same faces that I'm seeing that will be impacted also will be impacted either way if we don't make those decisions they're going to close if it's not by our board it'll be by a state representative that will not make those decisions or think about well the transportation or you know there's this group of schools on the North side and what about the Mayfair Community they won't think about those things we get to we get to um but I'm just one of five at the end of the day so uh those are just the comments I wanted to make um I'll go to trusty GTO and then B Shelton so we were told that uh we needed to come up with $21 million even the most drastic Cuts don't take us there how is it that we're going to be able to achieve the the the the necessary savings can get us from the what is it 13 million a second no right here yeah I know this one better because I've been looking at it for a long time so uh the from the 11 million where where do we get the extra 10 million from yeah that's going to require further discussion as I mentioned at the uh last board meeting this is a stop Gap um you know a solution uh where we're able to the objective here is to present to the county office that we would be able to meet our Reserve requirement um starting next year and to two subsequent years um you know I shared with the board that you know we have a very unfortunate um Trend where our re re keeps going down and our expend keep going up due to declining enrollment so this is going to be a cycle that's going to have to be repeat year to year in order for us to align um our Revenue with our expenditures um just because the reality that we're living in and you know the the further um declining enrollment that we're we're facing and that we're projecting and I have to assume that we were given six options the expectation that we were going to go with one of them so we W necessarily uh have to be W it to option one because it's the one that gives us the max the maximum amount we were given options and we can go with what we want um and so I'm I'm interested if at some point in time you are comfortable taking a motion I'd like to make a motion for the purpose of discussion to start start the process of talking on a option yeah I knew that that might be the way we'd go I also had this you know um form for everybody to make their first choice and second choice and then go from there there so if you're ready to make a motion I'm here to facilitate a meeting I'm ready to I I'll move forward with uh consolidation option six with that with the removal of the TK through 8 uh and that would be my motion if there's a second other words it would be one middle school and five elementary schools and whatever else is mentioned there without the tk3 okay I don't hear a second second for purposes of discussion Madam president okay uh motion made by trusty GTO second by trusty f um I I know we're still in discussion here and voting um go ahead trusty FL um so I have some comments and then I have a question um so this is all crushing it's all just what has been said said very well um about sort of what we envision and what we celebrate and how we think of our schools as the Hub of community and how we bring people together and I think of how the lcaps have been all about hearing the hopes and aspirations of how schools can be these wonderful places for our families um and then we come come to this and it's crushing right so I I understand this this reality and I understand our role um and I understand um that it's long long than coming um and I guess um having lived through all those Charter applications and US denying them and them to only be approved by the County Office of Education um you know there's a lot of people to have this all you know be understood that it's we got here um in a lot of different ways and a lot of people are responsible for it whether we delayed it or um how the charter school movement um has impacted um this you know institution in our community and they're now you know have their own right as institutions and some way or another um so this is challenging I also see that what's before us today I kind of look at it from like the what right we've we've got to get down to a number and then I too am kind of anxious about the how right how we go about this where this um will all happen and I'm going to try to compartmentalize that and just focus on sort of the the what and um what I'm what I think is moving me to the most Draconian option um is a lot of what what's been said um by board president but also the fact that this is massive disruption and I want to do it once I don't want to keep disrupting and disrupting and disrupting and if we don't go Draconian now and we sequence it or wease it I don't think we have a lot of we won't have a lot of faith in people to be like okay I'm going to move to this school to only be like but will that one Clos next and to put our families through and our faculty through it a second time like it h like I I it I get it but we won't be doing ourselves and any of our community any favors if we we dangle this and then there's another shoe that's going to drop because that will hurt our our enrollment in my um estimation because I was thinking about it put myself in the shoes of a family and then I'm going to take a chance and I'm going to move over here but if we've only done the margins and we haven't done the whole shebang then that school could be on the chopping block again and I don't think that um puts us in um a good position again um for enrollment um so I just I just keep that in mind where as painful and crushing as this is going to be let's let's do this this um because nobody wants to do it again nobody um my question is on the op like so we have the number of cuts but then from a remainder right so like let's say option one if if you you we were to cut one to um vice president K's point we cut three middle schools we're left with two middle schools but we're left with actually how many TKS because we would actually have not just two middle schools we'd have more six sth and E we'd have so we have how many TKS right now tk8 sorry tk8 we have four four so if we cut one and three middle schools again using Draconian we have two we have three tk8 and two middle schools would that be the remainder y so we would have more but and and of those tk8 remaining tk8 are they all dual or of the tkes we have we have hubard and altitude one and other so two of them are dual language and one would depending on how the naming goes right so so we would have potentially more than just two sixth seventh and eth options but potentially yes okay well I mean I think it's really important to so that it's because I think it's very real these concerns are very real um especially the whole moving you know through uh you know 900 kids and splitting them it's more than just to two other places so I'm just trying to do some Mental Math here um and make sense of it all given the the severity of of the options um thank you thank you trusty Chavez um to her point that we don't want to close the school and then later on they go to another school and close it again uh option one does give us the the biggest uh I guess savings but also it's just not that you're going to close a a middle school because there's a lot of things that you can do with it there's not just one thing close it and that's it that's a solution no there's a lot of solutions you can join painter you can join Shepherd join on making one campus you put the principal you and you get a vice principal to make it stronger you get on the the admins that they need to strengthen that school and then you you do close one campus but the other campus is right next to it the point is is when you're going to close something you're going to make it a strategic move not just we're going to close it just to close it you could do that with that one I remember when my kids were in school when they were doing some repairs uh at Joseph George they move some of the children Joseph George over to Linda Vista that campus is Big you can put some Portables and then do whatever Renovations or whatever you're going to do with that site strengthen Linda Vista because Linda Vista has the numbers so to put the num the the school to close that school this is just an example I'm not I'm just saying names but I'm not saying that's the one that's going to be poed because there are a lot of examples that you could be doing like combining the two that are right next to each other to strengthen that the numbers in there and to strengthen and help support the principle put a vice principes and and whatever else he needs in there or she needs in there and so you're not losing the children you're just shifting a mobile to the campus it's 100 or 200 feet to the north and and the same thing with Linda Vista you can also do that with Curtin there's I was asked by a couple other teachers is the ones that that we partner with with some of the schools can we combine those and make like a partnership and just whichever campus would be best suited for both of the schools you're not really losing all of them you're combining them in one a lot of people are looking at as like we're going to lose our school no you're actually combining it to make it stronger to make it you you're going to have all the Adas you're going to have the students enrolling in that campus and if this one needs a million dollars in repairs why are we gonna look at that one last when this one only needs maybe 50,000 in repairs and then we can shift them or if the numbers grow then you you can shift it around accordingly we don't know what's going to happen in three years we don't know if we're going to have an influx we don't know if we're going to have a severe decrease in um even more so than we have now but there's ways to do it strategically that makes a little bit more sense I mean I know to close three middle schools you do worry about it because mum is over here Linda Vista only is uh K to to uh it's not a middle school but we can put a middle school on that campus and Doge being so close you know you could ship some of them over there and if they're closer to another Middle School shift of over there these are just ideas this is not nothing in concrete I'm just giv different options but I would like to go with option number one because it does give us the biggest savings because I think it's better that Alan Rock do all of the closure of the schools versus the state coming in and doing it for us thank you thank you and just to remember we have a motion on the floor and we'll vote on that if there's no um 3 plus one that will come back uh trusty Pam yes uh thank you madam president I I'd like to express my appreciation to trusty Chavez already you know Strate you know thinking about our school sites uh you know but you know I'd like to take this opportunity to sort of approach it it from a you know same point but different angle and only because I I represent our board before the uh uh County committee on School District organization here so uh part of it is you know I also you know one one big concern I would have about you know in in support of option number six as oppos you know uh with my reservations and option number one is uh we also H you know this board I think has the responsibility to try to defend the the boundaries of the district uh by having a presence in in you know I we did divide ourselves into quadrants to have some presence in in all the quadrants because part of which is we have too few schools in a quadrant that does you know I I want to express the possibility that that does uh that does leave us vulnerable say to a petition uh from a from a neighboring po you know from a portion of the district that neighbors another portion of District to uh to the county committee to an you know to be annexed into the other District so I I think that that you know I I would like my colleague you know to consider the implications of uh the boundaries of this District as well as we go forward with you know whichever option we choose tonight there so it's sort of like you know I I not I understand we we got to consolidate and as much as it pains me there there is going to be some form of a consolidation but I I I want you know I would like my colleagues to Serious seriously consider the you know the Geo you know uh that the you know the lack of uh a presence at The District in in you know within its current boundaries does leave this District open to uh being re you know being reconfigured by uh by way of petitions to be annexed to other districts thank you trusty florel thank you that's a really interesting point uh trusty fam so I I just actually want to ask um assistant superintendent chain or our fiscal friend um Francy Francy you just the what I'm hearing you say is like the potential for like hostile takeover so I I'd like to hear what the what the like the you know the the realities of all that are because um and I also think I'm I'm trying to ask the administration to just restate our timeline because we're focused in the next you know six weeks on the the number of school the where is going to be after with deep analysis and we're not just assuming it's the schools with the I I don't know I feel like there's a lot of assumptions that I that even I'm making about what still stands at the end of the day so that's my question to the administration yeah we'll answer and then we'll go to the next comment thank you um just to refesh to the board regarding the timeline um you know the the district's budget uh needs to be completed by June 30 30th and submitted to the county office by July 1st for their review um the point is um after tonight if the board selects an option we would incorporate that into um our proposed budget that we'll be bringing in June on June 13th for public hearing and then June 27th for um the adoption of the budget itself um immediately um for the board's direction we will be engaging with the community um at early July beginning July um to get stakeholder input in terms of the processes and their criteria for school consolidation um that process will start uh from July through maybe towards the end of October um during the process you know we'll engage which with the community come with the CR criteria um for school consolidation and then um once October is over um then the administration will be bringing a recommendation to the board um because that's a timeline that we'll also be presenting to the board the first inter room um at that point um our plan is is to present a resolution um to identify the school names um and also some additional Staffing reduction um that we'll need to uh make a decision on uh before the March 15th deadline um so those are kind of the timelines for uh moving into next year and then did you want to hear from fancy yeah or or you know someone about the the ability to have our schools taken over by other districts that's what I thought I heard okay or trusty fam wants to answer my question I so a little okay so the the long and the short is it's not a takeover of the other District it's the parcel and the most recent the most recent swap of a parcel happened in varesa so they bought a new district office uh that used to be part of Orchard so they sell their you know so they swap a piece of a adjacent parcel with the Orchard School District so it's sort of like this little part become this little bordering part becomes Orchard and this bordering part becomes uh barasa so what happens is you know in in this case it's an amicable case both districts go to the county committee on School District organization they petition the county committee approves the swap of parcels and you know that you know how does that apply to okay so suppose so suppose say take a hypothetical Meer Elementary which borders the Evergreen School District right District so that's where our district meet borders with Pleasant no Evergreen Evergreen District 8 District 8 I'm thinking District a so no no no so so say a hypothetical you know meer gets Consolidated right uh parents par or say the neighborhood that encompasses Meyer does doesn't have a doesn't have an elementary school so they can so if a gr group of parents so chose they could get together organize a petition in petition to the county committee on School District organization saying that we no longer have an Alam Rock School in this in this area so they would like to petition for the for their parcel to be uh to be annexed by the county and the county committee on the school district reorganization and uh you know to my knowledge of the votes of that committee uh no no petition for petition has ever been voted down by that committee so that's that's the issue so if we don't have a presence in an area of the district uh the residents have the ability to petition the county committee on School District organization you know provided that it's adjacent to another you know that District to be annexed to that to be annexed so then the defending of the boundary and that consideration would be something that would we would put we'd ask the administration to put to the criteria for consideration I I would strong very strongly suggest that think it's the next phase got it I just point for this next phase my full understanding any option we go with could be it could be a potential thank you trusty fam um uh trusty kto um that's precisely why I've been bringing up the talk about the quadrants and making sure that we um have a presence in each sector of our district without having this glut schools in the hood Hills to the northern part of the district and then leaving the southern part of the district abandon because it would be a very legitimate response and people think oh it's p the sky well um I remind folks who may have read but uh when Dutch then uh city manager of s in the was expanding and going out with this Panzer Division up to the College Planning Department grew the city to 200 square miles um it wasn't done just you know by happen St he went out there and he figured out how to make it happen and the ones who fought him on it were school districs why because he was going out there incorporating everybody into the City and then sticking everybody to sound unified so the school distri district got together and started suing them and made his life difficult which because he wanted to take over I make just big city all one and um it was because they were getting killed the parcels were taking over and they were losing uh revenue and so it's very real right now everybody plays nice but if in fact uh circumstances get a lot more difficult guess what Evergreen is sending over uh uh dual enrollment Flyers to my home right now is into the Allen Rock indri um and they they don't they aren't shy about they continue to send over uh Flyers so they're clearly going after our students so we need to make sure that you as we move for obviously this isn't the time and the place uh it will be in the future to make sure that we have a presence in each of the furthest parts of our district so that we are able to realistically tell parents you can bring your kid to this area and we're not giving it up to any neighboring districts um it doesn't seem like my proposal is going to have a lot of leg so I gladly withdraw and let somebody else make a motion are you okay with it withdraw uh trusty fam I think you sent second it oh gosh I mean just so we can move forward you know it's by the body this point okay we'll go ahead and take a vote at this time if I don't see any other comments or questions on uh the vote um all those in favor of the motion that t canle for forward of choosing option six please show by raising your hand all right all those uh who oppose please sh by raising your hand all right um M well you got that clear would you like me to repeat no two to three right yes um with a motion not passing all right so um coming back just an option unless there's another Motion in place um I have this where first choice and second choice um would be circled by all of us and then at the end we just tally it up and come up with what the majority uh went with uh trusty Chavez I move for option one trusty CH moves for option one I second it second by uh trusty for Shelton any questions or comments trusty kto concerned that option one once again puts in a TK through eight uh the only one there that would more than likely be targeted would be apt2 which is already tar and I I would not be support of this option if that Still Remains uh due to the fact that they have two right next to they have Chavez right across on the over side of the bridge on the other side of the bridge um and then given the six elementaries I know that they probably wind up being impacted by some of the closures on the the other side of the street I think that that school would wind up uh that that area entire area would be left without an elementary school and for that reason I'm concerned I think that leaving the Ki rate would wind up mitigating some of the damage being done by those three mdal schools because it's a a comprehensive K3 not a a dual enrollment K3 um we talk about those dual enrollment we talk about a lot of K gr but some of them are do rolling and some students might not want them need with Pence as well um and so it's for that reason that I would support it with the removal of the TK to8 I think it still leades it with significant amount of savings and a very very difficult decision to make but with it I would not be in support so I would still respect other the board that's my my proposal the amendment will be AC TR FL Shelton yeah um I I hear what vice president Keo saying and I'm also struggling with the um like the conclusion of which school of which schools because um it's I I'm actually thinking of you know this I'm just I don't feel that my second is based on um schools like it it if we that is the next bridge that I'm ready to cross tonight I'm trying to cross um the numbers game as as terrible and again as crushing as this is I'm um seconding this because um I I don't want I want us to look at this from the numbers and not the places yet that's where I'm at um and so and hearing about you know defending defending the edges and um I just don't know if that's a the conclusion that I can jump to right now but I so I just want you to know where where my second comes from is a place of this is a numbers bottom line unfortunately um and the I'm really looking forward to the criteria and the analysis and the community engagement and sort of that next terrible decision about in the schools um but that's not where my second comes from trusty fam oh I mean at the I I would like to Counterpoint to to trusty Flor Shelton at the end of the day it's still going to be places I mean either not tonight not tomorrow but I'm what I'm trying to what I am afraid with such a such a large consolidation up front is again I mean it's sort of like playing uh uh playing a game of Risk right if you don't have any armies on on on a territory somebody else is going to take that territory so part of part and part and parcel is that's why I I said you know and I agree with trusty Quanto is uh you know I I sort of I think that you know in a sense even though we're dealing with the numbers tonight uh you know the PO the you you can't separate the places from the numbers they're sort they're like conjoined twins if you you know if you try to do you know you try to separate them you know one of the twins won't make it so uh the you know I'm just I'm just you know I'm just great concerned that I mean I get it that there's the numbers but it's sort of like you know too large of a number and as I've said you you might not have an you might not have enough pieces on the board uh the only other part I would you know highly caution is you know this is an election year after all so it's sort of like uh you know know I I I also think that you know uh what is it Prudence is the better part of Courage at the moment and I think that we we do owe it to to the people of Alum Rock to try to be as strategic upfront as possible uh in consolidation as I said we're you know there's going to be some consolidation but I but I but it's got to be done in an orderly fashion and also uh leaves us with some capacity uh in you know in the entirety of the geography of this District so it's you know I you know uh are you really sure you want to go with the biggest you know with the uh with the biggest option at the moment when it at the very least it looks like to be uh some more I would say feasible options still on the list trusty Chavez okay actually gonna ask this question um on option one or even option two is it possible to convert one of the middle schools into one of the elementaries and have a more savings there like I mentioned earlier putting the shepherd and painter which are right next to each other putting the um the sixth seventh and eighth graders onto that campus or vice versa depending on which site would be best is that doable could that be put into option or uh an amendment to option one or even to option two three or four five six so I understand your question correctly you're you you want to see if you can convert wanted the Middle School into an elementary right you don't have that much here you don't have that much adaa here you're not really moving the parents all over the place you're keeping them there but just on one site is that doable and I believe if we do it that way think with that mindset you're not going to lose the the the parents because you're not really moving them other than 100 or 200 feet to the next school we can close one school and do what we can with that school but keep the middle schoolers and the um the elementary together on one cameras is that doable and I mean you would have a a more significant savings because you're closing down one school but you're not really moving them across to blocks and blocks away you're also saving on the the teachers that are going to be there they could either bum somebody or just move move over to the other one campus so that that way you have all your teachers there but you also have the same Mad Men at there but the ones that are going to move here also move on to that campus you are going to have some Savings in that not all the teachers will be at that campus but the other ones could go to other sites so that they still all have jobs I would caution us from going to that part of this process because we're already identifying schools and that's not a part of what we're discussing right now I'm just using that as an example because we have other elementaries and other middle schools that we could be doing that with but I'm just saying like I said it before with chabis we Clos chabis there was another school 100 it was on 100 block and the other one was 200 blocks it was one block away so we did close it the the every the families didn't have to you know spread out so much so I'm saying could it be more strategic if we do something like that and have that savings there an additional savings there so I'm not saying that now to go with option one I'm saying could this be an addendum to option one what would be your addendum B middle schools into the element so that way you are closing the school but you still have all the avas still have all the students from the middle school and the elementary but on Chavez but the motion right now reads as so we offer a this just question to Mr can I get my answer please we have a motion on the flow go ahead Mr CL you want to ask no I makeing motion but I'm just saying it could have been an addendum to the motion she accepts if she accepts and Mr CA can answer please you know since we have ran those numbers um I can't say for sure how much savings we would achieve um and I think one of the challenges if we're talking about converting a middle school to accommodate young ones we have the facilities issues in terms of the the restrooms for the the TKS and KS so that's going to require some you know capital investment to get those uh middle schools facilities you know to be able accommodate the The Young Ones depending on where the resturants are located you maybe just take even a part of this campus if the restrooms are located there and that way it'll be more beautiful because you have a restroom for the TK you have the restrooms for the middle school if the campus will allow it and I'm not just singling out p and sheer I'm saying you know other campuses that it will allow that as well yeah and and to be forthcoming you know we didn't run that scenario in terms of the the numbers itself so I can't say for sure how much savings that would generate that's a that's not an option at the time could that be can you run some numbers and have it let's say another the next I'm asking I'm respectfully requesting if that can be done later that is not the option or the the motion on the floor we're still discussing option one okay it's still I I added it to option one could that be actually have a second have turn it over to trusty FL Shelton as the second the motion can I try sure okay um I'm gonna try a little different go through um because I I get what you're saying and I think we've been talking about these sort of consolidations um can I ask that can I ask the administration to see if the maker of the motion is acceptable can option one and option two can we have can we um get get can we get back to budgets can we give direction to move forward with um with option one option two and look at what those those budgets look like like I would like do two budgets that sounds like a horrible thing to ask you to do um because I'm trying to find some compromise and I think think um we're still on the end of of a number that keeps local control um and that's where I just I think a lot of us want all the answers tonight and we can't have them but would we be able to see two budgets based on one and two yes so just as a reminder our next board meeting is June 13th um we can definitely pick up two version of a budget um I mean staff's going to kill me but we can definitely make that happen uh trustee GTO so um I these are these are not just numbers they represent actual there there's six Elementary one TK two midd so we need to go ahead and acknowledge that in fact um it's you're looking at three schools in option one obviously Shepherd's not not part of that option because of the fact that their enrollment is doing fairly well and it would make absolutely no sense to shut them down um we we'll be left with having to shut down three the possibility of only keeping Joseph George or car Renaissance or Renaissance Academy of Madson um Beyond shepher and so that's that's that's why I'm concerned about the severe um cutting down cutting down the sites without uh taking into account the the loss of the of the one TK so uh where CH is I would support your motion on one if you were to remove that one TK through eight because I believe that it leads us with a site that has maximum flexibility it's already a Middle School site and it allows for students to be moved in there um and so if you would accept it yes I accept so I'm read did the motion to accept go ahead and finish it okay the motion the um option one with the removal of the tk3 sounds like trusty FL I'm sorry Chavez you accept I already said I accept okay just wanted to make sure um and just to remind this that would not reflect in the numbers that we are voting on but I know we have second the do you accept I thetion she the second he's asking for her to um amend her amend her motion as a seconder that initially seconded the motion I have the numbers in front of me so now okay well you second no she she can't can't it has to be the second so let's go ahead and and then and forward if that's not something that is agreed upon your know it might be um option one way it is um as it is with no amendments we'll go ahead and bring it to unless I see any other questions or comments from the staff from the board I'm sorry my motion is with the amendment there it's not seconded the only one that was seconded was the one was option one as is I I don't I don't have the numbers do you want the number okay so at this point I'm going to go ahead and bring it to a vote on the option one as is all those in favor please show by raising your hand on option one as is as it was seconded these motion and seconded as is all right I okay I those oppose please sure by raising your hand all right so um Mo motion does not pass okay so I'm motioning now for option one with the removal of the TK removed from that do I have a second second question uh trusty FL Shelton can the administration like give us a number on the fly like what's one tk8 is that in our 5.9 million take some time to please no I don't know I I have to I just did it um the option that you presented uh which is six Elementary um and three middle schools that would generate um a little over $10 million in savings so if you look at those six op it would fall in between op one and option two in terms of our projected fund balance between one two and then what you were going for with regard to the option two that has the convert one additional Middle School the Dual emergence um that doesn't have to be here work to take action to make that happen right or is it really or does it have adopted here in order for that to move on if we were if if the propose right now is to consolidate six Elementary and three Middle School are you asking if one of the three middle schools can be later determined to be converted into a dual Mission the a school consolidation option two or you say convert one additional Middle School to mer school yes so does that have to be done right now or can it be done at the later date or it's part of the process we have to take action to accept it because it doesn't have any the reason I mentioned it it doesn't have any dollar value attached to it so I'm saying why is it that we need to decide on that now what we be able to do with that when we're when we're doing identifying which yeah I I believe the board has the um Authority or autonomy to make that determination later on um the the objective tonight is identify how many schools to generate the savings um in order to in in our in our budget but theyve laid it down that be helpful or um it might be helpful if there's a notation that one of the three middle schools could be converted into a dual immersion program motion would you include the as to option one yep do we have a motion or you going for option two do we have a motion on the floor sorry do the um do we have one on the floor right now after we voted option one not oh got it got it got it okay T sorry thank you yes you're right so with the as option one with the as okay um so I hear one second before so there's a motion amendment that was accepted accepted by the secondary of the motion which obviously okay all right so now Flor Shelton and so can you just restate where you said the savings was 10 million and it lands between option one and two I'm I'm not following that yes so the um the numbers I presented was um if we were to consolidate uh six Elementary School and three Middle School um the total savings there is a little over $10 million um that would yes that would put us between option one and option two however if we're leaving it open to convert um one of the three middle schools into a dual immersion program um we're not sure what those savings might be as of as of yet and that's why if you look at option two and option three um the savings themselves are are identical and one of them includes um right so to your question okay any other questions or comments before we bring it to a vote I see trusty Chavez and trusty Flor Shelton any other questions or comments any other questions or comments before we go on vote all right go ahead it's a big decision and I think talk about the severity of it and how it's not it's it's not easy but it's something that we have to do and so I'm I'm regretting not happily doing this but I will be supporting it with the Amendments because I know it has to be done and I I've uh constantly stated over and over again that I'm not here to hand over the district to the state to take on loans that become very difficult to pay and the stay on forever and never and they bring these trustees that sometimes even they bring in these questionable trustees that make decisions that aren't in the best interest of the district either so um it's for that reason that I'm going to be supporting this not not I'm not happy yeah um and before we go I know I've been a little bit quicket because again it's uh tough and you know I think um I was like is there something that we can meet in the middle and this for me feels kind of that middle that I feel good with and supporting and the toughest decision um so I will be supporting this now with the Amendments um I saw trusty FL Shelton and then trusty Fam thank you um so I appreciate the really healthy dialogue tonight um because this again I keep using the word crushing because it's like you could feel it like on your chest right like you could feel it um physically so I have my fidget thing tonight um and so yeah I will I'll be supporting the motion because I think it is as crushing as it is it's financially responsible and gets at what I think could be hopefully a a one-time disruption right that that was my goal in terms of dangling this upon our families and our staff another time I just don't think would be um healthy or responsible so um so thank you again to the board and to the administration for for us kind of getting here um depending on the on the boote but um I'll be supporting the motion reluctantly you trusty fam you know again I just caution I again I always said that the the place names and the numbers you know are you know married together like husband and wife you know Ironclad marriage there's no divorce on the two there so it's sort of like I I am you know I personally I think that you know there were five other options on the board and you know they were worth uh a a gander and a again it's sort of like I I did as I said tonight there's going to be some consolidation but it's sort of like uh you know there there probably you know would have been I you know I just think that there was a more how you say uh orderly and strategic option up there on the board tonight so again I'm just you know I'm Gravely concerned that you know the you know The Upfront amount of consolidation that's uh you know on the floor this evening thank you all right uh so we'll go ahead and bring it to a vote of um option one removing tk8 and adding the possibility of converting um additional middle to dual imersion all those in favor please show by raising your hand all those oppos please raise your hand okay for against one and um anyone do you have that down for and a trusty fam voting against um item passes at this time uh Dron if you can help us make the announcements for the close session thank you board president uh items to be discussed in close session uh 4.03 uh conference with labor negotiators um employee organization area 4 point 4.04 Public Employee discipline dismissal release Etc uh government code section 54957 and uh item 4.5 4.05 public employment appoint Public Employee appointment employment government section 54957 titles assistant principal and Elementary principles thank you um we'll go ahead and take the comments and then after that we'll do a 10-minute break before we start um our close session any members of the onions wishing to address the board on any of the items that Dr El just uh presented see none they goe and take a 10 minute break uh convening for pro session at 8:31 and coming back here an hour you think of clst session so coming back here at uh 9:20 I'm sorry 9:31 thank you e e e of bagel you want tomorrow um know that's probably a Cesar question I don't really do prast Maro can you hear me yes I can hear you thank [Music] you a bagel dog I haven't heard a bagel dog in a [Laughter] while great is Miguel calling meeting back to order at 9:15 p.m. uh and sad Mr you're gonna report out on the items thank you board president item 4.04 on a motion by trustey Chavis seconded by clerk Flores Shelton by unanimous the board voted to terminate the employment of a classified employee ID number [Music] 20166 item 4.05 on a motion from trusty Chavez seconded by clerk Florest Shelton by unanimous vote the board approve the employment of Maria B Tiano as the assistant principal of adalante one acad on a motion from trusty Chavez seconded by vice president Kino by unanimous vote the board approved Linda Diaz seula as an elementary school principal on a motion by truste Chavez seconded by clerk Flores Shelton by unanimous vote the board voted approved the employment of Kelsey white as Elementary School principal there are no more items to report from close session thank you Mr to Rico uh closing Journey meeting at 6:17 p.m.

thank you all very much oh oh oh 9:17 oh my goday down 9:17 p.m. thank you

you want to chime in with anything spirit and that's kind of where was so what do you say here nothing happen right right good evening everybody we're g get started let me just welcome you to our education thank tonight as you can see from the balloons the flowers and the gifts I think we have a lot to Cate as we go into our so let us get started some quick administrative work New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of public to ADV notice to meetings of public bodies at which time any business affecting their interests is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act in Board of Education policy 0162 the Board of Education of the buau of Bound Brook has closed notice of this meeting to be posted in the board office at Bound Brook High School and mail their facts to The Courier News Bound Brook bur clerk South Bound Brook Board of Education and any person requested individual please join me in standing [Music] for Sir Mr here cazo yeah M Carlton here Mr Z here m m Mr manhos here miss hi here from behind the curtain just oh there we [Applause] go Mr bmer here here president you have air president this evening thank you sir uh no president's comments for this evening we will get right to the superintendent's report Dr good afternoon everybody and welcome to our m board meeting as our president we have a lot to St great we have people in the audience and some that aren't here I going to let our student council represented to the board uh get some announcements on some great things going out on aition first [Applause] um um recently uh in B High School um Aiden boam and Caitlyn kuna were nominated for Central Jersey players of the week for baseball and softball respectively uh the vote ends this week and for anybody that's listening online or in the room uh if you could go online and vote for them uh that would be great uh similarly uh senior Sarah desent was selected to play in the skyling conference senior All-Star game for softball and I the rest my report later more um let's see I so SAR you had congratulations to a k the one thing left out was my jersey.com is where you go to V click on high school then you'll see the individual U Pages you click the vote really would like you to cast the vote for us because we want to see our bound players get win Dr frean yes um you can also get that link on our Facebook pages on our Facebook page you can vote as many times as you want you're not limited to one vote you can just keep clicking all day if you want to I voted for both of them like 50 times today I was going to say that discreetly but he said out loud so as many times as you can okay I also want to take a minute to congratulate all the newly inducted members of our Spanish French and English National Honor Society we have two ceremonies and I telling I want to commend Mr ad Miss Sanchez Miss Sal miss and miss for putting together outstanding ceremonies and the kids are doing a really wonderful job okay that leads us to the next part which is one of my favorite parts and that is a recognition of our students of the month at this time I would like to call Mr Ross to the podium to recognize our Lamont and lont NX students of the [Applause] monp and I am very happy to announce for our prek David anos who is winner of our student of the month there he has as far as siblings he doesn't have any his favorite school subject is he loves learning about math and science and he's very knowledgeable about math numbers and math concepts this is pretty c um his favorite hobbies he likes to work with his dad and they are currently building a pond together and David wants to be a builder when he grows up so come on down [Applause] David hey [Applause] all right perfect [Applause] and for the kindergarten we have yander Moran who is a bilingual and his favorite music reverse the favorite school subject is music class because he can sing and dance that's beautiful um hobes loves to collect dolls and the other piece is I want to be a teacher when I grow up this is a beautiful [Applause] yandre come on down with everybody she is everybody [Music] [Applause] congratulations and next up for Lafia at school we have Miss Kitty [Applause] all our first student of the month is first trade and we would like Anna Tula to come [Applause] down Anna has two student or two siblings Alexis who's 24 years old and fanda who's 18 her favorite school subject is language arts favorite hobbies are writing stories watching television going to the park and playing with her dog luy and when she grows up she wants to be a doctor to help people be [Applause] healthy and this is her teacher Miss Montoya wanted to give a thank you card to the board [Applause] of uh our second grade student of the month is Chloe RZ [Applause] Alvarado H we has a sister Emma who's in kindergarten her favorite subject is Library she loves playing softball and collecting all the Raina books she said she only needs one more to complete the whole collection and her career plans is she also wants to be a doctor she wants to take care of her family and be like her mother who's going to be a nurse [Applause] okay next up for smaller School Miss Carbone [Applause] our third grade student of the month is Rudy Aragon Cerone Rudy are you here okay Rudy was nominated by his teacher Miss Esposito Rudy has been chosen for the third grade student of the month because he's kind and considerate of others he works hard in school and is a good friend to everyone he meets Rudy has three brothers and enjoys playing soccer and video games Rudy's favorite subject is science and he would love to be an ecologist when he gets older [Applause] congratulations for the fourth grade we have Rose Selena [Applause] Ramirez Rosalina has really impressed all of her teachers this year she is a model for good behavior and always tries her best in school ronal Rosalina has so much determination she is even going for her black belt in Taekwondo congratul [Applause] our fifth grade student of the month is eron [Applause] Medina B Hi how are you good to um Erin is our fifth grade student of the month and she has one younger sister in third grade she enjoys all her classes a lot but art is her favorite subject she loves to play soccer she plays defense and she also loves to draw and play pain and when she gets older she dreams of being either a doctor or a psychologist [Applause] [Music] congratulations congratulations congratulations so good toat our sixth grade student of the month is Jaden AR [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Jaden was nominated by Miss Belle and Miss Mel and miss lavala and miss Chi he has two older brothers and three older sisters he's the youngest my his favorite subject in school is math and social studies he loves history and also English class he loves to read spending time with his father good job dad playing with his friends and walking his dog when he gets older he would love to be a lawyer congratul see daddy [Applause] more round of applause next up CMS Santa Sur hello everyone our first student of the month from the Community Middle School is henis Perez [Applause] Gomez nominated by teacher Mr Sanders hesis has two brothers uh favorite subject is physical education and favorite hobbies is dance in the future uh when hesis grows up she would like to work in the Med medical field maybe as a nurse or a doctor [Applause] congratulations our next student of the month is eighth grade student and sof [Applause] ey Ann was nominated by her teacher Mr Lei an has one brother and two sisters an's favorite subject is math favorite hobbies are acting soccer basketball and volleyball I will tell you you come across few students over the years who you can say in all confidence you know that their plans when they grow older will come true and's future will is to become a neurosurgeon [Applause] [Music] and next up we have Mr Smith [Applause] for good evening our first recipient of the Crusader citizen of the month award is Jaden [Applause] marold right J has one sibling a little sister who will be Sue in June her favorite subject is definitely art she loves doing anything that involves painting drawing sculpting and more her favorite hobbies are gardening painting and softball her plan is to go to college After High School but she's still deciding uh what major she wants to uh pursue so congratulations [Applause] our next recipient is Ariana Lopez [Applause] Ariana has one sibling Bianca Lopez her favorite subject in school is Art her favorite hobbies are chess tennis and basketball and she is has intentions on enrolling or enlisting in the Marines and starting congratulations [Applause] our next recipon is Brian [Applause] Batista all right uh Brian has two siblings Emily and Danny his favorite subject in school is math there you go um he enjoys running lifting weights and sleeping and he hopes to attend Rucker University to study [Applause] it one more one all [Applause] right last but certainly not least we have Ronaldo Mano Ronaldo Ronaldo has one sibling his favorite subject in school is algebra English and music ban um Ronaldo and Julius drawing piano studying fashion designing gaming music appreciation writing traveling uh photography and I don't know what that one is and career plans um are to study computer science and data analysis or Finance so [Applause] [Music] one more we have two special students who uh were the winning winners of our spelling be I'm going to ask Dr Sant Dr s Ser to come up and recognize our first student for the middle so this year the Community Middle School and SMY participated in scripts National spell be uh was it was an incredible event at both of our schools and we're here tonight to honor student the finalist the winner in each of our schools I have a couple little paragraphs here from uh farita from two of our uh from two of her teachers that would like to say a few words first is from farid's teacher Miss caban congratulations to farita for her outstanding achievement in winning the school spelling bait her dedication perseverance and Mastery of language have truly set her apart with each word she spelled correctly she showcased not only her remarkable spelling abilities but also her commitment to Excellence her impressive performance is a testament to her hard work and determination fita has not only made her school proud but has also inspired her peers with her exceptional Talent we applaud her accomplishment and look forward to witnessing her continued success in future end Endeavors well done farita next is a paragraph from Miss aandora in addition to her outstanding academic performance farita possesses remarkable skills as a speller and has consistently showcased her prowess in mathematics her ability to excel in diverse Fields is a testament to her intellect and determination far's mathematical abilities are truly exceptional as she consistently performs at a level far beyond what is expected for her grade in fact she consistently demonstrates proficiency and understanding that surpasses Expectations by two grades it is truly a pleasure to have farita in my honors math class am [Applause] Andor unfortunately farita was not able to join us tonight on behalf of farid's current and former teachers and members of the Elementary and Middle School faculty I'd like to say congratulations to farita bnazi and let's try for back-to-back titles next year in eth [Applause] [Music] grade very proud next up from small school we have [Applause] missone our SMY Elementary School winner is Angela Pedroza [Applause] angelene isn't your typical spelling be Champion with a pension for unraveling Mysteries a sweet tooth for Twizzlers and a knack for crocheting she's a multifaceted individual who has captured the hearts of her school community and Beyond winning the school's inaugural script spelling beat was no small feat for Angeline it was the culmination of months of dedication and hard work every day she diligently practiced with her mom for 30 minutes for job Mom Hing her spelling skills and expanding her vocabulary this commitment paid off when she spelled her way to Triumph with confidence and prision but Angeline's interests extend far beyond the confines of the spelling the stage when she's not crack in words you can find her immersed in the pages of a gripping mystery novel in her downtime angelene enjoys indulg ing her creative size side through Koch currently she's working on a cozy blanket music is another Angel's and she showcases her talents on the saxophone Angeline loves nothing more than hopping on her bike and exploring the Great Outdoors looking to the Future Angeline dreams of visiting Colombia if this wasn't impressive enough Angeline has been an integral part of the balberg school district district since her educational Journey began in kindergarten back in 2017 angelene had the fortune of being taught by Mrs coroso in kindergarten Miss jenck in fourth grade Miss Keeper in fifth grade and Miss lavala and Miss Bell this school year congratulations angelene [Applause] let's have another [Applause] round okay at this time we have special honor tonight we have the honor of recognizing our governor Ed educators of the years for each School each of them has shown outstanding commitment not only to their students our district but also the community they were selected based on the input of their building principal and their peers we are extremely proud to recognize them tonight for their outstanding work each of them will come forward and receive a beautiful trophy that recognizes their accomplishment as well as some flowers and take a wonderful picture we are very proud of you uh what you mean to our district the way you take care of our children represent our district we're very proud of you let's have a round of [Applause] applause Mr Ross up in place of Dr s to call forth our educators of the year for L and the M ends okay so I have been excuse me blessed many times to support Lamont Annex as a standing for Dr s's principal and in doing so I found it to be a magical and enchanting place where one can find unicorns hence I wore my unicorn tie and in doing that I needed to start with a unicorn who's been a part of this District since childhood and has now become an integral part to the teaching community and is moving forward into being a supervisor coach it's Mrs DeLuca teacher of the [Applause] and you'll notice she has a soft equipment she just came from soft get from a softb g so we appreciate you being here don't worry about it you look still [Applause] great so for me the true test to the hero to be here and to show us all the glory and winning that she's done for 28 years Mrs Luca has been a kindergarten teacher here when I was looking at her uh resume today I was just in awe your ears must have been ringing as I was bragging about this is a person who is utterly homegrown and has done amazing things she began her career in Bal Brook School District as a student um she graduated at from Bal Brook High School when she graduated she attended Ryder University and began her teaching career as a special education assistant in this district one year later she became a kindergarten teacher and she's been teaching kindergarten ever since kudos to her Beyond teaching Mrs Dua is the school's softball coach for the last [Applause] years so not only is she the coach of it she enjoys being this coach um that she actually played throughout her high school and college career she dedicates her time and energy to instill the Love of the Game to these young players as you can see from the representation in front of you sweat and tears she dedicates her time and her energy to instill the love and she is an educator at leads by example and works with students works with our families and colleagues to go above and beyond in the classrooms this Toca possesses the excitement and the enthusiasm for both teaching and coaching she is seen as a leader in the district and was head teacher for her kindergarten team for many years she has mentored many new teachers and welcomes future teachers into her classroom DeLuca loves collaborating with her colleagues and they Inspire her to become even better as a teacher she works hard to make her classroom an environment where all her students feel successful and special and now she should feel equally successful in speci thank you [Applause] congratulations so now Lamont Annex the place me they grow unicorns we will bring Mrs kiss the Educational Service professional of the year please come on [Applause] so miss teacher's assistant in the boundbrook school district she started in the district four years ago however she has more than 12 years experience in the field of education and she very much enjoys watching her students learn and grow she loves to see her former and current current students smiling faces throughout the school day Miss kit has the passion and the drive to be the awesome educator that is her goal is to make sure that students reach their full potential and that they always find a pathway to success she is always excited to see her students and her colleagues miss Kiss goes above and beyond inside and outside of the classroom she cares about her students and their education she always makes sure that they're having fun with their learning experience Mrs kiss learn miss Kiss shows determination Focus passion and plenty of drive to encourage others to follow their dreams thank you for making those dreams Come con one more one two three all right round of applause next up CL SCH we have Miss keny yeah should have brought my glass okay so we are going to recognize Dean [Applause] Nelson it is with great pleasure and immense Pride that I am here today to honor an exceptional educator an inspirational leader and a dedicated mentor today we celebrate Miss Deanna Nelson who has been rightfully selected as the governor's educator of the Year by her Lafayette colleagues Miss Nelson is more than just a health and physical education teacher at Lafayette she is the hearty of our school's commitment in promoting a healthy active and supportive environment from the moment you step into her class it is clear that Miss Nelson's organizational skills and creativity set her apart she meticulously plans fun and exciting activities that not only engage students but also Inspire them to lead healthier Lifestyles whether it's through Innovative fitness challenges interactive Health lessons or schoolwide Wellness activities Miss Nelson's passion for a healthy lifestyle shines through in everything she does beyond her classroom duties Miss Nelson also serves as the JV soccer coach for Bound Brook High School her leadership on the field mirrors her excellence and her PE classes she instills in her players the values of teamwork perseverance sportsmanship and shaping them into not only better athletes but also better individuals one of the Hallmarks of Miss Nelson's professional journey is her commitment to continuous Improvement and collaboration each year she attends a PE conference where she collaborates with fellow health and physical education colleagues these conferences are not just opportunities for professional development but are a source of inspiration for Miss Nelson who always returns with new and creative ideas to enhance her curriculum dedication to being a lifelong Learner in ensures that her students receive the highest quality of Education Miss Nelson's impact extends far beyond the walls of her classroom and the boundaries of the soccer field she is a beacon of positivity and enthusiasm within our school Community her caring nature and genuine concerns for her well-being of others make her a beloved figure among students and staff alike she's always ready to lend an ear offer support or share a smile as she is the first face students see each morning in the Dr and drive life Miss Nelson exemplifies what it means to be a teacher to inspire to motivate and to make a lasting difference in the lives of others congratulations Miss Deana Nelson your dedication passion and kindness are truly remarkable and we are all better for having you as part of our educational [Applause] family congratulations [Applause] so I have two Awards to present tonight one is for our educational specialist of the year and one is for our teacher of the year so first I'd like to present Mr Jeff jel our educational specialist Mr jel is an elementary school counselor who has dedicated 10 years to education he's been part of the Bound Brook School District for five years and is deeply passionate about supporting and assisting the student of boundbrook with the diverse work history in the counseling field Mr as a substance abuse counselor in a residential program and as a student assistance counselor additionally he's coached football lacrosse and wrestling in another school district gaining valuable insight and skills from these various roles utilizing his wealth of experience he actively supports the students of boundbrook creating a safe and supportive environment for his students is a top priority for Mr jel his office serves as a sanctuary where students feel secure to be themselves and discuss their feelings openly he has also recently taking charge of the mindfulness program for fifth and sixth grade students at SMY school where he works with the students on Stress Management emotional control empathy and social skills Mr jel also serves as our HIV specialist and works assiduously to maintain react and restore all positive interactions students I've worked very closely with Mr jel this year and it is with such an honor that I I give him this award because he is a very very person and and he should be acknowledged as much as possible [Applause] congratulations [Music] congratulations it is with great honor that I present our second um employee of the month our teacher or oh my goodness employee of the year our teacher of the year Miss [Applause] [Music] Julian Miss Julian tone is a sixth grade language arts teacher who's dedicated six years to education she's taught in boundbrook her entire career including her student observation hours and student teaching placement she was born and raised in Massachusetts she came to New Jersey to study English and education at ruer University missone is an educator who's passionate about PR promoting diversity equity and inclusion in her classroom she's actually a founding member of our Dei committee which was just launched this year she was a member of the Ruckers university community engaged anti-racist project where she played a role in creating an anti-racist curriculum and resources for middle-grade classrooms she was awarded the penny Kitty book love Foundation Grant which allowed her to fill her classroom library with books that represent all identities and backgrounds I've seen this book collection in her classroom and it's phenomenal mrone even does a book Buffet where the students go around and they sample all the different books and get to choose which ones they want to read missone believes on the power of representation and uplifting voices that have that have often gone unheard she consistently seeks ways to make reading and writing inclusive and relevant to her students lives and interests this is evident in the way she designs her instructional materials and practices she's an advocate for her students and firmly believes that their perspectives are the fuel for a successful educational experience outside of the school day Miss tone continues to support her school community she served as a mentor teacher and that's both official mentor and unofficial Mentor because everybody goes to mtic Cony if they need something she teaches students in small groups for an a for our After School win program and she even stays usually till about six o'clock at night every night from Middle Earth additionally she supports students in completing their homework and she practices Reading Writing speaking in Spanish and supporting her stud students academically and strengthening strengthening Rapport and community in the community and in her classroom missone goes to events before school after school on the weekend of free time of her past students of her present students and cheers them all on Miss tone is always ready and willing to help her school community in any way she can miss tone has a lifelong love for Learning and Community extending to to others each day I've worked very closely with Miss tone this year she is one of those teachers that I can go to for anything if I need to send something out and I need someone to proofread it first I can send it to missone and she'll send it back she's that go-to teacher for admin for students for parents and for teachers there's no other teacher more deserving of this award this year than our very own Miss tonei [Applause] another round of applause [Applause] Miss Kenny you thought your print was small everyone please join me in welcoming the Community Middle School Educational specialist of the Year Mrs Jennifer [Applause] Guerrero Mrs Guerrero is a dedicated social worker with 19 years of of experience encompassing both education and Community Mental Health Care currently serving in her fifth year as a school social worker on the child study team in the Bound Brook School District she holds a pivotal role at the Community Middle School Miss Guerrero has undertaken the responsibility of devising and overseeing individual education plans for students receiving special education services her attention to detail ensures compliance with special education law Mrs Guerrero's strong communication and Leadership skills Have Been instrumental in her success effectively with Administration teachers students families she establishes fair and Equitable programs Miss Guerrero Works actively towards creating an inclusive and supportive environment in addition to her professional expertise Miss Guerrero brings a warm and friendly demeanor to her role Miss Guerrero's ability to infuse humor into her interactions adds a personal touch to her professional relationships colleagues appreciate Miss Guerrero not only for her professional confidence but also for her ability to connect with others through humor and kindness on behalf of the Community Middle School I would like to congratulate Mrs Jennifer Guerrero the CMS 2024 educational Specialist of [Applause] [Music] Round of [Applause] Applause Just see now all of our teachers of the year and our educational Specialists of the Year get honored each year with all of those from Somerset County and we recently uh had a a nice breakfast at the Elks club uh put on by Somers County honoring all of the people you see here tonight and all of those throughout the county so a big hand to everyone here tonight but also for all the teachers that were honored this year that that help all of our students in our [Applause] are and next up for the Community Middle School please help me welcome the Community Middle School teacher of the year for 2024 Mrs Sandra [Applause] pedes Mrs pedes has devoted her life to special education with 20 years of teaching experience she has the privilege of working with deor Learners each with their own unique strengths and challenges for the past 3 years Mrs P P has had the opportunity to teach in the emotional regulation impairment program and in the language learning disabilities classroom at Community Middle School Mrs psh takes pride in her personalized connections with each student her belief in the power of positive relationships guides her teaching philosophy Mrs pes's friendly personality light-hearted humor and calm demeanor become tools to engage and connect with her students [Laughter] through these connections she conveys genuine care and concern letting her students know they are seen and heard Mrs pes's daily job is to Encompass the complexities of addressing challenging behavioral issues while teaching Ela and social studies she approaches this delicate balance with resilience and dedication every challenge is an opportunity for her students and for her to learn and grow Beyond the classroom Mrs pettish is the co-advisor for the student council this role allows her to extend her impact Beyond academics contributing to the vibrant School Community by planning school dances organizing school spirit events and leading fundraising Endeavors including field day yesterday in that 100 degree on the football field all day long and thank you for that Mrs psh strives to create an atmosphere where students feel a sense of belonging and pride in their School Mrs psh collaborates with her fellow Educators and child study team engaging in brainstorming sessions to enhance the classroom environment together they explore innovative ideas and ensure every student feels valued and supported Mrs pes's goal is not only to impart knowledge but to make a positive and Lasting difference in the lives of her students on behalf of the Community Middle School I would like to congratulate Mrs Sandra pedes as the CMS 2020 4 teacher of the [Applause] year round of [Applause] applause to present our high school that end of [Applause] okay good evening again um first I would like to announce the educational specialist of the year for Bound Brook High School Miss Julia [Applause] bini Julia bini is a devoted clinical social worker who has dedicated the past five years to making a positive impact at B Brook High School her passion lies in assisting individual and families in overcoming challenges particularly in navigating the intricate landscape of and substance use issues Julia holds a bachelor's degree in clinical work social work from Ruckers University new brunwick and earn her master's degree from Mammoth University specializing in clinical social work with a concentration in Children and Families after many years and roles working in a residential substance use and mental health program Julia embraced A new challenge as a clinical social worker at Bound Brook High School within this educational setting she skillfully applies her expertise in adolescent Adult and Family Therapy employing cognitive behavior therapy individualized treatment planning Crisis Intervention and Trauma in fored practices over the past five years Julia has been instrumental in establishing a supportive and therapeutic counseling program offering Services through individual group and family SE sessions along with crisis management Julia focuses on fostering resilience and accentuating the strengths of students and families resulting in positive and enduring changes her leadership and Behavioral Health practices is evident through her continuous efforts to advance her skills and Advance the counseling Julia is also committed to community engagement and is act and actively providing resources to families in need Julia you epitomize the Limitless Mantra that we advocate at down CL School congratulations on representing BB's educational special of [Applause] okay our Governor's educator of the year the one and only Miss Janelle [Applause] filiatro filiatro has dedicated the past 23 years to education she has been a part of the Bal Brook High School Community for 21 of those years as a devoted special education teacher while miss filiatro has filled various roles as an educ in the special education department her current role is a functional life skills teacher she played an integral part in creating the star program which stands for students and teachers achieving results through the program Miss filiatro provides Learners with the opportunity to practice and master Independence self- advocacy skills engage in social interaction access Community Resources acquire and maintain vocational placement and participate in Recreation and leisure activities Miss fiao is both an educator and an advocate as it is her goal that students will be able to transfer these skills into their adult lives and fully explore interest postgraduation additionally Miss filiatro has established the brook Cafe in which students set up and run a small coffee business on Fridays at the high school through the cafe students have the opportunity to practice communication skills and learn important job skills another great project Miss filiatra was Paramount in implementing was the personal Wellness course which is a collaboration between the special education and physical education departments this is a physical education class where students with socialization and adaptive needs are paired with typically developing students we call them PE Partners to promote skill building while Foster Wellness Miss batra's mannerisms and professionalism both in and out of the classroom are among the elite she exemplifies qualities that are valued in an educator and professional Integrity genuine commit commitment hard work and a firm belief in lifelong learning it is for these reasons and so many others that miss fatro is honored at the balber CL school and [Applause] time take some pictures I would like all of the Educators and educational specialist of the year to come to the stage to take a a picture with the Board of Education they [Music] we can stay more centered yeah teachers in the middle we should be on the students of the don't leave we're get you next thank you [Applause] wait there [Music] teachers how many conratulations that's [Applause] good okay this time [Music] this time all their parents to come on up to the [Applause] stage we doing that I just want to thank all of our staff for coming out tonight to support us [Applause] as many you come oned [Applause] [Music] all [Applause] right congratulations to all of our students of the month [Music] [Applause] can we're here now hour e e e [Laughter] right everybody let's reconvene we are up to item three do we have any more yes I'll just UMO okay um so yeah I'm a pretty big report today um sorry uh in terms of sports teams uh most of our most of the seasons have been finished so baseball finished their season I I believe finished their season at five wins and 11 losses Boys Tennis finished their season at 10 wins and nine losses their final game being a stadium against Highland Park today I believe they were four seated for group two our JB boys volleyball team finished their season at 311 with a win against College Charter I believe Dr attended himself uh softball finished their season today at 165 with their final game being a state game against HD today which I which I attended and the team is also won the skying mountain division title for this season so I believe that's that a round of [Applause] applause as Dr Freeman said before there were recent intructions for the English Spanish and French honor societies by m Miss Foster Miss Sal and Miss Sanchez and Mr ad respectively uh Dr was in attendance for both of them I myself was in attendance for the English one and I believe that went relatively smoth smooth and similarly the National engl Honor Society will be starting a reading buddies program that will aim to demonstrate uh to the students um in other news the College and Career Readiness program will be starting after the school year ends where students will be able to apply at colleges fill out the F application create a job resum and more which will be led by our staff and administrators here at bber high school and lastly our our future professionals program for our technology department I've just included their the Run of interviews it will be starting this July from I believe it's July to Mid August where they'll provide Aid to our department through uh maintenance and other means while learning about care and it and that was an outstanding report and probably one of the most relevant reports for the board because not only are the good updates for what's happening the district there are a number of items that high that were actually moving tonight in the um one that you indirectly touched on was 9.24 which is approving upgrades to the audio visual equipment so that we'll be able to one I have one more thing I need to add so um I believe the organization organization called The Day byday Foundation but they just had a kickball tournament last weekend raising money for uh our seniors through a I think it's a scholarship which was aided by our H Bound Brook track and field team and similarly our track and field team have their last competition uh next next weekend at sectionals and that thank any questions all right we are up to committee reports uh first up is education and I believe Miss is presen okay I'm gonna do a testing okay good um one of the things was actually a very productive meeting and Mr Ross I may need you I need to jump in um one of the things that we discussed during the uh education curriculum meeting was the changes that taking place in the curriculum and that the major change was music and art semester courses used to be a yearly course but then because of the interest of the teachers and of the students it was changed so that there are now semester courses very very well received um and just moving forward with that there was a Latin music dance class on top of all of that but um again just kind of listening to what the needs are you know in the high school and just putting it into action so just exciting uh one of the things Manuel mentioned too was the CCRN which is the college career Readiness now program and um looking to get Juniors involved in this process also we received $33,000 from rgcc this is huge and I think a lot of this too has to do with very posit POS um relationship that Bamber high school has had with rbcc and really taking advantage of the courses that they offer um it's going to include uh English math supervisors elll it will focus on um college career planning looking to fill out the fast forms to make it so that it's more um available and understandable to students and to parents one of the things that's exciting also is there is an ENT fire program that's coming it's a new program um it's a course it's an actual course and rvcc is looking to hire students and will'll pay the students to attend this and when that that when they then be take part of and complete that program it's a two-year program um working on sites and really doing what EMTs and fire uh Personnel do and then that you know coming back to community that this these are people who they could be hired within the community um you know we added a a drone program here rvcc is also adding a drone program they have a new building and in this new building is a drone program um a virtual assist jet engine program so this is really big stuff that's happening and I'm so glad that bber is is a part of this uh one of the other things we discussed during this meeting was um the testing that was had uh taken place in this uh results and happy to report that there is increase um from in English it was from 63% to 77% that's a good jump uh also in math it was from 32% to 40% so a 14% growth in the English and an 8% growth in mathematics um Small E school is starting a library club and when it was brought to the committee we're looking at how can we just connect this to other programs so looking at connecting the library program with book clubs and looking that uh looking at that and I believe that covers everything from education very good any comments or questions members job uh up to governance Mr B okay um governance always we only spoke about one topic uh South Bound Brook has reached out and they would like to form a joint committee as you guys uh should know because I emailed you about interest in joining the committee uh we got quite a few of you responding in the affirmative so the next step is for the two presidents to come together formally discuss uh the charge of the committee the parameters of the committee meeting uh frequency and and location things of that nature and then once all of that is sorted out we will be reaching out to members to finalize the membership of the committee but that's where it stands right now did I miss anything there Mr President okay that's all we had for governance thank you Mr B any comments or questions all right back to miss high for human [Music] resources this will be brief um you know one of the things that we uh look at every time when we meet as a committee is the Staffing situations at you know in within the district and it's looking you know just for new buyers for um Etc and this time of year too is when you we have um uh renewals and non-renewals so all of that has taken place um I think that's just about it thank you very much questions from miss high on human resources all right open Mr for operations operation operations you guys he yeah my notes are really relevant because some of the microphones aren't working first of all I want to give a shout out to Nick Nick vendy our director of Technology thank you for coming it was an honor to talk to you and and we love the Tre love staff really good so n was basically presented two proposals to the committee related to the upgrade of the High School auditorium audio visual system which we desperately need first was some keyboard consultants and the second generation Services Mr VY expressed that he worked with both companies in the panel he recommended the proposal from keyboard Consultants which was a lot cheaper um members were provided both proposals and members asked technical questions which were answered by Mr the committee recommended the proposal from consult board for consideration after the meeting was determined that there was no need to address the stage curtain and is now fully operational the initiative was included 2425 budget was less than the proposals the scope the need the project was expanded there funds so we are going to finally have everything technology plan the update Mr V was very busy also provided the committee with update to refresh the district techology plan inform the committee of a number of volunteers and number of community and staff Sur response responses received already plan expected to be presented to the board for adoption complete it will develop a three-year Vision identifying the district specific technology needs and the best means to provide such for the students and their families finally uh we had 425 final budget presentation Dr Freeman and Mr gor provided a very brief budget update indicating the budget required supporting information has been submitted to the wants the final approve the committee Mr for you want to throw a question to you are we okay any updates on that Mr upco um subsequent to that meeting the budget has been approved by the county excellent so that's a um really are grateful for our Administration administrative team and everyone a couple more things 2324 resolution transfer access Surplus into the C reserves account Dr Mr the community the only opportunity to transfer funds the 2324 exess Surplus and account Reserve is in the month of June resolution Mr bski provided approximate current balance in the capital reserve account of 2,500 indicated that indicated optimism that the available excess surplus of transfer should be in line with previous years sorry that was right is pay attention right I know Mr Bor was probably sweating it out there where did it [Laughter] go resolution meeting fin consideration follow up future meeting is recommended to revisit discussions with municipality related to Shar Services agreement as related to facilities including fields that are Joly used I want to just throw that to Mr orski and uh anyone else that has any information on that certainly Dr Freeman chime in we've uh we met with Township officials on a few occasions at the operations committee and uh at administrative level meetings to talk about shared service agreements um Investments that the district has made in our turf field and lighting uh that is not just enjoyed by the school Community but the book community at large so we're hopeful that there'll be some Financial participation com from Township to share those costs and more to come on that anyone else no so so one of the things we've been doing is we've been uh collaborating with the uh bur for about the last two months in terms of shared services things that need to be done by way of the school in the bur so we have realized there's a need for M communication that we're trying to build the report so we get to the point where we sit down we can have a cordal conversation about the actual Shar services and uh kind of revisit that and get them to look at uh what we had talked about before kind of reining us or sharing in the cost for some of the fields that we have in place so we'll be reaching out probably sometime this summer to sit down and have conversation thank you I know the committee is thankful that uh we are uh our administrative team very diligent in having over communication with the township and uh I know that we will have some answers in the future thank you so much I appreciate it Mr President that is any notes anything any questions anyone someone [Laughter] question the sign is small School operations and Dr G me that little smile like we we're going to put it the bed and then I I saw your weekend report that we're there we're there actually the last um the last model or mockup that we spoke about that's going to be one okay so we agreed on everything with a couple of details that we came into census and we sent it off to the manufacturer process putting it together yeah that I think that yeah I don't know if I have one question um when the uh printer is working through the signage will there be groups or something that can be approved boing work is done so in other words we're giving them artwor but normally what would happen is like a proof or something would come back from them showing what it's going to look like and I'm just wondering if we want to just get sign off on that so that we know okay let me look into it if it's not already being made we can get that if not we'll get one next time I'm just saying it could be it be brick oh you talking about the last situation ick thank you any other first of all thank you Mr for the report very well done any other comments or questions from the members regarding operations all right Sue do we have any update for County or no that's next month thank you very much uh so we are over to miss Carlon the southbound this will be brief I promise um so earlier a couple months ago I spoke about the fact that um Frank would be coming to school to recertify us for the lighthouse program and we did get our certification so we are halfway to Legacy status we have four more to go and then just our 8th grade graduation is June 14th and as far as the Joint Committee more with everybody thank you sounds good any questions from Miss Carlton all right so we are now up to item 5.1 public participation in the board meeting this will be for agenda uh do we have any comment when you have a chance do we have any online so we are moving on to item 6.1 we res that the B Board of Education on recomendation superintendent approves the minutes the F meetings regular executive session meeting minutes for April 29th 202 we have a motion motion thank you Mr z a second from Miss any discussion call please Mr B yes M gazino yes M Carlton yes Mr zco yes Mr Minas yes H yes Mr bmer Mr President yes motion passes thank you all right we're 7.1 we resolve that the superintendent recommends for approval the resolution personel resolutions this is 7.2 through 7.66 can I have a motion on the digital so I apologize who made that motion second any discussion oh my good yes down here uh on 7.2 of Matt goul is resigning and just a personal comment that my walking through the town I I've met him a couple of times got to know him if you read his reservation and you look at some of the other letters submitted U just a first class individual and um going to another District that's offering a lot more money and I would suggest strongly to the Dr Freeman that you keep his name because he's someone worth pursuing in the future just a great individual any other comments or questions hearing can yes sir Mr Januzzi was that personel motion moved by Mr bmer it was Mr B move and Mr second Mr B yes Mr Caso yes Carlton yes with the exception of 7.27 to 7 67 abstain thank you so noted Mr Z yes with an exception of 7.11 I [Music] abstain M yes Mr yes Mr J yes motion pass thank you we are up to item 8.1 resolve that the B of Education approves the resolutions is outl the district education resolutions this is 8.2 through 8.10 have a motion thank you Mr B a second from Miss Carlton any discussion hear call please Mr B yes Miss cazino yes M Carlton yes with the exception of 8.9 and 8 St so not thank you Mr zco yes Mr menos yes Miss High yes Mr yes Mr J yes motion passes thank you item 9.1 be resol that the B Board of Education approves the resolutions as outlin board action resolutions 9.2 through 9.26 have a motion motion thank you Mr M second second thank you m Carl discussion as always thank you for the donations number two that is correct of BS foundation so thank you very there are no comments or questions we can move to a roll call Mr B yes M Gazo yes M Carlton yes Mr zco yes Mr Minas yes Miss High yes Mr bmer yes yes motion pass thank you we have not been provided with any other to come before the board so we are now up to new business I just I just want to make a comment um I I serve also on the alumni bber Alumni Association and we just went through the scholarship interviews and Mr Smith these kids they they really were and the one thing that really stuck out to me over everything else was their connection and admiration of the teachers and some of the letters of recommendation that came out were so touching but so personal and you know some wrote a number of recommendations you need to each student it just was such a pleasure meeting with these kids and you know I'm sure they'll be excited when they hear but um again it it was wonderful kudos to the staff kudos to the students it just was an absolute pleasure I just wanted to wish a eighth grade class or the best of luck on their upcoming incredible trip that's going to be phenomenal want to thank Dr his team and the staff for putting everything together I want to thank um Everybody our administra from the top 10 um this is a chance for some of our students that have never even been out of the state to and history have a great time so I know it's been many hours weeks and months in the making high sales and so forth so who knows to our um eth grade and class administrative team Dr s and everyone involved thank you [Music] here here we go we are now up to item 12 open to the public uh for discussion so this is not constrained to agenda items uh anybody that's interested just approach the podium make sure you sign in with and and not that each individual be provid time to speak speak twice uh until everybody was interested in speaking as opportun anybody from the ground [Music] no comment online as well all right so we will now move on to item 13.1 be resolved ucation into executive session is allowed by njsa 10 11 for the purposes outline in the motion it's seven and eight sorry seven and eight thank you can I have a motion motion thank you Mr Min second thank you m car all favor to ex e e e second back S1 14 motion motion thank you Mr second second thank you Mr roll call please Mr yes Mr Gazo yes M Carlton yes Mr yes Mr Midas yes M High yes Mr bmer yes and Mr CH yes pass thank you 15.1 resolutions as outl approval of hi cases elementary schools 15.2 15.3 motion motion Mr F second second thank you Miss roll call please yes Miss gazino yes Miss Carlton thank you Mr zco yes Mr minhas yes m h yes Mr Balmer yes yes motion pass thank you we are up to item 16 and I entertain a motion motion thank you Mr second thank you Mr

e e aliance 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 Mr saan you all sorry Frank I didn't give your heads up Dr Hayes I just like to read a quick statement if I may yes sir the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public for advanced notice of and to attend a meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of this act of clide Park Board of Ed noce of this meeting to be published of having the DAT time and place thereof posted in the office of the bur clerk Library bur Rec Department Office of the Board of Ed and the offices of school numbers 3456 and the high school on April 16th 2024 and notices were forward to reporters of the record April 16 2024 this is an official meeting I'd like to take the role if I may Dr Hayes Please Mr Mrs Abu here Mr capano here Mrs Fredo here Mr garciaa here Mr nreu here Dr pontano here Mr Rancor yes uh Mr Russo I don't see Mr Russo teraka yeah I don't see Mr yanui okay Dr Hayes Mr aan wouldd like to do the agenda on the front end if that's okay with you it's fine by me okay so uh superintendent report will be very very brief and I just want to reiterate what I said to the Board of Education in our club close session and work session and to the public as well there are approximately 16 vacancies for the 2425 school year that we're whittling away at um tonight's Personnel agenda reflects 54 Personnel resolutions six of whom are teachers that were able to teachers and therapists that were recommending the board to hire for the 2425 school year and I publicly acknowledge not because they're in the room because I did it in close session as well but thank you to the principles for all the hard work our supervisors and again we we're going to have a very busy summer trying to fill the other nine vacancies but we're very busily approaching the task um upcoming events we covered um I want to highlight that also back to Personnel that there were six resolutions governing our summer school for the 20 summer 24 and we were even jumped ahead and were able to put on tonight's agenda uh fall of 2024 after school program and athletic recommendations for the 2425 school year so that's it from my Personnel agenda on the policy regulations agenda please note that there are six Hib investigations in this reporting period five of which were alleged one of which was confirmed in all six hi investigations parental notification did occur counseling was provided and in the confirmed case disciplinary action did so um that's actually considering that we have a full audience and a very busy agenda that's it for the superintendent thank you thank you uh Dr Hayes Mr alfano anything on your report uh just quickly Mr capano um we are currently working through our facilities projects for 2024 we are just opening up the new school year 2425 which we'll start doing purchase orders and uh in about a month and a half we'll be closing 2324 and trying to get a clear and transparent understanding of what our Surplus will be and just a couple of resolutions i' just like to point out resolution number 62 on page 19 is our right to know that we approve each and every year our chemical inventory and chemical hygiene list uh page 21 resolution number 64 that's a bus Evac we do them every May and every October both in District and out of District page 29 item 90 that's our stair Tower door from Mrs Martin Arty and we're going to engage in the stair Tower door project uh this summer uh page 30 and item number 91 is our RFP that we just completed and we had a a an evaluation committee and a consultant to help us through the Food Service RFP process uh we ended up having three biders and our incumbent panonian ended up scoring the highest so tonight we are going to be awarding them a 5year service contract for the for food service from uh 2024 for a fiveyear period now Mr Alano based on I know we went through the protocol we had Dialogue on that on this 5year agreement is there an escape clause on either side if uh we're not satisfied for something or or there's a violation of of the contract or anything that's a great question we can go to RFP every year okay so if we feel that pomptonian is doing subpar work and we decide as a board to re-engage the RFP process you can re-engage the RFP process every year if you so choose and we have that right that's correct okay thank you for the clarification of course anything else Mr Alano that's it on the finance side Mr capano okay uh before we move forward committee reports uh I just want to touch a little bit U and we spoke uh in our work session and I'll let the public know also as you know the burough cide Park uh has bought the Jewish temple and uh in partnership with the Board of Education and the library uh we're looking to uh partner up in an expansion on the burrow and uh it'll be a a recreation uh Center uh for the children here in the burrow uh expanding the library and also expanding uh U High School annex uh it's been a few years in the process uh Department of Education has approved uh uh the the move uh there's a lot of bells and whistles that go with it I do want to thank uh uh you know the board members especially Dr Pantano that was instrumental when we started negotiating with the burrow and our business administrator Lu Alano and also Mr Roman Gino our past superintendent so it's been a great process and uh we still have a couple of Milestones but uh we're halfway there uh we hope to break ground sometime in 2025 and uh we will as a board of educ ation will own uh 48% of that building and then the burrow will own a percentage and the library will own a percentage but it's a great enhancement for the high school so we're looking forward to it um any other committee reports from members of the board Dr P yes I have a committee report I just want to uh inform the board that we have entered into negotiations with the principal Association administrator Association so far we've had two meetings and I just want to thank them because I think they have been very productive meetings with open on so hopefully we'll have something to the board soon thank you any other committee reports I know buildings and grounds Lou always keeps us up to par uh I commend the great custodial staff and it starts from the principles that keep their buildings and tiptop shape and uh keep their uh buildings running efficiently a lot of good things are going to happen during the summer uh Lou will also always engage uh uh the board and uh the administrator staff okay um no other committee reports any questions from the public in in reference to the consent agenda this evening any anybody Frank thank you I have something to I think I'd like to make a motion if you want me to do it as a motion unless Dr haes wants to pull but I think we need to PLL number three oh we haven't that yet thank you for pointing that out yeah we should table to the next table for the next meeting Dr Pano was that resolution yes we talked about it thank you for bringing a new uh that would be the one that correct I would also the way that that's written but I know that we haven't discussed that so holding for next month that's resolution three with the board self EV found very good thank you Dr P and and believe it or not I tried going on to do it and and the portal wasn't open yeah I think we have to hold that till next month we have time right we have July 31st July 31st till July 31st to do it and we can even discuss it after that so I think we have Frank if you can look into it the New Jersey school boards uh I went in the portal I go there occasionally uh for reference and I I couldn't access it I got into the database but it did not give me the the icon to get into the self- evaluation just a blank page comes up it it it gives you Cliff side Park School District but it doesn't give you any instructions to move forward okay okay members of the board please be mindful that once the portal is open it has to be done uh by uh June 30th maybe we can get a reminder an email reminder that that it is open go you know do it but I would say to Dr Hayes I think that number three probably needs be two separate resolution I agree with you anything else um from the consent agenda can we get a motion to approve the uh May 22nd 20 24 regular meeting consent agenda that was Mr ran Court may have a second if I may I'll second it that was uh Mr Gara I believe right okay I'd like to take a vote if I may please uh Mrs breu uh yes but Iain on number 42 Mrs Abu that was resolution number 42 correct thank you for that Mr capano yes Mrs Fredo yes Mr Garcia yes Mr Nadu uh yes but I'm going to abstain on resolution 52 for sha NW number 52 did you say Mr NW2 uh I'd like to abstain just for her but if the procedure says I have to abstain on the whole resolution either or is okay okay we'll make a note of that thank you Mr nro Dr pontano yes Mr R Court yeah okay and Mr terach yes so moved okay Mr capana okay this time I don't think we have uh any closed session and um before we we move forward uh at this time uh we have some great people here we have uh teachers of the year I know Dr Pano has some some other Awards uh at this time I'll turn it over to Dr Hayes and let's acknowledge these great teachers ofs before we go I was remiss Arena do you have anything to share with us so the public knows arena is our student representative to the Board of Education I thought you were still at the bank depositing all those checks you got last night congratulations for last night it's good to see all your recognition last night congratulations congratulations thank we so far have 47 member like people signed up for the blood drive which is really good it already meets last incredible last um last sessions from the beginning of the year and we have over a week left to keep recruiting more so we're hoping to get around 60 hopefully and then around this time of year we're starting to do like elections in the beginning of that process hand it over to new Council that's great that's not it thank you so much appreciate that if anybody's wondering because of our Decor tonight tomorrow uh morning at 9:30 uh Frank poro um has been part of the burough a long time he's officially uh retiring as our Fire official just if anybody's curious of all these nice bus and stuff that's it come can please join me why not is the cake for them tomorrow no no the Cake's for us C should I get out of there so it's good to be around greatness again tonight congratulations to our teachers of the year for the 2023 24 school year I have the distinct pleasure of having lunch with these folks again tomorrow 11:30 at the Glen point and uh without further Ado did you have anything to say to president the only thing I have to say that the board of education is extremely proud of all uh uh recipients tonight uh you guys work very hard uh I know you don't get a lot of the credit sometimes but uh it's greatly appreciated this board of education appreciates our administrators uh our principls and all the great people and great teachers that we have uh in our school district so wish you guys the best well deserved and God bless I'd like to ask uh principal of our national ESA distinguished School Mrs marady to please join us and uh present to her teacher of the year you could stay on that s so we don't trip you on any water smart all right so I have the great pleasure to um recognize one of the most phenomenal teachers in our district and we we have a lot but Amy Spitz is somebody that is um uh true to her school true to her profession and true to her students um I I always look to her for advice you know principes can't do their job alone so um I always run things by her she's very honest with me and is a is a great help at that every morning I hear her walking through the hallways with I call her uh the the mama duck and and her little ducklings you know promptly when the bell rings you know they all run to her they love her they adore her and she's given so much to our students especially our multilingual Learners um we had the great Fortune of being named um a distinguished school we got to travel to Oregon together with two of our other teachers and it was a it was a great experience I feel like it was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us but I I got to share it with them um Amy you are one of the most dedicated individuals we hope you have a lot more years in you and we just are so grateful and and pleased with everything that you give to us but mostly for our children for whom you Advocate every day on a constant basis so it's my pleasure um to on behalf of uh superintendent Hayes and the Board of Education your teacher of the year award thank you for all your help as well thank you thank you so much thank you and I appreciate all you do for our school and you're always there to lend a helping hand and anytime I have a question you're always there and we're only as good as our leader and we thank you for being the leader that you are and school 5 in Cliffside Park are lucky to have you thank you thank you very much thank you Mr Rus would you be so kind to join us in honoring Danielle so at the Middle School uh we were uh lucky enough to have Danielle as one of our Educators in our building she's dedicated member to the special ed Department she works closely with members of the staff the administration but most importantly her students um they are without a doubt the most important part to Danielle um coming in each and every day some days she's a teacher some days she's a mother um some days she's a cook a chef today she was a bowling instructor so she wears many hats and we are all extremely lucky to have you so thank you and it's an honor to present this to you thank you so much you're always a big help I go to you every day probably five times a day and you're just wonderful we're all very lucky to have you as principal okay so thank you very much everybody I appreciate you it's because of the complexity of Cliffside Park High School we ask Mr Pinto to please join us with two presentations let's go with Mary first Mary first all right so uh just a little behind the high school a few years many years ago about 10 years ago the governor did away with the governor's educator award um uh Bergen County uh created the uh Bergen County principal and super or superintendent and principal teacher of the year award um during covid that award kind of ceased and it wasn't recognized so we at at some point governor governor mcgrey and I'm I'm sorry apolog um our current governor uh re enacted the governor's educator of the Year award so we jumped on the governor's educator of the Year award to make sure that our teachers were recognized and for the previous years where the county award wasn't offered we did the governors now not knowing what was going on this year information kind of came out late we had already done the governor's educator of the Year award and the governor's educational specialist of the Year award and that's why we have two so the first person I like to recognize is Miss Bono um Miss Bono is a member M of our CST she's been in District for 25 years she was an English teacher prior to being a uh a member of our CST um and I I really don't know how to how to share this Miss Miss pono's wealth of knowledge is tremendous um she's a mentor to new staff she's a mentor to people in the building um she counsels students uh in her role as the ldtc she uh she's you know she's constantly testing students she's constant meeting with parents um but the counseling and the and the advice she offer students it's warm but sometimes it's also factual and she does a great job in motivating students she does a great job in um getting students to refocus to reenter and to uh really understand how she's there to help how the teachers are there to help uh she's been a mentor to our staff she's been a mentor to me um just like uh you know we we can't run this building these buildings without strong other strong leaders in the building Miss Bono is one of those strong leaders that we rely on um and not just at the high school she's also a resource at other uh other buildings specifically the middle school so that being said I congratulate Miss Bono it's been a pleasure working with you over the course of my career and thank you for all that you do uh at the high school for students that always bounce off been before I think that shows itself way our ESP specially kids are successful thank you thank you thank you very much thank you the next uh individual that I'm going to recognize is our teacher of the year um and that's Mr Ronald rmck Mr rck and I began our careers together 21 years ago 22 22 years ago years ago we began our careers together uh over the course of the 22 years that Mr robnick has been in the building there is not a more compassionate engaged educator when it comes to our students specifically our at risk students um Mr robn Mr robnick constantly has his room available to students whether it's during lunch whether it's before school after school during instruction he has students seeking uh support and seeking assistance uh Mr robnick is also found at many many activities uh you walk into Mr Rick's room and there are hundreds maybe thousands of pictures uh that he has of students at events um students that have returned to the school uh to thank him for what he has done for them uh and the really special thing is they're not just in his room he also gives them out to the students so when he attends these events the students at the end of the year he he he makes sure he tracks down these students he finds gives them these uh these these photos of them you know at whether it's at the play whether it's at the um a basketball game or baseball game or track meet uh and Mr Robin has been doing this throughout his career he served on different committees at the high school he's uh been a member of the skip over parts of his career and um really you know when it comes to leadership in the building while Mr rnck often is reserved he's a leader within his department and he really really is a is a mentor for the teachers in the math department uh he's taught all different levels of math whether it's Algebra 1 um alra 2 pre-calculus and we thank Mr Ry for all that he does for the students and for the staff in build thank you congratulations thank you congratulations thank you very much I really appreciate this and I also so appreciate all the help and support that I've been given over the 22 years makes it a lot easier to do what I do and I know there support from above so thank you f going I ask you to please stay with us um until whenever it's good for you to enjoy cake coffee fruit and we have h two more presentations that we ask to please give us a few more minutes more Dr pant I'll give you a so just to share why I'm the one doing this presentation I'm the vice president of the beron county school boards Association and as such I get the pleasure of awarding two board members rarely do you see board members get get awarded for all of the work that they do and rarely do you even know what the board members do because they do so much of the work behind the scenes but it's a great pleasure tonight to award two individuals who have worked tirelessly for the town of Cliffside Park for many many years and they're recognized by the New Jersey school boards Association for all that they've done the first individual I'd like to recognize is our board president now the numbers may be in question but we do know he's been on the board for well over 15 years and in this day and age being a board member for 15 years is quite significant and I will tell you that one of the first things I noticed when I came to the board was the impeccable facilities that Cliffside Park has the facilities for being over a 100 years old are beautiful they are in mint condition and I will tell you having worked with him Mr capano Works tirelessly to make sure that the facilities are maintained and upgraded and we can always be proud of the school district and the schools in our community as well as working tirelessly behind the scenes for all of the students which is why I asked our student rep this evening to be the one who actually presents him with a certificate thank you um 19 years 19 great years um love the people cliff side park born and raised here great uh bed I came on with Teddy that may be a mistake but uh we stuck it through uh three superintendents now but uh it's just been a great ride thank you for your support and since he mentioned the name the second individual we'd like to recognize this evening is Teddy tabaka and I will say having been a superintendent myself one of the great things that I appreciate with Teddy not only his wealth of knowledge especially in the areas of Safety and Security for our students but I really appreciate the way he supports the superintendent now I've seen him work with two superintendents and he has a big support and in this day and age when you open up new jersey.com and and north jersey.com and you see the great dysfunction in the boards and you see you know board members going after their superintendent instead of supporting them I think of somebody like Teddy who's been a great support to all of our superintendents working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that the superintendent is successful cuz he knows when the superintendent is successful the school district is successful so Irene if you would recognize Mr terak thank you thank you for uh this was presented to us on my birthday but I couldn't go in the county level but I know you pushed for us so thank you very much for recognizing us and everything else well deserved I've been on the board for a long time I have a past teacher in the room of mine uh I do ble Cliffside I do a lot of things in Cliffside I do enjoy it a lot of ups and downs but at the end of the day it's nice to see Cliffside students like her last night with all her Awards and everything else you know but I'm just saying like you know it's it's nice to see like in 10 years where you're going to be so it's it's I just want to thank everybody thank you and if I just speak extemporaneously for a moment this is Irene RF Tois is one of her last meetings I hope she will come back and join us in June I think it's going to be after graduation but you are a rep until the end of the school year so you because I want to thank her she has been the first student representative on the board of education and I couldn't think of anybody who could be more outstanding in representing the students of Cliffside Park that Irene and I want to really congratulate her because I was at the awards ceremony last night and she did so well at the award ceremony and it's so nice to see the whole Community recognize her contributions and I said this about Miranda last I I'm going to say it about Irene tonight they're going to make great contributions to this community in the future when she was five I saw greatness in her and she has never disappointed me so hopefully we'll be recognizing her in the next meeting thank you do stay there please so we're going to adour after k Mr valo suggested thank you for that um Dr Pano volunteered to cut the cake said she's a math teacher so I'm going to try to cut the P oh he's going to close after we ask for a motion to you want to do that yeah if we can just get a motion to adjourn this evening's meeting and once again thank everybody for coming and congratulations once again to uh the teachers that are here uh this evening and got these great Awards thank you everybody thank you everybody

ladies and gentlemen principal of schools be your host to you we welcome you to school district class 2022 graduation [Applause] ceremony i' like to give a District board members we have Mr Eric [Applause] kerich we also have president Mr Roby Hopkins [Applause] of course we want to thank superintendent [Applause] Romano all of our human County Sheriff department members that are here with us tonight and special thanks to our campus security monitor Chief do please let's be mindful of our students and some adults that have sensitivity sound we ask that you have your um ringers turned off on the cell phones we ask that please no airb any kind of device really loud Sparling noises we do have a couple graduating evening extremely sensitive to noise so we just appreciate that after the ceremony outside parking free to use any of those items but inside from that I say you get started this time please rise for the processional of the a school 2024 graduated class w [Applause] let's go princess [Applause] [Music] [Applause] w [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] w w [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] w [Applause] [Music] [Applause] understanding for the pl of Comm I graduated [Applause] senior please stand Forge United [Music] statesis than you please be [Music] seated Victor student our Val Victorian and our Victorian will both give speeches this evening this year's Val Victorian for 2024 class is Miss Francis Robertson [Applause] [Music] firstly thank you to the teachers and staff of waho high school for their support and dedication to every stent would like to thank my best friends for their love their making laugh at 8:15 on the Monday morning I would like to thank my family for driving or flying out the middle of nowhere just for this thank you to my sister Elanor and my cousin cat who I FaceTime at any minor and thank you Mom and Dad for everything in the last month the number one question I've been asked by teachers friends and family is are you ready to graduate if you've asked me this question you probably been met with this space and the response being ready to graduate being showing up to school earning the appropriate credits and getting to the auditorium time it also means being ready to leave behind the normaly of high school life of the days my PR in the spent in class staring up the ceiling dying for the Bel I know I'm ready to leave behind our freshman year spent in quarantine where we joined Zoom classes half asleep and worked out in our rooms for PE because of Co our class missed our a promotion trip rest in peace made event and had a 15minute promotion ceremony in the plaza the lack of closure to our a grade year has left many of us feeling stuff in middle school so standing up here on the break of adulthood feels to real we're not ready but the truth is it doesn't matter if we're ready or not like every big milestone gradual graduation won't wait for us to fly mature before it comes despite not being ready for high school four years ago here we are we did it Whatever life After High School means for each of us we will face it head on we will learn that it will be okay congratulations to the class of 2024 [Applause] for those of you that don't know will be attending Brown [Applause] University to Google probably it is that school and it is one of the most prestigious schools that anyone can go to from anywhere in the world and we have somebody [Applause] from goes to graduating senior with the second highest grade point average behind the ball Victorian this year's Victorian is Miss Leslie himz [Applause] [Music] hello everyone [Applause] it's you're probably tired of me talking but today it serious like every day we are reunited again only today is different today we divide and SE for each of us separ no more help no exceptions no extra work no cheating no nothing now is just us and our own path from the bottom of my heart I tell you to always fight for what you want your dreams and goals to ACH we all have different visions and different perspectives and it doesn't mean that they are wrong never stop doing the things and which really makes you happy for others this is something I really like about this past we all say really chose ourselves being at school and spending time with each other for many years has been really stressful despite our differences in sometimes poor communication we were quite United which helped us be here next to each other happily and for the future but always knowing who we are and who we want to become I am proud of you and I know everyone out there like my lastly we wanted to thankor with much love and respect to your favorite students you know who we are we thank you and appreciate all the effort dedication and the r for everything we needed one with the present that we came together to make for you we hope you like it and thanks for also making school year a memorable one thank you Leslie next up we have our Congressional certificate recognition I'd like to call out Miss Cassandra from the office of congressman [Applause] evening family ands are we doing [Applause] tonight2 how are we doing [Applause] tonight I down but you the 27th school probably the 28 that I've been to and every school has to I'm going to make a quick video on the count you're show me how excited you [Applause] are as I mentioned um throughout the district we we uh recognize students um that school select and this is like our 27th school now me all alone we have staff members who who go throughout our congressional district um but it's it's it's an honor you know receiving all of these recognitions that we get the nominations that we get and I glad I don't have to pick a student because that is a tough job to pick one student and I know this school is a little bit smaller but to pick one student out of all the graduating class um that really stands out and shines for different reasons um and you have gone through a lot of struggles you you went through a pandemic as one of ear year um um you you know you started High School you went through a pandemic I had even gone through a pandemic and I was 38 at the time um I had got um you were expected to have it all figured out to go home during this very scary time for not just our nation but our entire world and then you were expected to come back and have it all figured out when even our entire nation didn't have so kudos to you classic 2024 for over overcoming those challenges and that only betters you to be prepared for anything that away congratulations for I here to student and I'm just going to read a little bit about this because those are the reasons why we get so excited to come out to the schools I had a staff member I have to go all the way to the no Gall area today my other was like I can cover AO if you want and I said absolutely not I love coming to AO the vibe is so much fun the students are so much fun so I'm I'm so happy to read about this student um and I know she already knows because she's on the program it is [Applause] Francis exceptional academic achievement alongside extensive involvement in divers extracurricular activity her leadership roles as a student council president and varsity cheerleading Captain coupled with participation in sports like volleyball and swimming showcase her ability to balance responsibility effectively moreover her engagement in stem and community service initiatives including volunteering at the desert Haven Animal Clinic and involvement in Co and blood drive highlights her commitment personal development and Community additionally her consistent employment as a lifeguard underscores her reliability and her dedication overall this individual's multifaceted engagement and dedication makes her an excellent candidate for the selection of the Congressional recognition and she's going to ground University so let's give it up for Fran [Applause] my honor to present you with a pressional recognition congratulations on your academic achievement at Al High School you are Deary Ro model to those Andress to reach out when that time comes if she needs letters of recommendation I know she'll be far away but if she ever needs a congressional internship we are here for that as well or to help her be successful along the way even though clearly she doesn't need that much help class of 2024 don't ever forget where you came from from this beautiful little town of Alo who has really molded you um think about the people who helped you get here today your family your loved ones your teachers your learn all of those folks don't ever forget where you're came from good luck to you best wishes and we're very proud of you [Applause] congratulations you Mr Sarah next we have our scholarship award winners recognition this presentation will be by superintendent best superintendent I've [Music] [Applause] thank you Dr sholz L sholz Kansas strong Dr sholz this easy Dr right come over here not shy not shy this guy's a two separate in George St all my ex is been in Texas he sh um graduating class of 2024 ni stand up and give this guy a great recognition he's retiring you're welcome to join us also [Music] [Applause] good evening students staff families proud govern board members I might be a little biased I have the best board in the entire State Arizona and I School District Community welcome thank you for being us tonight for this incredible special conation celebration of the class of [Music] [Applause] by everybody teachers and staff families leadership team and most importantly these recreators right here on stage they think every single day their heart and their pride and they're the best students I've ever worked with I'll take them seven days of the week and twice on Sunday want to take this time for special congratulations to the AO high school student scholarship award winners from the rotary scholarship thank the sponsors thank you to top telephone SPS angels in hands Homestead LLC the Els red white rotary Chamber of Commerce Kathy H scholarship John Burns Memorial all the students who were recognized please stand up for everyone can see how many of our students got those scholarships please stand up be sh guys sh stand up [Applause] congratulations class 2024 also for the accomplishments and the Legacy you have established entire Community these are just a few of the accomplishments that they have been a part of the academic success of a high school arol program accomplishments flight simulators and drones Red Raiders football team state playoffs the last two years Lady Raiders softball team State semifinals in 2023 State tal game in 2024 and AO high school cheerleaders new team category this is their first year and they're state champions state champion cheerleaders please stand [Applause] up and if you with me I want to recognize this our pitcher All State pitcher stand about those to the game at ASU she hit the ball she ran the first she was at first base she ran the second our player running the first got to first base the first base to drop the ball and the other team just kept looking at each other she kept running the second base and everyone was looking at the first base to play then she kep running the third Bas and you saw all the faces the heads of the other team of fans the just turned at the same time looking at her they start yell to their team she's running she's running she's running she ran all the way to home play and asked where did how did you know what to do she's like I saw rald from the Atlanta gra he never stopped until he sto Play She SP from first place the whole SP but she struck out about 12 or 15 players she had about five or six catches I've never seen a player play with so much heart Sport and I just want to recognize [Applause] her and expectations for years to come we are just getting started during USD youth was motivation into success was our Focus this year now our focus is Mak each today your Masterpiece let's do this together students St families Crow govering board members and the entire a community if not us who and if not now when let's make a the best schol District not just in Arizona but I want you to work with all of us our district best District the entire [Music] country High School reg class of 2024 oh [Applause] [Music] Mr rley Hopkins our governing board president will join me ining and accepting the graduating class of 2024 Al Unified School District governing board president Mr Rodney Hopkins members of the governing board superintendent Dr fero distinguished guests faculty staff and our Red Raider Community I'm hereby certify that these students have successfully met the graduation requirements by the Arizona Department of Education and the governing board of the I'll UniFi School District [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we will now award the diplomas Mr Hopkins our governing board president and Mr VOR will join me in awarding the diplomas weina [Music] [Applause] Emma great br [Applause] you Carino [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Samuel prer [Applause] abale aland [Applause] [Music] wo El way lria [Applause] jisa Lopez [Applause] Mor [Applause] bre [Applause] hon more of [Applause] Stan [Applause] [Music] mayia ramz t [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Francis Mia Isabel Rodriguez [Applause] women [Applause] Club s Tores [Applause] Jor [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right another big moment graduation it's time for GRE wison to come up for the Turning of the Tas [Applause] ladies and gentlemen we present to you the class of [Music] [Applause] 2024 Jo uson over the years our seniors have to thank you for the progress they made thank you for celebrating this special occasion with us [Music] [Applause] w [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] w [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] oh [Music]

e for e e e [Applause] please rise for our national [Applause] anthem through the for the [Music] [Applause] Pro through the night our flag [Applause] stillar the of [Music] [Applause] Thee the thank you you may be seated now please welcome the Mirana High School choir for their performance of our senior song Don't Stop Me Now [Music] [Applause] good and the world the world is [Applause] turning around inas so don't stop [Applause] [Music] me having a good time a good time sh star leing through the SK like a tiger def the of [Applause] gravity I'm a racing [Music] car e e e good evening my name is Caitlyn Kaufman and I am the very proud principal of Mirana high school please join me in recognizing our Morana High School choir directed by Miss Cass brandriff and our band directed by Mr James adury for the music they shared with us this evening it is my honor to welcome you to the commencement exercises of the graduating class of 2024 as we start the celebration it is my privilege to introduce Miranda Unified School District leaders we thank them for their daily support care and challenge that they provide for our students additionally we thank them for their service to our school and our school district the members of the Morana Unified School dist District governing board president Dr Marbel Lopez vice president Mrs Katherine micronus member Mr Tom Carlson and member Mr David Willard not present with us this evening is member Mr Hunter Holt our Marana Unified School District administration superintendent Dr Dan streer assistant superintendent Mrs Kristen REI Mr Mark gagoski and Miss Denise linela CFO Mr an canoro and executive director of state and federal programs Mr Josh Bane Morana High School administration Mr Benjamin roram Mrs Crystal pacina Mr Robert vieva and Mr John shuel I am also pleased to be in the presence of Morana high school and musd teachers counselors staff and leaders they are some of the most caring and hardworking people that I know please join me in thanking them for for their dedication to our students finally I am joined by five of our incredible student leaders it is my honor to introduce our speakers this evening giving our closing remarks this evening's senior class president Jessica Green tonight's student speaker Broden Williams the class of 2024 salutatorian kale Olsen the class of 2024 valedictorian Aiden scholes and giving our first speech of the evening please join me in welcoming our student body president [Music] [Applause] cello there we are there we are hello everyone my name is cah fow and I'm your 2023 2024 student body president when asking around what my graduation speech should be nearly everyone told me to reflect on my high school experience what high school gave me so today I wanted to take this moment to appreciate three of the gifts mirand high school has given me first is the gift of a failed test I received this gift in AP Psychology where I failed a unit exam worth 70% of my grade no option for a retake to ensure I never failed again I studied hard for the next next exam with flashcards and everything and still I failed this pattern continued with the next test and the one after that I thought that this grade defined who I am that I was a failure I've now learned our worth goes beyond any of the grades we' received here at Mara High School having great grades is an accomplishment to be proud of but it doesn't Define us we are defined instead by the quality of our character by the bonds we share with each other with this gift I also learned learned that you that failure is important to our journey during this next step in life you are going to fail you are going to fall down so many times that the ground is going to become your best friend but that failure is important to your journey without failure we would never learn never improve never succeed because I failed and learned and improved I got an A on my next AP psychology test next is the gift of teachers teachers of any kind the good and the great the ones that have in their class and the ones that didn't all advisers coaches tutors parents and Guardians these people are the gifts we don't seem to appreciate enough the amount of struggles teachers have helped us work through the amount of patience they've had the amount of missing assignments they've accepted last minute throughout it all they never gave up on us they continued to teach us to push us and watch us grow into better people all of my teachers taught me the lessons I needed to be standing here today and just in case I haven't said it before thank you lastly the gift of a friendship bracelet adults always tell me how they no longer talk to their high school friends they tell me how those friendships started to fade due to time and distance apart now I'm not going to be naive and say me and my friends won't be like that we'll be this close forever I understand that probably won't be the case so instead I have this gift of a friendship bracelet this physical reminder of all the people who were important to me these strings and Beads bound with the love I hold for all of them being able to look at every single one and have a memory attached to it a reminder of someone I love is a gift and knowing they all have a reminder of me even if that reminder ends up in a Dusty old box or heaven forbid the trash can knowing that we're all still connected no matter how far apart we are is the best gift I could have asked for so you may be thinking Cella why should I care about any of the gifts you were given well we all have our own gifts yours could be your after school club or your sophomore year English class or one you're not even aware of yet but whatever they are all of them taught you something all of them got you here to this moment take a second to reflect on that reflect on what your gifts might be thank you Miranda high school for all the gifts I mentioned and all the ones I didn't those I promise you I will never forget and now introducing our senior speaker Broden [Applause] Williams good evening everyone my name is BR Williams and I was selected to be the class of 2024 senior class speaker everything I've ever done in my life has led up to this moment every test every dance every raised hand every missed question every final every lunchroom joke everything I've done everything we've done and in this moment I am euphoric and this Euphoria stems not only from pride in myself but pride in my peers we wrote the papers took the tests did the exams and we succeeded we did it we're graduating but that's not what counts us all of us we are what counts as I look at the faces of my peers this field full of hundreds of you I see something reassuring resilience I feel it together we've weathered the storms of adolescence navigating the Maze of expectations and aspirations of act tests homecomings Pi Day prom cafeteria renovation micro bursts and mask mandates we are resilient and we are graduating this journey would not have been possible without the unwavering support and guidance we've received from each and every one of you as such I would like to express some gratitude I have just a few specific thank yous to impart to those members of our community who made my high school Journey as meaningful as possible firstly I would like to thank my aunt VA who taught me the importance of hard work and dedication and without whom none of this would have ever been possible thank you I would also like to thank Mrs Edmonds and Mr Calton the best possible Academic Decathlon coaches around your dedication to our program has been truly inspiring but not only that you're both dedicated personally to every student who walks through your classroom doors not just that a cathet thank you for your guidance encouragement and countless hours of preparation and of course for driving the van our wonderful athletic trainer and Sports Medicine teacher Miss copy your expertise and passion for our school and our Sports Medicine program is inspiring as well as your unwavering commitment to each and every athlete who steps into the athletic training room thank you for always being there to cheer us on and offer a listening ear your care and support mean the world to us the community of Morana High School is what makes this place so special it's not the buildings the classrooms or even the brand new field everyone here has someone that made their High School experience special and meaningful for some it was coach doer for others Senor eing Mrs Nomo or Mr Grandy and it's possible to forget our admin team our janitors our counselors and the countless others who work to make this place function day in and day out thank you to every member of the Mirana Community who has played a part in our educational experience I thank you wholly and sincerely and for my final and maybe most important thank you of the night I look to my classmates together we shared countless Unforgettable moments and made memories that will last forever thank you for the laughter the camaraderie and the bonds that have defined our high school experience your your friendship and support have made even the toughest days brighter I'm grateful for each and every one of you and I'm proud to call myself a Miranda tiger as we stand on the threshold of our futures we carry with us countless pieces of the school and its Community each step we took each stumble we faced has shaped us into the individuals we are today though graduation is a standard it is nonetheless an accomplishment for some of us making it out to this field tonight took every last ounce of effort we had our community our friends our amilies none of it would be possible without them and as we look forward toward the endless possibilities that lie ahead I take comfort and pride in knowing that I am not alone and I hope that all of you know that we're not alone because we have one another it is now my most esteemed pleasure to introduced to the podium the Morana High School class of 2024 salutatorian kale [Applause] olssen well I'm a little embarrassed to admit this but up until about a month ago I thought it was pronounced salad dictorian so I don't know maybe I'm not the best pick for salutatorian um there's this Theory called nominative determinism which is the idea that people gravitate towards positions or areas of work that fit their names for example uh coach ball and Coach sweat both teach PE here and it's hard to imagine them with names like that being anywhere else Usain Bolt is the fastest man on Earth and I would be too if I had a last name like that one night a a few months ago I was at work when I was hit with a horrible thought oh no I kale am on track to be the solad itorian I was scared about what this meant for my future so I delved into the topic one possible explanation of nominative determinism is that one's self-expectations are directly affected by the name by which he or she is called we become the very persons we expect ourselves to become to this end if there's just one thing you take away from me standing up here like an idiot I want to be this see yourself for who you can become I'm not talking about income or influence or intellect no this means more than anything the world has to offer I'm talking about your potential to be a better person to be kinder and to be more charitable treat everyday as an opportunity to help those around you even when it's inconvenient or hard if you can so much as improve by 1% each day by the end of the year you'll be more than 37 times better than man or woman than you are now always remember to be kind and to be forgiving and when you fall short don't give up but see yourself for who you can eventually become and work a little bit harder to become that person you guys are the best one day we're going to bump into each other down the road and I kale CEO of Whole Foods will be so proud to have known the most kind-hearted charitable and impactful people the world has to offer while I'm up here I'd like to thank my mom and dad who have always been eager to help and support me I'd also like to say thank you thank you to all of the teachers and coaches at the school for putting so much time and effort into helping us graduates get to where we are today I'd like to thank that one big storm that came by at the beginning of this year um I used to eat lunch under this big tree that was home to these birds that would regularly poop on my head but now the tree is gone and the birds have no home thank you storm I'd like to thank uh Mrs Kaufman she's truly an amazing and sincere person one of the first things she did when she became principal was start an initiative to clean up and beauy our campus and let me tell you it has worked wonders it's been three whole years since I've last been chased by a school lunch cheeseburger attached to a remote control car and I really appreciate it really we couldn't have asked for a better and more caring principal it's been an honored to have grown up with all of you guys and I look forward to seeing not so much what uh not so much what each of you become but who you grow to be thank you I'd now like to introduce our valid Victorian Aden schols [Applause] not that tall um good evening it is a great honor to be the valedictorian of the class of 2024 when I was younger I never dreamt of being here and speaking in front of such a large audience who unlike those I talk to in my day-to-day life can't just get up and leave when they get bored I always wanted to be a professional basketball player I practiced day and night until I was trampled by all of the taller and frankly much better kids on the court I always pictured myself playing competitively for a large portion of my life but now years later life has taken me down a different path I still love the game but my skill set is much better suited for the business side side of things maybe as an agent or a general manager I don't have my life completely figured out though but I'm going to enjoy the process of figuring it out and I encourage you all to do the same as graduating high schoolers we cannot let ourselves get so caught up with goals goals that others expect us to fulfill goals that we expect of ourselves that we fail to enjoy our day-to-day lives and pass up opportunities that present themselves I'm not saying that we shouldn't have lofty aspirations or plan our futures we definitely should and I still genuinely believe we can become anything we want if we put our minds to it but let's not allow a goal of attaining one specific thing to prevent us from truly living and finding our skill sets and adjusting course when necessary when I think back to my time in high school I think about all the time I spent having fun with my friends at lunch or goofing off in the middle of class I don't think about my lost dream of being a basketball player I don't think about all the things I didn't accomplish I think of all the things things I did accomplish I think of the moments of friendship and support that have allowed me to get to this moment standing here speaking to you I'd like to conclude by thanking some of the most influential people in my own life thank you to my family who taught me that sometimes going with the flow is the right choice and you don't have to plan every little detail of everything thank you to my teachers who taught me that I could accomplish more than I ever thought thank you to my friends who taught me that no matter how hard I tried I'm not always right and finally I'd like to thank my sister for teaching me how to write a speech as a wise woman once alluded to even if we think we know everything at 18 we might not know anything at 22 as we continue through our lives our plans will adapt and that is okay it is through this change in all its beauty that we are challenged to learn to try new things and to truly grow thank you and congratulations to the class of 2024 I'd now like to welcome Miss Kaufman back to the stage let's give it up for those senior speakers they did an amazing [Applause] job ladies and gentlemen esteemed faculty proud parents and above all the incredible graduates of the class of 2024 High School graduation is a stepping stone to what is next in life enjoy these final moments as a tiger as this is the start of a great adventure each of you possess the power to make a difference to inspire to lead and to change the world for the better so go forth with confidence passion and integrity dream big work hard and never lose sight of your goals please know that you can always come home but whether you leave here and never look back or you never leave please be a kind great human and remember where you came from Morana Arizona a small town with Big Dreams graduates we are so proud of you and the accomplishments that you've had over $9.2 million in scholarships a National Merit scholar a National Merit finalist a state champion wrestler a top 10 Shakespeare actor in the nation and so much more congratulations once again now let's hear that Pride one more [Applause] time as we as we prepare to cheer for our graduates we ask that you do so respectfully it is important that each student and each family have their special moment as you cheer please be considerate of the next name being called here we go you guys ready all right members of the governing board Dr streer parents and Community I am pleased to present Morana High School's graduates of 2024 I certify that they have completed the requirements for graduation as established by the Arizona State Board of Education and the Morana Unified School District governing board will the graduates in the first row please rise Tessa rain AO Julia Joy aiar Alicia Salen Akia Denali Alysa Allen Rustin fiser alred Roy Cruz Alam Morano Piper Marie Anderson Parker Landon Angel Julian Christopher aino Paulina Consuela Aerosmith Andrew Francis Arthur John David Arthur Andrew George asmin ivth Trevor Joseph Obie Marina Ray abuan Mia Rosa aouth Allison Irene augot Joe Henry Babble William Kenneth ball Nathaniel Isaac beret lose Adriana Batista Riley Eric Baylor Elizabeth Rose sento beams Marlin bedoy Emily Rose bedya Tanisha alen beay Christopher Francis Berg anakah Marie Bernstein William Ray berer Giana carile bazo Hannah May Bice Abigail Emma Bishop Ashley Elizabeth [Music] blue Connor Eugene Blondell Evan William Bogan Dylan Jacob [Music] bassik Madison Brienne bolts Linda alet Bonia Avery Nicole Bor sheltz Sophia Joy ompad lumos borgatti Thalia Andrea Bostic Isaac Andrew Boswell Elaine Eleanor Boule Tori Allen Bo boak Anna Maria Garrett James Bradshaw NAA celis Brawn Kenny Brennan gunar Magnus brooch Dylan Andrew Brown Isaac Everett Booker William Zachary Buckley Elise Faith binski jolian Abraham borgos d stefanis [Music] Ava Rose Bustamante Tyler Marie byley Maria ta Kaa Franco Fatima Canales Octavio Koo Elijah Dante Kennedy [Music] Joselyn alundra caraveo Martinez Travis Blake Carbono Chloe an Cardwell Christopher Ray Carr Jr Emma Rose Kion David Allen Carter Jr Caitlyn Isabel sis Joshua Eno Chapman Marita Taylor Chavez k Marie chetam Michael James [Music] Chima lir Olivia May Clark kylin Asher Clayborn Brianna Lynn CET Jaylen Martel Collins Savannah Jean camo Kylie Karin [Music] comto Alysa Paige Conway Tyler Allen cook Alexa Kalin Corona Victor Yugo Emmanuel Coral Bernie Diego corales Cameron Lane Cotto Jacob Thomas Cox Cameron Dante Craig Michael Aaron kandle Shan Clark [Music] grandle Isabel kubas Kylie Ellen Cutler Elena Sophia deato Amy lindair Anthony William dankey Lisa leani da jasman Karina Davis cordiva Tina Marie deare Alexander Dean demerit Jacob Matthew denetso Grayson Alexander [Music] Diaz Cameron Nicole Dillard anetta Rory danan adamar skomsky doy Andrea Maria Dominguez Hannah Elaine datson Alexander Mark Doyle Connor Allan Drayton Julian Gabriel [Music] duerte Aaliyah Lynn [Music] Dunn Braden William Eckles mie Vin Edmonds Joseph Michael Edgars Angelo Josiah El gazal Santino Cruz Espinosa Carter Jeffrey [Applause] esin Sabin [Music] esier Abigail Ariana esier Mendoza Brandon James [Applause] Evans Aiden Shay farmer Brandon Matthew fatura Jasmine razel fields Milan Israel figuroa Sophia Lola Isabelle Figaroa Cella meline fow Alexander Dylan Finley Ethan David Flores Gabriel Robert formanek Amari Hondo Frank Ali Jean Franks anina Jordan Fuentes Alexandria Elizabeth gabbard McKenzie Lyn gallion Leslie gamees Daniel jayen Garcia elisia Monae Garcia Sophia Bella garciaa Venia Monique Garcia Lane Nicole Gardner Jaden Christopher Garen Diego Anton Antonio [Music] garton Cody Lee Jeffrey NAA Lee Gibson ra Carter Gibson McKenna Elizabeth Giles Jonathan Tyler gilland Kira Melody Glassner Natalie Paige glass off Christopher Xavier [Music] Gonzalez Malia Sophia [Music] Gonzalez Marcus Joshua Pedro Gonzalez attiana Ariel Gonzalez Kaylee Rose [Music] Gonzalez Hannah paa Gonzalez arza Andrea Renee Grace Wright [Music] Willie C green Jessica Lynn green Emily Elizabeth Kate Gary Ethan Justice goba Zachary Lloyd Gustafson Steph Bradley Gwyn Jr Adena noan Hal Christopher David Hancock Cass SRA an [Music] Hancock Liliana anahi henkins Sophia Marie Harden Austin Mark Hardy Bailey Marie Harrison Jaden Wade Harvey Savannah Sue ha good Sarah Heath Tristan Aiden hinch Michaela Mariah [Music] Hendricks Kaya Michelle Hinson Dez Hernandez Alexia Celeste Herrera Caleb Eugene Herring Andrew James hon Grace anley Hindman James Keith Hinkle Kaylee Renee H Hinman Jenna Lynn Hodes Briana Elizabeth Hony Lincoln Nicole Hood Emma Michael housewright Angela hango hang pardon me Zachary Hayden Huber Caitlyn Jade [Music] Hudson Aiden Blake iara Taran Devin Ingram allora Lei Irwin Daniel Taylor IES Danielle oh my gosh Danielle sorry Taylor IES wow Liam Donald Jacobs Chris Caleb James Sarah Marie haralo Haro Joel dieago Jenkins Skyler a Jenkins Andrew Jameson Gerald marialis cryistal HZ Kos Bailey Sky Johnson Kaylee Elizabeth Johnson link Jacob Johnson Lolo Johnson maai Jaylen Johnson Alexia rain Jones not here Alicia Irene Jones Mary Rose Faith Jones Logan clay Joseph Caitlyn Marie jertz Jaden Omni Justice James Lis cerly Risa Michelle Kaiser Payton Marie Keeley Owen Paul Kelly Saad Rose Karn Chase Justice kilty inm Kayla Gretchen kard Arison Francis [Applause] [Music] King Ashley Elizabeth [Music] Kirk Jesse hwit kage Shane Joseph copc Cameron Michael cor Nina Marie Dominic lvia Ry [Music] Lama Paige marleene Lamar best pton Anthony Lamar best Belle Marie Lancaster Trevor David Leighton Kira patience Aliyah Lee Alisia Leon Tristan Leonard Lorenzo Lura Ella Louis Leba Asen yeli Lea CA Logan Michelle Lynn Gavin Richard little Fields Anthony Cruz labado Jr Adrien Orlando [Applause] Lopez Dakota two feathers Lopez Mason Alexander Lopez Taylor Alonso Gabriel lozoya Ian Andrew mahuda Bailey Rose [Applause] mkey Amari Sylvester Manuel Luke Hunter Marone Allison hope Martin Carlos Ariel [Music] Martinez Leah Jade Martinez Ryan Joshua Martinez Dominic Vidal ma Noah John McAdams Ian Warren McCain Z mclen Maya Ashley McKuen Cameron Michael McKay Amelia Marie [Music] Me Katrina storm Medina Joseph Ross Medrano Caitlyn Joe Melvin KB Landon Mendelson NAA Vita Marin Jackson Cameron Meyer carara hope mky Joseph Leonard m Nicole K Miller Ali Leanne Mitchell Angelo mzuma Mia Grace Mohler amilio uero monreal Monson Matthew Robert monu Nicole Erica moniku Adrien [Music] Montez Aiden Thomas [Music] [Applause] Moore William benel Moore III Dominic Isaiah MOA Robert Joseph Moro Dustin Daniel Morgan Asher Moss Alysa Taylor Mullen Patrick M kayen Matthew Murphy Jordan James Murphy Michelle Katherine Murray Jacob Powell nagelhout Sophia nello Andrew Steven n Tyler Patrick Nelson Carlos Andres Neves DEA khis Nora Kevin Nora Tyler North Carolina Celeste Nunes Nora O'Brien Kira oconor Umberto Renee osoa Matthew Scott Ooa McKenzie Olivares kale Olen Monique Ortega Nathaniel Ortega Ethan Andrew Ortiz Canal Marie oler Sebastian Pilla Victoria jitana Padilla Guzman Alexandra Isabel parales era pton Lynn Perry William James Perry Weston Hunter [Music] Pate head arai Patel om jadish [Applause] Patel Shivam AIT [Applause] Patel Joi suir Patel Briana Elizabeth patinho maren Patton Daniel Brandon Bayan Aiden Jeremiah Payne Renee Marie patteron anaise n Peña Andrew James pis Damian Anthony pis Nath Anthony Pettis Adrien bully Peru dami Jolene pon Julian Anthony paa Aaron gray plumber Kaylee Elizabeth Pointon Carter Reed post Andrew Joseph pow Dominic Lawrence PRI Booker T profit Matthew Robert [Applause] Quackenbush Christian kintana Joseph Edward kidos Kev rosi David Ramirez II Rosa Isabel Ramirez Gandara Adriana iel Ramirez mono Fernando Jose rascon gyel Martin Ray Savannah Emma Lee Reed Ethan Matthew Reeves Rebecca Sue Riley huh Isabella J Ria Fernando Luis Reyes Gavin Michael Louis rhods Victoria Renee reard Colt Steven Richards Thomas Richards John Richard Braden Traver rigs jayen Jolie r j Adriel Rodriguez Christoper Rogers Hannah May [Music] Rogers Tav Rogers Lyndon Rollins William Abraham Roman Brock Russell Rose Eva nalina rodner Elon Reese Dennis John Ryan [Music] III Dylan Cameron Ryan Anthony Marshall Ry meline Shay Sanchez Nicole IET Sanchez Al deoa jayen Riley Sanchez Garcia Juliet Iris [Music] Sans Riley J scanland Kaye Mariah shy Mary Elizabeth shriber Jude Joseph Scott Edmund Nicholas Scythe CJ selig Isabelle Serano [Music] Gabriel Hall shank Jaden David Shaw Lily Ray Shaw Ashley Elizabeth Sherry Aiden Quenton Bruce scholes ryatt Allen sha Sadie Silverstein Alexander green Smith Daniel Christian Smith Elizabeth K Smith Judah Matthew Smith Blake Dean Spangler Hannah K spear Aiden Taylor Spence Giovani Hernandez spers McKinley Joe Sterling Jordan Benjamin sterer Austin Nathaniel stillw worthy Caitlyn Marie Sullivan Miranda Ray summer camp Keith seanson Tiffany Tam Edison [Applause] tan Jared Andrew tanum Marquez Dante Xavier [Music] Tate Hayden Russell Batcher Mark Allan tan II Tyler Michael Thompson Vinnie Tobias Vinnie Emma Rose townzen Brianna Sylvia toy Colton Andrew Travis TAA Antonia tro Christina Lorraine treemart Gavin Way trusel Tyson Nicholas cheetah EJ [Applause] Motu Lance Marshall olinski diah ouie Jasmine Alexa Valencia Shan Angel Valencia Jason Trevor valentic Arn Michelle vanaken Angela Vasquez Gabriel Revan Vasquez Risa Vega esz Maya Elizabeth Rose Velasquez Nathan Richard [Music] via Skyla Alexis via Taylor Reese Wagner Erica Maryland Walker Kenneth James Walsh Katrina Echo Marie Watson Jeremiah Lee Weiss Brigham Joseph Welch Cameron Jonathan Whiteside cash Allen weinbar Jenna Marie [Applause] Vel Broden Dominic Williams all Williams Jason Randall Williams Jr Levi Spencer [Applause] Williams Barrett Matthew Williamson Owen Nathaniel Wills Landon Ray Winter Jason Mato wood Jacob Charles wster Dustin Levi [Applause] Wright Patrick Thomas Wright Evan jet young ye lorana Rose [Music] Yanna Maria Camila zel [Applause] y [Music] I'm Jessica Green and I'm your senior class president hold on we're gonna wait a minute hold on okay in sixth grade there was a Statewide walk out of teachers and we thought that was pretty cool cuz we got extra days off what we didn't realize is that what that would be the first of several disruptions to our educational experience in the spring semester of 8th grade we went home for spring break not knowing that we would never return to our middle schools people would be fighting over toilet paper or that we wouldn't be able to be in the same room as our families for a while nothing has been the same since and it was pretty hectic we started High School online with zoom meetings then hybrid then back to zoom meetings to our teachers doing both at the same time that was our transition into high school but we've persevered you have that piece of paper in your hand and that is the beginning of your whole future we have made it through hectic times and struggles together but right now I want you to look around at the people next to you now at the people in your row this is the last time you will ever be in the same place at the same time before we separate so take a moment and just be here together we did this together and we will always have our unique experiences in common now we will go off to new places new new States and new lives but we did this part together and one last piece of advice trust the process and now the moment most of you have been eagerly waiting for graduates please [Applause] rise please move your tassel from right to left please remove your caps it is my honor to present the Miranda High School graduating class of 2024 seniors you may throw your caps [Applause] [Music] [Applause] John so [Applause] whatever e e for

e e e good evening and welcome to the May 22nd apologize May 22nd 2024 ashin school committee meeting uh as is typical after the elections we have to do a reorganization meeting uh so I called the meeting to order and first and foremost we need to look at having um a chair and a vice chair and then we'll go through the agenda uh topics as listed today so um sorry I've got someone here waiting to come in apologize uh so can I have a nomination for chair of the ashon school committee I will nominate Miss Lori tosy to serve for a record setting whatever it's been 11 years have a as our chair second that discussion do you want it Lori are you okay I'd be honored to do it again thank you so seeing none can we get a do we need to do a roll call here Mark or no no just a a vote on Miss tosy as the chair please hi yes oh four Z so miss tosy you can did you vot didn't three Z Can I with one exstension so okay would you like to take over then sure we still need a next up we are going um for nominations for vice chair I'd like to nominate Mark if he's open to the position again we a second for that yeah second discussion are you willing I'm willing anybody have anything to say just thank you for all all you've done for so many years appreciate working with you awesome so all right all in favor I hi I'm voting for myself hi right standing and then secretary the fun job unless anybody want to volunteer you can have it that's not relinquish the SE I know do you want like 6,000 page minutes right I nominate Tina Tina are you up for that I am that's yeah do we have a second second all right all in favor I I I everyone I 4 Z thank you all right same old same old everybody it ain't broke don't fix it yeah thank you okay um getting back to the order of business this evening we're starting with our call to order agenda review and adoption there will be time for oh I didn't read our vision statement I'm I'm messing up on my first night of my new job you've done this we start every meeting by reading our vision statement which is the Ashland Public School strives to be a model dist District that creates a culture of inclusivity for our diverse students and staff who feel safe and supported are empowered with the academic and social emotional skills to pursue their chosen path and embrace their roles as positive contributors to local and Global communities this meeting is being recorded by waca cable TV um after time for public comment the administrative items on the agenda this evening uh we've already done the reorganization of the school committee there's a field trip proposal New York City November 9th and 10th 2024 a field trip proposal Costa Rica April 18th through 26 2025 the Warren school Improvement Plan update uh we will not be having the counseling update this evening um the World Language update Ashland Middle School and Ashland high school program review sixth grade World cultures curriculum AHS handbook recommendations AHS School Improv M Plan update school committee summer Retreat superintendent evaluation assistant superintendent update superintendence update warrant approvals I'm not sure if we'll have warrant approvals tonight probably not uh gifts and donations minutes from April 24 2024 committee reports of activities member updates action items and then we will adjourn is everybody okay with the order of business this evening yes excellent um so then we will move on to public com comment anybody here for comment Miss CCE doet got three minutes yes uh what prompted me to come visit with you today is there's been a breaking news story about telecom companies coming in and offering Financial incentives to put cell towers on schools and I just want to be sure that Ashlin Public Schools is aware of the risks uh there are severe fall risks fire risks and as you're familiar with the biological effects of Wireless radiation so just wanted to put that out there for you if the industry comes in and says hey we'll give you $1,000 doar to put a cell tower on the schools please be very wary of that at an earlier planning board meeting Lisa me who is Our Town Council indicated she is not a telecom expert and you really need to have a good land use attorney to look at anything that the Telecom industry would put forward what we're finding out in contracts that were drawn up in un knowing schools is that they roped them into contracts that start out for a few years but then the language if you don't know to look at it carefully and I'm grateful we have three attorneys on our school board no Telecom attorneys but yeah but they're doing some pretty tricky things you don't want me on that job that would lead you bound into these contracts for like 35 years so I that's what brought me in here today but earlier when we did the open house at our beautiful new mind school I took a radio frequency radiation detection meter into the building with me but first I measured out in the parking lot and it was a beautiful green because we have not allowed cell towers on our schools when I got into the schools though it was very high and very dangerous because we unwittingly put wireless access points in the ceiling of every single classroom that's a Non-Stop microwave radiation transmitter and Lori I want to give you a shout out when we first visited this conversation back in 2013 I think there was a gentleman up in Vermont by the name of Ray peeler who's a building biologist and he specializes in the biological effects of electromagnetic radiation you were the first school Committee Member in the 11 years at that time that he had been doing this that actually picked up the phone and asked good questions so thank you for having a curious mind and ultimately Ashlin became the first in the nation to even have a sign hanging in our classrooms with best practices for mobile devices can you confirm are we still hanging this in all of our classrooms I think that's what we put in the handbook we we can't respond this is public comment so we're we're not going to be answering any questions but and I I personally don't know okay kudos to Ashlin because we became the first in the nation and now it has been positioned as a national example with a nonprofit organization called Tech safe schools so what I would like to do is to offer you this meter to go into our schools and see what you can see because I measured the gym the cafeteria I measured all over that building and it was red hot wherever I went the message is not no technology and if you look at those Ruckus access points that were put up each one has two ethernet cables in it you can just drop a wire to the center of the room plug in devices there turn off the radiation and have perfectly safe technology so I would like to work with the school committee to one measure the exposures in our schools and two look at the incredible resources we have today because what the science is showing us is this and I think you guys will be able to relate to the anxiety the depression the learning disabilities children who have nausea headaches nose bleeds we know scientifically now that this microwave radiation pulsation is a huge contributing factor and I know that our social and emotional issues are only growing in the children in our care today so I would love to work with you proactively uh summertime is a great time they're really easy sorry CeCe I'm GNA have to cut you off just out of fairness to everybody else who's up there U who only has limited time but um certainly we can't respond but um and I can't answer any of your questions about your device but certainly if you but can we set up a meeting um I'm not going to answer that question right now um but certainly will somebody can be available to at least answer that question at a later date okay thank you thanks so I will leave you at this I'll come back the next meeting I do not want to be responsible for that take it and if we decide that we want it I'm sorry I didn't mean to I'm just want to make sure that you have it um if after at at the appropriate time that we have a chance to discuss it if the committee somebody wants to be the steward of that equipment we'll reach out to you but I don't personally want to be responsible for it right now okay thank you thank you okay next up field trip proposal any any other oh sorry anybody else here for public comment this evening thank you I think maybe you should have been okay field trip proposal New York City November 9th through 10th 2024 hello my name is Mary nth I'm teacher at the high school and Mike Worster and I are partnering to um present this proposal for New York City trip that would highlight um history and music awesome um and the dates are on the agenda and how many students yes so we the motor coach can take um up to 50 students and so we think the kind of The Sweet Spot is 40 to 50 students is this similar to the trip that you've taken in the past or is this a new so there was a trip that was proposed and approved I think maybe two years ago we couldn't get the numbers um so that trip didn't end up going gotcha okay anybody have any question who is the trip targeted towards is are there certain classes that are invited to join is it open to anybody it is open to anybody um so grades 9 through 12 um certainly Mike is going to be you know uh advertising it to his students and me to mine but yeah it's 9 through 12 and and so are you trying to pull I this this sounds like a sort of um somewhat interdisciplinary type of thing right history and music you bet so is it going to be try to be pushed out through both the history department and the music department certainly Ander the entire school okay all right and like is there criteria for being accepted is it like first come or is it if there are more students than you have room for on the bus yeah I think first come first served yeah okay and I was just gonna say I noticed that um for a for a portion of this part of what goes along with it is like a travel journal and you know kind of a critique of the play that you guys watch and whatnot so obviously some you know if this is open to all students some some students have supports in school when they're working on writing projects and things like that so is there a plan if there are students who may need certain structure or support is they're working through the assignment piece of that how do you envision that being what is like what does that look like to to execute the assignment part of it so Mike and I are going to offer um a a few X blocks leading up to the activity to kind of talk through expectations what they're going to be seeing and doing and then the travel log how that is going to run and how it should be structured um and like how to write a musical review and I will you know I will lead the X blocks on music prepping them on the musical kind of um introducing the musical numbers and the plot so they're familiar with the show and then how to write that and then after uh we come back we will also offer xblocks you know writing workshops and I see Mr Worster on the zoom is there anything you wanted to add yeah I I mean I wanted to be able to come here at least virtually and support Miss nameth in this um this this kind of came out of a series of conversations that we've had over the last year or so about certain locations that we could bring the kids to and double team in a cross-curriculum way very specifically to kind of address and circle back to some of the questions that you all had I I teach a modern issues elective that's really geared towards seniors but it's open to all kids and to pull some of that curriculum into the X block was one of the discussions that we've had because and I and I've mentioned the several times to miss nameth there there are just a number of students who are unaware about the magnitude of the Attacks of September 11th and I can't understate how surprised I am on a regular basis when they come to me as Juniors and we hit that part of the curriculum at the end of the year which we're about to do this year and when they come to me as seniors if they haven't had me they they are just not aware of what happened that day because they weren't born yet are yeah of course of course it's beyond that though I mean it's about what we're telling our kids at home what we're teaching our kids in the school and you know they know that image of the plane about to hit the building the second tower actually but they don't know what happens next and many of the students believe that the Boston Marathon bombing is a numerical equivalent to 911 in New York City Pennsylvania and so forth so it's it it really is I think it's really important to be able to take a week of xblocks and kind of bring them through what happened that day which I do in my class but this would be a very condensed version of that so that when we go down on that Saturday and they are there at the national September 11th Museum on Hallowed Ground that they can appreciate what they're seeing and they're not just simply seeing a waterfall per se as part of the memorial as designed but they are seeing something of of significance so we we we spent I I mean Miss n if you jump in I feel like we've spent a lot a lot of time actually going back and forth over uh this year and last year actually and even when we were in Italy kind of talking about cross-curriculum stuff and I've been there it's very U yeah it's am powerful and impactful and to see all the names carved in and yeah you definitely can't escape an understanding of the magnitude when you're there um I just want to ask a question about and this where all our volume went up um it's sort of a question that that Paul Kendall always seems to ask and in appropriately so which is around what are we doing given the cost of the trip to make it accessible to students and families that can't afford it on their own um and I'm just wondering what kind of conversations you've had around that and what the Outreach would be to make sure students understand that regardless of their means um they should be at least coming forward and seeking support to be able to attend the trip you bet um so we have spoken with Dan Shields and she has a fund um that has a few thousand dollars in to help support students who want to go on school trips um so that is an option Mike and I have also talked about um looking at potentially doing some programming to fund raise either doing like a um like fall like Halloween themed dance or a Halloween themed 5K Fun Run where there you know where people can dress up and run uh to raise funds to provide some scholarships thank you I know when Miss Shields has been here she has said that like when the trip is introduced to the students that there's some kind of information if you feel like finances are an issue please come to me for a private discussion kind of thing you bet and and I think that um we're also going to include if if families who are able would like to contribute additional funds to support students who to make it possible for other students to go on that there' be an opportunity to do so that's fantastic that's great may I speak a little bit to the music part of the the field trip um so I uh ble Broadway I love Broadway musicals um and there are some incredible shows that are going up in New York City um with a lot of literature and history tiin as well so Great Gatsby is one of the options um uh Like Water for Elephants which takes place was a really famous uh fiction book book in the 1930s circus it's really incredible about the depression um and the one that I'm really excited about is called suffs it's about suffragettes um so there's a lot of really wonderful Rich shows and there's also tremendous benefit to students going to performances and learning the etiquette of how to sit in an audience at the high school we don't have a like required um like in school performances for like the band or the choir or the plays or the musicals and so there really isn't an opportunity aside from assemblies and assemblies are a you know a horse of a different color and so there is a real benefit to how do you behave um in an audience and we just came from um the choir and I from a tour around ashin visiting all of our schools and Kinder Care and the residents at Valley Farm and you know all the schools are are learning and teaching while we are there how what is appropriate behavior when do you clap when do you not clap and how to sit and enjoy so so that I think is really beneficial as well sounds wonderful I'll make a motion to approve the field trip proposal to New York City on November 9th 10th 2024 as presented second all in favor I I going thank you thank you very much enjoy the show thanks okay next up we have another field trip proposal Costa Rica April 18th to 26 2025 ra hi I'm Tina lock um I'm looking to bring back a program that the high school students used to used to go to in Costa Rica the dates have changed a little bit so it's um shorter it's one day shorter it starts on the 19th which makes the price go down a little bit like $140 um but the students it' be a small group of students like 6 to 12 um and it's based on interest so if Stu whoever wants to go in the school it's open to it and then the students will go to um research and take data on leatherback sea turtles then they're endangered so they'll contribute to helping them um in their habitats but they'll do measurements they'll relocate them if they need to they'll also get the opportunity weather permitting I guess to go um on like nigh hikes in the rainforest with guides and it's just an overall exciting sign experiment or Adventure um and the teacher that went on this before just Raves and Raves about the experience that they all had while they were there and that's why I'm like let me see I'll take it over you know how long it's been since we ran this trip it's been a while I don't even I don't even remember I remember hearing about it yeah no I think was I still principal you you had last yeah okay so it's spent at least eight yeah is there a group that you know facilitates the all this scientific experimentation how does that work yes it's the um ecology project International and they do offer like a small need-based scholarship so um if people need it they can apply and they do whatever paperwork they need and I think it's only like up to about $600 of it but they also offer like GoFundMe type fundraising for every individual student can have this um link or whatever I'm not sure how it will play out um and then also like once I have a group and I know who's going we can talk about fundraising ideas um I got it once the commitment is made and that same organization they pretty much set the agenda for your day they do it all they do the travel they do um all the and they're used to having student groups come in yeah and I think the woman who used to run it she told me that like if they had a small group and there was another small group of school they would just work together and they would get to meet other people from other schools in the country or wherever awesome am I I correct assuming the dates that are on the form overlap with our school vacation week for the most part yes yeah it is all during the school vacation is this targeted towards a certain class like is or it's just kind of open to anybody who's interested there's no necessary prerequisite of information or anything that AP environmental I was trying to think you know what what classes would I'm sure obviously some kids who have targeted classes may you know have a greater interest but um it's good to know that it's open to anybody and I noticed you know kind of some of the curriculum pieces that this touches on I didn't notice like with the last presentation any specific assignment that goes along with it so was it really just an experiential learning yes that happens yeah sounds s like a ton of fun they used to have a situation where students could get like college credit um they don't have it right now but they're working on it for next year 2025 so I don't know if that will so students may be able to do that so they may be able to Y they get 30 hours course work hours or something is what they kind of Promise them as a part of sounds great their experience I want to go back to high school I know it also sounds kind just for the fun sounds very exciting yeah who's got a motion unless you have more questions no I was to say somebody else want to yeah um I mov to approve the um High School field trip to Coast R oh I lost the dates hold on April 18 to 26 now it's the 19 April 19 through the 26th 2025 as presented second all in favor I I going forward to hearing about it thank you yeah oh boy as someone who's been to the uh to Costa Rica when the turtles were being laid or the the eggs yeah it was it's unbelievable sounds really phenomenal oh my gosh been there country absolutely that's where I just was yeah yeah my daughter's going to be like going I just went for April vacation beautiful unbelievable good night thank you and safe it's awesome all right hi Pete Warren school Improvement Plan update hello thank you for having me and Lori this will be a review for you as you heard it at site Council excellent I'm very excited just with the progress that our schools been making towards the goals that we set uh it's still a journey you know where this is a three-year plan but we we've got a great start we're further head that I anticipated uh when we began the year we started our partnership as you know with S3 through desie the Strategic student support system and they've worked with us we've now created whole Child reviews um so we have completed one this year with a small group of Staff that's part of our training team we'll be doing another one next week without the support of S3 so they were with us for the first round of this um our school's a little different in what we've been doing with the S3 group and know at the beginning it was a little frustrating because when we were part of the whole group sessions with the state um and other communities we would be in breakout sessions and we would hear staff members from other schools saying I don't even know why I'm here right now and our staff was getting very frustrated by that because ours were dedicated professionals they making a difference for our students uh S3 made some great adjustments and they started grouping us together and really just letting us work together with the support from their uh leadership team uh they also visited our data team meetings and observed our data team meetings and just saw how these two pieces overlap each other in great ways but that they shouldn't occur at the same time in their opinions that the whole meeting whole child review should happen twice a year but that our data uh reviews at five times a year where they they felt that we should actually present to other groups at the state level because of what we're accomplishing um so with our progress towards that we're doing really well uh with our whole Child reviews the team will expand next year based on recommendations from S3 it will still not be a whole school initiative until year three um and the goal really tail us back to goal of gyms which is that every child has an individualized learning plan um and our teachers are doing that right now for reading for mathematics and their social emotional pathway next year we're going to be increasing that to be writing as well uh so we're moving towards those pieces of what our district goals are uh as some other pieces that are still under the that heading uh of the equity pieces is we've also continued to be recognized as a unified school Champion uh with our Special Olympics pieces and that's just exciting of what we're able to do uh for all of our students and the Partnerships that we've grown there as we've continued as well with social emotional learning uh as I mentioned a moment ago in our data team meetings Jen Taylor is working with us as well so she's supporting the counselors with meeting with the teachers to create those individualized plans of where students need some additional small group work uh or tweaking some lessons for classes based on data that we're finding the CL uh staff we have eight staff members who are being trained over the next two weeks weeks with responsive classroom so our commitment that we made years ago that all teachers will be trained in responsive classroom has continued our new hires we will have three new first grade teachers next year uh they are already scheduled and signed up to be taking the course at the end of July um so we will have all of our teachers again will be uh trained and certified with responsive classroom U our community service projects that's our one that I don't have a great update to give yet um our team is working hard to really develop about what are going to be those pieces that our students will be doing this year as well um our staff has done quite a bit of where they've jumped forward into future years and I'm trying to bring them back to the here and now still and say what are we doing for this pieces uh with some adjustments that we're going to be making with some just weekly tasks that classrooms will be responsible for different areas of the playground and how we're going to be really cleaning because if you've driven by the school anytime in the last few years you'll see that at night there's probably on any given day five basketballs three soccer balls 14 jackets different things I doubt about there um and that's part of the plan of where we've been talking with the students about how each day different classes are going to take time to really take the care for that area that that's needed uh but we are not in a place yet where I have the specifics of what will be the occurrences of this year we've got quite a few ideas and they're just narrowing them down on that team U on Resource Management our drills have continued u under Mike's Direction with the district Safety Committee working very closely with the Ash police department and Ash fire department uh We've continued to make great strides uh we continue to throw different wrinkles into our drills as our staff has realized that they need to make decisions at the moment to keep the children of themselves safe um and we'll continue with another drill coming up in the next week or so um stmath has been a great success this year as well stmath set a lofty goal for all the schools so when we went to the training back in August they told us that the goal needed to be that 80% of our students have made the progress through the Journey that it's called of these math U puzzles and they did tell us about how districts are dropped each year because they haven't met that lofty goal uh we did have it till the end of the year to reach this goal and as of last Friday uh the goal being 80% 87.9% of our Journeys were already completed and we still have the remaining part of the year uh really credit there goes to our teachers um our teachers have bought in and they understand the importance of what we're doing with this and I credit that to the teachers are the one that brought this to me and they asked they said we need something different to help our children here are the benefits of this we want to visit other communities and look at this um so when it came time to share here's our plan of how we'll implement this um everyone was on board immediately and that's why we've had the buy and that we've had the great success P can you just say quickly what Journeys is so the journey is part of the stbath piece so there's a penguin name right right all right so that's yeah so there's a penguin named Gigi and Gigi needs to go on this journey through their math lessons of the course of a year and what they're doing is they're getting exposed to all the content of that grade level and there's actually U differentiation that happens as well of where they can get onto some higher pieces as well uh I also have the ability that we can change grade levels for some students so if they need to come backwards a little or go forward a little we have that piece teachers can assign individual puzzles to their children as well so that journey is that they're really trying to move the penguin through through this large map of puzzle after puzzle after puzzle the kids love it they are they are really excited last Friday as a celebration for reaching our goal we had penguin day um it was just a fun day at our school where the kids were very excited that did you dress up I had my white uh my tuxedo t-shirt on there you [Laughter] go love it thanks so we will be continuing to push forward in these goals as there still progress to make uh from every area that I spoke about from S3 with the whole Child reviews that as I mentioned the team will be getting larger next year by expanding our data team meetings um another major component of our data team meetings is how we're sharing information what was accomplished this year with the next year's teacher so we're not starting over uh the community service pieces and as I said the teachers are excited about the future just keeping them in the here and now um responsive classroom will continue for all of our staff and then as well with joury this is a three-year uh grant that we are connected with as long as we continue uh to meet the qualifications which I have no doubt that we will great thanks Fe any other questions good stuff sounds like a lot of good good progress thanks P okay World Language update ashin middle school and ashin high school program review so I'm going to just do a quick introduction with this um I think I think the school committee knows that over the course of at least my 10 years as superintendent and even going back to principal of the high school uh we've had conversation about the World Language department and what it looks like uh in the ashon public schools and and we've really worked hard at trying to drive uh the two languages that we currently offer French and Spanish uh and building programs is important and and I want to be really clear um that Aston Public Schools is not a system that believes in one language to be offered we don't know what the rest of it looks like uh in terms of where we're headed um from a curriculum standpoint but in the middle school we made some adjustments and and Dave can talked us a little bit two years ago uh coming out of Co um where some of our students were missing part of the year in French and part of the Year in Spanish and we we we thought how can we drive the the language department at the middle school to help add numbers at the high school in both languages right French and Spanish and so we're doing exploratory half year French half year Spanish then they would do the same in in the seventh grade in the eighth grade they would choose which language they're going to um f focus on at the e8th grade level which eventually leads into the high school right um so we're a couple years in and we're looking at the numbers and uh it's still not great uh in terms of the French numbers and as we look at programming I think it's important to understand that it's not just an Ashlin phenomena right I was just in Vermont over the weekend my two best friends are French teachers uh and they are actually both teaching Spanish next year um and they're only French speakers like in Vermont where you would think French were near the Canadian border those numbers are dropping significantly there as well uh it's a challenge so what I wanted Dave and Kelly to do was to present to you the data that we see happening in terms of enrollment what are students choosing uh for next year uh how does what does it look like and then the second component to this is uh and Dave will speak to this afterwards what are we going to do for next year right how can we approach uh World Language but also uh culture and um exposing our students to diverse uh cultures and uh we'll get into that in a moment but I think it's important to have Dave and Kelly talk about the numbers themselves because the data drives the decision we make decisions we make with regard to um teachers yeah in programming that we offer so um Dave do you want to start and I'll pull your slide deck up put my glasses on so I can see it okay I think each of you should have this okay yeah I just want do Paul Kendall's not here to yell at me is what you do or or to no I have it up but so so Jim would explain you know what the program looks like this year and the graphic shows you in terms of Staffing uh right now three Spanish uh teachers and two French teachers so you're right now you're sixth and seventh grade or exploratory half French half Spanish this was something that we've done for the past two years to try to reinvigorate to see we can boost um numbers and invigorate the program so uh that was for the past two years and for this year then we uh pulled our seventh grade students to say you're going to choose your language now for next year so these are students who've had essentially a Year's worth of exposure to both languages right so um after doing those numbers out in terms of eight selections your French selection in the grade was 28 yeah and your eighth grade was 169 so decrease even from what we were seeing so we didn't see an increase we we saw a decrease in language so that's presenting challenges for the staffing we have and being able to be able to run the program like we want to be able to run right the program right so with the next slide sorry oh sorry Dave y that yep y okay so um based on So based on the the request numbers we were looking at just the number of classes we would need running those classes right so for your seventh grade French and I have the request numbers up there as well so we pulled sixth grade students 33 students um selecting French 160 pretty similar ratio in fact it's a little smaller because going back three to four years ago the class sizes were a little smaller too right so actually not in for eth grade you're looking at 15 students which would be one class of course and 155 for seven to eight classes that's based on what are the numbers and the other grades and whether we need to utilize Staffing so Dave can I just ask excuse me um when you're when you're doing these um surveys or whatever they are are you asking the kids directly or are the parents involved in that at all so I just let parents know that the students are going to be selecting it uh and they they do select it in the award language classes with their World Language teacher okay whomever it is right so it's not it's not about the teacher you're it's who you're with at that time right so in the exploratory in sixth and seventh grade you're right you're splitting to different teachers so we did the poll uh not not a month ago so relatively recently so whoever students have right now right for the second semester they did that in that course gotcha I was only asking because I know in that age group sometimes you know what the kid wants and what the parent wants be different but but but still if the interest is that low then right we make parents aware because it's the same thing if you just pull parents you might not exactly exact you know representation because ultimately they have to take the class and they encourage students when they present it speak to your parents regarding your choice right every discussion because we want the numbers to be accurate right uh it can be challenging in middle school but we let the parents know as well and we're hoping they have this conversation yeah sounds like the right approach so is this a poll or enr like what kids have enrolled in or we said running the program which would you select to choose this is what you would be enrolled in for the fall of 20 okay so it's not a commitment though it's a poll I mean we P we we pulled it but we'll send another email saying you know we're scheduling according to these numbers yeah so so Mark to your point it's not a commitment yet because we're going to be asking specific things of the school committee tonight with regard to changing curricula right right I mean if if if you're not on board if the committee is not on board with the direction that we're looking to go then these numbers could significantly change and we're just pushing kids into programs that may not be what they're interested in right I mean regardless of who was pulled these numbers are pretty striking well well and it's consistent with what we've seen over the course of 10 years right we've been talking about it and and especially Marcy you know knew and I don't know how much of the time you've been involved Tina in these discussions but they've been going on for years usually at the summer Retreat where we talk about you know stuff like this so but it's time to to make some changes numb are really dictating that you can't they're moving in a the other direction they're moving in the other direction and we tried as we said to to do everything we felt we could yeah to reinvigorate and it just results were yeah it just didn't happen so um so in terms of our needs now um you don't have the need for two French teachers because we don't have the numbers to create those classes as I said unless you force students to take a certain language um so the need for for us this year was a four Spanish teachers and one French teacher based on the numbers I just showed you um so if you look up at French so you would have two French seventh grade classes and you would have one uh French eighth grade classroom right because you had 33 roughly so you're looking at two classes of 16 17 and a class of 15 um for your e8th grade in Spanish You're probability looking at eight eth grade classes I get depending on the size of the sixth grade class but that extra French teacher now goes to teaching all those Spanish classes so it it does work so that should a typo s seventh and eth sorry about that yeah um so yeah I'm sorry the first should say seventh I apologize um so for sixth grade what I would also mean is instead of teaching the exploratory now again because you don't have that French interest need the Spanish teacher um just having conversations about instead of offering a course that teaches a basic introductory to the language introduction to the language to teach a course more that focuses on um cultural responsiveness the Customs the Traditions um you know aligning with sort of our Dei um initiatives in giving students um more of those experiences uh encouraging them having them understanding um to appreciate other people's differences and other cultures so which which is needed um especially now so it's an opportunity for us to shift from uh a introduction to French and Spanish to our sixth grade students taking instead call it a world cultures class where they would be exposed to a range of cultures Traditions um and and be able to stress that and we even talk with our teachers about uh in sixth grade talk about what it means to learn a language the following year what skills you're looking to develop what does it mean so I think there's a lot of opportunities to also sort of set the stage for that seventh grade year where they'll be choosing uh essentially choosing their language for this model right so after that world cultures class they would choose their language or following year looking at the programming so um that's what uh we're asking the change that I think we would like to make so primarily is our sixth grade class going from a exploratory introduction to a world cultur model for us and we'll come back to that that's the next top do you have any like Frameworks yeah Mike we'll talk about that that's the next agenda item yeah I just want to give you the numbers first can I was going to ask can I just ask a numbers question um so I'm just are there any kids and I don't know that this would change proportions at all but are there any kids that are not currently taking want an exploratory right I mean that that for whatever they don't take foreign World Language and aren't reflected in these numbers or might have made a choice without having had the opportunity to participate in the exploratory program so we looked at those numbers as well so to answer your question there are some students right who are getting other services so they wouldn't be factored into that number so that if those students were then going to be in World Language we reached out to those students to figure out what their selection would be so you're you're taking those students into account but to your point it's not 100% students because of students within their schedule or needs getting certain services that any difference in sort of the proportion of French ver Spanish from the kids who haven't taken had any exposure at all is pretty much the same thing it's pretty similar unfortunately you know that it's reflecting the same thing we're just having a lower Ratio or number of students who are interested in taking so in terms of you know the students who aren't taking of foreign language because they're receiving services or or whatnot um during that block of the day I'm assuming that that means that in sixth grade they'll miss out on this world cultures course is is is that how the schedule will still work and what does that mean like yeah correct so how the schedule runs now then yes that's what think like yeah great question that's what it me yeah and that so those are the parts where the way the schedule works now that yes that's what it would mean the same as it does now they're getting Services they're missing that exploratory in sixth grade so it's in that same block so yeah you're right with that so let me chime in there because this is actually a great conversation that the three of us had on Monday uh is how how do we actually create an opportunity for these students to be exposed right to the world cultures class because we we we do think it's critically important that all kids right and whether you're getting Services outside uh and you're not required to take a World Language Etc this is part of the reason why uh as we move forward with whatever schedule we have for next year that we're really re-evaluating the schedule we have at the middle school so in future years um all students have an opportunity to experience um the totality of the curricula but but that being said yeah I mean it it's the way the schedule set up students who are um you know typically receiving Services don't have the ability to be taking uh or language they're just pulled for other reasons at that time so are you saying that the schedule would would be potentially different next year or be in 2526 Mark yeah yeah we don't have the ability to change it right now yeah this is so the way we're working with the schedule based on the numbers is we have to make modifications to the current schedule with teaching staff uh and to be able to provide a course where students can go we can't just have sixth graders going nowhere so we want to make sure we create a course where within Dave's wheel if you you know if you will or that it's there for those students so instead of taking a half year French half year Spanish in sixth grade there's another option and that option could be World cultures drama whatever else that we add into the system right and it seems like this is the beginning of like a longer term conversation because if French is not sustainable as an offering which it looks like it could be headed in that direction then there has to be another iteration of this anyway yeah program change you know theu changes because this isn't sustainable either right those numbers are going that direction because then you stop be predicated on the numbers each it's it just right it's not good for anybody even the person who's teaching French it's it's a not a stable situation right yeah and so who's teaching the world cultures class is this going to take the place of teach the so like let's say the French teacher because there aren't as many corre students teach so that this would go into their rotation of coures and fantasy as well yep yep if the um and this might not be the right time for this question but if they're not getting the halfe intro in sixth grade does that put them behind of where you expect them to progress when they get to high school no okay so be pre um you know pre-co it was you know seventh grade exploratory going into e8th grade you choose okay or sixth grade exploratory and you choose two years and you get in the seventh and eighth grade the bottom line is in many most districts if not all um grade World Language should be the equivalent of whatever the first iteration ofman year freshman year at the high school Spanish one French one that's what it needs to be okay so we've got to change that's a great question because we have to actually change our instructional model to ensure that the students who are in the eth grade are actually ready and confident to move into whatever that Spanish to Portuguese to whatever it might be right whatever we decide on Y and move forward with in a year that's the equivalent of a eighth grade should be equivalent of one year of whatever language it is shouldn't be predicated upon seventh grade right now we've got seventh and eighth grade trying to get a year worth of instruction in so actually should just be the eighth grade year okay okay in my recollection too when my kids were at the middle school was even when they had those half years um it wasn't purely language instruction there was a lot of culture and that it was that was a part of that halfe curriculum it wasn't purely foreign language instruction and so it sounds like this is going to broaden that that look at culture right which is a great thing um but also it it's not brand newre yeah yeah like I said Mike will talk a little bit about that yeah when we get to the request yeah it just looks different right y okay questions for Dave so we move into Kelly like I want to because it really yeah it's all it's all one correct thanks Dave thanks hi Kelly you have Castle tonight yeah okay let me see this is this so similar to Middle School we've been doing some work to build the program back up French this is these are the numbers from this year this is the first year in a while um able to offer a French one this year and you know the hope that was going to be started building um look at the other sections with French we have for a couple years now been running that differ than we do for a lot and you so all of our classes with the exception of our year combin I'm sorry we had two of those they were all combined EX four was students so this year we have.

so i' like to call order this regular meeting of the Board of Education this Wednesday May 22nd so everyone is here except our friend Robert fighting traffic will be your pres and of the EX Team here would you [Music] Unice so we EST here on this way we're going to move to the representative have hi I have a real microphone this time um I kind of have a lot of updates with the end of the school year coming there's a lot of like end of year ceremonies and announcements so first of all a exams ran at the high school from May 6th to May 17th those are all over now except some people doing makeup exams this week but AP classes are still in the middle of end of your project and assignments even though contest is over last night was the banding chorus spring concert and banding chorus is also going to Virginia Beach on May 31st to compete there this Friday is senior prom it's a PLC day so students are leaving early from school regardless and it's going to be at the water View and mo room there's a lot going on for seniors of course uh we had a disussion day on May 15th so seniors wore a gear from the college that they're committed to and this week is senior spirit week so we're doing a couple different themes we're doing anything but a backpack barbecue dads and soccer moms country vers Country Club senior citizens and 7s seniors also have final exams from the 10th through the 13th while everyone else has their final exams from the 13th through the 18th I've got a bunch of updates from Mr Baldwin for athletics tonight is the team s swc championship game I think it's happening right now Madison Kelly and Cindy zesu won their doubles SCBT championship for girls tennis CIA state championships start at the end of this week and next week girls tennis is starting Saturday at 2:00 at the high school baseball softball girls lacrosse boys lacrosse boys track and field and girls track and field will all compete in state championship tournaments and events on Tuesday girls golf state championship will be on June 5th new CIA rules are allowing coaches to coach over the summer Vanessa Greenstein presented at the Connecticut Association of schools as the state representative of the C athletic advisory yesterday we thank Vanessa for her hard work on the state committee and help make positive change across the state tomorrow is a woman in leadership conference 27 female student athletes from high school will be attending next week Ava wouth will present at the Connecticut Association of schools as a member of the cic state the quality we thank Ava for her hard work on the state committee and to helping positive change at all schools next week athletic advisory officers are going to whir to speak with some whir middle school students and talk to them about what it's like to be a high school athlete and Bal Athletics and school and how to get involved in some clubs high school on Monday of this week 70 High School athletic advisory members ran field days at CES for grades 8 through 2 and at bfield high school for grades three 3 through 5 it was a great day and in early June there's going to be a meet the coaches night for the incoming profession of athlet finally some updates for a couple of clubs that I'm a part of or that have some current events going on first I wanted to talk about American Cancer societ I'm not a part of this club but they held a Relay for Life event this past weekend so that was a fundraising walk for cancer to raise money celebrate cancer survivors and honor those who died from the disease I was a volunteered through dance team so we hosted a couple sessions of Zumba a bunch of other clubs from the high school were there hosting different stations so French honors sings there cheer a couple other clubs at the high school and a lot of students volunteered individually doing things such as face paint hand of tattoos and helping to set up our commun the event was very successful and raised over $10,000 to go towards the American Cancer Society in their fight against this disease finally I have a couple updates about National Honor Society we held our Mother's Day 5K on May 12th this was a great event with record donations and record participation so it went really well and we a total of $13,300 to be donated to Connecticut Children's Hospital and it just also had the their induction on Monday night for all the rising seniors who will be a part of the group this coming year so there's a tradition that each senior member who's currently in the club will give a speech to one of the inde deputies so we did that that's always a great tradition um seniors received their cords for graduation from NHS and similarly Spanish Society will be inducting their new MERS and that is everything than you we change item to the student spotl and the trip to France report ahead of public com [Music] so Dr Young I'd like to introduce drasi has a few words to say before the Wind Ensemble demonstrate their prow thank you previously this year our Advanced Wind Ensemble band had the opportunity to present their music to a representative of the Connecticut music educators Association our students were evaluated across five categories tone quality intonation Rhythm technique and musicality additional evaluations included stage presence discipline and posture ensembles are awarded aerk score from 1 to 100 and an overall rating of poor Fair good excellent or Superior do you remember what you guys got it is with great pleasure that I share with you that the 2024 canell Lake Elementary School Wind Ensemble receive a superior rating with an average numerical score of 87 point in addition to distinguished honors for discipline I am thr to introduce Wes March our band director and the 2024 cwood Lake Elementary School wind ensom [Applause] please stand for the playing of our national anthem and remove all PS [Music] la [Applause] [Music] all [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we have one more selection for you you may be seated this selection comes from our portraits of America concert presentation that we did earlier this month this particular portrait of America comes from the Grand Canyon and portrays the H and victory of a red hawk Falcon we hope you enjoy red hwk [Music] the [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] and [Music] [Applause] [Music] w all right as everybody exits our parents of our CS students exit have a great night everybody thank you for being here great job congrats thank you very much I'd like to bring up uh some select wonderful students who uh studying the French language um between Middle School and High School AG at this point along with Mr Rego and Mr Johnson recently returned oh too and recently I didn't see you over there um recent STP have returned and are going to share uh some of their experiences and some of the pictures so cther we want to start us out introduce the students excitement from our trip which come back and just stay there um so hopefully we'll have this continuing in the future we wanted to share with you okay so I'm going to take you a quick click through our slides to give an idea of where we went and what we did um and then more importantly best part is we're going to hear from three of our students who were on Tri with us um you may recall last year around April breade we had students from France come and we hosted them here for the week and then this year was our chance to go out to them um so we were in Paris for 2 days one night and then we traveled down towards southern France and stayed in in St mine right outside of San TR to you idea where we were so here we were getting ready to depart lots of kids that you can see it was a full bus we took um it was 47 total five CH rooms 42 students parents missing us already with Mr Renda little ARA that they sent us while we were on the bus uh and then we made it into Paris we had a nice overnight flight so we were all really tired but we hit the ground running and we went straight to the eiel tower after dropping off our bags uh it was beautiful there it's usually really rainy and cloudy in uh Paris and it was nice that first day there uh but we then hopped on one of these boats and we're able to see a lot of the attractions from the river our friends there uh we also got to see the Cathedral of notra still closed soon to be open but it was still beautiful from the outside transportation that parid probably tell you they love the Metro no they got to learn how to use the Metro we like nine times is really it's a lot you have to get on really quickly um so the kids were awesome with that and got to travel like true regions get a lovely dinner and spend a lot of time at the getting some chm and other sweet treats uh and we saw the D where they have a ton of just paintings sculptures Etc that the students were able to take in the AR vion and then some fun shopping as well happen that day and was Prett much all possible thank to a grant that we received from the bef so we just wanted to give them some recognition here as well um and a big single food very much just again all those cult activities by so thank you and we made our way I like this image kind of increased off with the slide but really we took the tgb train um from uh Paris down to ton and then a bus ton into the St Maxi Coan area and with our families and then we had a lovely welcoming presentation at the school we were staying at um you can see that they had the the slideshow from last year with some of their images uh still thinking about their time here at Wier school and in Brookfield in general and we're welcoming to us had a barbecue and all we then spent the day at the river aren KS could kayak we hiked what we day outside to B with some of their um French students we also saw the r American cemetery so that's um morial and cemeter ATS in honor of World War II that was selected for its historic location along the grout of the US seven Army Drive of the rone valley um so that was established back in 1944 um after the Army surprise Landing in southern France so that's an drug in the about 40 minutes out from where our school was um and you can see the kids were there they got to hear a tour in English and French um and honestly it's just it was a really beautiful site and not one that you would think was there so it was a really interesting experience and then came all the class Shadow Days you can see here a mix of kids in classes um they did science they were doing Maps they spoke English and French and Spanish and all the different things so they really enjoyed seeing what classes looked like in France uh cell phones were banded that was an interesting experience for them uh PE classes looked a little bit like this they walked off site most times and then took place in things like Ping Pong different activities and have a whole Rock Ling wall and we had some other excursions so we can call along we went on a nice hike uh through the woods and up to a nice Church in St Maxine they were a little closer to the beach so they spent the day there uh the kids found out there's an amusement park going on nearby so they went to that kind of Carnival and had a lot of fun there um towards one of the last nights that we were there and then it was time to come home all had enough but I was um I'm going to now that's um called some students so first is going to be lien and she's going to tell you a little bit about uh some of the cultural differences or similarities that were noticed in places like the school home or Transportation some language skills um that were improved upon or learned and a little bit about why this should continue uh and that little part of the trip so I'll give it over to hello I'm I'm an um when I went on the uh so cultural differences were the class sizes were a lot smaller so we were being room with nth graders and there were about 18 kids in that entire grade so the class was very small um they had a 2our lunch break so it would be like 30 minutes eting and then you would just hang out outside play soccer volleyball for like an hour and a half um and they got to scho at 8 in the morning and they didn't leave until the afternoon inil in a we ate about 10:00 at for dinner each early um and then something different from our house we an apartment and the dad didn't have a in our house he slept on the couch so that each of his daugh have their own separate bedroom and that was very so the train we took a train from parents to our and seats uh so with the language I Improv so they say for yes but how say yeah yes they say which I learned that there and then um sa means like how are you doing they say that at the end of a lot of so they'll tell you about you so I was able to understand a lot because a lot of people engl um so it wasn't very difficult but when they did speak French I take French for years I be able to understand a lot of what theying I think this exchange should continue because it's a great experience learn about a different culture and um it's just like you're never going to have this experience again life you get to go to another country with a bunch of your friends to meet a bunch of new prob me to stay friends with for the rest of your life um and then same thing for them coming here it's am my most me memorable part about the trip was how Scenic it was there it was amazing everywhere you went you could take a picture you just wanted to stay there forever it was um thank you guys for making this trip happen thank you to all the teachers and thank you to my parents for paying for it um Avery is going to come speak to us next again some of those differences language skills she learned and why she good evening everyone um I experienced many cultural differences there but one main thing I experienced was that my family three different languages since they are from so they were able to speak dut fren um so like the siblings would speak French to each other but table they would all speak to other um many dut words are very similar to English words but they sound very different as well um but what was also common in France is that if you had something to do in of like going to like a sports event or going to event you they're very work oriented like they are here in America so my girl hadb but Sheed she had a brush because she had so her um they really care so it was kind of cool to see that America [Music] especially um they really they ate very early because they Dutch which is really different from French since they ate around like 10:00 at night so L had that experience but I had a very experience there many language barriers because I speak Spanish Spanish um so I would use our if I don't understand anything or use single languish a lot of them didn't understand English or I was just us French to name I take French outside school since I going to France I had no um I connected with my family actually very well since they all spoke English but they didn't really knows English SS so was to teach them English words and they were teaching Dutch words but they teach engl words um I also was able to help them with their studies they took they were taking classes that took so to experence that um I was able to learn about very different Lifestyles there and lives but I was also taught that life is much bigger here than it's America and I didn't know that but it was really cool to experience that since it was like a very likeing EXP I did have many favor of course was really great I had many pastries and frch dishes my French father was Che so really cool and I also just enjoyed spending time with my family they were really fun to talk to you and and one of my most memorable experiences was just Hest eting dinner at their table talking about what I they' experienced and what I exper um my student went to America last year so really CL how she experienced year and how I thank [Applause] you and last least [Music] fromell my and I'll be speaking to you about cultural differences language some cultural differences especially the houses they were smaller they ceramic and could overall was very nice they they very [Music] accomodating very different also um even though all the differ even though our whole our life is still pretty similar and we get my language skills improve significantly in the beginning I was able to pick up on some words and English my English um by the end of the trip I was able to understand and have conversation with my family and able to it was really fun um sometimes I even tried to speak French before I English the most memor part of my trip was definitely what during the weekends where we got to go family and didn't have to stay late School uh overall it was nice we went to the beach one day and one day went to party with Bas culture also great even though they didn't it very about it you really got to see it in the build themselves conclus ship was very useful for me and especially others as we got to learn more understand history ex continue learn [Applause] so that wraps everything up from our trip and we are excited to continue partnership with the school um they have confirmed that they have funds to come back to us again next year so Mr G and I were already on the phone this afternoon trying to select dates for when they will come thank you everybody for [Applause] your you need ch great and and thank you to the bef for the support um and to the school um School Personnel who helped with that as well parents great opportunity talk about how to bring passion into more aspects of SCH interact expen okay so's [Music] move at the start of meeting a maximum of minutes ised comment on item ined on the agenda for that meeting at the end each meeting um Regular meeting ow comment items within the jurisdiction um for uh which would also include a Time disc students inders of K 45 West Road I ask the board to not approve the May 1st 2024 facilities meeting minutes the vote to dispose the agent Huckleberry kitchen equipment is prematur to shortsighted there are several groups in town that want to build a new concession stand trades and businesses have pledged to donate time and materials to make this happen the current concession stand is outdated and has been Opera past its useful life to prove it is pass its useful life the announcement gr on top of the concession stand is the decommission and a new one installed by the main stadium features many parents including myself and some sitting at this table have spent hours working get concessions during football games to raise money for our respective sports teams a lot of time spent setting up for these games all cooking gear must be pulled out of the concession stand and set up outside once the game is over all equipment is carried back into the concession stand this is inefficient labor labor system schools like Weston beille New Fairfield and Nas have concession stand that are modern and easy to open and operate Brookfield needs something better in the recent NEC and CIA review stated in their summary accommodations the Community Partnerships that support student athletes as the athletic and the athletic program the meeting notes prove how this District another town and entities are Sil we are one town and all the money is our tax dollars at work if the Boe is worried about storage fees was offer to store for free the former Finance director rejected that offer it' be Penny wise and dollar foolish for our B to dispose the was $200,000 thank thank you um also um I'm going to request the bo first meeting minutes without making a correction ex referenced for motion to discuss attorney plan information to comply with that law and as trained board was trained on April by former attorney turn you have to State the case or matter so that needs to be corrected in doing so made that item not protected and not accepted of that discussion similarly we have an exective session vote part of that is to discuss pending liation see to go into session and speak about what you need to State the case matter um additionally evaluation ex session send email May might there is um merging information regarding the ability to hire and manage Personnel of course example prior special education director in terms of confidency of hiring but also elbow attempt to hire backs Vice and how that went um at the town meeting there was a discussion about special education violations had a hiring placement that was not competent additionally learn that there is a teacher that had lied about the qualifications place as an elementary school teacher and the administration didn't check on the transcript to have a file this person okay and that person has not qualified teaching so a lot of this goes to the competency of selecting Co compid hiring person manag decisions time been having senior Administration same for years should that should ref in evaluation and that person that qualifications concerned because there there's a conflict of interest because there Democratic thank you thank you Mr moving on to item seven on the agenda the following people have emailed a board of since our last meeting on consideration intertial question s facce c ter regalan Jack C for5 school year 1 12 I move that the board approve the minutes below as recomended meeting 5124 meeting thank you Wendy i' like to first uh start with congratulating the board on passing the referendum moving forward with our close out this year and school year uh for next year uh with real rigor and focus so we're really excited about that um kindergarten L just very brief update uh we currently I just checked with drasi today we have 119 students registered for kindergarten at this time um 17 of which parents have signed up with Dr PSAs and the team for the waiver because their birthdays after September 1 we have that new legislation kicking in the next school year um last year at this time we had 120 students registered and we're looking anticipating the same number in that low to mid 160 range so we we right on track um and of course we talk about class size um and we have our budget uh Dr Pepi and the team really do take a look at class sizes at all grade levels and see where there might be changing needs and evolving circumstances where they might move one section up or down in addition to some of the things we talked about the early in the budget process uh we certainly will keep the board apprised if there are any adjustments in uh new vehical Services shipment and goodwi was selected by the board back on May 8th and with that the executive team and principles met with our new attorneys and had a transition meeting just yesterday morning uh that went quite well we also talked about the policy Services uh with the poliy committee earlier this evening uh and we're excited about working forward in that new relationship honor and educator again just like the prin trip I want to thank the Brookfield Education Foundation they put on the honor and educator celebration last week where we recognize all Educators not just our teachers but our Paras our bus drivers secretaries anybody who contributes to the well-being and education of our children it was a great turnout and I just can't thank them enough for annually putting that together for all of us um let's see the it's that time of year for other celebrations so Western Connecticut superintendent Awards we have two students Andi High School who were recognized on Monday afternoon I want to thank Dr man for attending that principles um so we're really happy and thrilled for our students who were honored in that way also uh Senator Bloom invol his Proclamation and certificates for them as well and then the two things that AA did mention um I do want to say we attend the National Honor Society induction with the high school on Monday Night 40 plus students new students were inducted into the uh into the society and we're just so excited for them they really worked so hard and really earned it and deserve uh that kind of recognition and to hear the stories of each of the inductees really inspiring and then finally just a quick thank you to everybody help field day on for our C Lake students um as we know some stay here others go to the uh High School Fields as a kind of a new tradition the last couple of years I to thank the PE staff and Mr Baldwin along with parent volunteers and certainly are pfield high school student AES from the uh student advisory council did a great job for that that's my report anybody have any questions okay thank you good evening uh you met May first um uh we took a walking tour of the facility to uh take a look at um the school we start the storage container The Boiler Room the locker rooms uh storage IDE we um we did need to discuss a container kitchen equipment um and we did speak about whether or not was use funds continue paying for it or disos it to did explain to us information basically that project been Ono I off so to speak I know it's you guys as well just see there all time I know toy they can make use of it at the time we did take a walk down to the boiler rooms um then a great job of explaining uh all the issues that we had unfortunately we're working with very old and all with so that some of the parts that are needed AR anymore and the issues that he skill fixed on its own um aren't going to last very long you mention possib um boil one and boil two possibly I believe one of them under repair right and one might clarify boiler one we've been talking about um the last couple of months this is the one that is um Tonto has flange being made currently and that's one prelimary work to bring the cost from anywhere from 27,000 down 3000 exctly so um so that one is going to be operable very soon boiler number two uh that uh has been operating and beating the building is at BHS um the lot you know this winter season um is leaking it's an exterior leak so it is it's spewing um water water out of the furnace not going inside working it's just um leaking um and so it doesn't need to be repair boiler number three these are all the same types of boilers they are towards the end of their useful life and they are not being manufactured anymore but poer number three which has been offline for several years does have components within it that can be used sort of as a um to harvest yeah to harvest and repurpose some of those um interior components to fix boiler Tu so we do think that there's to get boiler to operable um certainly for next even season we do use um the boilers and the oil um oil heat to um heat the hot water all year long so we do need a boiler running even in the cooling season um and Mr cell is also looking at um converting our hot water system to a more energy efficient water electric demand um system really as large as the one that we have and eliminate the need for oil uh during the cooling season um just to get get a general idea the boilers uh burn I think four 40 gallons of oil an hour something eal it is huge it is is a huge um uh yeah a large amount and it's so we're looking to improve the efficiency on the hot water system itself which get um and then we as far as all business we discussed capital projects update called for a circuit um WS electrical system upgrade we has not receiv yet um we have to schedule the time with st a 3 shut down of services building so that's something that's on Horizon likely take place over the summer and then coordination take place some programs the for ws and BHS have ordered will be installed uh before the start of my school year and that's all I have for before we move on can I suggestion I don't know um if I can make just one uh one comment about all the conversation of boilers and um some people may be wondering heck fix these boilers get some new boilers um since last October for quite a while um we had lots of capital Improvement plans that get approved through the town um they take not only time to get approved but years to implement and install and or fix um and we're well aware of those the energy now that the school this school is complete is really getting focused not only in an operating uh maintenance account that just passed um for making sure we're maintaining our facilities of whiner and the high school and updating anything we can with uh in cash if you will um but also Casey put a very detailed plan together after the building condition study back in October presented that to the board that's public information um and on multiple occasions we've been setting out communication that our energy is going into continuing not that energy wasn't going into it in the past but even more energy and focusing on improving the middle of high school so um we all wanted to be optimal and so we just got to continue working on that at the same time you have to finance your your goals you can't do everything in one year not only do we not have the money for that we don't necessarily the capacity to improve everything in one year so Contin but thanks for app just remind us where was that in the capital plan the priority I don't remember you mention I just brought up the 10 Capital plan um so we actually have a boiler replacement at whir uh that was the recommended priority through the mar building condition study um BHS did not have any recommended um replacement of boilers in the near future um but as we can see things change um and priorities that have to shift so in our Capital plan we do have those year one fortunately that you field to get approved so all of our PRI year one priority projects have been approved for next year we will certainly will get moving um a boiler replacement system for VHS up on the priority list for probably a year or two um or year or three we we get uh how Fe it is to prepare this Bo or to Mr is confident you can get that back up the running um the problem is you just don't know when when when it's going to the end um and uh so we will shift and we will adjust and Mr confident that we will have the Condy in the system to have the two boilers operable and functioning for the next okay let's move then to the finance sub committee pleas uh we met on Wednesday the 15th um and both of the major items that we discussed are also uh agenda items tonight so I won't go into too much detail um but we did go over the April financials um we reviewed um that the projected net budget shortfall for this year is 67432 that's a small change from last month um and this was due to special education month to month so that's where we see change this particular month and we voted as a committee um to have the board request those contingency fund from the town these are agreed upon um expenses on the side so see on the agenda tonight to request we then just discussed went over again the list of um items that will be cut if the referendum was approved or referendum so um those are the same things that we've been discussing here and are familiar with you guys so that was that pretty much it are there any questions or discusss approve itent agenda new hires transfers retirement would be okay if I welcome in our new all right so our new HR supervisor please stand lindsy Mareno welcome more welome Lindsay will be starting the first week of June we're really excited to have Lindsay join the team and Lindsay comes to us from new a lot of experience there last couple of years and we just uh really excited about her energy and know how and willingness and openness to learn and become part of the team um and HR is really really important um talking about 400 plus employees coaches Etc we have a lot of people with a lot of needs um and certainly Michelle Kinsman has been main state with us as our benefits and Human Resources coordinator and now having the supervisor here at Lindsay thr than we have oh yes how we forget Mr G G long time psychologist has been with many many years um and uh he is decided to retire and he is moving on to Maine so we're really excited he's really interested in a very cold area of the country I don't know how you can retire main God bless them it is beautiful in summer at least I'll give it that um but anyway we wish Camp all the best and thank you for that reminder when my apologies then we are moving on to move on to um new business and the first item is special education strategic plan so thank you Dr Young BL uh thank you to members of the board Dr gr Dr M di uh members of the audience and who are also part of what I'm about to speak about so as I come to the end of my first year in burfield one of the ongoing projects that we've spoken about in my updates to you at the previous board during the past year was a strategic plan framework and I emphasize that this is a framework that as we we talk about things like curriculum s uh and and plans that go for 3 to 5 years these are the ideas and the theories of action I'd like to speak about tonight that we are going to be working on as part of a working group I'm giving away a lot of my slides by just uh talking about what you're about to see but before I begin I'd like to thank uh members of the committee that are here tonight would you please stand if you are part of the committee I'd like to read off the names uh Taran fer uh Daren Fontana is not with us this evening wife uh is expecting so she is not with us this evening uh man andronic Hi man thank you de caban promised that if I had promised it that would not speak tonight so you didn't speak I'm speaking forus Judy sandor gr triet Molly Garcia Cory raffy and Mike skele those are the members that have started with us this year and have done a a tremendous job as you see the um the plan that we put together in the framework so I just like to say thank you to them and and we can just give a round of applause I appreciate you being here and for the folks that aren't here tonight that might be watching on YouTube thank you also for the time and the commitment You' shown to us throughout this process so before I get into sort of the theories of action i' just like to talk about how we've gathered information and how we've gathered feedback over the course of the year we've had strategic planning meetings you've met members of the committee we've also spoken in septo meetings and gathered feedback from special at PTO Mar m president uh District leadership meetings where I would meet with uh the principles and Dr Brill and the central office team also it's not really quantifiable but it goes without saying that the parent feedback that I've gain over the course of this first year has been invaluable whether it's parents reaching out to me through phone calls or emails as I've said over the course of many presentation please reach out to me if you have a thought or a concern or something that you'd like me to consider much of this information is also from those parents that reached out to me some of them are here this evening and I thank them for their for their collaboration and their uh consultation with us emails team meetings so in some cases after pbts parents might want to talk about just by get information from I say we're doing strategic plan what thoughts are on your on your mind concerning special education in for field through all of those methods of communication this is what we have as a framework and I wanted to lead with that so that you kind of know where the where the the thoughts come from so as you know the presentations I've given over the course of the year have all stemmed from the correct report that Dr uh presented to you just about a year ago and um in Consulting with her and working through this strategic planning framework um I wanted to make sure that we kept the spirit of what her recommendations were and how she framed it so the foundation of our strategic planning framework and our areas of focus and our ACs of focus will fall under the same four domains as the correct report did resources organizational processes student learning and communication and collaboration and that allows us to connect the dots as it were from the correct program review to our own District work over the next several years within special education many times you will see in strategic plans uh a single theory of action uh conversations with the committee and just in uh my own research and background looking at other uh strategic plans including um Dr Cor plan in region 10 I thought for a theory of action we shouldn't have one theory of action we should have three and the reason I say it is they are all important components of why we do what we do so what I'd like to show you tonight are our three theories of action as we move forward on the Strategic plan our theory of action for students if students are provided with high quality instruction and inclusive settings and inclusive settings means all inclusive settings not just the classroom but throughout the school activities extracurricular inclusive means all School settings for us then they will have increased confidence in their identities as lifelong Learners and be prepared for postsecondary education employment and civic participation this is crucial and and really the foundation of why we do what we do we do what we do for students we need to know and to be able to speak to how we do it and why we do it and so in terms terms of speaking with staff speaking with parents and speaking with students to be included whether that's in a classroom in in a co-taught setting or getting support getting instructional support being included on a team uh being included in Unified sports being included in any sort of activity throughout our district that brings students together so with our theory of action around students this is what we are thinking in terms of when we provide these things things they will have increased confidence and they will become lifelong Learners and be prepared to Take On The World of adult living and adult success my second theory of action families and again it speaks to um the conversations I've had and the pdts I've been in uh septo meetings and just conversations with with parents about how they feel about special education as parents and you know we talk to parents at pbts and maybe we see them at at events but when we talk about the relationship between a parent and a child and the district and the children that we work with we have to remember that if families are provided engagement and collaboration opportunities that allow us to plan together for students with and without disabilities again inclusion and to share concerns then they will feel that their input is solicited early in aice and is value and we need to be able to articulate that to to not necessarily quantify it but to make it real and to make it seen and visible in the work that we do going forward so I thank the families that have helped us to um instruct that particular therapy of action and finally for the the people that that are our team every day they come to school and they are they are parents they are teachers all our instructional supports that we have in our buildings theory of action for educators if educators are provided with relevant and meaningful professional development and I emphasize meaningful because as I've said in our previous presentation sometimes if you are in if you have had and I have experienced it in other districts professional development that you don't think moves you forward as an educator then it's not going to be able to be used with the students you work so it has to be relevant and meaningful for the teachers in order to make it relevant and meaningful for the students frequent opportunities for collaboration whether that's department meetings um team meetings uh even you know strategic plan committee meetings to be able to cross buildings and be able to talk to each other and Leadership supportive of inclusion from principles to directors to all of us that work in the district responsive to the needs then they will apply their learning within the classroom that needs to be reinforced that needs to be shown and that needs to be part of our professional development plan going forward that it needs to be meaningful and inclusion is the recurrent theme Here that as we include all of our students every area of the plan that we're going to talk about tonight comes from these three theories of action what is this going to look like in terms of how we roll this out and in front of you you have a folder with the four domains and the um areas of focus and the action steps it's very dense I'd like to go into a little bit of it tonight but I also want to offer myself to be able to speak uh again at the board meeting perhaps even next month work over the summer to start talking about the details of what this is going to look like the first phase of what this is going to look like includes our the team that we have here tonight a strategic planed worker these will be monthly meetings beginning in Fall 2024 as you can see in the plan that you have in front of you that I'll show up on the screen in a minute these are plans that are 3 to 5 years in execution planning implementing Andie making sure that we're doing quality control along the way there will be Lo thingss that will include parents that will include School staff that will include all the folks that you see with us tonight in addition to anyone who might be interested in joining us on this journey they are the current committee members new members are welcome and again I have the podium literally so I can say if you are interested in joining us on this journey please feel free to email or call uh Tso and make sure you reach out to me and I'm happy to include you in future meetings as I've done over the course of this year um sometimes more than quarterly but certainly quarterly updates on where this is going where we are data we've gathered uh updates what's working well what's not working what we need more time and again as I spoke about in terms of a model for this it's like a curriculum writing cycle where there's a 3E cycle of planning implementation and and reviewing and ongoing there um um so now going to watch me go this this um in front of you you uh Ford has the Strategic plan and as you can see the first page has us mapped out into four domains and what we have are the collaborators that worked on these that were the point people to get us started and again Mike skell and Le and white were the point people for resources Molly Garcia rery for organizational processes student learning fret and triet R furus Amanda and Deb Cav still not going to make you speak and Judy sand and communication collaboration our supervisor Mon and Taran I'm going down now again for those of you who are here and even watching at home it's fa against I want to be succinct tonight I don't want to get too dense into to detail but I'd like to take at least one or two sections and kind of walk you through the elements of it we have action steps we have indicators of success the resources we may use which again is going to be very be changeable based on our conversations and our um these assessments that we'll be doing ongo and then the timeline of constructing planning and Implement so in terms of resources um one thing I'd like to talk about is the relationships that we have in the building between classroom teachers special education teachers and parent Educators and I think when we look at how this is going to look longterm and what does success look like for this particular line in the plan the working group but also setting aligned standards throughout each building where we have collaborative meetings across all three buildings um facilitating inclusive practices review uh a couple weeks ago I was speaking with Jody man at Advance to follow through on our IEP quality training with IEP Audits and professional training in those areas um best practices for determining co- teing team these are things that we need to not just put a stamp on or a grant out and say there it is it's done but to actually look at what does that look like if any of you walk into the building and ask about what that should look like we should be able to show you we should be able to give you examples of it both in classrooms and in beings um entry and exit criteria for some of our specialized programs for our more needy students operationalizing measures to gain Student Success in general education again for inclusion and a guiding document C for a a power to guide the decision making of what does when does student need par and what does that look like and again I can't emphasize enough that there is individualized education plans for reason their individualized however there are ways that we can operationalize quantify and set standards and processes and systems instructions across the schools um just to speak to I don't want to spend I don't want to take up too much of the the board's time but organizational processes um you know one of them is to develop a strategic plan I won't specialize and talk about that but I'd like to speak about accessible departmental needs and communication structure one of the things that that we as a committee and in District leadership have learned this year is in order to align practices and structur and systems across building there needs to be more frequent collaboration instead of individual Department beings with an occasional group there should be ongoing mixing of the from each School talk about not just transition of students from one school to the other talk about inclusion practices talk about what works what doesn't work and how we can align our process in each building um and again if you look at um the timelines all of these we have mapped out over a 3year time frame that does not mean you're only going to see me up here once a year these again are going to be quarterly updated to be able to speak to where we're at in terms of progress of this um again student learning I'd like to take just maybe one um looking at the policies and procedures manual which you know in a lot of districts we've looked at since new laws and pment and CT C has come in some of the policies and procedures that may have worked have been in place 5 years ago 2 years ago 3 years ago need to be reviewed that's where we're at for a strategic plan Committee in terms of looking at that um um being able to specify resources guidelines entry and exit criteria and training making sure that all staff that work with our needest students or even who work in areas of instructional support are more familiar with processes including decoding and encoding um behavioral strategies Behavior plans ecda practices and things like that that help students on a daily basis and finally communication and collaboration being able to have cohesive meetings between secondary buildings again I spoke about the monthly department meetings office hours on teacher directed Wednesday so that we can collaborate in that fashion and again meetings for the whole year and mapping out what we're doing at each meeting rather than having a department meeting every month that sort of reviews where we're at there should be as clear of a plan for our department meetings throughout the year as there are in the Strategic plan and again as we move on details will be filled in you will be apprised of these situations and we will be able to work together as a team I have felt so supported by both the previous board and by you and allowing me to uh have the privilege to come up and speak to you frequently about where we're at and we all know that change doesn't happen overnight but we have dedicated people within the district that are willing to walk with me and with the team and to walk with our students to make sure we're including them to make sure that we have policies and practices that support all of our students I'm happy to take questions but I also would say that there's a lot in here that you certainly probably want to look over and read it more depth and I be happy to come back and answer questions uh at a future meeting as I'm I'm always here so question Yeah question for the student learning SE yeah I'll go back um so for the for the resources the pr moning tools so what are we currently doing what do we have in place right now so you like like that are those tools that are being used currently or you're looking to I think that we could go more in depth on a lot of the progress monitoring tools what I found in um some of our pbts is that when we're talking about mastering go we have we have data but I'd like to have more data I'd like to have more frequently more frequent probes um you know if we're talking about something like a CBM or just something that can map out and in some cases parents have talked about we talk about being able to chart it out because sometimes you see on an IEP master and they say we we've done this and this this and that's great and that's fine and that's compliant but we need to go a step further and say these are the probes these are the dates this is when we we did this and this was the result when we say four out of five times we have the data for I'd like to see it more organized I'd like to see it more systemic across each building and that's why in terms of our work with that advance and my work within con and other and working with directors in other districts talking about how we can deepen our understanding both of uh additional progress monitoring but also make it so that it's useful for parents meaningful for kids and that we can actually show as big progress I think that that last Point um was really an important one and it's clear that a lot of um seasoned um and capable mindes developing this this is something stud to come and question absolutely I'm happy to to speak to those at any time um as you know I'm always available to answer these individually Dr or having to do this in public I did just want to make a com just from like briefly looking you know I feel like some of the indicators of success are a little bit I would agree with you I would agree with you okay so is there going to be like more flushing out yes in like a implementation plan yes so in terms of year one of my time in workfield I think this was a year of looking into things investigating listing and and all the things that we've talked about over the course of I think we have ideas and now as I end my first year and begin my second year I like you to think of the Strategic plan framework as the ending of chapter chapter one chap was going to be a more detailed look at these things so I would not disagree with you that there there's a vagueness to it because I want to make sure that as we start with the large General ideas that we can drill down and those ongoing updates for you you will be able to see more detail and progress and for me to be able to bring progress Monitor and data and put it up and show you what it looks like versus what it may have looked like before so I I don't disagree with you on on some I think point for example organizational process building leaders so what that that number prior right actually one of the on I down like how do you know what's more what's your are youing for percent of PCS to have building Le there like that's something that I think sure i' i' be happy to quantify that I think it's when we look at building Cas loads and sectioning out who does what dbts in my mind I always have a real hard line of we have kids who this would be a good fit we have kids who this I want to make sure that we have uh that the administrators receive proper training in IEPs prior notice and things like that to be able to be fully uh involved members of the team um you know we have supervisors we have me uh but we also have principles and assistant principles I'd love to be able to it should be 60 10 I don't know that I can do that but I will say to you that it should be more in each of these following years and I think underpinning of that is providing the confidence through training and legal updates on what is and isn't parts of pbts that administrators can feel as confident in that they might in curriculum or in behavioral strategies or in schedule so that's where I last question um for the resources on page um a lot on time you know where do you anticipate that time I'll talk like meetings and implementation things like that what is that what you mean by time like more professional development or I think I think the time is in terms of implementing it in terms of planning it in terms of um we have Dr man and I have talked about where the professional development pieces can can fit in how we can integrate that with general education so we talk about time again B but in terms of being able to have the time being able to use the time wisely and being able to have the time to implement great thank you very much when he manage to share a little bit certainly certainly okay so I think you know you can kind of hear me out I don't miss anything here I think there's something important new for many and it might be new for others in terms of um organizational process and the process in general of how a special education system generally is monitored in Connecticut um State Department of Education actively monitors every single school district and they do that through the CTS platform that many of you are aware of it's year two of implementation at the end of year two of implementation um so we measure a lot of program process um through the CPS platform uh so for example um I know folks wonder how are we doing with students who are identified on ANS or outplay students and so for example um we have some updated data from the spring that we could share so in October we give an annual report on students with identified special needs also on our out Ling so for example in October we have 367 ident 365 students uh in our enrollment report identified the special needes that spring update at the beginning of April uh happens to be 388 students now seems like that's a big jump but the reality is um we have 14.6% of our students identified with special needs in this district and the average is 6.3 16.3 uh identified in the state out of district is actually trending down in October we had 29 students identified as outplaced students um we right now 27 students are outplaced and and if everything stays the same next year we're looking at 25 students out so we do monitor those numbers quite frequently close attention in addition to that um people might ask about our our IEDs up to date again with ctss they have to be up to date the state department of Ed tracks through ctss every single school district and they provide updates um and compliance reminders to case managers and directors and supervisors and so um ours are up to date by 97% are up to date the 3% um aren't necessarily not up to date they're in process of being developed within the 5day window at this point um uh or they're in the referral process um so Bill did a little study we are actually in direct alignment with dur meeting kind of our regional area school dists um are parent meetings happening and are they on time and the answer is yes there's a 45 day mandate for referral of new students um every student in 504 has an annual meeting as well as those students that are up to date for their triangual meeting so they very prescriptive and strict timelines in special education Hearing in that um is required testing completed and on time there's another question year um it must be and if it's not we may receive a notification like I was talking about earlier or even a warning from the state department all of this is on a Case by case basis of course um are we in compliance with I are we delivering the service uh we agree to going back to the learning we learn um the answer is yes and of course depending on the progress of the child have meetings with parents to talk about that and if there are necessary adjustments that need to be made made our great educators are here working with families and students to make sure those things happen um and of course um I shared this with the board a couple of weeks ago if a family disagrees with what's going on with the school system and we can't come to an agreement there is a very very prescriptive dispute resolution process through the state and uh that talk about it every single meeting it's actually mentioned so it's within all our parents rights it's a very process um and then finally um it's very important to let folks know that the financials for special education I always looked at every month finance committee meetings at Rosa chairs we talk about the special education budget that's most often the case myself um but as needed um Bill our special education director will come and just actually at this past May meeting talking about the current state of affairs and kind of looking forward so none of the information I just shared is is new to the finance um so I really do want to kudos to our Educators who done such a great job and really helping and supporting families our families who were involved in planning thank you very much um and to build your leadership and supervisor leadership and make and the board's full support the corre report and strategic planning process um can't thank all of enough so thank you feel that I miss anything these important for organizational big I think I think it it pains the picture of this is where we are this is what we need to do we're not shying a away I'm certainly I certainly have come in with my eyes open with ideas and with the thoughts of collaboration and where we can improve and where we can strengthen what already exists and I think the Strategic plan process over the 3 years with updates is going to show you these are where we have specifically improved this is what it looks like now these are the systems and structures that are in place rather than special education can sometimes seem like Alchemy where it's not you know it's hard to confine we wanted to find it for you we want to find it for you for those who are not within working with students and knowing how we do what we do we want to be able to share that just like we share finan just like we share curriculum we want to be able to do that clearly succinctly and and with mindfulness of support of you have answers to why we thank you appreciate thank you John really percent that is there there the average is 16 I think it's rate for the state is 16 16.3 is the that's the average across all the districts of special education students within the district and I i' I've heard that more than 20% of students shouldn't have 15% yeah so for those of us who've been in this a while there was a time where if you were over 11% that was a problem um and as testing has gotten deeper as referrals have gotten more um frequent uh and students cilities we been able to identify more of them over the course of time in my my 15% was all was kind of the the The Benchmark I think state has kind of edged up for 60 but if you look at other districts not necessarily dir B but there are districts who are at 19 20 21% um again it's hard to quantify things like 504 because that's that's a separate thing however um in terms of students needing the support being able to identified for that support it has gone up over 25 years at I've been in special education again it used to be 10 11% was your was your Baseline and it's crept up over over the years in again to where the state is looking at 16.3 we're looking at 14.6 but again individualize it student needs it then that's where okay so um we going move now uh to the um presentation in Spring series from um Dr instruction right well thank you very much folks and good evening to everybody thanks for those who are here and those watching online we have made it to the final episode in our series um of uh curriculum inst struct and assessment uh presentation to help kind of CI for board um the different aspects of the Continuum instruction assessment so we're excited to be here tonight um I was really I was listening intently to Mr rand's presentation because there's a lot of alignment and overlap especially in the area of professional development and professional learning um so this varus and I are excited to share with you our final series before we do that we're going to review make sure we're all at the same point of our series kind of Conti the curriculum process how it is reviewed and revised how it serves our students the main focus of our first episode second episode really focused on the connection between curriculum instruction and assessment and that structural core um and what the instructional is how it relates to the Continuum how the instructional coaches F into that and then the responsibilities of MERS all the way from the um Educators in classroom through building leadership up through the uh district and so now we have come to the kind of point where we're bringing it all together connecting the Continuum of instruction to evaluation growth and support plan for certified Educators and um it's a little bit of a spoiler Al alert that our June 5th meeting is going to be you're going to be presed with our draft plan for teacher and evaluation leave right this is going to give you a little bit of a pre um and most importantly we want to make sure we're continuously communicating um showing the transparency to the public about our intended outcomes of our work in the classroom so I kind of already went through this so I'm not going to necessarily reread everything um but you know our first episode was really focused on that curriculum process finding it figuring out what helping uh flush out what that really looks like and the impact of curriculum directly on our teachers and our students in the classroom um one of the things that debie and I are hoping you will really walk away from walk away with um is that our students are at the center of everything um and everything we do is focus on student centered goals student centered Improvement and making that that experience inro is Meaningful for our that second uh episode around the instruction and our student cach and before I talk about this slide that has appeared our episod so certainly going to be in this one as well I just wanted to say that PR to really what we're presenting here was the awesome performance of the students um with mRNA that is really an outcome of a product if you will of curricul instruction teaching right in addition the students that we talking about the FR experience that's another relevant enrichment again of instruction wonderful that you experience all about teaching and learning anyway so Precision of alignment here uh everything that we do in terms of curriculum starts with standard the foundational building blocks we bundle gr the standards in a way that Mak sense and put them across the context of the school year um we then begin to build Curriculum maps we unack or kind of deeper into the standards to be able to look at the language and establish [Music] content and again ping outl consistent and a learning exp so in terms of the Precision of the alignment have how do we know learners basically relative to the standards ands learn and those are directly align assessments are directly align to the skills which are directly align to instruction also is precisely aligned in terms of learning targets activities and resources and those are directly aligned Al inaps to align them directly to assessments the skills which are dered directly from standards and alluded to before all with the student in the center because that's who we are here to serve we wanted to make sure we brought that uh that kind a Precision of alignment back for every time um because just like what you just heard from strategic plan with the the special education department is really important and are constantly framing everything around our students and our students experience for to realize our mission um and so in this final episode we're going to know we talked about that whole concept of assessment and in that frame that Precision of alignment we're talking about student assessment but um when in this final episode rather than focusing on our mclass uh you know assessments or any of those questions that you know Joy brought up earlier or k any of those things we want to talk about kind of the how an assessment or how uh the Continuum impacts the the educator level so that we kind of continue to focus on students with the center and the Educators right outside that Circle um and so we're going to review a little bit of the new guidelines and how they support fre and assessment and instruction of the Connecticut framework for Teacher evaluation which has drastically shifted from where it used to be um when many of you are Educators in Connecticut and we've also heard of uh you know the high high accountability High States uh former process which is called SE um the state has gone away from that and really focus on professional learning and uh goal setting as the the focus of the new evaluation system which is a perfect model for student assessment as well more experiential and more Project based Focus so that we can really get offer students the opportunity to display their learning and um be uh kind of leaders of their own learning and demonstration of assessment so this kind of teacher or this adult uh focus is a really nice Exemplar for how students could also experience um and so but but in order to prepare for that I we want to make sure that we reviewed the guidelines went through our process that our professional development and evaluation committee went through um and then kind of illustrate how that learning will directly connect the professional growth goals and completely support what you just heard from the special education strategia plan along with our own comprehensive District um so just kind of to reflect back on what we've talked about before the the other nice thing you know I love that kind of you know alignment and cure um this the whole concept of this is this continuous cycle of improvement right so successful organizations do Embrace that continuous Improv we talked about it through the um the uh accrediting body we use fortive assessing practice use portfolio work all with students we're going to be moving that into that with adults as well shows up um and so you know that concept here's this you know this continuous this continuity of curriculum assessment and instruction that is again we know we have that student um Precision of alignment it's how people we want we want to connect all these things for all Learners in our learning commun so this is a continu instructional learn and assessment um and we're talking a little bit about adult learning perod here which is slightly different Student Learning child um as you see again didn't even collaborate orate never spoken about these s but it's about meaningful professional development that is uh based on Student Center goals and and directed by the teachers or the Educators so that's what the difference between um what kind used to be and what so when professional development was done to people this is now done by this is going to be done by Educators and that's how this work very so the new connec state department education guidelines basically hasion the whole entire thing but basically an opportunity to continue St so you can hear in this episode three that we're talking a lot about continuous learning feedback and professional world as a modeless um so there were some non-negotiables in the guidelines um and some 92s in the guidelines um where nonn was the requir to use standard rubric to be able to focus on student Cent goals um to have regular meetings observations practice um our initial draft will be ready for um implementation in the 2024 202 school year coming um and really I'll talk about next um we really the process start here mindset shift from compliance checking the boxes you know Observer comes in observes we go through a conversation to really all about learning and professional Learning System that then again is supporting that prision of alignment where we have the curriculum instruction assessment students in theer so everything starts from Student Center goals if you recall in episode when we talk about the instructional core and our instructional coaches they work on Student Center goals in partnership with te everything students so the um the committee special development evaluation committee um we started with the days training we worked with those guidelines which a little and models and we basically to certainly as framework guidance one of the awesome things that came process as well was that the conversation started to move toward um excitement toward professional and Lear OPP where we even were looking at the language we using in the to talk about reciprocal conversations um between teacher uh educator and leader um and and reciprocal feedback as well so that everyone is learning right administrators are learning teachers are learning and kids which is one them so we have alignment of learning okay so you saw you heard about that alignment of learning cycles and as debie said you know the beauty of this is that um it's kind of it systems within system right so that reciprocal relationship that's developed between teacher or groups of teachers and an evaluator um where they can set a common goal together after looking at stud data anding as that student data aligns to our strategic plan um and is and and is filtered through the school Improvement plan um everything will this will create this alignment um much more naturally and organically um and so it's really been Sous about how we have worked over the last couple years part of it is from the flexibilities that we approved last that the board approved last year um where we were wer quite so constrained with that compliance mode of SE model teachers really can focus on um you know student U emotional social emotional learning or they could think about you know they can set their goals based on what was presented to them with their students so that they could have meaningful goals um so they're kind of poised and ready for this next step which is a little bit more structured but definitely going to be uh requiring teachers to really consider what it is that where they need to grow as Educators based on the information that is presented to them from their student uh data and experiences that they have with students so those goals will be focused on student centered data and then how are they going to create a professional learning plan that helps them realize those goals um and again one of the things I think is uh really masterful about this plan is that this is exactly where we want to get our students to be where they can start leading their not only leading their learning but deciding on how they're going to demonstrate how they're going to get there and how they're going to actually demonstrate um this is actually a a um a visual from from the learning forward framework mentioned standard space and uh rubric align so the Frameworks that we are aligning our plan to called learning forward and um this visual kind of shows that then diagram about regard profession Lear and of course we're going to Rel to the Strategic plan which really you know I mean the most important thing here for our our teachers and for our Educators and our administrators is to inspire challenges also meaningful and productive lives and if teachers and educators are experiencing that themselves then that will transcend what they're going through into their student everyday experience so that is really our goal with this um and again kind of thinking back across January since you here presenting this episode to you that this all is within the framework of instruction assessment really keeping our students at the center and thinking about how they can have the meing experience thank you for your and we are come um I kind of have a question comment um all due respect think disappointed I thought was the Imp that this anyone else I thought that was part two series um we did ask comeback from that like that that's continue the next we understood that the um questions about instructural coaches when we talk about that um April so we certainly are there are specific questions [Music] ofu [Music] instruction will stud goals individual teers team create student goals and that F directly with the standard [Music] to support the professional learning that's important parcel of the professional grow and we certainly can put a talk a presentation discussion about the instruction coaches if we get specifics on what you're looking for more than happy what was very specific in the past they said it would be nice to have data or raw information see to have it be measurable some extent to see how well it's going examples of how to utilize the program you know just real dat that was the impression understand that I going to be a presentation on that given the last episode I might be able to help you out but I'm not was a while ago first started with instruction Coes we did at some point on the reive data precisely how many year something like that and we had um wish I could find it but um several data points that in the beginning you knowers were or how toti it instruction can in particular um maybe what topics I think we had some sort of um I don't know they were something like had were able to search for or they were able to like request more [Music] we also you're exactly right we talked about in the first session second session before um and we do I we were able to gather some data from the coaches going into that section that second um uh presentation and I don't believe that we actually got to those slides but we have them but I have them and I'm I think that probably the best thing to do is share with the committee so that I can then bring them back and share them informational follow so but I love to go over that with um and so that we that I we are sure I was to say to kind of follow up I one of the things you talked about was maybe getting teacher data and you were teacher feedback and you were going to kind of visit how like weren't sure how that was possible or what that looked like but I know that was one of the things we also kind of explored getting some kind ofor no no speaking out L Thinking Out L that was just going pieces there so excuse me the data that we canly is focus on you know that that protocol that Debbie was referring to um as far as um know have comments fromers question um it could go large but um when you talk about professional learning for educators you are talking dog right like not content wise like be a better more effective teacher of poetry by you know critical engagement ineducation had a Dodge it well it's it yes and um it's going to be it's going to really depend on next year um you're going to see when you see the draft plan um it's really going to be like we said Minds sh and teachers are really going to have to learn um the Frameworks and shift from the completely Quan appro used to do to the more experiential approach and philosoph apprach how am I going to right now first how do I know that those are the needs and that is where the instructional coach com [Music] adity that's one of the things are only and so we need to make providing that same of support with how what kind of inform at um and how am I going to frame out a really meaningful professional learning go so that I can then build my professional learning experience um throughout the year 3K 12 um and so instructional is inclusive of instruction coaches and the administrators in charge of teaching and learning of us um and building um so that's going in terms of helping make that mindset shift um it may be content there may be a Content piece to it um but going have to training that has to happen so for example special education going to continue to have to be training provided during some of that professional Lear time but professional learning um shouldn't only just be making sure that we're spending time or giving teachers time to get things accomplished that there's definitely a need question time like um that we need to be very intentional about setting about how we're organizing that time so that we have get the compliance stuff done figure out the actual tasks that done but then also how are they growing as a professional students of that time and then to grow after year after teacher shouldn't just the educator shouldn't just have their formal education the only time actually Lear Chang drastically from the90s when I was train have are [Music] support it's more of an ongoing sustained Le experence [Music] studa all my students how am [Music] iel so something that actually be sustained and then we can also me me [Music] want to be a to so I just need I just need [Music] not in a school building any um so teachers came through are creating these goals and collaborate their own C instructional they might they're not be okay so who who sort of assesses whether those gos are I know there standards and but who sort of says yes this is an appropriate challenging that your students that's two different plans there's the leaders the administrators and the Educators and so the evaluators just like in the former forever um the one of the roles of an administrator is to evaluate um but rather than it being a summed sus which used to be the case part that high accountability process have now gone by the way there's no more Su so um it is not a goal accomplishment of a goal is not tied to final sum agreement the accomplishment of a goal is reciprocated agreement that this is how I'm going to find the and this this evaluation tool goes all the way from State and so we are all going to be setting our goal focusing oning studenter or learner Center data um so I will use data from the and ADR work to set i'm to improve my own practice is there a certain number or is that also training training in that process over the summer addition to that to very crystal clear the answer the administrators who supervise group or subject Area Teachers [Music] Anyan it's the process of how the goal is set and how the goal is measured and is goal is set based again reoc andat and then there are multiple check beginning mle end ofing on is that is about connection that Focus meucat October learning day own still frame for profar on Friday our con I don't mean to put you on the spot but could you give an example of maybe like go teer so for example like said I am a third grade teacher and I really think that based on the I have 20 kids previous year that had a variety of different needs and I really felt like I needed to work on my differentiation my capacity for differentiation KS at the same time being able toate between the way that instru this group need small gr instruction this group needs more te instruction that grp is more autom how do I orate all that how do I work on that instructional approach goal on becoming better at differentiating instruction because of that data student dat um then I might say part of my goal to go into a 6 to coaching cycle with truly gone um how to improve my differentiation so I'm know students particular tool I'm going set the go work through the enti only be one of my I'm also going to be with my administrator ask my administrator Adat to give me feedb on that we talk about post obervation we talk about that feedb gret of ways go and you do a m assment and have because one part down and then couple and I'm practice where I am working with my colleagues all my I to talk about myat all of this information all of this data in my platform to demonstrate that I have worked for I might you know what I didn't get everything I want still need work this that's to or maybe I got a whole colleagues that are also really interested so my be help going to be more become more proficient as a teacher leer help so with that being said is there a way for us for you to know how many teachers arees it's not in that process um so as we go forward we can certainly happy to we have dat that I can certainly share that out and this year um and if that is something that interested in seeing next year we can certainly talk about the number of coaching cycles and one of the things that happens with coaches is this is not just a one coaches don't teacher so I can tell you that the instructional coaches in this building have worked with probably every single teacher bu something the year whether it is incorporating math or it is running standards but when J works with she may work with the entire team for onoc change but um so the instruction coaches are working with teachers every day across the as Asal instructional c um and thens coaching doesn't have to just happen one like I and lovely thing is that this B allows set go as aou so you have the entire second grade you know uh c teacher says we all need to work on differentiation we're all going to go throughing CLE with because we're Focus Ona sence that's my next question is how do you if a teacher not seeking need to work the entire second C how does that like who this talk little about [Music] plcc this year part of a grade level thatc a couple of examples social studies worked withen [Music] team science teachers a lot ofing [Music] exporation for us to that so those are just a few examples top of my head ma ma instruction coach five [Music] teachers planul learning plans and then also to imp of some of the centers that helping middle scho so they work with the teacher teams incs as well as some individual teachers analy data so the student goals areer around data so data informs those students at your goals strategies such as differentiation strategy that you may use and have fur Lear on in order to impact of specific data informed student to Center go so I don't know if thats at all speak to the secondary so as debb alluded to the conru only SCH andru coaches as well as science and social so they expand um are working with teachers on a regular basis and some are doing individual coaching cyes some teachers are doing individual coaching Cycles all teachers are working with um their their respective coach in their content area um either their department meeting time or their after school time um schedu a little bit different of the Middle School um but again through looking at all those pieces and then in the high school where we don't have coaches but we have content administrators they are doing the same kind of thing actually almost previewing um this model uh by working in partnering with teachers and groups of teachers and looking at data so for example Andrew pH really focusing on um taking data and trying to um figure out different ways to uh to change things and adjust things with specific teachers and then across the the um the whole school which then results in things such as suggestion right so you kind of see how system starts working together Andis tools are students support thank you very muches to the next item on the [Music] agenda of the district yes exactly this is um the deadline Marchand to the information is with the state now the app process usually here in early July are there any questions or discussion this approve disal of us f equipment currently being stored at PHS in compliance with policy 326 s and disposal of books I you know very expensive condition um it's always been a part of our vision to um improve our facilities as far as work goes that being our con um personally work it's graceful it's embarrassing um are better so that is a core of what would be part of the concession plan so there's got to be out of Bo thinking you know maybe there's a room taken out of town hall at the equipment um you know I don't know a person that volunteered to St I don't know anything about that but I heard that comments know more about that um there's got to be a solution come out to preserve this equipment that's so expensive and valuable um and to put it to the way side that we had a plan for not that plan up so I would word disos let's he what you thank you for that because that's I feel like the um the the issue like the Suns off alarm BS when the policy is called disposal of o equipment um the policy does speak to the process by which the Board of Education as as a governing body right um sort of relinquishes its responsibility and its ownership of this equipment it does not mean that we are going to be shipping it to the dep by any means at all um and and so so in in in my sort of ification of this whole background of what happened here with um how this this uh storage container came to be um and it is situated on the black top of um outside of the athletic Wing at BHS um that I think was previously used as a basketball um work which it can't be utilized um for the purpose that it was intended because this um storage equipment is there there storage units there um and so in in learning about how this um came came to be stored is a lot of equipment um I don't know the exact value of it um it is being brought to the board for approval um under this policy because an aggregate it likely is more than $5,000 um it is also only as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it um and so and I say that in a good way because if it were to go to a public sale um you know I don't know that we would you know hold out for a $200,000 B bid for this equipment so I I don't want people to get worri that um this is a really costly investment that you know nonprofit group would have to make in order to take ownership of this equipment um but in in understanding um why this event came to be I think there was conversation between perhaps the athletic department and um Boer clubs and parents that this is an opportunity to if there is a need at the concession stand um on the exterior part of the building by the fields um to upgrade that area this opportunity to not have to go out and buy all of this industrial commercial uh commercial equipment um and assessing it from you know I I work for the Board of Education and um and your responsibility as a board of education looking at the needs of the entire Community yes um if that project were to move forward I don't know that it would be under the purpose of the Board of Education to invest in a project to redo the concession stand and I think the conversation earlier um last year was that perhaps it would be a parks and Bre project um again then the project would be a capital project that would be overseen by the NBC um and they would have to have the SC report and what that looks like so I did reach out to uh Parks direct to determine do you do you see this in the near future because we do have this equipment and certainly we want you want it to be put to the for the larger Community um they did have any plans in in to near future to invest in a in a a project for a concession stand um that being said I looked at the policy um that the board of education does have have to dispose of um obsolete equipment that is no longer needed by the Board of Education and it does have a very prescriptive um way of making sure that this equipment would get in the hands of any Town agency that could use it um and so we would first reach out to any other Town departments fire departments libraries any any other Town um department and see if they they had a need for it and it would first go there if there isn't a need in any other Town department or agency then it would go to um to community groups and organizations so that would include the poster Club um and and they would absolutely have the right of first refusal for this equipment um the key is you know prioritizing capital projects and Facilities the committee knows this all so well when we look at the capital plans and and we have you know bathrooms that want to get upgraded we have rooms that need to be replaced and um I I don't know um at least from where I assess sort of the needs of the facilities that that a a capital project for a renovation of the concession stand while valuable for that Athletics and the experience of that and and certainly the volunteers that use that space don't know it's something that I would bring as a recommendation to the facilities committee um but certainly I would want this equipment to get into the hands of those that could benefit from it that being said um Dr BR and I did speak with um Mr Dunn because originally then my my thought was well we have an empty building that used to be used as a school that is not being used anymore can we just move the equipment and store it at um Center School and we spoke with um the Fire Marshall and and unfortunately because the sprinkler system in that building has um been dismantled and is no longer able to be used that can't be used as to store this equipment however Mr dun said certainly the storage unit itself could be moved to you know the back lot in Center School so it's off of school grounds um the only issue that becomes paying for paying for the storage of that of that unit um it's not iCal amount by any means it is not in the budget for next year it is under $2,000 um annually to keep this storage container um if that's the board of EDS perview to continue paying for that storage that is that is your that is up to you um I just don't know you know looking at how long capital projects take I don't know how long that goes on um we would have to just you know move that in a in a budget change at some point but um again certainly any community group um in Brookfield um if the town department does not want it first um would absolutely have the right to um just another point of clarity if you could help us out um I know my nine years here a concession stand has not been a priority it was not a formalized project it's a worthy project for sure for us to consider um but it's not on the capital plan so there's no plan near future so this is kind of the Genesis of uh the motion coning ever to your point we could store it in the back of Center School we can incur the cost and and then wait and if the board wants to move on a concession stand we could have that discussion and make that you know a facilities committee and come forward with the court and add that as one of our goals and priorities certainly can do that at the high school it's just not one of our priorities it's not on the capital plan um and so there was conversation outside of the process of the municipal building committee Parks and Rec in Board of Education and Facilities committee for a concession stand and so understandably people got excited about this and the opportunity with this exact policy a year ago when we uh exited hulberry and the portal of whis skir and also um mov down to Center School we went through the whole disposal process the board approved this process for all the different equipment burn was in there so we don't have to move on this if the board thinks it better to pause for graduation Mr has requested that we do get that container off of the high school property um and Mr put it on the back of Center School he's worked with DPW and uh facilities U for for the town it's okay to put it back there be locked and that gives us more time to have a discussion about what our priority going for we're happy to do that that's it's really important for people to understand never concession was never aard SCH building comme project just only the only way for it to [Music] happen yeah we we went forward after I think one of the reason wasn't Capital project there was a plan in place and we had volunteer contractors people willing to put the structure up they don't know the whole story but whatever yeah I was just going to say that um it it sounds like if there is the opportunity to wait on this um before voting on it so that I just want to understand what the vote would be if we if we if we approve this what is the next step what would happen that's question y so then I would reach out to uh all the town departments and let them know that there is this pitch equipment that is um the board education and they are disposing of it um and if anybody is interested at all um they can come take a look they can look at the equipment if they need it they may have it um if it if it's transferred between Town agencies Town departments then it's it's transfer at no cost um and how long um Ian it's costing $2,000 to store account for the year more than little under under okay when does that expire it's month with it's month yeah and I'm not and I'm not sure Dr had a question not sure if the container can be moved with the equipment in it so there maybe some additional costs incurred with getting that um getting it emptied getting it moved getting the equipment over to um CES I'm not sure about the logistics of that but there could be additional C Cur there I'm not sure CU it's really just put in there and stored it's not secured you know in place I just wanted to thank you for the long explanation your explanation simple it's very to see that phally responsible um my question was basically the same as which it kind of It kind of seems to me that if we vot um if we vote in the affirmative for this it just forces other um entities to to take to take on it really just keeps the cost with us while other entities can figure out what they want to [Music] do so it seems if if we if we table it can you still reach out to the agencies or it's not is that not a possibility out informally yes um certainly informally um an option I think um but there's no there's no formality that you can say you know they can't take it would be right but it would buy us some time what's that it would buy us some time yeah I mean what I'm saying is it would we have to pay for the storage regardless and if the board is is considering here that concession stand is a priority then we need to make that plan that is a priority equipment I agree with that a concession stand becomes a priority and we actually a pen and paper and make it a plan that we're adding a concession stand to BHS campus which I is absolutely worthy idea that we can definitely use that we could use I talked early on uh in the school project uh discussions about um permanent bathroom facilities concession you know on the other side of the track dist there's area over there fi so there's a lot of ideas we get estimates years ago of $100,000 plus um for the capital plan just for design of such a facility so we can do that if it's aard priority has that's the reason this priority so whatever the board would like to do we are happy to do personally that seems more resp to create a plan don't even this is just an idea on the table conc say realistically it's at least 2 years away Meanwhile we're going to store this stuff that's depreciating value every single month we're going to be moving this thing from one po to the other that seems ridiculous to me so I I would honestly say if you want a take a and we V to relish control of that's really ESS what right control and if they want it they want it I'll second [Music] they use their own new equipment so yeah that's not that's not I don't think that's for un it's a det neily yeah I don't know and and I think certainly um if if any if the booster club or any other organization wants this wants this equipment I I imagine there would be they would have the same opportunity to you know take this storage unit and place it behind Center School I think there would certainly be some you know working part to do that support wi we to move it to school to away graduation because to get people to come look all that so it's all going to depend on how the how it can be moved we would have to reach out to The Container company to find out I mean it is it's a shipping unit so these these units are shipped with product and and equipment in it normally right on these big cargo ships and trucks and everything so it's just a matter of making sure you know that they they would handle securing the the equipment and trans transporting it to location that would have to do we' have to reach out to companies ter that so [Music] uman like so that that would be that town agencies who have first track at it would say no within the 10day window it's articulated in this Poli onto so and I wonder challenging it would be for independent citizens to get in and like insur I I do not I don't seems like's organ that but we we can't just I mean we have [Music] to we're assuming they want current right now they want that project going to happen so in the metime are store and iore we've over far less $3,000 year [Music] theing equipment that we we don't need it as a so I don't understand why we are paying a single more toore on the options some other need it I think I think there's a way through this and and part of this is do we want to vote to dispose of it which basically frees it up for action and then then to out agencies and begin this process and that's when um folks who are interested in um making something happen so we questions you guys like to take motion we have motion right now I to say we paid bill for God knows how many years in anticipation for the bo lo project how long has that project over years P that right and we anticipated notal a plan in place to do it I'm not sure what brought alling but I think that is something that needs you guys are not in the disposal I would just suggest you because so um all in favor so let me just recap the motion on the motion on Flor is that we approve the disposal of used kitchen equipment currently being P ascy 32 all in favor say I um all by saying n n all right so we're going to move now to item the I move that the board request contingency funding from the boards of Selectmen and finance for the 2023 24 budget in the amount of 67432 as recommended by the finance sorry Finance is there any discuss a lot of concern um now to business what we're going to talk about I the board approved the reduction adjustments to the 20242 budget in the amount of $728,000 38 as recommended by the finance subcommittee and that the board adopt its budget in the amount of 52 mil 89659 a 4.99% increase over the current budget as voted on of the May 21st 2024 to budget record so for our next section of comment um wel comment have up to minutes to provide board um discussion of school personel indiv for individual MERS of in Korea 45 West Road um I just wanted to give a follow up on your discussion with the kitchen equipment it never showed up on any Capital project it was 100% donation and it was going to be turned over to the parks and rec the plan there was a plan to run conduit and water lines to it when the field was going to be redone last year that was cut from the budget and it was never put in that's when we haveall the project because now we have to figure where all that went um so I uh just wanted to let you know that's why it's not on capital budget it was called be 100% R by funds we had uh people in town donating concrete block um all the conduit for electrical electricians going to do the work the plumbers were going to do the work we had roofing material we had to raise funds for the concrete pad and toilets and sinks that's what we um so what I wanted to talk about I we came here tonight was from the also Special Report I just wanted to share that this school year compared to last year has been late night day um Talk many different special ed teachers and they told me that Mr Rand talk tonight that he's in the building he's in the classroom he's talking kids the staff um he is very open to feedback and I'll tell you the last nine years with pbts I probably had my best PPT this past year for my my T um there's still a lot of work to do uh but the teachers really need to identify and give these students the you know the plans they need to succeed even though it's a threee you know strategic you can't tell a second grader that in 3 years we going to have your plan you be ready to go and you're in fifth grade because you know what that does and it's one of the things that was in the presentation C your confidence if you can't read if you can't do math properly your confidence is down and you will not succeed and that's in the classroom and out of the classroom um as response to CT saids it is good in the fact that I will get some other random kids to find Fe which has happened um by em and by and way pass um but a lot of it also it does not show the documentation any of you that many of your teachers or if you have your I and it says six out of eight trials and it shows the documentation sometimes the teachers don't always have that um and there's a wide range I have one specialed teacher she whips out the binder and I mean she's she's the post her child for documentation other ones it's like they're like they show piece of paper like this and I'm like that's what you have for trials um there's a wide range and I think that's part of the that all together to have all the teachers like the B um so that's what I just wanted to point out and feedb and thanks Network [Music] they forch of volunteers to come up they just can't right they also can't just show up and get a bu of so that get disos it's gone it's painful teachers talk about teaching is going to work next year too work in months there's no math wait a month month it but they'll never be that was just decision could learn more wait instead just most what Happ don't know what you're doing [Music] theor administ said follow along State Department of Education doesn't prod District say it's appropriate right we parents set up a program a meeting Vision show up and they don't school psychologist you have to Res no this district is not La administ is not La somebody tells you they're thank you Mr they're lying to you thank you Mr okay so we're going to move uh now to um uh so I have the finance budget uh special did you want to add something [Music] so you feel right um okay thanks so this concludes the other portion of of discussing unaffiliated cont strategy to thanks everyone

the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible andice Louisa could you do the roll please Al present Teresa present Michelle here Kate here glis here Dr Cronin here Lauren here Lita here Richard here and okay thank you we have all war members present tonight okay at this time we're all excited we have all these beautiful young people in our ERS to be recognized and we are so happy on behalf of the board to see you here and the the administrators that are working with you and thank you so I that this portion of the meeting I'm going to turn it over to our uh superintendent so we can do the recognition good evening everyone um hopefully all of the uh students and the parents who are here tonight to receive um their child to have their child receive the cave award I just want to make sure that the folks that are in the hallway that they don't miss their moment so if you can make sure that they're in in the board that would be great room thank you it's amazing to see all the beaming parrot faces out there see a lot of um Apple cheeks that of of proudness uh for the students tonight um we had an amazing year of uh our students excelling and achieving and there are some of these uh students tonight are going off to some wonderful places for for the next level of schooling and um have created amazing opportunities for themselves so um I also want to thank the principls of the Middle School School alternative program and and the high school for being here tonight and supporting and their students so I'd like to read a little bit about the first award it's called The Cave award the cave student leadership leadership award recognizes student achievement and Leadership qualities leadership is a quality that is hard to Define and not always demonstrated by all citizens cave developed the below criteria that is helped define leadership and our principles have selected these students based on the following skills and characteristics willingness to take on challenges capability to make difficult decisions concern for others the ability to work with others a willingness to commit to a project diplomacy the ability to understand issues clearly and the ability to honor a commitment so those are some pretty special qualities so the students selected tonight demonstrate and embody all of those characteristics I'd like to call Mr Dave Kimble up to the podium to introduce his two students good evening everyone um what I want to do is present and congratulate the two students from PR so I'd like to call up Zoe Pitman and Christopher PES [Applause] they're lab thank you stick around we're going to take some photos at the end here next up principal Rogers Park Middle School Dr chrisy Ela [Applause] sop next up Westside Middle School Academy principal Miss Jennifer [Applause] blue good evening everyone I'm here to present to ro D and K Roy and next up Danbury High School and principal Mr Dan Donovan we always got a little something at the end of ours but our two students here are maram and James Rivera maram going to Yukon on the engineering Tech to finish up there and James is going [Applause] toaster wonderful and the Alternative Center for excellence Mr John Leber evening everybody proud to present our two recipients from AAR Dr and arest [Applause] [Music] thank you very much and there's some wonderful writeups that are on the table if you get get a moment to take a look at um some of the the backgrounds of the students that just received those Awards and some of their accomplishments I think you'd be very impressed we don't have time to read them all tonight um but certainly we're very proud of our students who have received the cave a work thank you very much going take some quick photos um in the back here yep so we'll start with an order that we presented so we'll start with Broadview then go to Rogers Park Westside gbury so we'll take some quick photos with the students the principal and the parents um with our board chair and and myself so come on back try to try to do this relatively expeditiously [Music] it's Prett sh sh thank you very much I said yes you should yeah take [Music] enjoy High School [Music] yeah [Music] exactly I got a student my one my classes so to we had a little scenario we had teaching resol [Music] there's more [Music] exactly [Music] it's SM thank you parents thank you for your patience everyone okay we have one more round of awards so we had the honor of attending this ceremony in the Amber Room just the other night it was a beautiful ceremony for students selected um from around the state who embody amazing characteristics in scholarship um so we're very proud to present um these students tonight um so we'll sort of follow suit again with the awards ceremony in terms of uh presenting a from front and then we'll take pictures again in the back so the Western Connecticut superintendent Association or caps program um is in the Western Connecticut portion of the state and each year they host an award ceremony for outstanding students in each School District based on three criteria community service and service to others academic prowess which is relative to ability and Leadership service to the school Community the following students were selected by our principles and recognized at the recent Awards we've invited them back here tonight for an additional Board of Education recognition I'd like to call up again Broadview principal Dave Kimble to present the Western Connecticut superintendence Association award to their student [Applause] once again very proud that two individuals are coming up now and i' like to present this to oliviaa and kamos congratulations Rogers Park principal again chrisy Z [Applause] Westside Middle School principal Again Jennifer [Applause] blue award Anderson and Xavier pasel [Applause] congratulations D High School principal Dean do uh presenting two of our finest here for you Mr Pearl Chia who will be going to Brown University in the fall and Steven polios who will be going to Yale congratulations and last but not least the Alternative Center for excellence John Weber I'm happy and proud to present the for superintendent to Cameron Maloney and our Board of edre Casey that is absolutely wonderful and again congratulations to all the recipients tonight um we'll do some quick board um photos in the back again we'll get one more snapshot and we'll get you on your way you're going to go home and study tonight right all right we'll start with broce but than [Music] think [Music] I'll volunteer okay I'll [Music] disgusting it's [Music] con I [Music] and I am coordinating [Music] she's slouches one night out all right it was this this definitely need that biger okay before we start into our meeting we would like to welcome [Music] Julie um before we start our meeting for public participation we like to welcome Julie Moro for uh taking the seat on the board and we're excited about her coming on every so Julie on behalf of the board thank you next [Music] agenda public participation laen would you read your script please the board welcomes public participation and ask that speakers please limit their comments to 3 minutes speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them the board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the vur public school system our first speaker is Janice Anderson thank you good evening everyone my name is Janice Anderson I live at 25 East skate Road I'm here to speak to the board tonight about two things first I want to express how extremely disappointed I was that the board has chosen to do a regional search for superintendent instead of a national one while I understand that the board has some legitimate reasons I still think the decision is shortsighted as every one of us knows in this room our district is trades on many levels to bring it back to the Brank and build it into the district we we need someone with the skills track record in doing just that and turning a school district around while that Talent May well be sitting in the room with us it may also be somewhere else we need to cast as wide net as possible I realized it was probably too late in this process to RSE this decision but I felt it was important for the board to hear this it may be that the perfect Cy was within the board's reach Beyond its Vision second I want to address the distressing situation where for at least the second year in a row there is no summer school available Middle School to go the district official while faing two more classes might mean that we can go to the Great Dance promotion ceremony all students are expected to go on a high school Jun this is an extreme disservice to students on many levels while some students like my amazing daughter who I'm so pleased for and proud of to see your recognize tonight for many accomplishments are trans motivated to learn others are not but due to a diagnosis of neurod Divergence or otherwise they need extrem factors to motivate them to succeed some these kids are very but they know that if they do the bare minimum that it doesn't matter that's all they need to do and not only that if you think about it it probably seems to them that they don't matter after all what's the point we're failing to give them or the teachers that teach them the extrinsic motivation to F those success even wor of the students who are not doing who were working their hardest and it's still not enough for them to be able to understand the work in pass the district is simply pushing them forward too not preparing them to succeed when I express my wores about son who's in the former group I'm told in serious tones that he should be forewarned that high school will be different to that I say it may well be too little too with that comment I also see that the district is failing me as a parent since the day my children entered School I've had the school districts back I've had the teachers back if there was a call home there was a consequence at home yet when I needed the district to have my back to give my son and others like him the additional motivation to do well and really the most basic consent in School Passing I left hanging I'm apparently to be I'm apparently to be it's apparent that I'm to be sued by the fact that it this District policy not to cons students lesson a 50 a grade which ensures that even more students who shouldn't pass do I can still hope that maybe it won't be too little too late but his intelligence alone will be enough to bring them up to speed and reset the tone but for those who the district is pushing forward but little chance to catching up it certainly is too little too late at the high school information session this spring parents retreated to the horrifying statistic that 1 to two years ago 26% more than one and four of our freshman did not have enough credits to become sophomores I.E they did not pass enough classes by the end of their freshman year to rise to their sophomore we're also told that moving successfully from nth grade to 10th grade was highly correlated with whether a student completes High School all is any anyone looking Excuse me yes three minutes is almost up okay is anyone looking at how many of these 26% do not pass sixth seventh or eighth grade what are we doing to our children and even to students like Gabrielle who work hard pass the dist district is sending the wrong message as well on the same level they are being told that what they do doesn't matter everyone gets a trophy everyone moves on I hope as we address in many aspects of the budget crisis that face this District we look at the issue both a funding perspective finding money from middle school summer school and more importantly they we looking at the message that we are sending moving kids forward when they are not ready thank you thank you for bringing your concern to the board and okay three [Music] minutes cannot hear you at all good evening my name is junor School part [Music] of excuse me can someone fix the microphone we canot at all you got to get closer to the mic and speak [Music] louder the purose of is and Avil we came together because weol anded stud [Music] and in 2024 we as all students in class High School to complete Club design 356 students who are enrolled responded to the Ser that's over 50% of multilingual Learners in Esa classes to responded to our reading interest of these students over 70% reported that they enjoy reading in their free time in addition many students reported that they prefer to read in other languages than English therefore to promote reading for pleasure and to provide students at De high school with book in all languages we decided to to buy books that we will then make available to our student as a result of our efforts we were able to raise $880 we are here tonight because we wanted to highlight the effort and dedication of the students in the multi book grp thank you for your time and for all that you do on behal of all students in our scho dist [Applause] uh good evening good evening everyone my name is I'm a teacher at ESL teacher of den high school and just for some of the students uh uh us ESL students who as they said uh they saw a need in their school they actually uh similar to a Capstone project they identified a need which is uh although they're learning English they want to continue reading for pleasure in their own languages so we have a wonderful group of students MLS who got together and they raised the money $880 which they are going to use to purchase books and and and to make available to all the students so I do want to uh them they were very nervous we've been practicing um so I I recognized uh their effort and their desire to come up here and share that with you uh I also want to say I've been as you've seen me I've been coming to the board meetings on a regular basis and I was not expecting this but every time I come here I hear all the wonderful things that all our students are doing and and advocating for and it's just so inspiring and I want to thank you for giving that opportunity to young people to share with you their concerns and what they're doing with that I would like to um extend an invitation um uh tomorrow uh night as you all may already know is a ESL awards ceremony at Dan high school starts at 6 o' uh we have over 160 students uh and Ms who have attained a GPA of 3.0 in three consecutive quarters who will be recognized in addition uh we have six uh ESL students who participated in the AP Spanish independent study program for multilingual Learners again uh they met every Wednesday for this whole Academic School year from 2: to 4: to prepare for the exam and they just took it last Thursday they too will be recognized tomorrow evening so if your time allows we would love to have you here and celebrate us all the wonderful things that are happening at DHS and in our again thank you for before you leave I would just like to say on behalf of the board thank you and uh thank you for bringing the young people forth to express themselves and I know sometime we you know we are adults and we want to listen to We just wanted to hear the good words that they were saying and we appreciate you saying the good words and making them feel comfortable to come here because we don't get that all the time and we certainly appreciate that thank you so very much thank you they've been asking me I've been meeting with them to practice pronunciation they they I appreciate all their effort and some of the other members coming out here tonight to support thank you thank you thank [Applause] you we moving on down our agenda consent C Mr Janelle make a motion that the Board of Education we need to hear you Mr give you a microphone again I make the motion that the Board of Education approve the consent Cal exhibits 24-18 and 24119 as recommended and in accordance with motion made by Mr janelli could I hear a second to the motion second um second by Louisa are there any discussion on the consent Cy seeing none all in favor can I hear I I oppose motion so we have anyone from the education staff here tonight our students anyone from DHS Ace sorry [Applause] good evening of M cabinet community members thank you for allowing me to represent and speak on behalf of the Alternative Center for excellence on Saturday May 11th from 1:00 to 4:00 we held a barbecue to appreciate Jo p and a we had guest speakers including former staffa Mike Chapman members from the old Association and the Brian Cody brothers and sisters Foundation there was music pain painting in alni 10 hamburgers and hot and a merch 10 thanks to everyone who attended the event um to support family Ace Ace would like to extend an invite to Cabinet to the ace graduation on June 11 5m at the aori a special thanks Toby for allowing us to hold our special event in our Auditorium Ace po accompanied by danela ESO and Diana Fe in Washington Connecticut during the H they for talk texting or music in order to listen to the sounds of nature and what they heard and saws will share their work and have this is the 201 asy DJ Jimenez and Alissa vac will be taking 15 students to the annual whitewater rafting trip up the Hudson River in Upstate New York this out Adventure event is much anticipated and will be a wonderful example of exper fial learning for outdoor adventurers the students believe a going stay May 29th and on Friday May 31st Ace coffee house on Thursday June 6th from 5:30 to 7:30 we will have our 21st annual Ace coffee house we begin with Burger refreshments and fellowship the highlights of the evening are the student poetry readings and musical performances we meet at the pavil at Park all are welcome thank you for letting us share the special opportunities that are happening a great great end of the school year does anyone have any questions no thank you you're welcome have a nice [Applause] evening we have rep from Dan High School okay good evening my name is and I'm from G high school as president of board of governance B um so basically from past we've had AP testing which was wrapped up last week we've also had spren sports that are currently wrapping up and the ones that are moving on are entering their championships season um our last principal's breakfast was May 16th in person in Harris Cafe which gred an attendance of 25 people we recently had Teacher Appreciation Week where there was a PTO staff breakfast for appreciation Nurses Week where students appreciated teachers with various projects uh as well as May 13th we had NHS inductions 75 Juniors were inducted to be in NHS for their next last high school year your Senior Pro senior prom is this Friday in the Amber Room and Junior Prom was last Friday I believe um May 10th in Portuguese Center their theme was Hollywood and our theme is gods and goddesses for the senior prom um Junior Prom had around a 275 attendance I believe and senior prom should be more around the 600 mark As for more fun events we have cot Festival June 1st at DHS and we have a lot of upcoming senior events um we get out of school June 5th for seniors our graduation is June 13th and before that we have June 3rd our senior award Night By Invitation where 92 seniors are being recognized for their achievements at De High School on June 10th we have our C down distribution June 11th through 12th we have graduation practice um June 6 we have the senior barbecue and June 14th will be the last day of school for the rest of DHS other than seniors we would DHS would like to invite all of you guys to our graduation on June 13th if you're interested um it'll be at 5:00 p.m.

[Music] la [Music] pap [Applause] [Music] Happ [Music] talk min you [Music] oh [Music] the la [Music] a [Music] d [Music] [Applause] [Music] la [Music] [Applause] [Music] la [Music] la [Music] w la oh [Music] a [Music] l [Music] a e e e [Music] the la a [Music] la a n [Music] oh [Music] la [Music] the e e e over [Music] good evening parents family members students staff and dignified guests welcome to the class of 2024 Cyprus High School commencement [Applause] ceremony my name is London cter and tonight I will be your Master of Ceremonies today is a special day and when we are all excited to celebrate together this ceremony is both a joyous and solemn occasion so please let us remember to be courteous to those around us we need to be respectful to our seniors during the ceremony so please remain seated while filming or taking photos please no air horns or noise makers and please remember to keep your recording device at a chess level to not impede the vision of others around you please also keep all the aisles and walkways open throughout the ceremony today's ceremony is being live streamed and will remain on the district's YouTube channel to view at your convenience at this time I believe us in the Pledge of Allegiance after the Pledge of Allegiance please remain standing for our national anthem who will be which will be sung by senior Rachel Nan [Music] please place your right hand over your heart ready begin I pledge allegiance 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 please remain standing for our national anthem which will be sung by Rachel nn oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we H at the Twilight last gleaming who Sprout stripes and bright stars through the p roll fight or the real parts we watch we're so gallantly streaming and the rockets are red glare the bones bursting in air G prove through the night that our FL was still there oh say does that star spangled B yet way or the land of the free and the home of the pra [Applause] thank you Rachel everyone please be seated before we introduce our distinguished guests we would like to take a moment to honor and remember a cherished member of the Anaheim Union High School District family trusty Anna L piery who recently passed after a valiant battle with cancer trusty Pier's dedication to education and public service began in 1968 and she spent over 37 years nurturing the minds of Young Learners promoting educational excellence and advocating for our community today in each of our graduation ceremonies we have reserved a seat symbolically for trusty piery this is a tribute not only to the graduation she Faithfully attended year after year but also to her indelible impact on our community and the lives that she touched let us remember and honor truste Anna El piy and her enduring Legacy of kindness dedication and [Applause] service I would now like to introduce our distinguished guests Miss anarie Randall tro president of the Board of Trustees Miss Jessica Herrero assistant CL of the Board of Trustees Mr Brian O'Neal member of the Board of Trustees Dr Jaren freed assistant superintendent of Educational Services Mr Brad Jackson assistant superintendent of human resources and miss Nancy nen assistant superintendent of Business Services we would now like to take the time to thank our principal Mrs Jennifer Brown and our assistant principals Mr Eric tario Miss Janna COV are Mr Joseph bordwine and Mrs Mary Joe [Applause] Durkin in addition we would like to thank our teachers and counseling staff which includes Miss Mary Benford Miss Carrie vaugh Mrs Diane kamamoto Miss Amanda louu Mr Oswaldo herado and last but certainly not least our senior class counselor Mrs Anita Gaston [Applause] all who have worked hard to make sure we made it to this moment today our first Speaker today is Aiden Houston good evening family friends staff in the Cy graduating class of 2024 I'm Aiden Houston and it is my absolute pleasure to be up here today not only reflecting on these past four years but to encourage Us in this next chapter for some of us today's a very very sad day we're leaving everything that we know and we're taking this next step in our life others it may be the day we've been looking forward to our whole life you did it whatever your beliefs may be we are connected since today is the day that we launch into this next era we take this next step in our lives and we finally move on these past four years have been nothing short of abnormal we've lived through a pandemic and everything that have come with it right while it may not feel like it seniors we've only had truly two real years of high school nevertheless these past years will be remembered wearing these wonderful colors every Friday rushing the football fields after football games filling the stands at basketball games and cheering on anyone who's wearing these wonderful colors orange and blue on the stage field or even court or those late nights studying to get the grade that we wanted or joining that club or going to prom or any other event that ASB puts on there'll be nothing like these four years ever again centurions however let us not dwell on this this is the day to be filled with joy we have now been equipped and made ready for the real world let us not forget the valuable lessons and what we have learned here at Cyprus we have learned how to better communicate and collaborate think critically and creatively but most importantly to show character in addition we have taken these classes that have granted us the opportunity to walk this stage today so whether you're at the top of your class or barely just getting by I am proud of you and Cyprus is proud of you we celebrate you all [Applause] today now with this all being said the time is now we have been equipped with everything to battle this world we will not be doing the world we'll be doing a world in Injustice by not giving it our all in any path that we may take whether you're going to be the next Tik Tock star Bill Gates Michael Jordan or just a great and caring person we must always remember that the time is now that we are to serve yes success Fame and money are great but they aren't fulfilling always keep an eye out on how you can help serve this world love one another in this world and place others above yourselves always the time is now that we are to let go and let us not look at this like we are leaving rather we are launching into this next chapter thank you God bless thank you Aiden at this time I would like to introduce our very own Cypress High School choir who will be performing how do we say goodbye for e how do we say goodbye when we never wanted to end why can't we just pretend there'll never be a good for Farewell My friend why must this be the end one day we'll meet again till then we say goodbye we have a cation just singing for you you insir cons you all know [Music] We Say Goodbye will we never want it to end we just Goodell meet again let goodbye yes we say [Music] [Applause] goodbye thank you choir our next speaker today is Faith Wong hi there are a lot of ways I could introduce myself today I could say my name is Faith long I'm the tallest person here and yes I did do my own Nails thank you very much there are all these things I could say about myself but the only identifier that matters here tonight is that I am a part of Cyprus High School's graduating class of 2024 so to the class class of 2024 we have been on this wild journey together from a freshman year entirely online to the long nights trying to finish homework and the chaos of trying to make friends we have been through it all in a lot of ways this graduation feels like the end of a long and hectic book but graduation is not the end of our story to borrow a quote from our school's dance teacher Mrs Fenton we work hard today so we can be perfect tomorrow and we have worked extremely hard so let's look forward to tomorrow the time is now to chase our dreams the time is now to take chances the time is now to start the next book of Our Lives I'll admit the future is daunting some of us don't know what we want to major in next year much less we want what we want to do with the 60 some years of the rest of our lives but as Mr her has told us right now is way too early to give up granted Mr was talking about not giving up and turning in an unfinished essay after only trying to write for about 5 seconds but I think we can use our critical thinking skills from all those dbqs to apply his nugget of wisdom to tonight so let's chase our future with ambition and enthusiasm when faced with opportunities take them you never know when something intimidating can turn into something amazing like Mrs Espinosa's 10hour long homework assignments turning into extra credit don't give up when difficulties are rise if we made it through high school I think we can make it through anything no one says our futures will be easy but they are ours so as we're sitting here tonight let's thank our loved ones who have encouraged US during these crazy four years let's thank our teachers who have encouraged us and helped us graduate today and most of all let's look ahead with excitement because class of 2024 our time is now thank you [Applause] thank you faith I would now like to introduce our principal Mrs Jennifer Brown ladies and gentlemen distinguished guests faculty family and friends and most importantly the outstanding graduates of the class of 2024 it is both a privilege and a profound honor to address you today on this momentous occas we are here to celebrate not just your academic accomplishments but to usher in your future that is brimming with potential and promise your time is now I stand before you not just as your principal but I've personally witnessed your growth into accomplished citizens of the world as someone who believes deeply in the power of Kaizen a f philosophy about small consistent changes that lead to substantial and sustainable Improvement movements I can say this class is a shiny example of Kaizen as you step into the world beyond our school Gates your time is now to continue to embrace Kaizen applying it not only to your personal and professional lives but also to your relationships and communities your time is now to apply the multitude of life skills that you learned during your four years at Cyprus to guide you through the complexities of the modern world your time is now to apply critical thinking by questioning analyzing and never settling for the status quo just as we strive for Kaizen let your minds be ever curious and questioning driving continuous Improvement in your every end Endeavor your time is now to be the innovators of Tomorrow use your creativity to solve problems and bring forth solutions that no one thought possible remember Innovation is not a moment smart spark but the Relentless pursuit of the new and the better your time is now as expert communicators to bridge the world you articulate your ideas with Clarity and conviction whether you're leading a team building Partnerships or standing up for what's right your powerful voice will be your Cornerstone your time is now to apply your collaboration skills you do not exist in isolation the challenges of of the world are complex and require Collective action build teams Forge alliances and remember that together you are stronger your time is now to show compassion and kindness your character is the essence of all that you do and all that you are be known not just for your achievements but for your integrity empathy and resilience stand firm in your values even when faced with adversity your time is now this is not just a ceremonial phrase it is a call to action it is a recognition that the world awaits your talents your passions and your dreams it awaits your drive to improve your commitment to learn and your courage to leave lead so as you step forward from today remember that every small step you take is part of a larger Journey towards Improvement and Excellence each day offers a new opportunity to be better than you were yesterday with the foundation you've built here at Cypress high school and the connections you've forged you are more than ready to take on this challenge go forth with the courage of your convictions and the assurance that you are ready to make your mark on the world remember your time is now congratulation graduates of 2024 thank you Mrs Brown Class of 2024 we have arrived at the moment you all have been waiting for dignitaries who will be presenting diplomas to our graduates please take your places on the stage Mr Kevin Dole and Mr Mike kley will read the names of the class of 2024 graduating seniors please respect each of our graduates and hold your applause until all names have been read I'll do my best London couter Faith Wong Aiden Houston Alexandra Potter Sarah shawa Inari gagos Aon Jung Sarah vodka Jim and Cha Audrey Clark Brandon Kim Angela Pedroza Jonah Kim Ethan Campos Emma magai Uriel Ramirez Michaela baldonado Adam castanza jayen choy Madden dumadag Juno Kim Ryan Novak Harry Kim Nathan Julian Bergos Kenneth in Jacob Lee Shan Kim Adam Lee dumi gashing Isaiah Park Kisha Park Andrew Kim Laura Ocha Taha bji Haley Kim Shish vishu rajes Kumar Camille isar Yash Gupta Shayla Tren Sai tja Su Robie qu fan Aris sunar Dylan [Music] fam Genevie Ruiz Savannah Elizabeth Johnson Missouri Bill wi Jody Christine Ramos Roy King Nikki Haw Salis sha krie Patel Kelvin win Gabriel agar Zachary runan ashm poolu Ireland young Isabella Chen Matthew fona Lena Del Rio fam tree Tran huatai arando alkazar nen Ortiz Lise Jazelle Rios Penelope Salas Isaac web Caleb frodin Timothy Kim Kayla Octavio Matthew Salvador Cervantes Isaac Lee Tanisha gell Ryan Lee Amanda June galante Chuka o o oogo Giovani weedon William swales Sarah delatte Troy groover Ali Jones Austin Garza Caleb y Michael Lee Connor McAn Aaron [Music] Nam Dakota Benson Leonard Lee Jonathan Jimenez Kyle Sue Cohen doe aab fadul Kurt figuroa Matt Arvin maitar Santiago daras Andy hansu Cho Rachel win Jonah Shin laa [Music] olon David Jew Elaine kma Elliott you Rocco berat Larin Ji Delila Dila shayen NN basil konia jadeline Harker Jamie Taylor Megan gang Caitlyn migs Ray filana K Cade Archer sophy Maderos Elise Jennifer ly Samantha Calderon Olivia Jackson Fiona Wong mateline yunding Lena Connor Addison Tang Dominic Ramos Sophia trotz Patrick MC George Joey Martin Timothy deanan Noah freus Jonathan ing Daniel Kim Bianca Tavarez Aiden butcher pra nagapon Ryan trong Diane M Ryan Yang Janine Kim Jake ferado Joseph pay Tyler Fernandez saion Hong Emily Alexander Aaron Yang Chelsea Williamson Ethan wi Jack [Music] Sims Dominic Moy Vincent Lee aore nitton Kumar Eugene Choy Christopher daners Felix Tran Jason ho Selena T Rachel West Hanna Wang sue Kim Emma W Maricella Rodriguez NAA Denny Ricky Williams Kayla fouy Hull ROK Jessica Paul Cambria Stevens Haley Marsh Sebastian agilan Brittney da Michael hubard Jenna win Aiden fam Nicole villagr ner Jake ponv Nema Ado Elliot lemonier Isabelle Rush Owen iau Riley zabala Connor Summers Brena Rubicon Daniel Tran Addison Osborne Caesar [Music] Sorano Chloe Franks or orando Rodriguez Roman Jackson Paige Shavers Isabella kabo kin [Applause] Flores Bella horta Cabello Jamie pontus Hazel cabol Sid chattergy Alexis Davis Malak swedan iset mag Ryan calvario Jenna Mir Ryan Yun Tiffany erina Diane Lee Gabby salorio Isaiah Corona yoseline Medina V Rush Alexia paw Delany Kang okano sh [Applause] [Music] samur Serenity call Britney [Music] NN kacha Miller Liliana Marcado Sena Thomas Apollo H Giovani V Casio Deon Giani Holloway Ezekiel Almeida khed ham Justin Hazelwood Ahmed fuad Adrien Aras Adam imra Milagros figuro johanes y Juliana Orosco Mike Michael Kim kayn Krebs nille Michaela Ethan Montoya James Manon David O Joshua Beck Mary Elizabeth Cruz Arthur Wong abrina santhan Noah zapon Abigail Rosales alot hassuna Maya Rajkumar Ashley Guzman Michaela Bowman Brent Tang mahel Amir Oscar aido minala Fooda Ian shin Maya labadii Joseph Kim Katherine gerbing Jason fam Chase W TAA rendes Alex Kishi Eugene Park Ariston strong Brian scario Michael Wright Nicholas roll Kaylee Gomez muhamad Salam Sierra Carter Tyler Vernon meline granados kakoa van Taylor monal Leone Brian Flores Brianna Townsend J meta Brianna Holan Ethan Herrera Alexis cardus Aiden Gonzalez Madison Spicer Andrew corletto Evelyn Lura Michaela apoda Destiny Monger Valentina via Royale Leia Madera Megan de de henji Ken Monita CH Haley Newan Annie hush izi Benjamin Shimizu Kaylee wi Elias Munos Haley mukai Daniel Lee Ashlin Guzman Ryan Dietrich Catherine go Sophia Aguayo Ashley JY Chloe piser Evelyn Tran Dy newn Irene Wong shom Dum Jacqueline Lee Albert Vin Rebecca Lee Hannah Jameson Hannah Chung Aubrey dhy Joanne Lee Ava wallrath Joanne Oak Taylor Clen Denning Harmony Park Nam Verma Aaron Kim Hannah castanada Unice Lee Samantha Hopkins Madison rice Bobby Castillo yes mean candal Timothy CU in tasn masley saki murasi natsumi Zavala Sarah Han Liliana lezma Sebastian Gonzalez Andrea Vargas Kia an Teo Sarah CA a shock Samuel Flores Alexis heiger Sayed Hussein daa face off Ivan Gonzalez Maham bani Ani pande Eric mungai Ashna Pai Yani Lee nor Abdul kareim Jimmy r Katherine seevic Isaac Vasquez kaiso Amy harianto jasine eart Lauren Kim hiia Patel Chloe TI Gian Ferrero Naomi [Music] Lee eam muchu eBay Leah leesa Lois Chun lesie Valencia montazuma Aaron Carolina Dion kisley Peralta Grace muan Chan Trinity Ramirez Andrew newn Emily Julian Ivon newn Amilia balam Haley you NASA Cham remas Nazar Aline Elaine Moon Manuel Brito parv prad James win Danielle Maas Frederick [Music] Pereira Angelina Fiero Mina Samir Kelly argum Elijah Loy jasine Riot ding Kenneth Cal Eisley candid Chris Cho Omar KH David Stamper Raad aluni Damian doe Sammy fardon Justin ch Zacharia Abu Baker Jung Wu Lee Zan kesi sha Park Ali Alita a Alexander sapoa Anthony SAU Zachary nebras Dustin Sanchez akar Shake Brady schrom Vincent Hopkins Tyler Cruz Nino Andres Espinosa Brian Ry Brandon Kim Angel Martinez Calvin da Newan Julio Chalino anise asokumar Dior Ki Patrick bada Brandon Payne Alec Gibson Chase Snider Ian Gallagher Kaden Hollenbeck Christian Lopez Ranger Steinberger Ferris sa jacn Hong NAA Ruiz Cameron [Music] Smalls Gabriella lra Joshua breedo Haley Griswald Bradley parsonage Xavier Ibara Alexander swick Anthony carniglia Ryan sevco hakeim alori Brody guest Ali Torres Gavin sing Anthony castorena Justin tiller Anthony gtin Hayden Frasier yahia garosi Nicholas Montgomery Andrew Vega Tessa short parent Jordan Vera Ariana Perry Cody kingry Samantha ricardez Jamal Subler Cameron Vasquez Daniel Joseph banza Aaliyah husi Aiden Rodriguez tyriana Allen Michael Susi Jada Jackson Aiden Calderone MAA CED Grace manbo Kylie Hard Castle Kyla Shotz Karissa Loman Madison Valdez Bruno cerella Emily seho kaoa salanoa Iris Lee SED Abdul nesser Claire haery Ward Al [Music] Kilani Cadence Hayes Matthew choy Isabella zida muhamad Bondi Bond G Juliana pies Jesse molden Luis Mendoza Dev Patel Aiden ascara Jerry kette Savannah Hut Riley Bell Connor Sharon K O Seline you mahogany over Ryan Bustamante anniah Austin Hunter Gilliam Mark Lazaro Abram rumani Zena El sui Michael a pois Serenity Beltrami Parker lungren Mia cabal Caitlyn Jarvis Carly Miller Leila oi Camila May Z Manny Chan Natalia Garcia Mariah Cortez zida Andrea Hernandez Juliana Smith palaran Isabella ceris Ruby Nava Madison nonar nonin marer Aubrey Flores Haley Welch hi Haley G Puna Lauren Nakamura Arian Roy Giana mclen rashelle Vargas Brian Hernandez Rose s Kuman Victor Vasco hadil Abdullah Sebastian Reyes Rihanna inano elazar Garcia Grace ble Leon JN Hernandez Ireland McMillan Sena Courtney kunino Andrea Angela babista Kaylee Persia Collins rutage Cassidy Vu Kayla ceron Trace Oswald Michaela Nicole Jay de Hoya Zachary Nelson Harper johans Floy Miranda Joseph Ramirez toisa CAO jayen Rodriguez Adrien balazar Nicholas ba Tran Gracie Melbourne Nicholas Portugal Isabella Raina Adam shasi qan Lee Kevin Angulo de Lee Evan Smith Riley Johnson Allison ' Conor Jennifer longobardi Calvin harano Jenny NN Brendan Whitten Evelyn Shin yinga woo Ava Gonzalez Damien rali Kira Ingo Vincent doe Chloe shin Angelo Duran Kristen coup Luis Mayorga Jasmine Lopez swam Pand Tanya Haring Leon how I do how I do son okay kazik what I do I I Jason Barnes June sasumi Christina maropis Kevin Flores Valencia Joseph Anthony ARA Nath krampack Steven Martinez jayen chako Kylie Madrid Logan cashio Alexa borha Anna harri Victoria Hernandez Anisha ganji Cassandra Brasa Samantha diasis K kaga Adam Gutierrez Leila Rodriguez Michelle you Elena Linares Claire Lee Camila Velasco yina Kim Jackson Pole Maggie Tran Antonio Lan Zyra Al gizi jelle patas Vanessa Rios Kaye Guama Cassidy Kio Jenna shant Maya chidz Tyler leang Kareem ji Mia Ramos Juliana ruaka m tases Daisy Sanchez Katie Lee Isa meta Timber Gonzalez colani Ortega Liliana Monique Mendoza Alejandro topet Dakota Ulan hi Tower Miller Nathan cardus Don taganas Landon revas Natalia Carell Justin roas Leo Leo aspiro John Garcia Noel Lee Andre Tapia Gabriel Rodriguez Hernan Flores Vincent T doe Joshua CIO Rodriguez PTO Sante Alex Miranda jath Vasquez Dantes Julia hildr Marilyn Ramos Guzman Jade Jos Mia Sno Daren no Mia bribiesca Mercy alides Sophia tenan onx Lopez Nathan Martinez Rebecca bramlet Andrew Nathaniel Evangelista Laura wakayama Chloe Beck Eric Moon Vincent hoe Skyler warmac Chelsea bahina James Lee Sarah Musa Ilia Meli we would now like to acknowledge the super seniors who are with us this evening Mr Craig Herrick Mr Kevin DWI and Mr John Lumberg oh well who who will be finally graduating with the class of 2024 please stand so that you can be recognized you will be missed enjoy retirement Mrs Brown will now present the class of 2024 to the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees class of 2024 please rise it gives me great honor to present the class of 2024 to the Board of Trustees for certification please welcome Brian O'Neal member of the Board of Trustees who will now certify the class as a trustee for the Anaheim Union High School District it is my honor and privilege to officially certify that the students present here today from the class of 2024 have all duly met the requirements of the State of California and have completed the prescribed course of study established by the Anaheim Union High School District students you may now move your tassel from right to left congratulations [Applause] thank [Applause] [Music] you congrats thank you Mr O'Neal please rise for a alma mater the words are printed on the back of your program for you to join as we sing it one last time [Music] a [Music] the [Music] [Applause] graduates please be seated thank you for attending the 2024 Cypress High School commencement families and friends please remain seated until all graduates have recessed out of the stadium graduates please follow our distinguished guests as they exit the stage and Stadium parents family members and Friends our graduates were not notified earlier to meet you at your vehicle after the ceremony remember to take all your belongings with you as you exit the stadium and have a wonderful evening [Applause] [Music] la [Music] [Applause] I [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] la la la la la [Applause] [Music] la [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] oh e e

Spanish teachers and there're a lot so when we shared our requests with our ladies oness April two students ji we have some kids are language classes that relms on these um charts um you're showing CP slh right so that I assum it's College Prep two are and honors can be combined is that um maybe this on the next slide but is that do you have to do the same thing with Spanish classes sear so that's definitely students iners it so it I mean I think on your two slides they do show the same way um so maybe I may made an assumption on the French one that wasn't right you know shows like for example French 2 cp29 and has the breakdown it shows the same way um in the Spanish right CP slh and then but the classes you're say are separated out are not okay so when the kids come out of eth grade and they've taken the language I know that the expectation is they're supposed to be ready for French 2 or Spanish 2 but is does that automatically happen or is there some kind of test to make sure that they shouldn't do French one versus French two um we are not we do not test we just automatically put everybody in two no no I think the teachers make recomendations based on what studies they should be ready for yeah proficiency so there are there are students every year that Middle School teachers might say don't ready they're going into one and so if you can't offer a one then and so that what is that they go Spanish they go to Spanish one okay interested in French Spanish okay gotcha okay thank you which like they're starting over anyway right yes so yeah um so when looking at our numbers we realized we need to take our2 Maybe obvious ouring at the sections that we needing spish teach we are very lucky in the fact have do languages the teer that we already have currently she teach Spanish next year she will teach more French sections than Spanish she toen this year um so you know we're looking at these are the section numbers that we are anticipating for next year num next I don't have it's the last one you don't have it that's it K I don't have another it's the last slide maybe the French there you go okay yeah um so right now French C Hors is 29 students which is a big we have as one section which is a big number especially for an introductory more introductory level class um we know from experience that um an anticipated some of these students um are um you know a couple of the older students again that might transition and um so the number St steady at 29 and we just started running ouru now that we would anticipate and then we havean we also know from experience that the both Spanish and French and the numbers that we get for request do tend to drop quite a bit once we start schuling um because with the twoe requirement students tend to they're making choices around classes they want to take and El that they want to take the langues dropped so that's where we're headed now the to start the year having some discussions about student interestes that we might offer very about not being a one language School langage departments very when we did our survey with students back in December 22 and about what classes were to when you approve a business teacher um you know we asked a question about what other class students wanted to see um in Portugues any other questions no thanks K thank you thanks Kelly and then next up the sixth grade World cultures curriculum are we gonna hear more about that or yeah so I'll have Mike speak to this and Dave if you want to ask some or answer some questions but again part of it is as we look at the current schedule that exists at the middle school we we clearly have to have places for students to go uh we know that the uh French language component isn't sustainable and so what does that look like we we believe in making sure that uh our students are exposed to diverse cultures and so we we had a conversation between the three of us that what are the things that they're teaching in the sixth grade in seventh grade level to be honest with you uh that they could pull into um a class for students and for exposure right uh for an appreciation of diverse cultures and the world cultures class and mik go ahead and Dave yeah from a curriculum standpoint I think what Tina pointed out uh makes this not seamless but easier to do than to just introduce an entire New Concept to our to our students right we have the staff that can do it and they have to a certain extent then incorporating World cultures of the nations in which people speak this language into the curriculum already um so what we will also do is we will use a portion of our summer curriculum um funding to fund um projects for our teachers to write some curriculum towards this so we're going to obviously put put money towards that um and work with them um to to provide them the time that they need to be able to have solid plans to make sure that we're teaching our our students what they need to learn um it's it's going to be an introductory course obviously um I think that you know we're not going to be going so deep but we're going to try to go as wide as we possibly can to really allow them to understand the different cultures of the world and as Dave said earlier this is a great opportunity for us to introduce some of the work that we've done with thei as well to really you know learn how to understand appreciate um the different cultures that are across the world not just Spanish and French um you know I I I didn't get a chance to talk to one of our teachers today but um I I get approvals on a regular basis for teachers who are taking courses well I find it very interesting today that one of our Middle School Spanish teachers um put in for four pgca credit courses um just today all about learning cultures of different countries in South America so she clearly has has talked to Dave and sees the writing on the wall here and she's taking an initiative to go and and take this this course work so it means to me that at least a portion of the population of teacher is jumping right in to to understand that this is a need for us and I think what you also have to consider is that as we look at our numbers coming from mind school right we we recognize during the budget cycle that we've asked for another reading teacher uh at you know the middle school and we've recognized that the fifth grade class coming up there's there's a significant portion of students who need some additional support and those students wouldn't necessarily be you know again part of the world cultures classes or language classes that currently exist in today's model so those numbers again would be significantly smaller uh if you know if we ran the same schedule and structure that we have so we just want to be cognizant of that too uh that we have areas where these students will be going uh in meeting the needs of the kids who are coming from fifth grade into sixth grade so so just to um I think you said this before when you talking Dave but the the so the model is this new sixth grade World culture program and then in seventh grade so kids next year's sixth graders go through this when they get into seventh grade they would have the choice at that point of Spanish or French to the current model but as discussed earlier I think it's something you need to look at the given those numbers you have to be looking at the world language program which means you're looking at the schedule so I think those are things that need to be examined and will be determined by that as how it's run this year yes okay but disc Sur those things are going right in the longer term with these numbers does that like continue to make sense or even like and I don't want to start any trouble here this is just a question but do all um Junior High middle schools have language no I mean I did that's why I'm asking I I I did not have it but I was a very good Spanish student in high school so and again I'm not saying that I'm in favor of getting rid of it but is it something that we have to have if there if we find that there's a something else that we could put in there that might be more beneficial to the entire population there so the answer is no not everyone does and some districts just have one language uh at the eth grade level so to to Dave's point this is a topic of conversation that needs to occur starting in the summer uh where a decision a decision that is made right from a district lens at least at the middle school level by December it's that because it has budgetary impact correct and it has impact for students who are currently in the system I I I'm certainly would never be in favor of denying students who are currently in a specific World Language to not have the ability to continue forth in that language so when we're looking at the high school for instance we have students who are maybe in French one two or three who are underclassman we're fortunate we do have an educator who is certified in both languages so we can sure that those students always have that option right and many districts have may maybe four or five at the high school level options to ask for classes and then you determine if those courses are going to run depending upon um enrollment or you know so so at least at the middle school we're keeping the same structure of the schedule next year for now but we're what we're asking for the school committee approval is to move from the model of having teaching the in the exploratory French and Spanish and it is a curriculum change and that's where it comes into your purview right uh to a world cultures class um for these students coming into sixth grade right so it's two parts there's something that needs to happen now which is that right and then this is the beginning of a longer term conversation uh it's it's been already been a long term conversation right I mean this it's a phase out process so if it is going to be if there's going to be a shift don't use that term because of Mendes okay and there's something phasing in and another one phasing it's not something that you said can just stop right we have kids who need to have the opportunity to finish what they started but couple questions about where we are now so in terms of the world cultures class I I I I'm in favor of the idea um how we've addressed culture in those halfe courses now has been through the lens of countries who speak the languages we're teaching culture when you just use the word culture it can have a much broader definition right in terms of not just languages but religions and all kinds of other criteria so how are we defining culture and what is going to be included in this because I think it I don't want to say it can get controversial but it could it it can be a very wide net and how are we going to cast it what is it do you have you like what is it going to look like so I I wish I had a more detailed answer for you but in a broad sense we're going to be looking at um the what folks celebrate celebrations um uh I I don't see I I hesitate to say religion because we're not going to be looking at religion because but we will in in a certain aspect because you have to talk about that as part of culture so I I I can't give you you know a full good answer right now on that we we've got to develop this curriculum um this summer but it's really going to be looking at celebrations Traditions I I I you know I hesitate to say the word food because that's that's always people just associate that with culture immediately and it sounds like a really singular minded view but it has to be more but it has to be more than that I don't want people focusing on that there's so much this part of it right we want this program to have educational value it needs to be robust right it needs to be rigorous but it's going to incorporate those types of things so will they be will there be more will we have the opportunity to have more conversation about this this summer to give you input as you're putting together the program like I'm thinking I mean I'm guessing you're not going to have more details by in a couple weeks with our next meeting but as together we could we we could because this is again this these discussions were very new for the teachers who have to be who have to be creating this we don't even know if it was going to be accepted so I I know I sound like a politician right now that's pushing this off but it is it's too early for us to tell a fra a framework or an outline would even be helpful just to contextualize by the by summer not tomorrow so that could happen so so there are a couple things right I I want to be clear we have contractual obligations that that we need to meet with regard to our teaching staff in terms of a any change within what they're teaching and and that's critically important it's June 1st so what we're looking at presenting here is is hey are you okay with the framework being accepted that we're moving to this model do I certainly think that the focal point will be on on French and Spanish Heritage and language and culture the answer is yes because that's what our St that's what our staffing exists it doesn't mean that's going to be the only thing and they're not year-long courses sure right so I think you know as we look at the development of the curricula for the that from that lens right then most likely but you can have a very different you know culture in Argentina than you do in Ecuador and so or in Spain or Mexico right or France and Guadalupe like there are so many different ways of looking at the culture that exists within or Haiti right I mean so my guess is with our staff as they look through the summer and look to develop the curriculum they're going to focus on their skill set as well and their skill set happens to be in French and in Spanish and in the culture pieces that are already taught is part of those classes but instead of having it be half culture half language it'll be the culture piece in sixth grade and the language piece in seventh grade okay yeah yeah well I no I well Tina I don't think you can ever teach a language without embedding culture no matter what what grade level at more focus of it yeah yeah but I don't think you can ever again I'm married to a Spanish teacher right who who does this and we talk about this and culture is happens to be embedded in everything they do and every one of our world language teachers does it's not just the language it's art it's music it's food it's religion it's U belief systems um that's all embedded and I think what we're trying to do at least at the sixth grade level is to to build this appreciation for the diversity of cultures and language and yes it will be more focused on the French and the Spanish because that's what the teachers have for the skill set and that and it's for this next year I don't know what and I can't pretend to know what it's going to look like moving forward after next year because I I really think we need to look at the middle school schedule and make some significant adjustments to it yeah and that's fair and but I think that um and obviously once we approve you know a change in curriculum the details of what goes on in the classroom that moves over to your side of the street but I guess also having this responsibility of saying we are no longer gonna um Ashlin does no longer do this and now we're going to do that I guess we just want to make sure that is a fully developed you know and I know you want the same thing to yeah yeah it it has to be so like you know we certainly understand that we're not going to be writing the curriculum for you you know yeah but it would be helpful As you move forward obviously to give us some some opportunity to share our thoughts on what what you're pulling together um I'm in favor of I think it makes sense to to focus it's almost look I don't want to say a slow intro but it kind of is a slower intro into like a broader look you know with the world and helping you know one of the things that we want to help our students be is you know more informed citizens right and so it's a piece understanding different cultures as a piece of that exactly the definition can be so broad right and I know different people are going to have different opinions on what that includes so any um and I'm guessing it'll morph over time too like if the kids are really responding to to like a certain aspect of it then we have the opportunity to to develop I I think there's some flexibility and autonomy that we need to give to our Educators right right and to allow them with their experience and their expertise to have a voice here right AB but you can't have a voice unless we approve that we can do this I mean that's my only struggle with it right do I think in the summer to present to you hey this is where we're headed with this and then get feedback absolutely because there's still time for these Educators to to to do some professional development surrounding this yeah I mean I guess I'd certainly say I actually really like the idea yeah um of the world culturist program particularly from the Dei perspective I think that's in some ways if somebody said you know go back and you're starting from scratch what would you want to do in terms of World Language versus World culturist program I might choose this you know um and so I like that develop I like that direction um I I well I appreciate the practicalities of um people sort of going to what they know a little better knowing what's safe for them you know as to what they've known because what they've been teaching um you know one of the aspects of our former vision statement our current one is global communities right and and so um to me you know I think it's really important to push that right and to have an appreciation of what um Chinese culture or Japanese culture or you know Far East Asia wherever all around the world um and I think the the more we can expose our kids to in terms of different cultures the better agree um I would say that you in terms of sort of how I see our role as a school committee and involving we we do approve curriculum right we have to vote on this or they can't do what they need to do but I really also do feel strongly that um we're improving the sort of program level stuff and it's up to not to Dave but to to Aaron and Mike and Jim and those involved it's staff um to really develop this and I personally don't I mean I'm very interested in the updates and knowing how it's going but I'm not sure that I feel like the committee should have sort of more too much more than the level of approval that we're being asked for I'm not thinking level of approval I'm just share it with us where you are so that we share our thoughts with you we trust you to do your job that's what you're there to do and um for me it wasn't details it's just more the high level like if we're placing a with B to have it be you know on the same level of expectations of the kids and all that other stuff which I'm sure you're going to do anyway but that's what we're voicing because sure we're here talking about it no I think it's yeah yeah but i' certainly agree with with the the direction and the uh suggestion and all that you good Mar quiet on this one well yeah no I'm just absorbing I was thinking too it's just like a great opportunity to link in with other things that we have like performance arts and music and like maybe there's some whoops cross pollination so um you know as a parent of someone who's going into the sixth grade I would you know I'm very eager to hear how it unfolds because I'm sure I'll be hearing about that there's a change right it's just good to understand the outline of what you're thinking to respond to people who ask that's all y absolutely fair so you will probably get the most questions about that than than the rest of us because you're in touch with that if you're lucky right I mean I'm separating my parent brain and my scho brain they they they cross over yeah I'll I'll make a motion to approve the um sixth grade World cultures curriculum as presented second all in favor I thank you done thanks Dave okay M and Kelly yes he he he had the ask on this one hand Improvement plan and handbook and all those together all the good stuff I'll share the screen um handbook is first on the agenda but it doesn't really matter if it's more conven you want to go to the handbook first then go back it's your call no that's how it on the agenda yeah no I understand do you want me to just jump right to the handbook where's Mr Kindle when you need out of your agenda it's really okay all we have to do is approve to flip the agenda a little bit everybody motion to flip the agenda agenda is flipped Kelly all right so starting with updates of our school Improvement plan what you have there is um the underl part there's a link to our Improvement plan I kind of highlighted the things that we worked on this year um if you want to go there and read but so this is just kind of a breakdown the bed areas are action plans and kind just each of them I think have in all of in terms of some time as looking at certaines process I think we have a lot more work to do in that area um but we you know all of our department spent some studies and were consist are made for cles the math vertical team did some work and you know we are going to be having some students take geometry C2 coming are in terms of Contin to look at alternative needs for our students and Contin to see students leaving school without a dioma year last year approved to join the department of high schooling SCH the state year that came together to about ouru specifically we need to for the school and changes because that location all students we got to the end of the year thinking we went into it change for years we did we a lot more out ofms at that we hope to Jessie your approval in terms of St we're excited to bring in our bridge program that we think will help me some of the needs of these students andss AR build processes but you know we going to have kids that maybe are working full during the day I actually was very excited o State when students withraw to send a every year come and to us about options and IGN and just Monday talk to him about these are some things that we might be able to offer next year and to come back in September discuss and terms again looking what is in our offerings stud we this had second year in another which is focused on computer science equ we started that progam really looking collaboration between myself computer science teachers and our school counselors and we started off looking at male female Equity we as a school had already doing for a couple years we joined the program and shifted our Focus this year to different language too so don't feel threatened um by our courses it's really a great place for you and to build some some real life skills the evaluating or not those num increased of our schol head to computer science conference tomorrow and pres work done our busing cles over aw um in terms of social emotional learning I think I've spoke here before about invol the jet program um we have a team that is working with this start college level school they really come in and help School create a vision aat for how to carry out Heth supports we felt like were doing a lot really sped develop vision and we've around our goals areal heines hopefully stocs around when we have school around Health Etc so that's happening we had that part of that plan we talked about Sude that will happen next week we are ad surve geted of inters UC the last couple years part of has supported us that's a threee plan and so next year is our third year the end of the month um we we were I just learned yesterday and we have not met yet our socialm survey that we administered this year we not able to use the um because we' talked a lot about students being sured outp R um in terms of resource management as Pete mentioned earlier we've done you know a lot of drilling this year a lot ofers building um this was our first year having to man sh classroom space and trss in terms ofy High School teachers and that is having on students are doing espe outside of the classroom um we had a great teacher team that took out goal our mear effec shared some Inc resources the STA terms tools that can support students and as well Ong discussions about how do we change what we're doing in the classroom so that you don't have to worry about students and I already spoke a little B about we keeps in school um and finally with C program we started those conversations about our current system that means um around GPA um I will mention you know in that conversation one thing that our language Department in particular has been having conversations and has had some PD recently around efficiency based um learning language andp kind of a different lens I'm teaching World languages that really look at the skills the students need to learn rather than I got an 0 in Spanish too so just can see a question on that one so I I certainly appreciate the the focus on proficiency right as being I that's what we're supposed to be doing right it's not just getting a good grade on a test it's with everything but um how is that necessarily inconsistent potentially with like the weighted or unweighted creating model I can answer that question but I'm okay a model they to maybe next year I'll still be on that site Council and about that if we can get rid of grading all together I'd be happy with that but that's a whole different story talked about the different opportunities for diploma you know we've done some things over the course of the Year where eluc St shared aot discuss ours collaboration SKS graduate ales still there the community service um falls under under this action item H our nth and 10th grade community service day back in October that um I thought was successful I think definitely experience Oran it we want to I anticipate proba change really helped to drive that and really give us an opportunity to do something different with students on that can I ask you a quick question about that I know this this past year the hope I know the students got a survey like would you particip like what would you want to part I don't know I forget if it was what would you want to participate in but or or kind of would you do something on your own or participate in something from the school and I know like you know my son my son in in particular because I just know what he did he said he'd participate in something that the school did so he didn't organize anything outside of school but then there wasn't something that happened in school so do you anticipate having opport o unities that you help cultivate for the students um and then what about 11th graders because if it happens in the PSATs there's no it have you thought about kind of how to address those things so that community service is still something that you know all students are I know it's not a requirement so there's not the impetus to kind of push them to do it but you know the hope is that we're still giving them the opportunity to so have do you specific um I will say we still push out OPP Comm service and we have more opportunities than we probably have students excellent any more question on the plan no I guess the only one I I just have um Jim this is a general question not just the high school one you typically we we get the the Improvement plan for the next year right um around this time or over the summer and I Guess My overall senses to the extent these are all of course tied to the blueprint and the blueprint is a multi-year um are we not necessarily doing updated site um site Improvement plans School Improvement plans sort of for next school year because we're all in these multi-year programs right now or will there be sort of modified documents from each school coming forward so so would I anticipate this in the fall we have modified documents yeah okay yeah I think we've got to sit down as a group so I just asked question yeah so part of our discussion we've got a couple days this summer as an admin team to come together and see where we are I mean everything's predicated upon obviously the Strategic plan but we want to go back and look at and make sure that okay are there certain areas that Kelly Pete and Dave uh really focused on the equity the the resource management Etc what was accomplished what wasn't accomplished what do we need to continue to do in those areas and then bring that back I think we can start the year with that in in years past I think in site councils we would create a new site School Improvement plan I don't know if we're doing that specifically anymore because opposed that we have a you know that blueprint if you will of where we're headed so I think we're supposed to have one from each School correct I'm not saying we won't I'm just saying what I'm asking the principles to do now is to give you an update on what happened this year that with the Improvement but as we get to the fall approve the plan for the next year right they need time to look at the current plan yeah what was accomplished what wasn't accomplished look at the actual strategic plan and say okay here are the next here's the next iteration yeah so yeah just a process question was 2023 to 2026 I just ped out this yeah yeah thank you Kelly that helps yeah same I yeah I know it's the same but I still think we should have to bring it back yeah yep really changes thisy coming out we were all using you know adults and students Alik using technology a bit more I think we went from a place of having an expectation of students not having using their they schol um and I believe that'se appro for school students um and and teachers I think changing their mindset in terms of making students need to have more access to technology you know we've had conversations about different different tools that the provides students social took the hand last year and adjusted the language that has been in there for many years to per to set individual policies around C but really the rest of the language not year with a schoolwide expectation on every classroom is going students areed to put their their not anywhere many of our teachers already were us the adjustment in our language is really about the school so this is the statement that's coming out of the policy we a little more debate tonight which I wasn't expecting counil meeting an hour ago so after left I didn't hear it at all we added what an iPad is again but we still have that end of that first sentence that says without teaching permission because there is a lot of um belief on the part of many teachers the times that they say okay I'm giving you permission right now for this academic reason or for this downon to your pH it this is what our policy has been for many years is that cell phones or any devices should not be used during class which includes study which includes which includes Wellness classes art classes um unless your teacher gives you permission and but you are allowed to have your phone when you're in between classes passing and when you're at lunch um Etc um I am at lunch just about an and a I do think there ation that kids are sitting in the cafeteria at a table looking at their phones and that does not happen they are sitting talking and may sometimes their pH and pH there andon invol we are just the only change so will the expectation be that like every class will have like one of those shoe holders and unless the teacher says you in my class you can use it as a calculator take it out as you need it type of deal I don't think we will get to the point that everyone has one of those holders um our English classes all purchased I think basers that hang of each desk okay right teers want a little more there is concern on some of our faculty part that I I don't take the phone away from a student I have to say the conversations on this topic were really interesting particularly hearing from The Faculty members who go to the site Council and the Deans about some of the things that kids do just to have it with them my my favorite one was the phone case they they have these just extra phone case pieces so that when they're supposed to put in the shoe holders they just put the cone the cas in there it looks like there's something there and they've got the other one hi some yeah burner phone case really it's just a case um yeah it's it's I mean right it's like as I always I've always said to my children if you can use your powers for good instead of evil right and it it was fascinating to hear some of the challenges that they've had well the challenge will be when the legislature changes and actually wres law into place and approves law into place that cell phones are not allowed in schools and that's common that will be forthcoming I believe when I see it I I mean I really do believe it is it's well into the pipeline just going to say there's lots of conversation it and we've been many are just manage it and you know while I understand the anxiet I mean I have it myself sometimes the anxiety of not having your phone on you because you want to be accessible or get directions or whatever uh you know some of the elderly people in the room you know I my whole life I didn't have you know we we made do and we didn't have a phone people who needed to find us found us if we needed directions we found our way you know it's really not we've developed a Reliance on it that you maybe in some situations it's it's been lifes saving but in general you didn't need a phone to get through your life do do you make them oh I was just gonna ask do you make them take their watches off like how does that work because that's the like I can just hear the well I need to watch now yeah right um so yeah I I think um our teachers that have a process where that is their expects isue once the kids understand right they meet the expectation so this just basically standardizes the expectation right that's fine yeah yeah so we have we have to approve the hand the handbook right High School corre for the high school so I'll move to approve the um High School handbook as presented second all in favor hi hi hi done thank you Kelly thanks Kelly okay school committee summer Retreat just an update um we have chosen one specific day uh that we are planning on uh meeting and I just want to confirm can everybody thank that is July 23rd uh it's a Tuesday uh currently at this time um Mark and Lori and I talked a week ago was it Monday or last week um we're going to stick with the one date at this point and if we feel like we need to add something later in the summer uh we'll check our calendars then but it's the war on conference center um that's the one day they actually had available they didn't have the Monday available so we did have two days of back to back that we could have chosen but uh Tuesday was the one day that we could actually rent the CL and we're going to do our very best to keep it on Retreat topics rather than just got to prove this got to prove this do we have like a timer where we each get three minutes when we and then we get C chest clock yes I told Jim if I'm chair I'm going to have to lay down the law a little bit better bring one I just wanted to make sure it's on everybody's it is okay that's a fair enough we're good okay and then next up your evaluation sure um you should have received a document that I shared with you um earlier in the week just in terms of uh the evaluation process uh and I I forget the date we put in there Lori uh when you need all the information um I can pull it up here if you want me to I can find it sum of evaluation right here we said uh by June 5th uh to have the documents back to Lor uh the evaluation will take place on June 12th which is so it's a so you had a week uh before the 12th um and I will have I will share with you and again this is a a challenge for those who don't use the Gmail account the Ashlin um uh school committee Gmail account I will share a folder with each of you with the evidence as it relates to the four goals um and I I typically write a narrative of how I thought the year went uh and whether or not I feel as though the goals were met um some goals will have less evidence uh I'll give an example uh the absentee chronic absentee goal that we set for the high school uh for the reduction in uh low-income Hispanic and high need students uh our data just came back from the state we clearly met all of our goals which is awesome um but that's really just a small piece of it's the evidence right and what I'll share with you is oh by the way we sent 200 letters out to students uh for high needs you know are Hispanic Etc um over three quarters of the year right you took action yeah these are the actions we took it's small evidence and really it's the the date of the show that we met the goal so right um the bigger piece happens to be uh the Strategic plan right we had lots of little goals that we're sharing with you so if you look at what Kelly and Pete were talking about tonight it goes back directly to the the school Improvement plan um so if you have questions on this uh I know Tina Lasher we we sat and talk if you have questions you want to come in and have a conversation about hey you know what about this right Jim's available I'm available for any part of it um and while a week in advance of our meeting is great and if everybody just gets it off their plate fine if for some reason you can't I'm it's also fine as long as it's not like very last minute just because um it's harder than it seems to create The Narrative piece of it the numbers I can just toll you know they are what they are Marc are you familiar with how the whole thing works yes okay I am and I'm familiar from my work experience as well so it looks pretty familiar to my past life yeah so if people need a little extra time that's fine as long as I am not doing it on the day of plus I also like to give Jim the benefit of sitting down with me and Mark or one of us so that he knows generally what's coming at the public meeting um and and H have a chance to give him a heads up which I can't do if it's not done in time generally there's there's no issue with with this group but I'm just because you're new Marcy explaining my process if I at least have a couple or a few days to work on the narrative then I'm good okay but if you can get it done sooner you just you'll be done and it'll be wonderful for you Jim did you already send us the form I did you did okay I did uh yeah and what I'll do is like I said hopefully by Friday if not by the weekend at the latest you'll have a shared folder and again I think we have to understand is when we actually meet with our teachers and we evaluate teachers as well as administrators every single piece of the rubric and indicators and and uh they're not all going to be focal points right it it's sort of like the goals that we set meet specific indicators um and and that's what I'll highlight so so there's a goals component of it did we meet or not meet goals but then there's uh the four standards there's the ratings part of it so it's you know two-part y um and certain areas ask for additional comment uh in particular if the rating is going to be higher than proficient or lower than proficient y uh some explanation is required on the on the Massachusetts state form um and again I for for your just for Marcy's it sounds like you've done this and I just I typically try to be reflective of how I think the year went it's not just the stuff that's happening within the goals but um and we've had these conversations right we opened a new building uh this year and it's not part of the goals it's just part of my job right right but you know it was pretty significant you know the things that we did but um so we're just focused on four little components of it if you will or not little but four comp it doesn't it doesn't cover everything um that is that's why I'm always open if you want to have conversation okay okay good do you have anything to add on by way of um update superintendent's update uh we'll go to mik mik's first um I'll try to be short but have a little bit more than usual today um we did have a professional development day on Friday uh really excited about the work that was done um our esps all met with our Special Education team chairs and they introduced them to the concept of the new IEP and I think it's good for everybody to be aware of that we're going to be doing a lot of work with the new IEP with all of our educator our our general Educators special Educators and teaching staff uh in the fall but we had other plans for our our teaching staff so we decided this would be a good time to at least introduce the concept to our ESP so they're aware of it um all of our teaching staff every every person um in Mendes uh ashon middle school and ashon high school was introduced used to the open Architects dashboard platform it was it was finally our official teacher rollout for that dashboard uh now all of our staff have access to three specific dashboards one is called my student Explorer which you have not really seen but that's the one that collects all of our student data in one comprehensive view so you can view any student but what they were able to do for us is our teachers can see their specific students so they've broken it down using our iPass Tech our iPass technology and to utilize the schedules that we have so they are able to see the students that are in front of them on a daily basis and they can break them down uh by demographics by all the different data that we have um they're also able to see student attendance which is great and they can see combined assessments which is the one that I showed you folks uh which is where we house all the different um Summit of informative assessment data that we provide and what really came of that meeting was some Fant fantastic feedback particularly from our high school teachers who said we need more data on here specifically can we get um just you know as a small example can we get our AP data on this so now I'm working with the folks to improve that dashboard to make it even more impactful um for for our high school folks so I'm excited about what was done I'm not sure if it was the most exciting thing for our staff to take part in but I did get some positive feedback of well this is this is going to be really good for us it wasn't you know the most enjoyable yeah there're going to be some people are track the data yeah right got a bunch of them sitting at the table here and then others who are kind of like but I think they're going to dive in and see and see that it is is going to ultimately really help us and you know just alone talking about uh the fact that we've made our goal for um chronic absenteeism I mean I love the fact that I I look on I see Jim's looking at it every day to be able to track that and no we knew that we passed our goal before the state came out and did it because we can track it throughout throughout the entire year and I will say I mean open Architects was great because there were there were pieces of data that I was like Mike how do we like get the the low income or the Hispanic students because that was really our goal right and so they were really receptive and responsive to hey we're going to add this into as a category so you can actually grab it the data which is great um some of evaluations for all of our uh teachers who are on year two of a two-year plan as well as all of our teachers who are our one-year plan which is our teachers who are nonprofessional status all of those those evaluations were completed and delivered to those staff members uh principles and other evaluators are currently working on our formative evaluations for folks who are on year one of a two-year professional learning plan uh those will be due on June 1st uh we did have I'm not sure if I talked to you about our third and final um collaboration of admin administrators where we did our last walkth through I just wanted to let you know that that's that's part of our goal process we did our third one uh and it was great because our our Focus throughout the year really ended up turning into um a calibration to ensure that we're all utilizing student impact statements and that's where we kind of ended up Landing you know we we started this with the idea of calibrating but then we had a really broad approach and we ended up focusing there and and you know as I review some of these evaluations it's it's wonderful to see that every you know I was so far you know 95% of our commendations and recommendations are including these student impact statements that really are the most important thing when you providing feedback to our teaching staff uh and finally um I thought that last year we were going to set the record but this year we have even more we have 40 uh 40 summer curriculum proposals for me to review um from our staff um I had a feeling there'd be a little bit more because the um the price went up a little bit on on on the on the the hourly wage um but it's exciting there's evidence that changing those numbers sometimes has a result but it's exciting to see some of the work that folks want done we are in the early phase right now of prioritizing those lists and seeing what actually needs to be done um you know there are things that are going to take a higher priority than others for instance the world cultures curriculum is going to be the top priority um there's going to be some other work that's going to be done at the middle school that's directly related to the schedule and some things that we have to incorporate that will take some precedence um but you know I was really excited to see a variety of different um proposals we've got some world history we've had Ela at every single level um Sarah and her staff wanted to do some significant work at paway um so there are a number of things it's going to be a long a long meeting when we meet with all the principles to sit and prioritize and I plan on beginning that process early on Monday I'll I'll meet with every principal to say you need to prioritize with with me the um proposals that came from your building and then we'll get together as a group and we'll and we'll kind of fight it through because there is a finite you know amount of money that's how many do you know how many you can fund or does it depend on hours does each one take a different amount yeah each one takes a different amount um so you know think giving you the range the The Proposal that asked for the most was um just over $5,200 the proposal that asked for the least was um about 200 something so it's it's a huge it's a huge range and and what we do try to do is we we try not to say no but we Tred to say yes you can have a portion of it um but with that many this year we could we may have to deny some or push some off and make it possible for folks to have some professional development time during the school year to do some of this work what do we budget for that type of work um it's it depends on how much I have left uh after the after the cycle so it's part of the PD budget um so right now it's we should be able to fund a majority of it um but it's part of the PD budget so we do have a we do have a good amount left because I was fairly I was fairly conservative this year so I think we should be okay excellent J uh just a few things one um I want Chris just to mention uh his new role at the state level uh I recently joined the board of directors for masbo wow congratulations Chris excellent congratulations it's been a wonderful professional experience for him he talked to me probably month even a little more than that ago about the opportunity to join the board uh which I think you know any you know opportunity to to be a part of a professional organization which relates directly to your job is critically important sure and it's it's a great recognition I means you you get on that because your colleagues think you're worthy of being leader in the organization ation and congratulations well done K yeah it's great uh so a few things one um we are certainly well into the hiring process for next year uh for faculty and staff um we're continually tracking that um as you know as part of the budget cycle um we you know budget with anticipation of savings so um I'll go on record and say Mr Regan is one of my favorite people right now um and we'll leave it that um he's he's doing a really great job of hiring and and uh um the I I encourage principles to be done the process by the end of June so we don't have to worry about it over the summer inevitably we'll get some folks in the summer who move on uh decide to retire whatever it might be so um we've been working diligently with the custodial and maintenance negotiations uh so Chris Mike John um Murray myself and and their board um I I hope if all goes well um we can have something to you uh for the June 12th meeting um that's the goal anyway you know Jim that just reminded me that um there's a part of we ratified yeah from is that on your list of things I figured you can well it's your report so if you want to report out we ratified four of the contracts um uh so the uh teacher um the esps education support Personnel nurses and administrative assistants all those contracts uh were ratified by their respective bargaining units uh and at a meeting um a couple weeks ago uh the school committee uh did approve those contracts um as ratified by the union um and we do have portions of that up on the website already uh in terms of the salary scales because we have found it helpful uh when interviewing folks who ask us uh you know what what does it look like uh and I can certainly tell you we've had some highes um new hires that looked at our salary scale and were impressed with it and therefore chose us because of the way we uh structured that we would hire at the Second Step um immediately so that it's been very positive um guys yeah no it's it's it's it's good um and I think the last thing is when we talk about Retreats uh Mike and I have had conversations um to really on board uh our admin team this summer uh with a a lot of different um components to um where we're headed as a district I mean we might be talking about World Language but from a budgetary standpoint uh we've got Aon lelle coming on board um as the new principal of the middle school and what are the you know ways we can support her um you know yeah the new building at Mendes is open but what's now what's next for that building in terms of okay let not focus on the building itself but Jenna what do you need uh to move that that forward um the building forward so that's in we originally said July but it looks like we could probably do two days in August now that are um set aside specifically just like we might do for a retreat for the school committee uh so that's exciting um other than that um I think that's all I had graduation coming up it's our first Friday graduation um in in na history High School history it's the seventh um did you missed that one oh it's coming out you will also be getting uh on June 12th uh that's the night we'll be recognizing our retirees um typically we do um some punching cake um I had that in my calendar for today and showed up at 5:30 to find out there's no June 12th uh downstairs um Gretchen will be sending out an invitation uh to folks um and uh ordering up the the trays if you will that we typically present to those folks uh we do two we do have two retirees at the beginning of next year so October and November like Dave is one of them um I've invited them um to to be a part of the conversation so they don't have to come back next year um and uh and go from there I think that might be all I have for you good thanks and without Paul we're not going to do warrant approvals do you have gifts and donations I do um Ohio pile prints $27 for gifts and donations miscellaneous uh local area Girl Scout Troop $300 um for a picnic table uh at the Warren school it's awesome uh Mike and I saw when we go visit the schools like oh wait a minute uh there's a picnic table out there and we saw actually probably on Friday um the uh nutrition services staff was out there having their lunch at the picnic it was a beautiful day and they were like oh this is awesome which school is that at waren War yeah it it was done like I Believe by a group of sixth graders because I as I saw I recognized all the names said I know these Nam that's awesome um ashy PTO uh donated $4,000 for the David mes grade five field trip uh and various vendors and orders $460 for gift cards uh for the ultimate frisbee ultimate Jeopardy um activity so for $ 4,762 7 Dee move to approve the gifts and donations as presented second all in favor I that's it excellent all I have for you okay minutes from the 24th anybody have anything motion to approve the minutes on the 24th April 24th 2024 so moved second second all in favor I I uh member updates Marcy I don't have any yeah that's okay that's okay um last week there was an ashack meeting that I was able to attend um and you know it's always a good discussion it was a a tough though there wasn't as many parents there this week I think it was just a tough week last week for for parents they were actually supposed to in the second half of the meeting they have um like their executive meeting basically when Britney and I leave and they were going to have their elections but there weren't enough people there so they decided to to move it until their next meeting but um you know the the questions I was asked you know were about the budget and where did things stand and so they had previously you know we had pre Britney and I both previously shared an update let them know that it passed as presented so we were good to go they were also you know happy to hear that um you know the the teacher and ESP contracts uh were approved um which you know something that they had advocated for was an increase in Pay specifically for esps um you know I think of they have many of those parents have felt the challenges with Staffing in esps and so um they were happy to hear that they move forward that's always a productive discussion good um I'll just share that um we had site Council high school earlier today um conversation that I left early because I thought we had a retire reception here um but um they had um our athletic director come in and talk to um parents in particular but but everybody about some of the things that they had questions about um so Kevin was with us for an hour and 15 minutes and um the one thing I guess I would share as a takeaway for for this group um is the concerns about space um the concerns about um so a number of things that we've already talked about I mean that the battle between um Town organization School organizations control over the fields the maintenance of the fields and condition of the fields um were all themes that they got a lot of discussion there a lot of questions around that and I will say I thought Kevin did a a a phenomenal job um talking about those issues and those challenges and I was able to provide a little bit more history than than he had of course because it's been going on for forever um but just you know wanted to voice that concern you know as is clearly one that was um prevalent for people who had kids who have participated in athletic programs and um I would commend Kevin also for sort of freely acknowledging sort of the the things he might have done different in terms of field maintenance and dedication repairs but um I think you know he really just um present himself very well in terms of that that forum and um showing leadership and how he wants to move things forward but resources and resource condition I think is a significant issue and not that we don't know that already but that was uh that was what we ended up talking about for hour 15 minutes today among among other things really Athletics but but um that was the the biggest one excellent uh since I've seen you last I have been to the Warren site Council and I participated in the um Driscoll scholarship selection so that's all all I have and then I I did and Mark too you can weigh in want to say a few things about action items because it's always on our agenda Mark and I talked a little bit with Jim at our last agenda planning about trying to you know maybe be more forward thinking about some topics that we can bring forward or maybe even in the way that we organize our agenda and just a reminder to everybody that anybody can bring an action item forward either at the meeting during this period of time or you can email me or Mark you know outside of this meeting saying like I'd really like to explore X and I'll even say you know before we even got to this part in the agenda at one point during the meeting I was looking over at Chris I'm like poor Chris has to sit through these meetings he never has to like say a word um it must be miserable unless we have like a financial I'm sorry that you have to put up with this but um but you remember like back in the day Barbara would do like the quarterly reports and stuff like that you know so I don't know if there's like just anything along those lines that we want to hear more about like obviously we know you're taking care of business or whatever but we don't have to wait until we're voting on the budget to do like a deeper dive into something so just all of us I mean even Chris if you have something that you think would be of interest um or if um and we'll do a lot of this brainstorming at the summer session but um just you know thinking out of the box about something there's some things that go on like every September we're going to deal with X every May and June we're going to deal with you know site counsel reports and um and there's a bunch of things that happen in between that just have to happen when they happen but just falling into into a pattern of that without um you know just for all of us to be thinking about what could we do yeah what I what I shared with Lori on this one we talked about it was certainly when when I first came to the school committee it felt like every meeting there were a list of seven action items that we were that were coming up and it wasn't necessarily for the next agenda but it was these are things that during the year we wanted to make sure we put in and we kind of started with all right that's a February issue this is a December issue what have you um one of the things I've been thinking about just generally and was kind of interesting to know the lawyers thinking about similar type of issues was um one of my fears is that I think generally speaking we feel like we do a decent job as a school committee as Administration and and the districts going in the right direction and and doing well um I always worry about being self-complacent with that stuff and and sort of how do you make sure that you're you're not that you're looking at things accurately and so one of the things that I'd love to find some time for myself to do is is just poke around at agendas from other school committees see what kind of things they're talking about you know what what kind of things that that might say gez you know they're doing something really interesting in Medway and um and things that we can bring back and you know maybe they're right for us maybe they're not but um so that was kind of part of the the discussion that we had was trying to think about those things to you know maybe slip through the cracks of our blueprint um things that aren't really strategic at that level but might be things that are worth a conversation or an action item so um you know I think certainly we were yeah thinking about that as maybe something we talk about in more detail at the at the retreat but I just want that context sorry I'm going to cut no one thing I think you all see more of next year is um policies coming forward like we you know Paul had the building and we had some stuff going on this year by um you know generally there's a couple policies up for review or reconsideration or something so I think we need to get better about just making sure our policies are what we want them to be and up toate and you know that's a job of this policy subcommittee to bring them forward but we need to we need to in fact do that instead of just responding when a situation comes up so that sort of thing the TRU yeah so that's what we have to say about action I think I think what started to happen from my memory is like we would have this list of things which most ended up being summer topics so we would read the whole list and we'd be like that's for summer that's for summer that's for summer right and so I think we stopped putting the items on the list um but at at the same time I think it's a reminder to to just don't let something fall off I think there were some of those um there were also things that we we really all because there's been so much stability in this committee for the most part we felt conf they were no like Jim's evaluation I think might have been something that went on there oh like in December somebody said well when do we do Jim's you know midyear evaluation which by the way we screwed up and didn't do this year um so maybe there was something should have AC right but there was there was some of that stuff um the other example you used about looking for quarterly financial report I was a point that Aon had brought point at one forward at one point to say like you know just being responsible as as the Fiscal Agent for the schools getting an update on a quarterly basis is how we're doing against budget where the problem areas things like that um and so some of that fell into a good routine and then sometimes you lose that with changes and things so sort of just trying to be as I think Lori said right you know more Forward Thinking and moving things forward rather than having them come to us first yeah yeah so give that some thought and and U is this a topic for the summer to talk through some of this it we will talk and to let you know that it's not necessarily like a La Mark and thing like anything that's important to you it's fair enough for you to say like we haven't really taken a deep dive into X like would you be willing to put that on an agenda you know it's it's a group effort and I'm not saying I'm not giving anybody homework the point is just to let you know that you're welcome to bring your interests forward and you know certainly if it's appropriate and it probably will be if you're bringing it forward we'll have a discussion about it yeah it used to be a thing we Ed a lot to sort of think about the agenda not only in a moment but breaking agendas out over multiple meetings saying okay we don't want to have all of this stuff on one meeting what's the priority you know those kind of things so right um you know so just good communication tool about yeah and I don't know if Gretchen has it I had a calendar at one point did she got the list yeah Karen had uh I had a calendar that of topics that should happen month per month but that's kind of the the have to but then there's also the like where you know where can we be creative so yeah so that's that's all I have if we have a motion to adjourn I think we're done so moved second all in favor hi we're off we're out good night everybody on that one yeah for

in the field stadium and that's pretty much it um any questions thank you so very much [Applause] board subcommittee community relations uh my report be very brief this evening because the two committees that I am shairing community relations and policy have not had a meeting since our last board meeting so I have no updates at this time CC um I as well have no updates we have a next week for curriculum committee thank you finance the finance committee will meet tomorrow night at 6:00 um as I mentioned earlier I would recommend that as many the board memb I can make this uh please attend it will deal with essentially the reconciliation between the superintendent's budget of $131 million down to the Appropriations amount $167 million that's the $10 million given to us by the city and the extra $7 million that we anticipating um I just want to say that this piece of work that will be presented is fantastic the job done is is tremendous I want to thank Dr Cas and her team Mr Spain for the work and the detail that went involved in presenting this particular presentation and I also hope that the superintendent will give us the opportunity to understand what the impact of these cuts are and the fact that she has saved so many jobs um I think it's an incredible task so thank you thank you Mr G um s for Louisa thank you uh we met um last night and we were able to uh move through the new Ed specs for the Career Academy so that passed committee last night um which is on the agenda for today also uh we were able to discuss a couple other issues that were happening up at the high school one being the um towel dispensers turning into the hand blower so that was discussed um with more information to follow at our next meeting I'm not sure we have anything scheduled for June but if anything comes up we will GL any questions to any the committee members chairpersons yes I have a question about the edpc uh it was brought to my attention uh through the paperwork here that there's the proposed uh 7th Academy we have not even approved that Academy yet yet they're going into specifications already we have it has not been brought in front of the curriculum committee so I'm I'm really uh looking at it as the cart before the horse mam yes uh I just want to acknowled that Academy was part of the original design we having to remove one of the and I'm not sure if it was a budget based decision or there was some other reason behind it but that was part of the original I no we only voted on six this is the seven so I just I just want to clarify that the that the the original so the ects that were approved long ago included a clean and renewable energy pathway and so when an opportunity presented itself um to save several million dollars by converting the middle middle the middle school portion of the project um to to not only save money obviously as a result of some of the prices that we're experiencing but also to have a better return on the investment for how we're using the space so the space in that location um originally have was supposed to 360 seat student Middle School um not only did we kind of determine that the that that was a extraordinarily costly expense for a very small school um without any kind of econony of scale but that um you know with the with the number of additional staff that you would need to staff that building and keep everyone separate that there was a better use of with there be a better use of space and so some discussions ensued there was a small window with which to make an adjustment to make the special legislation deadline to make an adjustment for the state of Connecticut and so the whole thing happened very quickly I will say that and so um but given the fact that we had already had an um I think you may have just have walked in just a few minutes past the yesterday when we were in sites and I did show a graphic the original graphic that showed that there are um three Pathways across our Academy except we have this one hanging chad pathway um which was the clean Ren energy pathway it was the only one with four in it we built a greenhouse for it and had hoped um that was sort of the next one that we really wanted to develop those were kind of early on in the original Ed specs that we had those conversations I I respect I respect that history but the bottom line is it still did not go through the curriculum committee for any um detailed approvals we only approved originally sixms that might have been a hanged chair but we only approved six and now we are talking about a seventh one and all the curriculum specs and I feel like the curriculum committee is being bypassed again um so the seventh Academy was already presented several years ago correct so could this have been before Teresa was before Teresa was on the board it was approved and then that space was used for Middle I'm re clarifying you were saying so this could have been something that was approved before you were on the board correct right so so the topic the pathway the clean and renewable energy pathway was something that was already in the in the original edx this is an expansion to use the space to take that pathway and to expand it into the it's not a full the other the other academies were 450 students is about this was a 360 seat slot and so this is an expansion this is taking that fourth pathway and filling that pathway with the 360 not quite the 50 like the other ones but so it's this this pathway itself had already gone through multiple discussions along with the with with the cies that were that were laid out here and we didn't necessarily let me just clarify approve um the acmy per se in terms of the topic we improve the concept and the and the designs that had been placed um before it so I was here when we uh got the Cardis building and set up the academy specifically with six and now is this an academy or a pathway it's a pathway that we're expanding to to to its own so that wasn't approved that was not has not been presented in that manner I'm sorry I feel like you were always putting the cart before the horse and not thinking this through I understand sometimes be frustrating that um when we come to the table there's information that we haven't seen before or that um has is has been presented in a different fashion um but I I do just want to reiterate we had discussions for example about the solar cells on the roof of the building I remember questioning um Antonio came in to to talk about the building specs and to talk about the education specs with us so um I I understand your concern but person support the expansion of this particular Academy um every time I'm looking at the paper and seeing new information coming forward about how GRE energy is going to be a huge source of jobs in the future um so to me this is an investment that you know I I feel that we're fortunate to be able to make because we're taking a space that would have really not yielded much in the way of benefit from the district and converting it to a program that's going to provide aot students with an opportunity to access jobs that would be there in the future I just want to exess my personal support that's all believe me I love green energy I used to have uh solar panels in my that's no problem problem is here we have not uh approached this uh where the stats for jobs uh in this state in this local uh economy what percentage of jobs will this satisfy uh it has not on through committee that's my bottom line and I think the curriculum committee was more appropriate that's my bottom line okay um it's Louisa and then Wanita okay and then Mr Jan um I just want to just go over a little bit of the time constraints that we would put under in order to get these plans approved um I think in all fairness Cara and her team have spent endless amount of hours in trying to get these done and to us because as of tomorrow this needs to go to Antonio and get to the state or we lose a lot so I I understand people's frustrations as sometimes that the way we get to an end result might not be perfect but at the end of the day considering what we were up against I absolutely am you know very impressed with how this all came together and how how well it came together and how how much work was put into it so I do I'm full you know I'm full support of this um and um you know I understand the frustration but I I think that under the circumstances it was we had no choice but to move through this as quickly as we did his hand so I'm I'm listening um to the concerns that Teresa is bringing up and so um my questions a couple of things at the meeting uh yesterday the focus was on repurposing um of the uh the rooms we went floor by4 um the modifications to the spaces and it was it all centered around the um the academy for clean energy and uh Green Design it did not um so is it my assumption that the program itself and the curriculum is already established so it's an expansion sorry it's an expansion of the clean and renewable energy so all the same topics and content that were planned for this pathway will still be found in what is now be titled an academy because it'll hold 3 students so the the original the solar the clean energy the greenhouse which is which already exists it's all of the same content is is applicable here it's it's an expansion of the number of students and dividing them into three groups so to take those topics topically and divide them into three different groups so that we can get kids into courses and sections appropriately so it was programming curriculum that originally had been presented or had gone for the curriculum committee at some point coming on the curriculum committee in general is a relatively new group we have not right and so the Ed specs um the original date of the the but it definitely was um workshopped I believe and we went through the full board similar to the other emies there are being addressed right that whole process went through the ects the content those all of the the all of these went through the full work the programs correct Mr just want to call your attention to the motion calls for the approval of the educational specifications has nothing to do with any type of programming or curriculum or anything like that so just want to see you do the the idea here is for these specifications not necessarily for the idea or the concept of so just just clarify one of the one of the charges was to make sure that we weren't doing anything too different than what we were already doing um because that would definitely throw a flag in the state in terms of the approval process so even the Ed specs by Design so it was really a matter of changing the footprint of some of the rooms to make sure that it was um now all high school usable space and that the labs were in the right spaces for the for the program I just I just wanted to say that there's some confusing confusion on what the role of the curriculum committee is and we're looking into that and we will be going over that um so it's the curriculum committee started in 2022 so we are in our second year of that and we will be going over what our roles and responsibilities are during that commit like that committee meeting coming up I thank you if I can just add also at that meeting um it was clarified that um what had come up was what was the cost impact with the so that did come up um and will be addressed and also the request was made for the updated budget for the D cies as well as the Staffing projections I heard you talk about I was concerned too about the jobs available uh will we have jobs for our graduates in that field I mean it's it's a discussion I'm not saying you know I'm just objecting to the fact that as our duty as a board of ed the state statute says we have to review Comm uh curriculum and I haven't seen that I haven't seen that that's all I mean it's wonderful but I want to see if there's jobs as far as I know the health um the health uh field there's 16% of the jobs in the state of Connecticut were loan 16% in the healthcare field that's important I mean I I want to see I want to see backup for this important I love the academy but I want to have more thoughtful input from the board in the curriculum committee I mean this discussion should have been in the curriculum committee and not at the board meeting I you know I just want to say that you know and I think Louis said it clear and and also somebody else said we know that things should go straight in the path but I totally don't feel that the curriculum committee when there's a decision to make and it has to be done and we have everything lined it up and we have a CEO that's making the decisions and the Committees and everyone working together that we have to move forward you know I I I hear what you're saying it should have been brought before the curriculum committee but if the curriculum committee objected to that then we would have lost the specification to move to school because we have to move on this tomorrow I understand but we weren't even given the opportunity that's all that's all I'm saying ter Terry I I respect your position and I understand and I think you know this is part of you know kind of understanding and working as we go forward on how what it is that that is important to folks and how we things this did happen very very quickly um and so I think you know an assumption that these are all things that we've all discussed before in the past so I I do you know I I do respect and understand um how how you feeling about this and I I do agree that you know perhaps we should sit back and look at some of the roles but also to to make sure that you know we're all moving in the same direction together so this move quickly and I we can work on thank you I kind of want to just back up uh Teresa here we haven't had the conversations um there was I think it was sever we ago maybe a couple months ago that we talked about signage and there was a change there as to Westside middle school so it almost seems like the conversation might have been happening sooner at least that's what it sounds like to me and perhaps it hasn't it just from one meeting to another there was you know2 and A5 million dollars eliminated the Middle School like a lot of work and we were meeting each other every day so it just seemed like there were some people that were more in the know and others that weren't and I am on the curriculum committee so I was surprised you weren't here that night that such a drastic change had been made um and we were only being presented at the I I I have to agree with Teresa thanks okay Dr could you just remind us um when when the brainstorming was going on for the original cies can you talk about um how came to decide what Pathways and would thank you and again this goes I think to you know we had different iterations um of board membership over since the beginning of of this conceptual design and so very early on we did we did do several presentations we have those maybe maybe we should revive some of those at some point um that we used National Career Cluster information so where are the career clusters um in the United States where is their demand for those and what what is emerging in the labor market we then looked at Regional career clusters as well and then again in the Connecticut and local Northeast and we work with our Northeast Regional Workforce board to help identify those areas we also use the Department of Labor statistic to to research the job outlooks in the job area and we also held held some industry um design Sprints and and Brin Sprints to understand where the jobs and the jobs in the local market are um in in the instance of the um on the green Academy for instance it's really it's not just that um you know the Western Connecticut does necessarily need to have a a windmill um or a solar Factor here for for folks to learn about the engineering Technologies you can grow those Technologies anywhere you can build application to help monitor echo-friendly Solutions um for companies to to bring companies online to help reduce their carbon footprint most uh most companies now have a huge investment in reducing their carbon footprint people don't want to invest anymore it's a very sensitive issue they don't want to invest in companies uh that that um are considered wasteful or you know have a large carbon Booker for example so um the area the state in general um we're seeing there's lots of um there's so many grants that are being posted in this particular area in green and energy area um because of the workforce uh shortage in this area so the the the job to and and the skills um that folks have there's a there's a a gap between those and so when you see those types of gaps um government tries to fill those with initiatives with grants with Workforce um you know development initiatives we're seeing that at the at the United States and federal level we're seeing a lot of federal grants in this area coming through the register we're also seeing our own Governor put putting money towards towards these areas as well so um I do want to rest have you rest assured that it is a viable area it would not have made our cut list um if it wasn't and we use the same due diligence when researching the other the other U topics as well and so all of the ones and we work very closely with J steel from ncac who presented to us um so beautifully and he's a National Premier expert we vetted all of this through him and with him um to make sure that we were nailing the areas that were going to be um you know have an opportunity at the other end of of this high school diploma and so that's really what this is about it's great making sure that we're positioning students for jobs and for areas that a they would not normally be exposed to in high school um but be that there is some sort of connected opportunity whether it be high wage or high demand any other question concerning any of the committee chairs or that particular committee saying none we move on to action item got take a vote on he a committ we don't need we moving on okay we're moving on to action item uh a I make a motion that the Board of Education approve the education specifications dated May 22nd 2024 for the danber Career Academy project as recommended by the sites and facility committee and in accordance with 24- Z thank you motion made by a hear a second to that motion I'll second uh second by Mr janelli in discussion any questions could we all vote all in favor could I hear I oppose motion so car action item B Teresa B April 2024 financial report motion that the Board of Education accept the April 2024 financial report as recommended by the finance committee and in accordance with 24-21 thank you Teresa motion May by Teresa could I hear a second second by Kate in discussion concerning action item B seeing not all in favor could I hear I oppose motion so car Kate policies I'll make a motion that the Board of Education accept for second reading and adopt the following policies for exhibits 24-12 24 131 as recomended by the policy committee and in accordance with thetion motion made by Kate second secondly by in discussion on enery policy they were lengthy and we had them in our package to read them and so we had and discuss them we can uh ask those questions at this time everybody's comfortable okay all in favor could I hear I I oppose motion so car thank you committee chairs and committee members action item D har Board of Education regular meeting scheduled motion that the Board of Education accept the Board of Education 20242 regular meeting schedule in accordance with 24132 motion made by what need could I hear a second second second by L and the discussion on the meeting dates seeing none all in favor could I hear I I any oppos motion so Carri superintendent's report thank you um I'll be I'll be brief because we're going to probably go into a lot of this in detail on um at the financial uh committee on Thursday um but just to give a an update um you know we've spent the last week or so notifying staff and working with them it's been a challenging week in the district to say the least um so even though we only have two true um inli employees if you will through the process um it's still a lot of movement and a lot of uh change for many folks in the district so we had about 50 positions in the district that were open due to resignations um and retirements and vacancies so here we instituted a bit of a a bit of a u a freeze um early on kind of coming out of late winter winter when we had some Financial uh concerns to close the year and I believe some of that strategy helped to leave some positions open to help aid in the process um through this reduction so we had about 50 vacancies retirements and resignations so those were positions not people in them and then we had about another 48 more positions in the District where we reduced eliminated or made a programmatic change and so we did have to find homes for that second group of of people um but because we had so many vacancies um and available slots uh we were able to match the the folks who were reduced into other positions for which they were certified so it was a very detailed process we worked very closely with the unions to do that to Ure that we follow the contracts all of the different contracts that apply um to be able to offer um offer our folks a position um in another location somewhere else in the district so as you can imagine um you know we had everything from a sigh relief to um you know folks who are upset that they had to move schools and grade levels and and leave their co-workers behind um and maybe start a new a new program so um we're very sensed to that right now we're working with our staff we're going to have um more conversations coming in the next week we have some professional development coming up so try to invite people in we have a a big PD day on Friday and so we're we made offers to folks who were making some transitions to come and meet some of different departments and attend professional development schools where they'll be teaching if they choose to accept those positions um so we're working through that now so um you know we're we're really U thankful and grateful that we have so few actual uh folks losing their their jobs but it is a difficult time still in the district right now I um it will be so for the for the next few weeks until we close the year and start the year our main concern will be making sure that we open up school with a full staff so when you move a lot of folks um and plus you have a a tough budget cycle um it can scare people off so we want to make sure that we're able to still attract um folks to come to Dand for any continued openings that we may have and also retain the staff that we have that we just offer those positions to so we hope everyone stays with um how's that impacting our teacher diversity plan that's a great question um I I don't know if if it impacts the plan the plan to plan to create more diversity is still the plan um but I don't I don't think um actually we in this process we're actually putting more bilingual and and teachers particularly Hispanic teachers into grade level classroom positions um some of the program changes so that that does change things up a little bit but doesn't necessarily affect the plans that we have in place to continue to um increase the diversity in our LS can I yes it doesn't um do we have an update on the um AIS numbers we're in much better shape than we were I can give you I don't want to teach the parents who confirming this week but uh we did have I'm not sure if I I think I reported out that I did brok a deal with some local superintendents to increase the number of students that we were getting so that we can get that state aid and then both seats so um I believe we had 17 more come in and we're confirming so we we we invited them to come in off the list but now accepting so are you still interested you apply please take so we have U one of our one of our wonderful assistants Calling daily to remind to police confirm so um I can get an update and I can put that in our board I just wanted to let you know that I did see the um ad on TV yeah that's good that's good great thank you that's might got that out there for us I was concerned last time when you said you'd have to go ahead and see it so sure that we're getting our money's worth on the UL thank you now I know chel yeah okay and then the last uh piece really on the financial side you know we're going to be going over more numbers on on Thursday in detail so I'll be plent of time to ask some more questions there U the last thing is really about um update on pck and teacher evaluation so um there's been a lot of changes in teacher evaluation and the state has U set forth some new guidelines and so we have been meeting um sure Al your Stanford is probably notifying you and doing some different things so we're working very closely with Ed Advance uh L the corpo who's doing uh training with us we've evaluated um several different educational uh teacher valuation models incurring our own including our own current D model the rubrics everything that goes with that um we are going to have to submit um a plan that follows the guidelines and this board will have to review the plan and adopt the plan and that goes to see uh goes back to the state and they'll review it um again and give us back on it if we need to make any changes but we anticipate starting training with our administrators first um so we can be ready to start rolling this out with all with our teachers so um so you'll be seeing that at some point soon and U our P committee uh is meeting let's see when our when is our next meeting it's coming up in the next couple days first week of June we're going to have another meeting and we have start some training so uh once we nail down the pieces and the details we'll get that to the board for for your review and any questions that come with that that's it are there any discussion items as any board member like to bring to the front now I just have a question gladus on the future meetings June 11th we have the superintendent evaluation but that's also we we going to re that okay okay okay um so we move on to my report and I think I asked early how many people going to be able to participate in Memorial Day Parade only if the skies are clear no way so so far we have about five six people and we need to find out what time that we need to be there and we don't want to disappoint the group Lauren husman has worked hard to make sure that we have a nice Flo I've had a conversation with the um superintendent uh that we need to set up with this group and we might not be able to do until September uh just a special Workshop I was hoping that we could do it before but we know that the summer months we're all busy all the different graduations and people are going away but I would like to have that special Workshop set up before school Clos so I'm just asking you to keep a open date open please I don't know what date but I think that we need to do that we talked about earlier briefly the survey that uh um a presented to the group and I sent that survey over to the superintendent and she went through it and then she said you know she didn't see any problem with it we want to get that done and we would like to get that out to members at least before school Clos so that's a goal then the last sort of those goals tie in with what I'm sort of thinking and we need to have at least three to five goals of this for to sort of work alongside the superintendent now if you go back to January we sent out a list what do you what how do you feel what are the top priority that you want to deal with this year we started out with budget okay so now I need to pull that list back up and we have a overall discussion as to how those discussion and those goals going to work with the superintendent so I don't know who's going to be around this summer but I know I can't go anywh because there some other issues but you know we can have U Zoom we talk about certain things and so when September come we we can start moving on okay and even if you're on vacation you still can zoom so there's some a lot of little bit of work that we got to get cleared up and I like learn um the explanation so when we start having committtee meeting so everyone will know what their role is so every committee is going to bring their role when they set when we have our committees and you start your committee meeting so that's another thing that I think that we want to work on and then we can understand what our roles are as board how much important we can do as Bo okay uh Kate and the community relation committee we had talked about this earlier I had a conversation with the with the superintendent um I think with September the that we was talking about Community Affair engaging parents and students and everyone uh we need to have a conversation about that you and your community relation committee or whoever wants to participate in so we can have that set up for SE time okay so those are a couple of things and that's that's enough for me tonight so we'll get this information out to you have Cara put it in a form so um we can look at and again um Teresa we did the scheduling for our graduation and everyone should have received that and she did it by date right by date uh so everyone has it on their account I'm so yeah I I got to be logical so thank you anyway okay um if there no other discussion no other communication you all had communication at your desk please read it and act appropriate um I need a motion to enter into the executive session for the purpose I need a motion I'll make a motion of the Board of Education recess into executive session for the purpose of discussing the performance of in superintendent Dr car with possible action in public session motion made by Kate secondment by Mr janelli all in favor could I your I we're going to take a e e e I need a motion making a motion okay uh I'll make a motion that the Board of Education hereby Dr carmir to serve as superintendent of schools for the period July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2026 and I'm further move that the Board of Education authorizes chair person to execute the related Employment contract with suggested Corrections and the related memor of understanding on behalf of theard a second motion made by Kate second by Al could we have a roll call Al approved uh I'm sorry okay Al approve okay Michelle um State we're going to be presented with the final cont clarification okay is there going to be okay so you up okay I have questions yes okay y okay Louisa yes okay yes yes I'm calling you Mr J Mr Jan Mr Janell I'm sorry yes okay I would like to okay thank you okay okay could you to up the uh tally of yes yes so nine yes two extensions okay okay uh at this point we have appointed Dr C may as our superintendent um uh we have extended a two-year contract to her at this particular time and we like to say thank you welcome [Applause] I just I just want to say thank you very much um this has been a challenging and unprecedented year um and I I just want to say thank you for trusting me to lead the district um and I I will work very hard uh for you and for the the students and families in this District so thank you very much to working with all of you thank you first before we all I know we all trying to get home and I I want to thank everybody and this has been a very challenging year we've done a lot we had the budget we had all kind of you know flares went they went down and they went up some our hairs got wet and then we straightened it back out but we all are here for the same reason and that's make sure that our district continue to move forward and be a strong district and that we support each other and work together and there's no we all are going to have differences but we have to work out those different differences to move forward and I can tell you I'm not a drinking person but everybody want to have a hot cup of coffee with me okay I need a motion to make a motion to adjourn thank you move by Lisa second by F the

e e e welcome you to the May 23rd 2024 electronic meeting of the environmental commission um We are continuing to meet remotely um subsequent to changes made so according to uh covid distancing um we intend to conduct this meeting similar to an in-person meeting so I ask that you be patient if there are technical issues public comment is welcome and will be by telephone only to speak at public comment call this information is a available on the published agenda in the Public Notices section of the city website and on the broadcast of this meeting on CTN Channel 13 um and on AT&T channel 99 and online at a2gov.org org org slatch CN uh and that is the end of the opening statement um once again thanks everyone and um I would ask uh eron to um read Our Land Heritage statement thanksa I acknowledge that the land the city of an arra occupies is the ancestral traditional and cont temporary lands of the Anisha anishinabe uh including Odawa oju and bwam and W peoples I further acknowledge that our city stands like most almost all property in the United States on lands obtained generally in unconscionable ways from indigenous peoples The Taking of this land was formalized by the Treaty of Detroit in 1807 knowing where we live work study and recreate does not change the past but a thorough understanding of the ongoing consequences of this past can Empower us to work in our work to create a future that supports human flourishing and justice for all individuals thank you Ain um let's all respect the land as it has been in the past um uh would you now call the role please yes council member akman here an arbor Vice chair Brown is absent commissioner Cowart here commissioner Curtis here an arbor commissioner Dale and AR council member dish here Ann Arbor commissioner Graham here Ann Arbor commissioner guber here in an arbor commissioner Marson I'm here in an arbor commissioner Mery absent chairperson Mitchell here and an arbor commissioner NRI haror and commissioner weing absent here is commissioner msky coming in here all right good so at this point um I would like to ask for a motion to approve today's agenda let's see commissioner Curtis in a second commissioner Dale thank you very much is there any discussion of the agenda see no hands I'm going to ask all who approve to raise your hand say I indicate all right looks like approval thank you um I'd like to now ask for approval of our minutes from the April meeting that would be April 28th uh sorry motion to approve from commissioner guber thank you and a second from commissioner nedrick thank you uh any discussion of the minutes from last month seeing No Hands um all who approve the minutes from last month please raise your hand now and we are approved thank you um so let's now move into public commentary this is the first two um public commentary options for the environmental commission this is an opportunity for persons to speak for up to three minutes please call 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 962 6453 thank you Arin um City staff will select callers that have raised their hand by calling on the LA out the last three digits of your phone number in order to electronically raise your hand please press star9 on your phone you'll hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak at that point press star six to unmute your phone when speaking please move to a quiet area and mute any television or background sounds so that we may hear you clearly please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments so that's that part um eron do you see anyone who is here to make a public comment I do not all right and let's move on to our business which is um last month and actually the month prior we had discussions of the um resolution a resolution to support revising our public Street storm water management guidelines policy um we had a a first reading of it we had a discussion with staff in a small group outside of our uh main meeting here um and had many questions answered um and I'd like to now um just um see if there are any additional questions that um the commission would like to discuss among ourselves um and consider approving the U policy as written I see commissioner Dale uh not a question um so much as the one I was very thankful for some SP of time answering all of our questions I know that they're very busy so that was that was great and it did answer almost all of my questions the only thing that it didn't address was a concern that I have that in in removing the language that that is sort of specifically aimed at the nature-based Green Solutions on to storm water and I understand why they're removing it but but in removing that language I I think it might be creating a gap because I don't think the um the landscape ordinance or anything else that I'm aware of on the books it sort of fills that space for for encouraging requiring incentivizing um Greenery in in that right of way and I understand it's not always possible but I I worry that we in doing this without specifically calling that out that there might be overall we might accidentally create this trend where there's going to be less of that and I that there are other co- benefits of that Greenery like addressing the heat island effect and other things that that would be become an issue right we're losing those go benefits as well so um so I'm not want to throw a wrench in this but I I think I would I would like it if somehow our approval is also saying hey we think that this could be a gap and is that something that we could ask staff to look at and find a way to account for that somewhere else so just that's my two sents on this yeah great comment um I would appreciate I see that Jerry Hancock is here um and I wonder if Jerry is there a way that you can address that as an issue of how we can do that because is one that's actually um one that I have a concern about and thank you for voicing that on you yeah so H there's a couple a couple things that come to mind for one is we that with the wording in there about green infrastructure we felt like we weren't delivering what what it said in the in the um in the policy because we we weren't finding as many opportunities as we were for underground now from a practical standpoint it costs more to build underground detention than it does to build a green infrastructure so if you know our designers are going to tend towards designing something green if there's room for it because it will it will cost less to do that it will maybe create a little more maintenance cost in the future but the designer is going to want to fit the green infrastructure in over the over the underground stuff um you know while it doesn't say that in the policy that's just sort of the Practical end of it um and I and I appreciate that and I'm not Sugg when I say could we consider specifically asking if this is something staff could look like it I'm not necessarily saying storm water staff right just like collectively some somewhere in other ordinances in other programs like is is there something that can sort of maybe fill that Gap so I um I realized this might not necessarily be the specific spot for it but um so I hear what you're saying I understand that and appreciate that as well so thank you um M mki let's drop that but yeah thank you um yeah I've looked at the the the new policy or or guidelines and it seems to me that uh the changes are prudent I have one concern and that is as I understand it the old document that this is replacing is called a policy and I understand the policy to be something that sets out requirements you shall do this you shall do that the new document is called a guideline or a guidance or no a guideline and it also includes a section that's called notes and it seems to me that at least as I interpret we're moving from things that are mandated and are regulatory to something that is moving again from shall to May and I'm wondering if my understanding of the nomenclature that's used is indeed indicative of a change in how the policy quote unquote or the guideline will be applied so so that is not being changed that's the same wording that is the the existing policy starts out says policy statement and it uses the word guidelines in the title of the current the current policy so that's not proposed to be changed okay and so these notes so is everything is a guideline then it's not a policy policy um well if it were I mean yes it's a guideline it we would put it in code if it were uh a must but since city code doesn't necessarily apply to City projects this was our this was our tool for accomplishing that so I mean for the record these then are requirements yes that's that's how staff is views them and imp them and then this is the requirement City coun Once Council approves this you know city council has said staff you shall do this right okay good and just to understand one other thing that chair Mitchell said we're not approving this we are being asked to approve a resolution recommending that Council approve the new guideline is that correct correct good okay great thanks for answering my questions thanks John council member Amman yeah I just want to I don't quite understand uh what Ana said and I want to so I'm wondering if you and it's perhaps because I wasn't part of I wasn't at the last meeting and I wasn't part of the side conversation so could you just clarify what you're afraid is going to be missing and that you would like to see covered elsewhere so um so if I'm understanding correctly the part of the changes is to change the wording and take some of the emphasis off of making to be prioritized you just cut up there like yeah something's missing main point no you're good now all right fingers crossed okay so so from what I from what understanding part part of these changes is to you know like the name being green streets like there's there's language throughout that made it seem very much like this like what what is calling for specifically vegetative uh Solutions right um and that that is not NE that's not always feasible not always appropriate for the spot so I understand that but as as far as I'm aware like the Landscaping ordinance or other things that are out there there's not anything that specifically would encourage and I get that can't be required but encourage as much as possible to have more vegetation in those areas because there are other benefits totally aside from storm water right like resiliency biodiversity dealing with uh heat island effect and things like that so separate from what we're talking about storm water I do worry that if if there is nothing out there in other in other guidelines or ordinances or something that is encouraging that over time are we going to accident sort of accidentally start designing these out and I think that that could be at a detriment to community so it's I'm sort of zooming back seeing big pictures just one of those things where we might have an unintended uh negative consequence that could be addressed by just asking somebody outside the storm water team even maybe it's it's sort of a bigger picture back but like look at all of those guidelines ordinances all of that that um those things and to see if that is in fact Gap and if so could there be something that's created specifically to say as part of our community resiliency we do want to continue to look for those opportunities wherever possible and you know make them native and climate adaptive and all of those things than so it might belong somewhere else outside of this and that's fine but I just I don't want to lose track of that I guess thank you Mr Curtis so going back to the guidelines policy both documents say that's a policy statement at the top both documents say it's a guideline in the text the only difference is the file name the file name of the greenspace docu existing document calls it a policy and the file name of the new one calls it a guideline so if there's any lingering question we could probably just change the file name without changing any text in the document and make that go away um so yeah that sounds good to me um who can answer that question is that Jerry or Aaron I mean that's that's easil easily done that's just changing the name of the file we can do that and that doesn't even require a vote or anything right it's just the content is what's the important thing yeah okay all right um that that may that may help because the file will be loaded up into legistar and to for to city council and people will see it as a as a policy it is a policy so a better title okay all right um so I do um very much appreciate commissioner Dale's comments about the green uh components and I want to just call out something that I believe has happened as an example of reduction of opportunities for vegetation and it's the um it's called something use buffer combined use buffer what is the c the C use buffer yeah that's it yeah didn't the dimensions of that spacing get reduced recently within the last six months or so miss your dish you know so the conflicting land use buffer legislation or ordinance in the code was changed because currently we require buffers between land uses that are the same that do not conflict so the code was requiring land use buffer between say a multif family residential and a single family residential and what that was doing was actually um in in some cases it could increase the space between um structures by uh well I cannot remember off the top of my head but by I think up to 20 feet which goes in the opposite direction of our sustainability goals because um our sustainability goals are asking us to make more efficient use of space and allow for greater density on Lots the setbacks are still required tree replacement is still required um in almost anytime you have a new development anywhere in the city you are going to get storm water management where there was none and so that could be detention ponds that could be bioses it would be bioses as often as you could find it um so the conflicting land use buffer and this question of um vegetation it's really not the same thing and um the modifications to that conflicting Landy buffer were um motivated by the a20 goals you give to encourage the density specifically to to not create space between like uses which doesn't need to be there I mean there's no reason I mean there's every reason to have a conflicting land use buffer between a primarily commercial use and a residential use there is not a need to buffer between residential uses even if they are um of different you know even if you're doing multif family and single family residential there's there's no reason to buffer those uses from each other so yeah I I was just asking more the the goals of the um a20 program and so that goal the intent there was to increase density is that correct well I mean I wouldn't just put it that way I would say that the goal is excuse me because well I would say that the goal simply is to use our land to not have gaping holes that become unusable because they're too small to build anything but they're not necessary to have between buildings so I don't think it's simply increased because you might not get a very big increase in density out of this but you won't be wasting space okay I can add a little bit to that I was actually the staff person that was asked to write that the section that has now been rescinded um it was uh a request of Planning Commission about 15 years ago was not recommended by staff because it in some cases it required two conflic any land use buffers right next to each other so instead of 15 feet you had 30 feet um and from a staff perspective we were like is not a really great idea but it was pushed ahead anyways and so now a different group has taken it out years later okay all right um so I guess my thank you for that explanation um one of the interpretations that I have or concerns that I ways I see this um proposal that we're talking about is that allows staff flexibility to adjust or maybe select from a range of opportunities for storm water management um according to what's available in the land meaning that if the um soil is sand versus clay there's a different method used for the management is is that does that part of what this change was intended to do or to reflect how things are really done on the ground no pun the the majority of the changes are to reflect how we've been implementing it you know so we wrote the code and without implementing or not I'm sorry not the code the policy wrote the policy and now we've implemented for 10 years and have discussed with the Consultants that that we've used you know how how do how are they experiencing the use of it and plus other CI staff that do Road design um so we're not we're not changing any of the parameters of it the so we we have some soil uh infiltration thresholds those all stay the same um so basically we're kind of just rewriting it to reflect how it is actually functioned for for staff and part of that is we weren't able to get as much green as as we had hoped and when you say green in that context you mean do you mean vegetation or do you mean I mean a result of I mean vegetation okay yeah okay yeah we we were able to do more underground infiltration just because of the conflicts of um all of the stuff that's in the right away all right thanks um so I've got one other question if this um is passed I assume it likely will be um by us in with Council um would it when would it go into effect would that be an immediate yeah I I believe it would work just like a like a code it would go into effect 10 days after it's published which is happens like a week after Council approval okay but being that this is not an ordinance I mean this this is referenced in our Public Services standard specifications and so we'll we will just swap out the new version for the old old version which no long is no longer a book it's uh it lives online all right great um and is there um so with that kind of um effective I guess it's we can assume that the approaches that are being that are reflected in the document would be used right now in projects that are ongoing like today okay yeah and there's there's two specific things I should point out there are expansion of of this it it may it may be difficult if you're not a storm water manager but we we specifically say in there that we are going to use the full rightaway width for the calculation and previously we were only using the Disturbed area so one of the results of this is the volume of infiltration that will be required on each project will increase um and the other change is in the note section it specifically says for um utility projects that that um take out at least half width of a road that at the time of CIP we are going to consider whether or not that Ro that um utility project is a good candidate for uh meeting this policy as far for um for storm water management so that's something that's not happening now so those two things are an expansion of the policy that sounds good um and there was okay here's my last one um there was a reference to a letter of map provision for Allen Creek did that happen was supposed to happen in April I think um so that's a different topic but I happen to be person doing that so answer that yes we we have applied to FEMA for a letter of map revision for the entire Allen Creek Watershed and this is related to the um Allen Creek burm project the openings that we put under the railroad when we had applied to FEMA to change just theow lower reach the area that we actually changed with the project they said Oh no you're you have a different model and the way these things match up that you're going to have to modify all of Allen Creek well we didn't have the budget for that we had to had to find the money it caused a year delay but we have finally got our con contractor on board and we've we've finished the application the application went in into FEMA about a month ago um so it's being reviewed by them they have three months to do their first review we'll see what happens um but even though I won't be here um we have hired my replacement and she will um finish this project up she and she has a lot of experience in plane mapping so I you'll still be in good hands to finish that project okay um well we've been in your good hands for a long time and thank you thank you Jerry for for this um are there any other questions from the commission on this topic I see no hands so I would um appreciate a motion in support of the um resolution resolution in support of revising the public Street storm water management guidelines policy I see Chris Graham and seconded by Sarah edric thank you very much um so all in favor of the policy change hi right any opposed all right it passes thank you Jerry you did it again thank you and congrats on your next move whatever it is right thanks um all right thank you everyone we're going to move on to new business and this is um a different uh kind of approach or topic that um I appreciate the assistance that we're getting tonight and um presentation by uh Christy mcgil who's the political and legislative director of the Sierra Club Michigan chapter um she will talk with us tonight about Kos concentrated animal feeding operations and there I haven't seen her join yet oh Well I see her I see her picture oh she's here yeah oh she made it apologies continue that's okay um thanks and hi Christie um I just wanted to be uh welcome you to our meeting and I want to just say that um I appreciate the work that you are doing for um the state and all communities um involved with many um serious issues that we're dealing with and um with that I will just uh allow you to to uh proceed and everyone please be ready with questions because this will be really interesting thanks Rita and Rita um the presentation you turned my PowerPoint into a PDF are you GNA be sharing that or should I share that um if you can share it it would be great or perhaps Erin can help I don't know we are with that yeah happy to do whatever works best for you if you could share it eron that would be fantastic sure yep thank you um and uh folks I appreciate your patience I did not put this presentation together strictly for this meeting this is a presentation that I gave recently at the um mdp rural Summit on Sierra club's agricultural priorities but it covers Kos so I am repurposing it and I appreciate that um so thanks Aaron um and I I'm assuming that most folks on this call are familiar with Kos um stands for concentrated animal feeding operations um we have quite a few in Michigan and I think actually I will uh skip the conversation about posos in agriculture unless I'm happy to go through this are folks interested in the posos and agriculture conversation I don't know how much time we have um we I think we are in a good place Christie um in terms of our time so um I I think it is a very important issue and we have discussed posos it's really too bad that Steve Brown isn't here tonight because he's our posos expert but you know we we're happy to have you great I mean well uh Steve is very well aware of all of this so um I am happy to go over pasos and agriculture there there is overlap um with Kos and pasos and agriculture so it's not a wholly unrelated topic um but it's uh it is a a priority for Sierra Club so we can get into it um all right so uh next slide um so for folks that are not aware uh most of our sludge from wastewater treatment plants they're it's called Uh they're called biosolids in the um in the industry um most of the sludge from human waste uh actually winds up on land and the photo there on the right uh Morganite that is a product that you can buy in most um most hardware stores if you see it says uh there's the little eco-friendly label down on the bottom uh it's actually that wastewater treatment sludge from a wastewater treatment plant in Milwaukee so it is actually trademarked and sold and folks are not aware that they are buying uh heat treated human waste and there's a lot of stuff in there um it's you know when we when our waste goes through a wastewater treatment plant it's not just human waste there's everything else in there and there's a lot of really concerning materials uh that can be found in leftover wastewater treatment sludge including posos because of the ubiquity of pasas compounds in um all of our consumer products so next slide um so this kind of goes through the the cycle um we treat for heavy metals and uh viruses and pathogens uh but we don't treat for any of the the huge numbers of synthetic chemicals that are in so many different products um we really don't have a good disposal option it's not possible to stop producing human waste for example um so the real core solution with how we deal with human waste is Upstream Solutions and making sure that we are using as many non-toxic materials as possible that's the the primary solution um the actual treatment of it on the back end is almost impossible so I think it points to the Upstream solution as an absolute must okay next slide so as this slide shows um most of it is land applied and this is where we get the over with uh Kos because human waste is can actually be applied on land that is used for animal agriculture that is not uh always the first uh use for wastewater treatment Sledge um but it does happen and it leads to the bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants up the food chain right next slide so I think folks are probably familiar with uh grostic farms uh Jason gr sticks beef Farm um outside of uh it's in Brighton outside of Brighton was contaminated with uh wastewater treatment plant sludge coming from the Wixom wastewater treatment plant and I think folks in in Arbor are very familiar with the Wixom wastewater treatment plant because that is the source of pasas contamination in the hiron river which has definitely affected an arbor so Jason gti's Farm um was shut down by the state um he allowed the state to come in and test the beef from his cattle and the levels of posos that were found in the beef that had grazed on the land where he had wastewater treatment sludge applied for years um it had it had built up in his herd and it had contaminated his herd I do want to note that Jason grostic was not running a kfo um however he's the only Farmer in the state that allowed the state to actually test his cows and that was the that was the result um it's really it's really a tragedy and pretty upsetting um and it it points to the to make sure that we're holding the companies that are profiting from the production of posos accountable for the financial Fallout and we need to make folks like Jason gratic hole um next slide um we've seen this in Maine as well it's popping up around the entire State um and this is a a story uh about Adam Nell's farm and for folks that are interested Adam Nordell from uh from Maine is actually going to be at the University of Michigan I forget exactly when but there's a National posos Conference that this year is going to be at U ofm and um Adam Nordell is going to be there talking about the work that he's doing now to keep Farmers from um experiencing financial hardship when they find out that their land is contaminated with posos because of Legacy wastewater treatment sledge that was uh spread next slide um it's happening all over the country um it's not just uh a Michigan problem it's uh truly Nationwide so this is just an example of of all the different states that are starting to test and find pasas because of our history of spreading Wastewater Sledge on agricultural land next slide um this was a study that sier club did with Ecology Center uh so I highly encourage if folks haven't read it yet uh we did some independent testing of um of fertilizers that you could buy just in regular Hardware Stores um and we found uh posos in all of them so it's uh pretty alarming next slide so uh this is where the the wastewater treatment sludge and uh Kos overlap so this is a timeline of a hog Kayo that is um right on the border between oceanana and noo counties in Michigan and the history of this particular uh parcel of land um it's quite a big farm so multiple Parcels is is that a a leather company a Tannery bought the land um and in the 1990s they started applying their Tannery waste as compost to this land um at some point in the early 2000s they they were primarily just growing corn on on the land where they were spreading Tanner waste in the early 2000s a hog Keo opened up it dramatically expanded and now it is one of the largest hog Kos in the state and the oil and the groundwater in that area are heavily contaminated with posos as well as some other really alarming heavy metals because of the um content of the Tanner waste and um at the time it was trademarked and sold as beneficial soil conditioner under the bu3 program through the state um and it points to this uh overlap between waste management and agricultural policy that has unintended consequences that are generational and we often really are able to track and quantify uh after the fact when the damages already been done so for example in at uh Valley View pork this uh this the hog farm where they were spreading Tannery waste um the well water on the property was severely contaminated and it was deemed unfit for human consumption however uh there were migrant workers that were drinking out of that contaminated water um for decades up until M parts stepped in and um really work to mitigate the problem so it wasn't until Empire tracked this site down as a legacy contamination site that anyone who is drinking from those contaminated Wells was properly protected um so it's not a great history it's not totally resolved yet and there are other sites around the state where there are there's a legacy of Farmland that was contaminated through the beneficial reuse program and um probably more so next slide um you can skip through these this just describes how it it all operated so there was an on-site wastewater treatment plant where the leather waste went um then it was actually trucked to noo Farms where they composted it um and then it was spread on land and crops were grown on that land uh water groundwater irrigated the land animals ate the food and then the mortality to the dead animals were actually composted back into the leather waste itself so there were these uh Decades of buildup of pasas on that particular farm and uh that farm is still operating so they are controlling for the groundwater contamination because that's what empart has authority over but they are not testing any of the agricultural products on that land um and it is now it was purchased by jackpine Holdings which interestingly enough used to be a coal company but now they're getting into the agricultural business which we'll get into um and uh the the animals on that farm have not been tested to see how uh posos might be um impacting them next slide so this kind of goes through how that worked um we can skip through it I think I already described it um this is definitely not the farmer's fault um we should make sure that we are not actually growing crops on contaminated land um that ideally we would limit any sort of livestock exposure to posos avoid the repeated exposure um we are not testing livestock or agricultural products right now for pasas although it is highly highly likely I would say a definite you could pretty much just say definitely that our agricultural system is much more impacted by posos than we are aware of because we are not systematically testing AG agricultural products on land that we know was historically contaminated by pasas okay next slide um so now um I want to get into the link between um climate and the expansion of Kos um so in our state legislature and part of the reason um we took some time to include this in our presentation on agricultural priorities um our state legislature is considering a state B like a Michigan State lowc carbon fuel standard and um what that refers to is a an attempt to set up a market-based policy that would incentivize um ideally the idea is that you'd incentivize lower carbon fuels um and the the money that would be generated on a extra cost on higher carbon fuels is supposed to go towards the electrification of Transportation so it's like this mix of like Transportation policy and agricultural policy um but what's happened since the low the lowc carbon fuel standard was originally passed in California in 2006 um and now we have a federal Renewable Fuel standard they both kind of do the same thing they provide tax dollars to incentivize quote unquote lower carbon um fuels and that's supposed to go towards the electrification of Transport um but what's happened is that we've set up that these these different policy schemes have been functionally captured by industry and we've wound up incentivizing um the practices of anerobic digestion on Kos and also crop-based biofuels and the accounting that they do to claim that these have a lower carbon intensity is fake math and I'll get into that so I think there's a there's a serious issue with biofuels that come from any sort of like plant-based um feed stock but I'm going to talk about uh kog gas and digesters here because they are a very serious problem in Michigan um on Earth Day I don't know if folks saw some of the reporting um but like book ending Earth Day there were report of uh decreasing water quality especially in southeast Michigan and decreasing air quality and this is like a you know multi-year Trend and a large part of that is due to an expansion that we've seen of Kos actually here in Michigan um because of the perverse incentives from California and from the federal government through the Renewable Fuel standard so we certainly don't need to like pile on and add more tax dollars to Michigan for that because what the incentives are doing with low car carbon fuel standards and other states is actually incentivizing the buildout of Kos um and corn-based fuels here in Michigan um so how that works with the kfo expansion um what uh actually oil companies are doing and it it really is oil there's a fantastic uh report that I really encourage everyone to look into it's by food and water watch and it tracks the financial ties between Big Oil and agriculture in specifically this this policy um what they do is they set up anerobic digestors on Kos for the purpose of producing as much methane as possible so in an anerobic digestor it's an oxygen free environment material breaks down it produces methane and that can be injected into current gas infrastructure you can build out more gas infrastructure and it can be piped across hundred hundreds of miles and burned um anerobic digesters are not inherently bad on small operations or small anerobic digestors for example on restaurants that are going to help process food waste that's fine um if they are operating properly on wastewater treatment plants that's great because they can capture methane that would otherwise be released um but what's happening with Kos is that we're seeing an absolute explosion of Kos for the purpose of producing gas and there's a entrenched um perception that anerobic digestors on Kos are capturing gas that would otherwise be emitted so therefore even though we don't like Kos well at least we're capturing gas that's on them but what the amazing work of food and water watch and srap and Friends of the Earth has shown especially in recent years is that we are not seeing anerobic digestors deployed on existing Farms to capture methane and that's it what we're seeing is a massive influx of taxpayer subsidies going to build new Kos and increase her her size for the explicit purpose of producing more methane which is a really serious problem so this is all based on modeling and not measuring and my Mantra over and over again is that we have to just measure and not rely on modeling and that's because any data that skews the model that would give anerobic digestors on Kos a lower carbon intensity score is excluded so what that means is that they exclude any data from anic fermentations they exclude any data from digest dat emissions they exclude data from the stored methane and the increased herd side herd size they exclude data um from the CO2 and nitrous oxide that's associated from livestock feed there's no accounting for fugitive methane associated with the transportation of methane that comes from anerobic digestors and so there's constant industry claims that these are at least capturing emissions that would otherwise be being emitted when the actual reality if we were accounting for the full scope of emissions that are associated with the expansion of kfo we' be talking about a massive increase in emissions and the increase is obviously a serious problem because it's pretty clear from global data that we are past 1.5 degrees warming um it's incredibly important that we draw taxpayer dollars back from this really perverse incentive um and I want to point out too that the nitrous oxide emissions are a really really serious problem nitrous oxide is actually a more important greenhouse gas than methane even and there's absolutely no counting for the warming associated with nitrous oxide and the dramatic expansion of industrial agriculture um I do have here highlighted the urif of lakes um and the urif foration of lakes actually increases methane too and the urif of lakes is directly related to the expansion of Kos um and there's some absolutely fantastic research being done by environmentally concerned citizens of Southeast Michigan where they're working with a researcher at Wayne State to actually sequence DNA from both the sagona Bay harmful alal Bloom and Lake Erie in order to prove the connection between the expansion of these harmful alal blooms and um Kos so there's going to be a DNA Trail and I'm really excited to see that when it when it um is published so I want to have encourage everyone to keep their eyes on that all right next slide so I you know I mentioned it offhand um that the the ties between uh big Agriculture and Big Oil um and this has this this relationship has really exploded since around 2015 2016 um and it's dramatically stepped up since the passage of the IRA because of the amount of federal money that is on the table because of the IRA section 8848 investment tax credit that's really what's driving it which is a serious problem and it was a huge flaw on the IRA um so really important information that folks should know um shell and BP invested over $6 billion alone here in Michigan the oil company that's investing in anerobic D dors is breit Mark which is Chevron so when we are talking about Kos and we're talking about anerobic digestors we are talking about Chevron um they're they've got multiple Kayo manure gas operations in Michigan and they are spending billions in order to continue to build out the operation and that's because this industrial scale agriculture fits very well with their existing fossil fuel infrastructure because it's the same thing methane is methane um I think it's really important for the commission to know as well that DTE is heavily investing in Dairy Kayo gas um they have multiple anerobic digestors operating on massive Kos in Wisconsin and that operates under a corporate subsidiary of DTE that is not subject to the Michigan Public Service Commission so there's not any oversight it's called DTE Vantage and you can go check that out um it is public tax dollars that are driving all of this the math on how expensive it is to install anerobic digestors does not work in an actual competitive Marketplace the market solution that was supposed to be proposed by a lowc carbon fuel standard has wound up leading to a total market failure in which it's tax dollars propping up a business that would otherwise not actually be financially viable so the last thing that we need to do is pile on and give more Michigan tax dollars to this kind of scheme um and I really encourage uh the commission to pay close attention to energy providers and where they are getting their energy because if it is coming from kog gas it is not decreasing emissions it is increasing emissions and it's a really serious problem next slide um so this is a list of our our agricultural priorities uh broadly for you know the rest of this legislation and in the future we want to make sure that we uh include as many Upstream Solutions as possible to um uh get P off the market and I I don't have to explain why that's important to folks an arbor um we want to make sure that we get kfo gas incentivization out of the farm bille we're work that's a a conversation with Senator stabenau we should have a Kao moratorium um we're all again water quality is dramatically decreasing in Michigan the last thing that we need to do is be expanding Kos um we need kfo operator accountability from Eagle we have uh an actual law in Michigan that requires Kos to get nipy permits which means point source source pollution permits um and the agricultural industry has been litigating that for years and we we really don't functionally regulate Kos you know I've been focusing a lot on Kayo gas and the emissions that are associated with the expansion of this industrial kind of Agriculture but it's really important to note that just today uh there was a story on MPR about bird flu hopping to humans and it was in a Dairy Capo worker so there are a myriad of serious Public Health implications with this industrial size um agricultural operations and it's pretty alarming to see bird flu jumping to humans in Dairy Kos um it's not good so we we have a snow FR band which we've been working on for years and pushing that would ban the application of kfo manure waste on Frozen Ground um and one of my personal favorites we need to deal with our waste disposal loopholes and the beneficial reuse program that I mentioned um so on that note uh that's really the suite of Sierra Club agricultural issues right now in the state I would love to answer any questions that folks have thank you Christie that was amazing and even though I've been exposed to a lot of this it's like amazing to hear it in that one um concentrated discussion no T pun intended every time you talk about this Farm stuff it's like you cannot get away from some kind of thing um so um well I have questions but I really love it when others would start um are there things that come to mind to you all commissioner Mery thank you chair Mitchell and thank you Christie uh I want to uh push you on one point that's um maybe a little bit academic but um I I'll start out by first saying I I agree entirely with all of the concerns that you raise and the solutions that you propose but the way I understood the thrust of your presentation is that it it seems that Kos the primary product of Kos is methane and it seems to me the primary product of Kos are are animals primarily for human consumption and those animals produce waste which produces methane which is captured and then by capturing that methane through and and producing it through anerobic digestors that the revenue from selling that basically reduces the operating costs the net operating costs of the Kos so it's it's it's not really a direct it's it's like a a how do you call it like a um were we underwriting if you will or we providing a uh a a an additional Revenue stream to Kos but isn't the real problem our consumption excessive consumption unfortunately growing globally consumption of animal Meats isn't that big problem I am really really thankful that you asked that question John um and I think it it uh it's an incredibly important question so um the the first point that I would I would point to the sustain it's SRP the S uh socially responsible Agricultural Product uh uh what is it project that's it they recently put out a report and I will send it to all of you I highly recommend reading it that tracks the increase in herd size and buildout of Kos directly associated with the establishment of the federal Renewable Fuel standard and um the expansion of low carbon fuel standards in other states and what this report demonstrates pretty unequivocally is that tax dollars are underwriting agricultural products not for the human consumption of food but for the explicit production of gas and there's even some amazing information that's come out of Senator Cory Booker's office which is wonderful he it's actually I've actually been quite surprised by Senator Cory Booker's leadership on this I did not expect to be reading so much good stuff from him recently but anyway um he has uh demonstrated that farmers are now expanding herd size for the production of methane so this is not about producing food for human consumption it is about using animals to produce gas that is then captured and I there's some some numbers that are really important here so Anor robic digestors only capture about onethird of the methane that is associated with the large um the the lagoons of the I mean it's basically like sewage right so anerobic digestors captur only that they do not capture anic F anic fermentation which is I mean basically like the cowps right and cow burps actually account for three fours of the emissions of methane emissions from Agricultural and they don't account for the emissions associated with nitrous oxide um from agriculture that is primarily associated actually with like the uh growing corn for um feed stock for Kos so we're not producing all of this corn for human consumtion we're producing it for either ethanol or feed stock for Kos and the massive expansion of Kos is not to produce food for human consumption it's actually to produce gas and that has happened very recently it's not a it's not a that was not the case in 2006 when California passed its lowc carbon fueled standard it is the case over the past like five years um so it is all driven by the massive influx of taxpayer dollars and um I really recommend reading this report I'll make sure that um you know I share it with all of you and you can go through it does that help address the your question do so yeah that that is astounding Ian it it is it really I was like I was shocked when I read this report and I think they they even underestimated a lot of their claims that there's another researcher at the University of Tennessee um her name is uh Sarah Dono and she was digging into some of the actual permitting data and thinks that their claims are even underestimate at so I will happily share all of that it's just a wild read um and yeah I hope that is helpful if if the this line of logic makes sense so we're taking more and more land to produce animal feed and the animal feed is contaminated by these products like P and things like that that you talked about right there's that too fertilizing it with petrochemicals and we're um then taking the feed from those crops sending it to Kos and the primary purpose of those Kos is to capture and digest and uh create the methane that is then sold to these companies and really the animal products are secondary and we're only we're we're not even taking into account um at least in the case of beef um the burps and the methane exhaust that way so if you go all the way back to to taking land and putting it into production for all of this I mean this just seems insane I fully agree of course um and I think this is a really important Point too um beef cattle are actually um they are mostly grazed and if if cattle are grazing there's not nearly as much um impacts uh and usually they're only on those kfo feed Lots at the very end of their life when they're fattened up the real issue um with Anor obic digestors and livestock is dairy Kos so it's less beef and more Dairy that's the real problem here okay what about Hogs and chickens they're trying to get anerobic digestors to work as well um I think North Carolina has some serious issues with hog Kos and anerobic digestors chickens are a lot harder to just make it work um and I think the the srap report goes into why it's just I mean it's just an absolute nightmare trying to do it with chickens but what I most familiar with is the the dairy industry for two reasons one it's huge here in Michigan two in California there's been a massive explosion specifically of dairy kayos because that's actually the best way to produce absolutely massive amounts of uh sewage that is required to make the anobi digestors work at scale so that's why dairy in particular is really the problem here um and um yeah I think looking at what's actually happened to um I forget which part of California I'm gonna get it wrong and I don't want to get it wrong but um again this is very recently exploded as a problem with within the past five or six years and it's because of the the perverse Financial incentives that are propping up these operations my God okay thank you very much for clearing that up yeah no problem thanks a lot Mr Graham well it's it's a disappointing commentary on the back room uh wickedness I'm going to say of our federal government and it's a just a new extension of what began with ethanol and corn yeah is a croc from the very beginning Y and I'm I'm just dumbfound that this happened do we have one of these dairy cafos in Wasa County I am not totally sure but I do want to flag that there is discussion of um opening up a a pretty big co- digestor somewhere in Washton Vita I don't know you might know more about it and what co- digestors do is they take waste from lots of different sources because you can't really make anerobic digestion work unless you have a massive amount of uh organic material to like you know capture and break down in an oxygen-free environment right um and I think that the co- digestor in Wasau county is going to be taking Capa waste human waste food waste grease slaughterhouse waste I mean just like everything under the sun I think it will be not great and I strongly folks strongly encourage folks to look into the details of that proposed facility um and you know any tax incentives they might be getting what they'd want to do with the gas what are we talking about here um and I think it points to the importance of zeroing in on phasing out all forms of gas there is no such thing as a bridge fuel if you are building gas infrastructure the intent is to use gas and burn it it's not a bridge situation we have to Electrify and make sure that we're generating electricity from actual renewable sources so keep an eye out for that code digestor um Rita are you do you know more about it you know I'm just thinking it's Western was but I don't have the absolute um I think I can find out yeah um and I think it would be it would be good to watch on my to-do list is to go check that out but there's been some other stuff happening in Lancing that was a little distracting so so apart from a failure to regulate of the Department of Agriculture are there tax dollars from Michigan funding these facilities well the Renewable Fuel standard yes so there's Ira money and a renewable fuel standard and there are incentives in the farm bill so our federal tax dollars that have gone to DC yes um but when it comes to our own State based low carbon fuel standard that hasn't passed yet and we're working really hard to make sure that we either completely exclude manure gas and ethanol from the definition of a lowc carbon fuel standard but um if we can't do that then we need to just maintain strong opposition because that would create like a sixth pot of money that and remember when we're talking about these industrial agricultural operations we're talking about oil companies right so we're talking about BP Chevron and shell they are getting their hands on taxpayer dollars from a variety of different sources in order to build out more gas infrastructure that is powered by livestock so we really got to make sure that we either strip all those definitions from this Michigan bill or kill it lastly you said um that all the fertilizers at the Garden Centers have p in them I understand mil luuy sewage sludge but is when you mean oh do you mean synthetic fertilizers do you mean just the organic things that are there or what if I said all I misspoke that is not necessarily true um any sort of fertilizers that are primarily composed of biosolids from wastewater treatment plants are highly likely to be contaminated the issue is that fertilizers aren't required to be labeled that information so they don't say oh this is from the Milwaukee wastewater treatment plant or this is from Detroit wastewater treatment plant that's the problem another shortcoming of the Department of agriculture's regulatory framework thank you yep Mr nric hi thank you Christie that was such an interesting presentation um I just wanted to ask I have like three questions too easy and the last one will be a little bit harder um so I was wondering if you've met um Molly ripkey at the State of Michigan um Water Resources Department um maybe okay I highly recommend um you have a conversation with her um so she currently is doing all of the ukoli monitoring um and particularly focuses on like Southeast michig Michigan so she's doing a lot um to regulate and find Kos and find where they're applying biosolids um but I think a conversation with her would be really um great yeah provoking for both of you yeah um and I can send you her email if you like um please do if if you know her I would really love an introduction that'd be great I'd really appreciate it awesome um she's awesome so um my other question was um I'm terrible at keeping up to date with M Michigan laws um you mentioned the posos package do you know which bill that is like the number I can look up you know I do not off the top of my head but wait there hold on let me open up my shared drive and Erica Bloom from the Ecology Center I'm sure that you guys are familiar with the Ecology Center um she is tracking all of that um okay so it looks like there's um there's an introduced uh Senate Bill 327 which addresses posos and food packaging and oh my God uh let's see there's oh this isn't introduced yet some are introduced and some are not I know you know what follow up with me and I will give you the list of what has been introduced and has but there's um there's a there's a bill to codify M part there's a household product band which is really exciting and there's a bill that addresses uh insurance coverage so I will make sure that I get this to you or if you know Erica you could reach out to her I'm sure she can rattle them off the top of her head okay sounds good um okay my last question um so I know obviously you would never want to operate a k-o but say you had to um what would be your preferred way to manage the waste they should have on-site wastewater treatment um so Kos produce um waste like orders of like more sewage than human beings I think it's like I I will I'll get the number wrong so I won't cite it but it is orders of magnitude more waste than like entire cities and it is you know Unthinkable at this point to suggest that cities should just like directly discharge untreated human waste into our lakes rivers and stre dreams right but that is functionally what Kos do the solution is for Kos to install on-site wastewater treatment in order to deal with the volume of waste they produce okay so I mean just thinking of that like we have you know we have byproducts associated with wastewater treatment plant that in the past have been you know applied as biosolid so you still have to do something with those you know the sled that is left over from the treatment plant so I mean right now we're looking at land filling that because of the posos issue in an arbor so are you then recommending that they landfill we do not have enough landfill space this is why the Upstream solution is so important right so like ideally use as few toxic products as possible um if your wastewater treatment Sledge isn't inherently toxic it's the waste that goes into the system that is contaminated with sorts of persistent organic pollutants that's the problem so the on-site wastewater treatment and then as much Upstream control for any sort of bioaccumulative um contaminants is ideally what we would be doing um and like to your point I I we should move as much away from Kos as much as possible but if they're there they should be doing onsite wastewater treatment plants okay thank you Christy I want to ask about um a little bit on about what you um your really hot topic now um and that has to do with data centers and potential for um those data centers that are um under discussion for and being incentivized for the state um to also contribute to an increase in in Kos is that something that we should think about so I'm not sure if the commission has been tracking this at all uh but when we're talking about data centers we're talking about the massive server Farms that tech companies need in order to I mean they're they're exploding because of the buildout of AI um and they use an absolutely massive amount of electricity um so for example the concentration of data centers in Northern Virginia uses the equivalent amount of electricity required by six million homes so we will not be able the the pace that they are building out data centers is not going to be matched by the current amount of electricity that we are we have and we are continuing to uh increase so I think that the it is likely that if there is a big buildout of data centers in Michigan that is not associated with a requirement for them to seriously invest a lot of money in uh building out utility scale Renewables that they will get as much um energy as they can from all sources including but not limited to probably manure gas um and one of the serious shortcomings in our renewable energy legislation was the inclusion of manure gas in Senate bille 271 as um a source of renewable energy uh we fought that um we did not win and it's a problem because as I said during the presentation the buildout of Kos is an increase overall in greenhouse gas emissions it is not cutting greenhouse gas emissions um so I think it's a little bit difficult to say that there is going to be like a direct onetoone relationship between kog gas and data centers but I think that the overall demand of data centers is going to be really difficult for absolutely everyone to meet so we have to make sure that we're mandating that if they're coming to Michigan they are building out themselves as much renewable energy as possible and um this might seem really simplistic but could you be more specific about your um comment about upstream and avoiding Upstream yeah yeah I think part of the reason why I'm so interested in the fate of was wastewater treatment sludge is because the only real policy solution is making sure that we are putting as few toxic products on the market as possible because it is actually imp it's it's not from an engineering perspective Ive from a policy perspective it is actually impossible to make our waste not toxic if everything that has gone into it is toxic so there is no good solution for what to do with wastewater treatment plant sludge once it is contaminated we actually can't break down posos um there's you know been some a few interesting things happening in Laboratories but they are not at scale and um it's just not a viable solution because of all sorts of production issues of pasos but so uh we we l filling it is not an option we're going to run out of space incinerating it nightmare obviously we don't want to dump it in the ocean uh the I mean seriously those are the options so we have to make it as non-toxic as possible so that when we do land apply it it is not contaminating groundwater in the food supply you sure just I want to thank you very much for this incredibly informative present presentation and I'm really glad that Rita AR chair Mitchell arranged this for us um I do want to make sure to get the report you mentioned yeah um and uh I you've you have what I've learned this evening has given me a number of questions that I will want to be asking about um the use of methane gas as a transition fuel yeah I really I'm really glad that you're excited to ask those questions and I I really encourage them um I think in particular the exclusion of data that uh the the models don't like right is really alarming and I really encourage um I really encourage you guys to ask some really tough questions about the actual quantifiable measurable emissions that are associated with this kind of Agriculture right and I guess one of the things that I noticed was that um I mean it's like calling something carbon negative is really problematic because it just adits what you're saying right right and I you know I I I actually didn't even cover that but um I because I just like talking about all of the uh emissions that they just leave out that make the model not work right because I feel like that says enough but on top of all the emissions that they just don't bother to quantify they actually give kog gas a positive well not positive it's a negative score because they're trying to get a negative CI but they throw in a madeup number associated with quote unquote avoided emissions so they like give the entire operation props assuming that it would be built without the taxpayer dollars I mean it would be like saying oh we are going to call the gas that is produced by this BP Refinery opening up um we're going to give them an extra score because they are avoiding emissions by by capturing them on site or something like that instead of saying this never should have been built in the first place we don't need this source of greenhouse gas emissions adding to our problems um it's pretty wild it's a pretty wild um way to do fake math I mean it's fake math they're making up numbers it's crazy um well uh looking for anyone else it's a great opportunity to talk with someone who really knows what's going on um and I'll just pause for a second and Christie just um thank you so much for this information and also for your tireless work for us in the state to keep our air water and land clean and to help protect our Public Health it's really really important and you're a great leader thank you thanks Rita I appreciate it and I appreciate the work that everyone here is doing um I will make sure to get those reports toita and she can share them all with you and um one of the really key authors is actually from Michigan um Lyn Henning and I she will happily come take you around lenway County and talk to you about her 30 years of advocacy against industrial agriculture in her backyard um and if anyone on the commission is interested in coming and talking to Lyn Henning I really recommend it she's a little bit of a a national treasur in my opinion yes she is um all right well thanks again thanks I'll leave you guys for now thank you appreciate the invite have a good evening and you we'll see you bye bye bye all right thanks everyone um I hope that you uh appreciated that dense bit of information it brings to the four in my mind the great importance not only of you know another piece of Upstream that we didn't mention here is like what are the choices we make in food right we've been talking about a more veget ve ve vegetable-based um diet um this is yet another reason to help avoid some Upstream to not put pressure for um KOB based food uh into the system as well and to not give cover to an operation that that it doesn't it it does not deserve um there also animal rights issues worker issues um emission of gas in local um environment neighbors around um some of these Farms that are really serious but anyway thank you for your time and attention on this um so I'm G to move now to our next item on our agenda which is um the reports from our um committees and commissions Etc um so I'm going to start with uh biodiversity and to commissioner Curtis okay um a few things to talk about we finished up the um pollinator wear yard care website information and we also finished up the information for Sean for the pator corner topic so they can start doing a monthly blurb going out in different newsletters and we started discussion of a couple of new topics uh biodiversity event for large Property Owners this you can get something like that set up and um also natural features in the comp plan comp plan what do we want there so just some new topics we're starting to work on there that's it great thanks um the next group is circular economy and um does that be it would be you John Cowart possibly all right thank you sure uh not much to report uh the working group kind of wrapped up our current phase of work around construction and demolition um currently City staff Sarah Mason and Jenny py are working on compiling that into a presentation that they first want to uh take around uh other City staff and get their input on it and eventually perhaps sometime the summer would bring it back to the environmental commission for input on kind of what we learned and what we think some next steps are uh Lisa anything to add to that I have a question John is is this your last meeting yes oh my gosh well uh I just want to be sure that everyone knows because some of you have been some of you have been on this commission a long time but others not just what a driving force John Cowart you have been and so in my four years you predate me but in my four years you have you have MO the what we are now calling the circular economy working group Thank you Lisa um it's been such a pleasure and um I think that you know just go to the web I mean there's so many things that we accomplished with John including working with a great team of se's students um on circular economy in Ann Arbor so it's laying the groundwork for a new strategy piece of a20 and I couldn't be more grateful and sorry for you to go thank you it's it's been it was a good covid project right we started this in terms of deep Co and weekly meetings and doing what we could and um yeah glad to have been able to contribute to it thanks I want to add my thanks too John and thank you very much for for being here as long as I've been on this commission as well um it's it's been great to have a a solid um person available we appreciate your work um right water um Steve is not here I don't know Sarah if you want to comment on anything um I'll just say that uh the G plume is still moving forward right um and the comment period for um the EPA um uh National priorities listing has been closed um there is a a an npdes permit review coming up I believe with a hearing soon um trying to think of the date it's coming up cannot remember but I can June 20th ah thanks just what I need I knew there was a 20 um uh yeah so that's something that you all may be interested in joining in on um all right I'm going to move to uh other commissions and I'll start with an oh I'm sorry Lisa did you have a a comment actually I did now I don't remember if we remembered to say this or possibly you didn't completely know this but did did everybody know that the city reopened or the city took legal action related to the settlement agreement with Gman that was reached in 2006 and that part of that settlement agreement was um it included some monitoring Wells that Gman never put in the ground um for one thing because these monitoring Wells if enough dioxine is is detected in them will trigger a cash payment from Gman so they somehow didn't get around to uh installing them so the city took legal action and Gman has installed I think a couple not all three yet but a couple of those Wells which is another step it's one of the things as we wait for the EPA to approve taking up the site and then taking over the cleanup of the site it's just another step that we can have locally in a way to hold Gman accountable so that was a really pleasing result from the leg uh from the um from the litigation pathway which is mostly now moot because of epa's action which is of course um welcome yeah great thank you um and I okay I'll move now to um energy with John mki yes U first of all I want to also add my thanks to John um I've worked with John on solid waste and circular economy activities for quite some time and um we're going to miss you John and I hope you're not just quote unquote retiring but moving on to something bigger and better than the environmental commission with a bigger impact so let's we hope to hear about that someday um as far as the energy commission is concerned uh two major uh activities first of all we began but did not complete discussions um and uh commission uh reactions and input on the city administrator memo with recommendations for incentivizing uh energy efficient and all electric all electric um building construction so once we have some uh conclusions on that I'll be happy to share those but we're not at that point yet that hopefully be in our next meeting or maybe the one after that and the other thing is that um we elected a new chair replacing K CLA mcdna who's stepping down to concentrate on our PhD studies um and that is um Gabriel or Gabe herp and some of you might know him in his professional capacity at the University of Michigan he's the director of research and creation practice development at telman college um College of uh architecture so um we have a new chair so those are the two main topics that we covered at our last meeting thanks great thanks and John the um the um Energy Efficiency um incentive program is one that we had discussed here as well right cor as I recall and I think that we didn't probably spend as much time on it as you all have and it's I'll be very interested in hearing what the energy Commission says sure uh council member dish question are you talking about the memo that we received from City administrator Deone in either late December or early January or are you talking about M mid January yes that memo okay well it might be a good idea to focus instead or at least in addition to on John forer's memo uh it's one of I know also you Council passed four resolutions that cover part of that and uh I submitted a number of questions and they were not answered and that's why we didn't finish the discussion on the topic so yes we recognize that okay so you recognize that the four Economic Development memos are actually more comprehensive and when further than my mom okay great thank you y uh next we have parks and Ann I'm glad to see that you're still here I know that you have a new role in Parks as well um as chair and so I'm happy to see you but I have this feeling that perhaps we may be seeing a change so we ask you that question nothing nothing imminent yet um okay still need to um encourage en some folks to step forward and from Parks but um yeah we just met on Tuesday um we at the big piece of business was the millage the parks millage so we voted to recommend that city council um recommend putting a or agree to putting a um renewal for the parks millage at 1.1 Mills for 20 years on the November ballot um and then we had a few other items just uh an update on West Park and the Band Shell over um apparently there's a lot of um neighborhood and community support for the band shell and so um the Consultants will be looking into you know how to um move it or build a new Band Shell or you know whatever their whatever the recommendations are going to be um we accepted a fair food networks Grant uh for the farmers market to support um low-income folks um to be able to buy produce there and uh we recommended approving a an easement for uh d for some overhead power lines in Mary Beth Doyle Park and that is it looks like I got questions Mr mki thank you yep thanks um the millage uh renewal is that at the same millage rate as the current rate or was there a discussion of any decision on raising that millage rate yeah they um what staff recommended was um maintaining the current millage rate so no change there 1.1 Mills what they recommended was going from uh the last three millages have been for six years this time around we decided to go for 20 years um because it provides a little more stability and planning over that period of time um knowing that we're going to have that funding available um my understanding is that there's not a lot of room uh within the millage allotments but and I don't know a ton about this topic but um I know there are some limits on how many mills different bodies can they have to work with and um so my understanding is there's not a lot of wiggle room in the within the city to raise that millage rate that's also my understanding is that we're bumping up against the ceiling maybe one of the council members can talk to that but the concern that I have is that it's at least my perception that there is a significant amount of um deferred maintenance if you will um on public parks um that was somewhat mitigated um by some Reconstruction Act funds for example the um the bridge at Gallup Park um was replaced with that although I guess that's maybe Capital um Improvement project uh funding but but then we also have the structural issue that the green belt can um is generating additional funds and onethird of those funds have to be used for the purchase of new Parkland so um while the acreage of that new park Parkland is probably not that significant just because it's getting more and more in excuse me expensive um and there's less and less to buy never us we adding Park land um we see inflation that's hitting costs also for parks and wreck um and we basically have a scissors effect where unless the millage generates a lot more uh Revenue because property values are going way up or cumulative property values are going up we're in a situation where we're going to be doing less and less with our parks and I think one examp example of that is something we've talked about here and that is um nap now is only actively managing about 400 um Acres of its land and um we've talked also about the frequency of um controlled Burns and those have dropped from about 150 acres a year down to um roughly 60 Acres a year there was a there's been a little bit of a bump up again this year but um nevertheless it's still substantially lower than what it had been in the past so I'm wondering if by recommending a millage increase that is flat that we're just not going to see a bigger and bigger problem in terms of our ability to maintain um our our parks and to put on the kinds of programs that people in ant Arbor would expect yeah no I um I agree with your concerns that that there are a lot of maintenance issues in on the horizon um within the parks I think um part of the um reason for going for a 20-year millage um it allows us the stability um to go after some other types of funding that require things like matching funds um it's going to provide us the possibility for doing um for issuing bonds against the millage and I don't know a ton about that topic either but my understanding is that it just it with the stability of the millage and the fact that we don't have a lot of wiggle room to increase that millage significantly it does provide us with um the stability we might need in order to um attract other types of Grant fundings State dollars federal dollars and that sort of thing so I think going forward the parks department is is looking at you know what are other options for paying for the kinds of amenities that we'd like to have within the city of annor I can understand the 20 years because that's uh an enabler when it comes to attracting those funds I guess I'm questioning locking ourselves in to a milliter rate effectively locking ourselves in I suppose there could be a proposal to um increase the millage at some future point in time um but it seems to me it's most likely the Practical effect will be likely that we lock ourselves in for 20 years and if we don't attract those funds then we're really stuck because as I said you know Parkland and facilities are continuing to increase with the green belt funds and we have mounting issues with invasives we have um expectations in terms of maintaining the kinds of services um you know the kinds of programs the deliveries and things like that uh you know we saw even just with um the golf carts and things like that those kinds of costs the way we'd like to do it with electric golf carts are are higher and their operating costs are apparently also higher so I I just wonder about the Prudence of of doing that yeah no we did we did bring that topic that that issue up that you know over 20 years now you're kind of locking yourself into a to a rate but um I think the um yeah the decision was that this was the way to go forward for the time being but I certainly am happy to to bring your concerns back to to the parks department yeah think Council Council needs to consider that then finally when when they they vote on on on whether or not to continue the millage at the current rate yeah absolutely you know a lot of other things that we've talked about like deer call and things like that that potentially could be um covered under under um the parks and wreck department I would think um so I I don't know I I I'm I'm concerned about um what we're what we're locking ourselves into for the next 20 years thank you um commissioner Graham John you're a treasure and I share your concerns as you very well know and thanks for your Parks Commission leadership I it's really been great to have a durable uh friend on the environmental commission from Parks it's not you of course uh it's the structural deficit of the city that's behind all of this and I it's not really environmental commission business but when something like the park budget seems to be well perhaps I say low man on the totem pole as far as funding is concerned I think the effect of inflation these last few years has been obvious uh it certainly has been for the nap program it seems to me that the city needs to address the structural funding problem and this is much more than a Parks issue I'm I'm just going to put this on the table maybe maybe we can make it a subject of an environmental Commission meeting where we get uh really well informed so that we can inform our neighbors and friends um maybe it's time for some proposals clearly we're building big buildings and that's helping our tax income um I don't know if it's going to work out in the end but uh um I Mr Headley got a law passed in the state that Capp the rate at which properties can be taxed relative to their market value and until it until the property sells and um that's very beneficial to all of us who have lived here a long time and have owned property for a long time it's fairly tough on City budgets I'm I'm thinking of iilani where they have a much smaller tax base and really are closed in by these problems we're more um and we're we have a growing body of land in the city that's not on the tax base uh whatever every couple weeks we hear about something being sold to the university yep [Music] somehow not too long in the future we really need to all come together and do something about this Anan it's not you it's a much bigger problem um so I have just one quick question and my concern I guess with the um 20y year time period for the millage doesn't the millage rate decrease over the years so that by the time we get to 20 um years that the actual millage amount um is decreased because of this headl design is that correct no he ISS nodding okay that makes me a little worried too um because if perhaps it may be better to renew it more frequently so that it doesn't get down really low I don't know what the projections are for the 20th year compared to the um first um but that would be a concern I have if that's true then I'm really GNA stand up and object to this course of action never mind the grants and programs we can apply for we get hurt in that deal we Parks well every village gets hurt so right affable housing hurt gotta do something about this yeah right well um thanks an um and thanks for continuing to be here with us um all right uh Planning Commission report from planning Lisa I'm sorry to look at you again I know that we're on seeking a a person sit I'm trying to think if we've done anything that would be interesting um I don't think so um yeah I mean the only thing that that we did the other night was we talked about a new project it's a prep PUD conference for um a project that's going to make uh an improvement on an Street and an court or sorry Mary Street and Mary Street and Mary court all these streets named after women and it's going to involve taking down four um single family homes and doubling the number of units number of of you know residential units but doing a a sort of an attached town home structure it's going to be all one building but there'll be town homes with porches and stuff and we are um the circular economy working group is working on connecting this developer with someone who might be able to salvage some of the materials in those single family homes because it's just you know not it's not typical when when we rip down a really really old broken down um multif Family apartment building there's not much in there worth saling but there might be things in these houses that that someone could reuse so we're just doing a little sort of informal construction and demolition pilot and it may come to nothing because we may not be able to find someone to help Salvage but that's something that I think you all would be interested in and um uh we looked at our work plan and it's ridiculous and yeah so um I'll keep you posted when work on those Economic Development amendments which has sustainability work in them I'll keep you posted on when that gets scheduled and move forward by planning thanks and you know that um I um watched and commented on the recent um project that was approved for an amendment um that includes some um methane from agriculture in its plan for um energy and that's for me is still as a concern based on the information we heard tonight so I hope that gets a little more discussion um yeah thanks okay um transportation I think that I need to look to council member Amman well I'm no longer on Transportation but what I can't tell you is that uh something that city council passed several months ago calling on MD do to work with the ride on a different option for us23 stretch instead of adding a lane that's uh they announced today that they will not be adding a lane and they will be looking at improving it uh the bridge um that actually kind of connects neighborhoods at better bike infrastructure they're also going to be looking at increasing the shoulder so that the bus could use the shoulder as a high spe speed unobstructed lane state law would need to change to make that happen but anyway yay a lot of activ went on around that so just happy to see it and then while you have me I'll just give remind people that our leaf blower gas powered leaf blower um phas in starts on June 1st meaning June 1st to October 1st days out gas powered leaf blower phase out that's what I said isn't that what I said said phase in PH out sorry anyway yes pH out um so folks should not be using gas powered leaf blower starting uh June 1st until the fall and that goes until 2028 at which point no gas powerered leaf blowers so hopefully your neighborhoods will be a little bit quieter and we also at our council meeting I think since the last time we met passed um a resolution to put the seu ballot language on for November 2024 I think that was between the last meeting and this so that's moving forward too great um uh cons commissioner Graham just a little feedback the um most powerful gas backpack blowers cost about $800 the most powerful electric backpack leaf blower costs about $2,000 including batteries and chargers and believe me you go through a lot of batteries in a day um the most powerful backpack leaf blower currently pushes about 70% of the amount of air that the most powerful gas one does um we haven't gotten to the point yet where the technology meets the um standard standard being the performance of a gas powered leaf blower hopefully by 2028 when that power is needed for false leaves we're okay uh out in the field uh there are almost no contractors with electric machines I have them um and the Mery is beginning to take them on even lawnmowers and spin trimmers and uh a lot more of these appliances we really need to change um uh the other problem about electric stuff is you have to have a covered vehicle uh you can't go out in the rain with this stuff and not have troubles needless to save so it's not all Wine and Roses yet um I wish you all done more than just leaf blowers because that kind of smacks of we don't like the noise rather than really doing what we can do which is pays out a lot of this stuff um uh the big lawnmowers the big riding lawnmowers being the toughest one but in any case for a homeowner such as myself by myself I'm all electric um I've completely made the shift the homeowner size um materials work great still not good in the fall if you live in a wooded part of the city just some feedback I just want to add a pitch to leave the leaves as much as possible especially on non-m mode areas um because they are very good for pollinators um and other Wildlife so um the these things can fit together I hope in the future um and I think that we will also um one of the other outcomes for this um will be cleaner air it's very specifically um okay uh is there any other report that council members would like to make our on thisa or um Dharma and if not okay thank you um so I just want to um acknowledge that um and thank Council for um the budget that you passed with the um phase two study for the Anor for Public Power um study of electrification or um looking for an alternate method of managing uh electricity for a city in the future um and I also want to say that um I've uh appreciated um being chair and I look forward to our next item after the report from Ain um um election of our next chair um Erin do you want to comment on anything from your staff report and thank you for providing it and writing sure yeah there's there's a few links in there um regarding some upcoming um activities around so 820 Z week um is going to be June 9th through 15th so there's a link to check that out um this one's a little dated but we did launch um more life less stuff on earthday so there's a link to check that out as well um and then I posted the link Rita you mentioned this about Gman um the um public comment for the npl listing um I did also not on my report I wanted to mention that the um the wastewater treatment plant um actually timely just completed um a phase 2 feasibility study on an anerobic digestor um and I think they're tentatively scheduled to present to the energy Commission in June so I was going to forward that along to this commission if anyone's interested in attending um that there's some um you know uh some um potential environmental benefits from the anerobic digestor but there is a large Capital cost and so the consultant will be presenting on those issues at that thank you I think after our presentation that we heard tonight it would be interesting to kind of explore some of the issues that were raised as well and I know it's a different kind of thing and I um but we we need to know all of it right as we move forward um yes and I did just want to confirm the city's not land applying biosolids anymore I don't know if there was a question about that but just to confirm so yeah but we did for a while right I know our history yeah yes correct yeah okay um all right I would like to now um call our attention to um election of officers for the next uh year starting in June um oh and also to acknowledge and thank um reappointments for um Commissioners Dale uh we hang and Graham thank you for continuing to serve and I'm pleased that that you're remaining on the commission it's really good um uh okay so Erin if you could help just uh announce the um any candidates um for chair let's start with chair sure we had H commissioner Curtis um step up to volunteer to be chair for next year right yay um so I think we have to have a motion um and first off an acceptance um so Mr Curtis do accept um the potential to be elected into your position yes I do okay thanks um and so I'd like a motion to um elect um commissioner Curtis as chair of the environmental commission commissioner mki thank you and a second from commissioner Dale thank you um and so any discussion of this probably is when I should have asked if you accept um uh and all in favor well maybe quickly um are there any other nominations sent out uh a request for people um to to submit names to nomination but we should probably also open the floor for additional nominations just in case you're correct is there anyone else who would like to serve as chair of the environmental commission talk you through about it all right I see no hands um I would like to proceed with the motion thank you for raising the issue um okay all in favor of commissioner Kurtis as our chair for the next year raise your hand I see oh okay any okay good this looks like unanimous thank you good job Brook good J you were just getting really terrific at your job Rita now I'm gonna be not terrific you you just grown Leaps and Bounds in this last year or two well thanks it's um youall are the best to work with and um I appreciate it um so uh we need a vice chair and um I believe that eron has heard from one person at least um and Ain our potential candidate I've heard from um that commissioner Brown um is interested in the vice chair position okay is anyone else present um also interested in serving as Vice chair we could have a runoff all right um would anyone like to move um Vice chair Brown to continue as Vice chair commission mki second and by commissioner Dale thank you all in favor of commissioner Brown returning as Vice chair raise your hand I see unanimous thank you everyone um I appreciate this we've got three minutes we're gonna squeak by perhaps um with our meeting um we are now and um oh so uh commissioner Curtis I assume that you will proceed with taking over over at the next meeting in which case I'll send you yeah all of the information on how to introduce and everything like that okay thanks um okay so this is our chance now for our second public commentary um people can speak for up to three minutes please call 888 78899 and enter meeting ID 962 0336 6453 um City staff will select callers that have raised their hand by calling out the last three digits of their phone number in order to electronically raise your hand please press star n on your phone you'll hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak please at that point press star six to unmute your phone in speaking please move to a quiet area and mute any television or background not sounds so that you may we may hear you clearly please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments and eron do we have any hands raised uh no callers tonight no callers all right um I'd like to entertain a mve a motion to adjourn from commissioner Mery do you have a comment commiss mki I have a quick question I think we're supposed to talk about agenda items for the next agenda you're you're right oh geez okay I think you go over that and I just wanted to request that um in light of the solid waste uh budget that was posted to legistar for this meeting um for for the first nine months of this year that we make sure that we get a review of that budget um when the budget year is up I just want to point out that we're nine months in or 75% um expenses um are coming in only at 49% % of budget whereas revenue is coming in at 78% of budget and the Delta is a net positive of over $6 million year to date which um would presumably go to the solid waste fund um and that would be the third year in a row where you've had a large Surplus and I think it would be really important to talk about um solid waste and the budgeting and what we do with the salid waste fund etc etc that's all thanks sounds good great thank you um any other uh suggestions for future agenda items see none right um is there a motion to adjourn mki second commissioner weing um all in favor of a joury again all right thank you all thank you good night it's been fun I'll be here