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luckily I dropped off my last student how that decision was made to have school that day needs to be investigated whoever is responsible for the decision needs to be held accountable just as my colleagues have been reprimanded for voicing their opinions openly on social media so shall you be reprimanded for collectively endangering the lives of thousands of students teachers bus drivers parents and people of the community I'm here today to voice my con concerned publicly as a bcsc employee Baria County resident and tell you shame on you shame on you whoever was involved in a core decision made that endangered so many I truly hope the lessons were learned and the next time excuse me the next time a situation like this arises it will be considered more carefully more respectfully to the community as a whole all they do with this problems are good problems give us a chance to resol to problem solve to find an answer or a way to make a problem better today I ask you to solve this problem to apologize to those affected to assure the respective community that you represent that this will not happen again and again all that has been addressed and I admire and thank you H first of all I'm going to apologize I'm probably going to reiterate some things that have already been said but already typed it out so now you're going to get it um again my name is Lacy I live here in maram County I have a 2-year-old daugh sorry I have a second grader and that's 7 years old and I have an 11y old in sixth grade I'm a nurse here at Z and I deal with unknown factors on a daily basis I completely understand that weather is not completely predictable however I feel BCS has completely dropped the ball with the safety of our children and they have all the known factors at their fingertips it is deeply concerning that the safety of our children is not the Forefront of our education system bcsc has most students in town but also a lot in the country I live in town a very popular neighborhood and still to the same having out of my driveway I cannot bom how bad the country roads have been if I'm still having trouble living in town as an RN I am very well prepared to deal with weather I have to report regardless of weather but if the hospital where I work is still providing rides to get staff to work there's no way that blessings should be transporting children back and forth I am concerned with the decision to hold School while all the surrounding counties are delayed or canel we are under the same red and orange weather advisories as surrounding count C after speaking with the City and County Emergency Management and the knowledge of surrounding cancellations I cannot B how our school corporation made the call to go ahead with the school and remainder of last week why are we not being as proactive and planning for the worst case scenarios when it comes to the well-being of our children our faculty and our community there were multiple reports of buses getting stuck sliding off of Roads taking much longer and time to get home and sell communication and delays in ation were not had concerning Friday I spoke earlier that as a nurse he work with the unknown factors but on Friday we had the factors with plenty of warning and still the ball was dropped it had been snowing for a few hours and still less than 25 minutes before dismissal the call was made for Eye Care to be cancelled my child's Chrome book was sent home on Thursday why was there still school on Friday when the prediction was that the snow would start at 10 you simply cannot drop the ball or have a miss when you're handling children as and prek kindergarten and up I understand you cannot make decisions to please everyone and making this calls has to be incredibly hard but I can't reiterate enough that the safety of our children has to be the most important and unfortunately it's felt across the board that it was not handled the correct way past week I hope with the upcoming forecasted inclement weather that better decisions can be made with our children at the Forefront of the decision good evening everyone happy New Year my name is coin I live on the North side of Columbus and I also first just want to take a moment to uh express my thanks to Dr Phillips for the tremendous humility that it takes to admit when you've made a wrong decision and I I really appreciate accountability that you've taken here tonight the issue I want to speak on has to do with student apet but not uh does not have to do with snow but it's to bring light to an issue that I've discussed here in the past and that's is the issue of violence within our schools so since your last regularly scheduled meeting a school shooting occurred on December 16th at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison Wisconsin a student and teacher were fatally shot and six others were wounded the start of a new year in school is usually exciting and refreshing but not for those affected this like many other acts of violence taken towards schools feels as if it disappear just as quickly as it had occurred the news headlines move on and accountability at the local level is brushed aside with the mentality of it will never happen here or there's nothing that we can do about that both of those positions are fallacies I call on this board to continue to ensure that all necessary steps are being taken to prevent such an act from taking place at our schools all kids deserve to feel safe when they go to school I remember when I was a student in bcsc and seeing the news of Sandy Hook and Parkland and thinking what if I'm next and I know kids are seeing the same news and they're likely asking the same questions and that is a crying shame and as the newly elected school board members are sworn in I think it's important to call out all forms of violence especially political the previous election for your seats you hold was uh particularly enthusiastic so to speak I think that's a good word and unfortunately with enthusiasm often comes anger whether it be heated debates regarding School curriculum or Library materials or discussions involving Vision 2030 it's imperative to remember that we should treat others how you would want to be treated and that goes for all present here tonight during the past election cycle threats of violence were made towards candidates I witness threatening behavior towards sitting board members simply for the views that they held or for the votes that they had taken and that is unacceptable we should settle our disagreements as the battop fox or here during public comment and that being said that is why I think it is much more important for the Safety and Security of students teachers board members and the public that safety is a priority thank you for all you do I'll cover these These are uh some approvals that are outside of the normal monthly board meetings these are annual approvals related to the business office uh under number 9 a through D those are all related to appointments and authorizations on the part of the board for the business office to appoint Mr grer as the corporation Treasurer Paul Petro as the deputy treasur those Curr and then authorizing them to continue to invest funds and then also improving um bonds to Ure not only our treasur treasur but um each of the school treasurers I request approval for items 98 I move that we approve line items 9 A9 second all it say I those pleas item number 10 is also board organization annual board organization requirement uh and these items include the board remuneration that 10 times fast um these are this is the board pay Remains the Same as the prior year and it's set by law that's item 10 a item 10B is uh naming the Republic as the official newspaper where we ad Public Notices and then item C is are several public disclosures of conf conflict of interest both for um members of administration as well as members of the school board request approval of items 10 a through C thank you Mr just for people who are interested this conflict of interest forms are located onard dos and they were available if anybody would like to see what so all those in favor of approving items 10 a c please say I allos item 11 a through item 11 P are the board appoints commity VCS committees as well as Comm Community organizations those are included in pack M aren on the screen but they are request so I think I have a motion here but I don't know which version of when I saw once it was correct and then I think it was incorrect so so my motion if it's stated that way is so I have for the past year been um the board rep for the council for Youth Development um I will be taking on two new roles around legislative leaon so my motion is that that assignment would be um given to Whitney Lloyd and aside from that I think that she would do a tremendous job there probably motion to am all in favor of am Tok thank youor aming 11 so I motion to approve line items 11 a through 11 L amended 11 M and the original p a second than anys all in favor of what SCH pleas thank you very much under old business we have the minutes of the regular school board meeting of December approve LS 12 question coms alling minutes from meeting please thank you very much um under new business items 13 sorry 13A 13k they include the normal approvals uh of supplemental contracts leaves fundraisers the claims for December 2024 pre runs uh the large dollar amount there is reflective of our semiannual debt payments that happen every December and every June and that occurred on December 1th and December 27th uh item e is the renaming uh sorry I should say the original naming of the Columbus North Press Box Columbus North honored Sam simmer maker back in the fall prior to the nor East football game um and so we request formal approval now from the board retroactively to approve the naming of that Press Box in honor of Mr Sam simmermaker the two appointments are or items item f and g are the appointment of the school physician Dr J Harwell and the continued appointment of Mr M gber as our school attorney we also have landscape contracts for calendar year 25 and 26 in the item H item I are the uh contracts for the second phase of the Johnson Early Learning Center that Dr ref to earlier and then um under item J the final transfer for 2024 between education the education fund and operations fund that final transfer puts us where we are right at under 10% of the education fund budget um the maximum set by state wall is a 15% transfer and then the last item uh item K is ready with Y Grant as there also I grant that were involved with the ready Grant to support stem work across the district uh for $100,000 this year approval board to accept that Grant request approval of items 13 a through 13k Ive to approve L it presented there any questions I have a discussion point on 13j I know we've had this discussion several times on transferring money from education operations fund collecting relatively sizable I do think it's in the public interest is I think the the reasoning behind it has been the state has changed accounts of what can be pay for out of one fund versus the other I would like to see in a future Mee thees and minuses of what would have versus transfer just to make sure that we're remaining on that aspect so we say that hey these line items would have been PA for out of Education fund the old concept or why we allow 10% transfer so line item make sure it matches up with the transfer I can provide that to the board the next meeting any other questions the only thing I add is on I for Johnson Early Learning I think we've heard from teachers that have talked about elementary middle school and high school uh changes to the schools and the development process process or how they arrived at what ultimately the school is going to look like because Early Learning is so much different than those others it'd be good to have some of those teachers that are part of that design team come in and speak to just kind of share with their experience and and what those uh changes look like for for those kids because they're they're not uh they're not 12 years old we're talking about little ones so it's a different thought process how they manag room and the things that they put into place for those kids so it might be might be good to just hear from them too motion to approve 1 all inor say I all those say good evening the seven Human Resources recommendations consist of five appointments and two resignations I request that you please approve the personel recommendations as presented I to Jan all those in favor of one easy question is just the understand halfway through the year how are we looking as far as uh we've had some people retire resign uh move around are we do we have like five openings or 50 openings just kind of just an update to see what what your workload looks like yeah so I'm going to speak to certified staff only because classified there are a lot of complexities there so we have three openings right now for certifi staff specifically speech at Richards C4 Health Science pathway and uh an English position at East and we do have a plan and are filling those with certified teachers right now thank you thank you and the additional human res recommendation for this evening consists of one appointment so I again request that you please approve the additional Human Resources recommendation as presented I move that we approve the additional human resource recommendation as present favor of approving 14 as presented first of all don't recently I listen too many but I heard that part of the interview for um for going to the international station they asked when was the last time you apologized to um so I which the rationality is that you're been very close to people but anyway in light of that um Dr Phillips I really appreciate your transparency and and honesty and your your reflection on your on the decision making I also I was wondering that same day like we have it to our why don't we have it to our early release plan so I appreciate I don't know what it would look like that's up to you but I appreciate that that you're thinking along those lines um the other and the of course the graduation to was absolutely fabulous um I am going to continue to beat this drum that I don't want to wait until next year when we get our graduation rate to talk about it again um we just finished first semester um and Levi Simpson was absolutely accurate when he said they they live with that form every day to us it's pretty overwhelming but but I think that this year's senior cohort groups would be very capable of taking the semester data comparing it to last semester senior and and giving us an update of how we're doing so far I don't want to wait I want to celebrate again but I don't want to wait until um next year at this time that so it's one of our goals let's talk about every time um and finally um in my new role as legislative liaison or whatever it is um we don't meet again for a month and the legislator legislature started meeting this week um I don't have any specific updates and I I'm sure I will not do as good a job as Mr Grimes did but I will tell everyone board members and everyone that isba has a website um isba.org or you just search Indiana Schoolboard Association and go to the legislative um legislative Tab and open that Tab and there's some really cool things there I mean there's a each week There's a three minute video and in three minutes you can get what's what's really important and there's also a um there will be a bill tracker which is probably pretty overwheling because there going to be over 100 education bills um and then there's a Weekly Newsletter that you can link on so there's a lot of stuff there that you don't have to wait until next month for an legislative update on what's going on because it will affect us in years to and welcome to the new board members so mple things uh first kudos to Cary for being selected again for the education Hall of Fame the distinguished career that's still ongoing at Central Middle School um I want to thank uh the bus drivers uh that got everybody home safely thank the teachers and staff that did their best to get their students to the transport whether that's clearing out parking lots clearing out sidewalks getting kids to cars I had multiple reports of you know just trying to get everyone there and I do appreciate Dr Phillips's apology and just reflection on the events um I I did have one concern from the public comment is and I believe his name was Mr day was the mention of disciplinary action due to a public comment um I want to make sure and this isn't time to discuss it or would it be appropriate if there was disciplinary action I would request an executive session to see how that's going to with policy 4310 and the ND code 20- 28-10-14 um just because given that I think it was at this point we've all reconciled and reflected I don't I would be concerned about the disciplinary action or just understanding at Le so if that were the case then I would request that but overall I just appreciate the reflection and that all the students were able to make it home safely and um finally kudos to Mr Edwards and his teams on getting the graad Cs I know that was a bumpy start but it definitely came off the strong fin so appreciate um most my com kind of around snow removal uh I talked to Sate schools as we saw across Facebook one of the biggest issues was the roads around North side and north um and talking with some of the school Personnel some people didn't really know what they're responsible for as the school so as we develop plans and processes uh we need to make that a clear guideline of pay school property to my understand we're responsible for that um to that point is there anything from the board that you need from us to assist with that further do we have the proper equipment personel to help facilitate movement gred side of public it's property owner across the city the proper owner city as whole and then may directed towards you say for instance we develop a plan where we reach out to the community um and ask for assistance I don't know how that looks in terms of who runs the stone removal processes and contracts I know in this day of age you be looking at liability risk pretty heavily and whether they're bonded or insured companies one thing it was said earlier tonight we kind of forget that we are a still a rural community in some instances especially with our some of our schools I don't know what that would look like if there were farmers or heavy equipment operators in vities and schools I rock poville healthy so on so forth that may volunteer their services is there a risk there that for liability RIS some thoughts that popped in my head we had discussions day I mean some of the roads out east side of County I was one of them help remove of on H North and it was pretty impressive to see the amount of snow that we got and seeing the results I also want to remind everybody that our I scores did have a 5% increase um well by two and points for to get that regly as well I we want to make sure getting the outcomes we need and being supportive so the team for that um Saturday there's a beex um robotics competition at um East High School so as a stem girl um I really enjoy seeing our kids um participate in those things it is remarkable what these children can do they are so much smarter um then probably all of us are really um see what they can do so if you havee see that um and and just support them um thank you to the Mount Healthy kiddos oh my gosh this is super sweet they made each of us a card um honoring us for school board month January School Board month that was very sweet of them so for the teachers that help facilitate that as well appreciate that um and just want to congratulate um Whitney and Tom it was it was a weird campaign season and I think we all felt nice it was another big moment for us things T in tonight and and we've got to get to work there are a lot of people behind all of us um getting to these getting to these seats and I hope we show you all that we them we're do thank you Miss Welden congratulations to the new board members tonight starting new terms be starting in first terms uh look forward to working together as a team uh thank you thank you all the folks that were involved in presentations tonight uh thanks to those folks that attended the meeting the four folks that spoke during the public comment session I appreciate all that input that will help us make better decisions thank you yeah what a week uh what a change in the last week you know I was prepared to come back and welcome everybody back from Christmas now it's just welcome everybody back out of the snow right so it's uh um been a crazy week last week let's hope that we uh take that put it behind us and move forward um Nikki mentioned the big thing for me was to mention the St event on the 18th this Saturday it's at East and uh it's supposed to be one of the largest in the state from what I understand um I can't remember there was like 70 80 teams or more some crazy number like that uh so if if there's anybody that would like to assist with that I know Mrs Haynes would love to have addition help um so if you would like to participate please talk to hering tonight Todd always did that and I always thought it was a really joyful moment but I thought being my first meeting better not so stay tuned for February it's going to be a good one uh I just want to congratulate our teams on a 90% graduation rate that's absolutely phenomenal I'm so impressed and applaud our teachers and our faculty for the incredible work that they're doing that is no small need so congratulations also want to say congrats to pcsc on an amazing United Way campaign almost $24,000 that is a significant amount of money that will have a tremendous impact on our community um that's spread across 17 agencies that are serving our students so that that is just really impressive and I think it's a wonderful opportunity for our students to be exposed to Phil at a really young age I know it's one more thing on our students and our teachers plates but I think it's a really important lesson and so congratulations um I wanted to thank the colus robotics of the La Tech Team so we got to go out and um see them kick off their season I was wildly impressed um I felt very small next to these middle and high school students who were talking uh what it felt like to me a different language and so they got their um aing of their season and what it was going to be and so I can't wait to see what they come up with for rescape um I'm looking forward to Saturday too I think that's going to be a great thing and I just want to say thank you to to Sherry and to Nick and to everybody that have helped me get set up in this role I feel like I have the tools and the resources uh to be successful and to all of the bcsc uh employees who have taken time to welcome me to talk to me to show me around um you know I I think learning as much as I possibly can in the school is going to be really import and so I appreciate the time that you've shared with me so thank you sorry uh I forgot to make a notes so this past weekend many of you may or may not know there are quite a few successes u i athletically um the pom Valkyries which is the girls wrestling program they have one of the toughest regionals in the state and they as a team qualif girls for state next week it's going to be Friday this coming Friday and also to that point they won the team title so they won the first Regional girls team uh that's a big one TI is doing great program over there and then the boys wrestling e they compet in Thea ihsca state tournament this year they end up pulling third I know they had higher hopes I think they could but and then boys basketball programs here continue to have excellent success throughout the holidays and it's see moving forward so academically we're doing great athletically we're doing well as well this will just a couple more notes I I want to also welcome the new board members and um thank all of you for serving this is School Board member appreciation month um and so the rest of the months you get nothing from us but you get these cards for these great not healthy kids and uh really U thank you for giving of your time to this district and to this community it is very much appreciated although I know sometimes it doesn't feel like it I do want to remind folks that uh in addition to this Friday's uh state championship up at the State Fairgrounds for girls wrestling Friday also a professional development day for BCS so we're out of school so all the students can go up and cheer on the girls wrestlers up uh the State Fairgrounds uh the following Monday of course is the mar Luther King junor day and there is a community celebration 6:45 a.m.

and it's uh January 1st 2025 save the date is it I never knew thank you put the phone down this is for my safy I get it I get it put the phone down this is for his safety guys Jordan has no enemies off screen he is playing quickplay duo with opai he has no that's awesome that's actually kind of cute he has no enemies it's going to be his tetrio girlfriend trust what's more honorable valant girlfriend or tetrio girlfriend tetrio bro probably you got you got to get on grind for Teter Jaden 445 but he's right here that joke comes up again I was quick on the draw with that one he was quick 's still going on yes this round still has not concluded and we're still out of focus still out of focus still no Focus but that's okay oh that was kind of a misplace oops and that might lead him to a lot fous it does he doesn't have any more room poo yeah can we can we uh switch to uh yeah look at them they're so cute together look at them look at them they're hitting at 1000 M no that's stalo and opai not Jordan and opai a they're still so cute together they're still so cute love blossoming on the battlefield this is this is what war is all about yes for real pus we're seeing the Romeo and Juliet of Tetris number four a on the stream they're number four it would have it would have been much more like ironic if it was Jordan yes because he just played opai yeah literally just lost to her and just lost to her and now it would be hilarious if he was just playing quick play with her what was that I don't know I just be making noises sometimes I just be making noises yeah that like that yes neon stalo no no don't let your Pooky die OA save you come on this is what love is all about and you're breaking every rule rule number one don't die in tetrio if it were actually like Romeo and Julia Opie would just like spam the space bar would spam the space bar yeah and they both just die yes this it's Canon bro this is going in the uh CCU uh CCM this is in the CCU for real CCU my bad yes we need to make we need to rewrite the pages so it says Jordan and opai not stalo exactly we need to change history we need to go back to the future for real mhm Flying Diarrhea all right great okay sure great back to stalo and opai yes we return to the Epic Love Story hey I think that algebra guy is actually like one of the mods the algebra guy yeah do you see him in fourth place oh algebra yeah yes I see I see it's it's why is dude in 15th oh wait uh 18th Place is named PP poo poo head why why would it not be the Temptation not to laugh I find that the dumber and less mature the name like the gamertag the funnier it is it's either they're in the pits of mediocrity because they're so bad or they're the goat yes dude it's like you got that cringey nickname when you made you when you were eight either like you're just ashamed of it or you just accept it yes and now you've been grinding since you actually made that nickname like Minecraft creeper Slayer 227 oh yes Minecraft Creeper Slayer 27 either you claim the name or you just live with it yes they're both the same option but it doesn't matter guys we got lazy Soul climbing up the ranks oh my goodness he is number what let's see here what number he's number 15 everybody look at him go he's a zooming wa we should probably explain this game mode so this this is not actual competition this is quick play where you just climb up a tower with the like hundreds of other Tetris players playing at the same time um the entire point of this is just hop in play a little bit of Tetris have some fun and then it's like fortnite lose and leave yeah it's like fortnite which is where Ninja's from what else because still T fated me is massive ah ah like that opening to that one Kendrick song ah it's not an opening mustard I don't know I've never heard that song actually Hunter you misplaced uh dear yes the tower the Tower of Doom like from Roblox yeah from from Roblox from Roo life is Roblox life is Roblox call me asparagus no one have faith in us God D God did don't we out the lobster what is this we are so bad at this what is this and this perhaps what is this yes Sunday BR the more you score the higher you go like if you look at Jordan's screen and how he's watching guy named Flying diara the bottom of his screen is like a rocket booster because he's going so fast yes the more lines Yeah the more lines you clear the idea is the higher you go up the tower see he's 5,000 meters up and everybody else is way behind him mhm look at this game play wow he really is a Flying Diarrhea he is flying cuz he's flying up the tower but does he have diarrhea I think so maybe we should ask him yes we should go all right we got Gail Lewis versus Jaden who is right beside me don't make the joke you made the joke before it even say you already know you already know Canon event round two guys it's Jaden but he's playing telepathically for real you can actually cut over to us right now you can yeah you can see him he's holding his fingers on his head like yes exactly he's like Professor X exactly that's that's his name that's his name see look see I'm so good at Tetris I can do this yeah and then if you go back to yeah if you go back to Alex see look he's he's doing it look at that right there come on Jaden you're fumbling I am I lowkey am I'm I'm talking to you I got to focus okay you failed that's unfortunate that's just really sad how could this be this is going in the CCU bro it's going in the CCU this guy is the professor x i t two points maybe maybe something happened that we didn't see I don't know who knows he said one more go back please we beg of you oh yeah yeah that was a he said one more round that was a a best of three it should have been a best of five yeah it says it says first to two yeah I noticed I noticed somebody correct them that's wrong I sound like Dayan right now no more then then they change it to first to one all right Jaden this is your this is your time to shine yeah hold on let me Lo quick hold on he's going come on you can do it come on look at him go everybody this is a wild Jaden in the wild you know I wonder because the mic's right beside me I wonder if I can be like whispering it welcome to my ASMR session everybody we're watching Jaden use his mind powers to play the game look at him go it's very quiet oh he's trying to do a te spin okay all right look at that he's he's clearing it up he's he's clearing oh okay I'm gonna have to question Jaden's placement what ises he doing come on focus a little harder please okay all right he's got the eyepiece now oh I think he wasted it whoopsie the screen did the thing again anyway all right I don't even think Jaden should be using his mind anymore I think he just needs to stop all right I think it's time to stop Jaden you can stop you we're not doing it we're not doing it all right you can stop using your mind it's okay everybody all right let's go to stopping that let's go to Jordan if if we can go to Jordan what is what is clay doing he's go to Clay put this on stream no oh now it's Liberty Mutual now it's a better video it's Liberty Mutual all right we got to focus we got to focus on Alex here cuz he's lowkey cooking this is a Canon event this is Canon yes we're trying to skip Canon here hold on let also Owen's gambling let me just do a thing let me just do a thing real quick Owen's gambling just a second it's the tippy Taps the tippy Taps no he's fitting no you can't do that okay it seems I don't have reception so I can't play the Canon event uh sound effect loudly into the mic I cannot make that joke now wait wait wait a minute oh okay I was about to say we have Owen on our side we have Owen who's watching the stream and it said winner Gail Lewis and I look over and I'm like wait he didn't win what's going on here J Jaden won that uh one all right so round I don't it's one to one in the Canon event score yes okay is it one more again I'm assuming he says one more they could have done first of three and had it all over with yeah they could have I don't know if they did uh like two consecutive best of Threes And The were time they did they did one that was best of two and then the one they just did was just one round and now they're doing one round again all right so so this this is the final determinator who is going to be this round two Canon event winner yes this is canon how are we going to document this like who are we going to remember like what's Canon bro I have no clue I'm going to make a Google dog when I go home it's going to be all Canon very good thank you so much we don't have wait a minute sorry Miss fan meter I got to borrow a pencil live theft I just witnessed a theft I just witnessed crime I'm back all right so when did we start C you do not have to write this down right now as a good old Gail Lewis on the left side of your screen all right perhap setting up for a t- spin right there I see that opening so he doesn't have the best blocks to choose from though oh man yeah he really doesn't this bag is not giving him the right one he's not chasing the bag he just lost his dog and his brother told him how to chase the bag but I don't think he's doing it right yes I'm not sure the bag is betraying him oh my goodness no let's see if he can make this work he's very high up on the board come on please he's get to the other side did shimy he is stay oh oh no a misplace M A Mis that might be it but at the same time maybe he's with he's got to get it over all right so we had Alex very close match up there versus should we put Professor J Professor Jay for Professor Jaden sure not not not Jaden just Jay just the all right I know Prof the reference the cover reference J and it was one to two there we go that's that's Canon that is going to be the beginning officially in in the beginning there long before time had a name the first fitsu Master yes the first all right so now we have our first official Canon match this starts the CCU every body yes it does this is going to be a thing write this down you're going to have to take take notes everybody yes this will become massive [Applause] year I'm going insane all right can we pull up the the bracket scores for the the thingies yes yes yes yes do that yes I believe we are concluded with round two yeah looks like we're going in round three everybody three three as I said earlier yeah did you see what I did there mhm I saw what he I saw what he did we got oh man is that another is that another cyber tiger V cyber tiger match oh oh no that's finished that's round two all right so we can take this into the CCU everybody yes look at this screenshot this right now blink really good and take a picture with your mind yes do that never never forget mhm all right we had dark I almost fell in my chair all right we have dark ninja versus Raven King and he won but meanwhile all right we got lazy Soul versus we got Hunter versus clay this is another this is another CCU we got a cyber tiger versus cyber tiger match which means guaranteed to cyber tiger is going to be walking out of this round with a victory with a bruise right now we got lazy Soul all right on the left side of your screen with Clay on the opposite the right yeah round three let's say let's see who's ending big all clear big all clear it's when you clear your entire Board of all you sweep it clean yes sweeping it clean yes I was lying earlier I believe the all clear is the biggest damaging move in the game I think I'm not entirely sure I don't know I don't I don't know the static all right we got the cameras of clay and Hunter both on screen that's new and that's nice that is actually very very good mm I I like this I like that clay trying to hold his own he had a te- spin setup but he kind of ruined it yeah he kind of fumbled that I don't think his brother taught him how to chase the bag I'm not sure if his brother told him how to chase the bag me Nei Hunter did oh GG though yeah Hunter's brother did tell him how three versus three and0 that is Canon round number two we got Canon round number three another one another cyber tiger versus cyber tiger match up we have EMT the Lego Master on the left side of your screen with a big old M yes and we got Jord we on the right we celebrate emit with the m and then we just go and then we got Jordan yes the Lego Master versus uh Jordan Jordan This Jordan it's Jordan guys yeah guys it's it's Jordan lookie lookie it's a Jordan we're documenting this oh yes on that piece of paper was that a fly or was that your phone I think that was my phone no your phone sounds like a fly what was even said someone joined my smash Discord oh my goodness oh that's that's Canon round number three St XY and that is a three to0 oh wait no I got to do that the other way around everybody yes oh finally a not cyber tiger versus cyber tiger match up we got Baro on of your scen against tented cargo two and 0 tented cargo is going to have to go at the end of the match both of them will yeah I'm Eminem did you not see those bars I was just spting bro yes he's Eminem he can make orange orm with banana I woke up looking for the broccoli yes highkey High key any IP is owned by me oh T spin Double T spin T spin T spin okay double he's looking to open up that uh yeah and oh okay I thought he was going to drop a line into we got Alex versing versus a reoccurring Contender aquamarine sounds like a superhero that probably is we got to write this down this isn't the CCU everybody meanwhile off screen we just we that match we got with a dub that's the Rio Victory and now he's looking at his own stats yes self praise self praise all right Alex doing good so far so good he's doing good so far so good he's doing good I can make good rhyme with good good I just did it bonana Bon banana yes oh my goodness Alex he's pretty high up on the screen now come come on both of their boards are looking pretty messy they got they both got a lot of cleaning up to do before they can do some serious damage to each other you got to clean up your room before you can get game time here guys for real I'd say Alex right now is in a slightly better position than his opponent aquamarine he's getting some oh my goodness he's throwing strings Aqua aqua aquamarine cannot contain that six combo put aquamarine in a difficult position he got put in salt water oh my [Music] goodness unfortunately for aquamarine he is a sea creature and Gail LS is the shark he just dragged him out of the water he did the do he did the did the do he do the did the did the did the thing he did he did here we go a double coming through come on well that's a big spot open for aquamarine let's see that a massive spot anyway he's trying to set up a te- spin as we can see aquamarine sends through a triple oh my throwing strings dunked on quite the combo the combo Nation he he got the combo meal guys the combo meal the when you get the combo meal you get the fries yes and he just he just fried a fish oh fish sandwich with sauce fish named Mitch who I have a feeling any who can pitch oh in a ditch because he told on his friend and he's a snitch ah I'm trying to think of another word to follow that one up I think the reason that he lost that round is because his game glitched ah and because his keys sticked that makes no sense oh wait I get it now his keys I thought you meant car keys oh no his his keyboard keys they sticked cars like Honda Civ ick I don't know what to say but that kind of gave me the ick I just said ick no like like I K like IC and ick are different now they're the same sounding IC we should probably stop rapping and yeah we need to stop dropping fire else we're going to set burn the place down yes it's actually currently burning down as we speak yeah you're right this might be the way to escape the vapor wave di mention this may or may not be our way out it's been a longlasting struggle we have never known how to get out of here one day we will escape I'd say the only plus about this is that we get to watch this awesome Tetris gameplay exactly this is prime entertainment yes I love it let's see Gil Lewis with a double coming through he knows that he's got a gold mine of a gap right there Gold Mine he's going to he's not going to drop yes and it's time it's time to mine the Gold mine because it is all mine I can make mine rhyme with mine come on hit that te- spin te spin that's going to be the finishing maneuver combo breaker y fish fried again success guys it looks like we're having calamari call him a European because he just fried the French I tried what was was it was 3 0 right I think it was 3-1 3-1 yes I believe the one round that he didn't win was off screen ah so did he even lose did he even lose I did a bit of mining off screen guys I don't think he did it's 551 everybody weird is it could it possibly be run strong wow all right so here are the canonical scores yes we got clay two to one your turn we got Jordan also two to one we got Alex two to one as well that's three in a row we got EMT one to two Okay we got hunter three and0 we got Baro two and one and then we got Owen we and that's what he got yeah that that's what he got right still Owen's still playing yes on our end it looks like he's looking at the the season maybe he's just yet to play his round maybe his opponent's just stalling screen froze ah I see I see the C cuz it is in front like the alphabet like the alphabet he sees I see the C that's an actual line in a song in what song like what song would have that it's a it's a like Persona song of course it's persona it's a Persona song check it out I'm in the house like carpet that's another good line from it um ah news Hunter is currently number one in the league that's the that's massive ah I'm sure you get it by now if you've watched the entire stream for some reason yep I don't know why you would but thanks Vapor wave Dimension nah brain brain Rod Dimension mhm the brain Rod de dition I am getting brain rod my brain was rotted to the core like an apple core before I I'm gonna snore before I got here I had uh some corn cuz I was very hungry um let's see let's see let's see let's see after the corn the corn because I honked my car horn and I got born and ate some Cor oh man all right excellent we weren't paying attention excellent bars yes we know know please don't harm us we unfortunately can't one to two is Owen his screen froze so we sadly can't show the Epic match up to put in the CCU very sad I can't believe this dis disappointing anyway massive out you know what else is massive that's like what the seventh time all right for the massive outro everybody yeah let's thank you for joining us all this evening on this stream hope you guys enjoyed seeing everybody play their games enjoying us see how we made the CCU into a definitely real thing this will last beyond today it will become massive as they say massive anyway you know what else is going to be massive the win that the OverWatch team is going to get tomorrow at 500 p.m.

at the commons on we from today on Monday um and speaking of PE days we did receive a request U to consider moving the um the PD day and sorry get myself all caught up here there's a PD day currently scheduled for April 17th that date is in the window of I read testing I learn testing and AP testing the student day that we would be making up on May the 22nd is after all those windows are closed it is the new last day of school um so we've been given a request to consider um switching those and actually having the student day on April the 17th so it's a more productive use of those seven and a half hours and it comes to student learning and then moving the PD day to May the 22nd and so the students's last day would still be the 2st the 22nd I'm sorry the yeah 22nd would be U Development Day for teachers and then the 23rd I believe is still a half work day for teachers which is a records day to get all your grades done and then you're wrapped up so um putting that out there publicly now for you to think about and consider and also um if members of the public and parents and students have serious concerns about that we want to hear about that um before we bring that to it would be a calendar change and we bring that to you on February 3rd because we want to give folks as much time as possible to prep if made that change um so that's the professional development day and then um last I want to just reiterate again thanks to um our drivers and operations teams which um in spite of all the difficulties as last week really did do a direct job and I told Mr Blake when we talked earlier this week that couldn't believe it one night 9:00 I don't remember what night week it was last week it was a it was a blur but uh I'm driving checking roads at 9 9:15 at night uh I thought I saw some lights in the distance and all of a sudden I realized I was right up on him I the shadow of something a farmer out on this track around 100 South um clearing clearing the road at 9:15 night when blinkers on so um Dale earlier you made the comment about U people feeling close to one another 880,000 people live in this community um and it's still a small am I still feel like when I apologize to somebody for something that that mistake that we made or bad call we made or we celebrate we're still celebrating the people that we we live with we go to church together we go to school together we go to the store together we stand on the soccer fields together so um I appreciate that comment more than you more than you know and and just remind members of the public you know if you have concerns you have questions reach out to us reiterate what I said um theight that uh that you all approved me for this position I'm not going to get on Facebook and read comments I I never will as long as I'm in this position so you have to pick up the phone or send me an email every person that did that got a response then we talk 24 hours from so thanks again for great board meeting tonight appreciate our next meeting is February 3rdd uh we do have our education Hall of Fame reception so we'll be 6 p.m.

against Mount Vernon you'll get to see me play don't you want to see more this stupid I might be there too you never know yes but anyway we hope you guys enjoyed the stream we both definitely had a good time we hope you guys had a good time and please tune in next time and tune in tomorrow at 5: to watch the Cyber Tigers OverWatch team play Mount Vernon [Music] n [Music]

the board meeting which immediately closed at 6:30 p.m. and then as you heard we will hold a public work session and so just look for when that will be announced on the on the website there so you can keep T okay thank you all have a great evening

e e e okay it is now 6:02 p.m. and I'm uh good evening I'm calling this meeting to order my name is Gabriel harp chair of the an arbor energy commission um as chair I'm calling this meeting to order and we are holding this meeting from council chambers in an arbor City Hall uh welcome to the January 14th 202 meeting of the energy commission um Commissioners uh let's see public comment today will be via telephone only to speak during any of the public sorry and in person and in person and a person um we're revising the script a little bit here uh to speak during any of the public common opportunities please uh call one of the following to two toll-free numbers 87785 5 35247 or 888 78899 and enter the meeting ID number 956 8718 7876 on your phone this information is also available on the published agenda in the Public Notices section of the city's website and on the broadcast of this meeting on CTN Channel 16 AT&T channel 99 and online at www.a2gov.org watch CN and um we also have public com uh comment via the podium here in um council chambers as well uh we will move on to the land acknowledgement Joe do you mind please reading the land acknowledgement yes um I acknowledge that the land the city of an arbor occupies as the ancestral traditional and contemporary lands of the Ana shab including Odawa oji badmi and wand do peoples I further acknowledge that our city stands like almost all property in the United States on lands obtained SE people joining oh wait hold up hey we we in counc council chambers oh so we are we're here we see you oh rmany I forgot it was in person okay it's all good okay we'll do our best to make this work I'm so sorry no I can come down I just was confused I was like where is everybody okay I'll be there in like 10 minutes sorry sounds good no worries all right back to land acknowledgement um apologies for that um I further acknowledge that our city stands like almost all property in the United States on lands obtained generally in unconscious 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 in our work to create a future that supports human flourishing and justice for all individuals thank you Joe would you mind taking the role yes all right um You don't have to say where you are because I can see you um commissioner burkewitz pres present uh council member Briggs is on their way um commissioner coven Garcia present chair harp present um Vice chair Hans had a conflict come up uh commissioner Leven here um council member Malik here commissioner mki here and commissioner overp also has a conflict tonight um but chair you have a quorum back to you thank you Joe um we'll move on to the approval of the agenda is there a motion to the approve the agenda as posted and a second uh to approve the agenda thank you second commissioner koven Garcia okay uh Commissioners please raise your hand if you want to propose any changes or discussion issue seeing No Hands raised uh all those in favor of approving the agenda as posted please R raise your hand and say I I I I all those opposed please raise your hand and say no the motion carries uh the agenda is approved um and now to the approval of the minutes is there a motion to approve the minutes as posted and a second so and seconded um Commissioners please raise your hand if you want to discuss any any uh aspect of the minutes seeing No Hands raised uh all those in favor of approving the minutes as posted uh please raise your hand and say I I all those opposed please say no the minutes are approved moving on to the public input portion of our agenda this is an opportun for people to speak for up to 3 minutes if you are watching on CTN please call 888 78899 or 877 853 5247 and in meeting ID 8718 7876 and this information is also displayed on the meeting agenda and video feed City staff will select callers that have raised their hand one by one using last three digits of your phone phone number to raise your hand in your desire to speak please press star9 on your phone you'll hear an automated announcement that's allowing the the host is allowing you to speak um when speaking please move to a quiet area and mun any background sound so that we may hear you clearly and please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments um and for those in attendance please approach the podium thank you turn off we were on it I should know how to do it there we go thanks um as I was saying Ken gber 28 ham Hill Court this is kind of surreal um but nice I'm glad you're doing this and I hope you do more of these in person um I think um commissioner mury and commissioner coven Garcia may remember as I do the last time energy commission met in person which was in March 2020 um at the an senior senator on Baldwin for a work session at that meeting I was there as member of the public and I was um pushing energy commission to uh move forward with a an ordinance to ban gas Connections in new construction um well that that has since uh gone off the table um but the problem's not gone away and basically almost nothing has been done in the last 5 years on this issue and we're still approving uh new construction with gas connections which in 2025 just putting fossil fuel infrastructure in new buildings just seems even I mean it would seem crazy to me then but now it just seems I don't understand why we're not making progress on this um anyway tonight uh I really look forward to the benchmarking presentation uh by Mr Daly I haven't had a chance to really look over the uh report and the slides in detail but I have a few questions um the report mentions a nearly 10-fold increase in compliance from made to December 2024 clearly there's been a heroic effort made by Mr Daly and probably others uh to bring building owners in line so I thank them for that they deserve a lot of credit um but uh there's still a huge shortfall the a20 plan timeline specifies a 90% compliance rate by 2025 and here we are um the actual compliance rate as I read the report is 32% for the most recent reporting year 2023 with a uh 50% participation rate um so I guess one question I would have is when will the city start to Levy the fines for non-compliance that are specified in the benchmarking ordinance I think that's $500 for first offense and $1,000 for every additional offense um or maybe we're doing that already and I'm not aware of it um my other question is technical um in the why benchmarking slide um there's an example included for a building profile 4 14 413 East hon which I think is The Foundry LOF building um based on the indicated electric and gas usage 30 seconds usage thank you I did my own calculations came up with greenhouse gas emissions about 24% higher than what's on the slide um I'm using OSI electricity conversion factor but I'm using my own gas conversion factor based on one that that um NASA climate scientist Peter colus recommends which includes all Upstream admissions so I'm just wondering why the difference and that's a question I can probably deal with offline with staff but those are my questions and it's great to see you all here and thank you for your work volunteer work on the commission thank you um no callers online okay um we will move on to the main presentation um of today's agenda this is the city of Ann Arbor energy and water benchmarking annual report um and the uh report and the presentation are both online uh linked to the meeting notes and agendas um Joe would you just mind introducing briefly the the speaker yeah um joining us today is Connor Daly uh Connor is a um energy coordinator here with the office of sustainability and Innovations uh Connor started uh was it January February one of them January 29th yeah so you know depending how you define starting um but either way started here with us in 2024 um Connor has been doing uh a lot of work uh most notably as he's here to talk about tonight on the benchmarking ordinance um taking this program over um as many of you remember uh Thea is the one who has previous running it buta was departing Connor is the one who took over and has been just doing um you know as he'll talk about here a lot of work to kind of get things um to where we are right now um he's been just doing again a lot a lot of work with both the 2030 District as well as uh building owners all across uh Ann Arbor to get us to where we are today um and all of that has led to being able to put out our first report um which I know is a topic that we've discussed many times here um wanting to see said report uh so we have it now um happy to talk about it uh I will turn it over to Connor testing well thank you all for having me um it's exciting to be able to give this presentation um so I will get right to it um first Conor Dy he him I am an energy coordinator with osi's office or well the city's office of sustainability and Innovations uh like Joe said I started in January technically of 2024 and took over managing the benchmarking ordinance in May of 2024 um after theist departure so what I'll mainly focus on tonight is the report recently published summarizing basically where we are with the ordinance and what's coming next the report is 66 pages so I'm not going to cover every single page but I'm happy to take questions at the end about anything presentation or report um what I'll start with is a brief background of the ordinance itself then get to some of the key findings from the report compliance rates data accessibility data accuracy and any Trends we can see at the moment um in in the data we have so starting off um as you probably know benchmarking is specifically called out in the a20 plan in the strategy 3 significantly improving the Energy Efficiency in our buildings uh the ordinance itself was passed in October of 2021 and it required properties to use energy Star portfolio manager a free tool through the US EPA to track their energy and water usage and then report that to the city through the Tool uh taking one step back to start you probably remember from the recent greenhouse gas emissions inventory presentation that about 2third of our emissions in an arbor come from buildings about 38% of those coming from residential and Commercial properties while we have a lot of programs that Target um Residential Properties like single family homes and smaller um under four under Properties or four or under units in a property like the home energy advisor program the home energy rebate program and the herd ordinance benchmarking looks at those larger multif Family Properties four more units and then commercial properties so those other sections of those two um emission sectors it is the first step for addressing those emissions and it specifically targets properties that are over 20,000 Square ft of gross floor area that could be one building that's over 20,000 Square ft or a campus as it's called of property or buildings that collectively are over 20,000 ft together um why benchmarking so we like to I like to say at first that when we're looking at building performance we can improve what we can't measure when we're looking to imp improve building performance we want to know where we're starting we want to know where we're going and we want to know where we're at along the way um benchmarking is not only something that is beneficial for us at the city as we're looking to develop programs for commercial and multif family housing it is helpful for the decision makers at those properties that could be owners or managers that are looking to make improvements to the properties or it could be for tenants who are looking to rent spaces in those properties um we do also see that there is um energy use reduction associated with benchmarking the APA themselves did a study of over 35,000 buildings that used Energy Star portfolio manager over several years and those properties on average improve their energy performance by about 2.4% per year which is small in itself but over time a pretty significant reduction in energy usage um I can if that's I know I've never presented before address the public comment question about the um the score card here it is a mockup from our Benchmark and compliance software and the numbers will come from the uh Energy Star portfolio manager which from the EPA they do have specific conversion factors that they use I imagine that's the discrepancy but I'm happy to look into that specifically um as this um if if we want to get into it this is actually an example from our Benchmark and compliance software of a scorecard that a building could get once they're benchmarked of here's your performance here's a easy to digest for someone who's not technical about this at a building owner or manager level how you're performing what the cost is what are some basic next steps to take so as we're developing those scorecards I'm happy to dig into the numbers more but I imagine it's because of the specific factors that energy Star portfolio manager uses when they um do their um conversions looking at who is benchmarking at the moment this is in the report apologies it's a little small if you can make it out uh great if not it is in the report but the Topline numbers here are of the properties currently benchmarking participating we see that multif family properties are the most common property and they account for the largest gross floor area of properties participating participating meaning they have started benchmarking they are in Energy Star portfolio manager they're Gathering data they may or may not be completely compliant but we know who they are they know what we know what they are and we know how big they are so uh multif family being the largest and most common office properties being the second most common and the second largest gross area and then the remaining 30% being split between a wide variety of property uses um I will say specifically there that currently multif Family Properties account for 57% of the gross floor area as we increase participation and compliance rates further it's likely to change I'm not sure how much that may affect the actual ratio of of properties but obviously we'll keep an eye on that um as we as we get there so in the ordinance itself it does specify some key dates to start the original deadlines are on the left on the presentation here and these are the deadlines the ordinance set which were the first deadlines to submit a benchmarking report that would be for the previous calendar years worth of data so if we're looking at a property that is 150,000 ft of gross flow area that property originally initially needed to submit a report by June 1st 2022 for calendar year 2021 data like I said I started in January of 2024 took over in May of 2024 approaching that deadline we realized a few things uh one while data was available processes were there they had been refined and were being refined with that and the smaller properties just having reached their first initial reporting deadline whereas some of the larger properties had reached their deadline years before we extended the enforcement deadlines for the ordinance where enforcement deadline came about was as the ordinance itself was phased in over several years and not all properties would even have reached their enforcement deadline by June 1st 2023 enforcement was intended to start after all properties had been phased in so after June 1st 2024 so what we decided to do was to delay enforcement deadlines to the dates on the right this did not change anything required about the data required to report that 150,000 Square for property still needs to submit or needed to submit by September 1st 2024 their report for 2021 22 and 2023 data so it's just the date after which enforcement would start if necessary uh I'll emphasize a couple times in the presentation that while there are fines in the ordinance and we could take enforcement action if necessary it's not the goal benchmarking gives helpful data to everyone involved in a building and that's the goal if necessary we can but it's not the goal and so far when we've gotten to the right person and walked them through what they need to do at a property they have taken the steps to to Benchmark whether complete or in the process uh not only depending how you phrase it public buildings but City properties also need to comply with the ordinance specifically buildings uh or properties in the city uh owned by the city that are 10,000 ft of gross full area or more and they are owned leased or managed by the city such that the city regularly pays all are part of the annual energy or water bills where that ends up is that seven properties are currently covered by the ordinance um the properties that are not are either um outside the city like the wheeler service center and not subject to the ordinance or they're under 10,000 ft of gross floor area or in the case of parking structures we own them we pay no utility bills so with the seven properties covered um here's some quick rundown of them um the site eui for these properties decreased from 2020 21 to 2022 uh for terms here eui just for those listening um is energy use intensity so the energy used by property per unit of area square footage in this case site eui is the energy that is used on site so that's what you're going to see on your energy bill source for these properties increased from 2021 to 2022 and then decreased from 2022 to 2023 source eui is again energy use per unit of uh of area but that is the total amount of raw fuel that is required to operate a property it not only includes energy that's used on site but uh it includes trans or losses during generation transmission distribution of energy and energy star considers it to be a the uh best way to look at a commercial properties performance across the board um speaking of conversion factors energy star has different conversion factors nationally that are used to determine um The Source energy performance for benchmarking properties um so so that's that uh total greenhound gas greenhouse gas emission intensity that's pretty straightforward that uh decreased from 2021 to 2022 and it stayed about the same from 2022 to 2023 lastly water use intensity increased from 2021 to 2022 and then decreased from 2022 to 2023 uh while it's not required by the ordinance OSI is actually benchmarking All City properties most of them are actually mostly benchmarked but not subject to the ordinance not included in these metrics and a couple things may be needing to be addressed in their reports as we go through them so we're working on the rest of them even though it's not required D um and I'm happy to give updates on that in the future so getting into the main findings in the report itself already covered this but again uh currently multif Family Properties are the most common property type and they take up the largest gross Flor area um of properties benchmarking so far looking at performance uh the property types right now with the highest eui are Ambulatory Service Centers Laboratories and restaurants and the properties at the lowest eui are parking garages non-refrigerated warehouses and worship facilities uh overall we are seeing that larger properties tend to have a lower eui but that is more likely to be from the property use type rather than inherent in larger properties what we are seeing is that uh multif family properties are disproportionately likely to be those properties over 100,000 square fet and they are as you can see one of the lower euis in terms of property use types so that's more likely to be that rather than inherent in every larger property we see the same trends of greenhouse gas emissions the same property types as could make sense uh are the highest and lowest uh greenhouse gas emission intensities with Laboratories restaurants and Ambulatory Service Centers being the highest non- refrigerated warehouses worship facilities and parking garages being the lowest uh things are different with water uh the properties with the highest water use intensity are fitness centers health clubs and gyms hotels and residence halls and dormitories um I'll note here that the residence hall and dormatory property use type does not include U ofm properties U ofm is not subject to the ordinance as is so this would be a a non-university owned dormatory residence hall property the properties with the lowest water use intensity are non-refrigerated warehouses parking garages and then what comes across in energy star is an other technology science use which is essentially a a the specific property is basically a manufacturing office it's not just an office but it's not a manufacturing plant it's just kind of this weird other middle Zone um that energy star defined as the best use for it we also look at the percent of energy use that properties have from electricity when we're looking at how properties are changing their energy um use at the at the property overall So currently the properties with the highest percent of their energy use from electricity are parking garages Laboratories and hotels with the properties with the lowest percent of energy use from electricity being K through 12 schools worship facilities and residence halls and dorms I'll note here as well that this does not include the anber public schools while the anber public schools are benchmarking all of their properties they are also not subject to the ordinance like umm so their metrics are not included here these would be private K through 12 schools that are covered by the ordinance um I'll also make one note there that um if you're looking in the ordinance the an arbor open school technically falls under a city covered property so it isn't actually included in the city metrics the anra public schools that because they benchmarking their whole portfolio of buildings and looking to the improvements they can make we are making sure that they have the data needed to create their report but they essentially own their benchmarking report it's this weird Gray Zone of where properties fall um for City properties uh moving on to data accuracy and accessibility we do find that data is generally accurate across the utilities that our properties are using with some variations in exactly how it is and the issues that are there that affect accuracy overall Constellation Energy is the most accurate data followed by the city of aror water data and then DT Energy data on the right you'll actually see an example from DT's data automation portal of what it looks like when a property comes through with electricity up top complete and then in this case gas data which seems to be incomplete I'll get to this in a future SL in a couple more slides um but this is a focus we have on addressing and understanding data accuracy across utilities when we receive data um in terms of accessibility data is pretty generally accessibility but how exactly accessible it is and how it can be accessed does vary across um utilities for example DT and the City of Arbor have automated data available whereas Constellation Energy does not on the other hand dte's automated data portal can be tricky to enroll in and we made a lot we put a lot of energy and effort into getting the city's water automation process where it is now which which is great but it was a lot of work to get there constellation on the other hand does not have any data automation but we found that their data is very easy to obtain um and and high quality so wrapping up um we also found that compliance was it is an issue and it is a common issue it is a common issue for almost every jurisdiction that implements a benchmarking ordinance uh for example the city of Detroit recently passed their ordinance and in their first year they hit about a 24% compliance rate by November of 2024 uh the city of Indianapolis uh got to about I think 20% in their first year so it is a common issue to Common issue to um have low compliance rates across um jurisdictions that have this we found that in increasing our compliance rates robust repeated Outreach was essential and that data automation was also helpful the less the properties need to do the more likely they are to comply and it increases the sustainability of benchmarking within ownership and an organization doing that benchmarking for a property moving forward we are looking to increase compliance uh increase data access and accuracy and to Benchmark more City cover properties than those required by the ordinance we're also looking to do even a deeper dive into the data we have so that when we are uh building future initiatives for commercial and multif family housing we have a better idea of what the benchmarking data is telling us as we build those initiatives and on the right here you'll see an actual building that is benchmarking in our portfolio that had significant in uh improvements in their gas use efficiency which is reflected in just the quick easy chart up top but then in the actual metrics from energy star seeing over that almost one year uh significant improvements to their energy star score their eui and then importantly the cost of their energy also see we see a decrease so compliance rates um yes uh compliance rates increased about 10-fold over the course of 2024 starting off we had about a 3% compliance rate for 2023 and about an 8% compliance rate for 2021 and as you can see that is now leveling off at about 32% um as of when the report was created I'll say uh 32% compliance and then 78% compliance for 2021 participation rates are unsurprisingly higher again that is properties who have started benchmarking and either don't have all their data uh for example DTE does an automated data push once per month we're actually getting that this week as we speak for this month or they may have all their data but maybe they look extremely efficient for that type of property or really inefficient and we want to make sure that their data is correct before we move them into compliance diving a little deeper into Data accessibility um going one by one DT is obviously the largest energy utility at the moment in the city of an arbor almost every property uses them for electricity if not electricity or gas you can get data in essentially four ways from DT a property owner manager could get uh data from bills issue with bills is that one it's all manual it's a lot of work also a property manager and owner usually does not have all the bills for a property so it's not going to capture tenant data and that means it's an incomplete report you can also directly request your data from DTE by email with a form also manual uh also that data um I actually don't know that any property has chosen that route there are just other ways to do it and better ways to do it um it also is likely not to give let's say for 150,000 square foot property it probably won't actually give them data back to 2021 so not the recommended process a property owner could actually use their Landlord Portal online through DT and that would usually actually get them their tenant data as well but it also usually doesn't go back to 2021 like some properties need so the recommended way to get data uh from DT is to use their DT Energy data Hub which is a automated data portal they've set which provides aggregated building level data for benchmarking properties and it connects to Energy Star portfolio manager so when it connects it will automatically upload data into Energy Star portfolio manager into the future significantly reducing the amount of work required to comply that said uh it is a little tricky to enroll in it sometimes if the person benchmarking is not the person who has access to the online DT account Andor is not an authorized user on the DT Landlord Portal it can be tricky to get that worked out just to get the form assed and enrolled um that said the portal itself is is excellent and is a a real help to a lot of buildings um doing that and DT is working on a slight easing of the process to do that enrollment the other barrier is that DT has kept the data Hub in a pilot phase due to the cost of running it at scale for the entire DT service area so properties enrolling in the data Hub just need to join the Anarbor wash not 2030 District to enroll in the hub it is free to join and the District offers free support for benchmarking uh working through DC's enrollment process submitting the report to the city and solving anything with a report that may need to be fixed after the report is submitted um so it is completely free to join free support but it is another step to get to the the data for GT constellation is the a choice energy provider and is the only one I've encountered in an arbor so far they mainly provide gas data there's a couple properties that have electric data from them from constellation again you can use your bills to get data but that does not always capture all the properties usage if there's tenants who have their own separate accounts um conversely from DT you can actually request your data directly from constellation from a representative and it is actually very quick and easy to do that and it comes in a very digestible format to then re-upload to Energy Star portfolio manager um you can also download data from constellation in your online account that kind of like the bills you may not get all your tenant data so depending on how a a property is structured in their metering um an online account or direct requests to Constellation usually are pretty good we it would be nice for constellation to add data automation there are benefits to it for the longevity of benchmarking but so far it's not been a barrier to properties getting their data from constellation the city of in Arbor water data we are the sole water utility in the city uh and you can get it again your data from bills same issue depending on the property you may not have all the bills for the usage you can also use Aqua Hawk um some of you may be familiar with aquahawk is was actually launched before the benchmarking ordinance was implemented and it is a water data dashboard that uh water utility customer can access to see pretty granular data down to the hour for meters if you want to you can download usage from aquahawk also in a pretty digestible format to reupload Energy Star portfolio manager but the recommended process we have is to use our data automation process we've set up uh it's a lot of work on the back end for for a property it's basically setting up your property in energy star setting up your meter profiles connecting with a city managed account and then our city managed account through an API created by Our IT team and customer service pushes meter by meter water data month by month for every meter linked to it um it took a lot of work on the back end to get that to where it is now but it works very very well so it's the recommended process for that in terms of data accuracy uh DT is generally pretty accurate most properties have a gap here and there um nothing that often something that wouldn't affect their report too much but there is a small sub subsect of properties that have had more severe issues uh like one multif family property that had hundreds of gaps small but hundreds um another property that had one big gap of two years for half of the property those are pretty rare um but the bigger issue we're finding is when properties have these small gaps is when it's presented as it was in that slide that had the the gaps in the data if it's a multif family property where the unit has a gap of one month in the summer and they have gas heat and it's vacant and the AC isn't running that might not be a gap that may be no usage that's coming through as a gap but if it's 3 months in the winter that's unlikely to be that so how how can we understand that better when this happens so we're working with DT to better understand that when it comes through um that said it is rare and in the case that that property with extended gap of 2 years DTE it took a few months to fix but they kept on it with us for 4 months and it is now almost completely fixed almost all the data has been has been corrected um so can't take time but DT does work with us to resolve that um I'll note that the data Hub has two dedicated staff who run it so it's it is helpful to have two specific people we work with on this for Consolation Energy we find that they're generally very accurate it's pretty rare to have any gaps um at all and and if there is any it's usually one or two very short just a some meter issue and it skips a read uh the worst example we found was a property that had no gas usage for several years and it was just a physical meter issue um with how constellation uses their energy it actually was a DT meter so we worked with constellation and DT to fix that meter and now it's getting readings so one benefit practically a benchmarking there uh one thing we I don't know how impactful it is but it certainly plays a is that properties have much fewer constellation meters so that property that had hundreds of gaps in the DT meters over 200 individual DT electric meters it had one constellation meter and one constellation account for the whole property as an example uh city of Van Arbor water data touched on a bit that is generally very accurate and can be very granular especially if you're using your aquahawk portal um we find that almost every Gap in that data is due to a meter or meter transmission unit being replaced so if a meter breaks and it needs to be replaced that will result in the Gap in data it's usually pretty short it can be longer if there's something like a a cable needs to be procured that is on on back order or somewhere something like that the main difference between the gaps that we see with water data versus data we see on the energy side sometimes is that we can almost always explain what the Gap is one because it's pretty reliably some kind of equipment uh related issue and because we are the city and it is another area of our organization it's easier for us to work through and find those issues than working through multiple layers of a separate organization so wrapping up with some Trends as of now the trends that we're seeing right now looking at 2021 to 2023 data are upfront they're just not representative of the overall building performance in the city reason for that being is that as the ordinance was phas in 20121 has only buildings over 10 thou 100,000 squ ft whereas 2023 has buildings that are 20,000 ft or higher so the types of properties the sizes what they are is just different across there so what we're going to be looking at for sure is when we get 2024 data that's going to be more apples to apples with 2023 data to look at actual Trends across the whole portfolio overall that said what we're seeing so far is that uh as I mentioned earlier larger properties tend to have lower euis in greenhouse gas emission intensities and tend to have higher water use intensity which is more likely to be because of the property types those sizes of properties that said uh of in those compliance years site and Source eui increased from 2021 to 2023 again more likely to be from the types of properties being phased in there rather than the overall an arbor buildings increasing their or decreasing their efficiency over that time we actually see though that greenhouse gas emission intensity increased from 2021 to 2022 but slightly decreased from 2022 to 2023 and then similarly water use intensity increased from 2021 to 2022 and then decrease from 2022 to 2023 so wrapping up with that we're going to be looking when we have 2023 more apples to apples onward see really what those Trends start to look like with the um more fairly compared um property portfolios overall and with that uh I will take any questions you have on the presentation or report thank you Conor it's really encouraging to particularly see um The Contours of the program laid out and um I think I particularly appreciated the granularity and the details on on the data uh acquisition and quality um uh overall I would I would um just sort of for some questions just some things to think about also is um for the commission um what both in terms of the trends that Connor presented as far as the benchmarking also I think one of the things that would be helpful for the commission to think about is sort of what are the some of the takeaways and how do we sort of look at what the the report and the presentation suggests in terms of um priorities as a result so just just as a way of um uh framing that a little bit more too so I'll open it up for questions from commissioner members yes council member RS yeah apologies for coming in late um I just a point of clarification the residence halls and dormitories is that sororities and fraternities is that primarily what that is or I don't want to so specifically that and one thing I'll also note with that is that some property uses thus far may only have one two or three properties in there so it could be one property in that type I'll say that I think that one is a it is actually not a a fraternity or sorority house it is a a nonprofit student housing um Cooperative of some type for that a lot of the fraternity sority houses um off the top of my head are just just under the square footage for 20,000 yes uh yeah I just had a question thanks for the presentation first of all very informative um if you've looked at um sort of like how things like temperature during the winter uh how that compared over those years and we're looking at a decline in energy use potentially and curious how uh seasonal weather may have affected that also May with water use especially it would be interesting to see like water use in the summer versus winter and how much water like how was it like a drought year so we use more water or just how that affects the overall Trends year to year that's a good question um for energy for sure what the um the eui that we are using is energy star uses Regional weather data to do a weather normalized eui so it takes those that weather into account year to year so it's a more apples to apples across year to year um I don't know that there's anything like that for water data um that said when getting into the nitty gradia benchmarking when we do water benchmarking we do separate out meter by meter in energy star and it's labeled generally as such of indoor outdoor sprink so on so one example of what the an arbor wash not 2030 district is trying to do with their properties is if they have sprinklers or irrigation is look at that usage separated out how much could you save on water and potentially bills looking at things that you use in the summer that you may not need to use in the summer and and really diving into that different usage um seasonally if that if that answers that question commissioner bz uh thank you um well first of all thank you for this wonderful presentation um I want to give congratulations to the city of an arbor and the office of sustainability for um implementing this um it's remarkable to think about um there are you know uh huge cities all across the country doing benchmarking but an arbor to my knowledge is the first one in Michigan uh maybe paved the way for Detroit you know adopting their ordinance in 2023 and starting on their program and I've heard rumors that Grand Rapids is exploring this and U maybe even Lancing so um just want to say thank you and Kudos um to to start off um a couple comments and questions um so first comment um noticing the um data Trends from 2021 to 2023 one of the thoughts I had as well was that um maybe one of the reasons for the increase uh is that that um you know in 2020 we had this pandemic in 2021 we were not really still out of it yet um and so I think just a lot more people were in buildings um of the commercial scale um versus residential um over time you know during the period That's mapped here so um I wouldn't get too bent out out of shape about it that seems like a pretty understandable Trend um and then I had a question um so you mentioned uh first of all the U ofm properties are not subject to this and just talk through the the dorm residence hall side of it you mentioned the same thing about the an Arbor Public Schools that they are not part of this they do their own benchmarking but you guys help and support um but you did say there were other like K through 12 schools in the portfolio can you just help me um understand what like what are those yeah so we I'll I'll be up front that we are waiting for a final legal take on um individual property uh report disclosure on exactly what that looks like so try not to identify the buildings by name um I would also be happy to follow up afterwards with a little more information on that um but they are one example of what it could be is a a um let's say a k through2 um property use at let's say a religious institution that has that as well that could be an example of what that is that doesn't fall into the ad aror Public Schools um that's actually not what those are but without identifying them that's an example it's is not necessarily even what it is what the business is but even in a specific property property use could be divided by space in that property so that that's an example of what that could look like without it being an anab public school property but still being a k through2 Institution for example that's a really helpful example thank you um and I'll say on the um s site site eui increasing again I it's more likely to be the the properties phasing in um but in terms of the post-pandemic performance uh specifically at office properties that's something that I'm I'm interested in and I know we received a question at Advance about you know are there other metrics that are be helpful to look at or is this all we're looking at and this is this is not the only metrics we'll be looking at we will be looking at all sorts of um metrics especially as we look to Future initiatives that this data could be helpful for so these are Topline numbers in the report overall performance especially with this being the first report um this year but um it it is is something that I've been thinking about of when we're looking at some of these trends like at office properties do we see a big increase um or or not absolutely yes Connor good to meet you also fellow Commissioners good to see you in the flesh I don't think I've ever actually seen even Joe In the Flesh before so it's it's really nice to be together and and see people uh thanks a lot for your presentation really good I'm really happy to see this going um and uh I'd like to start out with um an additional compliment uh I reached out to Jan Culbertson who uh I've known as a friend since high school uh I won't say since when that is but it's a long time and uh I had a couple of questions and uh I'll read read you her very first statement Connor is doing a great job encouraging supporting people to comply with the ordinance so uh thanks very much uh uh I think most of you know Jan is the the lead of the 2030 District um and so uh I I I really appreciate um you working together with the district and with all these other entities to get this going um I have a couple of comments and and questions um first of all I have to admit I I only looked at the the slideshow I didn't look at the 66 page report um and I don't know if do that but um a couple of questions in Concordia University does it apply to them and are they uh uh participating and are they complying yet because that's obviously a large a large entity first um I'm taking notes on my computer so pardon my typing secondly I can answer questions one at a time or or all at once whatever you prefer um yeah why don't you go ahead and do them one at a time because they may not be related all that much um so Concordia University specifically this gets into to um the ordinances definitions for covered properties and the exemptions for spaces that do not have traditional commercial leases or rentals in spaces Concordia does not actually have anything leased um and while they do have dormatory residences those per our legal understanding is well through legal's decision is not actually uh covered by the ordinance so Concordia does not have to Benchmark their properties okay y good to know um in terms of compliance um I'm disappointed in our landlords and and owner building owners I mean I assume that if the city sends out a property tax notice um then the compliance is is pretty high and Jan um went through a whole bunch of issues as you mentioned that uh have been problematic in terms of getting um participation and compliance rates up why why why is it so hard to get get people to comply yeah so without speculating too much and also caving that a a lot of before my time I don't have a lot of insights into but what we're what I'm finding from my experience is that um well one on the tax bills the benchmarking is not noted on the tax bills um it's actually something well actually I'll take a step back the and say that the 2030 District we actually have a contract with them for support and they do a tremendous job they support us through and properties through every step of benchmarking and like I I appreciate all the kind words but they have done a lot of work as well supporting me with this um when we have been doing Outreach to properties surprisingly uh a lot of properties have not heard about this when I give them a call even some who have supposed to been benchmarking for a few years and I think there's a number of things that go into that including um nitty-gritty we sent postcards this year to building owner addresses to the owners themselves and that got a lot of people who got back to us and it was the first year we did that so going into the robust Outreach diverse Outreach methods have been helpful call email property managers um owners postcards I've even called tenants sometimes like hey can you pass this message to your to your owner I'm having trouble getting a hold of them and it's and it's worked so doing that repeatedly but also in diverse ways we found that some properties just need to be contacted differently um and they just haven't heard about it uh frankly it's been a few years they've had turnover as well so one thing as we're not only increasing compliance rates thinking about how we create make this sustainable in those those organizations um in terms of compliance I I'm not actually I wouldn't necessarily say that we are unusually low for a city in their their third or fourth year um I was a little surprised to see that it is an issue across jurisdictions and um I know Jan was sharing with me recently that she was looking at a bunch of jurisdictions and they 75% compliance rate is great 9 is is excellent and extremely uncommon so it is lower than we'd like but it's it's not out of line with a lot of jurisdictions and as you saw from the participation rates I'd expect our rates to increase significantly this year um with continued Outreach that that's what she mentioned to me too she said I think Cambridge is 95% compliance and they've had the program for 10 years y so fortunately and but on the other hand we don't have 10 years to to really start to make this work um I'm hoping that you can uh pull up slide five and spend some time talking to us more about the the report that you showed there can you go back and sure and uh as you're doing that my my sense is that how buildings compare some of the the comparisons that you draw drew um is really less important than what I would call peer-to-peer performance so how does a fitness center compare to a fitness center how does a parking garage compare to a parking garage how do parking garages in an arbor compare to parking garages elsewhere and so the idea or the fact that let's say a fitness center has a higher eui than a parking garage is really not all that in Illuminating I think what really is Illuminating or important is like I I was saying how do fitness centers uh within an arbor compare to each other how do they compare to them uh Nationwide what are the trends like is Ann Arbor decarbonizing ored decarbonizing um the into reducing its energy and water use intensity faster or slower than in other communities um those are the kinds of things that I think are really really important and what I would like to see hopefully address addressed in uh future reports um and I'm hoping that you can I don't know if you can blow up that portion of the slide but maybe you can just do it with your cursor tell us a little bit more about the report Jan told me that um there was a survey done of commercial buildings in 2003 and uh the US Department of energy has set some targets within building I'll call them classifications um for reductions compared to that 2003 level um she said it is 25 to 45% by 2030 and 50 to 65% um by um 2050 I think it is uh uh no let's see yeah I'm not sure I think there's a date she left out in any case I it seems to me like I said that is really really important and I'm hoping that you can talk a little bit more about that how that information is conveyed to building ERS so that they get a sense of what their performance is against true peers as opposed to like I said a warehouse compared to a fitness center compared to a whatever I can yes and they are different metrics that we're looking at for different purposes so we as OSI are going to look at this data not only at individual properties for how they should um individually improve but also if we're looking at initiatives that look Target well not Target but are benefit commercial and multif family properties that are looking to decarbonize what what uses should we target when we're comparing them across property uses what should be our Focus what will be most impactful overall what will be most impactful for a specific use so that's where comparing across property types comes in that said what energy Star portfolio manager does is it Compares Apples to Apples the energy star score that a uh fitness center gets yeah so like this one for example multif family I believe this would be um that is that 71% is a well it's a bell curve so that is more efficient than 71% of comparable properties and it Compares not only by the property type but the it there are a bunch of calculations that it does on the back end for um the square footage parking is included gets really specific but enclosed partially enclosed open parking that's included too if a like some of our multif family properties do downtown they have a small restaurant underneath that is also included in the overall property eui and it Compares um when you look at your weather normalized CER Source eui in energy star it is going to also show you the um the relative performance to comparable properties of your size use and so on so while we did focus on broadly the portfolio overall energy star what it does is compare you to other properties so when we look into doing these scorecards for more properties that's what's that that's going to show like for example it's hard to make out here I apologize but in that top um triangle graphic you can see kind of where it's sitting right so there's that tiny little yeah if I can rest some assurances that that is what energy star does so I didn't focus on it as much here but certainly as we were looking at what to do with this data uh use to use comparisons we'll be looking at but then also within each of do certain sizes of multif family need more when we're when we're looking at their Eis um to to do that so so let's say I'm um the recipient of this report and I got a report a year ago and 12 months has passed and a lot of other things have you know come at me how do I remember how does this report tell me any kind of trend information so um this year or let's say now it's 20 12 months from now um last year was 70 71 um How will I know that um my 71 dropped to 65 or maybe even worse or that I improved and how can I see from each annual report whether I went from 71 to 65 to 60 to and so on and so so forth that it seems to me would be really really nice and to be in one report as opposed to me having to pull up something that says this is what you look like 12 months ago 24 36 Etc months ago it's a good point um first I can say that granted it's a little more technical but if you if you if a property owner is doing their benchmarking in Energy Star portfolio manager what they'll see on their overview page is that it is going to show them over time and they can change the years that they compare uh um and again with the sustainability of benchmarking within ownership or management what I'm now that we are increasing compliance rates one of the next steps is how do we make sure that not only do does compliance continue but that they're not setting and forgetting with the automation that we are doing automation helps compliance but we don't want them to set and forget I know the 2030 district for some of their members who um the district actually uses the same software you use to track um benchmarking Beyond energy star they are generating their own scorecards for their their members separately and they what they are doing is for some of them is sitting down with those properties here's your scorecards here's what you might want to do next so what we will be thinking about is exactly that as compliance increases and it and it is easier to do how do we make sure that that doesn't get lost and that property owners know how they're performing and know what they should be doing next so we are we are thinking about that definitely um in terms of targets um you know overall to0 is carpet neutrality so I don't I can't speak to specifically what Jan was referring to but that said if the commission has any interest in specific targets you want to know about or that we could should consider you're obviously welcome to share that um but again also we're going to think about that as well and when we're developing future initiatives that might um focus on these property uses the targets might be different for for different properties oh yeah what a multif family property does versus a restaurant is going to be very different so we'll make sure to incorporate that as well in terms of targets I assume targets will apply for basically ever certainly the foreseeable future because even if a let's say a building is carbon neutral because it's all electric it's still consuming en energy and so it will still want to understand and water and we still understand whether it is doing so efficiently and whether it's continuing to reduce its energy use intensity even if it's uh carbon neutral definitely so again not getting into specific targets but yes if a new build was all electric we still want them to know how how efficient they are y when they're build exactly yep that's all thank you our question over here here we go all right thanks this is really very very interesting to me so uh the an arbor Charter Township has um last year we uh set up our facilities you know in energy start portfolio manager and just like it listening to your presentation which is really great um is helping me understand further ways that the township can can utilize the data and um one of the things that I wanted to um make a comment on was a previous question that was asked regarding you know why isn't there higher reporting higher compliance and it's it's kind of It's tricky to set it up and from what Connor's um responses have been is his description of the process is you really the person who actually sets it up sets up the account has to understand it has to know the building very well because there's a lot of very specific questions that are being asked about not just the utilization but the square footage and a lot of other detail so that's part of one of the hurdles as far as setting it up with concerned that was something that was challenging for for us as well um but also when you said sustainability do you mean like as in ongoing reporting to the city or or or what yeah if I'm if I'm catching what you're referring to I'm thinking of the sustainability of benchmarking in a in a um let's say the owner of a multif family property odds are so far the owners are not doing the benchmarking they're ultimately responsible for it but it's the property management and maybe a third party service so if that property manager leaves and they were the one doing it we want to make sure that that is sustainable to continue within the organization is that am I answering that right and also so one of the things that I learned in setting up uh the account for our different facilities is that there is um a contact you know email that that can get lost in during transitions yeah so this is going to be really technical you'll learn more than you needed to but so each account and Energy Star portfolio manager each property has a property data administrator and that is the the highest level of permissions an account have if that person leaves an organization then that property can still be transferred but it's trickier when you don't have that person to log in so one thing I am advocating for is that properties use a a general email they have so it's not one person even if that's the person doing it it's a city at an arbor deck of that's not cityil but you know what I mean so that that that can continue um that said within a property you can have different users that have different permission levels and I haven't had to do it but my understanding is that energy Star portfolio manager support can actually transfer properties and help you with that if something were to be lost um but in terms of specific access that is something that we've run into of oh I think we started this before but they can't get to it so we have to find the person with the login transfer something and that is an issue we've run into once in a while okay all right thanks and it is I can also say that yeah it is complicated to set up properties um but one thing that I'll say again for the data automation it is helpful for DT for example to have the automated data portal um what you do need a lot of information but it's relatively depending on what the role is it can be easy or hard to get like number of units uh all the service addresses uh for some commercial properties or more like Municipal facilities it can get a little trickier um because of some of the things you need to know I can Al I can say frankly for things like our water treatment plant energy star has specific things for water treatment plants they have a whole webinar um that that I've been to on benchmarking water treatment plants but it's weird they have flow meters for all the meters through there um and uh we found that our water treatment plant I did the flow meter but uh building usage is not separated out so that's something we found in there but it's um it gets really intricate yeah in in different property types setting up um data center usage there's a whole way to do that depending on the equipment type how it's powered where the meter uh the usage is measured so it it's kind of a roundabout way to say it it can be really tricky for properties and we're trying to ease that um especially when we have a lot of properties who are multif family or office properties trying to get kind of streamlined ways to do that okay so it's going to be a little bit the numbers are going to just as far as participation will creep up year after year as you contact the right people seems kind of a challenge is really getting a hold of the right person yeah it it was especially early on um it was a challenge to get to the right person and especially getting into getting the data itself let's say we find the right person in to do the benchmarking for a commercial strip mall they say yep I'm doing it tell me what I need to do if they're not if they don't have access to that online DT account or they're not an authorized user that's great we found the right person now we need to figure out who has access to that and who's listed or get that person added so we can get that data so it is finding the right person to do it finding the right person to get the data from the utilities and then um or if it's a really specific question like I don't know if we have sprinklers I have to talk to my maintenance manager about that now too so also catching when we start to get to those scenarios of oh you mentioned you have irrigation let's catch that before we get to that later or up front do you have access to your DT account do you know who does if we can find that out up front that also helps out a lot when we're getting started with with a property so trying to catch those pain points early um and we're getting better at it as we get more properties through the process certainly I imagine same thing with the the 2030 District when they're helping other municipalities they're probably learning a lot about Municipal facilities yeah and the intricacies there yeah thanks for giving us that granularity because it really helps us you know everybody understand what the process is and what the challenges are I will also say that if you a lot of different properties types can be benchmarked if you own a single family home you can Benchmark your own home and see what that looks like a little bit um you won't be able to use the energy data Hub but if you just use your bills or download your usage from your account you can go through through it for for that as well can I yeah go ahead go ahead I'd like to clarify one thing U so I reread what Jan wrote me it was had to do with targets and what it she wrote is 230 derives their targets and what she means by that is the 2030 District derives their targets not the city but what I would like the city to do is think about targets they wouldn't be binding but what their targets are their direct DED from a percent of a 2003 commercial building energy consumption survey and they're the 2030 District so if you're a member of the district you're being fed Targets in 2025 the target would be 35 to 45% of the 2003 median and by 2030 the goal is 50 to 65% and I don't know why the range is so big of the 2003 median so the 2030 district has Target and it might make sense that we as a city start to communicate a Target quote unquote to buildings which is let's say commensurate with what we're trying to do with the 20 or with our our a20 plan did that make sense what I just it does and I okay we certainly something we will be looking at as what our goals are for energy use reduction I think if I can clarify I may have missed it those percent decreases are in greenhouse gas emissions I believe not energy use overall is that right could be she didn't say what the unit is I believe that's it the 2030 District as a whole for its members has specific targets not only for greenhouse gas emission reduction but also vehicle miles travel reduction and I I believe those percents are greenhouse gas emission not 35 to 50% of energy use reduction she just says they run their buildings through the zero tool to generate the 2003 Baseline to calculate the Target and I don't I'm Loosely aware of how they yeah set the metrics so you could touch Faith with her and go from there she's the expert weekly good the one the one last thing I would say is what we're seeing here is confirms the uh the motto what gets measured gets done exactly Council M uh thank you so much for this great presentation um it is clearly like a treasure Trove of data that you know can lead to so many great things um and I know I for one will definitely be checking out Aqua Hawk had never heard of that before so I'm really interested in that and then also you just saying that uh you can Benchmark your own house definitely be looking into that um I had two quick questions for you um you mentioned a lot of percentages and things related to participants do you have the outright number of properties participating right now you know an aggregate of everything I just like exact number but um it is in the report actually and it gets more granular than you may want to know or may you may want to but I do break down in the report I believe the total number of properties who are initially covered based on the the overall initial um criteria in the ordinance like multif family and Commercial properties over 20,000 square feet of gross FL area period after we take out properties who are not subject to the ordinance like University of Michigan and our republ schools I believe I have that number and then the percent of the currently required properties who are required to comply with the ordinance who are not exempt which will show you the number out of the properties who are not U ofm not anber Public Schools properties for that compliance here who are not vacant those can be exempt as well so things like that taking out exceptions it will show you I believe the number who are then required to and then the number who are compliant so different levels of those um so when I when I look at compliance rates I'm looking at the properties who have to comply they're not exempt they're not U ofm they're not vacant so there are more properties who may be covered um or a property who is vacant one year and is not another year but that's that's that percent is of who needs to who is but there are there are more levels to it um in in the report awesome thank you I'll I'll look for that uh my last question then is so like I said this provides a crazy amount of data uh in what ways I guess is the city you know planning to use some of this data Beyond just this specific exercise and I'm thinking you know one of the uh metrics that was reported was uh average percent of uh energy from electricity uh you know some of the lower uh percent of energy use include K12 schools worship facilities residence hall dorms are those you know for instance then facilities that the city might Target to try to Electrify or provide extra resources noting that they're already kind of lower in the electric use is that something that's you know on the City's radar and ways to use all of this data a lot of the metrics that we're looking at are going to be on our radar but we're well I I imagine we are going to look at electrification and then relative energy use intensity across properties um I can't speak to specific initiatives yet but but with that answer is that we are going to try to take all of this data to look broadly of we worship facilities seem to be using a lot of gas so yes let's do some Outreach there and see is there interest in electrification what are the barriers what's the interest um restaurants have maybe an even split but they're really energy use intensive and it's really tricky to Electrify in some cases or some some uh unique barriers there and like what what do different uses need what do they want what can we do what resources can we we have available to them what's feasible and kind of take a broad look overall and then start looking at uh what we should Target and I'll say that if the commission has thoughts or priorities that they want to communicate I think you have to go through Joe but you can let Joe know what what what you want us to look at we're going to be looking at a lot but if you have priorities please communicate that uh also not to I don't mean to um skip over specific numbers I can say for the number of properties I believe generally the total number of properties by square footage is somewhere around the 700 plus number the total nonpermanent exceptions you could say like U ofm is closer to 400 and something and then the total depending on the compliance year like for 2023 excluding some other exemptions is just under 400 or so so overall it's about you could say 375 to 400 properties moving forward um hopefully we're you we may have some new buildings coming in as well but that range is the total number that we're working to get compliant awesome thanks so much I look forward to seeing where this kind of data and stuff plugs into various initiatives and seeing where this goes so thanks I agree it was it was really interesting to look through the data frankly it was really exciting to to see some things start to emerge yes um so a couple questions enforcement is being is approaching so can you remind me what that looks like in terms of the process itself or process or um yeah what to I'm sure I approved this I can't recall the details around enforcement and you know if that's a so I I can say that OSI has enforcement capacity I am not the person who would write tickets so I can't speak to the specific process too much what I will emphasize again is that we are going to be sprinting hard at compliance and our our goal is to not issue tickets we probably will have to but our goal is not to the goal is to get the information to folks um with a 10-fold increase last year I'm optimistic we can get really really high compliance rates um if we have to ticket we will but that's not the goal um I'm sure we could we could get some more details um on exactly what that looks like um after the after the meeting I I'm not the one who would issue tickets I don't have a lot of information on it $500 yeah that's what I okay yeah I just couldn't couldn't quite remember it wasn't it isn't it 500 the initial up to a th000 per day up to 500 for the first offense up to 1,000 for the for each subsequent offense um and the offense definitions are in the ordinance and it gets beyond my it's okay I'll I can go refresh my my memory on that one um and then on the um obviously other communities are providing you know uh saying that our compliance and you know it's it's to be expected in terms of where we're at are we comparing our data to other communities in terms of seeing if our Benchmark data is sort of in terms of building types and usages is fairly comparable across communities and that's a question I didn't answer from commissioner mki either um by accident I actually we it's not something we've looked at yet and I I don't know if what we theoretically probably could do is look at all the properties shared with our energy star profile and look at how that compares um overall um it would do some some data work but step energy star for every propert property will at least show how it compares to the national median so we could dive in deep into all the properties sort by use type and see overall on average how we're comparing Nationwide I would have to look further into comparing to specific properties um or specific other jurisdictions and how they're they're performing um but I will put it on my list because that would be interesting especially with um Detroit having their first year of benchmarking as well seeing if um compar Michigan communities have any kind of trends that we can we can see yeah and I part of the reason I asked that is I would assume that you know one of the we're obviously leading in some areas and then in some some ways obviously have got other communities that are ahead of us and so um being able to turn to them in terms of um obviously we want building owners to take action um and so kind of what has been successful in terms of moving the needle for those different types of building types um I suspect there's been some learning curves across across communities for that so I was it's part of where I was going to that question it is definitely something we'll look at um I'll say not all the metrics that we're looking at got into the presentation or the report because there's um it's like 300 and something metrics that energy star can generate um what I will be and have looked at a little bit is on average how are properties the average eui compared to the national median and we are seeing that some property types overall tend to be more or less but getting into that we also the in between step is working with the the utilities to make sure the data is accurate if we're seeing a proper use um compared to the national median is 70% more efficient than the national median want to make sure that that's accurate um if we're looking to compare to um not just the national median but other jurisdictions so long answer of yes that is something that we're interested in um and I will look into the best way to do that to specific jurisdictions but and then also on what what do we do next also something we'll be looking at is what have other municipalities done when they're looking to Target um initiatives to help properties become more efficient what have they done what have they learned also something we're looking at and then I suspect this differs by property size um certainly but in terms of the taking action component in you we're going to be obviously measuring progress on what types of actions being taken but thinking about the the type of work that it's taken to get compliance and get this information up and going we've to some degree cultivated a small group of experts in our own Community um around their building type and maybe they're the ones that are getting the reports but they may not be the ones who are charged with taking action I guess it probably depends on on property size but I'm wondering if there are ways that we're thinking about how we might be able to is there a disconnect I guess between between those user groups and then you know are there ways to be cultivating that group that actually has maybe a more in-depth knowledge now of their the energy usage within their buildings if I can clarify the um I think correctly the concern being that we are maybe working with folks who are doing the benchmarking but not those who will be deciding whether to make improvements to properties yes it's something that I that I am thinking about um even down to the level of for multif family housing property managers probably doing the report or working with their billing service but does the property manager or the um the service manager do they are they involved at all do they do they have the time do they have the capacity are they ready to if a furnace goes out can they put in a heat pump are they ready to or are they just going to get another gas furnace because that's quick and easy so it is something we're thinking about when we look to Future initiatives of when we're looking at different types of properties what are all the barriers including um maybe a a let's say a restaurant that doesn't own their building and they need to do some work that involves working with their the property owner restaurants can't stay down for weeks waiting to to figure out what to do with their HVAC system so something we're thinking about is not only those the disconnect but um how do you get how do you get properties ready to do that if they're not ready to now because they don't need to necessarily do everything today but if they know their furnace has 5 years left how do we get them information to start that that conversation now absolutely commissioner burtz just uh hearing talk about enforcement and next steps um spark something for me um just a comment um uh last year we had a little working group that was in uh researching the incentives or disincentives for um gas usage and buildings um and uh a lot of the research kept leading me back to building performance standards um this is essentially a requirement that buildings you know become more efficient or use less energy or emit less greenhouse gas emissions or water uh usage as well um and you know I don't want to get ahead of anything um but I'll just say like uh the vast majority of cities across the country that have uh passed or adopted building performance standards most of them started with a benchmarking or ordinance and um like getting the compliance levels up figuring out how it works talking through all the things that you just laid out Conor like all these nuances and intricacies and the difference between all these portfolios and in the privacy issues and things um were kind of the path I think that it took a lot of them to get there um so I'll just say that you know if at some point in the future uh Council the city is interested in requiring buildings to hit something or commissioner mki mentioned setting targets for the benchmarking performance um uh you know this is I think um a key piece in getting there if that ever were to be a policy that folks wanted to pursue I'll briefly touch and joke and add if if needed on um I think By Design building performance standards need some type of benchmarking so you can you can track it but it currently we're we're not able we would not be able to implement them on the local level um due to preemption by the state um so if we were looking at Targets it would be goals for properties and goals that we're looking to help them get to not yeah not requirements uh I'll just say I don't think that's the case for building performance standards or building emission standards those are not preempted uh by the state to my knowledge expound it I maybe use some wrong terminology like building codes are we we've gotten some guidance around difficulties around it I'm not sure what the exact specifics are but yeah as of now seems to be there is something blocking it to some extent absolutely and I'm not suggesting that we go into this with if there's you know fuzzy areas in there um you know there a lot of cities like New York they're defending their building performance standard right now at the courts so you know want to wait to see how that coure case shakes out they have a strong case they should be fine but you know the city of an arbor wouldn't want to jump into this until all of the legal situations are settled but I do think there's author anyway um would love to talk about that more offline if and when that ever becomes a pertinent conversation here I can't speak to the authority but I can say when when we are looking at an isses that is that is part of the conversation of if we're not requiring this we need to make sure we communicate the benefits of this to to properties here's the initiatives here's the benchmarking here's the opportunities um like here here's the cost savings you could have especially if it's an owner that pays part or all of the energy bills so in without the requirements showing them that there are benefits benefits to this um and and talking them about what they want you know what are your goals do they align how can we help all questions will we'll be try to ask amen just just one one quick uh quick question and then just a clarification and and then we'll we'll we'll move we'll move on um with respect to the compliance around the multif family and Office Buildings that seem to be higher um on average and I I I was just hoping if you might be able to clarify whether that was primarily due to and my assumption is that there may be teams managing those buildings and and so there's capacity in a sense to do the work around the benchmarking and I was just wondering if that was something you were able to comment on um the accuracy of that assumption or if there was something else maybe happening and if there's given if that were true one might imagine that some some additional support around benchmarking might be beneficial in the for those other buildings that might be having you know trouble navigating that which I think is already there or happening but um can I clarify it's not this slide it's the the compliance for the calendar year 2021 or or this as well I I can touch on both yeah I believe I think it was this I think it was this one yes so this is when we looked at the metrics for who's benchmarking actually I I think this is in the the start of the report but in the metrics in the report for who's benchmarking we looked at everybody who has started because we know who they are what they are how big they are um for compliance and the actual performance metrics we looked at compliant properties because those have those are compliant they have generally accurate data particip properties could be someone who has set up their account and has gas data but no electric data no water data so here for participation this is just folks who have started and when so getting to this be kind of a long and maybe specific answer on property uses and the intricacies but we when we were focusing on compliance because of how the compliance and enforcement is phased in we first looked at 2021 calendar year larger properties tended to be those multif family and office properties so by nature of the just the chronological prioritization they were the more office and multi Family Properties have started um I'm actually not I could I could look into this more specifically but it may not even be the case that multif family properties are more compliant than other properties when you get to the number of properties um in terms of participation that is at least part of of why multif Family Properties are are a high percent um one they are a lot of square footage and they are a lot of properties but we we focus on those larger properties that tend to be those in terms of what is what is easiest and the and the barriers um I'm really interested to see how that shakes out um as we alluded to earlier large properties can have a lot that they have to work out if you have hundreds of meters how many are there what are the service addresses do you have irrigation do you have this do you have that the properties themselves get more complicated and benchmarking support or Utility Billing comp compes don't it it helps but they're often not on site so it is kind of a conversation amongst a lot of people we had a I had a zoom call with the 2030 district and eight members from a property support group because they had two properties in the city and different people working on different properties so getting everyone together to try to work through that when you have a smaller property you may have less people to work through but they have less resources to dedicate to helping you with that so I imagine there's going to be different challenges I'm not sure which one's going to be harder or or if one will be harder um in terms of DT specifically a smaller property there's just probably fewer people to work through to figure out who is on the account rather than contacting your finance department to contact the Benchmark and to support to figure out who does to run it through corporate to get access and permission to be added to the account and then do it so they have more more resources and some properties have even not used the data Hub because they they get all the bills and they build tenants through utility building and their company does all the benchmarking they don't need anything from us a lot of properties do so there are different challenges at different level part third party billers too which is another layer yeah or in one case the two properties same management same utility billing and benchmarking support company one had paid for benchmarking Services already one hadn't so then they they added that so the um I'll keep an eye on it I'm not I'm not sure what's going to be harder because there are different challenges to it when it comes to the and I'll bring up the data Hub a lot because almost every property has chosen to use that because it's just the best way to do it there definitely could be some ways that um smaller properties have an advantage to just less layers to work through for that um but when it comes to other parts it may be tougher but maybe one person who runs the whole or is the property manager and does all the work and they need out to go figure out how many meters there are here and there so definitely we we we'll see different challenges um and and we we could look further especially when compliance rates increase to see if there are differences in property uses that will tell us potentially um exactly what you mentioned of who needs more help is it different sizes is it different types and that we can we can look to um to put our support to the places that need it the most right now it's been chronological focused but I imagine that will come to play as we pair down who needs support yeah definitely thank you that was that was really helpful um and thank you Connor for the presentation um clearly this is coming into a lot greater focus and Clarity and this has been super helpful I think for everyone to make sense of not only the program but also to start to think about the Contours of it and how it's going to pan out in different ways um and uh I think we it's speak for everyone wishing you lots of lots of uh encouragement and success with with helping helping uh uh roll it out and and and uh improve it over the next the next year year or two thanks thank you I appreciate that um I will note for the report it is 66 Pages it's a lot of charts and pictures so it's not quite that long if you want to look through the whole thing it's a lot of charts and pictures and a good in a good and bad way it's there's a lot in there so um yeah and again any questions you missed tonight send them on over um there's a lot in there I know it's the first report you all have seen so anything that that comes up please um let Joe know and we'll get answers for what we can thank you very much thank you [Applause] okay we'll be um moving on to commission business uh we have on the agenda uh energy commission 2025 priorities um I'm hoping this will be a fairly brief uh discussion um in the sense that we heard from council member Briggs and council member Mal last last month on on some of the priorities having to do with um uh the seu um as well as comprehensive plan and and perhaps some of the the things that might come to the commission regarding those um I will note that um for the next few months some of the things that we've sort of scoped out in terms of the agenda have to do um obviously this month in terms of the building energy uh uh benchmarking ordinance um next month I think we are planning for a um an update on the uh rebate program through OSI and the city around Energy rebates um in the months following I believe we want to look at um uh energy use intensity uh reductions in in new construction potentially and and um potential for uh some uh recommendations around that um as well as uh an update on the seu um roll out as that matures as well um and that and that develops uh through oai in the city um so those are some of the things sort of now through the next few months that that we're looking at and we sort of have scoped out a little bit for the agenda but in terms of I'll just raise and open the question now in terms of other broader priorities that we want to um focus on that we might have missed in that um in that uh update for the for the commission commissioner mki in the list that you just mentioned you did not include a reconsideration of the resolution first reviewed by the Commission in September 2023 of levying a carbon fee um is was that embedded in one of the topics that you mentioned or is that something that wasn't on the list and is therefore not likely to be considered in the next several months that was one I was when I was mentioning the one so with energy use intensity and new construction that was that was that was one of that was sort of embedded in that as well so um I know I know that's that's being worked on and and um uh potentially being brought to the commission um in the next uh month or two and um so I I think we'll plan to take that up when we see it any other comments or suggestions okay we will move on then to the staff report I'll do my best to be brief it's a little longer than normal um but um I believe most have heard but just in case anyone has not um the city of an arbor we did receive a $10 million Grant from the US Department of Energy's uh Community geothermal Technologies office to begin implementing a community geothermal heating and cooling system in the Bryant neighborhood um for those who've been following this award funding represents a second phase of support to Ann Arbor from the US Department of energy uh the first phase supported that deep engagement with Bryant residents as well as our different collaborators to understand the heating and cooling needs and design a system capable of meeting those needs um this second phase of funding uh will allow the city under the newly created um and ongoingly created sustainable energy utility or seu uh to build and operate a community geothermal system to provide nearly all of the heating and cooling needs for all 262 homes in the right neighborhood along with um the expansion to the local elementary school and um you know the community center there as well as across the street um as funding comes in um over the next several months the city and our partners will be finalizing the details of this geothermal design and initiating the Contracting process with the goal of having a fully operational geothermal system in Bryant by 2028 um we are also currently hiring uh for an electric vehicle coordinator uh this position is going is Grant funded and is focused on developing co-leading and supporting the identification Planning Development implementation and deployment of incentives and electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the city of an arbor um I mentioned the position is Grant funded for a period of four years and if you are anyone you know is interested let them know the job posting is on the A2 jobs website um starting back up in 2025 um trying to remember the years here uh but you can join us at the downtown branch of the anara District Library for the first session of the 2025 ability Forum series and here directly from the people who are expanding uh an Arbor's Urban Tree canopy creating beautiful rain Gardens to manage storm water and reduce air pollution and establishing native plant Gardens to support our local pollinators and learn how you can be part of those initiatives um we're happy to announce that peace neighborhood in partnership with the city of an Arbor's office of stain Innovations uh was selected as one of 22 community-based nonprofits for the buildings upgrades inspiring local transformation or built uh funding opportunities through the US Department of energy uh peace will be receiving up to $100,000 for efficiency improvements that will lower their energy consumption and save costs on their energy bills those dollars can go directly back into the critical care services they provide to our community daily and the funding is helping them uh with the foundational work in Pie's transition to becoming another resilience Hub here in the community um next to our repeats but just as a reminder uh the city of an arbor OSI is inviting members of public public to contribute to the a20 community cookbook a free cookbook to help promote our work towards sustainable food ecosystem the uh deadline to submit recipes tips and stories is February 1st 2025 um at 11:59 p.m.

order and we'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance which Margaret Gabby will lead I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all oh we want to thank you everybody to be here today uh excuse Kimberly dugdale because she's coming down with the flu and we don't want anybody else to get it so she's been asked to stay home which she gladly obliged uh we have new board members today like to introduce Michael Gro Bridget wood sylvana stons they they are all invested in this community in one way or another and we appreciate and glad to have you here looking forward to a new year with fresh ideas and have a new superintendent this is going to be an awesome coming year so I hope you're in for the Long Haul because it's a long haul but it's not that bad and you do get it you do get a free AIA pass yeah so you can go to game and just walk to the head of the aisle and show it and walk right in so you get cookies too yes you get cookies yeah and you get cookies once in a while so just so you know how this works three only three mics can work at the same time and so I'll turn my mic off and you can turn your on whatever but that when you want to talk that way so we're going to turn time over to Dr Wright to uh go through our recognitions this month we will excuse and not do uh James Wright bus driver will give him his award next week as he and his boss are both gone won't be here to receive that this week next month I should say thank you thank you Mr Merill so we want to start with a recognition of January students of the month will start at the elementary and then go to the junior high and proceed with the high school and we'll go in that order Mr Grace good afternoon if it is all right with the board I'd also like to make one adjustment because we have Nora is our elementary student of the month and Mr Johnson was her teacher last year and would like to be the one to present her award and then I would while he's up I'd like to give him his teacher of the month award so if that's okay with the board if I'd like to do that all right Nora come on up Nora is our student of the month she's a fifth grade student here and she was in Mr Johnson's class last year yeah Nora was in my fourth grade class last year and uh um I wrote on I wrote down here that she's always nice but nice is one of the biggest understatements you can say about her she's um she's nice in a way that I could never be and I'm saying you guys could probably never be it's really remarkable she's optimistic and um she's always the first one to give up a seat to someone she's always the first to put their arm around someone when they're sad she's always the uh first to tear up when someone else is crying and um she also paid attention like a hawk she stared lasers right through me until she learned what she was going to learn and um when she got frustrated she just kept at it and kept at it she a very successful year last year um I called her the table mom remember that when she wasn't at that table of girls it was nothing but fighting and bickering but when she was there on those days they were just fine so I was always like oh gosh Norah is not here what am I gonna do um and uh I also know she inspires her family too there's Mom right there and she's very much an inspiration to her still to this day she stops by my room every morning to shake my hand and say good morning it's awesome and um it is a real honor to be able to present that to her for her to be here for that so congratulations thank you all right our teacher of the month um he informed me that this is his first in what 18 years 18 years so he was you know jumping at the chance to get here if you can't tell Isaac is a guy of many emotions um we're were trying to see who scowls the most in their student or in their yearbook photo is it Tyson Adams or Isaac Johnson um and it it's pretty close to a tie um so Isaac teaches third grade for us he he specializes in teaching math um I think that it's probably his strongest area but everything that he teaches he does very well at Isaac is our first looping teacher at the elementary school also so this year he is teaching third grade um he semi voluntarily moved from fourth grade down to third grade and then we'll move back up with the same students next year into fourth grade um so to help handle our class load he uh he is our first looping teacher um Isaac puts everything he's got into it every day cares very deeply for his students um works hard and gets everything done um there's there's lots to say about Isaac uh but the reality is his kids want to be here they love his class they they love the fact that he talks to them like real humans every day which is good good um and so I'm honored to be able to to uh give this to Mr [Applause] Johnson if I could please have Pablo Perez come up to the front Pablo is an eighth grade student at the junior high and he has shown so much growth over the last year not just vertically he's got I think it's been about eight inches he's about eight inches taller this year than he was last year um but also he is showing so much more confidence um and and is so helpful and so I just want to read a couple things he was nominated actually by a couple of teachers and so I want to read uh some things that they said about him Pablo is a thoughtful kind and caring young young man with a great sense of humor sometimes he is shy but he has become so much more comfortable and outgoing and has let his personality shine Pablo is also a model student pushing through challenging tasks and not giving up overall Pablo is simply an awesome human whose quiet strength brings strength and joy to those around him in addition um another teacher said he is a pretty amazing guy always offering to help other students helps clean my class and put up chairs at the end of the day without prompting or expectation of rewards just because he is kind um and we see his kindness all over our campus um he he will give us a smile um and is just a great example of a leader at the junior high so Pablo Perez all right High School turn Grace Smithson please come forward so the high school would like to recognize Grace Smithson for student of the month for the month of January and I'm going to hand her her plaque and her free cookie thank you to Twisted sugar for the cookie donation and Grace is a pretty amazing student um those of you that know her or have come to watch some of the plays that she's been in you can see just a little bit of what how amazing she is there's a lot that you don't know about Grace I'm going to give you a little more details about Grace So Grace exemplifies academic Excellence leadership and Community engagement making her an outstanding choice for student of the month ranked second in her class with an impressive weighted GPA of 4.91 167 and unweighted 4.0 her dedication to her studies is evident she has excelled in advanced placement courses earning multiple scores of four and five on AP exams and has already completed 26 college credits at MPC Beyond her academic achievements Grace has made a significant impact through her involvement in extracurricular activities and Community Service as chairwoman of the mayor's youth advisory committee she has taken on leadership roles such as organizing town events and running Council meetings her passion for the Arts shines through her participation in honors choir drama Productions and dance earning her accolades such as a recognition in the ASU gamage high school musical award where she was the when which she played the baroness Ela Von Shader in Sound of Music an amazing performance additionally Grace's commitment to giving back is reflected in her volunteer work with organizations like backpack snacks National Honor Society and she also did a humanitarian trip where she built houses down in Mexico for a couple days with her exceptional combination of talent leadership and service Grace misson sets an inspiring example for her peers and community and all of us too so she is an amazing student and we're proud to have her as a bluid yellow jacket and proud to be in her midst really congratulations Grace good job we are fortunate to have such exceptional kids you know and except exceptional kids have exception exceptional parents and and when a child gets recognized for being good it's just recognition to the parents so thank you parents for doing the job of raising those exceptional kids and we appreciate it very much uh next next item on the agenda is item 1.1 and this is election of governing board officers for 2025 we need to elect a president a vice president and secretary secretary probably ought to be very easy Mary for always ask nobody wants that job and actually so we're open for discussion about a president um I'd like to nominate Dave Merl to be the president as with three no discussion three newbies and you know we got new superintendent coming on I think it'd be good to have continued leadership in that role we have a second to that I second it and nominations second with the nominations all right so um we have a vote for David Merill myself as the president of the governing board of the blidge school district for the year 20125 26 right all right so all in favor raise your hand that appears to be unanimous there are no negative votes condolences is more in order in many ways but U next item we have would be uh a vice president someone to fill in all the days I decided to not be here which might be a lot so is this open for discussion you can do it you're right so uh no discussion anybody would like to nominate I would like to nominate Michael gel if that if he would accept the nomination yeah yeah turnabout Fair pay so would uh any discussion on that we have a second then second a second from Bridget wood uh all in favor that also appears to be unanimous so we have a new president and a new vice president and we need to elect select elect a new not a new but I would nominate Mary Ford to be the secretary for the blid school district second that we have a quick second no discussion is that okay with you Mary yes all right thank you very much all in favor of Mary Ford being the secretary that also appears to be unanimous thank you okay next item is item 1.2 resolation the resolution authorizing approval and execution of funding proposals grants special projects vouchers warrants salary and other expenses approved between board members Dr R since we have a new board would you like to explain what that is actually yes sir so this is an annual requirement and we've uh we've asked this to the board every year and we re have obtained its approval we have a month between meetings and there's business that operates daily and so in order to get vouchers signed and to execute business there are times where we come back back to the board and say Here's the business we conducted we need the board to ratify it and so that's what this is it's an annual it's an annual sort of improvement that approval that occurs it's it is a and I guess because you are new board members this is not extraordinary every board has to do this otherwise we'd have three or four board meetings a month or one a week in order to execute our operations and have payroll issued and expenses that occur between the board meetings is this kind of like a a vote in favor of those vouchers in between the board meetings that's what we're doing it it authorizes the school district to execute that business and another necessary business between board meetings there only there are only what yourself Kimberly can can right do those so we all we are only authorizing two individuals to to to make funds available that way so and a process payroll which marry right another person does right any other questions concerns not can we have a motion to accept item 1.2 which in regards uh vouchers and expenses approved by the board have a motion from Margaret a second a second second from sylvana all in favor raise your hand that appears to be unanimous also okay item uh 1.3 this is IDE identify and record conflict conflicts of interest for the governing board members School administration and staff districtwide um May I yes so I have I have the forms right here Mr Merill has the forms if you have a conflict meaning you have a an interest a business interest or a personal interest in any area of school business so for years for instance I've always had to divulge I had a conflict the board had been doing business with my brother's Law Firm for 30 years well before I got here but I had to say hey this is one of the law firms we do business no longer he retired so I don't have that conflict my wife was a teacher I had to say hey my wife's a teacher I don't make decisions relative to her her compensation or anything with her employment she doesn't work she retired so those conflicts are gone um I have a conflict potential conflict I don't make the decision but we've had the trust as an administrator of our health not Health but rather indemic insurance for decades we continue to have them Kimberly makes that decision I don't I do Consulting for the trust I have been for 5 years so that's a conflict that I complete um if you have any potential conflicts better just to note them even if they're not a conflict so that protects you from uh well there are there I think it's a classified felony if you have a conflict that's not divulged so if you are uncertain just divulge it and say and then we'll say well that's actually not a conflict but good for you so you mentioned the sick Greaves um Foundation the last meeting I don't know what the school has to do with that but the brokerage that I hang my license with my broker is the president of that foundation and okay okay e do you want all of us to see that or you just want us to all of us have to do any of potential conflicts including myself and all the administrators and all the staff we start with the board Administration and then staff we send this out to staff members as well some have small businesses um some of the like let me see um that that also needs to be stated not just written here it needs to be stated for the public record and for for example like Jennifer's Jennifer Brimhall her business she was a partner with uh Eric Cox who has White Mountain Physical Therapy here so that was a conflict and um I think her husband did surgery for kids did that so that was a conflict that she stated at the beginning of the year and when something came up regarding that she Rec recused recused herself from that so so just take a minute uh and uh write that down and then I'll ask so that can be public record so for a while for a long while my husband carried the insurance that the school in carries or didn't and so if there are any changes or additions to that then I would have to right out at least for a while for a while I'm on the the board of the sholo I mean sorry blue Rich youth basketball league you think that's going to be a conflict it could be it's not it's not so much a conflict Michael is I would I would just include it and if there's ever an issue that requires a vote just recus yourself so we're trying to we want our my job protect the district and the board and we do that by just saying hey just let's get these relationships noted and that protects you I think that way if there was ever something where a fee had to be charged or something like that that there would public the appearance of no impropriety would be there completely and and if in doubt you can always recuse yourself and we normally have a full forum and it doesn't hurt we long we have three people to vote we're good today is the 14th right if you'll just hand those back to Mary we'll take care of that so I will state that I have no conflicts of interest with the BL School District other than they need win a couple more basketball games nobody [Laughter] laughed okay sylvana you have something to declare I have two children that are employed at the high school as teachers and that would be my conflict of interest if it occurs Thank You Bridget just the sit Graves SI Graves Foundation all right Michael yes I'm on the board of the Blu rage youth basketball organization which uses facilities here Margaret okay so my husband Dr gby accepts insurance for services thank you so that is taken care of item uh 1.4 uh directive of annual investment reinvestment of all monies within the school district service fund Dr Wright do you want to explain that also yes sir we have we carry a cash balance which is essentially the difference between the money that we have that's approved to spend and the estimated funds or the the actual funds that were captured based on taxes we have about a 90% 5% rate of collecting the taxes that are owed to us the funds that are NEX us of the budget that remain with the county we need to have the board's authorization to make sure they're in an interest bearing account we always use the the most conservative account that is insured up to $250,000 um we have substantially more than that in that account at any time but we have to have the board's permission in order to reinvest these funds and any other funds that are just sitting there we want to make sure that they're earning at least earning interest in a very conservative either a money market account or a savings account any questions regarding that we have a vot a motion to uh accept item 1.4 as indicated in the outline I'll move I have a motion we have a second from I second sylvana all in favor raise your hand that also appears to be unanimous okay item 1.5 governing board delegation of purchasing Authority we we touched on this briefly I think this uh just permits Dr Wright and Kimberly Doug dugdale to be the only signing officers for purchases yes sir any other questions concerns about that they're not necessarily named it's their titles all right because obviously we're going to have a new superintendent new Chief Financial Officer good point I'm sorry names are they Nam or titles Des statutorily the designated School of Executives we could put it for the record that would be Kimberly Doug Dell and Michael Wright okay and that can be amended amended when we have the retirement with Jonathan and whomever else right either it's Kimberly working in a different capacity that's supporting the district and a business manager whomever the board designates good question any other questions not can we have a motion to accept item 1.5 designating Dr Wright as Chief finan as Chief superintendent and chief Financial Officer to um Kimberly dugdale have that motion a motion for Michael a second from sylvana all in favor that also appears to be unanimous okay item 1.6 established meeting dates times locations for regular monthly governing board meetings we have this at 5 o'clock the second Tuesday of every month except like when spring break comes and stuff there are conflicts like that we do have other times when we have to meet early or late or on a different day uh but as indicated in the U in the agenda see any changes that you might need to make Dr you have something yes sir um there are a couple that I that got by me the first time one is the principles have asked us in years past can we please not have a board meeting two days before graduation and as teachers getting grades in so with the board's approval I'd like to suggest May 6 instead of May May 13 and there uh just as a matter of sort of explanation we use July 8th the first Tuesday instead of the second because provided all the budgeting forms are in we have to have the board's approval for the first budget by the 15th of July yeah so that gives us some time and then there's one uh we have the 14th because of the the break in the fall fall break um it it's the week to the 6 so we don't have a conflict there but it's the 14 that's it's does that fall on the second or is that the third Tuesday Mary yeah so I think that's on schedule uh I know there was one that wasn't the one I'm sorry Mary I made a mistake Veterans Day is the 11th we have been asked not to have a board meeting on that date because there are veteran activities going on that we do to support our veterans in the community so it allows the principes to have those special programs special programs thank you so that' be the put back it' be the third Tuesday and then as the board um the board president and in an authorized meeting you could adjust in these dates as need right there are times as Mr Merill mentioned where we might have to have a special board meeting because there's a a student disciplinary thing we have to hold an expulsion hearing the board has to take action or we have some other emergency we'll call A special board meeting those are rare but if they happen we have to they have to be duly not noticed which is the 25 period we'll reach out to you individually and as long as we had a COR we' move forward I think that is about coverage it Mr Merl so in this in this calendar um proposed calendar does that conflict with any vacations or any leave or anything that anybody had on the March 18th I may not be there running out of state on the 22nd so we will be gone that weekend okay that well as long as we have a quorum we should be able to operate in March March yeah all right so the the revision would be for May 13th to move to May 6th uh there are no other revisions to what has been provided in the agenda so any discussion comments not can we have a motion to accept item 1.6 regarding the upcoming calendar of board meetings for the year 2025 motion from Michael grenal second from Sylvan all in favor that also appears to be unanimous okay Miss hoffm you're next on the agenda good evening and Welcome to our new board members in October or November I gave a an initial AI presentation just to give the board some information on how we're navigating artificial intelligence in education it's becoming a really big Topic in not just K12 schools but also of course in college settings um and so initially we I shared with the board that we had uh initial staff um presentations with all of the staff members K through 12 to just go through some re sources um some risks and challenges of artificial intelligence and just give an introduction to all the staff on navigating some of that and we opened it up to explore some different platforms that could be useful to teachers uh and so that's what our teachers are working on right now is just looking at some different platforms such as chat GPT and co-pilot uh Gemini and things like that in ways that they might be able to utilize it but also looking at what kind of risks are there for students and there are there are numerous risks that we have to make sure that we're teaching our students and teachers about uh just recently um actually last week I was invited to present some information uh for NPC's division day and so we had a discussion about bridging K12 with higher education how do we prepare our students for what they're going to need to know about ethically moving through this artificial intelligence and education uh and so I'm just want to give you a little bit of information about that there it goes thanks for the so the um we spoke about AI literacy and I did bring this we brought this up with the teachers at the beginning of the year uh with our K12 teachers about the importance of teaching our students to be literate in artificial intelligence we're already working on digital literacy with our students AI literacy is a little bit different because it does talk a little bit more about critically evaluating different platforms and modes of information that getting and so um working with our students about making informed decisions based on information they're getting from that and knowing when something might be biased when it's misinformation um and then how do we use it how are we going to utilize it in the workforce how do you utilize it within your classes and know when it's okay to utilize it and when it's not uh and so these are some some some pieces that we're working with our students on right now um and this was a discussion with NPC as well about um how do we Bridge that gap between high school and higher education on what our students are going to need to know about artificial intelligence some of the things that we also discussed and uh we've discussed with our teachers here at blid as well is how you AI can be used for misuse of tools and so plagiarism comes up quite a bit um bias and Mis misinformation that the information that they're getting may not be correct and how do you evaluate that um inequity and lack of access making sure that the students all have access to the tools that are being offered um both in school and from home data privacy is a big issue with artificial intelligence um furpa and sipa and Capa I mean all these different um protection acts that we have for students are things that we consider when we're talking about students privacy staff privacy um and then it's a big cost so artificial intelligence it's a it's a cost there's a lot of environmental impact to it um but it's also costly as far as the new computers um that are coming out with the AI chips they cost more and it takes um you know it just takes a lot of resource as well in any organization that's running it um and so these are some things that we're talking about now not just K12 but at the higher education level locally as well um some of the things we also talked about detection versus prevention and this is a big conversation that's happening especially in English classes um across the world um as far as are we trying to catch kids cheating or are we trying to prevent it from happening in the first place by teaching them ethically how to utilize their resources um and so this is something that I think we need to spend a lot more time on with our staff uh and and the higher education is going to have to work on that as well and it's going to look a little different I think our model of education is probably going to change a little bit as far as how we are um how we're giving our presentations um how we're instructing students and then teaching them how to evaluate where they're getting their information from I'm not going to go into this anymore um I wanted to just make sure um that I kind of gave you a brief overview of where we are so this is kind of where we're looking at as far as how do we get our kids prepared for moving into higher education but also just moving into the workforce there are a lot of different companies that are that students will not need college for um that they're going to be going straight into the workforce that are already utilizing AI resources um and so getting them to make sure that they understand what AI looks like in society and what it's looking like in education building foundational skills on critical inquiry um and evaluation um and then incorporate and then teaching our students how we excuse me teaching our staff how we should be looking at incorporating some of these tools um and they maybe ways that we want to stay away from it and so I feel like um in blidge we're really ahead right now of where a lot of other districts are um we have a lot of teachers that are just looking into it it's we have also um staff that are hesitant about it because it is um it's very new and it's changing rapidly and we're seeing a lot of misuse on it and so it's going to take some time to really get those foundational skills in on that literacy component of it um but I think we're at a good spot right now to move ahead uh in a really strong way and so what we would would like to do is to present a kind of a policy of and practices in the fall that we'll be utilizing the trust actually has a very um a very concise policy that they recommend for school districts that just talk about the use um and how how we should be incorporating it in into schools um and it fits very well with our AUP already and so we'll be looking at including that piece of it but we can we'll be presenting that in the fall um and then looking at some more solid practices on where we want to implement AI literacy in classrooms any questions for me I have a a quick question and forgive me for my ignorance you mentioned the AI chip is that to gather data I'm assuming Nathan he is my expert on this the new chips are actually called mpus or neural processing units um they're just a separate chip and all they do is literally process um the AI stuff on board instead of sending it out um so when you're talking privacy security it's always better to do it locally um especially when miners are involved so that's what we're looking at um kind of holding out for those mpus to uh progress more um even computers that were launched six months ago those chips that are coming out next month will'll be about 40 times uh more powerful than the chips that they put in six months ago so rapidly changing um and AI uses more what does it use more of everything it uses more of everything bandwidth water electricity I mean you name it natural resources um and so it's just one one step yeah my concern was just gathering information about kids you know yeah no we're and we're doing our best to try to avoid that um and to try to keep everything localized if we can um on the local machines um and sending some things aren't available locally so we still have to will have to uh send those out uh but we're also looking into customizing AI um where we have our own custom internal AI um that none of our data goes outside as well so Ever Changing lots of moving parts right now may I add um to what Mr Neil said he's I trust his judgment on that the kids right now they're sharing a lot more of the data using these and all that than they were ever through AI at school but nonetheless we we are having our Protections in place just if I might Mr Merill for the new board members edification we had it this presentation about two three months ago with the the outgoing board I wanted to make sure this board had the advantage of the information and let you know that for a rural School District we're ahead of the curve Courtney has been working on this since September and she was charged and tasked with this responsibility and was recently selected in a very competitive Grant to participate in a conference that educators are going to share the problems this is a nationwide challenge our perspective is that this is not a fad I mean remember when the internet came away that was a fad it was going away if you remember when may or may not been able to use it a calculator when we we couldn't use calculators I was in high school because you're not going to be able to be able to not going to have a calculator with you yeah right and you had to learn cursive because you can't read the Constitution well Constitution is in text it's not going away that's not a fear but things are moving and this is moving very rapidly we didn't want to hastily adopt a policy which I thought was Wise by the board we need to understand what we can use school districts are taking two approaches one we're locking it down no one has used to it you can't do it well guess what they're still using it because guess what they have computers and they're using it we have provide openings to it and we allow access with protections as much as we can it's still going to be upon the parents to monitor what the activities are going on at home it's still going to be that situation we're going to work as well as we can and are we suggesting we're going to have all the answers there's not even software out there that can reliably screen and say hey this is this is has been lifted and this is not original work this is plagiarism it it's it operates at about 40% reliability well that's not good enough in time those programs will catch up but it's going to take some time this has evolved so quickly it went from kind of an afterthought a discussion about 18 months ago I kind of heard it once in a while in one of our meetings at the state level and now it's everywhere and so it's not going away AI is not going away our uh unless we're instructed different by the board we're trying to figure out how we can use it as a tool how we can manage it keep our kids safe how do we train and support our faculty members that are presented with this what tools do they need what technology do they need do our staff members need and then what does this mean we're just trying to stay ahead of it so by about next I would think September or October Courtney and the team will have enough information to come to the board and say we're comfortable with this policy my guess is that policy might be adjusted one or two times between now and then and the board if it pleases can adopt a policy right now we have practices and I think it's probably going to be an evolving deal for the next several years so I I would encourage the board ask any questions of Courtney or Nate that they might have I liked what you said about it's not going to be the product it'll be the process and the process is where you learn and that's where the teaching will come not just in the finished product so I like that process of thought right any other questions or comments thank you thank you Courtney appreciate that this does not require a vote so we'll just move to Dr right you had something else you want to say just wanted to thank Courtney's put in hours and hours and hours of her own time in this and she's become very Adept at it she knows a lot more about it than the rest of us and it is it is an area that is is so important and so I just wanted to recognize the amount of time that she's invested and has really done a great job of pulling a lot of complicated information together in a way that's pretty simple if I can understand it's pretty simple thank you Courtney well the next item on the agenda is item 3.1 and this is a recommendation to let Courtney go to Chicago to learn more and bring it back to us uh I understand this is not any expense to the district uh correct so it is um it's all expenses are paid through the international um Society for technology and education and the association for uh supervision and curriculum which is SD and ascd um in Partnership they're going to be meeting at a at the Google offices in Chicago um with a a team of Educators to just try to get some more strategies in place that we can bring back to our own districts to share but it's all expenses paid I I think that's quite an honor courney thank you thank you and I know you'll represent our district very very very well thank you any uh this is item uh 3.1 recommendation to approve the out ofate travel for Courtney hoffmire to go to Chicago to this conference so we need a motion to accept this I move to accept that we have a second one second from Margaret all in favor that also appears to be unanimous next item on the agenda oh totally forgot the consent agenda so uh item 2.1 through 2.5 I was getting way ahead of myself this is a consent agenda and board members if you have any item in the consent agenda that you would like to take out and vote on independently instead of just in group into the agenda the consent agenda we can do that then we can discuss that individual item U sometimes for example if there are new hires uh they might be here and we might want to pull that I recognize a new hire that way so I don't see anything like that for myself is there anything member of the board would like to take out of the consent agenda and vote on independently part of the consent agenda is a principal teacher and principal evaluations I don't know if that needs any discussion that's pretty self uh explanatory Michael do we know has that been presented to the board in in Prior meetings to look at the the actual evaluation instrument I we no it's not presented to the board but you can look at that individually I might add we talking about the valuation tool same one the strong tool that we've been using in the years past so there's no changes Mr grenal to what you were evaluated as a teacher and what our principles are being evaluated on we're staying with the same instrument it's not fair to have people that just recently retired they know they know what they're talking about ma teers yeah especially analytical Math teachers I wish You' come back to work I wish you come back go out of retirement come back teach we can be in negotiations on that all right so can we get a a motion to vote on the consent agenda which is items 2.1 through 2.5 have a motion from Michael I have a second second from Margaret all in favor there again apologize for taking that out of order I was listening to the cour got got uh wanted give you the do where you needed to all right next item is a superintendent report General District update from Dr Wright a couple of there's a number of important things probably top of mine I want to just bring the board up to speed with the timing of the principal interviews uh we have identified we Mary and Mr rolloff Jonathan have identified a number of folks that are stakeholders at the high school to participate which would include the high school administrators currently and a number of teachers and staff person there's there's six there are six people from the high school all from the high school because that's the group that he or she will be working with and that process will occur on the dates after Mary has time to confirm with Jonathan what dates work for his schedule um we're going to recommend a Saturday just because it certainly makes it easier um it's going to take about there are five interviewees that are going to participate it'll take as that many hours to conduct it we're really reluctant to go 9 10 11 o'clock to a school night so we're trying to find really a Saturday that works and so no one's rushed and it allows the participants to come and we will probably land on a date we'll have that date as soon as I get that I'll provide that in the form of a board summary um I would imagine it's going to be either the 25th of January the 1 of the eth rather 1 of February or the 8th of February one of those three weeks before the next board meeting and so that's the process what will happen is Jonathan will meet with the committee he'll he and Mary Mary will ask the questions or Jonathan will between the two she's the HR Director she'll conduct it just like you did with the with the superintendent and the committee will have a recommendation to the new superintendent and he'll come to the board with a recommendation I believe we have three internal and applicants or four internal applicants and One external applicant um and so I wanted to make that for the board's information the next is I'm sure your you're probably wondering about well uh we've all seen I imagine what's happening in LA with the wildfires it is probably the driest it's been the driest in the 10 years I've been here and I have people that have lived here for decades that said this one of the driest Winters they've ever recall so The Logical question is what are you doing as a school district Dr right to prepare we have been preparing for a wildfire for the last couple of years this summer before school started we had a a drill with all of our staff members to evacuate and we had they loaded up on buses they went to the elementary school thankfully it's a blessing we have a an elementary school that has a huge fire barrier all around it it's a block building with a fire retardant roof it is really a sound structure that is the safest place 8815 of our kids will not need to move they're in a great place if we had a wildfire start and we needed to evacuate we could do that in about 45 minutes time get them from here to there provided we don't have a parents blocking the lanes so we're going to work with the city and the town to get the support from law enforcement to say these roads would need to be blocked off for this time till our buses to get from this campus to there we have had the firewise U evaluation and there was significant thinning done around this campus uh with a little bit of irritation from the community and I heard about it believe believe me but my goal was hey let them be mad now and if the place stands we're good so the fire departments had large federal grants that allowed them to thin and they did a great job removed needles and a lot of the dead trees and trees that were too close together so we're in a much better spot but this spot is not nearly as insulated as the elementary school is so we're going to work and there are a couple areas that we're really concerned about foremost we want to ensure the the safety of our students and staff job one it's not convenience it's not making sure everybody's happy it's getting everybody there safe we also have students with exceptional needs we're we're cognizant of that we have a preschool that will have ex specific needs to get those students over there safely and in a way that doesn't traumatize them and they have special needs our students some of them will require three or four adults to attend to them that are exceptional need students we're we're going to iron all of that out way in advance and we're starting with identifying who those students are where are they at and what resources are we going to need to properly support them we're going to the next step will be once they're there what do we do we're we're not talking about reunifying getting parents get their kids back safely quickly safely yes quickly no not right now so we'll probably start with the junior high and before this school Year's End in the spring we'll have the Junior High physically get on a bus we'll have an evacuation drill we'll note this to the parents a month in advance they'll know it's a drill the junior high students will get on a bus and go to the elementary school and they'll get off the bus and we'll time it and learn from that activity we we don't want to put our exceptional need students through any undue stress or put them in any situation that we don't have to necessarily do so we're probably going to practice some things like we'll take let's figure out how many adults will it take to provide student onea whoever he or she is and here's a file this is what these students needs are and they physically need to be lifted and it's going to take a couple of strong individuals to do that and then somebody else to support this person we need to figure all that out well in advance and we will have that figured out and then next uh the next iteration would be in the early fall is to have the high school participate in the same thing High School presents a lot of unique challenges you have drivers and from sophomore through senior you have kids that are going to get in cars with their relatives and friends so the our first job is to make sure everybody gets out and everyone is safe now there's some it's like her and cats with high school kids and Junior High kids so we know some of them are going to do just do what they want we're going to ask them please get on the bus and come to campus we know that's not going to happen in every case but we're also thinking about now that we have uh those challenges what do we need to do to adjust well you need to clear the campus meaning every room in the entire Campus of this 80 acre facility will need to be cleared meaning law enforcement maintenance and staff will stay behind to make sure everybody's out and then once we have all of the students over at the elementary school and I mean k through prek through 12 1635 then we'll go about the task of organizing will have organized areas younger kids primary grades are in an area Middle School kids high school kids they're in different areas and then our exceptional need kids we'll know who needs medication who's going to need special attention because this is going to be traumatic for them what supports are we providing where are they at um what do we do if we lose electricity how do we communicate and then how do we go through the very arduous process of giving every child back to the correct parent so the our job one make sure that we have a plan in place our staff is I would say we're prepared if we had to perform an evacuation we could and we would we could always do better and our job is to be as prepared as we possibly can job one I wouldn't said a decade ago if you said Dr right what's your first responsibility your first priority how to said educating kids it's not it's keeping students and staff safe job one job two educating kids that's the world in which we live we have have spent an extraordinary amount of time well prepared um for any type of a critical incident active shooter anything like that we we have training in place we have protocols in place we continue to practice we had drills today K through 12 so for the Michael's been in our system he understands but for the new board members we have policies and practices in place to navigate those I think Wildfire presents our biggest risk the White Mountains is a very we have that's a very unique threat it's incredible how quickly it can move it being the fire can move 50 6 the speed of the wind we get 50 60 70 M hour winds we could be in a similar situation I will tell you this if there is a fire in the area with high winds we won't have school we'll be on a instructional time model which allows us to to work and learn remotely we're not going to put people in danger we're going to have our buses on sort of a ready status for the rest of the spring meaning our staff get them as close as they can and have the buses ready to deploy as quickly as they can because a fire can start in just a few moments some uh it could start through arson or just natural cause we have to be ready and we will be ready to respond very quickly we want to do it in orderly fashion once we're confident we've got a plan down that we can execute that keeps everybody safe then we're going to spend time on reunification because frankly if it takes a day and a half to get everybody back and everybody safe that's okay it's not about convenience parents are going to be mad no matter what I'm going to use I'm going to work with the town as IID mentioned the town manager law enforcement and the local fire departments and other first responding and the county to say here's our plan poke holes at it how can we get better but our first job is to keep everybody safe any questions from the board along any of those safety lines that's what keeps us up at night that's that's what keeps us up I will say though um I'm very proud of the work every Department including our technology department maintenance and transportation the time and effort they put in to think through these things and to really internalize this and to make it real and our staff they take it seriously we we have had incidents where we've had to have lockdowns over the last 10 years in most cases the teachers are taking it serious the kids are taking it serious and in incidents where we found they haven't we're we're not patient with that this is a really important responsibility vast majority of the students and staff do take them serious we'll continue to do our part to keep our our students and staff safe as we can we'll have a our expert that we've been working with for the decade Jesus via Hermosa will be putting on a training we invite the board to attend we'll post a possible quum on April 4th he'll be here to train all the staff he'll have a 4-Hour our meeting Michael said you were participated in the first one I think or one of the subsequent ones that you had um jeso come here and it's the most engaging three or four hour presentation you've ever been and you think there's no way that was four hours he is an exceptional presenter he is operated in and I would say in my opinion he's the foremost expert in school safety on preparing for active killers and how do you fortify your buildings and what processes do you have in place to try to do your best to prevent it and so that's that's our job we take it seriously our exterior envelopes of our campuses are all locked doors should not be propped open unless it's so hot or it's so cold that the classrooms have to be open because that's a more clear danger is that it's too cold or too hot other than that we we have our doors are locked it's inconvenient that's part of the good system it's supposed to be inconvenient and it's supposed to be something where uh well my obligation for for most is to make sure that the students and staff are safe so I take that obligation very safe very seriously and we'll continue I can assure you all the men and women in this room that have something to do with these programs uh uh take it seriously too any any questions on just any of that I'll be free to answer yes ma'am so I'm unfamiliar with your policy for for fire evacuations things like that so do you guys have anything in place like if we get put on like pre- evacuation the school is are parents allowed to go pick up their kids to lessen the stress and the burden on the staff and teachers and and things like that or is that a no for you guys let's I'll give you two potential sort of clear-cut cases one would be we started school we didn't anticipate a problem but there's a problem probably in Lyon or something now we're going to have to reverse course we've got a release School we've had early releases like that with a water main break and a gas leak we didn't anticipate it we did reach out to parents say please come and get your students if it is something where we're evacuating we're going to say parents please do not come because truthfully it's selfish to try to get down there and block it have you been watching the news where the cars were abandoned they left them in the thing and they had to get a front end loader to scrape that road um the best the safest place in this area is at elementary school there's a fire we have food we have water we had Medical care we have communication we have supervision we have everything they need restroom facilities that is a great place and you have dedicated folks there for your kids our first obligation in that case is please don't come get your child it just going to and our hope is that we have those roads blocked and and the police don't allow you to go through that's only going to last for like 45 minutes after that's done obviously we want to try to get kids with parents as fast as we can we would start with our our most our our fragile population first the ones that need that have very unique Medical Care we'd want to start with them and then the special students special Edge students kindergarten students primary grades work way up the the chain fifth graders and sixth graders are old enough to kind of take care we're there and they should be able to manage um so the answer would be it depends if it's something we think hey we have three or four hours to evacuate absolutely come and get your kids we make that broad announcement I will tell you I will continue to take a very conservative approach if I think that's a potential I will I will not one not have inperson school that day it would be instructional time model or two if we are here and it happened we'll release school so safety is Paramount and I'll tell you this um we will get complaints no matter what we do but I tell you this also if we keep everybody safe it's all going to end up okay and so that's that's our it's inconvenient it's a pain but our job is just keep everybody safe there's a lot of moving Parts it's like moving a little city you have uh and so we're thankfully I've got administrators Megan has special education background we're not operating in the vacuum we're not just guessing out at what needs are we have people of very specialized training Mr Webb has has got firefighting experience um we have people that have really unique skill sets are it folks folks are really Adept at helping us think through how are we going to communicate we just recently purchased radios that allow us to communicate because if you remember we had a pretty severe storm snowstorm two years ago we couldn't text we couldn't phone call right now at the elementary school phone uh service is intermittent there's a new tower being installed I hope that improves our reception but if it doesn't all of the administrators have phones and so we're working through all those items there we spent a a an hour and a half talking about one item today before the board it was like Hey or how are we prepared for wildfires that'll be a weekly at least weekly meeting for the rest of the school year and that'll pick up when the new superintendent arrives thank you any other questions that's a it's a good question and that's the that's the our the the biggest problem that you have is a parents first inlan Ean is rush to the school and in the in in the incident of or the occurrence of a a school shooting sadly there have been cases where parents have block ambulance access and kids have died because and it might have been their kid so it's just like we really need to work together and we'll we'll just tell that to the parents and beg for their help there'll be some that will ignore us but that's why we're going to rely on our partners at the town for law enforcement and fire to help us out with with that it's hard to get around a 35 foot fire trck or whatever and you have you know people in the right areas I will say this though we are we're very fortunate I'll say blessed to have what we have here while it's not nearly as insulated as the elementary it's not super high you know we don't have trees right up against the walls like we've had in years past we've the maintenance has really done a great job in the administration of identifying problem areas and it's not popular cutting down old trees it is not popular I guarantee you one of the few complaints I get I can guarantee you viig trees come down I'm going to get a call but you know what we're we're doing the best we can to keep people safe and uh so that's all I have on on the on the on school safety I will I go ahead did you have a question I want to add also we've been working hard for 10 years to get an SRO twice we've had a grant and we couldn't find one the town this time has insured us we'll get one they'll find one SRO we've got a grant for three because of Kimberly's efforts with those other two what we can use is off-duty trained officers from our police department and from sholo to provide support at the elementary in the junior high we already get great cooperation from the town and I I mean that we have a presence where people think we have sro's already well we have a presence here because they're always there's probably an officer on the campus at both most of the day and that's just because the town's helping us out we'll have resources to help out with that um with that SRO grants that we have so one we want full-time at the high school that will serve the high school it's where most of the high need issues are because the age group of the kids some at the Junior High um and then for safety reasons we want to have a presence at all three of our schools so that that's our plan going forward Kimberly's not here but she's worked really hard at getting that and I appreciate her efforts health safety and Welfare there is a flu respiratory upper respiratory thing going around we're asking parents and kids if you're sick stay home Kimberly she's a soldier she was not feeling well she felt well in the beginning of the day she started feeling not well I said please go home and she did so we're trying to keep each other healthy and safe um so we we'll practice that we do the best we can to stay ahead of that the instructional time model we're one of the few schools that have implemented that that gives us a lot of flexibility if we had a widespread outbreak of this we could still continue educating our kids and if it took a three or four or five days we could still continue on it would have to be remote but we can still do it under the instructional time on it gives us flexibility and then our our maintenance does a really good job of of cleaning our our buildings and doing things like you know sanitizing the door knobs and those things they work really hard and we're appreciative of their extra effort I will add that we've been struggling as long as I've been here to get a number of boilers replaced it's a part of a Machinery that heats water and distributes the heat throughout the this building and the main campus and the junior high all those are old I think we have one new one installed in the last 10 years and we have three or four more that we need to get one or one or more of those have already been approved we have funding for it but we've been waiting a year or two and we'll wait probably a year or two longer um it's an old facility it's a slow churning wheel even after you get things approved to get them actually paid for and installed we're still working at that um we had rooms that were 47 degrees early Monday we've instructed maintenance to please start leave that running it's going to cost us more money but leave it running on those cold days and we have a process in place to evaluate the facilities by 4 a if we have a broken Piper goes down we may have to have an instructional time model we've had electrical lines gas line broken water lines all of those have had where we've had to release school or not have school in the 10 years I've been here with this weather being so bipolar from warm to eight degrees it could occur I'm just giving the board the heads up when when that happens I let the board know I send you a a real early message hey we're going to have an itm today here's what's going on and you can feel free to call me a student population we for the decade that I've been here every December we'd lose 20 30 40 kids we didn't lose 20 30 40 kids we gained about 20 or 25 so that's good and we've gained a line share of those at the elementary in junior high so that's nice because they tend to stay and matriculate up to the other grades and uh I'm grateful for that I don't know we may get people moving and while I was talking to the high school day and we may get folks from California that said I'm tired of the Earth shaking and things burning I'm going to Arizona it's cheaper and it's a frankly a better place to live so come on up to Pinetop if you're listening we'll take you we're at 1635 on a student population basis on an a a daily average membership that were funded that numberers probably closer to 1575 um long story short student population is stabilized and we're seeing a small increase uh so I that's good we're not in the position of some larger School District I think Ma announced that they have to lay they they have 1,800 fewer kids those are that's Esa those empowerment scholarships we lost 200 kids scholas lost probably 350 snowflake has lost more than that and uh 82% of those kids were already going to private schools by the way so that's not going away I don't think they're going away but we made significant changes last year for the new board members edification Mike you were here when we had to make some make some adjustments um and we did and we reduced our spending by about a million two we did that in advance so we have funds next school year our next school year funds are certain um and that's we we didn't know what to anticipate thankfully our student population has leveled out some of those kids that are that were gone are coming back slowly a small amount that might change in the upcoming year and those our boys and girls sports are underway and we have I know we have a a fine arts program that will happen in about five weeks time our kids are busy and they're represent us well and we're proud of them that's all I have if there are no further questions Mr Merill I have none any questions from the board thank you Dr Wright appreciate that next item on the agenda is call to the public this is an opportunity for anybody here to approach the board like to keep your comments to about three minutes not seed your time to anybody else but uh if there's somebody here that would like to address the board we appreciate you coming up state your name tell us what you'd like to tell us nobody here to do that um then we just need to announce our next board meeting will be at uh 5:00 P PM February 11th in this location so I need a motion to adjourn unless there's something somebody has a question about I move have a motion to adjourn I need a second second a second from Sylvan all in favor of adjournment hi that you

repe me when I say I blame you say your name okay your own personal name okay I blame just me swear I will support I will support the Constitution of the United States theit of the unit States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona and laws of the state of Arizon that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and aliance to the same Al to the same and defend them against all enemies defend them against all enemies foreign and domestic foreign and Dom and that I will faithfully and I will faithfully and impartially discharge and impartially discharge the duties of the office of the governing board the duties of the office of the for continent Elementary School District number 39 according to the best of my abilities abili so help me God or so I do affirm me God okay great job congratulations give them a round of applause than you for continued service so now you can come here and you can sign you have to sign your certificates and um happy new how the holidays good it good I got before break so e e e okay we'll call to order our meeting on Tuesday January 14th at 5:00 so stand for the pledge please IED Al to the flag of the United States of America to the indivisible [Music] M LEF here Mrs Amaria here Mr here Mrs Allen here Mr a here and the next is um the election of our 2025 govering board officers I'll move to I'll nominate Mr a for president I'll second accept I do accept yes Mrs Le yes Mrs Amar yes Mr MC yes Mrs Allan yes Mr a yes and I will nominate m for um Mrs yes M yes Mr M yes Miss Allan yes Mr and I'm a yes as well so with that it's a time for a study session where we're going to talk about governing board goals and then here we're going to talk about Super Nachos yes so what I'd like to do is it is National board appreciation month so we have nachos in the lounge so we'd like for you to go help yourselves Serve Yourself come back to the DI and then we'll start to talk about our governing board goals and we do have two members three members from parent advisory so can you just introduce yourself to the board members and let them know who your children are on on campus Jal oh that's my daughter my name isna uh I'm from Ukraine I have two kids here pres school and second grade uh Katie Adams hi some of you I know some of you I don't um and I've got two kiddos here Mick is in eighth grade and Olivia is in second grade thank you for coming so as our for our monthly parent advisory meeting I ask them this month to come to a board meeting if they haven't been and I thought it'd be a good meeting for them to see board members being sworn in and to hear how we talk about our goals and um it'll tie into how we set goals during parent advisory um and school goals that we do so thank you for being here and you are going to have nachos as well and we have put the table there for you to help yourselves and be part of the conversation and Len as you e okay so without further Ado no we can do Ours from here at the Das yes because we have to talk about okay you are not your average it's it's your nacho your nacho average board that's why we did Super Nachos it's not turkey it's ground beef it's only been mentioned because of one person why I said ready G even attended theol they each other pictures and Stu the yes they're always like doing stff back and forth it's really know couple while I was getting ready testing it [Music] you remember that okay we have at home at really did the tractor should have been doing I'm underneath like this uhuh not the first time get two lower rib uhuh so what you're saying is left to the rib I it's my isn't that what you have L for a certain number we haven't had the Le in five St games hav game a good wayo we're talking that is my language and you're not honest I haven't seen when I mean just his eyes and they fled here in Arizon awesome I got right here let me ask what I told come because tomor I just had a little bit [Music] so as we look at our goals first of all again thank you for your service um my ornaments are there that I made this year that say believed so um I believe in our team I believe in our staff I believe in our work so I thought it was a good word for my ornaments this year and as we look at our our governing board goals just to kind of catch everybody up as you recall two years ago we established these board goals and from the board goals I developed my superintendent goals which in turn we develop school goals with the teachers and with um the principal and the admin team so last year we voted to keep these three goals and so now is the time for us to kind of look at them say do we would we like to change them I um did a little bit of some Consulting with my friend Chad and um I just thought let's just see what comes up when we talk about the five School governing board goals the top five so that's the stapled sheet that you have in front of you so it's pretty neat when it comes out and it's just like Oh and it was really aligned to what we already had but words it in a different way also and I do have some extra copies here kaes if you'd like to see I to you might have to um so when it talks about enhancing student a achievement right which we have their academic rigor and Excellence fostering a safe and inclusive environment and we have the safe and orderly learning environment supporting professional development for staff which we haven't really had it as a goal but we really have um in terms of if you recall eight years ago how we didn't have early release Wednesdays and we slowly phased them in to have time for professional development because that was something that was missing so I feel like the board has supported that and has always supported professional development but we haven't really made it a specific goal strengthen Community engagement which is something that's on my evaluation and in turn it's on the teachers evaluation and on our administrative team um evaluation but again it has never been a board designated board goal um and then to ensure fiscal responsibility and resource allocations um again our goal was Financial strength so we're we're we did pretty good I think in the goals that we had identified right and then looking at metrics for each one of them ideas on what we could use as metrics for student achievement safe and inclusive environment PD and community and fiscal responsibility and then there were um some strategic approaches that we could take in collecting data depending on what goals we decided to have so I think at this time we can just kind of talk about what you think about them are existing goals if they you know we could remove them or refine them I think we could refine a couple and kind of maybe set a more precise trajectory um there's a couple a lot about growth ensure growth for all students uh review map data quarterly for growth monitor State assessment for growth maybe um we should establish a minimum growth threshold that we want to see in the different areas um and that's probably something that should be reviewed so if you remember when you go back to my board goals because the the governing board goals were more Broad and mine says that there's a percentage of students that will um show growth each year so so that is true but all of those could be probably grouped into they probably could maybe just refine it in the board goals to to reflect one the first one you want to get rid of achieving put it maintain and then the second button you might say uring what resources are that make sense Financial academic insuring resources resources [Music] so I think it was um originally we talked about curriculum right ensuring the viable curriculum was available which is when we ended up adopting our new math curriculum and we went through the ELA um adoption so that was and if you notice on the new one where it says Monitor and support implementation of curricula that cater to diverse 30y needs um I do like I don't know how granular we need to get on our goals those are more these are right these are more detailed in terms of when we talk about what do we what do we want to focus on light do you guys [Music] think the first one maintain right the I haven't seen a whole lot of changes really right I like our goals can I throw out a suggestion over my outline no you can it's a study session anybody can speak anybody can give an idea so I think as a board one of your goals this is just personal opinion is especially when we're talking about academic rigor and Excellence you guys see that in the reporting that's given to you on a quarterly basis or bi-weekly or however however it is you see that I think a goal for the board should be have at least one member of the board to come in and walk the classrooms with Miss Rico in between each board meeting so you can actually see the riger and everything else so it's it's one thing to see the results but it's another to see how the sausage actually gets made very I mean I've just thrown that out there I think some of us have done that I've done that several times but I think it has to be more of a regular thing just not now and then periodically it's well it's typical and I can only speak to being in Sunny Side board members would show up whenever they wanted to come walk through classes and it would be um you know it would be whether they since I was the builing principal they would they would call and say you know we're going to stop by your school sometime this week okay so board members could come in yeah and just sign in like you normally do and it would be informal walkthroughs or they could take a look around sometimes they would ask for me as the principal sometimes they wouldn't um they were just like walk around by and it was a um a little disrespect so and I think here like Drew when you come over you've asked like what day is a good day to come over or you'd say I want to come in and then I would go with you or Dean would go or the one we did last year when went from went to four or five different was that that was a specific thing that was the learning work that was we did the learning walks uhuh and that was more structured only yeah and you've done learning walks and you know Drew has done them um so but this would be something that's outside of that and even if we just said at the end of the board meeting you know Laura's GNA come in this month and then Laura just makes arrangements that she can because it is you know in my opinion disrespectful to just show up I want walk but with having the superintendent or the principal to to highlight what's actually going on and you could decide at the end of the board meeting who's going to be going that way we don't have to worry about all five of you show up at the same time you have to announce a on yeah well no you come by yourself well now yeah yeah but I wouldn't probably schedule you all at the same time I so that could be like when you look at in terms of monitoring and supporting the curriculum and learning opportunities that would be a goal that you could make as a board that you're going to visit twice in the year or you know once in the fall and once like first semester and second semester um that could be a good suggestion that would be um will the monitoring support the implementation of curricula um that would fall that would be like an action plan item that would fall under that goal yeah it's good to do thanks great because you guys are here for you're here for special events typically not necessarily to see the classroom right you're here for promotion you're here for awards you're here for evening events but I think walking through coming in even during love of reading week you know to read to the classes um is a good time to walk around and see what's going on in the classroom as well good what else were you guys thinking on number two that last word learn is there another word we put in there if they do more than learning which should thve that's what I was thinking that was the same word learning stand minimum yeah because they what is thing Mission stat mission statement convential school district will provide a community environment in which all individuals are challenged to achieve excellence in academics character and life skills well what if we went in a safe environment and then plug in which all individuals are challenged to aeve yeah it could tie into our mission statement in which what did you say in which all individuals are challenged to achieve excellence and just leave it at that right Excellence that's good um to achieve excellence and Thrive if you want to throw [Music] the I do like um under the these examples number five regularly assessing plan for longterm Financial stability I like the idea of not just Rie VI the monthly financial report but be aware of future longterm goals and needs so we could replace that with the district Capital needs strategic plan because so much of that is with sfb and all the projects that we've done so I think we've accomplished um our Capital needs goals so I think we could replace it with regularly assessment plan for long-term Financial stability what do you guys think Financial stability and success like we can be financially stable but also be bursting at the scenes in Need for more classrooms or if we know you know like XYZ in 10 years is going to need replacing or we're going to need a new blah blah blah so so the SF PB sfb sfb so I learned this when I met the lady so they don't let's say we didn't have a this PA system but we needed one they won't pay for that they'll pay to replace something that we already had since yeah so from the parents that are here and in our conversations when you look at strengthening Community engagement because I think as a parent advisory we spend a lot of time talking about how do we involve more parents how can parents be involved how can we do more Outreach do you feel that with our guess from from a parent perspective do you feel that the strengthening Community engagement should be reflected on a governing board goal or could it be added to the safe and orderly learning environment goal because when you look at the community engagement you're also looking at all the local businesses and organizations and entities that support us that helped us during the override that helped us during the outdoor um the let grow program so I don't know what do you think I think it should be there somewhere I I think it deserves to be on its own I think this is a unique community that we're in and because of the demographics the Outreach is tough um just visibility in the community yeah I think that so so you're saying maybe it's a goal goal for separate yeah I think it FS well with expand Community visibility and strengthen Community engagement I think if you're going to tie it to anything you might tie it to like parents and family involvement because that kind of ties into it right getting more parents here to volunteer for events for different things yes um because when you look at um these two bullets that I'm looking at that say build partnership with local businesses organizations and higher institutions creating opportunities what you're saying um K creating opportunities for Parental Community involvement in school decision making so it would be school activities like you're saying I mean our an action item that would fall under that would be to schedule more kind of open Forum study sessions more specific items invite more parents to it well and the problem is you know when we had our safety meeting you know everybody gets concerned about safety and is you know calling us and asking questions we set up the community meeting for safety and we had 10 people 10 people show up and you know so I think there were three staff or School uhuh so going back to when we had the meeting also to share about the override and share about the new um boundary change nobody showed up when we sent out those letters so it's a pretty good turnout about the cell phone thing though right it wasn't even I was expecting more people cell phone meeting handful May yeah there was a handful maybe more parents yeah yeah there was very few at the first one we had three different meetings though on that one so we had different parents each but I don't any of the was right you were there that the one in the cafeteria I think the largest one was here um but then and I just want to put this out there years ago we had a safety meeting and it was right after coming we had even back to school yet after the W shooting and that one we had tons of parents so I think it's a lot of what's going on in the climate and culture and I think that's to me I take it who does the safet meetings when only three parents showed up is it's not an issue to them at that point so they either a they not issue or B they're confident in what we're doing um because after you all like I said we had we buil half the cafeteria um with parents and and and you're right Steve I think that um our parents do know what we're doing in terms of safety they know what we have the reason why we changed the student of the month the Colts of the month to after my board report so that parents could hear what was happening in the school so that they could be made aware of what we're doing so I think parents feel like they're more informed we started say send out the the weekly family cult weekly um so I think that you know we we've done things to enhance that area even though I mean it's always been part of my superintendent goal and Mrs quas but not necessarily a governing board goal yeah and I would say too if there's an opportunity to have any of those meetings online like I know timing wise um like we try to make it to all of them but timing sometimes just doesn't work out so I don't know if that could maybe be a for some people's way also teams or Zoom maybe just test it to see if you want people and we've been liveing we' been liveing you record it and it's on our website like all of our our meetings that we have that we live stream um so with that lastet Mee we did that we liveed it recorded YouTube that Mr Fergus the ability go and see how many people and were no viewers you to I don't know if this is like a devil's advocate thing but even though there's not a good like much of a a strong response or turnout it does really protect us from potential complaints and we we give you the chance to be heard we give you the chance to thee we didn't put them on we would be we would know about it them on well as a parent that comes to those meetings I appreciate them so I wonder if it could be where people don't know I'm I always feel so much more informed when I come and I just and it helps me connect with the staff too and that piece so that kind of goes back to the community piece um so I really appreciate the there and I think that because we are small going back to what we are able to do if you're you know a principal in a larger district and a larger school and you have parents who are concerned about things and you don't address them right away I mean we're close enough and we are together enough every day where when parents identify a problem we don't have to wait two weeks to figure out a solution we're like okay you're right we'll get right on it and it's fixed so I think it's you know um very different in that sense that we do you know take pride in addressing concerns quickly transparently today we got all notification that we should be here at 4:45 right and it was easy to schedule the day and schedule the week ahead so this is the plan the easiest plan to parents kids to that point is there a way on like I love the weekly emails read them every week it reminds me things I didn't know or whatever um when there is like some kind of a board meeting or anything is there a way to add a link to say like add this to your calendar click this and add it to your Google calendar because like I have everything in my phone and I to have alert or it's I know it doesn't exist unless it's in my calendar so there's a way like that they could add you know click a button let it add to your calendar yeah that's something that Jenna could do you know just add the link like umle what if we do a live stream email link through our mass communication system before the board meetings start too like the text message click this link to tune in to our board meeting yes join us in person yes or join us in person all alone no but that's great ideas great idea I do want to point out on that third bullet point on number four the last two words change the commitment level and of what you want to do I would really think about those two words that decision making yep yeah I would think that we would probably if we're going to make a goal and what we'll do is do a draft so of course with your continued input Steve will develop a draft that he and I can work on but create opportunities for Parental and Community involvement in school period or Community involvement period right the level of your commitment and the action would take the board to meet that obligation then is very different it just really changes the tone of things and it just depends on what you want to come yes so and the reason why um we had three goals obviously is how they always say keep it to three to five goals so that they're attainable and doable so that remember at the beginning we had like six or seven we had a whole page full of them and they were like okay we have to channel the ocean what are we gonna really focus on to be fair a lot of these are just kind of maintained and monitored I think and and we've made some major accomplishments the last few years I think it's time to add a jenge good okay so then we're in agreement that we can add poll number four I no I I I like the only the three goals I think that that Community engagement is more for you and Deana to work on and not have it as a specific governing board goal yeah and that and and to your point yeah it doesn't diminish it because to to again going back to board true board responsibilities right is also ensuring you have the right people in their positions to do what needs to happen so you're right it's the it's the role of the principal and the site leadership team to develop those parental involvement and communication goals so when I present to my board reports they're all about progress academically Community involvement right so I'm reporting that too so I I do understand what you're saying missas so that's another thing where parents could visibly see that student engagement goal in Mrs qu's school goals because that's a huge part of title one that we have to report on so part of our Title One m M dates in that Community engagement and family involvement piece is we have to have sign in sheets to our family nights that we have for the Auditors we have to have we have to show that we're having parent conferences we have to and we have to report how many parents are showing up what our outreaches so that's I I understand and I agree with that statement too so just to kind of take you back on that I half agree with Miss marus hey you got half so I I agree that when you're talking about local community leaders that there should be a Roxanna Deana I 100% agree with that but when you talk about the community in the larger sense I think it's the board that should be talking at the state level and advocating for small schools and things like small and Rural School so I think it should be the board members that are calling up their senators and the congressmen and at the state level at the ad level and advocating as a board with one combined voice that this is what's a small school districts in Arizona need so I agree with you to a point but I think it should be left on as is but that being your portion of that go you also remember you're speaking as a portion of the board and every and you may not have you may have not developed an official opinion on whatever is they're asking about talking about you give them your personal opinion I suppose but right but what I'm saying though is of speak for everyone else if if the board as a whole is saying that we need to increase property taxes to increase School District funding if that is a unified voice of the board that is what the board should be talking to at the state level this property tax snapu a couple years ago if the legislature hadn't caught it and taken action it would have fallen on this yeah yeah I like that so the more public forums and more accessible meetings would be the action plan on the administration but we could still put orderly learning environment yeah I would learn it re word it okay Greg I gave you two SS well when we're talking about financial strength I'm thinking maybe we can add strength in the strength in our you still use final and Outreach stength or political whatever we could add what you're saying into with advocate for the school and needed political I don't know don't write down I W I'm just I'm just writing yeah I like it under Financial strength because we'll be strengthening not only financial but we have to reward it we're encompassing the advocacy strengthen our [Music] advocacy advocacy at the state and local levels yes six I'm almost up to a n it should be it's a verb so be Advocate at start yes okay good take that take that so I think we have a general idea so Steve you and I can work on on the draft that will get out to you that will be voted on at the next board meeting because from there I develop my goals y okay all right good job everyone I'd say than you guys best stud sessions that we had extra not oh you have to wear it put it on to make motiong second we're gonna hold you in contempt like that would be the first one a break we're going on a break until six o' thank [Music] you sorry I didn't stay my [Music] for that was when we move [Music] do place the students are here who are of the month come to see us no where do I go now oh Happ [Applause] cookies [Music] Happ [Music] I mean she'ss one your sister really oh no I choose not to listen on would many I want to p [Music] m [Music] spe for [Music] it [Music] I actually [Music] starts out to the kiddos after they get their award um I only have out of size extra small kidos and medium but they will be here tomorrow so you don't if that's the size you Fe um I'll have them in the office tomorrow we can get them to your kids tomorrow I apologize that they're not here for what do you have I have everything but extra small and kids and medium and KS so those twoes will be here tomorrow [Music] St she welcome everybody we'll get started back on our meeting you guys missed uh the roll call and our study session worry there's more fun involved so so the first step now is to approve our agenda I to approve the agenda I'll second coms Mrs yes Mrs yes Mr MCG yes Mrs Allan yes Mr and I'm in yes next is to approve the minutes from December 9th I'll make a motion to approve the Gover board minutes second Mrs yes Mrs yes yes Mrs Allen yes Mr AUST yes and with that it's time for call to the public nobody registered anybody [Music] online okay moving right along it's the superintendent's uh presentation good evening members of the community parents amazing Cults students and governing board and I'd like to congratulate our um newly elected continuing board president Mr aery and Miss Allen as clerk so thank you for your service and your willingness to continue in your roles to support Continental so exciting things have been happening as you know at our school so for starters just looking at our in this is the episode where the one where Cults bring in 2025 so I hope you all had a great holiday good New Year and students uh picked up right where they left off and are working hard in the classroom so as far as our enrollment okay um enrollment just we're steady at 646 students K8 we have 606 prek we have 40 students we had five new students enroll for um the start of school this week uh we had four preschool students and one um in District student enroll two students withdrew the semester um for homeschooling we're celebrate celebrating our cult staff um our staff colts for their educational Milestones so I am going to read their names and if you're in the house please stand up Miss B hop received your Masters in psychology Miss Mary received her standard professional Elementary K8 and her standard professional mild and moderate special education degree with a lot of endorsements um Miss Salsbury are you in the house did I see her okay Miss Salsbury received her Masters in Education Elementary education Miss Mills Masters in elementary Ed Miss um Clos who's in preschool her m in ery childhood with an emphasis in special education Miss Simone Knight received her endorsement for special education Miss bti received her Masters in educational leadership in higher ed so um there's a picture of them we honored them with a cake and a celebration in December so I um just want to reiterate how hard teachers continue to work boys and girls even though you're a teacher you still have have goals and you're still working you're still going to school and achieving additional certification so I'm the next SL is just their family pictures of their graduations so again congratulations appreciate the goal setting and your continuation of juggling school and work so great job let's give them another round of applause okay many of you um attended our net bro playground ribbon cutting ceremony we have so many supporters to thank um a special shout out to Miss Bonnie clar the president of our Continental School Foundation Educational Foundation for writing and submitting the $50,000 um report grant for this project which was granted um she also wrote for the white elephant Grant and received additional funds to go towards the playground um Mr lean has worked really hard and it was um he initiated the project after working with some teachers and talking about the anxious generation which I know you've all heard a lot about um so just a great culminating morning for our students and the link is there um on the report for Kagan n did any of you see the clip in Kagan n yes okay so it's nice to see good things in the media right and to be part of the good things that are happening we've already had other school administrators reach out to us in terms of wanting details on how we made this all possible so we're um Cutting Edge at Continental Colts again just a reminder of the grant funds and Grant submissions like I mentioned the Freeport grants um Mr Ferguson and I wrote the site investment Grant that's going to be funding all of the second grade Chromebooks that students will receive along with um teacher computers and usonic boards we also receive $144,000 from White Elephant Grant that's going to help us with different professional development and um activities that are going on around around the school we did receive the vi $500 award for the rata sage the Rada shade structure that's going on the north of middle school so we are going to do that project on the first day of spring so stay tuned because we will be reaching out to parents um and students to help us out celebrating our student Colts art contest winners so every year we have students submit to the taking action against graffiti poster calendar so you can see our students there we had six students artwork in the calendar this year we're super proud of them and thank you to miss Deo for um always spearheading our students in these contest there's some more of the artwork that's in the calendar we also had an art contest winner to the Southern Arizona Community Food Bank and um again that is Adeline M um Adams who's one of the eighth graders she's on the cover of the calendar for the food bank this year so great job Colts tax credit update for calendar year 2024 the district has received a total of 392 donations totaling $108,000 donations received up until April 15 can go towards 2024 taxes as a comparison last year we had a total of $17,000 so we are already um surpassed our goal from last year and we were a little worried again in 2020 with covid but we've slowly been increasing and I just want to um let our parents know that our tax credit funds support our Sports our tutorials and our clubs okay so we are very very fortunate because if we didn't have the extra $108,000 a year that we get um to help run these programs and activities we would um we would not be able to offer as much as we do offer so I would like to just encourage our parents and um our staff to get your text credit donations in and support the clubs and sports and activities that your children participate in um or that you sponsor every dollar counts so it is 200 single 400 married and it's um a dollar for dollars so you donate we give you the receipt you submit it with your taxes and it gets deducted from your state income tax on what you owe okay so that's a good way to help the school and um to support the clubs and tutorials that your children are participating in because we pay Club sponsors out of tax credit funds school project update so we just had a study session and talking about our Capital needs at our school and I again want to thank Mr Schubert for um his relationship with sfb and school facilities board and being proactive in uh getting things that we need replaced and at our school so we currently have 11 open projects with the school facilities board the total amount requested for all the projects listed is $3.2 million so without school facilities board we would have a lot of things that would not be working or not be upgraded so um again just thank you Mr Schubert and um we really appreciate you getting these additional funds for our school to continue to look as great as it does and to operate reminder our sweet art art G um is coming on Saturday February 8th is itary okay 8 at 4:30 we're still looking for sponsorships all of you parents received a letter um an email in terms of grade level baskets that we have for the S an auction so grade level teams are have them specific baskets so if you can help us out and donate items that would be great also upcoming events mark your calendars we have jazz in the desert and that is Saturday March 1st and our middle school jazz band will be participating and tickets are $10 each for the matina so reserve your tickets now and we're super excited about our Alison Wonderland Musical that we're going to have it will will be Friday April 4th and Saturday April 5th and 6th Max that we can sell is 150 tickets at each show so ticket sales will begin in March and they range from five to $12 each so thank you and have a great evening that completes my report I appreciate you all being here thank you with that we'll move on to uh our student services uh D or Mr stepen [Music] Le good evening everybody welcome so we're gonna cover really quick just things that have been going on in first semester when it comes to the director of student services position in my job I get to do a lot of fun things and then some not so fun things we're going to start with some of the fun things so our first quar of sports was girls volleyball with 54 athletes flag football with 51 cross country with 27 with a total of 132 athletes participated in the first quarter sport we're really really excited it's been quite a long time I want to say it's been 11 years since we had the championship our flag football team were the Southern Valley League champions going undefeated like I said that's been 11 years um since that happened and one of the things that I absolutely love about um coach pilman and his coaching staff is the way that they conduct themselves on the sideline is Champions and I bring that up because last year just last year we had the reverse opposite of undefeated we won zero games the entire season for boys basketball and in one year with their positive attitude hard work they were able to turn that around and go undefeated um you know so he's changing that attitude throughout um and we we'll get into the next part here in just a second so thanks and then the second quarter girls soccer 4 40 total athletes boys basketball 41 total athletes cheerleading 16 total athletes with a total of 97 with the boys basketball like I said last year they win um and they didn't win a game and this year they made it to tournament Place third so not only did they win games but they brought a trophy home and so that's pretty impressive and that just speaks volumes to coach pman and his group of people that He surround coaches that He surround himself um that may them in football it's kind of the same coaching stuff uh win the championship but also be voted by the league and the other coaches for sportsmanship and so often times Champions aren't regarded as being sportsmanship because a lot of people don't like to lose so to be able to do that I as an athletic director I'm just super super excited about that and you can see that trickle down to the athletes and way that they conduct themselves on and off the field so thank you for those coaches first quarter clubs um we have art Builder Club Civic Club chamber orchestra trft kn and crocheting Dungeons and Dragons ja music sewing and Spanish second quarter clubs we also had art Builders Club C Club chamber orchestra crafts meeting croch Dungeons and Dragons jazz band music sewing Spanish and in this one we had golf second quarter as well and that is starting again um started this pastek so to the not so fun part of my job um discipline so reoccurring issues that we've had is careless play rough housing um and then I kind of cut and still from my presentation of the past year um this these were all here last year and so I left them up there because they're still there but we've seen a great decrease in the social and emotional concerns um the self harm um the you know having to get the CRC the crisis response Center in Tucson involved is greatly greatly decreased by well over 50% in a year's time um social behaviors has decreased okay we see that usually those social behaviors a lot in kindergarten um in first grade um but we've really had Miss paw our school counselor go in especially the first couple months of school and spend time talking about so what's socially acceptable at school as a lot of the incoming students um they just have the interaction with family and not with peers their own age so that's an important thing that we've increased that education on social behavior um gossip and rumors um that's been pretty huge especially in the kind of grades four through eight last year we really saw those issues related to cell phone usage okay and I'll come back back to that just a second and then lack of coping skills as well not being able to um articulate and advocate for themselves to resolve issues all right the reoccurring issues planned this year as many of you know because you've heard this nonstop we have different Community meetings as well has been leader at me which is an organiz which is a program that we've instituted and all of our grades are doing this to Institute and instill in our students the ability to be leaders to be able to problem solve to be able to resolve issues take ownership um for their education um and so we're really excited about what that program's been doing for our students um we've also increased the number of oneon-one or small group sessions so this was a decision that Miss quoss had made where last year Miss Paul was scheduled to teach classes is the almost all the grade levels we freed up her schedule a little bit so that she can be doing more of that one-onone or small group um you know teaching the kids how to deal with their emotions um a lot of our kids they come from hard situations right and with gu in the family loss um separation divorces all of those things and so she has these groups where I believe that has also contributes to the Improvement on on the social and emotional side that I talked about a little bit that we' seen is she's now able to Target that and help those students cope with those issues in a more positive way um also one of the things is when we have those issues in the office they come through we make sure that we're provide Guardians with outside resources so giving them the proper Outlet to um counseling and just it's hard when you're a parent you hear that this is going things are going on with your kid what do you do and so we give them articles that help me and guide them um as they help heal their child and give them the support that they need um restorative conferences is something we've we've preached for years now so we're continuing in those efforts and then um in the bottom there we have increased free play which has been really huge this year so with that and we did this all the way through our campus uh kindergarten all the way through 8th grade where instead of the kids is coming and standing around in the morning they're able to go play for 30 minutes so our middle schoolers are able to do that so that's an improvement that we did as we did that as you already saw by the news media um some kids just stood around because there wasn't enough to do and there wasn't things that engage them so that's what encouraged us to take on the let grow playground and bring all that amazing equipment so that the kids are actively engaged to see the smiles on their faces and in that and if you saw the the media release I talked about when I looked at the different activities to ad I knew that we would be bring conflict to the playground if you look at every piece of that there's competition and competition our society has gotten scared of because people's feeling sometimes get hurt and everybody wants to be a winner and my goal is is to help these kids learn how to deal with it in a lower level of the playground because if we become you know in every one of our jobs as adults it's competitive someone else wants the promotion right somebody else wants the Christmas bonus and so we have to compete to keep our jobs and stay on the top and so that's why we brought that to our playgrounds to increase that interaction in a positive way where our playground monitors are also training to help them deal with that with that conflict and help them solve their problem um we also did a little Switcheroo if will with lunch and recess so what we were hearing from the teachers is when the kids came back from Recess which was after lunch last year that it would take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to be able to get the kids back in learning mode and so we we did some research um once again if you haven't read the anxious generation got to read it as parents it's it's a life Cher for um you just I can't see anything more about it you have to read that because it really really well help you understand where our societ is at today with our youth and how we can help them um and so we made that switch um and the teachers are reporting that the kids are ready to go back to learning as soon as they enter the classroom because what happens is they play first now they go to the cafeteria they you know their blood rate's going down their heart rate's going down in the cafeteria um they're eating and also the monitors that were with them on the playground are not now scheduled to be with them in the cafeteria and it wasn't like that before that way any issues that may have started on theground are able to be resolved by the monitors that were there that knew what happened rather than just dumping them in a classroom 30 seconds after a conflict occurred and wishing them well um and so we've really seen that Improvement um School Safety and Security updates we continue to use the threat assessment um we have a team EST and that's through CAG so the entire State of Arizona has adopted this model especially County so it's a pleasure to work with Stan palino or SRO who continues to work on this with us and provide training so um one big thing that we're really excited about is for years we've been trying to get a second AED about six years ago we got one in the gym um but we just didn't feel that's enough because our campus is pretty wide and big and so we were able to get through the gler Jensen Foundation via Continental PTC um that put in that request for us so thank you to Holly for doing that paperwork for us um we were able to get that and that's now installed in the front office right here so um we put it where everybody can kind of see as you're going on the campus so as you come and drop kids off please locate that see where that is because that's something that if you're hearing something happens um we really want our entire staff and our community to know where that that device is because it's extremely extremely useful when it comes to sa um the other thing that we've been doing and are doing is we've updated signage in regards to prohibited items to see three big signs going on all the three entrances prohibited items as well as no smoking sign by all public restants uh the other thing that I wanted to touch on with our students is our full free phone free campus so that's an initiative that we started in the beginning of the year we had lots of meetings many of you came to that um it's going really really well so we're over halfway from the school year and not one single phone has been confiscated during the class okay compared to last year we were was probably what two to three a week or a day almost but a week we it was creating a disturbance the kids have really gotten hold of this um and we as many of you know we create we put in the classroom block boxes where they can't can put them in we don't require it that's what's amazing about our kids in our campus we shared with them why we want to give them a break and so we do have several kids in every class still putting them in those lock boxes the majority of them just got the message and aren't using them which is a huge in um reason why we had that decrease in the bullying and the social media um there hasn't been I think there's only been one case this year that I've dealt with with bullying harassment that was done on social media all school year so far which we were dealing with that all the time so that's a huge contribution to the phone free school and then we've only confiscated three phones all school year and they've all been on the plus um I think that's a victory of itself and the thing that I like about that is it's not in a classrooms and it's not distracting learning when it's on the bus so although there's a few students that don't buy in 100% it's not affecting their education which is fantastic so we're really excited about the progress that we' seen in just a short one semester so thank you parents for supporting us in that and more importantly thank you students because you're the ones that have to live it and understand why why we're making these changes because we love you we care about you and we care about your well-being and the development of your brains and so that's an effort of the play um the no Fon during school day so thank you all for for your support um and thank you school board for allowing us to make these changes I know we've made a lot of changes this year just because mran finally decided to pick up a book and read um so for those of you that don't know me as was a PE teacher here for years so I wasn't known as the reader um but I I really appreciate your guys' support and allowing us to do this for our students ass huge incre um and then as far as discipline as a whole this year um it's no surprise the beginning of this year was really rough and and was tough and we had um some new students that didn't understand our rules or why we did things and so thank you for your patience and your trust as well as parents as we got through that um and we're it has been seamless the last few months and going very very well so thank you for your patience and your trust and us as a staff this is quite awesome myself um as we helped teach and educate those students um and do what we need to do to make our school safer and more acceptable for all of our students thank you good job thank you probably the real reason you all are here not just for t-shir it's time for our cols of the month boys and girls if you can come on up ours of the month BR your certificate with you we're line upender you [Music] mrsas is out today so I get to play mrsas so I'm excited and thank you Mrs the fever for helping us with our students so boys and girls are gonna come up here you're G to state your name and your teacher okay and your GRE teacher Miss Robson in preschool do you see [Music] her Kai Hassel congratulations to Kai Hassel for being chosen as the preschool student of the month Kai is a shining example of kindness respect responsibility in our preschool he consistently treats his friends and teachers with thoughtfulness uses kind words and is always willing to lend a helping hand his positive attitude and willingness to share and cooperate are exceptional we are so proud of Kai and all the wonderful qualities he brings to our PreSchool Family Dr Robinson good job go get your T-shirt good ay coners Avery gives great effort to be kind to her peers and teachers she has learned to be aware and careful on campus she has also become very responsible Avery is a very sweet girl and has worked very hard this school year congratulations Avery love Miss WI is teacher Miss Elliot has a great understanding for rules and safety he can always spot something that can be a dangerous situation or how to prevent a bad situation Elliot has many friends in all the kindergarten classes he plays well with others and includes all students Elliot has hit the ground running in kindergarten and hasn't looked back he is excelling at all things given to him great job love Mrs Tesla my name is Tatiana and my grade is first grade and my teacher is Miss have great public speakers in the making as you can see aana is an exemplary student she always shows how kind and respectful she is she always looks out for the well-being of others she is responsible for her chores in the classroom and she is an ENT helper thank you Tana for being an example for others love Mrs N my name isana and I my te name is rodrig Rihanna is a fabulous first grader she is very friendly and kind to friends classmates and staff she uses excellent manners at school every day Rihanna uses School equipment and classroom supplies safely and appropriately she is responsible because she completes her classwork on time to the best of her ability she is honest and hardworking lastly Brianna is a fabulous FR trator because she has a wonderful attitude in fact she comes to school ready and eager to learn it is a pleasure to have her in our class keep up the terrific work Brianna Mrs Rodriguez my name is and my teacher [Music] and dear aah congratulations on receiving The Cult of the month award you consistently show responsibility kindness and respect in the classroom cafeteria and playground your positive attitude and dedication to getting your work done are truly inspiring keep up the amazing work we're so proud of you War me Miss Jan [Music] Ryan is a is a shining example of kindness in our classroom she always treats her classmates with respect and sorry excuse me and make sure everyone feels included Ryan's positive attitude and willingness to help others shows she can be counted on to do the right thing Ryan consistently make safe choices both in and out of the classroom our class is very lucky to have a kindhearted classmate Mrs nav my is is very responsible and always honest with others he follows the school and classroom rules every day without any reminders he is kind to others and willing to help when needed babo comes to school each day with a smile on his face and tries his best in everything he does he is a role model to his peers and a wonderful student to have in class Mrs Lane good [Music] job teer Diego is the CEST boy in our class he gets along well with everyone and never has anything unkind to say about anyone Diego is safe in and outside of the classroom and follows all classroom rules and procedures in order to be safe Diego is on task in class and completes his homework and assignments to the best of his ability he tries hard and doesn't give up Mrs Wade my Lance has been improving his academic study skills every month he has shown what he is capable of while always being kind his future is bright keep up the good work buddy I am very proud of you love this house Jonathan your hard work is not going unnoticed you have been doing so well getting your work done and giving your best effort in what you do youve made sure to have what you need and be ready for what we're doing we can't forget what a kind friend you are either always ready to help anyone who may need it keep working hard Jonathan and be proud of yourself Mrs monya I am proud to recognize Colton as Colton a mon he is kind safe and responsible he goes above and beyond the expectations in the classroom Colton always has a positive attitude and a smile when he enters the classroom he is willing to step up and help others and is a good leader pton is a positive example for others I am excited to get to learn with you and watch you grow this year keep up the great work Colton Mrs Salsbury hello I hello I am Alena in fourth grade and and I'm from Mrs Flowers class I am pleased to nominate Elena Smith as my December Cult of the month she consistently demonstrates exceptional qualities that make her an outstanding member of our classroom and school Community Elena has shown remarkable dedication to academics leadership and kindness she strives for excellence in all subjects and contributes insightful ideas during all Ts discussions andena goes above and beyond to support her PE in the class through acts of kindness and classroom support it is Anna's enthusiasm and commitment to posit to positivity that inspires me every day and she surely truly deserves this recognition my world is brighter since I have Elena in it she is absolutely an amazing young lady love you girl [Music] Mrs the Continental Middle School teachers are happy to have Isabella Vega as our seventh grade December Cult of the month Isabella is a very kind hardworking and responsible young lady she has shown a consistent and remarkable effort in her work for all of her classes as well as a deep concern about her own academic success Isabella is always focused and encourages and supports her classmates Isabella is kind to everyone around her and is a safe and responsible Continental cult congratulations Isabella on being the seventh grade December Cult of the month Continental Middle School teachers last but not least Alani has grown so much this year as an eighth grader she has shown student agency when it comes to her academics she has worked hard and now in a math class with her peers Alani is a student who has compassion and kindness towards friends and teachers as a middle school team we are very proud to see that student agency within Alani and pushing through the boundaries elani is a kind smart and responsible student and represents what it is to be a continental cult Continental Middle School teachers congratulations okay if we can get all our super Colts up here with your certificates to the front for a picture you're going to stand close together and help us give the other Awards parents if you want to come forward at this time to take your to do that [Music] you everybody say CT good job okay boys and girls St there okay for a few more minutes we have some special recognitions and I'd like to First Call up Miss Mari [Music] up so teachers nominate all staff get to nominate who is going to be our Golden Horseshoe award reci and her colleages say Mrs Lane is such a great teacher and you can see how much she truly cares for every student in their own unique ways Mariah has been a great team player in third grade she is so positive and welcoming she's always there to cheer us on and ready for any situation Mrs namee is amazing when it comes to interactions with our special education students the students adore her Mrs Lane the heart she has for her students is amazing to see she cares so much about not only their academic learning but about who they are as a person we are so lucky to have Miss name be part of our cult family thank you so so one of the things that I love about being administrator is that stand up here what's written down script a little bit um Mrs L talked a lot about how much you care for the students and how much you love them and your heart and what I think this piece misses is it's not just about students for you in probably my roughest day at Continental and I've been here 17 years it was this year early on in the school year and the next day I had to take a date off because it was so rough and I couldn't be here and then the next day I came here and the first person to seek me out was you and we haven't really had a lot of interaction I'm not your evaluator um and so I'm not normally in your classroom and you walked up to me and you just looked at me and said Mr L are you okay okay I've been worried about you and that love that you have for your students goes to the staff too and I don't know how you knew I even had that rough day um but the fact that that you whatever you saw or heard that just shows you what kind of an educator and caller you are and you will never know how much that meant for me to be able keep waking up every morning and keep coming just knowing that I had your support and all you said to me was anything we need on and so we really appreciate having you part of the team I want you to know [Music] that our other golden worship recipient is Mrs Toano um from our food service from the cafeteria our manager she's not able to be here but we'll make sure to recognize her as staff meeting but I will read to you what her colleagues say you is always so positive and love towards staff and kids she's an awesome person to work with r is always thinking of ways to make breakfast and lunch nutritious and a delight to eat is that true boys and girls even under the state's constraints because we explain that all the time she works with the smile and speaks kindly to the student staff in group lb is always ready with the smile and a happy thought she makes our food yummy and we love her you beat us the most understanding positive and humble person she brightens your day the students get greeted by her da with a smile and positive affirmations you be as a jam at our school and a great person to work with alongside she runs the whole cafeteria great food is always good the cafeteria is always clean and people always love going there with the professional yet fun atmosphere she provides thank you Mrs pocano for all that you do okay our next special award I would like to call up the laan family please I feel like I'm on the sound of music with the vont trops please come on up the Nathan family please come on up this is the amazing package that we get with the leens and when I say package it truly is because they do everything as a package and they support each other and it probably is that they figure the more people who can help out the sooner they can go home because they live away so they don't all pitch in they have a a mobile home or something out here on our proper property but this Golden Horseshoe award goes to the L family the clue I should say the laand as a family demonstrate support and hard work for anything that anyone has going on in their lives when it is a school project you will often see all of them pulling together in some capacity to help get the work done the hours they spend to contribute to our students staff and community do not go unnoticed the laan family has done a lot around our campus to enhance it for our students we see all that they do as colleagues and we are thankful for what they do for our school so I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do the skills that you have these students if they need to plant a tree they plant it if they need to bolt something they bolt it if they need to paint something they paint it if they need to weed something they weed it um if they need to cook something they cook it so I just can't tell you enough how blessed we are atal to have all of the L on board so thank you I also some of you may notice that L goldridge is up there too um we asked him to come up with our family because over Christmas break when most kids were playing video games and sleeping and using their phones um he put in over 30 hours working on the letro playground because he was with me and that's what we were doing over break and so L thank you for um all the hard work and the dedication he is a former Continental cult as well so he took great pride in in power washing the basketball courts so that church could paint those lines and I don't know how many hours you do that 12 12 so um just thank you to him and like Miss Rico said you know my family they just this job's not easy it's a it's a life job it's not a full-time job um and from long conversations that go until 8 o' 9 o'clock 10 o'clock at night with Miss quos trying to figure out how we're going to handle something the next day my wife has never complained um and she's always supportive and stands beside me um I can imagine doing this job with anybody else by my side and she makes it so seamless and effortless um supporting me and everything and I do spend a lot of time here um and my kids like Miss Rico said most of the trees on the inside of Campus this little guy here from the age of eight has planted them a couple at a time so if you see almost all the plants in the interior of Campus um this guy's done during the summer when it's like 110 because he's here with me at work um and so I just appreciate them um Gary as well has worked so hard and has become such an amazing young man that we're so proud of um he's working two part-time jobs going to school fulltime as well as one of the parttime jobs as he comes in on the weekend and works here to clean up after the people that rent the gym or the cafeteria for the church um so that it's ready for students and so his lifestyle growing up he's just fell right into that part-time position and does so that he's working his way through college so super proud of him for that we have the girls that just they do everything that's us so anything that we need they jump in and they help us from playground equipment from building the volleyball nets that we put out as part of our let gr play beginning of the school year so all of them just go above and beyond and I'm so fortunate to have such an amazing supportive family um when they could really complain and I don't get too many dirty legs when we here talking they say talk a lot I don't know so I just I just okay let's give them a great big round of applause can I just have all of our staff members that are in the audience here to board meeting please stand all of our staff members please stand all staff all staff thank you let's give them all a round of applause as you can see our staff members are super dedicated a lot of them have their kids here at school as well so they also never rest and they live and breathe Continental cold fam so I would be remiss to not thank our staff members that are in the audience today so let's squeeze all together so we can get one big group [Music] picture ready can you all come over here one two three stay cold good job thank you that's a tough act to follow so with that we're g to take a short break you guys are more than welcome to stay or feel free to grab a hey boys and girls before you leave boys and girls I'm started can you come up here real quick because it is governing board appreciation month and all of you had a sign signed and board members can you please come up with the kids so we can with our thank you sign I forgot boys and girls that are still in the audience come on up board members will stand behind the students as you hold up our thank you sign all right here comes more fans to help us thank our governing board so of course none of this would be possible without the support of our amazing governing board so if you can help me give our board members a great big round of applause smile for the website thank you govern board members boys and girls please thank you thank you okay we really appreciate you all now you can for look over there okay I'll Tom it's not all right guys we'll get back uh to the consent agenda Kelly had to leave she's got a kid at home any discussion on the Cass [Music] agenda yes Mr MC yes Mr yes guess I'll have to do the financial I'm to accept keep going you're doing fine oh oh I didn't know [Laughter] [Music] all right so before you tonight you've got the district Finance report [Music] um in your own leisure if you move back to fund 530 is where you will or 536 is where you will find the the funding for the for the free Court portion of the letro play Club um funding the remaining funding from for that playground came out of fund 500 which is our Surplus sales and 515 which is is our um the revenue we receive for renting our facilities but other than that there's really not a whole bunch special within the the board the finance report how much is in the rental Fund in the rental fund call was right around $775,000 we still have that well the remember the T when we purchased the turf out of that we were expecting the turf to be you know almost three times the amount of what we paid for so we had saved quite a bit of money in order to get the turf okay and then we got it for a third of the cost we down almost nothing okay that's good news so within fun fund 500 like I said that's where we get our the funds for our Surplus sales and there's a little over a 100 Grand within that fund we may we've got um the bus company looking for a used bus one of our buses at a turbo blow and that load blown up turbo ended up sending metal charge throughout the engine so yeah so basically we have a giant paper weight so we're going to be we're looking for a decent used bus that we can purchase using those bums how old was that bus or is was it 13 at Blue up I think so so it would have been 2013 it's funny see speaking of buses sorry a little but when I see the Serita bus when I'm driving to Wal in the morning they are all like beat the smoke coming out the back the fain's all fed um I doubt their industry works most of them a lot of them don't even have AC they bought them without AC well our students AC me neither our students we went to the let's talk um at sa and the buses were lined up and somebody one of the teachers said there's our bus and the kids said no that's not our bus we have new buses our buses look good that's not our bus and sure enough our bus was the person bus in line but the kids were like no that's not we already had two motions sorry in second thank you Mrs yes Mrs yes Mr yes Mr a yes all right new business we had to uh get a $30,000 one yes so back on December 12th uh we found that the water eater in the cafeteria was no longer working um notified the sfb which is one of those 11 projects they gave us because it is a water heater and it is in the cafeteria and they have to have hot water to sanitize dishes and make meals and things like that um they gave a special permission to go ahead and bypass a lot of the procedural and go straight to a purchase and just just continue to catch up as we do um normally we would have brought this to the board before making the purchase because it is over the procurement limit um but since this was an emergency we we went ahead and did it and now we're bring it to you as an emergency procurement for your approvals so that that hot water heater was just over almost $30,000 so I need to approve the issuance of the purchase order to public mechanical second yes M yes Mr MC yes Mr a starting to think they're not going to answer our phone calls here I tell you what she absolutely loves me and I know I don't can't believe it I saw it with my own eyes I did a tour with her and Greg and Miss Rico um with her when he was given what's her name her name's Sean Sean and um it was pretty interesting just the way that that they work and her and his and her relationship I was like who is this who is this guy but she's a little gu mindling what they've done for us yeah just just the projects that we have open right now this isn't what we've completed and already had paid out and everything else but we've got just over $3.2 million worth of projects thank you for all your work and getting that money for us I want to put this into to a some to some sort of perspective our capital budget is running like $400,000 a year if we were to set aside our capital budget to do nothing but what the repairs at the sfb has done for us you're looking at eight and a half years of trying to do that yep so I can't I couldn't be more grateful for the he support that they've given us and the fact takes my phone calls whenever I call you keep sending whatever thanks for getting it done yes Y in June we're gonna ask you how much we spent for the year be kind of interesting to you want for the year or do you want since we since I started getting sfb funding maybe because we didn't even know it existed never I I did some research and it been done twice in the Years prior to be com we need to give them a budget for the all right so next is the U next year's calendar next year's calendar so see what happens when we're proactive because we approved next year's school calendar early on and we found out that Rodeo days are changing next year so they're going to be moved to the last Thursday and Friday of February instead of the third week in February so we had to push parent conferences down a week and then now rodo days so move to approve the revised 20 2526 school calendar second any discussion Le yes mrar yes Mr M yes Mr yes and now get ready for the second read of the policy Services advisory so like I reassured you on the first read this whole entire pocket is all on the um special education law and as you know we've been going through an audit so we've already addressed a lot of the things that are stated as Poli of your Visions in terms of what we have to put on our website and um identifying students who need to be evaluated and so before you you have all of the policy advisories to be um accepted and again there's no surprises and it's all things that we're aware of that we're already doing a motion [Music] this motion to to approve the second policy service advisory special instruction programs are you making the motion yes I motion [Music] second Mrs yes mrsas yes Mr yes Mr AUST yes and this one is just discussion and for information they propos bylaw change by the which it did not pass um in terms of asba informed the districts that theba byaw Amendment vote did not pass a total of 101 votes were cast with 90 votes in favor and 11 votes opposed and again while the majority supported the amendment it did not meet the threshold required for approval so asba did not make any bylaw changes what's the [Music] they had yeah so I don't know but they're notifying us proposed by they may not have had enough districts sounds 9% next is one of the forms will sign we're saying is the uh conflict of interest conflict of interest which is pretty self-explanatory we sign one every year and next is the uh School Board events one thing that's not on here is this Friday uh Miss Rico and I are attending the uh susd State of the Union I guess what they're callate the district state of the district um up at the at it's a lunch and up at the casino also honors assemblies will be on Thursday so just a lot of events the asba bolts conference that you see at Omni Mr AUST and Jenna will be attending and then um with Mr aer's attendance we get copies of the Powerpoints so then we can have a separate conversation in terms of what he needs to share with the rest of us um and then obviously we have the sweetart Gaya on February 8th molded items for you the thank you from the farm theg Branch for the 40 pounds of meat that they're donating they donating a big Co the foundation they as Your sponsorship for me so I said we Des okay thank you for your support as well yes thank you so I know it's not on the calendar yet but it's going to happen in March um but March 14th and 15 um Green Valley filters will be holding their annual or by annual quilting show here at our in our gym um it from what I understand they expect quite a turnout they usually get a couple thousand people to come through so just to kind of keep that on your radar that'll be Friday the 14th and Saturday the 15th that's your spring break yes and they also did donate um a couple of quilts for the uh we are yeah we already have them so thank you be a good place to have a all right any discussion I can make that motion anything anybody wants to bring up all right let's make 20 the rest of the year so when is um 100th day4 it is uh January 24th yeah Jan jary 24th school so thank you again um as we celebrate you all mon remember your appreciated governing board members and we just couldn't do our jobs as effectively and efficiently as we do without you than you appreciate it a lot of it is thick so yeah those they won't um but hopefully the carbon copy ones hopefully they'll where you had to pull out the black sheet between no I don't remember those good make copies and go smell them smell the copies that should be a new a smell from cars new car smell car car smell xox yeah old school Xerox yeah saying I'm old Canon you're not old you're a classic I'm just seon you're a classic my kids will ask me they go dad back in the olden days what are you talking about I said yeah when I took the horse to school yeah I had the bu my first calculator was advocus right my unc-w he was went to school used anybody want any more nachos before I start nachos does anybody want nachos before Jenna starts to pick up okay with that we're agenda 76 and 39 seconds when I was a kid growing up

e e e noes thank you for everybody to be here we are going to go ahead and get started crayon School District understands that our community of schools is located on the ancestral land of the odam jid and eam people who descended from the hokam and have inhabited these lands since time in Memorial the oam whose name translates literally to people are a vibrant culture and Community spanning countless Generations into the past continuing to thrive in the present and carrying a powerful Legacy for Generations into the future with this acknowledgement the Kon School District formally recognizes say that the traditional caring keeping of these lands by indigenous people is an aspirational model of community stewardship that we are committed to honor with practices policy and human relations and Dr Lauren do you mind leading Us in the Pledge of Allegiance please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic stands one nation under God indivisible jce thank you that brings us to 1C which is our roll call we have Miss Gibson mlin here miss s myself and we have our new board members Mr Jones and Miss Marquez which I'm so excited about 1 D so we want to welcome everyone to tonight's meeting and remind the audience of the request to address board cards that must be completed and submitted to the board secretary if they wish to speak to an agenda item board policy provides for two cards White cards to be submitted in order to speak to an agenda item and blue cards to be submitted in order to speak during public comments due to the open meeting law board members are not allowed to address items that are not in the agenda and this is per um policy beb with that that brings us to to a approval of the agenda I move the governing board approve the agenda as presented second all those in favor I any nce hearing none motion passes all right and that brings us to 3A which is the reorganization of the governing board for 2025 so I will now open the floor for nominations for president I'd like to nominate Sophia Kio second thank you well I accept the nomination thank you Miss Marquez um we have a second do we have any other nominations for president any other nominations for president all right and I'll go ahead and take a roll call um individually for the um nomination so the nomination is move the governing board approve myself Sophia Kio as board president for 2025 with Mr Jones as the second Miss Gibson McLean how do you vote sorry I just wanted to point of clarification in terms of were we correcting the time period tonight or were we doing that at a later date uh in which case we would have to have another election again oh I think the question is about whether it's a onee or a two-year term I believe it's a when does that get discusss it's a two-year term we had said it could be a two-year term okay it's just the way that the the motion was worded I just wanted to make it clear because I didn't I just want to make sure everybody understood so to your turn it would need to be clarified to when did it turn into a two-year turn a couple of years ago so the revised Statute changed and so it does say that um once you have new board members which is every two years we have new or once an election is taken pass which is every two years because I don't feel comfortable with that okay um so we can do move the governing board approve Sophie board president for 25 and 26 would that be the motion and you can vote no if you want if she can am it reiterate it or with the change sorry okay so a motion to um nominate Sophia Kio for the next for a two-year term as president of the board thank you so with that Amendment do have a second second okay so then I'm going to go ahead and take a roll call for the vote Miss Gibson McLean hi Miss SS no and I'd like to explain my vote of course no yes um I was talking to Dr Ramos and I know that there's going to be maybe some um work but I feel like there needs to be um opportunities for other people to move into that position and maybe that there is um uh a way for people to like transition into that and so like there can be a transition period so especially with the sofg framework um that other leaders can emerge from that and so that's why I'm voting no because I do not agree with a twoyear thank you Miss SS myself I Mr Jones I miss Marquez I motion passes original um motion since it was on the floor gets voted down since it was made it's a motion that's on the floor okay she can she resend her motion it was already seconded oh that's right okay so you know we'll have to vote on it even if still vote no on the 2025 and then the yes one that just passed T in place okay so going yes for that one that's what she want okay understood so um on the original motion that was made is the move the governing board approve myself Sophia Kio as board president for 25 um Miss Katie Gibson McLean no Miss SS hi myself no Mr Jones uh no and Miss Marquez so thank you for that and thank you for that clarification miss wattis all right this brings us to item 3B which is the reorganization of the governing board election for governing board clerk which will now be vice president for 2025 um and 2026 I move the governing board approve Miss Katie Gibson McLean as board clerk vice president for 2025 202 do I have a second I second thank you having um the first motion and a second do I have any other nominations for governing board clerk which is would now be vice president I would like to nominate Heather SS for vice president perfect thank you Mr Jones so we have two nominations we'll go ahead and get on the roll call for the first one which is move the governing board approve Miss Katie Gibson McLean as vice president for 2025 2026 Miss Gibson McLean how do you vote Miss SS myself I Mr Jones no and Miss Marquez I okay that's a three to2 vote motion passes second did you miss Marquez no on the one where Mr Jones recomended oh there wasn't a second there wasn't a second so we need a second on that one if anybody would like to second that motion Miss Eris has second um the motion now we go for a roll call vote for move the governing board approve Miss Heather SS as vice president for 5 26 Miss Gibson McLean how do you vote no Miss SS myself no Mr Jones I and Miss Marquez motion fails all right um with that we'll just have Miss Gibson McLean and Miss air switch over votes I mean seats my apologies that brings us to item 4 a which is governing board reports and Miss SS I'm going to go ahead and get started with you I do not have one tonight thank you thank you Miss ktie Gibson McLean um we had our first uh advisory committee meeting of the year last night um we actually kind of used it I think as what I would call A regrouping time um we didn't get a ton done in terms of substantive discussion um as far as policies go but we have our next several meetings planned out with dates and we also have a um a road map as to where we're going with in terms of which specific policies we're going to address at our upcoming meetings um our very next meeting is sorry I've already forgotten and it was just last night it's going to be J January 27th at 5:00 p.m.

e we don't good evening is this on can you hear me I cannot testing can you hear me okay good evening we'd like to get this meeting started you can't they can't hear me good evening if we can please get this meeting to order Miss Richards may I please get roll call yes ma'am um vice president miss Van Hook let the record show that all five board members are present this evening thank you please join me in a moment of Silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance I motion to approve the agenda second all in favor I I all oppose uh Miss Richards um can you give us the superintendence report please yes Vice President Van Hook tonight in higgle Adventures we have an exciting announcement can I have it pull up there we go we have an exciting announcement and we want to introduce the Spartan boys cross country team as they are the East Valley Conference champions again building off the success they had last year this team supported one another and overcame challenges throughout the season to win San's first ever backto back championship [Applause] all right good evening cabinet members and governing board thank you so much for having us here tonight and for your uh support of husd Athletics um while we are here well actually let's go back to last year about this time last year we were here doing the exact same thing and so um although we are celebrating something very similar we also did two things this year that we have never done before and so first I would like to invite T Jim to come right out front here Tay Taye loves the spotlight so this is great for him so uh Tay is our first ever individual champion in Cross Country for sasman Middle School Tay beat over 190 other Racers and beat his closest competitor by 10 seconds finishing first overall in the race congratulations Tay the other first that we're celebrating um this is the first time we've ever had a sassin team go backto back [Applause] championships and then here's a quick word from coach Al good evening we just wanted to take a moment Lisa and I and just congratulate our team um you guys have done a phenomenal job thank you so much for our parent support that we've had all season for our admin support and for your guys' hard work we are so proud of you guys you did a phenomenal job overcame barriers this season and really worked hard to win it for our whole team thank you guys so [Applause] much and we look forward to seeing you all back next year all right we're going to take a picture K coach H I've noticed the back of your shirt and I think your kids have them on too will you turn around so everybody can read it why is everyone chasing me [Applause] three 1 2 3 [Applause] [Music] well done Jance well done ious oh look I married next we don't have a screen I don't know there we are we want to congratulate our very own Higley public information and marketing team I'm going to read their highlights and then have them come up here and embarrass yes are you the only one here well then you can stand up here by [Applause] yourself and Mr Armstrong will take your picture all right each year the Arizona school public relations Association recognizes standards of excellence in public school relations through its aspiration Awards this year higley's team led by Miss Jessica Batista who's going to stand and come forward you're not getting out of [Applause] [Music] it her entire team is being recognized for newsletter that includes the Higgly highlights newsletter video series produced in house that includes the principal Spotlight series branding image package husd brand guidelines and multi marketing multimedia marketing campaign enroll now c campaign so make sure we all enroll so we have kids in our schools that are thrilled to be here I can't even believe look at that picture sure does that look like a great team you want to say anything all right we'll have Armstrong do you know how to use that camera [Music] right here we go ready I'll pull the pr [Applause] one I like he took two clicks yeah better than that other guy he just [Laughter] like no he's not all right next we move on to our points of Pride can Amy coach us come forward is Mara with you yes come forward these are our amazing preschool director and assistant director to announce their points of pride [Applause] thank you so much for this incredible opportunity to recognize our incredible staff students and family um we're going to start tonight with the reason we're here one of our students hi thank you I'm going to I'm proud to honor our student that won our points of Pride his name is Lucas Wanger if I could have him come on down with his teacher Mrs campasano his preschool teacher you both can join us I know it's so exciting it's so wonderful we even have I have a special message for you Lucas and we have a prize for you and a present so I'm going to present to you Lucas why you want our points of Pride to your family so Lucas is a shining example of kindness leadership and inclusivity at kie ecdc and he's truly deserving of recognition as a point of Pride recipient as he complet completes his second year as a little cougar Lucas has consistently demonstrated a remarkable willingness to learn and a Natural Curiosity just like we're seeing right now and an exceptional ability to include others in his classroom with joy and so from the moment new students joined his class Lucas made them feel welcome and warmly greeted them by saying hello creating a sense of belonging for everyone his thoughtful nature extends Beyond classroom interactions Lucas actively ensures that no one's left out always taking the initiative to invite his peers to play he um and and and offers ideas and shares his learning space he brings out the best in others by supporting their participation making sure everyone feels valued his kindness is not limited to his classmates he goes above and beyond to brighten the day of the others by sending encouraging notes in spe the special mailbox in class remembering classmates who are absent and offering a comforting pat on the B so his positive spirit's contagious and his smile lights up the playground he's an exceptional student friend and leader and we're incredibly fortunate to have him a part of our family [Music] congratulations so Lucas I have a question for you who did you come with tonight in your car um is it is it your family who's that [Music] that's a tough question in front of all these people mom you to say you want to say brother and sister's name in the microphone that's hard I was shy too mommy you brought Mom and Dad Nicholas Nicholas mom dad and Nicholas and and Eliana congratulations we'll go ahead you have you walk down back to your seat so much to say about that little one all right the next individual we'd love to recognize is Miss Miss Meredith Montoya come on [Applause] up congratulations little bit about Meredith Meredith our ecdc PTO president has truly been an exceptional leader and a wonderful asset to our school Community from the very beginning she is shown unwavering positivity and dedication to supporting our staff and students although her student attends s and ecdc she has consistently made her presence known at our kie campus she comes every week checking in delivering t-shirts and offering her support her willingness to listen collaborate and help find Solutions has made her an invaluable resource to our team her infection positivity welcoming nature and funloving spirit have created a warm and inclusive environment for everybody she was instrumental this year in supporting our ecdc during our business partner breakfast and propos the successful Higgly helps initiative providing treats to our incredible San Middle School uh teachers the day after Halloween which is very important and uh merited commitment and tireless efforts have made a lasting impact on our school we're so grateful for her congratulations Oh and before you leave who did you bring with you who did you bring with you my family and my in-laws congratulations oh and actually you're going to stay up here here sorry okay up next I'm happy to award our certified recipient our recertified staff and it goes to Susie J if you would come on [Applause] down so Mrs J has made an extraordinary and lasting impact on kolie ecdc campus in her first year as an itinerant resource special education teacher in this short time she's built strong connections with staff families and students providing in valuable support to teaching teams and offering resources that enhance best practices for our youngest Learners Mrs J goes above and beyond by constantly seeking innovative ways to improve classroom environments to Foster optimal learning and success her dedication not only strengthens the connections within the classroom but also ensures that all Learners develop the skills necessary for lifelong success Mrs J's thoughtful collaboration with the teaching team her Keen attention to the unique needs of each student and her warm engaging presence has made her a beloved and vital part of our school whether playing with students during centers participating in class meetings or supporting students on the playground Mrs J creates an environment where every child Fe feels seen valued and excited to learn we're incredibly grateful for the difference that she's made and our students continue to flourish because of her impact [Applause] Mrs J who did you bring with you tonight I brought my wonderful husband Brian and my youngest son Luke very nice thank [Applause] you and finishing out coly last but absolutely certainly not least Miss Mona Skyler [Applause] sorry my notes I'll we are proud to nominate Mona Skyler for our cooly classified points of Pride Mona has been an indispensable presence of kie she is consistently going above and beyond in her role as the face of kie she's the heart of our school creating a welcoming environment for every student staff member and family Mona's unwavering dedication and exceptional service to her colleagues make her an invaluable part of our team she plays a key role in ensuring the smooth operation and I mean smooth operation of our front office and continues to support the success of our school through her organization problem solving skills and outstanding leadership throughout the transition of new Administration Mona has been a steady Bridge making the process seamless for everyone involved her hard work attention to detail and countless hours spent ensuring everything runs smoothly never goes unnoticed Mona's contributions go far beyond her job description she's a true partner a true friend working tirelessly to ensure both centers are taken care of as a team and that staff members feel very supported monor Skyler is a backbone of kie and we are incredibly grateful for her dedication passion and commitment to our entire School Community congratulations and who did you bring with you I brought my husband Dave and Lauren and then some team members so thank you big shout out [Applause] coie okay come up we're going to take a picture there you congratulations congratulations [Applause] and as Miss Richard said we're not leaving we have a second uh program we'd love to shout out and share incredible staff members family and students so this time we're going to start with our certified staff member meline Marcel if you can come on [Applause] up congratulations mateline is an exceptional teacher whose unwavering positivity and dedication shines through all aspects of her work she consistently demonstrates a remarkable willingness to help others whether supporting her students or assisting her peers her positive attitude remains steadfast even in the faces of challenges such as navigating the transition during a parall loss this year and training a new one throughout these hurdles she maintains her calm stage Focus keeping her spirits high and setting a wonderful example for everyone around her Beyond her adaptability mine's kindness and respect towards both students and colleagues are evident in every interaction her commitment extends to initiatives like the higgle helps program where she continued uh contributed Sorry by sharing treat bags with her students again that day after Halloween uh for our sasma middle school and she creates an environment that encourages growth and success for her students she's truly a joy to work with she embodies both professional excellence and personal warmth in everything she does thank you so much congratulations and who did you bring with you I brought my husband Jeff and my son Alex congratulations if you want to remain up here okay I'm happy to announce our pride points of Pride um recipient for our volunteer Lauren Camp come on [Applause] [Laughter] down so Lauren is an invaluable member of our preschool team consistently going above of and Beyond in her contributions whether in the classroom cafeteria or on the playground she's always ready to lend a helping hand whereever needed her dedication extends Beyond her scheduled responsibility as a middle school ta yes we're honoring our yes and she volunteers each morning before middle school starts without any expectation of recognition Lauren plays an integral part and role in supporting the classroom and ensuring the smooth operation of the school day she's not only attentive to her own task but also takes initiative to support her fellow Middle School Tas making sure they're prepared and ready to leave on time her positivity is infectious and her constant smile makes her a blessing to all who work with her with two years of classroom assistance under her belt she's Pro she's proven herself to be a reliable proactive and uplifting presence on the campus congratulations [Applause] so Lauren who have you brought here tonight with you my mom and dad wonderful thank you here all right and again the reason we're here one of our students I would like Jay trout to come on up and Jay is coming with his teacher Miss Garrett who was the person who nomin ated you congratulations yeah we would like to nominate Jay for San Miss Garrett shared that Jay is so full of life she loves hearing that good morning Miss Garrett as he comes in as Jay greets her at the door each morning she really en enjoys that when he walks into the Kinder prep classroom the whole room lights up with his energetic Spirit the students look forward to his arrival because they can't wait to build those colorful towers with him on the rug and to chase hula hoops together at recess Jay is such a happy and enthusiastic learner he is always contributing and adding to their class discussions with a big smile on his face and you can bet that Jay has a funny real life story to connect what he's learning about he is a friend to all and a leader in the classroom and we are so proud of you congratulations Jay High with all your congratulations guess what can I ask you a question who did you bring with you Mommy and Daddy and liby oh let's see where are they wave there they [Applause] are we just one more okay we're going to finish it off with our classified points of Pride recipient Miss Nicole Camp come on [Applause] down we are honored to nominate Nicole camp for the classified points of Pride award in recognition of her unwavering dedication exceptional service and tireless commitment to the um as the San ecdc Community as the office manager Nicole has been in invaluable support during a time of significant transition and growth she's navigated the challenges of a leadership change with Grace and professionalism ensuring that San's teams needs were met and that the 2425 school year began seamlessly Nicole is the face of saucan she's creating a welcoming supportive and inclusive environment for students staff and families alike her exceptional organization attention to detail and positive attitude are EV evident in everything she does she's often one of the first to arrive each day ready to set the stage for a successful day ahead Nicole's deep care for saam and school family shines through her willingness to go above and beyond making her an essential part of our success it is with immense gratitude and admiration that we nominate Nicole for this well-deserved recognition [Applause] thanks and Nicole who did you bring tonight I brought my incredible daughter my family and my school family wonderful congratulations thank you congratulations we love your mom I'm heing it or all right now I need principal Kelly papy and assistant principal Chrissy debono from Coura Elementary [Applause] good evening everyone board members cabinet thank you so much for having us here um we are thrilled to be able to recognize some of our shining stars um this is always just a a really neat night and it's great to see all of the people here to support our amazing team members so we're going to start off um with our certified staff member um and individuals that are being recognized tonight you're going to come up as you saw you'll stay up here we'll take a picture and don't forget to mention who you brought to celebrate you with um all right so our certified staff member I want to congratulate Miss Mina cosmi come on up [Applause] Mrs cosmi is a third grade teacher at Cortina and she embodies all that it means to be a lifelong learner Mrs cosmy has been a teacher at Cortina since 2016 during her time here she has touched the lives of so many and she has helped contribute to a culture for Learning and positivity as a third grade teacher with many years of experience she actively seeks new strategies and methods to reach her students by taking classes and implementing new ideas that she learns this keeps learning fresh and engaging for her students and demonstrates her willingness to ensure that her students are getting the best learning experiences each and every day her sincere nature enables her to establish trusting relationships with stakeholders and helps Foster a learning environment where students feel safe and cared for Mrs cosmi is intentional and focused on meeting the unique needs of each of her students she does this by planning datadriven differentiated learning experiences and offering small group instruction and interventions Mrs cosmi consistently collaborates with her team supporting the goals of the grade level and our school she is also involved outside of her classroom through NHS and participating in service projects she is a role model demonstrating a quiet yet powerful strength she prioritizes others stays true to her commitments and finds Beauty and joy in the Journey of lifelong learning we are so fortunate that Mrs cosmi chooses to be a member of the tiger team congratulations [Applause] and who did you bring with you tonight I brought my loving family and my wonderful Cortina [Music] family you good evening I'm Chrissy devono the proud prin assistant principal of Cortina Elementary and I have the great privilege and honor of recognizing our classified staff member of the month so please join me and welcoming up front Miss Aralia [Applause] caranza hardworking efficient and dependable are three words that come to mind to describe Miss Aralia she is our day custodian here at Cortina and our campus shines brightly each day thanks to the wonderful job aalia demonstrates she is quick on her feet and answering every radio call and being proactive in addressing needs as she sees them often before even Mrs py and I can see them she's addressing them she maintains the highest levels of professionalism in her role and is thankful in her or thoughtful in her approach to ensuring that her daily tasks are not only accomplished but plans for the next day are in place and materials and setups are arranged ready to go we never have to fret about what's to come she's got it taken care of aalia supports our lunchtime schedule and has positive interactions with our students helping them learn appropriate mannerisms while eating supporting both their Natural Curiosity through conversation with them and also ensuring that our students have a safe and fun place to eat and socialize aalia has been with Cortina for several years and our school just would not be the same without her so thank you aalia for sharing your caring in generous spirit with us all and congratulations on your [Applause] recognition and Aralia who did you bring with you tonight oh thank you my family and Cortina he's my f here hello family thank you all right it is time to recognize our student so let's have Claire Hartman come on up to the [Applause] front all right when I think of this student a couple of words adjectives in particular come to mind that align with our roar's expectations and the character traits that we focus on regularly at Cortina these words are respectful responsible and caring Claire is a fifth grade student leader at Cortina being involved in NHS and tiger ambassadors she not only focuses on ensuring that she is meeting all of her roles and responsibilities as a student but she also models for others what it means to be a tiger who Roars as an ambassador Claire can be seen greeting students as they enter the gate and assisting with our kindergarteners during lunches when she interacts with others you can quickly see The Compassion Care and joy that she shares with those around her just an example of her Caring Heart one morning when a kindergarten student was reluctant to leave their mom and enter the gate for school Claire leaned down offering reassurance and guidance to the student which helped put them at ease and the student then willingly entered the gate with her ready for a day of learning this is just one example of how she makes a difference at our school through her participation in service projects school activities and going out of her way to include others in and out of class sharing a story with teachers and staff Claire's heart of service and her joyful Spirit shines bright Claire's teacher shared that Claire is an absolute doll those were her words she is the hardest worker and is very determined to learn and understand the concepts being taught in class she supports anyone in need going the extra mile to help others and be a friend Claire is someone who possesses I'm missing part of this I can ad Li but I want to share what her teacher said um Claire possesses many character traits such as honesty compassion fairness responsibility trustworthiness and respect thank you Claire for being a strong example of a tiger who Roars and for going out of your way to spread kindness and a spirit of community across our school Cortina would not be the same without you Claire and I just want to say this is a young lady that I have had the pleasure of just being able to watch her grow and flourish she's overcome some challenges and has just blocked AED and bloomed in so many ways and and being a student leader and just doing amazing things on our campus and truly making an impact for others at Cortina so thank you and congratulations [Applause] Claire do you want to share who you brought with you I brought my family and some of my teachers swee okay please join me in welcoming Miss Katie Patterson our volunteer points points of Pride recognition to the front of the room thank you Katie her husband and their three boys joined our Cortina family this school year after moving from California and she welcomed the opportunity immediately to volunteer at our school and has been a wonderful addition to Everyday Life on our campus Katie works hard to ensure that our staff and students are supported through time in the classroom working with students and time outside of the school day preparing teacher materials including fabulous bulletin boards and other resources that our teachers greatly appreciate our hway are always brightened with her creative designs and her warm and friendly nature bring smiles to every single individual she interacts with on campus Katie's invested in our school's motto impacting the future one child at a time because she seeks to make sure that each student in her three boys's classroom has what they need and never shies away from an opportunity to help Katie is on campus nearly every day of the week and everywhere around campus doing what is best for our staff and students our campus would not be the same without her generous spirit and we cannot thank you enough Katie for all you continue to do and I have to share this little story I believe in serendipitous moments in the world and we always get excited when we have new families join us and um through a mutual friend um a friend had shared oh the Patterson family is coming to Cortina and through some reflection I realized I taught her brother-in-law when he was in fourth grade and our families know our each other from our time in Tucson together and it was just this exciting moment to feel like a full circle so we are so incredibly grateful you choose Cortina and congratulations thank you for all you [Applause] do wel right oh Katie who did you bring my husband and my three boys [Applause] e e e next next on the agenda we have request to speak can you please play the video Miss Dan can we do upcoming events real quick no problem I am so sorry I totally skipped over that okay upcoming events include Wednesday next Wednesday the 22nd we have a board work study session here it starts at 500 p.m.

e e testing 1 two 3 testing 1 2 e e e okay I would like to call this meeting to order today is January 14th Tuesday 2025 6:30 p.m. for a committee of the whole meeting Creek M 2011 U school district happy New Year everyone can I have a roll call please Mr secretary yeah give me a second here I uh was not prepared I apologize apologize that's happen all right uh Mr Alber here uh Mr gagos is a here um Mr swales here miss zit sters here miss wolfolk here Dr Hall here and president Brown here let us stand for the pledge of Alle legance followed by Gard secretary Mr gyos Then followed soon after by to read the mission statement by board vice president Dr Hall 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 statement is to engage and Empower our students to positively impact their community and future okay thank you both next on our agenda is open the public hearing on the 2025 2026 school calendar I need a motion for that I uh yes I believe so yes yes can I have a motion to do that so moved second Jamie Jamie Jamie motion second and time second can have a roll call please let's go with um miss wfor I miss zit somus I Mr swales I gigo say an i Mr Alber I Dr Hall I and president Brown I motion Carri so it's on on you Dr Perkins it is it is good evening Dr Cog you like that sound Congratulations by the way oh good evening uh Dr coges uh to our Board of Education to our administrators to our staff to our families and student who out are listening um I am opening uh up for our public hearing this year for a waiver uh for one of the days on our school calendar we will be making the recommendation to the board to adopt the school calendar um at next week's regular meeting and so when we started off this school year we started with we are all one we realized that we are part of a uh Unified District and that we serve students from prek to 12 uh one of the things that we uh talked about as we were developing this year's calendar is making sure that uh everyone had voice and that we're engaging Empower and impacting as one team and so we have four levels that we need to look at ELC has its needs our elementary has its needs on a calendar uh our uh middle school and high school also have needs um on the school calendar and so the calendar committee is made up majority by contract of uh cmea members but we also ask Acme members to join us and then we have representation uh from Administration as well this year we met on the school calendar um two times and um we'll talk about what those discussions uh look like uh but again each school has a representative that uh is on the school calendar so in our overview of our discussion we try to balance out trimesters and uh semesters at the elementary level Middle School level are on trimesters and then our high school is on quarter and uh semester uh we talk about things like like final construction we talk about new orientation ELC once we um get the calendar approved then they take our days and they build their calendar uh we made some adjustments over the years where uh grades 1 through n um start and then we bring in K and 10 through 12 again based on the feedback uh from the staff and what those needs of those entering grades are uh we have a in our waiver uh that we're asking for is a PD Day in February which is a full School Improvement day I'll talk more about that uh we try to finish along with other high schools for students that are transferring in and out we've made some adjustments over the years uh where that now Falls all the time before we uh break for winter recess uh we look at the uh needs of our uh myp and our IB program and we make considerations around our driver driver's ad and then we always add at some point once the high school and middle school uh decide on graduation dates we add those to the calendar so that families that have members coming in from out of town it's one place for everyone to take a look at our calendar committee has always been committed to um taking um state holidays uh and then last year if you remember we asked instead of taking Lincoln's birthday again when we know better we do better we needed a waiver to ask for it to be President's Day this year we have added eight um four early dismissal days um and then we have our days that are School Improvement days and Records day I know one of the questions that has come up is like what happens on school Improvement days well those are training days those are professional development days those are days where we build the Capac capity of our staff and so while we've added for early dismissal days again what we know from researches that being in extended time um in professional development it helps supports the needs of our teachers who and our staff who can then support the needs of our students our students um post pandemic have come in with some very different needs and so we answered those questions through our strategic plan uh and then we're trying to address that need those needs as we build the capacity of our staff uh and again we have all stakeholders come to the table and um give their voice to the reason um and how we're going to use our school Improvement days so some of the membership discussions and some things that we had to work through was that uh building of that balance calendar making sure uh per our cont contract that we get our records day in for our staff um and then we were able to resolve that we were missing um a quarter three TR change um the coloring of it was wrong little minor things that we had to do ending our trimesters on time um and originally what we had taken to the team was being on um having early dismissal days on all Wednesdays and what we realized is that uh some classes would be missed all the time on Wednesday so we made some adjustments and put those days VAR those days throughout the calendar and made some alternative days and we've asked the principles uh at the elementary level to uh make some adjustments so that AM and PM schedules can be um changed around so that those students who are off on like a Wednesday afternoon don't always miss their Wednesday special or that those teachers don't always miss their planning time and so we went to our principls and said can you consider this and they have agreed to make those adjustments to their schedules uh and then the Middle School um would like all of their students to start at the same time on the same day and so the requirement for the public hearing of why we um are uh doing the public hearing is about having a full day school Improvement day on February 13th when we have a full day um we have Institute days which are the two days at the beginning of the year that we use for professional development we use a day in um for parent teacher conferences as a um as a Institute day and then we've added one uh that we used this past January we just implemented that uh this year was our first time doing that uh where students are not present but uh staff is present and again that is a full day of profession development for our staff uh on February 13th of 2026 uh we get to bank day so every minute over 300 instructional minutes we get to set aside that time and say hey we want to have a full day what we know from research is that the more time the staff is able to spend in professional development um it helps them to build their capacity um right now um our staff is asking to build their capacity uh there could be a time when we could lower those number of days but again based on our strategic plan and based on the needs of our students uh we need to capture uh those extended periods of time when they can collaborate and build this culture around um developing professionally uh I would like also like to add that for years we have been trying to create a calendar where all employees and not just our cmea group receives rigorous professional development and this is an answer to that as well and our feedback that we have had from staff is that they have um received rigorous training that has helped support um the needs of the students and so that February 13th date counts as a day of attendance and so you know if you you think about over the years some things that we've talked about is a e-learning day and does it have to be made up um this day counts as a day of attendance because we've banked enough instructional hours to say we would we need that full day um for professional development and so we've met the requirements that we um posted on the district website uh that we posted in the Tribune and then um we are coming as the public hearing um for today and we have sent that notification or we did send that notification both to Acme and to cmea and so this is our full day of 176 days of required um days of counted attendance um for students uh that we would be asking and recommending to the board to approve for next week questions the only question I have if you go back to the originals the first one more okay can you just explain there's been a little little bit of chatter on and social media that so the early dismissal days and that days off number one staff members cmea Acme and um uh your team yes are together making these decisions you guys are you guys are having a committee making the decisions on the calendar yes so this is the committee members that make the decisions on the calendar then the the Acme executive board goes they go to their team and they come back with any changes or any other directions and guidance that they want us to take a the majority of IT staff members that are working in the district is good so on the early dismissal days just for understanding I understand why they have it but the kids go home but the the staff members don't no staff members stay full day right they stay here and they're working on their plans and they're working on their time and they're working on how to develop uh better ways to serve the students correct yeah because there is misunderstanding that they just thinking that you know I understand the days and they added four more but there is a purpose and a reason behind all of that yes there is um and it is training and it is extended amount of time for training we bring in external trainers we bring in our internal trainers our coaches just today was a a school Improvement day and um our coaches were out in every in each building building capacity on I'm going to say explicit instruction but that was a a three-hour period that they got to spend together that we got to break up into groups and um they got to learn together which is extremely important absolutely for them and how they're going to proceed teaching yes and then the other part is I think what we did is when we approved the health and wellness and we talked about that I thought that coming out a break was fantastic because you know you get out a break and everybody's still in that you got to get into that but that's the idea is making sure our staff and everybody included right everybody included is that we're conscious about Health and Welfare of them yes it's it's the well-being and staff staff want to feel like they are being heard and their voices being taken seriously about what it is that their needs are we conduct annual surveys asking them what training they want what do they need we ask them to be vulnerable and say what do you need help in and they give us those answers and this is a direct link to their response right okay great Dr Hall is your hand up no ma'am no okay all right are there days are there days for parent teacher conferences for the high school yes so we have um our one uh parent teacher conference they're all they're they're held on the same day okay where is and then we offer virtual and uh in person um for a parent teacher conference is that October 9th for the okay yes I I just thought maybe the parent teacher conferences for high school would be after the end of the first trimester um what we discovered and what we changed last year was that when we brought parents in before that we had discussions about work that was missing all those homework assignments all that missing work and what we did see in the feedback that we receive is that students were able to turn that around before the end of the trimester and the end of the um semester and get that work in and so it was our tool to help students again um be able to perform and get what they need and A little nudge from the parents as well makes sense I have a question yes ma'am so on the Aesthetics when I look at the calendar it does appear every month you know the students are out for two and a half days per month so what kind of communication do we tell the parents like to have so that they have pieces about that what like is there something that is published do we say anything is there any explanations given to parents so they understand um we we do give them the school calendar we have meetings and then um principles send out their communication to parents around it and we try to give them the calendar as early as possible possible one day I'm not saying which year and um Mr O so you can help me with this when we get out of our construction days we'll be able to do like a two-year calendar that is the hope of the committee um uh that we'll be able to give a two-year calendar but right now we've kind of been doing yearby year because of construction and we don't always know when we'll be able to start or how early or late we'll be able to start or end but we do communicate this to families like I said as early as possible I have one question here yes sir uh when is Mother's Day is that the 10th of May it may be I'm not sure but nonetheless do you know when Prime senior Prime is uh the high school once we once the calendar is approved the high school um and they may have already chosen um what day that is we don't normally put that on the school calendar that'll go on the high school calendar um the day that we do put on here or will add to this is the graduation date okay um if all possible I because there were some issues in the past with seniors having their senior prom on that Saturday before Mother's Day and usually on that Sunday the next day they go out and go to Great America the seniors do and they cannot enjoy the Mother's Day celebration so that was brought to the board several times in the past so if that can be looked at if you can't help it if you talk to the principal or something see when that is if if you can't help it that's you know nothing we can do I will put in this week's FYI if it's already been reserved and my guess is that it probably has been reserved because they've had they've had to make the booking and put the deposit on it um but I will ask them in the future to always make that consideration for our mothers and it it it really depends on the venue yeah and what they have and how much it cost and from a cost standpoint but um I know that people generally try to have it around just from being a charge of that before you try to have it around mother so it won't be on it but if you can't don't have a good place or location or then you just kind of but I mean you said if all possible so if all possible yeah absolutely and again I'm sure it depends on how far out in advance we book it and what's available okay excellent okay any more questions thank you Dr Perkins thank you all right I like a motion to close the public he any public comment that's that's coming up no no for this this there is oh I see oh sorry yes that's okay and then Dr Perkins you may have might be able to respond to this okay our public comments is going to be read by our magnificent cuz I love reading right Dr okay Dr C so this um letter came in today from Mary oler she's one of our parents and staff members here says Dear d uh dear uh caragan and cm201u board members I'm writing this letter today in regards to the proposed calendar for the 2526 school year I question how much time my kids are actually in school for a full week versus early dismissal days that have continued to increase over the years after looking back at Old agendas I have found these numbers while looking at Old draft calendars of the creep mon school district for example in 1819 we had 14 early dismissal days 2122 we had on three 16 13 days but then amended the calendar on 1012 21 to add an additional days when we brought up 29 early dismissal days in the 2223 school year we had 18 23 24 16 the school current calendar we have 18 early dismissal days in the upcoming school year on the proposed calendar for the 25 26 school year and we are looking at 23 early dismissal days when I look at the proposed calendar tonight's agenda I couldn't help but notice my children will only have eight full weeks of school Yes you heard that right eight weeks 40 days out of the 180 school days that are straight School weeks with no interruptions of a national school holiday or early release day this year we will have 14 full weeks of school I guess my concerns are that we are adding more early dismissal days for the 25 26 school calendar and having a decrease in full weeks of school also there is a reason also is there a reason why in the 2223 school year we stopped having Creet money School District 2011 U District all start on the same day thank you okay I think there was a couple questions in there if you could address those yes and and I certainly will um address um how we send it out to that specific person on answering all of those questions I think post pandemic we did make some adjustments to to the calendar um we are certainly looking at adding um those targeted support uh that are needed for our students that we saw coming out of the pandemic and again listening to um the needs of our staff and giving uh deep opportunities for again our entire staff to receive uh the training that is needed uh to make the shifts that we need to academically and also I I know that one of the things that we've heard um from our field of teachers is that our students um need a lot more social emotional support and we're working with all of our teams in order to develop those rigorous training opportunities thank you okay thank you thank you Dr Perkin again thank you Dr kise as well saving my headlights I can see another day all right now can I have a motion to close public hearing on the 2025 2026 school calendar moved second move by Bill second by Dr Hall any comments questions if not roll call please Mr Albert I Mr gagos say an i Mr swales hi Miss zit um I miss wol Fork I Dr Hall I and president Brown I motion Carri moving on to regular public comments do we have any okay thank you Cheryl board updates any board updates I have one um well first I want to commit and the um Eric his team um Dana and Jessica for the wellness Fair um and the support and guidance that the superintendent gave in that the wellness fair was awesome they did a great job um they they I if I worked here I would have been really reenergized and excited to go back it was not just a day of fun but a day a real day of Wellness for the staff and I thought that was uh really impressive um looking at you could tell there was a lot of hard work that went into that um the other thing is over the Christmas break our basketball team didn't win all their games the boys but they played really well um our Athletics as a whole have they they've been really doing a really good job um we had our our boys are now ranked number nine in the Southtown Economist or well it used to be Economist but the Southtown and on South Suburban Hoops they were like ranked number five um so they they're doing really well um and I again that Wellness fair that that was awesome you all you all did a good job and tell Dana and Jessica I said good job that's all I have I will just make one comment um thank you for acknowledging that and we were glad to have several of our board members that were able to attend um we uh had a videotape that was done that that day we are working on it we want to present it to you at the next board meeting and we want to have uh Dana and Jessica here as well to kind of share the behind the scenes and I do believe you were interviewed there Dr Hall so you'll be on that video as well I do I do have a face for TV there you go so anyway we want you to share we want to share with you uh it really was a magnificent event I will have to say it really was so thank you for being your board members did you did karaoke did they record that I don't think they didn't I attended the uh Wellness event and that was a good time uh good participation um good events it was really well planned and well uh attended uh I also attended the high school's um elective night where um students um kind of sell the electives that they're interested in to other students and uh I talked to a lot of students that are very passionate about the classes that they're in the teachers that they have um the groups that they're a part of and it was a really uh eye-opening uh experience it was it was a really good conversations with uh the students and and some teachers that were there um what else I think that's it that was a busy night yeah hallways were backed I I stopped in on that for a little bit yeah I got I got there just at the at the tail end uh so they had a little bit more time to uh uh talk uh and sell me on uh on some classes uh I want to take some of these classes though so so let's see if we can get that just kidding parent University yeah right um I actually had someone reach out to me on January 10th there was a safety Symposium somewhere can can you maybe help me out with that and one of the members of our district presented there all right um Jason maybe you can help me out with this I think this would ouring pause actually that uh I let Brian Johnson speak to that he was in attendance with Russell okay oh Russell okay excuse me well that's okay I just wanted to give kudos because I was contacted because they saw photos when you put up the the thing at the end and they're like oh that's you guys and there was M thunderous Applause for the work you guys are doing and they're very excited about that yeah it was a it was a great event thank you yeah Will County just so you know it was Will County volunteer management Emergency Management that truly loved what you folks were doing okay that's it thank you yeah yeah very good W any other um good stuff good stuff for lack of a better phrase um good yeah I think I'm just talking little soft here but Dr cogy and I was reading what she about the event if every any board member can make it out so I'm glad Dr Hall and and Alex made that out to that Wellness event and Jamie did Jamie made it I did J Jamie okay Jamie thank you thank you I was that close to making it I told I told uh Dr car I was on the phone I said okay I left my doctor's appointment I'll be there in a little bit unfortunately unfortunately I went to another Wellness Vineyard that was urgent care for me so I wish I could have made it to the wellness event so I did have an episode so keep me keep me in your prayers um things is is seem to be coming along in the right direction for me but I heard that was a good event I did read the release immediate press release that was in our FYI so good good that was good things and you did get interviewed I saw your comments in there very good keep it going and the safe Symposium keep that going as well Dr Dr M over there with the safety you was in charge of that the safety andos who was that they attended that office event okay so that was good so keep it up we always got good news and good board up days so thank you board members for participating and and thank you for all you do appreciate it I I wanted to do one more thing um that they had sweet bites um I think it was was it December that they had the coffee with a cop we went out I went out to that and J as well went out today it was really nice um Creek Police Department was there they had the I think they had the K9 and they had a couple of uh officials uh dignitaries there um the sweet bites they did coffee with a cop and that was really nice it was it was nice to get to talk to some of the the police officers and the Chiefs and um some of the local Creed off isales and yeah it was really nice coffee with a cof are you sure you just drink coffee right that's all I didn't even drink coffee I don't drink coffee uh just your participation great I did have a donut okay one or two huh or two or two oh thank you that's that's really good reaching out being involved with the community and you can't say can't say anything more than our board members are out there participating so I really appreciate that great okay administrative updates all right I have I was going to share the uh the wellness day but I think we've covered that adequately the other thing I wanted to point out on each of your desks I want you to take a look at this now this is what I was telling you about I meet with the creit group it's a PR group and all the tax body folks come together and we've been sharing ways to articulate kind of an intergovernmental connection with our community so we've ended up coming up with this this was the uh intergovernmental agreement that we signed a couple couple months ago or whatever but I wanted to show you this came out in the mail for those of you that live in the area this should have been in your mailbox so I just wanted you to make sure if you do not did not receive this that you just kind of take a look and uh scan through it um this is an opportunity to really start showing how all of the entities are actually working together and doing really good things for our residents so um anyway I just wanted to highlight I believe we're going to be doing this uh I think three to four times a year I'll be meeting with them again on Friday and we'll be uh starting to talk about our next next uh activities so just wanted to reference that and uh speaking of um we are set to have our District's annual safety Symposium in February uh 4th coming up we did this last year for the first time and we had an overwhelming response by those that uh are administrators uh safety security in other districts coming to hear what we are doing so we have about oh probably eight to 10 presentations and they're all being done by our staff uh healing pause will be there and if any of you can come I really would encourage you to come at least stop by I'll give you a reminder again um Lori um Mueller is with the Donovan group I've asked her to even come and do a little piece too on how to communicate with crises as well so anyway we're really looking forward to that um we've already been sending out information to save the date and we've got about 25 coming in already so we're excited about that so I will go on to the next one which is the Press 117 um if you've seen in your board packet as usual we've got some updates again the these are all kind of cursory updates not much uh substantive there's 22 of them you know obviously feel free to just kind of Grease through them so you can see which ones we're reviewing again but again um we really appreciate the Press plus because it keeps our district On Target everything's up to date in our press policy and just so you know that when we are done with the board adopts them we put them on a doc you signed and then we send these out to our administrators so they sign off that they've read all of these as well and that's a compliance issue so we're doing that as well what's the difference between the red highlight and the green highlight in the some um I I can answer that yeah yeah so so the red is what we've what they're taking out of the policy and then the green is what is going into the policy okay yeah red is AD green is delete basically M so anyway so you'll see that next um month next week excuse me for your approval and that's all I've got today thank you Dr cogman any questions on I have a question um was the staff did they do like an evaluation after the wellness day did and maybe next week will'll be hear some of the feedback yes they did send something out and yes we'll get some feedback on that because we want to really talk a little bit more about it and I think how it aligns with our district vision and our strategic plan wasn't just a fun day it had purpose so yeah no it did that's why I tried to say it was great good question I would love to have something like this for all communities I know mon just put out their paper their newsletter something like that and they have a lot of things in that to partnership with them just's look for the opportunity if you can Partners I do I was invited to participate so this wasn't anything ice bear headed and um Katrina seir um who is a um trustee on this is great this is great help heads the yeah that's great so yeah without additional stress if you could you know maybe look into that I know again I don't know what park for sent out and I'm not sure what University Parks I know mon sends out a nice letter I don't know if that's quarterly bill is that quarterly what's that the newsletter yeah it's Cory really nice and all right know you can get in when can fit in something like that without adding undue stress to you thank you yeah this is this is really good good and thank you Dr Cog for all you do all righty so do we have any open um let me see here oh that's under you doc yeah yeah that's to you absolutely I'll uh bring up uh Miss Carmen Thompson who's our supervisor of PBIS to go over the district discipline Improvement plan uh this is just something that we have to do annually since we are identified by ISB um it is for discussion this uh today tonight and then we'll be brought to your approval um as we have to have it submitted to isby before the end of the month no it's just that's why we've got mple you thank you all for the opportunity to to present tonight um tonight I'll be sharing the district's discipline Improvement plan which serves as an important framework for addressing student behavior and fostering positive Equitable outcomes across the district um this is just a briefing to to Prelude to the district's discipline presentation which will be shared in details during the February board meeting um so the beginning part is the overview of what we started last year um we wanted to focus on rebuilding the district discipline Improvement team identifying new seal curriculums for grades 6 through 12 and establishing a tier 2 um ppis Team for the high school and I'm pleased to share that we successfully accomplished our goals um with these foundational elements now in place we have developed a new plan to guide to our next stage of improvement tonight's presentation will provide an overview of the plan and how it built our previous work and further enhances our discipline practices so first we're going to focus on training as we move forward our Focus remains on fostering Equitable and inclusive practices across the district to support this we'll Implement yearly training on cultural awareness and implicit bias to build capacity upon the staff in in addition all administrators will participate in restorative practice training following this administrators will collaborate with their teams to review and implements restorative practices promoting promoting a restorative approach to discipline and relationship building schoolwide this is not the only training we're planning we also aim to provide deescalation training for staff and explore additional training needs and to ensure that we're equipping everyone to deal and effectively support our students and maintain a positive School culture the next part is teaming as we continue to enhance our efforts to support positive behavior and Equitable discipline practices we're exploring developing a district PBIS team this team would collaborate with the district's discipline Improvement team to analyze data and recommend targeted interventions that address identifying needs effectively additionally our PBIS coaches are partnering to share successful strategies and explore Innovative interventions that can enhance their practices and outcomes this collaboration approach will help ensure a consistency and the sharing of best practices across all schools these initiatives are part of our commitment to create a cohesive and datadriven approach to supporting our students and fostering a positive School climate next is our data I will begin joining admin ministrative meetings on a quarterly basis after our district discipline Improvement team meetings these meetings will provide an opportunity to dis to discuss the updates review the data and make recommendations to guide our Collective efforts additionally administrators will play a key role in facilitating ongoing discussions within their buildings about discipline practices thanks thanks these discussions will ensure alignment with District goals and addressing the unique needs of each school last but not least is systems as a part of our ongoing commitment to equity and accountability our district discipline Improvement team will continue to review the data to ensure that all disciplinary actions are free of discrimination based on color nationality gender race disability or any other protective statuses this review pract process is essential to fostering Fair Ness and inclusivity in our practices furthermore we are prioritizing consistency and accuracy in our Skyward data entry by developing standardized um procedures these measures will help us maintain reliable data which is critical for informing decision-making and developing effective interventions so that's our plan moving forward and next month I'll share with you all of the data for the last couple of years for our district any question questions awesome thank you thank you for that report that was awesome I just want to just ask the question I know the discipline committee I I know there were some conflicts with for uh Nelson participated in that committee Jamie you was involv with that I've been resp via email and getting up on everything the meetings do fall at times where it's hard for me to make but I get everything and the communication from the team is phenomenal okay great if there's any board can I ask the question any board member would like to if Jamie cannot participate in the discipline committee is there one that would what day and time what day time I don't know just to help just Wednesday around: at okay you don't have the answer now just send me an email if you can just you know fall back and just be back pocket for for Jamie okay appreciate thank you Jen appreciate it's my pleasure thank you so much you have any old business uh yeah I I had an uh a question um do you guys remember when we were talking about uh changing the names of the school yeah and we we wanted to get like feedback from uh the staff and the students from those schools did we ever get anything back uh I don't think so and I'm glad you brought that up if you don't mind did you have any more than than that um I I talked to Dr K about this a couple weeks ago and I would definitely like to move [Music] forward because I think if we try to solicit names at this point it's going to take a while but we can go back and revisit that but in the interim that I would just like to get Park force in one of the schools in Moni to just add the word I don't know like Park Forest Park Forest to their name to tala tala Park Forest Elementary School and either kedit Scott King University Park Scott King Elementary School or the Middle School Moy Middle School uh University Park Moy Middle School for the time being leaving everything else the same so that was that was the thing I was thinking about because I think if we if we go out and try to solicit I think it's just going to be it's going to be a task to say the least to do that and get the public to try to name the schools so I think my whole thing was about having every municipality with their schools having a piece of the pie to have the to have the privilege I say the priv the honor to have cre Moni or Monique cre Moni or their name I'm sorry their name their name of the village Encompass in the name of the school so I don't know how the board feel about that at this point so we're just talking about two schools Park Forest either uh tala naming tala Park Forest tala maybe Elementary and Bo school being Keda Sky King uh University Park Keda Sky King Elementary or the Middle School University Park School I agree with the with the elementaries yeah for sure especially I think it's simple tala and I definitely agree with kot King changing that or adding that for sure the middle school is kind of like the high school we're trying to keep that seamless going from one to the next we're kind of building that brand now athletic wise I think right Dr Hall are building that as one so that they go from one to the other but I definitely think as I think you and I talked before CSK can should be it should be definitely part of university park and tala should probably be part of Park Forest right cuz Moy has M Moy element Creed has two elementaries one says Creed Elementary um I don't think he change B moral because you already have a Creed Elementary but and that's not in a technically in a village per se borrow yeah but I think the other two definitely warrant something of being there yeah I just want to kind of keep it simple keep it simple and with the with the middle school and the high school you know Creek mon are the townships that we serve that's correct you know and we it's not to be a slight to any Village sure because they are all part of either cre or Moy Township right now now I was say this um or ask this question that there's in every Township there is a plot of land designated just for a school typically it's a high school is that the high school or the middle school because if it's the high school then I could see keeping creep mon um High School I I'm okay with changing the middle school if but I I don't NE I per I mean I go whatever we vote for but I don't personally like going ketta Scott Kane University Park like that just no and I think I think you're right I think the wording has to be right to make the change yes we Mr uh Brown and I talked about that one time the wording has to be right otherwise you don't change it toala I just say change it to park Force something of that it just has to fit right who is the name I'm I'm I'm sorry for my ignorance I think it's honoring is that a person the street it's the street is on I mean ketta Scott King has some like I don't know if we rename well that's why you don't change kis Scott King you you just Implement you have to compliment it somehow University Park we have to compliment it some that's perfect and I just wanted to make sure Halala wasn't like honoring someone and then we're like no cuz credit Scott King is there for a purpose so you don't want to change that but you do want to you do want to add I just want to add value that much more value and I understand Township because the township mon Creek Township Mony Township and those townships was there before the village and University Park was there right right so and remember the elementaries are little sections right right where the the junior high and the high school bringing everybody together so that's why I think when we're trying to take those two individual entities and we're not making them one but we're really trying to get them to streamline so the kids whether they're in junior high or they're in high school they're really trying to be together right I mean we're trying to create that and and I you know again getting input from the public but to just kind of do the Simplicity of naming the two schools I I I think from the board level that's that's in our policy that the board can do that so and again not trying to leave the public out I think maybe the next strategic plan the whole naming of all the schools if that needs to be the case that can be brought up at that point that's not for another five years I know it can be some that's just throwing it up you know not trying to Sol it right now like I said I think the park for one's pretty simple King you definitely have to choose the words right carefully it' be almost like a subtitle on the letter head cuz you might say of University part correct you want to include that but you don't want to take anything away from the name that could be doubt something simple like I said I don't want things complicated at this time but my whole thing again was to uh just show Unity that's what we're about create 2011 you unity and every opportunity we could take advantage of it and I saw naming those two schools uh of part just being Unity I I'm all for it so yeah in my opinion moving forward I'm I'm yeah this so then do I have the direction of the board then to start the um proceedings to start figuring out it wouldn't be till next year because we have to change it with the entity with the state and things like that I'll start talking to the building principles and letting them know that this would be coming nothing here take is quick so yeah I would probably start the ball rolling okay so I've got Elementary School and CIS Scott King un okay that makes sense to me thank you wow everybody's okay with look at that wow amazing man do it makes sense Happy New Year I wish the the rest of the year start off like this I'm good 2026 I started off well well I just got healed I just want let you guys know I I just gotal y thanks Alex for bringing this up I definitely was on my radar any other o business I got I got one go ahead um and and this is very old business I mean I mean very very old tell me something were you on the board at the time huh were you on the board no it's so was I on the board I just want to wish our board president a happy belated birthday happy birthday thank you thank you happy birthday yeah I don't know if I had birthdays like I you fin you finally caught up with me that's why I CAU and I was I and I did get a chance to drive on Route 66 which is indicative of my age okay and I did get sick of my birthday just the past weekend we before so thank you that's it really means a lot no thank you that is o oh no pun intended right all right any other old business I I think this is OB this is no one else uh Dr kogan need if you can have your 20 a couple of your cabinet cabinet men to bring back to the board it's time permit don't stress just a I'm still looking for a fiveyear forecast oh yeah it's on our RAR we're already okay still looking for fire r as well as Where We Are again Jason and I had a sidebar conversation where we are with life safety the new life safety just can give the board an update where we are with the uh New Life Safety what schools are involved with the new life safety how much is costing the board or the district for conducting this survey okay yes sir all right that's all I have no other old business new business uh new business so um I I I attended a bpack meeting um on Monday I believe and we are setting something up on March 4th um we're going to have a guest speaker come in uh to all our um bilingual parents um I wanted to make an announcement that um we're trying trying to get as many parents as possible I we we really need this to be well attended um it's it's having to do with um like the the social uh what was the social well-being of the students um you know and and like adjustments that you know they they're going through and stuff like that so um it's something really important that that has to deal with the uh with the students uh emotional growth and and learning and stuff like that so uh it's not until March uh March 4th but I'm going to be making uh an announcement on every meeting until then uh just to if anybody's watching uh to get in touch with bpac and um come to uh that meeting and uh I mean I I I can put out some stuff in Spanish too um so uh flyers and and whatnot but contact uh our our parents to uh to attend that meeting I'll get more information as we go but great Alex you're doing a great job with that endeavor I really appreciate you know you're the right man for the job at the right time thank you all right we at one point we did have a reason to go into close session but we are going to move that Clos session discussion till next week at our regular board meeting and if there's no other questions or comments I would like a motion to adjourn so moved second moving nson second by Dr Hall any questions or concerns can I have a Allin one motion to a journ all that wi say yes yes die any NS we are ajour thank you have a good evening

e we're going to get started uh with a special session of the hington County School Board of Trustees and Mr Allen here Mr mclen here Mr Melcher here Mr wall here Mrs Heim here Mr Carl moving on to item B2 District Two trustee I'll turn it over to Mr Wy thank you Mr Allen uh we're here tonight to interview the six candidates who uh are presenting themselves for your consideration uh this is directed to the six board members and um you were the ones that'll be voting at the end obviously we' like for you to consider uh all candidates equally before you make your your final decision we did a double random draw uh and determined the order for interviews uh cynthy kefir will be interviewed first Deb Miller second Colin Davis third fourth is Jim dmer fifth is Chris Hoffman and then Mr Hank Miller is sixth we have allotted 20 minutes for the interviews and we'll have a timer on that however we've added a five minute cushion in that we're not going to be like Congress and your microphone's turned off uh to finish a thought finish the answer to a question uh we'll we'll let you do that we just want to make sure we cover everything as thoroughly as possible again at the conclusion of the interviews we'll take enough of a break to gather our uh papers and thoughts uh we will not recess at at all all and we'll go into a time of discussion by the board members uh to express any thoughts about the interviews and then we'll start a series of balloting so with that and uh again Cindy will be on the timer uh so Mrs kefir you are first in the chair this is Cynthia kefir okay ready Cindy is it starting okay uh introduce yourself to us by talking about your background and education experience as it relates to your application well my name is Cindy kefir and I have grown up here in Huntington County went to school through through this system here and um my first encounter with the school system was when our oldest son began kindergarten and that was in 1976 and I have been involved with the school corporation ever since then in 1989 I became a teacher and my first position was at the old Crest View school and I went back to school got my masters in administration and have been an administrator at Central and Flint Springs elementaries and I went through the building process from Central to Flint Springs which was not easy that that took quite a while um but I have a passion for this Corporation and I have served in many capacities within the schools and even even now I retired in 2013 as principal Flint Springs but I have have been doing long-term subbing administratively and in classroom long-term Subs um I will sub for the secretaries also so I I am still very much involved with the corporation and it it's my life I I love it other than uh School related have you been on any other uh not for profits served on board of directors trustee ships other offices uh in in the past uh in public yes in the public no what do you believe are the qualities and skills of an effective Schoolboard member and what of those qualities do you believe are your strongest attributes I think communication is the biggest um the strongest um and I think that's probably my my best is is communication but I think listening also listening and communicating um are the are the two top but communication is probably my strongest how how is that your strongest attribute communication what are your communication skills um I I am a I am a good listener when people come and talk to me and I try to weigh everything from from what I'm being told and then um kind of put it all together synthesize it and make a decision communicate back what I am what I am thinking um I have had to communicate as an administrator with staff and school board and um parents students and so I think that's required a a great amount of communication skill understanding the the differences in role between Board of Trustees principal classroom teacher how as will you advocate for students as a member of the Board of Trustees um since I am retired and I am in the schools a lot I would like to continue to do that talking with teachers talking with classified staff find out what their concerns are What what is the the message that they would like for the board to hear and then bring it back to the board um as a communicator for the the staff I think sometimes the staff feel like they don't have a direct communication with the board and they have concerns that they don't know where to to direct those concerns so I would like to be that Lis on as a representative uh concerns will be brought to you by the public how will you handle those concerns and how will any board votes reflect priorities desires of your constituents or those that have approached you I will listen very carefully to the concerns um I won't be able to give the person that I'm talking with an answer what I can do is listen then bring those concerns back to the board for discussion um and vote vote my conscience I do I I do understand that my um my ideas will not always align with with the people that I represent I do understand that so do you vote according to the number of people that contact you no because the number of people that contact me will probably have different perspectives this is probably the question you've perhaps been asked by friends family and anyone else why do you want to do this why do you want to serve as a school board member for hccs and com and comment if you can about uh the ability to devote the time necessary to take on this responsibility so first why this and discuss time commitment um I have as I said before I have been in the corporation for quite a while and even after retirement I have taken on long-term sub positions because I I feel a great um oh I don't know what to say I feel a great commitment to the community to serve in any way that I can and because of my background and my education I think this is a perfect place to be able to serve continue to serve the community within the school corporation um my time is I'm retired and so time commitment will not be an issue for me what do you believe are the strengths and the weaknesses of the public education system in Huntington County I think the the strengths have to do with um the teachers that we have I think the teachers are dedicated to the students and I and I truly believe that um they are the strength as well as the support staff is the strength of our um Corporation everyone working together the the children in each School belong to the whole school and everyone takes responsibility for them from what I have seen um weaknesses I think um commun I really do think communication um between upper Administration and um those that are underneath them at some point and I I don't I don't um put the fault on the upper Administration I think that sometimes people are leery to even say anything or don't know who to to talk to but I think we need to make it an an open process so people are comfortable talking with us what would your personal priorities be in in the next year let me preface that for all candidates understand this is fulfilling an unexpired term right so there's two years left on this uh this term so 25 26 so what personal priorities or goals would you have and then there's a followup to that but talk about any personal priorities you may have um I think the main priority is getting um into the schools and um making myself visible in the schools I'm very comfortable in a school situation I I know all of the administrators in Huntington County and I know many of the teachers and I think that they would feel comfortable talking with me um I do not think that I could serve on the board if I did not know what was going on in the schools how what happens at the board meeting affects what goes on in in the school building and you know the students are our priority so we need to know what's going on with them part two of that is personal priorities how about corporate priorities corporate goals uh for the corporation I think um keeping a handle on the finances um what I saw last night from the board I I was impressed I I thought that was um that we're certainly heading in the right direction um and I I don't I do not mean this to be disrespectful at all but I think that as a board we have to become more personable do I want to say I know you all are very personable but as a group um I think sometimes Community does not understand what you are what you're doing what your goals are and where you see where our Corporation is going to be so I think um I think the finances and then communication with with Community just making ourselves more available so people understand what's going on in the schools if you could give a definition of the role and function of a a board member and what the board plays in the process of the O overall education of Huntington County students so what role does an an individual board member play what role does the school board at large play in the overall process I think the individual board members do listen to their um the district people that they that they represent so I think that's a a personal goal that every board member should have would be to to listen to take to take what people have to say and and really consider it as a entire board I think that we need to realize that everything that is decided affects the students in some way from finances to curriculum um it anything that you vote on eventually affects affects our students and that's why we're here we're here for the the students and um I I cannot stress my feeling of that enough they have to be our top priority the advantage of going first is you get to give a lot of the the answers by the time we get to four five and six they can just say oh yeah what what she said she said what she said at the same time um you've not heard the other candidates you've really maybe have not had any other uh chance to hear any other positions but why are you the best candidate why why should this board bring you on to to work with them I I think I could hit the ground running um on the school board because I am very much in tune with with what is going on with uh finances with curriculum um with the the buildings and I think that that I could would not have to take a lot of time to learn my responsibilities for the board okay is there anything that I have not asked that you boy I wanted to make sure they heard this about me or or my opinion or attitude I will what I just want to reiterate is that um I do feel like I am I am the best candidate because of my position already in the school corporation that might seem to some like be maybe a negative but I think it is not a negative I think it's a positive because I I see the corporation from um a bird's eye view and also from um a ground view when I am in the schools okay I think that's all I have okay we uh the questions so everybody understands were compiled by the board members uh submitting ideas thoughts and I compiled them we left a a space of time here if they have any individual or followup questions so uh do any board members have any questions they would like to ask Mrs kefir about either her comments or her resume you have her resume uh and have had that since last Friday so is there any are there any other questions follow-up questions I'll start Mr melter no Mr Carl Mr wall Mr Allen Mr mclen Mrs H okay thank you very much we appreciate your your interest and uh I haven't said this at the beginning but the board will vote on candidates tonight at the end of the last the last interview okay all right gather ourselves here for a second and then Mrs Miller if you want to make yourself comfortable there and again I would stress I've been in these situations that when you're getting the same question and you don't please if it if it repeats something somebody else has said that's okay we're we're trying to hear about you and learn learn about you so we ready okay uh Mrs Miller uh introduce yourself to us talk about your personal background and your education experiences as it relates to applying for this U position good evening and thank you so much for letting me have this opportunity to talk with you my background has been in education um many different facets of Education but it's my passion it remains my passion I have started my my first degree was a bachelor's got my Master's and then went on to get additional certifications for special education and um also for counseling I have taught Elementary um second grade kindergart garden and again I've taught special education and also been a school counselor I have been a building principal for 14 years 10 of them here in Huntington County and four in Southwest Allen and I have been so blessed given the opportunity um to come up through the Huntington County community school system and the advantages that they've given me um and then to move on into to um other areas of Education from Southwest Allen I began working with Pearson Education and the first um student data mining software um that had been developed in the country I was invited to join Pearson and learned a whole different aspect of the educational process and systems and how it works to benefit kids okay thank you what other than School related activities what other boards committees offices uh that you have been involved with in in our community um in Huntington County I've been involved with several um in the past I was involved with the Huntington YMCA board of directors and then served as president while we were doing the planning phases and the fundraising for it's not the new YMCA anymore but at that point it was the YMCA and um that was an incredible experience by the way um and so nice to be able to drive by there and see what that's contributed to our community uh I belong to SI Sai IAI philanthropic s sorority um I was a member of the Northeast Indiana State AIDS Council we had representatives from the school district and I served on that committee also on this uh I am a group leader and initiator of a support group for the Northeast Indiana Nets which is a specific type of cancer support group for Northeast Indiana I also belong to Fort Wayne Health Equity that's enough okay you say the new YMCA this is still the the new high school to you know since we graduated at the same time it's brand spanking new that's right that's right uh discuss what you believe are the qualities and skills of an effective School Board member and how does that match with your attributes and characteristics I meeting with and having friends on the school board and watching the school board in action over the years there's so many characteristics of really effective boards and it comes down to those individual members and what they bring to the table collaboration empathy caring putting kids first as a board member my question would always be how does this make things better for kids and how does this improve teaching and learning for kids so being able to collaborate to problem solve together um those are characteristics that allow us to get to a good answer a good plan and have good results so if if students are the the focus how will you advocate for them as a board member again as a board member um my question will always be how does this help kids how is this good for children how how is this going to make teaching and learning better for kids so that they have better outcomes how are we going to improve teaching and learning for kids but also to advocate for them in the community as well and and help spread and and talk about the positive aspects of what happens in schools I don't think we often get get the word out there of all the good things that are happening for kids and every time we can can get the information out to the community and help people to see what's happening the good things that are happening for kids it's going to improve okay you will be a representative of a a constituency a a district within in the county how will you address concerns brought to you not only by those constituents but any constituent in the county uh by the public and will your how will your votes reflect the priorities and desires of the people in your District when people are concerned it often stems from not understanding the whole picture not having all the pieces of the puzzle and so they might hear something or they might draw a conclusion or they may not know how it all comes together to fit I think personally it would be my responsibility to first and foremost listen and be be an active listener and try to understand where they're coming from where did that information come from how did you draw that conclusion or where did this concern originate as a board member I can't give answers for the entire board but I can also try to help them to see those things they haven't experienced or they haven't understood and then to bring that information and concern back to the group certainly don't think we can dismiss anyone's concerns but we can certainly empathize and try to advocate for making sure they have all of the information okay uh the question's in the middle of the questions but it's maybe the big question why do you want to do this again having grown up here in Huntington County and been the benefit and the advantages of U of A student coming through the school district I really want to give back I'm at the point in my life looking for opportunities to give back and with my background and experience and knowledge I feel like I can contribute to the conversation not just as a community member not just as an educator but also from the business aspect I've worked with school districts across the United States and overseas and I've seen the best of the best and I've also seen situations that make quite sad so I think I can bring those conversations and I can bring problem solving to the mix working in the business aspect working as an administrator you really learn to problem solve usually um by making good decisions but also bad decisions and learning along the way but being able to bring that that skill I think is important the second part of that question I did not ask it about time commitment uh for for meetings visitations uh being in the school talk to the board about that of your time availability I can see it takes a tremendous amount of time and and I'm so grateful for everyone here and everyone previously who've made this commitment to do it it's just not what you see sitting here at the table and going home that's ongoing just like any Community servant um giving to the community I'm retired um my kids are grown three of the four are in education and so I have the ability to spend time and devote it to to being a servant okay what do you believe are the strengths and what are the weaknesses of the public education system system here in Huntington County I can speak to and we'll speak to locally but I think it's it's wrapped up in what's happening Statewide what's happening nationally for Education which I think is going to be even more challenging as we move forward I think for Huntington County we have so many great things going on we don't necessarily we don't have our local newspaper anymore it's hard to get a common message out to everyone at the same time in the same way so I think trying to find ways to Market Huntington County Community Schools and what are the good things that are happening so people really have a common understanding a common vocabulary about the great things if you look at the Learning Center oh my gosh that's Second To None it's an award-winning program that is just growing exponentially and we have to make sure that people know what's going on here what about weaknesses and you may be touched on that but I think I think making sure that we have a system of communicating out to the public a systematic way of getting information out about the good things that are happening but even concerns trying to stay ahead of and it's not easy but trying to stay ahead of the ball game anticipate concerns and communicate um how we're going to address that how we are addressing that it's not that we don't it's just trying to find in an environment that is so desparate when it comes to having tools to communicate how do we do that how do we get that out there do you have personal priorities for this board this Corporation in the next year and what should be corporate uh goals priorities for the board let's start with your personal personal priorities one of my goals is to encourage creative approaches to teaching and learning to support creative approaches to teaching and learning thinking outside of the box bending but not breaking we're an environment now where schools are becoming competitive and we need to give our Educators the freedom to seek out Creative Solutions and creative Alternatives and look at research-based practices to improve teaching and learning another goal I have is to attract and retain quality teachers and I think that has to be an ed a board goal today well not today January 3rd we had openings of 1800 teaching positions in the state of Indiana we had almost 2500 openings and support staff and other educational positions in the state of Indiana this is a trend that's Nationwide we're not one of the top having struggling but having that many openings at the beginning of January in the state means we aren't retaining and building highly qualified teachers to fill those positions in our state and we have to talk about how to do that locally that's a goal and I think that one should be one for the district my passion is Raising awareness and addressing mental health issues for students we have to we're seeing being that reflected in what teachers have to deal with in the classrooms with an increase in behavior um negative behaviors in the classroom and we have to be able to meet the needs of those students if you'll just give me a sec I have some stats on that too and I want to share these the youth risk behavioral survey that was done for the state of Indiana indicated that half of Indiana students face mental health issues 47% 47% of our students are reporting depression 47% one and four indicated they have a plan for SU side one in four one and six have attempted suicide with these challenges that we're seeing in mental health we must address what resources we have how we're doing those hats off to the district and the community and coming together and getting four resource officers at the high school that's amazing designating a health professional to begin looking at mental health issues for Huntington County Schools they're already Tak you're already taking those steps to move forward but as I've shared we should all be extremely concerned do we have enough resources how are kids getting help how are they reaching out where do they go when they need assistance in Huntington County that particular goal um would be one that I will continue to work on as a counselor I was a counselor 30 years ago and I could only do it friends for three years I just couldn't you take it home you see it and you can't believe what our kids go through and we have to find a way to provide the support for them which ultimately supports teachers and families in our community why are you the best qualified candidate for this position I don't know that I'm the best qualified candidate I can tell you what I feel are are my strengths that I bring to the table that I think would benefit um my experience is varied and um is vast again I work with districts all over the United States and overseas I know datadriven instruction and decision making I know School Improvement and I know collaboration and helping to build consensus and I would bring those skills to the board what have I not asked you that you wanted to make sure boy I make sure I say this that either I've not asked you about or you've not been able to elaborate on to be honest I really I I can't think of anything um check my notes Here I I can't think of anything that um really um I wanted to share I think um I I would like to emphasize once again that that supporting creativity and creative programs um can really go a long way you know in in the state of Indiana we see Charter Schools coming up throughout the state we have none here but they're given the license go do whatever you want to do do just go do it be creative go have fun there's nothing stopping us from also supporting creative thinking and problem solving when it comes to teaching and learning and supporting our teachers and our staffs and our administrators and seeking out those creative paths okay board members do you have a any followup questions anything that was not asked addressed I assume you'll let it be known by raising your hand or carry no okay all right thank you Deb and uh we will again reassemble here and then well Cassandra security off you guys don't a about our students okay all right ready to go again Colin are you ready to go yeah that's where he is I will be I suppose you never know what's going to happen at a Schoolboard meeting right yeah all right oh you've already started you'll get 10 you'll get TW well you'll get extra seconds uh col it introduce yourself to us give us your your uh background uh education background as it relates to applying for this position well uh first of all thanks thank you all for your service on the board and uh the opportunity to be here tonight uh my name is Colin Davis I have a bachelor's of Science in mechanical engineering technology from Penn State and an MBA from Huntington University I have 18 years of manufacturing experience and I specialize in continuous Improvement and uh how that applies to a school board is uh just a focus on problem solving and driving data driven decisions uh I believe I can apply those principles to help proactively identify issues in uh the in the district identify I track uh District's progress towards goals and uh make data driven decisions when we're trying to make policies that advocate for students I have uh leadership experience I was uh four I spent four years on the leadership team locally at Bendix and uh I served on the United Way uh of Huntington County for two terms I am currently on the uh City of Huntington Redevelopment commission and I'm in my third year uh of that assignment kind of leads into the to the second question about other not for profit experience or serving as a director of trustee anything in addition to what you just mentioned there as far as uh uh those types of experiences I uh have been involved with the previously involved with the local Cub Scout Pack 3117 what did that teach you being a cub scout leader uh patience I mean as if having four kids didn't but you know I I grew up in scouting I'm an eagle scout and uh you know you understand importance uh adult role models and uh you know not everybody has that in home and sometimes you're that resource you got to keep that in mind discuss what you believe are the qualities and skills of an effective Schoolboard member and how do your qualities and skills and characteristics match up to those uh that list so the qualities of a of an effective School Board member and then how do you match up to that yeah communication collaboration and Community involvement uh I think all those hold weight and uh I'm pretty approachable like I don't get emotional with people like I'm levelheaded and like I said back to the day to driven decisions I speak with fact and information I don't like let emotions get to me so uh I think that plays to my advantage uh and I have like I said I have four kids in the school district so that gets me out in the community I have uh two kids in elementary school two second graders uh a son in sixth grade and a daughter getting ready to go to the high school so that that gets me out in the community with uh different school events and things did did I did I touch on all the points well I think what again your definition of what makes an effective School Board member and how do you do your personal characteristics match up with that so is there anything else on that yeah I mean just making sure uh you keep the best interest of the student in mind like I guess always checking yourself against is this in the best interest of the students which leads us to the followup on that on students how does a board member effectively advocate for for students uh you know making sure policies that are implemented are in students best interest and making sure I mean when we're setting budgeting and setting you know defining new leadership for superintendence like making sure that there's good alignment I mean obviously if you're not managing the budget well you know the school district isn't going to be sustainable so like the budget side of it has huge implications as a elected in the sense by this board but as a representative of your District 2 but all of Huntington County how will you address with concerns brought to you by the public and will board votes rep reflect your priorities and desires of the people and your opinions on matters what's what's the first part of that question a public member comes you concern about anything from a sports team uh the uh classroom uh the bus driver yeah sure the the lady in the the lunch line how how you deal with that when somebody yeah so like Discerning I mean Discerning what is I guess legitimate concern and what is emotion and then weighing that against uh you know collaborating with other board members seeing if those are concerns in their districts understanding how widespread the concern is and weighing all those things when making decisions do you feel a responsibility then do you report back to that individual or the public or how do you keep those lines of communication open I've come to you with a concern about uh a classroom teacher yeah yeah I mean it's it kind of depends on how large the issue is I think that's going to depend on the appropriate response and appropriate followup but like if it is a response you know certainly follow-up could be appropriate to the person and explaining why the board had to make the decision that it made like what you know in my experience in manufacturing like basically I'm the uh connect Connecting Point between like executive leadership and the the floor so I got to explain why the company decided to go one way versus versus another and uh when you explain to people like the reasoning when people have a good understanding of the reasoning behind a decision they're more likely to you know understand it and accept it okay which leads us to the the middle question but is the main question why why are you applying to serve as a Schoolboard member and uh second part about understanding the the time requirements to serving in this resp responsibility so initially why why are you why did you apply yeah I want to make sure that District 2 has good representation and also it's a good way to give back to the community the second part of that time commitment uh I mean it's just a matter of time management do you control your own time are you as far as work responsibilities yeah I and there's flexibility there what do you believe are the strengths and weaknesses of public education as exists here in Huntington County and and even broader than that Mrs Miller brought up even in the state but what are the strengths and weaknesses particularly of of public education here in Huntington County certainly administrators teachers and support staff I would say are the strengths and uh I would say the weaknesses are on the communication side you know back to the point just making sure we're communicating why decisions are being made what the board had to all the things that the board had to weigh when making the decision and having that communication loop back to the community any ideas how to improve communication yeah uh I guess I didn't reflect on that too heavily yet but uh you know whether that is uh you know social media or you know more in-depth video at the end of the school board meeting you know if we wanted to dive deeper into a certain topic we could have follow-up discussion there you know perhaps people could submit uh questions and we could address those at the end of the board meeting if they're not able to attend the meeting in person you know heck I don't know Facebook live might be a little uh a little bit of a challenge and you know certainly disadv negativi there but that's one way that people could submit questions while the you know discussion while the meeting's going on but then you got to have a moderator and there's some Logistics there do you have or what would be your personal priorities personal goals to accomplish by the board and then second part would be uh corporate goals of of the entire board so first of all what what are your personal priorities yeah continuing to engage in the community and just be uh available to constituents approach you know remain approachable so when people have a concern they know that they can come to me or even you know even just a talking point anything different for the the board as a whole or the corporation as a whole or the same types of priorities yeah I you know back to the communication side making sure that we're uh effectively explaining you know what went into the decision why the board went uh the way it did and how they feel it would have long-term implications on the uh on the school district if you could give a definition to the role and a function that the board member plays and the school board as a whole plays in the education process C in other words what's the role and function of an individual member what's the role and function of the board uh at large the rep the individual representative uh represents the district the consent consents in their district and uh votes and the board as a whole votes on policy uh they vote on the superintendent they manage the budget and uh advocate for students why do you feel uh Colin you would be the best choice the best qualified candidate for this position experience in data driven uh decision- making and problem solving just a unique approach little outside the box than brought to the board that's what I would that's the engineer in you yeah exactly analytical I'm analytical uh I I mean my wife might have a opinion about that thought process sometimes but that's way yeah that that you know engineering with a with a also a balance of business education what has not been asked of you uh a point you'd like to make or something about you that gee I thought they would ask this and they didn't what what's anything more about you that we need to know I just uh you know I'm passionate about being uh involved in the community you know growing up in scouting they emphasize the importance of uh community service so just hundred hundreds of hours of community service gr up and uh just wanting to be engaged in the community has continued and and then uh you know I have a vested interest I have four kids in the school district and uh my wife teaches at Flint Springs and you were a Penn State graduate yeah that was tough for there was yeah let's not talk about that on [Laughter] record that yeah so you so say we are right yeah there you go all right Bo yeah we should have we should have had that again yeah uh board any questions followup to anything uh Mr Davis said uh that was omitted not discussed are you all good everybody good okay thank you Colin thank you okay you're ready I am and Cindy we get the all right uh Mr de just introduce yourself talk about your personal background uh any educational experience and all of that how it relates to your application to serve on this board absolutely uh my name is um James dmer but people that like me call me Jim so we'll kind of assess how that goes a little bit later um so my background uh I I did not grow up in Huntington and I definitely recognized that as a as a disadvantage uh but I did grow up Northeast Indiana in a small town and understand what that means um my parents are both Educators so my education about education started at the dinner table every single night um I got my bachelor's degree from Purdue University went there for four years came back to the area and started my teaching career I was an elementary school teacher for a good long time I spent 10 years in the classroom uh two years as an instructional coach and then uh transitioned to Administration uh in Fort rine Community that's where the bulk of my career was as as a teacher um as an administrator in Fort Wayne Community I I was in charge of testing I actually oversaw the transition of a fully paper test to a fully digital test uh in my five five years in that position um I also have a master's degree in educational leadership and still have an active teaching license um which I'm not using my current job I just have have spent the last five years at Steel Dynamics at the corporate office um in as an Human Resources project coordinator so um all of these kind of components I definitely recognize that my path has been unique um and there have been parts that have been very enjoyable and parts that have been very tough but that that's kind of my educational background and and my background of who I am and and why I'm here tonight Beyond education related uh employment related what other not for-profit uh committee work volunteer work in the community have you had if any um I was a member of the board for the chief La Fontaine Saddle Club was President for three years of that um I have been a member of the board of um the Indiana pinno Association for a good long time spent two years as president of that um I'm sorry you said pin p Pinto pinto horses okay sorry that's one of yeah one of my um one of the things that I do out side of my regular career is I I also have a a horse business here in town so yeah spent spent some time doing quite a bit of that too what do you believe are the qualities and skills of an effective Schoolboard member and which of those qualities and skills are your strongest attributes I I'm probably going to be a little bit different from um your other candidates in that I I believe that an important skill is actually silence in that it's really important to listen I apologize am I speaking like I just want okay okay um I think it's important to when when people are coming at you with stuff um that it's important to to stay quiet so that you can understand what the real root of the problem is um I know you all are are brought with problems all the time as as is the administration they're extremely complex and when those problems are brought it's really important not to Give opinions because you're only hearing half of what's Happening there's there's so many other layers to it whether it's legislative whether it's you know personal background of the person that you're hearing from um whether it's you know background with you know student interactions teacher interactions Human Resources issues that are coming up if if if you're not silent about what you're hearing and the feedback that you're getting you're probably going to jump into something um that you're not prepared to talk to so having that time to pause and say I hear what you're saying I'm understanding what you're telling me let me find out more and someone will get back to you and I'll check back so um I I would say having the patience and silence would be a quality that I have um that would be helpful did I answer that well okay that's your yeah your answer's fine no that's that's fine uh we're about students so how do you make sure you can you do advocate for students in this role as a as a I've had so many roles in in education and outside education now um I've had such a variety of students just because of where I taught I taught up in Northwest Allen for six years I taught in some difficult neighborhoods in in Fort Way community um some of my students now I've got such a a variety of former students some um one one young man is a uh a manager at Barkley's in New York um I have another man young man who's serving a p prison sentence for burner it it's a variety but there's also a component of Education that is legislated um there's a policy component I I have a lot of background in both um I have contacts that I know that I can call on um as to to be an advocate not only for our district but for our kids and for Education more globally um I I spent time in those committee rooms down at the State House down in Indianapolis talking through accountability and what it its impact is and and the assessments and the impact on the on the kids and the impact on teaching and I I've seen what that looks like and it's it's one of the reasons that I'm not an educator at this moment in time it's one of the reasons so I think advocating not only from that base kid level from that teacher excuse me teach level from that administrator level um all the way you know from from the classroom to the state house like it all has to be there um and if it's not then then it's a shortcoming how will you address concerns brought to you by the public and how is that will that be reflected in your votes on particular issues this is a when I say this understand that that what I'm trying to say is this this is a a political body and we the board is is bound by state legislation in addition to fiscal responsibility in addition to you know the needs of kids now I I already kind of talked about people are going to come to board members to talk through hey this that or the other um I am always going to Advocate to coming to consensus with board members it's not always going to be possible um but also to make sure that I understand the big picture understand the initiatives that the um of the superintendent of the other administ Min rators um they're they're really smart people if they weren't they wouldn't be here because we wouldn't want them here and I think we want them here so really understanding that whole Global Perspective and how to bring that together into what board policy is making sure that we're taking care of our teachers making sure that we're taking care of our students and that we are um going to be able to do that for the foreseeable future the middle question probably the big question why why do you want to do this and are your ability to devote the time necessary to take on the responsibility um the why is simple the first why is I have two young boys in the district one is 14 he was here last night um accepting an award super proud of him my other son um is fifth grade Flint Springs I want to make sure to my wife and I are both children of Educators and we know what it means to make sure that our kids have what they need and I want to do everything that I can to make sure every child in Huntington has the opportunities to learn about the world not only their world and have an understanding of themselves but the world outside of their small Family Circle you know to be that Advocate um to answer your question question about time um my mom passed away in August but she always had a saying and it's always stuck with me you have time for what you make time for if it is worthy as this is time will be made what do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the public education system in Huntington County uh and Beyond I think that this school district is is headed in such a positive direction um one of the things that I wasn't concerned about until last night was um the discussion about the elll students and the the increase in those kids um when I was a teacher I had I had kids kids from Myanmar Burma super interesting population had Hispanic kids I remember my first day teaching in Fort Wayne um I had one girl in my class her name was Wana and uh the only two words she said in English that first day was no English it was a and and the year the year after that her that I was teaching fourth grade that year in fifth grade uh she won young authors it it was it was exciting it was really cool to see that um but I also know with an increasing elll population knowing what I know about assessments knowing what I know about accountability the cards are being stacked against us and we need to figure out how to be advocates for us and the good things that are going to come from these students okay um the the accountability system is literally stacked against the the higher the elll population the more influence the elll test has on accountability and I'm going to tell you right now native English speakers would struggle to pass that test and the bar that is set by the State House is it it's stacked against us and we need to make sure that we're advocating the right way for for that specifically what are your personal priorities and what would you see as corporate priorities or goals for this board so I know that communication is important but I would go so far as to say uh I would like to see commun Community involvement not just communication out but figuring out how to involve the community in in creating accountability measures that don't have anything to do what the state has to tell us about but really accountability measures that are important to this community and figuring out what that means that's a huge huge thing and I'm not talking about test scores I'm talking about things that happen in classrooms things that happen outside of classrooms um whether it's athletic like whether it's the robotics what you know what are those things that are important to this community that are going to drive the growth of this community and the exceptionalism that is this school district why do you feel you are the best candidate for this for this uh District seat I have a horse farm we breed horses I absolutely love doing that but one of the things that I will always say is that the best horse is probably standing in someone's backyard and isn't here I can promise you that I'm not the best person for this role but the best person for this role might not be in this room at all I believe that I have a whole lot to learn about even though I've been involved in education for as long as I I have this is a different side of education and I know that there's so much I have to learn and I may not be the best person out there for the role I hope I'm the best person in the room tonight um but I know that I have a lot to learn and I'm excited to learn it question we'd ask others about the role of a Schoolboard member I think you've addressed that but any additional comments on uh the function of a school board member and the function of the board anything anything additional about the role and function of the school board I think you've dressed it in other ways I I do um I guess to kind of extend that you know um I think it's important for the board to set a standard and then make sure that we're we're meeting that standard and not just communicating it out but really involving people in that process um so that they have a good feeling about what it takes what it takes to to educate our kids is there anything that has not been asked has not been covered not uh discussed or something about you that gee I wish they would have asked me about this or that we need to know I've been in this community for going on years I love this community um and it's the same times still know and understand that uh I'm always GNA be the new guy um I don't think my kids are they're they're they're rooted here um and I'm I'm rooted here now but I know that there are people that have no idea who Jim deur is and I'm eager um to really get to know those people in a way that is helpful to the district okay board any followups questions this side okay thank you very much appreciate it Christopher can take the seat ready okay this is Christopher Hoffman so introduce yourself further uh talk about your personal background uh any educational experiences it relates to you're applying for this position well like you said I'm Chris Hoffman here grew up here in Huntington attended Huntington Community Schools um um after that I attended the University of Northwestern Ohio um came back to Huntington worked here locally for many years before I started my own business here uh been doing that for many years running it all aspects obviously of it from the dayto day operations and uh my education I look at is it's self-taught on a lot of it you know obviously it's hard to learn on a by yourself on a lot of how to run a business from the finances to customer support even the mechanic side of it do you have any other uh not for-profit experience uh serving on boards committees uh Trustees of anything other than your work or any school related nothing on nonpr nonprofits directly um I've been involved with many projects with other businesses to help bring new products to life um many with some new technology so when that was all you know just explain what your business is so we are a diesel repair facility and performance so we uh work on a lot of trucks obviously and by that we get involved with some new products that are coming to Market some for for for performance some that actually help with the emissions aspects of these as well is one of the bigger ones I've been involved with what do you believe are the qualities and skills of an effective Schoolboard member and which of those quality skills do you believe are your strongest attribute uh to be a good board member you need to be able to listen to your people around you not any not even just the people that you're representing but the other board members um we're all going to have different ideas that are going to be right and our ideas may be wrong as well and understanding that there's no one size fits all for it and that you got to be a give and take at times to make it to make the right decision is the best decision and and what qualities or experiences do you have to uh support that opinion being a the business owner um I'm consistently given opportunities to make a right or wrong decision um whether that's with customers with a vendor that or a product that went bad or a product that was great so I've got to constantly work with a a customer that is potentially unhappy with the way a job went or know that they come to me with an idea of how they want something put together and I can give them an a different opportunity a different option and let them make that with the most information available students are the focus of any uh public school education system how as a board member will you advocate for student needs well have of a father of two students here in the district I've seen uh the strengths of the district and some of the weaknesses um I've advocated for them in in ways that I thought it been very difficult to stand up for I thought things that were done wrong um and then things were done right so I'm very good at listening and looking with an open mind on how how it's looked at and what needs done how old are how old are your students I've got a freshman and a sixth grader as a representative how will you address concerns brought to you by the public and then how do your votes reflect priorities and desires of the people in your District I understand that people's going to come at you with emotions a lot and that the emotions don't always mean that they are right decisions you know we we can't just lead on emotions that you have to have the facts um you're going to represent them the best you can and give them the facts and and they may not have them all just because it's hard to get all the facts out to the public and that we're going have to make tough decisions that they may not like or some that they do approve of and you're never going to appease to everybody but you got to do the best you can the middle question that we've asked everybody why did you put your hat in the ring why did you decide to to do this uh to apply to be a uh uh member of the school board and as a follow-up to that uh about time management and your ability to uh have the time to serve in this capacity I chose to run because I see the opening to help and improve the community um I see a short or weakness in in our industry in this area of Hands-On training and the tech technical side and I know we got the Learning Center that's growing a lot um I believe it's still underutilized and has a lot of potential when I look at the openings in in my field alone with handson um is it's very alarming to see the under trining that's there um um and then as far as time management I've got some good employees there that will allow me to come and go as needed um I was gone half the day today that I didn't plan on but I had to get some other stuff done that just popped up so I can definitely you know in a short notice make something happen what do you see and you referred to this a little bit earlier about the strengths and weaknesses uh if you can list the strengths of the public educ ation system here in unin county and then also what weaknesses uh that you you see from your persp my experience with the kids in the school we've got some very good teachers that are very passionate about what they do um that is obviously the biggest strength I see that the Huntington does have is some passionate teachers um one of the weaknesses I've seen is I think there's some tools that should be utilized that maybe we need to look into more of and change a few of the things um to give the teachers more tools and to get into the hands of the students again it's I've got a student that excels very easily in one that that is more of a Hands-On learner and he struggles more in the district and uh I see a lot more of students like him that I won't say are left behind but are almost passed through that we need to figure out how to help better on Alternative Learning somehow what personal priorities or goals would you have in your term of service and even broader for the whole Corporation so personal priorities goals and then what you would want to bring to the board as corporate priorities uh personal thing I see is the learning C Center and again it's still a corporate is that Learning Center and Alternative Learning areas grown um I think we're leaving a lot on the table with even the e-learn thing the online learning um there's a lot of options I think a lot of students could even Excel on that aspect of it and I know others that that are going to not do well need more the Hands-On training um so I want to see some more done on that aspect so I don't think every student needs to have a full day of learning in school especially as they get older there's definitely other options that students are going to learn better at and others need that the full day of learning and and instruction um so I want to open up more options for students with Alternative Learning Styles and I guess that's a personal and a corporate side of it for Me by starting a business that's more of a Hands-On business how how did you combine those the the academic side of learning but then also the Hands-On side learning geez how I didn't ask anybody else that question but I'm just fascinated how do I do I I I feel very fortunate that I'm very good at Hands-On learning and just experience and remembering those things it is very difficult to own a business and a start one from from nothing um I mean I went from my garage to a a pretty good sized building now with multiple bays and and pulling people from two hours away into the into the community here um it's a lot of Hands-On learning and it is difficult for sure I I I don't know if I could explain it very easily well you appear to be successful at doing it so I I thank you and I feel very successful with the business and with family and everything and and it's I've been blessed for sure if you could give a definition to the role and function of a school board member and how the role that the school board plays in the overall education process the board should almost I won't say should be behind the scenes making decisions but they should be overseeing the decisions making sure that they're done properly um everyone has on the board a different Outlook and experiences in life they can bring and the board should come together to make that best decision possible for the students you have the advantage your number five you've heard four the six uh what distinguishes you as uh the best qualified candidate for this position well that was one I've been sitting back there pondering you know how do I answer that um and I've heard everything from I'm the best I'm not the best and and I still don't know the correct answer for that but um I'm definitely going to come in with an open mind again I I have a lot of experience of listening to customers concerns and keeping an open mind on what they would want which may not be what's best for what they're trying to do with their vehicle and I can see that very openly and step back and keep them moving forward to get the their vehicle done and and I've done the same thing with some of our vendors we've had struggles with of of it and I I so I bring a different perspective probably is my best suit there just from being self-employed not just in the in the normal employee corporate world it's a different Viewpoint is there anything that's not been asked that you wanted to make sure was covered or something about you that we you weren't able to say earlier uh that you want to share with the board um I guess I've been very passionate about helping the community for quite a few years silently I have never been very vocal on it so this is very uh out of my box here um that being said I have through my 12 years of self-employment we've had I believe six students um not just from Huntington we've got currently one from South Whitley right now that we have employed um I look at it that I'm not just their boss but I'm helping Mentor these kids to to grow and I can bring that to the table as well so is that through the ice an ice program or that's basically what they have I'm trying remember what they called it there he's actually in a welding program the half day but it's their half days I've had the kids from the ice here um I think there was one from through the a half day program years ago so I've had a little bit of everything through there and and all most have moved on and and thanked me for their the knowledge I've helped pass on to them anything else you wanted to add I think I'm good there okay y thank or to my right to my left no okay thank you very much okay I I was waiting for that to to go down okay Mr Miller introduce yourself to us talk about your background education experience if how it relates to applying for this job uh Hank Miller um as someone said I'm not from here uh as was mentioned not being from here is often looked upon with uh different eyes in this community so uh my background is unusual uh I was a product of the system I came through as a foster kid um so I have some unique backgrounds unique concerns uh I uh went through my high school then I went to the military which I think is the most important part of my education I know everybody wants to to name their their degrees but the everybody gets these degrees but they they still don't have the experience afterwards that a military education can give you um from my uh Air Force days I came out and I kind of aimless hopped from job to job to job which uh I did not realize that was actually a quality every three or four years I went to another job got a pay raise every three or four years went to another job got a pay um I went through different situations at CNC metal cutting um Automotive you guys SE seen my resume um so uh um I ended up here in Huntington um almost by accident simply I couldn't buy a house fast enough and uh I was recruited to a metal wire company there in Fort Wayne and had to have a house bought the house on scene I was in Germany and uh have a few kids in the system I'm sure a few few you guys know them and here I am what other uh board work committee work not for-profit committee experience do you have if so uh I am a little bit more unique than the rest of them I am heavily involved with with the uh County Council the Commissioners the city council and within that had opportunity to be on a place of Grace committee which which was really good for the community um in my past uh we were a very heavy soccer family um coached a lot of soccer my time my kids have kind of aged up um of course I I raised eight kids so you can imagine I almost had a soccer team myself um and another unique thing that hardly anybody knows is uh is our family is huge into the motorcycle racing um we we do mentor and train a lot of the uh motorcycle Racers youth in in the country they believe it or not they do come through Indiana through our house um we train other places so uh that's should answer that question what do you believe are the qualities and skills of an effective Schoolboard member and how do your qualities skills characteristics match up to those I I think the most important quality is knowing weakness um I think each member should know their weakness they should uh amongst yourself uh possibly if you don't know and answer get together find out the answer um as you know I'm not a very good people person but I have other qualities that someone else might have um what was the second part of that question I know I should has memorized well how do your how do your skills match up to so if that's what a good board member is how do how do you you fit into that so uh I have been able to work in so many different Industries and so many different teams so many different projects so many that I had no choice but to either um be successful or we're we're probably not going to eat on some of these contracts so uh I I'm I know you guys think I'm very flamboyant but uh I I do know when to be quiet I know when to listen and I also know when to get involved following up directly on that then how do we how how do you as a a board member advocate for students I've thought about this one and uh as many of you know I I am kind of a community um Community comes to me for information um I I love kids they're number one but I think what's more important is the parents we we have to start advocating for parents because without those parents doesn't matter what we do for those kids parents might go to another school district they might be unhappy but happy parents will translate into happy kids so how do we get how do we get the parents happy again I I I know more than I should be saying but um when I when I do talk to parents uh they felt very talked down upon by some administrators so I think it's it's a coaching opportunity of of maybe we need to look into how to get our the the face of the school your administrators possibly to to deescalate and and our parents are our customers at the end of the day we it's competitive out there people are poaching our kids people are poaching the school district and fortunately we we have to treat our parents better as a representative member of the board uh how will you deal with public questions and concerns and how will votes reflect those priorities and desires so um I I do get a lot of lot of uh concerns uh I I do try to coach a little bit uh believe it or not I'm in the background saying maybe this is not the school's fault maybe um did you go to your Teachers Conference meetings uh have you went to uh a volunteer to be a uh uh for a field trip um there so many opportunities and and sometimes bad situations like well have you sat into your kids' classro and sometimes when I've turned it around uh things deescalate pretty quick and maybe the parents kind of back off of being so angry uh and what was the second part of the question well how do then if it comes times to vote if you've had an issue that's been brought to you then how do you so balance what constituents necessarily have come to you about versus what you maybe think personally so being on a school board it it'll be a whole lot different um number one I'll definitely listen and probably not talk because I will have to be coached by by the board because maybe I might say something that is not proper or might get the school in trouble so it probably not respond immediately and come back to the board and get some coaching as I've said to the others the middle question the kind of maybe the biggest question why why are you doing this why did you apply and the follow-up to that is talking about time but first of all talk about why um every single person in this room on this side has seen me at every single board meeting they have seen me um take notes they've seen some of the articles I wrote um basically this I chose this to be my home I this is where I landed this this is where I'm GNA live forever and I truly want the school board in the school district to be the best in in a in a five State five County area Okay uh time commitments and so uh that's a very good question I I am very blessed uh in my current role Zimmer Biomet uh Zimmer Biomet cherishes uh their employees to be Community involved um I am a unique role where my my role is actually 247 um my computer stays on all the time my phone stays on all the time and uh got in a little trouble so somebody did a little phone call and they didn't understand that I'm Flex meaning I have if I want to work in the morning I could work in the morning if I want to work at the night I could work at night but at the end of the day my company gets more than 40 hours a week from me so I'm very flexible um strengths and weaknesses what are the strengths and weaknesses of the public education system in Huntington County and Beyond so one of the most impressive things I've seen I know you don't hear Too Many accolades out of me is is I was part of the Strategic plan um I was impressed being at Crestview seeing the community members seeing the mayor I I was actually at the table with the mayor as as we're doing the final edit of this and that that's what community is about that's how the school is supposed to operate that's how you get a Buy in from a whole community that's a strength what weaknesses um I see this often and hopefully nobody takes this personally but um in my industry we we call it silos um I I truly believe um the board has some pretty high silos um we we miss out on some some things that people from not from here catch and is very important I I didn't the first word you said you said silos say that say that again I I'm sorry repeat your repeat your answer of the weakness being that we're in silos is that it's it's a business term that that that uh the industry uses when when you're in a silo it means that you only see what's in your Silo you don't see what's beyond okay so as a board member how would you expand I I I will be the one that bust to Silo okay um I I am going to be the one that's telling you and I know it's uncomfortable conversation hey you know um Community is still healing for happened at Huntington University are we sure about this I'm going to be the one that's gonna bring to the board hey you know um grocery prices people are having a hard time eating people are doing utility bill should we be buying that ad building I I'm I'm I'm going to I'm going to be the voice of of let's look 30,000 foot not not our silos okay thank you uh kind of leads into this next one any personal priorities for your time of service on the board and broader uh corporate goals for the entire board what would be uh your personal priorities and you think and what would be uh the corporate goal so I don't think college is for everybody um I think uh there's a stigma of not going to college uh for the broader side is is I am a product of a tech school my last two years of my high school I went to a tech school I learned industrial Electronics I was blowing up resistors capacitors doing voltage and and uh along the way I learned a a pretty incredible skill that I still use today so um the third part of that is is what really upset me was uh my children had said some negative things about that career center and it offended me so I I want to get the stigma away from the kids in the school what type of gem we have over there could you give us your definition of the role and function that a school board member plays and the board as a whole in the overall education process my answer is going to be a little bit different um simply we need to give our teachers a tools for Success anything they need to make a child successful and I think the way the board measures that success is how well is that child that student going to integrate in society when they leave Hunton North okay what uh why do you believe you're the best qualified candidate uh to fill this position for the next two years I I'm not what's sitting behind you you got some phenomenal Talent back here um H however what I bring to the table is um I'm um I am very connected with our political leaders um just last night I was talking back and forth with a senator on another issue I have relationships with the representatives um I could go have the lunch with the mayor and and most importantly is is I have a higher support system that I believe that could be very useful to to our school system what has not been asked or omitted or glossed over or something about you that that you said Gee I thought they'd asked that that they didn't do that so let's talk about the elephant in the room um everybody knows I'm the administrator of a very controversial Facebook page um I understand that uh I will not be able to talk about the school I understand that is going to be a conflict of interest and I will recluse myself of anything School related on on the Facebook news page and I think that's important for everybody to know okay anything else about you or that either again was not asked or you want to make sure the board knows um another uncomfortable conversation uh I think we have an opportunity to show Huntington that that we we will accept a little bit of diversity um the kids that are coming into the school right now um are are more Latin they're more Asian uh I have a unique um skill set of of reaching those kids I've been there I know what they're going through um there's many times I've been in this room uh for other things like sports um it it really hurts me when I see a whole track team come up front get their athletic scholarship pler Scholastics we're getting good grades it's almost a whole team and I will look behind me it's it's it's the people that that are of color that have not achieved that that's that's eye opening board followup Carri no okay thank you very much uh what we will do now at the very least is be able to stand up stretch your your legs we are not going into a formal recess uh the board will not leave the room in any way but if uh uh we're going to gather our thoughts here and talk about the next steps to defitely I e e e which will shift everything to this side of the table except for Thank Goodness Me and Mrs Gray we won't have to have to do the vote but by Indiana statute Indiana code uh Open Door law the discussion and actual vote for to fill this position is a public meeting and must be done in public so uh the only agenda item at this point is for uh to vote on the candidates uh just quickly some rules Mrs Gray will read each board member's name they will indicate which candidate they are supporting uh I I first want to say thank you to the six who went through this and as as good or bad as it was to hear each other's answers it was a very informative couple of hours and and I think we're grateful for that and when a board member votes uh they're doing exactly what we ask you about what's the role of a board me board member and I forget one of you that said it's to gather as much information as possible and then make make an informed decision and that's what this will be so Mrs Gray will will read off uh the member's name they will indicate who they are supporting and since uh uh please with with Mr Hank Miller and Mrs Deb Miller make sure you uh don't just say Miller we want you to say uh which uh the first name um four me four votes are required if four votes aren't received on the first ballot we will then do a second roll call discussion first on all this uh on the second ballot if if someone has zero votes they would be eliminated from consideration so all candidates are eligible through the first two ballots if somebody has not had any votes after the second ballot then their name is off the list uh the third ballot uh again if somebody has zero they'd be removed on the fourth ballot if zero or just one vote uh would be removed on the fifth ballot uh one or zero removed unless it's a 2 two2 tie and then we go on and we have the procedure and process for that uh the most we could go to in eliminating uh as it goes forward would be seven ballots uh if at that point uh or an e if whatever how it works out there um an impass could be declared and by Statute uh if this board has not made a decision cannot make a decision it goes to the judge of the Huntington circuit court for appointment think we said all that so I think I'll turn it over to Mr Allen before we uh little different than that we're not going to make a motion that says I move we elect X because then that would just get very cumbersome and and messy so it's more bored you as you're called on you'll indicate a b c d or E we'll get the totals and then see where we're at after the first ballot if if we get four on the first ballot we'll be done and we'll swear the person in if we have to go further than and that we will and we can have discussion between each time so I'll turn it at this point over to Mr Allen for discussion by the board regarding uh the candidates and any support you want to indicate thank you Mr Wy um I first wanted to reiterate what he had said and Echo what he said um really appreciate your efforts tonight you should be proud of of yourselves um you've made the choice very difficult uh honestly we have have six very good candidates um I know that when we realized we were going to need to replace this District uh member um we were hopeful to get a couple and uh you are all really really good candidates and done did a great job tonight um anyone have anything like to add yeah I was gonna just reiterate what Tim had said I also would like to thank uh the other individuals that uh applied uh that would did not meet qualifications that lived in the area I just thought it was great that we had I think it was 13 total people that applied for the position so I do truly appreciate that um also if at at the if at the end of the the day uh you don't make it on the board please don't give up continue to to advocate for the community that's one of the things that I think I heard across the board from all you guys is you're invested in this community and I want to continue to have you do that and get involved so on that note I wish you all the best of luck any other board members have anything like to add Mr Wy okay any other discussion at this point all right Mrs Gray uh will'll again read your names you're at this point you're in alphabetical alphabetical order uh Mr Allen Mr Carl Mr Heim Mr mclen Mr melter Mr wall so she will read your name and I ask you to please indicate who you are supporting uh on this first ballot and we will rotate who goes first if we have to go more than one ballot but Mr Allen you get as wait for Mrs Gray yeah wait for Mrs Gray to call your name we'll go from there Mr Allen uh I vote for Deborah Miller Mr Carl I vote for Chris Hoffman Mrs Heim I vote for Deb Miller Mr mclen I vote for Deb Miller Mr meler James dmer Mr wall I vote for Deb Miller certainly I'm just going to read in alphabetical order by last name James dmer one Chris Hoffman one Deborah Miller four okay and I think uh by the rules we have established uh Mrs Miller you are selected to serve on the board we are prepared to swear you in tonight and uh uh I think um Cindy will then talk to you about even further training that will occur so um that's that'll still be part of this meeting so y um we will close out the election of District Two trustee and move to see items of discussion by board members anyone have anything they' like to add before we close thanks again to all you um really really productive night um as Mr wall said there are all sorts of opportunities to volunteer and be a part of the things that go on in the schools and as well as the Committees um some of the ideas that you brought forward today are absolutely going to be discussed by the board I can assure you of that you had a lot of great thoughts it means a lot to us yes yes ma'am great group to be a part great ton and I hope everyone will continue and just to tie up the very last piece this is a two-year term this is for the remainder of 25 and 26 and this uh seat uh is one that will be on the ballot in November of 26 filing for that position will occur I believe in August of that year so many days so uh we encourage uh those that are interested and there may probably will be could be others too so um with that Mrs Miller if you come forward hold on motion to adjourn so negative was up here that's why I was on was on the list that's before the swearing in there is no saring I think we can make that part of the we usually have that part of the board when we do it when we did it for let's adjourn after the swearing end yeah we'll wait no to read it let's do left hand raise your right hand and you need to turn around all right I and state your name do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America that I will support United States America and the constitution of the state of Indiana and the laws of the United States and laws and the state of Indiana and the state of Indiana I will Faithfully execute the duties of this office as a member of the governing board of the Huntington County Community School Corporation yeah so help me God congratulations

our e my name is Jim neelsen I'm the chair of the ashin historical commission and welcome to tonight's hearing I'm glad you could make it um I'm just gonna start the meeting talking so we can hear I can't hear you hear started all the way in the back can you hear me now Julie can you hear us okay can you hear me everybody on Zoom can you hear me I can hear you okay yes yeah all right I'm opening the public hearing notice is hereby giving that the Ashen historical commission will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday January 14th 2025 at 7 p.m. in the select board meeting room at the Ashland Town Hall 101 Main Street ashin Mass persons wishing to be heard on this matter invited to attend this in person or by logging into zoom using the link below which is posted on the town's website www.mass.com and then it gives the actual Zoom address uh the purpose of the hearing is to discuss the proposed local historic district both the preliminary study report and a map are posted on the town's website Ashen mass.com interested parties who are able to attend the hearing May submit written comments to the Ashen historical commission at historical at Ashlin mask.com uh and that's me um I want to explain to everybody that anybody who wants to speak whether for or against will be given a chance to speak we have the room for a while I'm not sure how many people will actually attend I actually want to say this is the the official hearing but we're going to have another meeting um on this the histo I'll just back up a little bit the historical commission's been having meetings about this every week at their meeting which is which is the second Tuesday of every month um for the past two years but we're going to have another uh hopefully I'll get a bigger room too for a hybrid meeting so people can come in person if they have any further questions probably in March or April closer to the town meeting um so if you don't have a question now and it pops up later please feel free to call me uh call me uh or email me or there going to be another meeting or please you're all invited to come to the um the ashin historical commission meetings um now I also asked that anybody speaking wait to be recognized by the chair and I'd like to just do a little brief introduction and a little PowerPoint presentation that's very brief uh just to give you a feel of what we're doing and what this is all about all right was it I'll back up a little bit the uh the ashon historical commission was reestablished back in 2020 right before covid it been vacant for a number of of of years uh due to disinterest or or whatever have you and the original commission got back together and we spent all our time doing things we getting it took us a while to get reorganized and a bunch of different topics came up mostly what the mission of the uh the historical commission is basically to preserve and to promote the historical and Architectural features of Ashley now in ashin a lot of these properties are are quite spread out the old farmhouses because it was a rural town and that there's no uh cluster of a neighborhood of buildings and things like that uh that really Define the town they're all spread out one by one and one by one we're losing those houses and all those old buildings it really came to a head when the mill building project started and we met with them and there were there was one plan in the beginning I don't want to rehash the whole thing it's now a 40b project and it's not in our control anymore or anybody's control except the state I guess or whatever the town does um it's not the historical commission's uh purview anymore but uh that's what started the ball rolling to see how you can protect a building in ashin um a historic building in ashin a significant building in ashin from being demolished um with no say from the town um what happens to it um and in order to do that there's been several uh things proposed but I I did we did some research and let me just tell you by establishing local historic district mun municipalities highlight their Town's character and history and protect them against inappropriate alterations and demolition created through the passes of a town law bylaw a local historic district requires that certain projects visible from the public way are viewed by a locally appointed historic district commission for example if a property owner wants to add onto a building located in the district the property owners must submit an application to the historic district commission the historic district commission holds a public hearing and makes a determination based on the established guidelines on whether the new addition is appropriate if the new addition is deemed appropriate the historic commission ISS issues a certificate of appropriateness which allows the work to proceed local historic districts were established in Massachusetts in 1955 for Beacon Hill in Nantucket the entire island of Nantucket is a historic district um the historic districts act chapter 40c of the Massachusetts general laws of 1960 amended 1975 and 83 is the enabling legislation for the creation of local historic districts there are now more than 200 local historic districts in more than 120 municipalities in the Commonwealth neighboring towns with local historic districts include Framingham Hoppington Medfield NAC Sherburn um we could go on in Massachusetts a historic district consists of a single building like 76 Main Street in hopkington or an or an entire Island as is the case with Nantucket um now there's a couple things we want to go through uh we'll just start with the with the PowerPoint presentation well we decided um way back when that the only way we were going to preserve some of the buildings in the downtown was to create this District it's the only way to prevent demolition of some of the buildings now not everything in this proposed district is historic um but there those are what they call placeholders and if I'm not I'll just introduce on my right over here here is our consultant that we hired um her name is Stacy spies and she's a professional what you call it architect and Stacy and and the and the commission did a lot of research and we had a whole study committee that vetted the research and discussed it and we this went on for I would say over two years um we had meetings public meetings every Ashlin historical commission meeting was this was talked about and um a while back there was letter sent out to the owners of the prop what what we decided actually uh it was because of the downtown area um was not as res well there is only one residence in the downtown area that this district is proposed over the rest of businesses or public buildings and most of the ones uh in the downtown area that we're trying to preserve are significant to Ashland um not everything like I said and we'll just go through it here why create a local history historic district a local historic district is the only mechanism able available to preserve historic buildings uh to maintain the character of the downtown ashlin's quickly losing its historical buildings uh demo delays in the National Registry like a National Registry of National Historic register all what they do is they highlight it but there's no there's no mechanism in the National register to basically preserve the building so you can take it you might want to move the bar there to the over to the right so not oh yeah that's good well lower down so how do I do this uh that'll do no no there it goes there's a way there's a way of making it go on the right side instead of okay that'll do yeah okay I didn't do anything um this is basically um demo delays and National R are good to have but they don't create long-term preservation to preserve ashlin's history and this if you can see are some of the some of the major uh buildings that we we wish would hope to preserve uh on the top there you have the public library and you have the Mason's building um on the right is John Stones which uh has been here before the town was created uh below that the fire station which is is built in 1923 is part of the historic fabric of ashin and below that is the 18 I believe it's 1886 uh railroad station that is privately on now um we have the church which has been here since I believe is at 1835 close enough um and to the left of that I forget that that's the Higgins block I believe uh which is now it used to have Dave TV when I first moved to Ashland but it's the blue building next to Sunny side and above it is the mill buildings which as we know is a whole different discussion on um on what's happening with them they're included because part of if you look at the map that's provided the look down to the map the map it has to be a contiguous District um if you wanted to do individual buildings you'd have to have an individual local historic commission for each and every building um that's never going to we never have enough participants in ashin to do that um but and this they don't really recommend it unless um some places do it I think the only place I can think of as the city of Somerville um tends to do it in single buildings but it's a different process with a city as opposed to a town yeah and they also have staff people and they have staff people Planning and Development people who monitor so that's a much larger undertaking yeah so if you can see from the map it starts over at the as ashin Historical Society the Ocean House continues down Main Street to past the um Mill buildings the building next to the church the church and around the cemetery which we've been restoring in another matter and going down Front Street all the buildings on that side of the street until the library and from the library across the street all the buildings across Homer AV uh starting at the train station the block right on the corner where the dentist is used to be ebbr Pharmacy and where pizza mine is right now and the post office and going back up Main Street on that side uh JN stones and then we get uh L where lers is the old General Store Town Hall the James Jackson house and up to The Corner Spot uh like I said not everything in those um in this district is historical and there's different um things apply to that the historic the non-historic buildings don't fall under the purview for as far as fixing them or altering the uh exterior unless you wanted to knock it down and put up a a a five-story apartment block is that correct Stacy basically I mean it would all be reviewable but certainly I um it would be reviewed just like it would anything else in the historic in the local historic district but if it's a more modern building there's not as much you know you're not worrying as much about um you know the the historic U slate roof or something like that so it it is reviewable but it's you know it's the um it'll be the local historic district commission's you know decision whether or not they can also say go right ahead so it's within the purview um of the local commission decide if they they just want you know let the project go through as is so right and what we've we we've basically um asked ourselves like what is a local historic district a local historic district is a contiguous group like I said of historic structures that the town votes to preserve and it's requires approval from the mass historic commission which we already have um this is all submitted to them in the fall and they've approved it and it's going to need a two-thirds vote at the town meeting in the spring so an asan historic sener district commission will be then if this passes what will happen is there will be a a separate District commission set up separate from the historical commission that will have members much like the study committee was some people from the architectural um field real estate somebody who actually owns a building or lives in the actual district and it's exclusively uh made up of we don't we say it be residents but there's only one resident that I know of um that's actually in it um uh but it it'll be a separate entity and that's what be who will be doing the reviews and stuff like that um exclusively in the downtown area from the post office in back right okay what does a historic district do preserves the exterior of historically architecturally significant buildings protects the character of the downtown increases property values study after study indicates that the value of properties in lhd have significantly benefited one we quote here is from downtown it says Downtown revitalization main Street's an economic revitalization program based on utilizing each downtown's historic buildings there is no more cost-effective program of the E economic development of any kind in the US today and uh since 1980 Main Street District in more than 2,000 communities across the country have seen a collective investment of $79 billion 285,000 billions uh 285,000 buildings rehabilitated and more than 640,000 net jobs and nearly 144,000 new business businesses that's from um reasons 24 reasons historic preservation is good for your community what does it not do it does not control property usage we have no control over what business what type of business um all the the district is concerned about is the exterior of the buildings um and what you can see from the street uh it doesn't control what business are allowed it does not prevent new construction I know if somebody like the bank or like the the the NM bank or the Santander one of them decide to close the building that's not going to be prevented or it's not going to be for of new construction there will be allowed of course and what the only the only you'd have to submit whoever develops it would have to submit part of the plan to the historic local historic district for approval of the of the design along with the planning board um and all the other regular government uh post that you would do it to uh Studies have shown it does not decreased property values it only applies to the portions of the building that can be seen from the street so it say I I had something on Facebook Michael Herbert asked if Give an example if lunkers for example wanted to expand out back we can't see it from the street fine go for it it's not reviewable they can do that um if you wanted to change the facade or the the the structure of the building um then it would be reviewable not saying it wouldn't pass but it would be reviewable existing structures are right now grandfathered until significant alterations are requested there was another thing I saw online that someone said that this was an grandfather we're going to make everybody change their buildings around to make some kind of establishment of a of a downtown conquered and Ashland or something like that that's not true um no everything that's here right now is grandfathered in so you don't have to worry about uh doing anything to your property right now if that's a concern uh where El I and the creation of the district commission the local historic commission will feature M member each of the they'll be they be appointed by the select board one member each from the Ashland Historical Society like I said the chapter of the American Institute of Architects covering Ashland board of realtors covering Ashland one property owner from the district and they can also appoint uh other people uh up to four alternative members uh at their discretion the district commission is responsible for overseeing the district's bylaw and it's also responsible for establishing a non-binding set of guidelines the uh local study committee worked on the B the the guidelines they're all this is all the the bylaws and the guidelines the guidelines are non-binding the suggestions for example if someone came in what do I got to do to comply with this historic District uh bylaw those are suggestions some things that they could consider um and some things that the commission would be you know considering too um those are non-bonding they're up on the town's website um the local his our study committee put them together and it's basically cobbled together from other towns where we're using things that other towns have already successfully incorporated into their local historic district commissions so we're not Reinventing the wheel here um we're just trying to do some preservation work for down Town Ashlin um before it's all gone and that's basically our our our intent and our mission the bylaws are have been vetted by the the Town Council by the mass State uh historical commission and eventually if this passes its town meeting it'll be going to the Attorney General's office who has the final say and and then it will become registered at the registry of deeds and then it becomes in effect um the map the whole report will go in as a as a as a bylaw do document um and that when in summary we trying to do is the historic district creates a thoughtful community-based review process that protects historically significant buildings from Demolition and inappropriate inappropriate alteration it will create a local historic district Commission of local residents to determine how best to protect the unique character of Ash downtown by by providing a review process for changes to exterior architectural features visible from the public way while allowing thoughtful consideration of change okay so with that I would like to ask if anybody is looking to speak in favor of the district please let themselves be known and you can go up to the podium and identify yourself go ahead okay even o Sony 1119 Main Street yes I've been well informed by the committee every meeting I attended to and I it is a good idea to make this town more visible by having this to go on to with go on with I want I just wanted to make sure that is if anybody wanted to tear down a building is there still the 90day time period in case they want to tear down building what do you mean the 90-day time period 9 time yes you mean the demolition delay yes that's a year it's a year yep okay or up to a year and yeah and and anything that's in the in the the district would still be subject to the demolition delay bylaw which if it was if it fit the criteria if it was over I think it we add to that actually what um the the way the hierarchy works is that the historic district commission will have say on the matter actually it'll it'll supersede the demo delay yeah so um there won't be the same clock on it like you would have had with the demo DeLay So what you'd end up doing is you'd end up uh bringing your proposal uh you're seeking a certificate of appropriateness from the local historic district Commission um to demo the building and what you're you know uh proposing in its place so it actually will it's a separate you'll go through historic district and then you won't have to you won't have to go through Dem delay okay suedes I stand corrected okay um let's see if I can formulate this question coming out right um the exteriors the front of each building every time there is a building does it need need to say on on sign a circus sign on every Circle sign on the front of them to say that they are hystorical no no no does this have to have the exterior look well like I said it's anything that's already in downtown as his grandfather there to looking the way it looks right now so the this this would only affect uh changes so wanted to change the facades or the exterior um that's when a review process would go into effect so changes subsequent to the implementation of the bylaw and last one um this is a two3 vot town Meen MH I don't think they do but would the zodin of this town have anything to say about it we're not changing usage or anything like that for zoning well usually it's if it's a bylaw Zone might be involved but something like this is separate from a zon and bylaw yes yeah thank you thanks Mark hi Julie nardone 86 aliot Street um I see this not as a restriction but as an opportunity um local historic districts they they really do a lot for the local economy because it's it is a destination and I think towns that don't use their history to enhance their local economy are really missing out and I'm going to use Hudson as an example because I was just there and they have 65 um buildings in their historic district and that the history has really brought that town alive it was 15 years ago most of the buildings were vacant and now it's just booming it's incredible I've heard of someone in natic moving to Hudson and if we're g to spend um I think we're up to 17 million on the downtown redo I mean what exactly are we redoing and bringing back to life if the history is can be just eliminated um so I think it's it's a good thing um we have our zoning is very uh watered down compared to some other towns so I think the developers in this town have been able to do pretty much what they've wanted to do and we always seem to be watering it down um this is something that could be done for the town for the people for the community something we could be proud of I know when I go to other towns and I see the entering the local historic district with the name I find that something to be proud of when I travel to different cities I always go to the historic downtown um like Visitor Center I want to learn about it and I just think it would increase the pride and The Prestige of the downtown if we went and did this and it's not unusual many towns are doing this all the towns around us I looked and I think it would be great for small business and we really our downtown kind of doesn't have a much of an identity but this would help pull it together we don't really have a brand um so anyways I think it's a great thing and that it would be a a means to pull this whole thing together whatever it is we're doing in the downtown if will pull it together and give it a focal point Thank you thank you Julie it just reminds me um when you do come into town there were two signs one on either end I'm saying welcome to the Ashland historic district uh which isn't really official um those signs were just put up I Believe by Mr cudy back in the day um more of an advertising thing but they're not they don't significant they don't signify anything they're just signs um we don't have a local historic district so hi it's Debbie Brogan I'm at 119 Main Street I live in the James Jackson house um lived here all my life met my husband at the high school um it's just a really sad thing for those of us who have lived her all our lives to see what's going on in downtown and I don't think it's going to stop I think unless we do something like this we're we're going to lose the character the history all of that from our downtown area which is a sad thing I would have hoped the town had handled things differently in downtown and the same thing when I see that entering Historic downtown Ashland now I kind of have to it sort of it's ridiculous um because it's beginning to be that we're going to lose it so I just want to say that you know thank you guys so much for doing this and any way a regular citizen could help I am willing to help thanks is there anybody on Zoom who would like to say anything just unmute yourself and unmute your camera and just come on down probably have them raise hand yeah so we get them in order if they're go ahead naen go ahead I just wanted to thank you all for uh putting your time an effort into this I think it's a great idea and nen you are a property owner and a resident correct right yeah we would ask everyone to identify themselves and give their address as the inperson speakers have done oh 75 Main Street thank you thank you anyone else [Music] okay well now I'll ask for anybody to speak in opposition to this my name is hi mik Jim is he's speaking I'm not hearing him that's it sorry try again I'll start over I'm uh Mike Kane um I own 126 cell storage in mg Kane properties at 162 pwn Street here in town and I think the intent is great to keep downtown Ash you know nice and traditional and historic um I just question the need for a a BW that ises five unelected people in town the power to dictate what these proper I don't own property downtown what they can and can't do with their property um and I I think it's kind of unnecessary and and with your dissertation you kind of Mak my argument of why why I think it's unnecessary uh I was born here in 1951 so I've been here a long time and I've seen a changes you know most most for the better but um you went through the various properties in downtown Ashland and I just wanted to run through quickly some of the changes have been made in the last 20 25 years in downtown 37 Main Street that's the dental office was a house converted to the dental office very traditional looking property 9800 Baine Street the brick two family across from town hall had all new roof Windows entry paint landscape looks better than it has probably last 75 years 101 Main Street of course our town hall going to be torn down some people activists that active saved it in town leaders of it um 137 Main Street that's a fire station being being re rehabilitated to a uh a brewery it's just getting paint new patio no structural changes 179 main Stones Public House had a lot of exterior work done roof dorm rooms balconies paint landscape looks better than it has in the last 73 years that I've been around um five Homer AV that's the Zen Dental was ever Pharmacy which opened in 1940 building is exactly the same way it was with the exception of signage what do have you Railroad Station uh 20 25 years ago put the sidewalk in front of the curbing sto the trucks from Hit the roof they repaired the slight roof and painted the trim looks exactly like it did probably in the 1800s um two properties outside the current historic district 116 Front Street it's a three family currently being rehabed by um Ryan Chiva owner of a very traditional construction of course 134 Front Street asham Lumber new construction very traditional all these properties have been cleaned up without any bylaw just the cooperation of the owners it with some uh input from the U design Review Committee probably on the ashon number and some of the newer three story apartments that we built so so rather than have a bylaw where you dictate to people what they can and can't do people that are paying taxes on their private property why don't you incentivize it Ashen has uh several business incentive programs currently so they have a sign and facade program matches 50% up to $5,000 the cost for exterior improvements on the facades and the signage of buildings I believe it's run through Beth Reynolds uh office and they have a grant program for new businesses that um up to $10,000 for first year rent and up to $10,000 for equipment acquisition cost so what if you develop what I'm going to call a historic property improvements program similar fashion where you put in CPA money which be used for historic preservation into a fund so when someone comes down to uh Town Hall to get a building permit they want to put vinyl siding on which I don't think you want so you that's going to cost them $ 15 or $22,000 you want wood siding that's going to cost 35 $40,000 you say hey we'll kick in 15 or $220,000 to get this done the way we'd like to see it in other words you use the carrot and not the stick to make things happen that you want to see um I just have a real problem with people's property rights and dictating to them what they can and can't do and it only takes three out of the five members to to to make the ruling so I mean that's three out of like a town of what 19,000 or so people um I I just just doesn't feel right to me you know somebody who's seen the changes for Guess 1958 that's when the first first grade bus was going through town to go to the what's now known as the MZ school um uh it's only gotten better especially with the street improvements and the polls coming down don't think we need it um I wish you think of other alteres thank you thank you Mike um I have just a just has anybody been to downtown Walpole recently when you come under 27 and you see the huge apartment buildings right there which I grew up in downtown walpo I used to walk under that railroad bridge on my way home to school that's what happens when there's no restrictions on the downtown area it's way out of proportion to the downtown building we have one of those in ashin I'm kind of getting used to it but on the corner where the alberini house was that became the condo or whatever they are apartments right now next to the church uh that's wildly out of place in downtown ashin and that's just my personal opinion but I mean it's all well and good everybody has good intentions I love it and I love the fact that people want to make it kind of like look like it fits in the neighborhood stuff like that but not everybody's going to come in here with that kind of mindset you know and and this is not just for now and what we have now and people doing it now this is for the future too and the reason why we settled on what seems like it's Draconian um is really the only the absolute only way to do this in this state there's no other mechanism um to do this so that's why we came up with this it's it's taken a lot of research and it'll be easier just to go on a case-by casee basis but there's no way to do that because the town's not going to let you have 20 different historical commissions for 25 different buildings it's just we we we don't have the we don't have the Manpower or the or the volunteer level for that so I agree with uh Mr K's assessment and you know I I'd like to keep it the way it is too but there is going to be change it's inevitable but how you regulate that change and manage it is what we're trying to just put a little bit of a break on um and a little bit of guidance from the people of this town um not to tell people what to do um and is that I mean we have to you have to when you're building something in town I'm not a builder I know some people in this room are but I know you have to go through all kinds of Hoops and and and and uh hurdles to get something built in any town or any City I mean there's planning boards there's zoning there's this that and everything else okay this is another layer but it's for a very small portion of town for a very specific reason that's all we're trying to accomplish um anybody else yeah I just wanted to add that I like the idea of incentivizing and I don't see that these two approaches are mutually exclusive they could both be undertaken carrot and stick I'm just checking now it there may be actually I was going to say the same thing there's um The National Trust for stroke preservation which is just a you know a pro preservation group they have um a group and it's been around for 30 40 years it's a main streets program and it's another way it's very down Town oriented um and they have grants they often have a downtown manager you know and they help guide people through that sort of thing um and I would like to check I'm going to check for Mike too about uh CPA funds for preservation whether or not it can go to individuals so I'm going to check that for you too but yeah incentivizing is a great idea yes sir my name is John Ellsworth I'm a 22 High Street Extension my family and I came here 50 years ago and I would remind everybody on that table and everybody who is in this room that downtown Ashton was a desert it literally was a defunct rear Road siding with Steels sticking out of the ground for rails that didn't work and it was ugly John Stone's Inn was a biker bar with people urinating off the porch on the Main Street and I could go on and on and on without the artifice and that's what I consider what you guys are coming up with of an asoral commission okay downtown got improved it looks great okay and I just want you to understand that the people who are basically living there and running businesses there are well- intended now I want to talk a little bit about some stuff that happened to us uh in my business downtown uh that that really irritated me about 20 years ago we gutted 91 Main Street and we created a real estate office we put in another toilet we had to meet code for cast iron for a a one-story building it was ridiculous just all kinds of ridiculous things to build the internal part of that of that space you talk about if it's can't be seen from the window or can't be seen from the front nobody has any control over it and yet the selectman about a year later after I'd done all of that commissioned a group of three people to walk around downtown engage what they were looking at and they came into our office and they said John your office is ugly from the window the problem is that as I read the bylaw that you guys have put together it can be expanded and extended not only to the exterior look but to what it looks like Through the Windows okay you shake your head read the damn thing okay it's totally open-ended it is no it's not no I I please I'm not here to debate you okay I'm telling you what my interpretation of the bylaw is okay you can you can control color you can control I understand you don't like plastic okay when my wife and I added a very large garage we lived in an old house you can't get trim made out of wood any longer to match what was built 200 years ago so we went to plastic and we went to a company in Connecticut and we had the plastic replicated in the same trim form that we used in the new in our new garage and yet I see that plastic is anma to the bylaws and there's all kinds of all kinds of requirements hey maybe I'm misreading it I've got to read the whole thing in great detail but I so I just heard violent you guys don't like vinyl good God all the houses being built today go with vinyl so I you know I'm going to stop talking about the specifics because that's going to happen in April all right I'll have had a chance to read the darn thing okay I just saw it for the first time in any great deal detail tonight now let's talk a little bit about the granite buildings the only reason we're here is because of the Granite buildings the Lombard buildings that's the only reason we're here because the historic commission was basically not happy with what happened I will make an A A not an accusation but I'll make a judgment all right if the town in its Infinite Wisdom had worked with a developer and considered maybe assisting rather than fighting we could have saved all three of those Granite fronts it only takes money I see you look you look doubtful okay it only takes money if we can spend a half a 500 thou five excuse me $5 million on a on a on a a house that's been totally wrecked on the inside is no longer historic in order to save the barn behind it and I would add to prevent how many how many cond window and apartments did we prevent that was the ultimate objective not historical it was to prevent something5 to6 million in the Valentine property is crazy but we did it we're not a poor town a half a million dollars maybe buying the the the granite fronts and working with the builder instead of telling the Builder to get bent okay go away we don't want your we don't want your housing it might have happened he might have done it the problem is that this thing is is is is a hammer it's a sledgehammer and the little bit that I have read of it tells me it's a sledgehammer now I know you look you look skeptical Mr neelon okay well Mr the problem is let me finish okay every time I've had a chat with you on the on on the on on on the zoom committee you try to talk over people just listen this is a public hearing listen okay I'm listening there are alternative ways of making this happen you've chosen the most ronian thank you I would just like to say for the record that uh I was not trying to talk over anybody but uh I was addressed directly there and I was answering him however um I I wish he would take the time to read the whole thing before uh casting experss thank you go ahead Debbie um I'd just like to say to Mr excuse me it's been available on the on the town website for month over a month now it's not it's on the town website I'm sorry you could call the town hall and find somebody to help you with it if you couldn't find it go ahead I'm sorry just like to say to Mr Ellsworth I think what he's trying to maybe say is that um he doesn't like the fact that he thinks that the buildings it's going to be difficult for people who run businesses or whatever and as far as the mill buildings go um here's what we wanted we wanted our Mill buildings that this town was built around saved saved okay and that is why there was so much so many problems and so many people raising their voices because if you had lived here all your life and seeing those Mill buildings you didn't want a facade you didn't want to just see a granite front there are businesses over there many many many businesses over there who are going to have to get out we don't want a facade we want the mill buildings and the businesses that are there to to stay there because many of us my dentists I've been going to for 40 over 40 years in that building there are many many people who have businesses that are just going to lose you think they're going to stay in ashlon where are they going to stay in ashon we wanted our Mill buildings and we wanted those businesses to say that's why we fought it that's why we were against it that's why we're still against it but it doesn't matter um one thing too I just like to let the audience know that we National Historical commission did have many meetings with uh the owners of the mill buildings in the initial stages of their uh of of their planning and the original plan was to save the first two buildings completely and the third building was up for discussion we didn't have anything to say about the brick building um on the right where the gym is and all that stuff that was never part of the discussion um as far as other board in the town which happened after that we had nothing to do with it we were fine with what was going on is if he would save as much as he could whatever was going to be Financial viable for them and Joanna and I were both there at the time this is before uh some of these members were on the board um and you know we talked with the owner we toured the I've toured that property probably three times now and there's been three different plans and the last one he came in with the 40b stuff and we that that takes it off the table for for a lot of the local initiative um to have any say in in the project but we were working with the developer um the owner um beforehand we weren't putting up roadblocks we wanted to save as much of those Granite buildings as we could I mean Joan if you can second this thank you Jim um so one comment I do want to make in terms of one of the aspersions made earlier the historical Commission was not reformed because of the mill buildings the the call for people to reform to reform the commission came well in advance of that it just happen to take the town nearly a year to go through the talent bank and interview people who had an interest in preserving that which is Ashland myself I'm an 18-year resident of town having uh moved and lived in many historical communities and I've seen the destruction of downtowns coastal communities uh where where big wealth comes in buys up large swats of lands and erect a thousand conduit units completely obscuring a view you know and that's the memory I have as a young person living in Massachusetts I didn't want to see that coming into Ashland in my midlife was my motivating factor of I want I want to preserve some small town Massachusetts field that's where I feel at home and many other people may feel differently but back to Jim's original question though yes that uh several us had on multiple occasions met with the current owners of the mill buildings and he had uh presented his various ideas to us not that we have any skin in the game we don't have any teeth in the game we can't say yes we can't say no it was a courtesy that to involved us and what we were thinking what what kind of pulse beat we thought that people of Ashland could accept in terms of changes to those structures obviously uh people who know know the history behind those structures were such that uh okay we don't want them change we don't want them gone and the woman who had spoken just a few minutes ago so yes we feel for everyone who works in those buildings and every person who patronizes the businesses in those buildings we we share those concerns we're not anti- bus we're actually very Pro bus but we're also Pro preservation in the same context um and that's really that's just my my personal opinion thank you thanks Jo I'd like to address one of the concerns that Mr Kaine raised concerning the uh uh authority of a small group of five to make decisions and just observe that this is also the case with pretty much all of the boards in the town the select board has five the planning board historical the um the Conservation Commission this is typical of town government so it's nothing unusual to have a board of that many people that it's an odd number is essential so that you can get a majority okay Adam thank you Jim uh Adam Sachs live it toester Lane um I do serve as a president of the as Business Association but I'm here uh with my own voice I appreciate the opportunity to um speak to you and and get some clarity on a few things um I I would um like some clarity just on the on the what is the structure of of this right um just in terms of the time that each person has speaking uh my understanding was that this was there were n there were fours speaking first and then I'm sorry if yeah you can speak as long as you want okay there's no there's no's I don't want to speak for a long time no no there's no time limit I mean we can speak we have the room till 10: so if you want to go to 10: all right um so um yeah I've been here in Ashlin for 23 years uh lived at Pine Lake Town Homes initially and then we moved to uh to Wester Lane um I grew up in Worster and grew up in a uh family business that my grandfather started 75 years ago uh ultimately was sold uh last year but it was a window business and it was at 836 Main Street in downtown Wier downtown Wier got was a little tough um they ultimately moved it right next to Coney Island and um I I've had the opportunity to sit on some of your sub the subcommittees and get a little bit more clarity in in the sort of the details of uh the guidelines and so forth and um ultimately my uh that uh building that my father moved um his business to became a historical district and he wanted the the windows were sort of breaking down and he wanted to replace the windows within the building with his own windows and he was denied um and he was required to put um windows in there that would have cost four five times what a normal window would have caught to meet the same Aesthetics so ultimately I just like to get some clarity and what the you know what would that look like when you talk about the exterior that would include Windows would it not so can you just provide a little bit more clarity about that and ultimately my father's business he moved that bill he moved to a different location in wiester so that wiester lost um a business you know in Wester the 75 years based upon sort of the historic district that was imposed in my family business so I just like to get some clarity and I'll just say Obviously each each district uh is going to be different um city by City Town by Town um I know that if you lived on Beacon Hill in Boston you have a different set of rules than if you lived in the south end or if you you know every every commission's gonna it's gonna it's going to change we're Ashen so we're not going to be I I don't think but I mean it's it depends on who serves on the commission obviously but Stacy go ahead with the uh if you can give some clarity on that I can't I can't speak to I don't know I'm not familiar with worcester's um uh uh hisor preservation bylaw um but I do yes windows are reviewable um but I do want to add also there is um uh a hardship clause in here that it's you can make a case that if that's just prohibitive because you know it all depends on the collective for example in downtown denam you know that cute little area right downtown um there's if you replace windows they want you to do true Leed uh divided lights that's very expensive whole other issue luckily I'm not on there but uh for example um I was chair of uh the Hopkinson historic district for several years served on it before I was chair and um we allowed vinyl that looks with you know it's got uh molding on it it was just applied on the front and because everybody wanted to be reasonable about it so it's a matter of being reasonable about but that depends who you get on there and I will add actually I want to add one other thing the bylaw is set up that it's set up by the State inv vented by the state it has um slots that are set up for Architects Realtors um however if you can't find anyone after I think it's after uh the way it's set up is that the you uh make a request of the Boston Society of Architects the AIA uh if someone wants you know would someone like to come and sit on our ashin board and nobody answers the select board has um the right after that same thing with a realtor if you don't have a realtor who applies the select board can then take from a pool of applicants so there are at large seats as well so it's not just um uh Property Owners dist so you can get a wider representation right so but yes but yeah absolutely and um I think there was also a question about plastic we in hopkington especially on um some of you are familiar with the little blue house that's right near the library that burned down a couple during Co um um they reconstructed that that was the owner um owner's decision to reconstruct it that was and that's all plastic yeah don't look too closely but it was to be reasonable U part of this is placem you know it's like um I think Julie none was talking about like Hudson has become Hudson's transformation is amazing so that's part of it you want to you're trying to keep the feel of it but depends how so if if the commission came back with something that was uh potentially honorous or or expense too expensive for the owner to be able to absorb you can make you can could there could there be uh something like Mike uh suggested and some sort of incentive um opportunity where the state the the town could absorb some of that cost if that would be a decision that there's no mechanism for it in here and I did double check the CPA um and that does um it can go to CPA historic preservation money can go to uh private citizens like private project um but it still has to be uh reviewed they have to uh the community preservation commission would need to review the project to ensure that it the design changes meet the Secretary of Standards so you're back around the same thing as well yeah so so it's just for me you know I support making sure that we have you know a feel but I I I am concerned about cost and ultimately expensive windows are expensive and ultimately you might have the opposite effect where you have a business owner say I'm going to put my hands up I'm going to leave and then you have an abandoned building so that's not what you want that's not help that's not what anybody wants right so that's my argument so it's it's in it's in the town's best interest to to go along to you know try try to keep the businesses happy I mean that's why we're so upset about the mill buildings um because that's all a bunch of businesses that are just going to be displaced but at the same time um there is an appeal process and of hardship is shown and you know common sense I would think would Prevail I would hope hope but then again doesn't you know there's no way to answer you know every question in the future what's going to happen you know it's it's the intent is not to drive people into bankruptcy to repair their Windows um that's I have thank you for your time appreciate you're welcome um we have anybody else would like to comment good evening good evening William Goldberg uh property owner business owner Main Street Wine and Spirits right downtown couple of questions uh earlier I think you had said that non-historical buildings might be exempt might not be the word but uh and then I think you asked uh Stacy and you gave an answer but it wasn't a very clear answer so I would like a little Clarity there Jim we can't hear her online oh sorry thank you thank you I was trying to be good and keep my mic off in between um uh yes it would have to be uh you'd have to just um the way we do it in hopkington is it's just a form you fill out online and just say this is what I want to do upload a photo if you've got one from like your window guy or whatever um and then um the uh local historic district commission can decide that it's so minor that it doesn't need a public hearing doesn't need a meeting and stamp it and it goes on its way um or if they want to see more you could come to a meeting um and they talk about it but yet it would be everything would be reviewable once it's in the district it's all reviewable even though it's non-historic um but yeah it may be it may be that it's so small um and certainly uh in this bylaw includes things that are not reviewable I mean you've got a flat roof but if you had a you know if you were changing out the vinyl um the asphalt shingles in kind that's not a big deal if you want to paint it it isn't not reviewable there's a bunch of things that aren't reviewable um so it may fall it depends how extensive your alteration but it but these non-historical historical buildings are still controlled yes they're all part by the L all one together yeah uh bylaws I think um Mr neelson you said they were nonbinding no not the bylaws guidelines the guidelines are nonbinding yes um but can submitted plans still be denied so if I submitted plans to make a change you the non the the guidelines are non-binding but can you still use those guidelines to deny what I'm trying to do if I were doing something yeah the the the guidelines are things like um if you had like a mansard roof we'd like you to replace it with another mansard roof or something like that um uh following um the short answer is yes because in in the actual bylaws everything's reviewable so um it's within the any yeah anything that's um an exterior feature so it's on the exterior of the building um is reviewable and it may be that the commission decides it's not a big deal and maybe they do yeah it depends on uh who you end up with another question uh the hardship appeal uh is is that a lengthy process are there a lot of obstacles in the way I haven't is it a costly process I think that's that's a good question I I've only ever dealt with small things like um accessibility ramps and things like that and those weren't easy yes please please do please do put an accessibil ramp on your house you know so that was um uh yeah I guess it depends on the size of the project I think that would depend on that's a good question that we're going to have to look into I a good yeah the the process the process of appealing yeah because that's not in the bylaw but that should that is something that would be something to work yeah because it's not in the standard bylaw from the state yeah and I'd have to I'd have to check with the state let me double check on that to to basically see what they say about that because that's a good question yeah we we didn't you know would make a hardship appeal uh difficult if you know me personally I'd like the hardship feel to be easy you know and but I I want to I can't answer without knowing the legal thing from the state um which I don't have at the time just uh one last thing a lot of what I've heard tonight is is based on sentimentality and feelings and uh we are we're a nation of moving forward I would just uh leave it with that thank you for your time thank you my name is Margo Ellsworth I live at 22 High Street Extension here in town have been here over 50 years um what is I'm hearing throughout this whole everybody's conversation here is that that we have many tiers of of and processes through which we add to our properties we can there's control over what we can do and what we can't do uh and we've all accepted that but the fact of the matter is this this program that you're you're we're discussing tonight is all about well they may let you or you might be able to to or you'd have to apply for it is just more control over our own personal property that we pay taxes on that we have mortgages for and more control over my property I don't like I don't want I would never do anything that's absurd and you say yeah well we can't be sure well the fact of the matter is we can't be sure what this board would do either in controlling what we want to do with our older quote historic buildings so I am fully against a Historic Society I've looked at it uh in the past on a state level and it's called control so I am not for it thank you my name is Bill Wallace 136 pwn Street here in town and I was really just looking for a point of clarification I'm just beginning to get my feet wet in this whole process um but part of your PowerPoint earlier on in the meeting you said that and I may have missed the complete point but it was brought up that something can be turned down or approved by 2third vote of the town meeting town meeting yes Town meting this has to be approved by two-thirds of the voters at the town meeting okay and could you just clarify for me what it was that would be either rejected or approved at the town meeting it's the bylaw okay and it's the bylaws that are on the town website right yes there's a PR yeah okay well that was basically wanted to get cleared up so thank you for that um the other thing that has been in my mind uh if you go through Hoppington and Holliston uh the approaches to that Center those centers of town I think speak volumes for the appearance of those two communities I'm talking about the Magnificent Victorian homes uh and if you go into na same thing um there is a cohesiveness there that is presented and I just have a question in my own mind about looking at Ashlin which is a has a different history um and to my mind quite frankly and I'm just speaking for myself the center of Ashlin doesn't have any history that you can see by walk you can walk through it and look at the individual buildings such as you have in the brochure but I don't see how coming up with a commission that can dictate signage um materials for building off and alterating buildings the fronts of buildings and I don't even know about the Interiors um I just don't I think what we have now is very good and we've been here in this town since 1975 so um I just don't think that this commission um is really a desirable thing and again that's just my opinion so thank you thank you Jim can I speak Helen yeah um is it what before you speak Helen though we'll get to the commission members um does anybody else have anything to say either for or against any I want to make sure everybody has a chance to speak that's that that made it out tonight Mark you've already gone once right yeah that's why that's why I looked around I'm on Zoom can I say something sure go ahead um hi my name is D I am on Carl galani and Ash um so right behind the mail building um I Heard the 40b town Hall and it seemed like they were keeping the stone the uh Granite buildings is that accurate partially they're keeping uh the first building and the latest plan that I've heard is they're keeping part of the second building um about a quarter of the way or maybe a third of the way in from the street the rest of it's all going oh the third building completely going and the the second part of the second building is going at least that's the last I mean it could change I don't know but that's the last plan we we were told about yeah so that's good to know it sounds like it wasn't the case here yeah um okay okay that's it well I mean that this this committee would have nothing to do I mean it feels like the town is already kind of in process of uncont control the mill buildings are kind of out of out of the discussion right now because it's been taken as a 40 project which which supersedes a lot of the power of the town has to negotiate a good amount of the building and they keep smoke Z I was happy to hear that yeah the original plan like I said before was uh all of the first two buildings and the third one was up for debate but he was going to reuse the granite from the third building If he if he did take it down um but I don't know where he stands on that to tell you the truth right now all right from what I understand it was the first two coming from Mur Street yeah yeah so okay that's all thank you anybody else on Zoom no okay um quickly Mr uh okay again M son see how quickly this is I'm thinking I'm gonna frame my questions out of the brochure okay I'm looking on page three of this it says how is local historic districts different from National Registry places historic districts and Texas Nation I I'll bring it down to a short sentence the very last paragraph The Local District on the other hand is established with two3 majority what's the local District historical places for this town what are they what are the local historical places y you me I that Ashen is is noted for yeah in the dam the dam over at the reservoir yeah that's it is it the dam I don't know how that happened but the dam at the reservoir was on the national register water shed something something I don't knowa repres you know yeah um it says it says in here as dam and Spillway it's that's it yeah yeah um is any burial grounds in in this yes the cemetery behind the Federated Church which we're calling what are we calling now Howen The Village burial ground it's actually the the original name the village burial ground which is a whole different discussion which has been under uh different uh it's a different set subset of the of the historical commission would've been restoring that okay thank you thank you and under the proposed bylaw that's in the brochure 8 point on page 21 8.1 on the top we get 8 8.2 excuse me is this is the case the construction or addition or exist existing buildings and commissions the appropriate this of the scale shape structure it's land area building the and structure is all that zone and talk that's definitely legal land use it's boiler but um but yeah that's yeah a building is um for example the uh the ashin dam is uh in uh land use and preservation law um a structure is say the dam in the spillway or is a building is Town Hall so it's whether or not humans inhabit it I guess that's the and if humans don't inhabited beit in caves okay um and the commission may appropriate cases impos dimensional setbacks requirements is that true actually a good example of this in hopkington when we put in um um uh put the new library in which is a much substantially larger building um than the than it was um there was talk especially as it um fronted on some of the uh houses that uh uh are along the face the common there um there was talk about P pushing back the the brand new rear l a little bit so there wouldn't be a shadow on those houses um but that's that's what they're talking about setback wise um so it is it's definitely a um there's an interplay between zoning setbacks and then historic district setbacks so there are two different okay so there is a little bit of Zone in in setbacks thank you okay it's not it's not zoning but it is they do it's you're gonna have to still go through zoning I think okay last one last one very last one you promise very promised because it's been mentioned people up in the board here to be talking about different towns we're ashon keep it with ashon center and focus on ashon Center thank you thank you thank you Mark um anybody else last call for public discussion on and off if the some of the commission members want to have something to say I'll just answer uh Bill's question about what's historic in downtown ashon I gave a a walking tour of downtown ashon in October um pointing out the different buildings that are and and there's quite a few of them they're not cohesive they don't all look the same but there's a history to each and every one of them including the church um I mean you know and and so it's absolutely so these that that's that's the bigger goal in my mind what we're trying to do is preserve some of these historic buildings everything else is is it's it's it's a byproduct of having to do this as a historic district um and there's no way to get around the historic district of preserving these other buildings unless you do it individually now there's been some I I agree that the Valentine estate that's not in this we have nothing to do with that the historical commission wasn't even consulted um but at one point someone did say to me why don't you just have the town buy these buildings and then put restrictions in them when they resell them I said oh that's that that's not going to happen um the town's not in the real estate business of buying and selling buildings and the one that they did try to save which was Henry Warren's house on Chestnut Street the developer they sold it to I don't think it was him person but it was his developer uh changed things in Henry's house so he basically de uh what's the word I'm looking for he basically changed it from being a historical building to a non-historical building we put a sign up in front of it so it's right on Chestnut Street by the Warren Conference Center but that building was um was was the town had put a deed on with a bazillion restrictions and easements and stuff like that and they just ignored it and they went went ahead and did it anyway so that's that's why we're looking at that and saying well they're just going to ignore it if if you just say that because once it's done it's done and you can't go back and refix it um because it's it's not historical anymore and that's why we we're only we're only concerned with the exteriors um you can do whatever you want inside you know and if you're not it's not to prevent businesses it's not to restrict things we have restrictions on everything we do in life there's restrictions on our property whether we know it or not we don't pay our taxes the State can come and take it and if we if the state feels like doing it they can take your house by imminent domain you know that's the country we live in um it's not it's not trying to impose restrictions on people it's to preserve some of downtown ashin we specifically chose downtown Ashland because we figured it would it would be a starting point there's no plans to expand but it's a starting point I'm focusing on the history of Ashlin in downtown before it's all gone I might not be here to see it obviously and nobody in this room but 100 years down the road maybe some of this will still be here if we create uh a historic district and preserve some of the buildings downtown not all of them and obviously some of them going to go into disrepair but that's that's projecting and that's some that's that's you know you have to kind of think ahead sometimes to proect for the future and I know everybody's not going to like it and that's that's part of it but you know we're trying to do the best we can here Our intention is preserve uh the the historic uh aspect of downtown ashin while it's still here and before it's gone so what that's all I really have to say commission members Helen you're up you ready to go you've been sitting there with baited breath I know no not too bad thank you uh Helen Nicole I am uh on the ashelin historic commission and um so I've listened to all of the opinions tonight and I thought um some of them were were interesting um and I I noticed there was a list of houses and excuse me and buildings that uh Mr uh Kane listed that had been um worked on restored look nice now but he didn't mention the buildings that are gone he didn't mention the buildings that are going um so these are the things that we think about these are the things that it's our job to think about um I also heard that um historic our historic district is based on feelings a fact is that historic buildings are disappearing once they're gone you cannot bring them back the mill buildings which will be mostly gone they're very historic they significantly historic they're built with granite that was mil in Ashland they're the workplace of Henry Warren who has a significant historic um presence in Ashland and I heard someone say that Ashlin hasn't B his streight which makes me really sad because maybe we're not doing a good enough enough job educating the town about the history because there is a lot of history Jim should have some brochures there of the walking tour of the historic downtown Ashland those buildings were all uh within the district that we want to create we don't want to create the buildings uh the district based on feelings we want to create the the district based on the buildings that will no longer exist or will be seriously altered if we don't and I and I would I would venture to say that no one looks Salem Massachusetts or Marblehead Massachusetts or any other n Tucket places that are are highly historic areas and they don't they don't say oh they just kept those places like that because of feelings that's not it and I understand that people people worry about having other people tell them what they can do with their property we don't want to tell you what we can do we want to make it thoughtful you have zoning laws this isn't much different from that and we just are asking for a little bit of thoughtfulness in the downtown area to keep the historic nature of that downtown Ashlin and um and that's and I think that's really important I think history is important and I think community in a sense of place is important it it's been said that at its best preservation engages in the past in a conversation with the present and a mutual concern for the future and th this was said by William merel the first Keeper of the national register of historic places and I do believe that it is important it is important for the for the people who are here now to look at those buildings and know where the where the culture and the history of the Town came from the place that they lived who lived here before them and it's important for the people in the future to know about these same places and there's only one way to do that because once these things are gone they are forgotten and I can tell you that the ferenzi house is gone that was never mentioned how many people remember that house anymore there's a few there's not many in the future no one will ever know about it and that's what's going to happen in downtown Ashland and I already know that the mill buildings are are partially going and we we know that other buildings in ashin that are that are leaving that aren't in that district and I believe there's a few other that are in danger right now uh downtown uh that will be coming up in the very near future and so we just want them to be thoughtfully looked at you know it it's not that we want anyone to not be able to run a business we don't want anyone to not be able to afford to repair their building and I do agree with the incentives in fact I've brought that up um recently at the uh comprehensive plan steering committee uh public meeting that they had in December that I attended and I I really voiced a a lot of opinion about incentives and and historic uh preservation and then there's also tax credits and things that haven't been discussed if you run a business it's not for people who live in a home but if you are running a business out of a historic uh building and you and you want to restore it or do alterate you know do some work to that building there are tax credits for you to do it correctly there there are incentives and there could could be additional incentives and I really would like to see that for Ashlin because I do believe that it's important and it's not just based on feeling it's based on fact that the buildings and the history will disappear if we don't do something and that's all I have to say thank you uh thank you Jim um I just want to say that I that I think Helen you did a great job on on what you said and I can't agree more uh that's that's even possible you know know um and and um just one thing I just want to just call to mind I think Curtis here will will probably nod with me on this and that is you know my family heritage is partly Native American this community was all Native American before our ancestors settled it and and what remains do we have of them today we don't other than elements in the town forest and other um minute evidence of their presence if we don't put in a historic district then the features in this town that were built by our ancestors will cease to exist by some future generation and they'll be like who were those people who was Henry Warren you know so we need to be mindful of the mark of every generation of people not just one person or one family but Community as a whole because that's what Ashland is is a community of many cultures many people and we all put our mark on this community so we owe it to our future generations to retain those marks those remembrances because if if those ancestors didn't exist we wouldn't exist today thank you yeah yes up there in growing situation I understand you you want to handle only a section of downtown and you want to have some sort of control and preserve the history but then I remember at a town meeting not too many years ago that a historically involved based group wanted anybody that had a house that was X number of years old or older uh you had to go through that through that part of the town and they tried to have you couldn't sell your house for four months six months or whatever you had to put it through this particular board that was trying to control older homes I don't think that passed as I recall which is a good thing because you get to a point where you give an inch and you take a mile and my thoughts are that over time this is going to expand there are going to be uh uh restrictions on what you can do more so or again you have to get permission to sell your house because it's a it's a 150 year old house or whatever and you're shaking your head no the fact of the matter is this is Step number one and it really bothers me want to address that there's nothing in this bylaw about selling properties I would just say too that this is not an easy process and I I don't envy any Envy anyone who tries to do this again I know that uh you have to go through many many many oops and uh and as many things and many components to this it's not easy and uh it's it's a it's a change you know and it's I will say I I can't speak to I you know in terms of being the next step I don't know of any laws that do that so I I suppose the do is open to anything but all I can speak to is that door is open to a lot of things but that's not what we're talking about is and there's nothing in that about that and it doesn't automatically expand if if somebody wanted to expand that have to go through the whole process all over again yep uh you don't this whole process I'm talking about the whole step one 2 3 4 five you know it's not an easy process they didn't make it easy to do and that's why it's not done a lot but a lot of towns around here do have it and they do feel that that they want to protect some of their assets historical assets and that's all what we're trying to do is Janes still on on the um Jim Jim can I just ask one question sure and either you or Stacy could answer this um do you know if any has districts in the state or even in the country that would make you ask permission to sell your building never heard of it I I've never heard of this no no okay I've never heard of it either well no somebody could never mind all right uh Joan yes hi Jim um yes I'm JN G Frid I'm on the historical commission um and um one one backtrack I just want to mention um the historic commission will weigh in on the m buildings and try and hope to help help model those in a in a way that's um somewhat more um amenable to the history history of those buildings um but that's not why we're here um right now I understand that and I think Helen um versed it probably um better than I can but I I think there are still many buildings in downtown which we would all like to see saved um in their historic um architecture um we met may not notice them so much until they're gone um you know 128 Maine it's gone um the the building that was there is gone and we can't get that back when the mill buildings are gone we can't get them back um but I would like to mention two um that are still there and I think maybe that might what when I go through downtown Ashland I look at these buildings and I say wow those are really just beautiful buildings that have been here for a really long time and have a beautiful history to them and I would really hate to all of a sudden see a three four five story building in that place that and they're just gone um the Federated church is one um these two buildings are not owned by the town so the town itself aside from this bylaw would have no say over basically what happened there um except for the planning board Etc that tries to do what they can but there's you know there's a limit um so and Jon Stones um Jon Stones has a lot of history some of it good some of it bad um but history's history and when it's when you know when it's gone you just can't get it back um I also think that incentives are something that makes sense I think that was a great idea and I think that it's something maybe that the historical commission could look at down the road trying to set up something that would that would help in this vein um and I hope that that that would be the case um that the town would would be willing to work and with us to to make make that happen um those are my thoughts and thank you thank you John yeah um a couple of points I'd like to make first of you are Kurt Hoffman 58 Hill Del Road uh the nature of the American experiment is a dialectic between individual and Community rights and as long as we keep talking to each other and able to voice our opinions on either side or in the middle we're still who we are and so this process that we've had tonight I think is a good example of that now I wanted to address one other issue and that is the question of the Integrity of the district while some sometimes towns historic districts are kind of set in a particular time Point ours is not but what our district as proposed will do is to preserve what is termed in the historic preservation Community as an historic fabric that is that it will represent for future generations of Ash lenders the ongoing process of history from the earliest structures which would be the Ocean House I believe probably yeah two things that fall only within the most recent 50 years which is what the national register allows for histo or defines as historic and so you would get a sampling from our historic district of that entire historic process going through time and that is very educational and I certainly think that it's a good idea to have that kind of diversity in the district that's all I wanted to say it's rather unique too and it's just part of ashen's history that it hasn't it's grown in different different time periods and different things have happened what's lost has been replaced and uh you know not trying to freeze anything in you know in Amber or something like like that but uh it's it it has to start somewhere and that's why we're trying to do this so I like to thank everybody here um for coming tonight and before we go I have to just basically ask uh the commission can we get a motion to close the hearing please second okay all those in favor commission members Jim Neilson I heleni thank you folks and just to remind you we meet on the second Tuesday usually of every month we discuss this every month you're more than welcome there's a public discussion period and we're gonna I'm gonna try to have we're meeting on Thursday oh this this week we actually have a meeting in two days on Zoom it's always posted on the town website and it's always a zoom meeting so you don't have to get out of your house to come come to the meeting um and if feel free to take a walking tour or a guide or a um or a u report thank you y e e just want to say nice job Jim thank you e e for

right call this meeting burlin Bo Regional school committee to order all please rise to flag of the United States of America to the stand One Nation godis andice for all uh thanks everybody um we got a bit a full house Al do you want to tell us why we have a full house absolutely all right little late you meant to say thank you but that's um so thanks um so we'd like to welcome my special guest tonight who are seated over to my right hand side we have the tant boy super bow champions for the third year in a row um [Applause] congratulations so we are all so very proud of them in the way they represent us on and off the on and off the field um on February I'm sorry on Friday December 6 you guys did an incredible job winning the third time in a roll B for a school of 22 to 16 um at Jette Stadium um I might along with many many many people are there to witness that you guys send yourself like true gentleman and you represented us very well so we're really really happy and we really couldn't be more proud of you guys so congratulations and thank you for representing our district as well as you guys did so this is our way tonight is just to recognize them U I got a lot of emails and I know Mike did as well too this really what it's all about we want to recognize the really good things are happening our district and this is one of them so we're very proud of The Voice right now so what we're going to do is I'm going to ask Mike to to join me if you could and boys we're going to have a little bit of our certificate for you guys and a little gift from both Administration and the school committee so when we call your name BL you come on join us and then we ask You Bic to go right around right around the the you shape and shake it every want chance congrat guys so once again congratulations so first um first one is going to be chat G [Applause] please [Applause] next congs [Applause] next Chase con [Applause] Le Jordan Corino congratulations Brad [Applause] conations Rowan Noel con [Applause] [Music] maximilan [Applause] Raposa [Applause] rice here thank you you want to just take it over there so we don't have this is this is [Applause] Theon w [Applause] so again I also want to not only congratulate our voice I want to congratulate our coaches that went along with it our athletic director mataro as well too the F work they did as well too again once again boys thank you very much for representing our district so well and being true sportsmanship nice job [Applause] any other events that are coming up I know there's a basketball game coming up I think on Tuesday we're going to do some recognition there as well too this was just our way for our students in our school that represent them in congratul so once again thanks a lot really proud of you you're more than welcome to stay if you like meeting know you got some homework games things that so thank you again for coming thank you very [Applause] much gentle watch that so if I could just say one last thing so I just want you I should have said this earlier so those certificates read for their extraordinary dedication achievement we're proud to present this award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the West bson Tanto Lions 2024 Super Bowl champions so that's what the C ific read as well too so thank you again and thanks for all being here and congratulating them as well too okay all right thanks so you're welcome congratulations everybody um moving on with the meeting uh next up is our public comment section uh is anyone here to make public comment if you might raise your hand see about a few we're GNA keep our public comment session to uh just about 15 minutes just because we have a very tight clock tonight um and for public comment we're going to set a timer for three minutes but if you would uh we can start with the first person over there if you come up front uh address the committee with your comments uh and we will set a clock so nobody accuses me of cutting them off how about that just right up in the front this perfect uh if you could state your name and your address for us that'd be great and go ahead my name is marle we live at nature um I have a first grader and a fourth grader at B and full closure my husband works at too and he a coach just this is my letter um I'm just going to read the email that I wrote to the school committee and um my post that I posted on Facebook um I just wanted to share with you all a note that I posted on bbrsd parents Facebook page regarding my concerns over the proposed policy dealing with failing classes and extracurricular activities I really hope the board and administration are considering the ramifications of this policy on students and their families I understand and desire to be the very best District but I believe that we truly do have I do we have do have one of the best districts already in this policy is more for pride and Optics than it is for the betterment of our community um here's my post I've been debating whether to write something here regarding one of the latest proposals by our school committee but I've decided that I need to speak up and bring it to the attention of other parents there's a big Push by some members of the committee to make the rulle stating that if the Tonto student fails any one class in a semester that they will not be able to participate in any ex extracurricular activities at school this includes Sports and clubs as it stands now there is a rule in place that if any student is failing two classes they're unable to participate this is a rule is also in place with the MIAA for sports it is also important to note that at Tonto the 65 is considered failing whereas in most other districts 60 is the failing Mark we are already holding our students to a higher standard I do understand the desire to push students academically but the only thing that this rule will do in the it's discriminated against special ed students students that are English language Learners students suffering with their mental health students with unstable home lives and students who are just not considered to be conventional learners for many students school is hard socially and academically for many the only reason they go to school and participate in class at all is because of the sports music drama or clubs that they are truly passionate about extra corre curricular activities are crucial to a student's success and overall wellbeing Sports and clubs teach real life lessons that may be more vital than what is taught in the classroom for Less traditional Learners this is where students can blossom socially learn time management skills and learn the importance of being part of a team or something bigger than themselves they also serve as a time for kids to really feel like they are part of something it's where you can be with people who share your interests and make friends you might not otherwise make in class as a parent of a special education student I know that middle of high school will likely be a challenge for us as a family it's unrealistic for us to believe that we will be able to make it through the entire six years without hiccups in the class I also realized the devastating consequences that feeling like failure and being punished for it by taking away the things that she cares above most would have on her I know that some students May truly be giving their very best at school each day and their best might just not meet the standards that others have set for them middle and high school students are not Crea and we cannot create rules that favor the more traditional students while asking students who may struggle thank you Mar that was three minutes thank you I trust you read the rest of what I had we have your email in post yes thank you tag team hiel husband masss thank you okay I know that some students sorry I wasn't I know that some students May truly be giving their best um at school each day and the best might does not meet the standards that others have set middle school and high school students are not created equally cannot create rules that favor the more traditional students while icing out those who may struggle I absolutely believe that this rule will be discriminatory towards these students while I and I will not stand by quietly while the district allows us the goal is to make our district the best which I feel like a lot of people have stated is our goal you must do so by including all of your students even those that may not boost your test course or state I would love for our daughter to get through all of our years at tto with zero academic or social strs the reality is that it will probably not be the case for hers and others like as parents we value academics and instill the importance of hard work studying respecting your teachers and doing your best at school obviously but I can imagine speaking on behalf of an entire district and not recognizing that not all our children will sail through school with no BM in the room I hope for the benefit of all of our kids that the committee and superintendent will take a long look at the ramifications of this proposed rule realize that sometimes the kids are more important than how our district is viewed in a ranking list this is a great district and it has been for a very long time where we have always felt supported and included and that is more important than a Personal Agenda to try and create unrealistic standards for thank you thank you uh Bill Whitehead high school English teacher here at Tanto and I live in town six Upland Road stop on by some of you um so that okay um there's not much I can say that more did not say perfectly the the spirit of the proposed language I don't necessarily disagree with um the idea that a student can fail and still play but not have something in place may not sit well with people and I understand that so I would encourage the committee and anyone um talking about the topic tonight to look at something in between a compromise I believe there's some compromised language forth um to say there's a hiccup in the road you're currently failing a class therefore you can't participate in extracurricular Sports um that's punitive um and uh it lacks compassion we everyone in here has had a moment in their lives where there's a bump in the road there's U lack of better term things going on outside of work outside of school um that makes school and work work and other priorities secondary um death bad Health news tensions at home divorce all sorts of things we've all been there um so to say to a kid hey for whatever reason uh the class you're taking that you struggle with and now you have slight dip in your grades you're out of basketball you can't be in play uh that that's not the spirit of this District um so I would urge you to consider some kind of language where if a student is failing one they need to get some tutoring they go to a club to get extra help that we say h we're here to support you and get you back where you need to be rather than tough luck um that's the Practical reality utilize your teachers in terms of resources and here's where here's what we want to do we don't like this policy how can we make that a practical reality in the classrooms um that's it thank you thank you Bill uh before we go is there Erin is are you're looking to make a comment to yeah hi Erin you're looking to make a comment about the uh the handbook the students faing is it consistent with what they've said already um it's coming from more of a teacher perspective than thinking about the a classroom okay um go ahead all right so hello my name is Kristen Nelson um six Upland Road in Boon I'm a teacher at Tanto I'm also a coach at Tanto I'm a former student athlete from Tanto as well um and I just wanted to offer my perspective as a teacher um first of all I believe the proposed policy to be inequitable in my career which spans almost 20 years students in CP classes are much more likely to fail a quarter on a report card than their counterparts in honors and AP classes I personally had a number of students who have failed quarter of history or English in my almost 20 years Almost 100% of those students were in CP classes CP students would be dis disproportionately affected by this policy and since a number of these students receive special education services the district could be accused of discrimination second I believe the proposed policy be misguided it assumes that failure is an anomaly and unacceptable and I would ask who in this room has not failed at something we can't ignore failure and we can't punish kids for it and as I tell these kids every year now is the time to fail uh when you are young and learning and have the safety net of your teachers in a supportive School environment I'll help you to learn from your failure and work towards success this policy would say the opposite that it is unacceptable to fail I don't understand how growth can occur without failure why would you not acknowledge the failure give them support to bring their grades up and keep them engaged with their extracurriculars finally I believe the proposed policy would be counterproductive to the state goal if the goal is academic rigor we're constantly being told that the number of students enrolled in AP classes is a measure of our academic rigor students take advanced classes in order to challenge themselves they understand even at their age that challenges are inherently difficult and by definition have the possibility of failure why would a student take on the challenge and the possibility of failure if they knew that their extracurriculars were under threat students often choose to move up from CP to Hors but why would they leave their comfortable grades in CP if failure at honors meant they couldn't do art Club anymore I submit that our honors in AP enrollment would decrease if this policy were put in place and I'd completely understand why the students or parents would make that choice and in all my years of teaching the most rigorous students I've had the ones who work the hardest which is my understanding of the word rigor are the ones who have challenges to overcome I've had honor students who effort effortlessly skate through school earning A's and I've had CP students who sweat through every assignment and give it their all earning fs and D's and finally C's and that's high as they go and that's just fine by me I'm more proud of them than I am of my effortless a students if you halt them in their tracks when they get that first F then they will have nowhere to go I don't know what you think will happen to these kids by taking away their extracurriculars but I can assure you that it won't make them want to come to school and do better give them an opportunity to improve and and still do their extracurriculars and you'll have them learning and engaged and growing thank you thank you Aaron would you like to speak yes thank [Music] you hi my name is Eric Kane I live at T Ed Street in thank you for being here I have a different topic I want to speak about the need for an enrichment program in our schools our students need and deserve access to enrichment opport ities throughout their school day while our incredible classroom teachers work tirelessly to hold all children to high standards and we just heard from one of them it is nearly impossible to provide each child with relevant and challenging enrichment opportunities on top of everything else that teachers our task with but don't our students deserve this my eldest son is extremely bright he finishes his work quickly he finds little academic challenge in his school this has always been his yet he comes to school each day despite knowing he will not be challenged he knows his work will be simple something he has long ago mastered and he can complete without much thought or effort he is bored yet he still shows up his teacher Mrs Reed is among the best of the best she works with him and helps him find Value in the work presented to him however doesn't he deserve more don't our children deserve to find Value don't our children deserve something that excites them in their learning don't they deserve something to look forward to don't they deserve to see learning come alive in ways that go above and beyond the ordinary last year Liam was fortunate enough to participate in science with Mrs syes which was an enrichment opportunity she provided in her first year as a be as principal during that time learning came alive from him as a second grader in that enrichment group Liam explored aerodynamics cohesion adhesion surface tension Rockets thrust among others it was a transformative experience for him at thees unfortunately scheduling demands have changed and this group is no longer a possibility Li and others like him can no longer participate but it isn't just about high Achievers all of our students deserve this all students benefit from enrichment regular participation in enrichment opportunities exposes students to new subjects and disciplin helps them develop their areas of Interest reduces anxiety increases social and soft skills provides Real World experience and enhances confidence in their abilities I've watched this committee work diligently to ensure our district has the best of the best you have the power the commitment and the tenacity to turn this Vision into action in a district that Prides itself on being A Step Above the Rest don't our students deserve this thank you I think we have time for one more if you'd like to go hello my name is elizabth share and I'm captain of the Tonto girls Varity soccer team I a two-time All State and all Central Mass Allstar I made one time tant uh MVP and a one time League MVP run out at been to leading goal scorer for the last two years beating my 16 goal season last year with 20 goals 24 goals this season I've contributed to making history every year and I've been on this team every year I've been on this team IE two times state semi-finalist two times Central Mass finalist one time Central Mass champion and I took all CP classes my FR year I took four honors classes and one CP class my sophomore year and I'm now taking two AP classes and four honors classes as a Jun I played on a national soccer team for five years a regional soccer team for one year and contributed to the successful comeback season the team could ever have going from dead last to first place in our league and second place at regionals I have committed to a university for soccer and I struggled with my with my sophomore math box and I hate to think for the opportunities lost in the proposition in this proposition if it were if it had been in place for some kids sports is the only reason they come to school it's also the only way they can afford to go to college for some kids they work hard but know their grades aren't outstanding enough to earn them a scholarship for the schools they want so there sport is the only way that they can afford to go to college if a student who is athletically gifted but not academically gifted fails a class and gets immediately punished for their sport you've unknowingly just hurt their chances of of affording college grades are important one of the most important and influential things in a high school without the grades you aren't going to succeed which is what we are all told however some of the best vins were called stupid and had bad grades like for example I if you are going to stop an athlete from playing their sport over one failed class Aid in ruining a bright over somebody who knows they tried hard but can't grasp a concept who stays after school or during lunch to get help spends hours on YouTube at home watching videos researching problems to solve trying to grasp a concept to tell them that since they don't understand photosynthesis and biology and fail to buy a point in quarter one that they are unfit to be an athlete because Sports is what's keeping the kid back is this really the best way to advocate for the betterment of students what about the kids who have to work to help suain themselves and their fam so they can go to school so they can play their sport the kids who stay up until 2 or 3 walk in the morning to get their homework done oftentimes leaving them exhausted physically run down and more susceptible to illness than the normal kid student athletes know they need to get grades they are threatened by that already by dropping it from one class to zero you are adding on with the stress a student athlete already faces in their day-to-day lives student athletes are some of the most disciplined people managing Sports homework hard classes and their homeand lives all at the same time and because you want to make Tanto a more academically rigorous place you are not only jeopardizing the physical health but their abilities to get into college they want into the college they want with a scholarship he not all students going the same all right thank you thank you all right uh so moving on to our Communications does anyone have any Communications to add to the folder all right could I have a motion to approve the consent agenda please Lori Lisa anyone like to discuss it all right all in favor I opposed all right consent agenda passes thank you uh moving on to the report section I don't specifically have anything to report so Al what you have for us great um so thank you so we have a scheduled um Zoom call that we're going to be doing at 5:30 so I I have a few minutes at this point point so I'm GNA ask Matthew Dow um if we could do a little out of bottom we'll have a student count representative um give his input for us for our school commity matth all right perfect I'm gonna keep it short anyways not too much um so Rec because we just came off of wi break so not too much has been going on around here um aough we've got midterms coming up so you know lots of studying going on um prior to winter break we had our uh High School pepper rally and we did a combined spirit week with middle school was a lot of fun you know we have like the whole school was all dressed up for Spirit Week um we had stall day which went pretty well so we'll donate that money that we raised from there to the Special Olympics um in a couple of weeks when we get the check um uh in terms of sports teams um I know we have some we obiously recognized our uh our football team earlier and we've also had um some soop sports teams um I know particularly the Hudson hockey team which some of our Tonto kids go to uh has been doing really well in their league um I want to say they're close to the CP so that's great to see um but yeah think that pretty much covers it so thank you sh Matthew um if I'm gonna I'll just continue after Matthew is um going on if I'm G to go a little out of aut if I could just for a second um about the Berlin PM bus routes um again I want to thank both the school committee um John Campbell for the work he did um Paul Mara um Bob Holmes parents and and most importantly our students um this process actually went off relatively smoothly we had no no hiccups um that were major at least in changing those bus routes um um the PM bus routes in in Berlin um I know we inundated you and I I apologized during that Christmas break we wanted to make sure we got enough information out so I think we sent it out between John myself and call um multiple times um but we made sure and it went off that first day when went off seamless um so we're really happy about that so thank you for that and again um taking the chance to do something at that mid year um is is a big is a big ask and we did it and I thank all the parents for that as well too so um thank you for that um are we good Joe or we need a few minutes get her up now okay that' be great um while that's happening um I just want to talk to a little bit about the Strategic plan if I could um at our next school cre meeting you're going to um I'm going to ask PM G um will join us um in Tru our steps of developing strategic plan um she will be meeting with our admin team a little bit earlier before our school committee meeting um and then she'll be joining us um I I can't stress enough the importance of having our strategic plan um this is truly a living document for everything that we're going to need for our district as we're going through the process right now even with our budget um we we need a strategic plan and and we can't wait any longer and I know we have a portrait of a graduate some work that has been done with that um that will align um will certainly fall into the umbrella over strategic plan but there's a lot of work that needs to be done um with that so again I'm going to have that being introduced to our admin team next uh in February and then our next school Comm meting she'll come and present to us and say what exactly what does a strategic plan look like and how about we go there and get into to having a completed strategic plan which honestly we'll stop working on it but it will take us through um the rest of this year um through the summer and and deep into the fall before we get it done and ready to to move it all along at the same time we'll be working on that well she have a threee PL um we're working on a five-year plan no no I hope she have the document three yes already already shared that Sally and I have been um meeting with her on on a regular basis giving her all the information um giving her all the portrait of a graduate giving her all those things as well too great um again sorry I apologize for going out of a I'm going to give a little bit of a technology update if I could um so for for a couple things I guess I gotta make a couple introductions for those um the gentleman over there to my right hand side um at this time I'd like the pleasure of introducing to our new interim director of Technology um Joseph spado A Joe spado so welcome to the district Jo Joe has um Joe will officially start um later in January um he's joining us today um for a couple reasons just to to get get accustom and and meet some of our um our scoy members um he's helping us out with our event that's taking place tonight as well too um on his first day his first assignment will be um working with our principal and seeing their needs and wants and what they need for the remain years so um Joe has a a a great background of of technology and I had the fortunate pleasure of working with Joe uh he was in that role um when I was working at veteran Academy so we're glad to really have Joe coming and joining our team um and as the interim director of Technology um and I know Joe you're gonna talk a little bit afterwards um or introduce yourself as well too but I know we have a 5:30 um Zoom call um so on our our Zoom call right now it's my pleasure to introduce to you Megan Canard um Megan has been working on our website with the initial work on Tanto one of the things um I've heard on the Tonto site one of the things I heard from parents from school committee um from even our students is the need of our website um and I know when I was first approached about coming over here as a superintendent school the first thing I went to um was the website I know that new families that are coming on board that I think about moving whether they're going to move into Berlin or Bolston or they're going to move into West Bolston or North br they're looking at our website to get a really idea of what's taking place in our district I've heard that from many of my colleagues I've heard it from parents I've heard it from relatives as well too when they're saying that when families are moving in are looking to move in um Megan has been working with us and our principles um for maybe a couple months now um getting all what what we need and what we want our um our website to look like um so Megan's going to walk us a little bit through it tonight um so we get to see what it looks like if this is the we're going in for Tanto then will be easy so it looks consistent across our district right so what it will look like in Berlin what it will look like in bolon and what it will look like in the central office as well too so at this time it's my pleasure to introduce to you Megan canar thank you El good evening everyone thank you so much for having me um as Al mentioned I hope you can all hear me all right um my name is Megan Gard I'm a marketing uh have marketing uh Communications for try Communications which is a PR marketing firm headquartered here in Massachusetts we work mainly with um Professional Services Hospitality um and in the tech and energy sector with clients on their public relations activities as well as their digital marketing PRS um as Al mentioned I work with him on um the refresh and redesign of the ferani academy website and um wanted to take some of the things that we applied to that and put it to good work here um since taking on the redesign in mid November our primary focus has been really transforming the site into a more user friendly U platform something where the interface is more familiar um in terms of the setup and navigation and while the previous site certainly you know provided you with a digital presence there were a few critical issues that we did come upon such as errors or outdated links and broken pages is um and sometimes you know there was confusion created and frustration for users both as the teachers and parents um there were really entire sections of the site that had never actually been built out with content um so we had a lot of um confusion on what page to go to for something in particular and it was hard to find so we we heard that as as a main complaint and then really just there was no structure so how you and I would go to a website what what are the pages we expect to see and the options where they you know what what are we anticipating someone is going to be looking for as a parent or a student coming to the site um so what we're trying to do is do this without any you know um expensive coding utilizing the existing platform provided to us by the final site um there are some restrictions as with any we s template um as to what you can do within that platform's interface um but what we're trying to do right now is create a more structured website that eventually you'll continue to build upon and optimize um a website is a dynamic marketing tool it's never done and um there is a lot of work to do to some of the internal pages that we have not yet been able to address um what I'm going to show you now is is preliminary I'm going to show you the existing Tanto site um just quickly and then pop over to where we are now on the test site which is where we're building this um on the back end so I'm going to go ahead and share my screen with you so as you can see here this is our existing site um we come to the site and and we have a hero image here which which swaps out which is something that um we wanted to clean up a little bit a part of the site that we did maintain and our our first task as I mentioned was trying to correct the site map and navigation um we found that a lot of these Pages weren't necessarily where they should be and that these are not really the standard tabs that one would look for to quickly access info so what we've done is taken everything on this exist site and brought it over to a new site under a more structured DB that Google and search edes would expect to read um and in a certain order we did find that there were cases where we would click on a page and it would this would be where it brought you and from here you then had to come over to this menu and select another page we're adding all these layers to navigation which if you all are familiar on your on your cell phone which is where a lot of this traffic happens that can be frustrating so not very user friendly and these are just some of the types of things that we wanted to clean up um the less clicking the better so um what we did was bring over everything we have onto a new site um so this would be the new hero image that I I showed you on the old site this also will rotate through these can be changed you can have I would recommend up to five anything you want to highlight this is just an example um I believe we highlight Athletics um and so this is a great place for us to show off some of the best graphic images you know that you have um and and we'll maintain that here what we did here was add a more familiar structure to the homepage so here we have a summary of Tanto is this is important for a number of reasons mainly Google search we need to have some text um immediately up top on a on a homepage so um we drafted some language here that of course can be vetted and and toned up um we've added quick links um so some of the most common uh content that was requested be at your fingertips for parents we've added a new section called quick links um which will appear on different pages and have different buttons that are pertinent um so as I showed you before when I clicked on high school information it took us to a pretty blank page um here we're creating more familiar interface with these pages so now this is where you can come to find all of those things um and you don't have to bounce around to look for it um so that's some of the work that we have been doing um thus far and um the other ask I believe was calendar so we have changed the look of the calendar just a bit to be something that um I think visually works a lot better yes um than what we had with tabs it allows parents to get an overview of the the entire month they can swap it to week day whatever they prefer um but this would appear you know on it could appear at the bottom of every page um it could appear on on certain pages but this was also something that was requested um that I think makes a big impact we also added a traditional contact form which you do not have right now um there is no centralized you know sort of generic email that I can tell uh appears anywhere on the website I don't know if that's intentional so this is certainly something that can be removed but just a sample of of the types of content that again create a more familiar interface to this homepage and that's what we're going to carry through to all of the internal Pages um so I know I've given you kind of a lot to digest if you want we can just stop here and if you have any questions I'm happy to take those do anybody have any questions for no this is excellent thank you I we've been asking I think for the calendar for I don't know years yeah so it would be great too if we could add like athletic events so like kids from the elementary school can see like oh there's a basketball on Tuesday night I want to go sport the team or something and I'm not sure who does the whoose the updator of these um but I certainly agree with you on that having having one place you know for this to go um and and I mentioned ear speaking with Joe too this is something we also did with the other schools I don't know what how this calendar feeds through um exactly or who updates it but there are options for parents to subscribe to calendars namely Google offers this um for your your cell phone it'll integrate with your native calendar and everything will just populate for that and they won't have to go looking for it either um so that's also an integration that we could probably look at that be wonderful know here it's great love it thank you anybody else right so I just want before we let Megan go so first Megan thank you it it's it's an eye openening experience for me right in in walking through this you sometimes just think a website and it should be an easy thing but the work that she's doing on the back end of this is absolutely incredible um and it's daunting and once we get to a SP a spot where where we'll be able to just continue to update it and again we're making sure this is what we want for the Tonto site we started there for no other reason we thought that's where all our kids go if I chose Berlin over Boston I didn't want to go down that road so I think if we just got into Tanto we'd be in in the saf spat um and then we'll roll that out if this is what we want into b um so our goal is to have this ready um by certainly by the end of this year but in the next couple months um but we felt it was real important to get in front of school CR to make sure this was a direction that you wanted to go in as well too um because this was something you brought to my attention I think in in the first school committee meeting I had that this was a concern of yours as well too excellent questions Megan thank you very much we appreciate it we'll be talking to you very soon thanks very thank you thank you full disclosure my student that's a hold them G that's great I would keep that going yeah so we're really we're really excited about that um she's working like I said she met with all of our principles um so they gave her their input and now she's working with the high school and then we'll be working with brand and wols as well too okay yeah yeah just I just curious like to have like the the tondo day integrated into that and then like school the cafeteria calendar integrated in that yeah um and then having emails to be able to send you about when meting so she's doing on the back end of the stuff and I keep saying like I know what I'm talking about but she's really doing all that part and then the specifics that we're looking for will be a the the part that we found really interesting is like having those keywords and I know she mentioned that those those keywords that when you're Googling schools or you're Googling you know um you're different things that our site will pop up and that's what we want to make sure and that's why that verbiage is extremely important that should have asked will it interg with Arbiter at all or the Sports One Arbiter is the Sports website where all of like the registration goes through and all the sports calendar and the practices are Aller like email I I think that's a great question and I'm gonna that will be one of the things that Joe can certainly he obviously you could tell already they've been working together and for those Joe has not even officially started working with us like I said earlier but he's already laying some groundwork so that we can get some of these technology things in place see answer your question we will make it much easier to get the the information from Arbiter perfect um Arbiter also does allow you to sync the calendar to your say your your phone so you can follow all of tono's athletic calendars just by subscrib so even if your kid's not registered for the sport you can okay yes you do have that capability okay and that's through Arbiter in itself but we'll work to get things popular on calendars and even if we have a few different calendars for different pages and how they populate we're gon we're gonna head in that direction Joe did you want to just do a little opening for as introduce yourselves I know I introduced you as as an adult to an adult I apologize but is there something you wanted to say no I just want to say thank you for this opportunity I'm happy to be here I'm excited for this um as El stated Mr stated I don't start until the 21st um I'm already ready to hit the ground running working alongside with Megan we're gonna build a strong outline for this new website build out and layout and then you know make it more robust and easier to manage um and also easier to manipulate and find the information that you're looking looking for I'm going to be working closely with the administrative teams as we uh work to build out a three to 5e strategic plan for the technology department and um we got a lot of work to do be fun and I'm excited for this so thank you for this opportunity allowing me to be here thank you Joe and the and the last thing is one of the tasks that will be in the three to fiveyear technology plan and I've heard it from every parent as well as teachers and principles is our initial opening day forms right so that you're not filling out all of them by paper right so Joe pushed us even a veteran right to move forward into technology and doing those things and and I can honestly say in a in a very established old Catholic school for Joe to be able to move Us in that direction we needed to move in he was able to do that so it'll be an easy task for him to be able to do that um for public that's where we should be as a district I mean I I appreciate everyone saying about sports and Athletics and extra curriculum all important this is some of the stuff that is extremely important not only for our staff for our students but for our community that we are staying current of what's taking place all that's a big piece for and letting people know how great that district is a quick question so like tomorrow I know there's the eighth grade transition meeting which which I think is awesome um but I think it would be awesome if we could videotape that and then put it up on the website so parents that don't come can have access to it but also kids that are looking you know parents that are looking to transfer in have access to that or even like sixth graders fifth graders looking for the future um so to to that point it is it will be videotaped it was videotaped last year it will be videotaped and it's on the YouTube channel that the school committee is on so it we you will I mean it definitely would be easier if it was right on the website but it it you will have access oh one other thing for Joe uh one thing that we've been working on for Years also is getting cell phone service like in this building so many people come in here you can't use your cell phone like to make an outgoing call unless you're on Wi-Fi like explore tons of different options it'll be interesting to get a fresh take uh we do a budget sub a budget and Facilities subcommittee with Aaron and Al um and I think it's myself Lisa and Beth so hopefully we can invite you to one you know February March and bring that open that can of worms up again because we still don't have sell service in the building or at least not everywhere not every phone it's better than it was his role will be instrumental with that and also when Rich gives his presentation about safety and some of the things that we need to make sure we're having in place um they'll be working closely in that that grouping as well great all right thanks show I just got two more things and I I'll be as brief as I can um msba project you know we're we're we're working with that for the roof um in Bolston um I've been doing the paperwork along with Aaron and Dan Aela um the next big um deadline for me is January 31st um so we're we're keeping up with that um I know that people are aware that we're doing a roofing project on Bolston uh there's a lot that goes along with what you get it right and there's a lot of paperwork and things that need to go through um but I will keep you guys updated with that the roofing project is not look until next summer of 2026 so just know that's where they're at right now um but that's I I'll keep it continue to keep it update with that last thing I I want to make you aware of is as you saw I sent out CommunityWide there was a data breach right with our um a data information system that we use which is Power School um it what didn't just happen just to us didn't just happen just in state of massachus happened across the entire country um that there was day breach you you need to know not that it makes it any better it was on their end um they had something left open that they shouldn't have left open um Paul and Joe are already working with that were attending in Aaron as well we've been attending some conferences online so they're keeping us informed um I know that Aaron reached out to our insurance company as well to just to make sure they're aware of it even though it's really not on our end it's on power school's end um but any information that we get from power school we will continue to keep the community update but I wanted to make sure I let you guys know about that uh again in school committe as well and and that's it if no one has any questions for me any questions thank you um before we move on Al I I promise Lisa uh we have some students in the room who are related to one of our business items at the very end but uh if we could let them go right now and I think it has to do with the sweet and savory sorry that sweet and savory Club sweet and savory club and the St in approving a new club and I think it's later on in your school pry business items is but we think it would be a really good club because it'll teach a lot of kids kind of how to to be more creative for the teachers because I know there was something similar a few years ago and Mr F said that she like when students for mix um good items for the teachers that they can take home to their family so after a long day they would have some for children that they would have to so and during the club um we would have like a lot of ideas and stuff and a lot of want help people on how to cook on their own how to F things on their own because it's hard and not something that everyone gets taught and as we're leaving living on our own getting older growing up but um we have more maturity more ourselves and there like some things that we have to do and yeah and you already have a lot of set we had a we already have have a we have some supplies already that's there but we would need to get some food items some supplies just in case we already have some ideas either the PTO or any others in general as some local supermarkets around but as we go kind of change it to see nice job guys I'm just gonna add two things to I talk to your principal today and and in Sally as well too so we're all set with the wellness policy because this will be happening after school hours right and the other thing we're going to be paying very close attention to anyone with allergies as well too so we know that we covered those two things to make sure we're we're good with those but it goes right along with the parent about enrichment right so what a great activity for these kids and self-initiated so thank you guys so what they're looking for is is a vote on allowing this to happen I know it goes a little out of order in your business items okay bring that okay great great any questions for our students great idea such a good idea I said a nice job better than I did speaking to a crowd nice work nice work okay we can probably do the vote right now so they can hear so could I have a motion please for the approval of the sweet and savory club and Club stien Jess second I heard Lisa uh discussion I just want to say I'm really in favor of this because research always shows that people who cook for themselves are the healthiest like that's one of the you know major contributors to help so it's really great and a lot of people don't know how to cook even adults can we hear a little bit about the statement yes sis um so the statement is um for and they already have an advisor who they've asked and has um said um she was willing to do that Su vote um and it's 7 $138 which is the standard stien for the clubs that is that are running for um for this school year on the um payment Matrix so that's what and the only thing Le we talked that we pro rated right because I'm not doing a full year that so just make sure we do that as well too right and then how are they paying for the food and all of the um items they need fund they're going to do fundraising that's awesome all right you're looking for to take Sal starters proba just talking about this the only thing I want to ask Al um so you mentioned Al mentioned about allergies being aware of allergies and the wellness policy I know in the doc that I read it mentioned possibly bringing the food to outside parties outside of the school maybe check in with the maybe the cafeteria manager just to make sure everything is covered from like Serve Safe certifications anything else that might be needed just if it's going outside the school right and I think that's some of the stuff they got to work out as a new club right so I think they're looking to get this off the ground and I would say even in the future um I'm sure anyone in this room has some great restaurants they attend and know might know a waiter waitress or a chef that goes along with that right that we welcome them to come into our school and stuff um so that'd be wonderful so I think this is the start of something really good but I think there's a lot of logistics we got to work out before we're in that that final push but we didn't sorry speaking for you least but I know they didn't want to move forward without making sure a new club was approved financially as well all right thank you thank you nice job boys and girls nice job thank you any other discussion all right all in favor I against all right the motion passes thank you thank you guys so first sorry just joking okay all right uh we are at our administrator updates Rich Mr Cameron good so as you know rich is um we had we had an event a holl in event that took place earlier in this year um at Tahanto at that point we realized that we had some um things we need to tighten up and be consistent across our entire D in terms of safety um so rich has um been our our newly appointed safety Le is on on top of the role of being the assistant principal Tanto so he's been working with our Chiefs of police our fire captains our principes um and I felt it was important that he give you a little bit of update what's happening with our district because um that's at the beginning of the year and here we are almost halfway through so I thought it was important for you guys to to hear from Rich Mr Cameron and by the way he's doing doing incredible work doing this work for us so thank you well appreciate the introduction um and just having the floor tonight to just give you guys an update on all the work that we've done and all that we plan do so as you guys know from our October school committee meeting that we had we had Enlisted the expertise of robella who's been served longterm as W Public Schools uh safety director uh I was also appointed as the district safety leaon to uh work with our local police our First Responders uh our administrative team to really bring out all these practices conduct a full comprehensive safety audit of where we're currently at um and roll out unified practices throughout the District so uh tonight we be an update on all that uh we have done thus far but also our action items for what we plan to do for the remain so I tried breaking it down organizing this information to like four different topics that we've really been uh kind of harping on us like the heart of our work first uh the big piece here is obviously cond a comprehensive revieww of all of our current emergency response protocols uh seeing where our strengths are where our areas of improvement needed um and just evolving too with um everything else that happens in the world and making sure that we're up to speed um with our practices in aligning with the local law enforcement terms of what we need to be ready for and prepared for uh second piece and this is where a lot of the work comes is really standardizing our practices across the district having unified practices at every single school so that for our kids our families when they're in kindergarten all the way through 12 the same messages are given from when um we were sending everything out uh same vocabulary same messages sent home families know what to expect they know what's coming down the line and how we operate and how to respond to safy situations three uh a big piece of it implementing proactive strategies uh really taking a look at how we continue to educate our families and our students uh nine times out of 10 proactive of how to respond in these situations we can we can uh definitely limit the of um you know fall up or things that occur and really handle these problems up front before they become an actual issue and finally the fourth item here we're going to talk about today is uh providing targeted training opportunities for all of our staff across the district so that people in our buildings are prepared to handle emergency situations as they arise first item on the docket is comprehensive review of Emergency Response protocols uh this is some of the work that we have uh done recently and I do want to start just to comment on our memor of understanding to just highlight for this District coming on board in terms of the year two uh I have to stress the uh relationship that we have with our local First Responders uh we work very closely with law enforcement our fire chiefs uh it's phenomenal um in terms of the time that they dedicate to working with us and sitting down and developing these plans of making sure that we're up to speed on everything um while Berlin everyone knows officer boy is a stable uh for the burin public schools and uh when you take a look at it for us U you know while we don't have a resource officer on site we have a point of contact through this and I can say anytime that we have an issue from Boon uh Sergeant Mount riy has a phone call away the problem solved this any situation that comes on up um that has not historically been the case that the districts that I've worked at you have that type of connection where any situation you have you have you have a quick direct line uh to problem solve so the relationship that we continue to conduct and off one is one that's outstanding that I do want to highlight and communicate to that one of the first pieces that we have embedded work that we uh conducted we hit the ground running with uh with implementing What's called the threat protocol um for this piece here we sat down with both police Chiefs uh we sat down with our Administration team and really took a look at developing thre Protocols of how we handle threats when they occur um this is the big new piece this is the training that all of our Chiefs are actually going to is actually very DET timeing they had actually gone to this training a week before we sat down to develop it um so this is the big piece we took a look at evolving strategies involving practices and what we continue to implement um this threat protocol when we held our safety presentation for all of our staff we reviewed this with them uh and going over in terms of what we do when a threat comes around the short of it I tried to highlight here is just really uh framing it is that we don't deal with things thre on our own all right um this is a collaborative practice that we work with our local law enforcement when things happen we reach out and problem solved it's our job as administrators to provide the details provide the incident uh share the interviews and where we're at currently with as much accurate information about that at a time um but at the end of the day you know they're going to process this information they're going to guide police come to site they are the ones who are in charge and it's our job them to really Implement our internal practices to make sure all kids are safe um all kids are accounted for um a lot of this too just just to highlight a couple areas just our relationship you know going through the process of um you know we sat down and take a look at what law enforcement does what we do uh on our end in terms of uh steps that may need to take place in terms of conducting home visits interview students and then just us in terms of really determining what the response is whether what type of um you know safety measure is appropriate at the time whether it's going to be lock down or whether it's going to be an evacuation with problem solving with the police okay so just really kind of framing this uh set and then at the end of the day determine what measures may come after the fact two so this is fully implemented at this time in terms of problem solving anything that comes up to place and as I said we took the time to go over this all with our staff and really communicating that threat curse all right what do you do you know and we really highlighted in terms of during school hours bringing this to Administration it's not their job to assess the level of the threat and we take it on hour to work with our Police Department to determine the next steps of what we do in that specific situation outside of school hours really continuing to stress too if if something occurs after school hours contact us but contact to the police um having our staff know that they can reach out and families can reach out um that these things need to be we need to continue that process of of having communication with police and responding to any type of threat whether it be a threat that's made to others or threat upon themselves as well that these are the steps we need to prare Rich can I just interrupt you just if you go back once so that's a big piece that after school hours that we're stressing and bringing it out we had the conversation with the our local police officers and our police Chiefs like we're all in this together right it's just not it's just not Administration here it's also school committee it's our parents it's our students if there's any concern their job is to contact a local police and we have to make sure the police now have protocols in place and they do because we're working in collaboration that's a big um change for us and how we're handling situations as well sorry this has to be communicated to parents though absolutely and a lot of work to come so when we get to uh kind of that third piece it's huge uh and we love some feedback in terms of creative ways we stay stuff that we have done but there's a lot of work that's and and the way I've been handling things with Rich and in the principles it goes from the school TR first so I don't want you seeing something as a parent and you're saying wait a minute I I don't I don't want to do this or I want to do this or I don't believe in this when we're look at our table of organiz ation after our parents and families it's school committee so I have to make sure that you guys are on board with this and believe before we move forward so that's why we're here today good sorry Rich no please and honestly interject any time any feedback any questions you have to answer um for this piece too another piece that we have implemented as this school year is that every school at this time we have sat down and develop what called uh School building response team this is really just internal practices of laying out the who does what okay um you know who is the person that's going to be responsible speaking with the police when they arrive on site um who's going to be in charge of making sure that all these students accounted for who deals with the media who deals with the child who's struggling when an incident takes place all right very important to highlight each person not just a primary a secondary as well planning for people are out um so that everybody knows when crisis situations occur what your job is uh it's very tough to delegate in the moment of who does what so this is something that we have built in to really harp on each of the individual jobs rules and responsibilities of all of our staff um this is not up there we have kind of like some plans that for they're going to be blank just because you know some and that will be shared with the police yes and and this one last thing so one of the things we're we're not sharing is right so some of this stuff will be in the executive session when we move into like what our threats are and what our weaknesses are that which will come in executive session with our chief of police and eventually tell us like this is where we're at and how we're going forward and and I think the big question at the end of the day is is if something was to happen tomorrow at one of our schools are we prepared to respond to any threat that that comes out or any emergency action the answer to that is yes yes and that um we will continue to uh go through a comprehensive revie all of our current plans continue to build off on them continue to develop the roles but this will be a lot more the work action item number two standardizing all emergency procedures and resources across the district um part of our professional development that we were in when we held our safety meeting for all staff is we reviewed every single drill that we condu we not we conduct a monthly drill um with our local First Responders and it's not just fire drills anymore um you know we have to adapt to all the things that take place in the outside world and these are the types of drills that the more you practice pieace um so really for us in terms of looking at consistent language of what these drills are and how we operate um when you take a look at it if I say um you know a fire drill happened right now and that alarm went off I think it's safe to say that every single person in the room would know exactly what to do uh because it's ingrained in us we practice this since we're little all the way up all the way up through for us it's our job and our responsibility to make sure that any of these situations that arise for our kids they are as prepared in terms of how they operate and what those steps are so these are the drills that we will all be running as a district uh and with in collaboration with our local law enforcement and fire department and we will continue to practice these and um and spend time going with our staff reviewing all of our procedures and what we do one uh School announcements for emergencies for this PC it's really about a communication piece and unifying our practices as I said early on I think it's very important that we're all heing the same thing um that families are getting the same messages at home um as of right now we do have um if there is ever an emergency that takes place the first uh response would always be through the intercom system would be the primary means of notification the building or something occurs we have unified messages at all of our schools where it's it's lined up that's going to be the same script that occurs that is read um so from our students when they're in kindergarten they're familiar with it they hear it they understand it um for in terms of sending messages out to families staff uh students through our school messenger system we have now updated the system where we have text message we have uh automated voice message also email all three means of communication that go out to all families once this takes place all those message are also unified for the entire District so the same messages for every school so it's a click of a button for our administrators instead of being stopping for that nervous moment while you're dealing with a situation and trying to get a message out and trying to get that out in a timely manner so we have someone that's in charge of that that's part of our plan as well too and it's all done all automated and ready to go and all of our administrative assistants have been trained on how to do that they got a nice little laminated card right by their desk so they can click the buttons um you know so we run those drills and and have them go through that process so it's it's next easy set for everybody um a lot of these slides here I'm not going to go into the nitt gr but in short you we've done a full inventory of all of what we have for resources walkie-talkies uh go buckets um making sure that we have what we need tourniquets other things that we need to bring in there is still stuff that we need to purchase there's wants you know there's not needs at this time there are wants uh that we're going to discuss in terms of looking at budgetary purposes and uh seeing what we can bring in to make sure that across the board we have each building and every building administrator feels good about the resources that they have right this is a piece to that I'll just highlight once again at our local at our recent safety presentation it's just you know the the dos and don'ts too about safety this is stuff that needs to be Revisited um you know the tailgating the propping of doors the stuff that you just kind of have conversations mind but just remind us for everyone here this is the stuff that you refresh good piece to discuss and talk about for uh the common Norms when it comes to safety and making sure that our staff are all they he on a regular basis three proactive education uh communication strategies for students and families um for this piece here really like you know when you think back um for elementary school you know my girls bring home the little rulers that have the call 911 in case of emergency you know bring in the police and the fire department so that they can see them so they know who they are so that they're comfortable this this work is not done after Elementary School all right if anything the problems get more complicated as they get older um so we want to continue doing a lot of work in the proactive department where we're continuing to educate our students our staff and best practices in terms of uh how to handle situations as their world evolves so one that we had recently uh I had to include a picture this was a nice one that was posted on jly District Attorney's social media Pages we recently had cyber safety and buly presentation U brought by the District Attorney's Office uh really good for our Middle School um and honestly we take a look at it looking as technology and social media is becoming more and more relevant uh based on age you know we'll talk about you know tailoring it as needed U really just highlighting uh everything for our for our students in terms of what you put out there into the world nowadays unfortunately it's there and it's there to stay and we have to have these conversations you know we want to prepare our kids for these difficult things that come up because once again if we can be proactive we solve the problems in advance right big piece with this to what I loveed about this training is really stress having a point person you know how when something happens who do you talk to what do you do you know it's kind of more the age appropriate ruler of call 911 for emergencies but now you're establishing kind of other lines of communication for our kids um we look for a lot of these ways to kind of bridge the gap for our students um you know for middle school you know once they come on up to Danto we do a lot of uh social instructional pieces pushing in our counselors into the classroom getting them to know who they can talk to when something comes up um see something say something an anonymous Google form that students can use to report things um our counselors I have to say are phenomenal in terms of providing resources and sending newsletters out to families U but these are all the pieces you know and this where we want the feedback on you know what do we want our district to get for information how do we continue to bridge that communication piece on what do you do when things come up and and how can support our families so this is a big piece and we want to put a lot of work into this in terms of upcoming um appropriate speakers and and continuing to educate our kids as we come down line last but not least uh just targeted opportunities for our staff for trainings um at the end of the day the more people who are here or certified for when emergency situations come up the better prepared we are okay um we are going to be offering two separate trainings um upcoming we've worked with uh both John NADA and Joe Flanigan to run a CPR and AED training upcoming that we have for both our high school and for our elementary schools um and it's it's just great I mean I I will say for the response that we've had it's been phenomenal we had 20 people going through the training um the recent one coming up to H and the right people too so for example U you know we have one of our cafeteria workers who also runs the basketball games the AED machines right there you know that's going to be you could ask for a better Point person we make sure we get the right people uh involved uh to make sure that we are set for all scenarios so uh CPR is going to be one that's coming up on one of our half days uh we also are going to have a stop of lead training this is going to be the moon Police Department is going to be running this for us uh this is part of my tourniquet and making sure that we're offering appropriate trainings as um if there is ever uh wound or severe injury this is your number one case that causes death uh in these situations uh we also will continue to run safety care uh Crisis Prevention training I am one of the trainers here for the district and we run this for deescalation in terms of working for students who struggle with mental health or other factors um to really kind of prepare our staff and the best strategies in terms of feeling and and managing uh crisis situations when they come up for individuals so it is 's a lot of information uh for the piece I try to summarize it as as much as as much as possible uh the piece that I want is there's been there's already a lot of work that's been done there's a lot to do though uh you know for this piece you know we take a look at it for me safety has always been number one uh it's the biggest thing we want our families that when you're sending your kids to school you know that they're in good hands um and we want people to be prepared and know the expectations the more that we can help communicate that develop our practices the better um that being said uh in due to time if you guys have any questions any feedback any suggestions uh happy to take them or you can always an email if you have a good suggestion that you come up with always happy to um I appreciate the speed in which the Cyber safety presentation was done with the students I know there was some mention of doing it with parents and doing a community one is that still on the do it is y so we we I talked to Julia barinowski we we felt like the holiday season was not the time to do it um so we would touch Bas we felt after the winter those cold nights that we start right probably the February March and having one um she could do multiple ones and one of the things I actually even talked to Meg Canard about is after she does that presentation that we could put it on our on our district website as well too so that that's on me not rich um that I'm just waiting for that um the holiday season 10 no no good no it's good good reminder for me so thank you this is great work we've been doing right um it's work that we should have done earlier and now we're doing it um and it's still ongoing for us to do um but I know some you know people sitting in this room had some concerns about you know the way things were handled and we all it's a learning process for us all but now we have it all together and this way it's consistent across our district not only for our staff but for our parents but most importantly for the safety of our children as well too uh like I said rich is doing a nice job leading this and running those meetings with our Chiefs of police and our administrators as well too and any of this professional learing to stop the bleed incredible professional learing if anyone in this room wants to attend let us know that as well too um the minus CPR and AED than nice job nice job [Applause] that uh Lisa you're next okay so good evening and thank you so much for providing this opportunity there was a document shared in the drive for you I'm just going to highlight a couple of um highlights um from Tanto we often talk about the high school um but I did want to showcase a wonderful interdisciplinary opportunity that showcased the seventh grade um art classes and science classes working together and where students demonstrated um an animals adaptability um to their environment this is really Innovative U and a really well received D activity and the students really enjoyed and really got them engaged in their learning um we have also continue to seek opportunities for our students to engage um with their community and we ex um and exploring a diverse interests we are thankful for representatives from the Berlin Conservation Commission who came to our school council and presented opportunities to establish some active community particip ation um among our students as well as some leadership opportunities so after that meeting I did send out a survey to our students I um asking them because there was a huge list of available opportunities that um were um our students could participate in so to kind of focus those efforts I sent out a survey to ident to identify which of those they'd be most interested in along with um uh some questions around the various Pathways that we could consider as we already have the infrastructure for certain things within our building that we're you know we could tap into so um with these insights we can tailor our offerings and understand what type of funding we may need to support these efforts and the survey revealed a strong desire for coursework in business um in carpentry and as well as the use of this media center and so Mr ganam and I have been talking about the opportunities to do that and possibly um starting using this space uh preliminarily for a club um because right now we don't have the capacity for teaching or coursework but really involving students in a club so that's that's something that's in the work um and um I was prior to them going and I thinkk um thank you um Mike for having the students go before but I'm very proud of them thinking about something that they're passionate about and that's something that all of us encourage our students to you know to do so thank you for that opportunity any questions a so so there's one other thing we we need to inform you from the high school level um there's some courses that we're need approved um that we didn't get into the drive and we I I apologize for that um we we're going to send them to you we might have to and I'll have to talk to Mike about maybe having a remote um School Comm meeting sometime in late January just to get that first reading done on those courses that she spoke about last school committee meeting those AP classes so that this way then in February that first school Comm meeting in February you can have that second read and vote on them so we can stop the student handbook and the course selection bed as well too so I apologize we'll we'll talk about maybe doing something know I I I own that we so we have to get those in there so we didn't get them to drive for you guys but and we'll make sure that's on the agenda um for maybe a meeting in later January sure I'm sure we can f on that thanks Lisa your third point in the report that you put in the drive mentions um the transition for eighth grade students moving to high school yes um so that is so programming for our life skills class so my um my mentor and I are working on transitional um learning services and we um we visited one program and we have two more scheduled um just to understand what opportunities are available for students um and the different programming that's available I live kind of right around the corner from the Shrewsberry um opportunity they have their life skills program actually has a a storefront So and I've gone there so um there's a lot of different opportunities and to understand how different districts pull that together is really valuable thanks anybody anybody questions it's so nice to see cooking and maybe carpentry and then media come back this is a great space right here this is a great space and we want to use it and we've talked about that more than just a meeting room and a conference room in a yoga studio um and those were all great resources but this is certainly something that we we talk about the hook right that's going to keep our students or May entice more students to move into our community um this piece alone is incredible I I was talking to ler and I think I was talking to a few of you in Westfield the superintendent want to build an aviation type of program and they thought it was a club and everyone's like Aviation and now is one of the most sought off um saw aftera school districts to get into for that program they have there so this is certainly something we talk about kids videoing and Tik Tok and all the videos they do we have it the capability right here in our district um so it's certainly something we're going to initiate um with if I could just the media Point um because I know you're talking about this room which is awesome but also on the same lines the auditorium the control food from the auditorium has a lot of really awesome like I've had the chance to mess around with some of it and it is really awesome up there too you can do with that as well yeah we I used to school morning news right so everyone so even if you matter which school you're at the high school did the sort of Morning News type of thing so it's not just behind the scenes but also in front so that's certainly something we're we're hoping to move forward to so we're starting those conversations and it's a great conversation to have you excellent um next up will be uh the S thank you thank you for the opportunity to share some of the positive things that the staff are completing one of the things I want to highlight is something we came up with math on move this year of math as you know it and uh we're always looking at ways to bring more math to the students and one of the things we noticed was arrival time um parents are waiting there 20 to 30 minutes some days waiting to drop off their children and it's time that they're sitting with their children so we came up with this math on the Move That kind of took its life of its own we came up with uh problems that they can do with their with their children while they're waiting and it it opened up something I think um that took a life of it own parents love it they want to see more of it uh what started out which was the car truck drop off we now have walkers that we wanted to incorporate there because they felt a little left out we brought it to the bus students a little bit more challenging because you know there aren't those adults there to do it with um working on that we brought it a couple times and we usually use teachers for that so examples of what we've done um we put things out there for geometry triangles talking about angles um using the number of tires on your car that to the number of students in your car and you talked to Children about this and opened up conversations well tires I have spare does that count well you want it to count so they have that conversation with the parents adding multiplying depending on the age of their students and really opening up that math conversation with their families or older siblings and younger siblings um we had two fourth graders T it at the end so it would give a thumbs up if it was greater than 10 a thumbs down or wave if it was less L than 10 uh two4 grade just T that in cold they wanted to do that because of that now I have other students saying can I do it next time can I so it's really opening up that conversation we had an amazing third grader create a graph and then because he needed a challenge he made more graphs for us um a little bit later in the day so it's really opening up that math idea um more to do and the team is bringing these ideas into the classroom so when you go into the classroom if you they a visit you can build upon what they've done in the morning Point triangles how many triangles did you see today um so we're having a lot of fun with that and it's the year of math and we're just building upon those skills so it's really been a team effort and it's just taken a life and that downtime that we have sometimes um another thing I just want to highlight is you know we've done the wind block again around that and usually when you do the what I need now you're looking for small groups you're looking for that differentiating for the High group midle group low group what those students need to really succeed what is challenging about is is Staffing if you have two teachers in a Grade they have those groups they're going across the grades so Pon Point fourth grade I'm going to highlight they have two teachers they might have par professional in there you might have six groups they thought outside the box and invited some parents in to help support these groups so parents are coming in running these groups not every day but they came to me and I said absolutely they're organizing what the parents are are presenting they're overseeing it but now we have another set of adults in there and today I met them for a great little meeting and B beyond that they're now bringing them in for science so using that building up those relationships it also allows the parents to see what's going on in the classroom so a plus for them just for thinking outside the box thank you any questions about that yeah I expected to see some math on the move as we came in little uh screen you wish for so I have to tell you as a superintendent you have to fill a Time on learning report right and it was very difficult during covid right um when you talk about Bell tobell teaching that's taking place in bolon you you have to give a lot of credit to the the work that Cindy's doing there even before the kids the Bell has run there's education taking place that we're not in any Jeopardy of worried about our time unloading but certainly that's added time that she's putting into it so um because there sometimes is a lot of waste of time if you think about those last 10 minutes where the kids are packing up while those first and you multiply that times 180 days there a lot of time there but she's seizing every opportunity so well done sind that thank you nice Mr Campbell I will be brief um got my report um the only thing I'm gonna mention just real quickly is uh the work that had uh T Paso our fifth grade teacher is doing with the student council in perland one of our our goals was to uh help kids increase Independence and one of the signs of increased Independence is the ability to advocate for yourself and others um so they've been doing that throughout the year I meet with them on a regular basis um where they can compliment me on the fine job I'm doing and uh complain about food because those are the important things to fifth graders they actually do they do a lot about things too they organize a lot of social events um but the one that I mentioned in my report was that we were we're working on uh some reports for the state one of the things we had to do is to reach out to groups to talk about how students feel about the MC and uh they were very articulate I was very impressed with the kids who W able to talk about I'm nervous but I don't know why and a really refreshing conversation so I happened to is it link is that your it's incredible the meeting I attended the the enrichments when you talk about enrichments the opportunities that that is is incredible uh and the work that's happening there as well too so thank you for overseeing that as well too student council l wants to commit present something to us I'm sorry if the student council wants to come in and present something here I will make of that opportunity care what you wish for why not absolutely um your your your report did mention rocket ma too I have a question about Rocket Math sure is everybody doing rocket math in elementary or does everybody have access to do uh no it's uh second through fourth grade second some some sporadic first graders based on ability M um we wanted it to be helpful a lot of being overwhelming and by the time they get to fifth grade it's just boring okay I was gonna ask is it a cost thing or is it a no no it's a teacher driven you know they just we tried it one year for fifth grade they just you know they weren't as engaged with the platform when they're done with it they're done with it they do not want to see it again by the time they completed it they're it's a it's a great point though so like I know Joe's still here with this so one of the things that he would work with me at veterin ISL right and that we weren't using it right the amount of people that weren't using it and then why are we continuing to pay for year after year so that's one of the things that we'll be asking Joe to do with technology like look at all these programs that we have that we're paying for and are we using them um and if we're not using them then why are we paying for them as well too so that's one of I'm just adding to a list of things that Joe's gonna be doing in this in his interim State that he's gonna certainly be working fulltime at when he actually work when he actually work we paying him actually to work I should say there you go thanks AP SC so so the AP scores sorry yeah is so if I can ask to H that on for next meeting I didn't want to link lengthen this anymore I know s put that in there but I want to highlight that um but I we'll actually put that on the next agenda when Mike and I sitting talking about that uh so next up is so you have uh two reports in your uh fer um I am going to start with 25 order um you know 35 page report it's pretty wey um I'm not going to focus on getting through details right now I'm GNA focus on some big picture items um first and foremost is the question of um meaningful report I want to provide the school committee reporting it's meaningful it doesn't take you 35 pages of through things to um be able to access information um in the past I have taken basically this report and Consolidated it into each of the major functionaries you see so you'll see school committee for example um that very first section DMS committee um is the you know 1110 account um so I would roll up all the 1110 accounts in in Mixel spreadsheet and provide that as a regular report if any school Committee Member wanted to see all the detail I'd be happy to provide this report we can go through it um you know this is thousands of wine items it's hard for me to weave through all the line items sometimes so it's challenging um additionally I'm also if you look right at the middle of your school committee section there um for BMS right at the top you'll see there you have three separate Contract Services line items within BMS and across three schools that means there are nine separate um line items for the school committee for contracted Services there's surely some level of of cleanup that needs to be done with these accounts numbers these are active accounts you'll see that despite the fact there's $350 in Contract Services they're budgeted nothing has been spent but two $2.50 has been spent in the account above it despite there being no budget and $50 in the account below it um encumbered um it it just is it I think we need to do some consolidation of account members I think that you know start having that conversation um additionally um as I speak to the in some of my budget conversations uh we really need a central office cost center and that's something we're going to work on for next year developing that as a separate item but consolidating those three line items into a single line item that is their properly assessed in towns so it serves the same purpose so there'll be hopefully by next year some consolidation of this when they want to start thinking about some of these things um and maybe you know we talked about a little bit in um budget and finance subcommittee the other day but if the school committee members could take a look at this report and ask yourselves you know what's meaningful to you and maybe next month we can come back and of revisit it is that is that a fair ask um you to determine that um you know some other items I think um I'd like to highlight in the report um if you go to the very end so I said big picture I'm looking at total budget mostly um you as you go through it you will see that there are a number of relatively small incumbrances in the salary line items um our system doesn't um encumber salaries um I'm going to work on trying to figure out a method to manually incumber salaries because it's hard for me to look at this without knowing where we're project projected to be for salaries um 8 point where we come at the end at 8.6 million theom line budget is an okay place to be when you keep in mind there's about $1.6 million of random incumbrances in there those were put in uh prior I think to even van starting so there's a journal entry which is just a means of booking things in the system um for a whole series of small incumbrances I have no idea what those related to um and what they were for I'm going to look at trying to strip those out out and and figure out the proper way to encumber Sal it's not going to happen quickly um it's going to take some time but I'd like to be able to report on incumbered salaries but as we look at that number without encumbered salaries that number really is about 10.2 million so I think in a pretty good place um we also have not really ta school choice yet um I think school choice can be a conversation with the school Community later I think we have a number of items that we know we're going to have to spend money on um and I think we need to look at those items um as the year concludes and figure out what we're going to be for school choice as as I inherited this budget it wasn't clear what any sort of intent of school choice spending was but it's clear there probably will be some um to make the budget work um that's that's about it for me for now on that um I will speak questions I just to say thank you this is probably one of the first budgets that I've looked at and I've been on this the longest that was really easy to digest even that your your um your PowerPoint was just incredibly helpful and I noticed that the difference of electricity between Boyston and Berlin with being two different Electric compan those kind of things stood out to me and I appreciate your calling attention to that it's really thank you okay um so we'll get into the 26 budget report um this consolidates the two budget reports we gave to each of the towns um so Alan and I met with actually we've met um twice with Berlin now once with Bon uh we met with uh Boon spinc on December 9th um Berlin uh fincom on December 11th and then Berlin's uh Capital committee on the 19th of December so um we've shared this pretty thoroughly with them um if I I guess would' be helpful for me to kind of walk through this from a high level perspective um so if we kind of walk through it um Slide by slide I won't um get into a lot of details the very first slide talks about some of the preliminary information assumptions I'm making um we don't have any state figures yet those aren't going to come until January um late Jan it is January I know that late January the governor's budget usually comes out towards the the last week in January um the other reality is that we are still getting the data it's used to calculate the assessments so uh there's there's a lot of sort of massaging the data to figure out um all the student count for foundation budget um and so uh I know Charter students just dropped I'm going to be working to figure out how to assess those students properly and line up the assessments and figure out the fiveyear moving average everything I've done in here on a prary basis is based on last year's numbers uh assessment uh percentages um given that we are a fiveyear moving average I don't expect wild swings in that which is why I was comfortable using it it may tweak a little bit change a little bit but that's um the individual School budgets won't won't change a while either toono the regional uh district is there any way that we could put it up like the previous presentations um I I could have I'm sorry I didn't I we have yeah I didn't I I I apologize I could I could do this you is there a way to attach my computer to them um yeah sorry no no I just it was really nice to yeah keep going until we have that thanks one of the things to remember I don't know if everybody's familiar with there's an out of District movein deadline of April 1 so um if we have a student move out before April 1 um that student comes off our books if they move out after April 1 they stay on our books for the next year uh and vice versa so if the student were moving in before April 1st we have to assume them on our budget if they move in after April 1st the district they came from pays that that cost for the next year that's simply for students in outer District private placements but those are our most expensive um I literally uh gave a budget presentation in in March one day in late March at my previous District uh finish the presentation Friday morning Thursday night Friday morning to have um our our district admin assistant let me know that we had another District student move in that prior day um she wasn't aware they were not a District student and time to let me know so uh we had to kind of adjust our budget on apply it was a pretty significant uh amount of money and we had to sort of reconvene things so that could always happen at any point up until first so we need to keep that in mind um this budget is arranged into proper cost centers we talked a little bit about it before that we really need to have a district cost C proper accounting proper recognition of costs um and cost controls um and there's also no reason for the principles that need to worry about the school committee expenses right that's not really their per um and they're looking at budgets um I've made the recommendation to the towns that we start looking at moving uh the recurring student and staff devices that are in capital into operations if possible um both towns seem to be amenable to it um but there may be some budget constraints around it because they draw um Capital Money in many cases from free cash um whereas their um operating expenses are from their General reeven so they may have some challenges doing that um so we'll continue those conversations it doesn't mean I'm pushing to have it happen tomorrow if it takes a few years and we're able to work them in over time we'll continue work talking to the TOs about that um so you'll see a list of major budget drivers I won't get into all the details on those um health insurance um I think I talked about the health insurance increases we've seen um we are going into contract negotiations so particularly teacher salaries um looking at some of the increases that have been um voted in other districts um it could be a considerable amount um Regular transportation we are rebidding that that bid goes out tomorrow um uh and we're hoping to get biders on that um we've actually had a couple companies reach out to us so I I'm pretty pretty confident nrt will bid um but I will be getting back in touch with some of those companies that have reached out to me in the past couple months so letting them know that that bid will be available um special education Transportation um I'm probably you know on this Michelle um and try to figure out where this is I need to just reach out to ask Valley collaborative um they renegotiating their contract with vanpool um vanpool when they entered that contract it seems that um there may have been some reporting requirements that weren't clear and um in order to get special reimbursement we need some of that reporting so um that's part of that um other insurances I I'm projecting a 10% increase for those reasons um in other insurances I have talked to our insurance company uh miia uh Massachusetts intergovernmental Insurance Association uh I don't think it will be quite for St I'll look at what what they've of pitched us there um but those numbers don't typically come out until after our budget is done so their formal final numbers won't come out until after our budget is done so there's always suest work um I'm G I guess it's it's a good opportunity to say you know literally every every item in a budget is at this point is is rolling the dice right now we're trying to make the most conservative that's possible on how those dice are going to fall um and that's where we're sitting um we have a number of contracted agency hires um due to a shorten of candidates we just start getting candidates position for positions you will see that later in this presentation that we have um a very high number of people who are agency hires working for us who um cost significantly more than the regular process obviously the agency needs to make Mone top of so we uh ZIP to the next slide um we get to a high level of where we are as a tolling budget 26 right now we're looking at total Opa bu is 26444 um a net increase of 66% now you know we recognize also that this this District doesn't just assess one number it's it's it's broken down by the schools so if we get to the next slide we break that down a little bit excent into so like I said we would have a districtwide cost center I've broken all the costs out for fiscal 25 that 4 26 for districtwide cost districtwide cost is is small um it's mostly um salaries and more controllable cost that's that number is a little more reasonable um you know things like Transportation Health all of the health insurance insur is sit in schools um so all of those big increases are sitting in schools right now um Burl Memorial a lot of that increase is really those agency hires Berlin Berlin Memorial has I want to say six agency Care Professionals right now so it's a large portion of that um there are definitely some increases to especially we we'll get into some of the other increases in a minute um uh Bur Boon Elementary um Boon Elementary has been fortunate to have a couple move UPS move outs um in terms of out of District positions so that's one of the reasons why their budget is a little bit lower um they Lu in that regards um some of those move UPS however have moved to huno um that's just the reality as students um engage so those out of District placements now um uh we will get know the other cost items one item of not is I will be meeting with principles this week um just to go through all these numbers again to sharpen our pencils um one of the things you know once we put together that first budget this is a constant process of sharpening our pencils and trying to figure out where things are um you know little things uh I you know will just roll into the budget and I'll have a new version of the budget I'll just hold until there's a a point to have a big update um in fact we did just vote a small increase to the budget in a ston tonight um so that Chang the budget slightly I'm not going to give a big presentation based on that change it's it's not a big change it's it's not fairly consequential but you know I will hold small changes and small tweaks um for a point where um we will have an opportunity to to make revisions a lot of those are likely to come in when State numbers come in January so we do look to make a reach out to the towns and have some more conversations or at least present to them again or maybe invite them to a school committee meeting to see an upd version um so that gets us to our total numbers at 6.68% we've learned everything together and move to the next slide so Burl Memorial uh as I said um salaries are are a pretty significant factor employee health um and retire health I am factoring in I think I shared 18% um we know the retired health is going to be about 18% 17.9% increase this year that's boil there we can't do anything about that my hope is that employee health comes in a little lower there are a few factors that make retiring Health this year a little more more expensive um there has been a change to Medicare um to the cap on um there used to be an $8,000 cap the pocket the new cap is now 2,000 so the providers who provide some of the Medicare Advantage plans and things like that through the district have to absorb that cost and that's factored into the price so like I said I use the best number they have at this point um only expect them Health 18% but I can't take a guess that what it might be so that's on the high end and again like I said we're going to continue widling this down if I start get better numbers um we'll put those up my understanding is that health insurance from Mia comes in around the end of January as well so we may have a couple big updates at the end January um uh repair Health homeless Transportation I don't like getting into too much detail about student situations but there is defin a current need for that so U we are adding that to the budget presuming there's the possibility of um special education Transportation um another item that uh has gone up work with Michelle special education office this is um her estimate of where things are going to be um electricity um I don't know why but electricity was definitively under budget I look back at the past couple years usage um and it has definitely exceeded budget by by that amount um uh tuition and fees um again that that's um cost of Le one out of District student um as well as um any I think trans and Charter costs built in there so that's combined we'll go through that John there are small variances across other lines um but these are the big picture items these items that are really driving those budget changes um and like I said not for the agency professions that salary increase would be about 4.1% a little more line with other schools go to the next slide um this is just a calculation of the operating assessment um you know uh take the budget we take out the district share their share of the District budget this is how we're assessing the district L costs um to get the total budget uh take out their share of Chapter 70 their share of chapter 71 get assessed next slide so we get the boilson again Boyston um salaries uh they do have uh a couple of agency PA of professionals so if not for that you'd be at 4.18% uh employeed health and retire health same thing uh regular Transportation um we are looking at 70% across the board just preliminarily um I I actually met with uh the buiness after after this was fin put together and finalize I met with um the as business administrator and she indicated that there are some as much as a % increase I'm crossing my fingers not going to be there um but uh we're really hoping um due to those out of District shifts um special education Transportation special education have dropped and you can see how significant that is on their budget um so we talk about you know their their positioning um you know some of that is just students graduating through the the school Andor um you know moving out things that that so next slide is the same thing is as as BMS for assessment value so I won't get into all the detail again all the same factors so getting into Tanto what are some of the big factors um as Sol increases there that that's all of these are result of steps um as well as um a projected C so we're going into negotiations I have a number in there not something I want to share in public session but um employee health same thing um the substitutes uh nanto is is really using a lot more substitutes than proportion in other districts um this is I think I'm surprised to see that the other schools didn't have more substitutes um I'm on a list serve with other school business administrators as well as um Human Resources professionals throughout the state and every single one of them is seing increases to their substitute numbers um we saw them go up in Co um and they're actually continuing to Trend upward um in many cases so uh a lot of people are talking about it's just Paradigm Shift um people are changing their impression we spent three years telling everybody to have a fever stay home and now we're surprised they're staying home with I mean that's just the reality sometimes um we see it in students right we're wondering why students are are out more um we're seeing it in lot people taking more across the board so it's longterm short-term sub so I have to factor for it I've look at the past two years of sub used been trended in that direction try to look see something that's one year I look back another year and check to see Trend Lin try that um the special education costs the the transportation the tuitions um if you look uh on private tuitions um we're looking at two move UPS one move in and one B that's four add um in that category that's a significant change so some challenges there we go to the next Slide the next two slides I won't Lor it this is a longer version of the individual School assessment process um but then the second slide of this gets into how it's assessed in each c um Merlin is highlighted blue Boon is highlighted yellow just to make it visual so you can see which who's who's paying for what um you'll see in places I used mlc that's short for minimum local contribution the state U mandates that based on your uh towns we um in in relation to property values and income that you uh contribute a minimum amount uh very few schools contribute only the minimum Val very few communities contribute only the minimum Val most uh communities are at least 20% over um 20 to 50% is probably the average some school districts are at 200% of their local of local that local contribution is a piece of what's called minimum net School spending so I'm I'm I'm sorry I'm mixing the two but they're they're all factors in What's called the minimum net School spending um so uh we can get into that another time but uh most schools spend significantly more districts Town spend significantly more than the minimum schools it's just uh we go to the next slide so we get into the total assessments to the towns for operations mlc again local contribution uh so we get into um Berlin Theo the HTO above so the total operating assessments for is5 milon B next slide same calculation just swapping out share for total a assessment on top of all of this we have uh the hunt us that so we have an obligation to two bonds um one is a refinance uh done in 2021 and one is the 2018 Bond um you can see the total of the Berlin share the Bon share um I did just share uh our debt schedules with the towns um so we've had a few questions about the Deb a few um there questions and concerns um but uh they interestingly they had never seen the death schedule so it was strange that they' never seen them before um that would have been one of the first things that would given them but um they now have them they're aware of sort of the de schedules top that so we can go to the next slide so um burlin Elementary taal requests these are the requests that we in these are the requests that we met with the town over we've submitted all of the capital paperwork um the only item that sort of was added after the fact was uh we heard that there was some interest in potentially adding solar to the new so we get a quote for uh an estimate for solar so uh right now we're looking at 1,8 195,000 um you know my recommendation might be to try to do the solar in year two if they're you if they're if they have the appetite to do the roof but not other things I will state that the probably number one is the elevator controls uh we we may not pass state inspection if we don't uh replace those so that's a pretty scroll down to the next slide [Music] um you know definitely that MSP Ro gr project is looming has um I think you know SL some smaller things some things that um definitely need to be done one cameras is going to be important for security know which gave a really good presentation safety there are big compon in our car school safety student staff device replacement that is in all three that's the item we're looking to potentially move to operating again maybe over time maybe in pieces but um it's something we that ask will be here every single at that point you really kind of want to think about moving it operating particularly given the the the device cost um the individual device cost is low enough it doesn't need capit threshold so um so I'm something uh scrolling down to next slide um we have cond um and I want to say um uh Lisa's priority is that furniture or at least to start looking at it um I have sat in that furniture leas and I had a meeting and I had the opportunity to sit in that Middle School Furniture right in the middle that is Elementary that is there's no two ways of about it not Middle School furnit um you know most of the other items um Auditorium C Lighting and Sound uh was on last year this is a rolling up of basically two years they they put forward a threeyear plan last year year one was um not approved so we kind of rolled it in I think we're open to conversations we shared with both TOS we are very open in conversations on all of these items uh we understand that uh you know Merlin with a $1.4 million ask and tono as a $1.4 million ask may not beable so we're happy to prioritize we're happy to um make some modifications and talk about you know what's what's doable um scrolling down to the next slide um you know like I said this is a constant project in refinement I will principles I don't expect unless you know my meetings with the principles uncover something extraordinary that was missed I think our next big update is likely to be uh right at the beginning of February once we get our numbers I I might suggest we think about um having a shared conversation with cwn or maybe sort of revisiting the towns at that point having those conversations um otherwise you know relative to that December 9th 11th and 19th meeting not a lot has changed there's no real new information that would um s of Spawn us to to jump ahead again any questions thoughts conc anybody I know we did the the state funding for bees is that do we know that's going to State funding for what for bees is MBA she oh yes don't do well with letters yeah so I didn't know if that's a possibility down the road to try to do it for BMS or yeah so we will um we will probably put in What's called the SOI um with msba for the roof um you know it's it's interesting I looked at a roof that was about the same value in another district and we started looking at what it would cost to do it through msba and it literally was twice the cost to do it through mspa um we we bid it out to see what would happen we got a tremendous bid in and we decided just not to go through mspa had 700,000 to go through msba we did it for about 335,000 um there are a lot of additional cost and and and again for really big projects it's fantastic when you get these smaller projects a small project to them is anything um you know really under a million dollars and their lowend threshold is 250 so when you're just barely Crossing that threshold um you know so we we were very lucky we we got we got a a vendor who was uh willing to do a roof in November or December um and was a an employee owned business so that they did not have to meet prevailing wage so prevailing wage really big factor um uh in how you you bid projects prevailing wages can increase sign again the oversight from msba is pretty honorous um but again I'm happy to you know we'll put the SOI out we'll see what comes and we'll go through the process just like and to be honest with you I don't I don't think you can rent two at the same time I don't think so I think we asked you can't run it's only because they want to make sure the msba right it's good that we're in that networking with them that we can afford our end of the RO the roofing project that's going on in Bon right which we know we can um but they want to make sure because they're putting that percentage in and we're putting our percentage in so after that um then certainly we could we could go through that next step and certainly look at that as well too yeah the boiler one was significantly I think that one was over a million dollars yeah yeah you have to start with an SOI um it's not a difficult process so I'm happy to work with put that in and make sure that that is processed and we'll see where it goes yeah and again I don't think we can do it Aaron and then I'll have to check on that till after dec of next to look you can ask the person absolutely we were on the phone with her today she calls us on a regular basis says yeah be good'll be good conversation for us to have good anybody I'd love to see solar because the electricity going up in Berlin definitely looking forward to yeah um yeah there was also some talk from them about potentially putting s on a hole out in the field somewhere I don't know um you know you know your your average roof is going to last ideally 25 years take so your your sweet spot forting s is probably in the first five years right so youback on it so you don't need to put it in as you put the roof on um but you really want to try if you're going to do it really want to do in the first few years the last thing you want to do is put it in with 10 years left on the roof and you're you're you're less than the payback period of the solar and then you replace the roof you now have to rip the solar out replace the roof and then put the solar back on the cost is so you really want to make sure you time your Sol the roof when we met with burlin there was quite a little bit of a conversation about where they would put it right pole in the fields on roof right so there's a lot of different ways there's a lot of communities around us that are using different ways right so we did one on wher we put it I apologize for those have heard the story we put it in the the parking lot right so it was fantastic right you're shaking your head it was great um it was great for cop qus for everybody everyone enjoyed it until the first snowstorm came and our plowing cost went up tremendously because no long could they just plow up and down the big parking lot they had a plow around all these structures that were in the pocking lot so we I think we end up losing money um when we talked about that as well too um and then the snow is falling off it so we really got to look at some communities around and how they're using the solar panels um in the location they're going to put them as well too so it's definitely a big conversation when you're talking about where you're going to put those permanent structures or not semi- perent structures something to consider when you expand the tont parking so anybody else have any other questions on budget no just a reminder that this is a level budget so this means we get not one new thing this year so just kind of tough to see that those increases and our fingers are crossed Things Fall our away be able to we have we have lists going noted there once you know I look at this and once I see you know there's no point in presenting number 12 to 15% budget right so you know give them this number let them digest it if we can bring it down and we can move some things within their number that works um and maybe push few things our again I think Aaron stressed it that this is the hopefully the highest than this budget right so we're up here and so instead of bringing in a lower budget and then asking as it increase as it goes along but there are some factors in there like Ain said that we're still not sure of right we're in the part of negotiations there's insurance and there is some work that we're going to work on on our end that we can to um help um decrease some of those high cost as well hey Alan I know there was uh some talk with Joe earlier about looking at all the contracts for different services and uh like during the Rocket Math conversation right yes yes so you're going through all I I would assume you're going through all contracts that we have all every single individual contract we have with whether it's internal external yes uh for this budget right yes make sure everything lines up we are we are yep yep yep we're going to look at every um contract that we have whether it be uh independent whether it be contracts that are for our different companies um one of things that Janelle and I and and Aaron are talking about also these outside agencies that we're having right um we as principles we have it as part of a conversation we had um hiring process right and that we need to do better at advertising our jobs I'll give you an example when I put out the job for an interim Director of Finance the amount of individual private companies that reached out to me and said we can help you with this right we can take this so there are a lot of agencies out there that want to take that work and that's what's happening I believe with some of our Paris as well too um but we have to come up with a a way that we can keep reposting those jobs and making sure they're coverent and making sure that we're out there being as competitive as we can and that's a conversation we all have so please know that we're looking every single piece of that um that I'll be getting ready as we're looking at every nook and cranny in this budget to see where we can save because to make it point this is level right this is level right now never mind all those other things we talked about that rich is talking about school resource offices um I'll be presenting that all to you guys as the budget unfolds um so you guys get a chance to look at that because ultimately that's your role right policy budget and the hiring and firing of the superintendent so those are important things so you'll be getting all that information all right any other questions for Aaron thanks your eyes going crazy with the thousands of lines stuff I get it uh subcommittee updates um Jess do you have anything for the Student Success Tech um no we're kind of in a holding pattern until theck person comes in and I expect to all right uh Megan anything we haven't heard yet from budget facilities not really just one thing uh we had talked about is potentially moving I think we have our final vote on budget scheduled for February 25th I think that's the budget hearing oh yeah that's the hearing so do we have the vote scheduled for that day I believe we do SCH I believe so uh Aon we had talked about maybe moving it a week I think uh just due due to um schu a week or two weeks so that's something you guys can talk about offline you gotta have you gotta talk to BR about that yeah yeah that's something we'd have to I just wanted to put it out there that it was discussed and um so what's the date right now sorry February 25th so it's the the Tuesday after or February immediately after so those that are away during that in terms of preparation so we we do that specifically because Berlin has asked us to do that so whether you know people that's a school day it's not during vacation right no I mean talk to him okay but that didn't go so much okay yeah and the other thing we had talked about too is just just you know so many moving Parts this is a level budget you know the transportation the retire benefits salaries the longer we can wait um the better obviously not waiting till the end of March but to push it a week I think it would give Aaron it something that we brought that brought up so who do I talk to about that Kristen is that who I go through for that that's the agreement call CHR okay gotcha yep that's the agreement yeah I don't think the school committee one way or the other a I'd rather vote on a more concrete number than sure that's what I said I said I'd rather have it more accurate so we can get more things in there we agree y we agree okay okay I'll call Kristen tomorrow yeah so that was it cool uh no updates from the policy committee we'll get to a couple in the votes uh but uh Lori do you have an update or Megan do you have an update super we we met um this week and um three members um Jess Megan and I and un ly chose uh to recommend masc to guide our supervent search and we did this due to a comparison of cost services offered as well as um both Jess and Megan had experiences with nzda and masc when we were trying to find an interim very quickly and the um the difference in how willing they were to help had a Pap as well okay so we have a vote coming up on that later goes along with you ask me really we have a contract with MC as well too right so we we we have them most we pay them every year right for services rented for so we should be using our contracted vendors before we're going out side so looking at all that stuff no I think um at one point we were going to pay for nezda but I don't know that we did we were going to use nezda for the finance director search right well that was before your time I don't think I don't think we did did we sounds familiar I think it is considered Carol yeah I don't think we actually hold trigger with that we're a member town on the website or or something so perhaps s could take a peek that not get in the money too yeah I would look into that on website listed yeah maybe we're just a town that they service I don't know I know Carol had gotten a quote from them for so we get some stuff from them and I know that we look for some other stuff but there was a cost that they're going to charges for additional things we wanted yes everything was cost it was so like an Al type of thing so yes so but we'll definitely I've added that to my list okay well that's the end of our agenda up through business items unless anybody has any other questions for any subcommittees no okay uh so then may I have uh a motion for the approval of the super intendent search agency to be masc as the subcommittee has suggested so mov Meg yes second would anyone like to discuss that just to support it like the the alart that's exactly what Nez was if you look at the beautiful chart that Lori made last for last meeting you know so NE is cheaper you know up front but then we definitely want to have community outreach or focus groups whatever You' like to call them but NASDAQ charges 400 something per group and so that easily equals the 2,000 difference up front um when you look look at it in the end and again I just you know Tracy has I'm glad you're right Tracy was a big piece of this Tracy not it and just how how helpful and considerate she has been to this district and how professional she gets back to right away both Jess and Megan and myself all right any other comments discussion uh all those in favor I anyone against okay that motion passes thank you very much we already approved the sweet and savory Club so the next item on the agenda uh so we can discuss it because I have a motion for the approval of the student competency determination as recommended in the drive second Lori and Megan all right so now this is going to need some discussion and description so I'm sorry I know it's we've been in here a couple hours this is real important right that we talk to you about this and get a vote from you um many districts um are pushing this back a little bit but we we don't want it right we want to make sure we got an answer from you um they've pushed this to the local level from us um so we we need a vote from you guys today so we know what direction we're going to go in so I'm going to turn it over to Sally our our curriculum director is going to give you a little bit of a rundown what looking like what it looks like please know that she's just representing the the work that rich myself Renee Lisa our staff here have really looked at and feel like this is the best route that we're recommending to you guys right now um for mcast for this year so right so although theie Will using it for and scholarships Associated um the state has asked districts to come up with um what we are proposing for grad forward so we have come up with proposals which A and C and we're recommending a uh for proposal a we are recommending that we continue to use the MC this year as a graduation requirement until time when we can see what other and also get a better idea of what other districts are doing and at that time another decision so that's the proposal that we are recommending um the option b would be to not have graduation requirement however for those students who scored a par meeting um those students would be still um progress monitor to their and um just as we with the process um and for those students who are not meeting we would ask that they continue to take it with um support test and they and third option would be to just gradu department so we're recommending a um right now we need some work to do and some work to look at this in terms of that please understand that the MK is still taken right it's all making sure that every student in in our schools are taking the mcast um there's a lot of money that falls the students taking the mcast as well too so that is not going away it's whether we're using it for a graduation requirement the big question is if you don't use that as a graduation requirement what are you using and what does that look like so when you get a diploma from Tanto does it look like the same when you're graduating from Leicester and that's what they're looking at so they really um push it down to a local level right so I happen to be and I think Jess you were there with me at the the conference where we're all sort of caught off God right uh Mas and masc and so now how are we going to handle this because what does it look like when you're graduating from these schools and is it all level in terms of what a diploma looks like and the one thing that we're asking you at this point is let us do some work during the summer let us take a really deep dive let us talk to my colleagues right now superintendent were in this network I know Lisa and her team are on network so we're all trying to figure this out together we feel the best thing to do at this point is we leave it as our graduation requirement right now for this year and let us come back to you after we do the summer work which keeps adding on to my list and we'll come back to you during the summer or hopefully the first meeting that you have and with the recommendation for next year MPS I do a good job s and liser in terms of summarizing that Renee Rich anything else you guys want to add today so this vote is only for graduation 2025 it does not extend beyond that until you come up with a new plan or or have some more time to at least think about it and recommend something else I I think it was November 5th was the election literally this has come down our way and we're and like everyone's sort of scrambling trying to figure out the best way um and we want to make sure we're being competitive as well too right for our students that when they have a diploma from Tanto it holds the same weight that anywhere it graduates from um so we're right now we're just recommending keeping the mcast for now yes and so this applies to mcast graduation requirement applies to the 10th grade mcast test so taken two years ago by these graduating seniors that's right so it's not like they're making a decision do I take it or not take it um the only issue maybe is whether you have people who are or students who are below the threshold that you mentioned Sally and they're you're still working with them that's right is that a large population that is such a a minimal minimum I and I want to be very careful because I don't want to pinpoint any particular U person or student our students um but it's still minimum that we believe we're doing everything we can that we we're not concerned about that at all students graduating so regardless how big that group is you're confident that you'll be able to work with them between now and June graduate yeah and and I say we are referring to Rich Renee liser and the staff at at to okay um and the three tests were in a fall already but we don't get the results for that medical person in um in February oh okay so because I saw there was some test immediately after the election that still took place because it wasn't place yet corre yes so so there um so which test were you because I know I'm sorry right I know the I know the the um the test that I'm looking for the results um I will get those results in February okay we just need to do a little bit more homework we need to do a little bit more research on this um before we come up with a f proposal for you guys we feel that this is the best but this also helps us what our path some of my colleagues uh superintendent are waiting a little while longer until that we we we don't feel like we need to wait we need to get this ready so it impacts our students as well and and our teachers have there been any other districts that have voted thus far to continue them yes please don't ask me which ones but yes but they exist yes they do exist many of them are sort of and I don't mean to say the word pushing but moving our school compes along so we can get some decisions so it'll be helpful for our for our Administration it's it's a lot we're working with with mcast and for them the push it to the local level is a is is a is a big big lift for us to do this work I'm curious like I don't you know like voters said this should not be a requirement anymore and if there is a possible St that might be penalized we don't find out till February I guess I ask what is the the push to approve it within the next month before we know those results I I don't want to take a vote and then there is a child that does not receive their diploma because we gamble that they passed we we're not concerned about that we are not concerned about that with the work that we've put in place the support that the school has been giving for and I want to be really careful that we're not narrowing down right so we're just not concerned if these results come back in February and the student hasn't achieved whatever Mark they need to achieve is that it or is there more I think that's maybe what chess is looking for yeah is there additional opportunities the reason why mcast were no one likes them because not everyone tests well so I have no doubt that the team has put an immense time and effort into supporting our students um but say it was a you know they didn't feel well that day and they they bombed it you know they didn't do well so I just I'm questioning do we know at a specific date in February when M results come back I guess what benefit do we have to voting at Now versus in February right when we know that doesn't impact anyone so we don't know the exact date they well they say February because it it's easier for them to uh to you know provide a more vague answer because depending on whatever is of March so we just don't want and all we're saying is first of all this is the recommendation we're making right for all of us knowing all the specific dator that we know as Administration and the superintendent knowing those minute details that we can't NE share at this point because we don't want to um but our recommendation knowing all that knowledge that we have is we're recommending at this point that we use d mkss as a graduation requirement we are are not we are not concerned and I I speak for the administration when we're saying that I just worry this compation is getting very specific what's that I'm worried this conversation I agree I I completely agree I'm borderlining on comforable right now I understand don't understand why we have to vote today versus voting before the Imp March and hypothetically the end of February I guess I don't understand the benefit of doing it now Lisa and Sally you you're definitely recommending a yeah I'm recommending a I push it rich and Renee as well too all right any other comments questions I guess I would just ask what if the admin what the administration thinks if we were to push it back just saying what would be the danger if you is there any specific that you are worried if you were to push it like as a district as a district as a oh as a district um I I I can't see that there's any particular danger um other than that I think Clarity with families and students um is kind right you know be um I think that's important to understand that the intention of what is happening the sooner you provide information about the intention of what would happen students can be more prepared for that as opposed to there there's such a misconception out there after the vote that people were like H mcast is gone and that was I mean that and that was the um it wasn't you know a district fault it was how it was presented and so I think that there's misinformation I've been trying to give out information as best as I can um but being clear is kind I think in and the kids that are prepping to take the test this is this opportunity for them to take it seriously to know that they need corre so the majority of the district it's important that they start getting ready to take it seriously but if I can clarify people taking it in March that would be for next year's 2026 graduation requirement yes it's not like as the a senior that's gra hypothetically graduating in 2025 could take the March and still graduate wasn't December their last opportunity to pass not I mean not necessarily there there I mean you could very well have somebody move in District you from out of state I mean there's a lot of different opportunities but if somebody did not take you know say the math I mean there's still an additional science time for um makeup I mean I think the timing of this and and the 10th graders there there's the state you know the voters spoke but then there was no real plan in place and that's the the unfortunate piece right because the testing then takes place in March right so um and basically we were all on the call for the state where they basically said we don't know what's next here you go um Left us all very uncomfortable we're trying to get a feel of what other districts are doing other are doing nobody kind of everybody's at basically at at a stand still right now um so those 10th graders even though that the vote that maybe would make tonight or next month or what have you whatever you decide to do may not impact their graduation it very well could impact the way they take that test right because that accountability not only for our students but for our teachers where are we we don't have a plan right because the state hasn't provided us a new framework yet right we still the standards we know this test assesses the standards that we're required to teach you that's what we know so you know we just need to make sure I think in some of our conversations that our students are taking this seriously because we need to also support our teachers as well right and that's that's where we're feeling like the preparation um in in letting because our teachers every day what are we going to do what are we going to do what are our de you know and in and Felding emails you know Mr qu is feeling a lot of email from parents as well and and again this then lies on on your shoulders which I I feel look unfair to this you know the state put put us in this position um so I think we're just opening this conversation sooner rather than later knowing that these these tests come come up in March you know for 10th grade it's the accountability that still goes along with this Outcast right and we need to make sure we're really clear about that the importance of this test right um and that it it's tied to a lot of scholarships that go along with that so the importance of taking these tests seriously is extremely important I've heard loud and clear from you from you school not regarding this topic that you don't want to be at the last minute me coming to you in February still not having the results back yet and saying March is around the corner what what are we doing and and you not not having enough information this is a tough spot they've put us in as a district and they particular put at the local level we've been on webinar after webinar after webinar and everybody sort of trying to figure this out um but our recommendation is after really look it into our students our staff and what we think is best for our the students at Tanto High School is is option A and that's why we're really clear and gave out three options a b and c you guys can certainly choose we're just giving you the recognition but we need some direction to leave tonight and be prepared as we move forward to to minister this in March all right so we have a motion on the table to accept as recommended which is option A that's right should we take a vote we also have an option to table too anybody want to vote is anyone in favor in favor of what the motion on the table which is to accept as recommended option A I'm in favor I I and against okay uh the motion passes so it will be option A for now we'll be back talking about this end of the summer very beginning of the year this this is work we're doing now right we're already starting the work I I thank you I know this was a tough decision for you guys to make and a tough call for school cies to make but thank you this is the work we need to stop I mean so then there needs to be huge communication around like you know because I was the first year they pilot mcast and we did not take it seriously I will tell you that 110% um and so like I think the huge communication about like this is still tied to funding and others and John abs and Abigail Abigail Adams scholarship this there lot of money state schools go into that right but I'm saying the first year we took it and piloted no one said there were scholarships to you Mass full rise so that's why we're for for tuition not room of War that's where they really do that right but that's why we want to continue the level of of importance that we're doing right now right the high school saying this is important that's the message they've been giving since mcast has been been started here and so we don't want anyone to waiver to leas this point clar is kind we want to continue putting that that pedal to the middle on this all right we have a couple more items here sorry thanks Al we've got two policies here can you before we make our motions on these will you tell us what you're looking for sure so I think the first one hold on attendance who wants to uh you want to talk a little bit about attendance and then what we're looking for sure I what we the administration team recommends for the attendance policy is keeping the current school committee policy of the J as it reads for the remainder of this school year 24 to 25 this is again in order to give us more sufficient time to review the most recent State recommendations um there's been a lot of communication back and forth I know through the school committee through the administrative teams at all three schools um and I think the attendance policy as it is now um as it is is is stated is something that we feel we can continue to uphold for this school year and then taking really a deeper dive into the current recommendations and if that guidance might change now that Co is that you know a couple years passed as we were talking substitute students and staff those type of things all of that guidance may change as we know with the state we we're we know that making a change in January would be very difficult for even at the high school and at the elementary levels we're really going to be looking at the work and we're going to get closer to where the way the policy is written statewide right there's only three reasons for an excused absence right we sort of mudy the Water by having reasons for these absences it's death hospitalization religious holidays that's it right everything else that we've sort of created goes off the policy goes off the state recommendation those are the only reasons that we can excuse an absence and so this year we're going to keep everything the way it is we're recommending um to school KY and that you're going to hear from us in the summer or early fall that that will be the policy we're looking at getting us close to Mas C's policy where those are the only reasons for an excused absence can you explain the difference between an excused absence and a reason for an absence yeah so it's a little different at Tanto right the way we do it here so sometimes we have reasons why a child's absent went to the doctors have a doctor's know their outset parent gives and and so we sort of let that go as a reason for why our child's absent remember we have to give letters after four absences right the first round the letters then we have to give one at seven and then one at 14 right there are letters that are mandated for to give this keeping track of attendance by the way principals jump in any time because it's been a long time since I've been a principal right those are the three things that we're giving in terms of that right those are the only reasons if they're giv to who you have to report this to the state you got to give report to the state clear yep when I'm reporting to the state you're not giving it out to us there's the well to parents I say as we it's the state that wants these and those are the only absences that we can excuse when we're reporting that to the state that is it doctor's notes dentist notes parents reason those are good reasons we appreciate that parents are sick we want your kids to stay home we want all that to take place when we're putting it to state that that what holds no water and I'm sorry to be callous about that but it doesn't it's those are the only three reasons that are excused other than that we have to report it to the state as an absence if it's not one of those three reasons which generates us to give lelf to families and report to school committee as well too about what our absences look like attendance is a big issue right we also get sort of dinged on that with mcast as well too right the accountability piece that we know that Cindy's working really hard on that as well too so those are the only three reasons that the state expects from us and we really need to get back to that one more thing I know we're we're keeping it could you please explain the doctor's appointments because there's a lot of misinformation on that about that where people are are running with what's not accurate yeah so yes sorry about that um so a doctor's note is a is a reason for an absence right you have a reasons why you're you're you're you're not there we we want you to stay home if you say right um we we understand that the issue and I think got a little misconstrued was what we're doing is getting notes and and again High School jump in right um if if a child is going home right or going to a doctor appointment going to a dentist appointment um we understand that go to a dentist appointment we're hoping that you come back to school as well too remember it's count for an absence again been a little while since I did this if you're four hours not four hours three and a half three three three hours if you're in school for three hours oh no or you have fours ABS sorry about that four if you're in school for four hours you're considered present right if you're out for more than that four hours it's it's an absence it accounts for an absence it it's really simple that way so what we're really trying to say is if you have a dentist pointment or you have a doctor be be creative so we can bring your kids back to school if you go to the doctors and the doctor says you got strep throat or something like that stay home absolutely we we don't want you to come back to school right but if you're going to a do Point bring your child back because if it's more than four hours that you're absent we have to mock that as an absence which we have to report to state which generates the letters to you guys which then I have to report to school CR so we're just trying to say be mindful that go to your dentist appointment go to your doctor appointment we understand they're hard to come back but come back particularly at the high school because if you're missing Calculus BC you know and that one period of time not that it's you're not missing a lot of the elementary L too but that's specific subject during that time that's a lot for a child to miss so we don't want you to be out for that period of time that's where the whole conversation sort of went that's why the doctor's notes and the dentist notes and all that stuff that's how it got sort of confusing we're asking that you keep everything the way it is we understand the parent reasons for being absence the parent excuses this year it's January we want to leave it the way it is but know that the recommendation for next year stick really close to the policy three reasons for excused absence that's it and I think I think it's also important to understand that our policies have to align with Massachusetts General law and it currently doesn't like it doesn't M it our policy is is much too broad right we're not close to Le we've moved so far it was written during the co years yeah right so we were just trying to I think the intent was but understandable that um can you clarify for me though so my daughter wakes up she's not feeling good she's got a fever okay I keep her home from school all right 24 hours it have to be fever free 24 hours to come back so she's not going to school tomorrow y but tomorrow she wakes up fever's gone it was just like a one day thing whatever it might be I know the school nurse isn't here but I don't need a doctor's note to return after just a fever do I because there there's we got a lot of questions about that too you don't need to go pay whatever your co-pay is to go to a doctor for a Fe and the doctors don't gives us a reason why was absent thank you for having that right we we want we we we appreciate that but we don't need you to go to your do this that but again still not excusing the absence religious hospitalization death that's the only one not plays to like Saturday right is that where it comes in so this is where I think some of those questions may have come forth to the school committee members we have some students that for example they have used because we have these parent excusals these additional three parent excus us for such as illness so you don't have to go to the doctor but many of our students have already used their three parent excusals and now they're sick again right so now now it's like okay it and it can happen but it seems like it's the same handful of students right sometimes and that's where we say you need to have those um you know for medical illness that they're really not getting Saturday school what's happening is they're taking vacation days those and those there it's there it's two it's a week and a half two weeks of missed school and I completely appreciate that it's much cheaper to travel right like I I totally get it um however it it's it's an unexcused absence so you have to make up that time in high school if you don't make up that time you lose credits because you're not there there you know you're not there you have missing assignments you're missing work that's that's where that piece right and and the Saturday school is it it's not punitive no it's an opportunity it's a it's a you know it's a it's a you know Olive Branch to say look you've missed too much school you've been out too much and you can get a lot of your work done you have the resources here you know we have people in place you can do your work in a structured environment to get that done to make up that work and the answer to Mike's question no we don't need you to get a doctor's not for when your child's home with a fever and stuff do we want you to send the note in yes my child was out because they weren't feeling good right so that helps us right so if we're not getting notes from little Mike right and his oh he's out he's absent he's absent that's causing us on our end to say we got to reach out to the parents our adjustment counil gotta reach to our parents we got to have conversations like why is this child there is there something going on at home is there something that we should know about but if if if Mike's mom has sent the note and saying he's had a fever that's why I kept him home we don't need that from the doctor right appreciate doesn't EX use the absent at least we have a reason for that absence is is that clear yeah so we're keeping it the same we're not changing it so you don't actually need to vote we're asking to keep it just that's a good plan we're asking to keep it just the way the way it is it's January right let us work this out and get it in place for because then people will be it it'll cause them a big flurry of sure because not everybody's been that's right not everybody has really been abiding by what USS that we're working with right so I feel like to make this change right now it it'll really be difficult so well so I was just reading about the the general Mass General law and said uh the school committee has to appoint one or more supervisors of attendance is there someone that we an attendance officer is that what you're asking well the law said supervisors of attendance yeah so attendance officer that's a great question uh do we have an attendance officer boy wouldn't that be fun Mr no no I mean they they essentially I mean the assistant are the attendance but the school committee doesn't have an like um in Rich and Renee essentially act as but the elementary school they system we have it called someone right techology we just didn't appoint people yeah I'm just you know what I think we need to do because clearly we're out of compliance with the law so and clearly clearly we're not going to make a change tonight at 7:46 pm and we've already been here almost three hours so maybe we go back and Al needs to work with the principles on making sure we're consistent amongst the three schools and with the law and then I think it'll be beneficial person to vote in May so that we're going into a school year and we appoint an attendance officer and we do all that St me if there's parts of the law that we can comply with easily enough without affecting the actual policy because that I mean appointing some doesn't affect our policy it's already happening it's just we didn't yeah we didn't formally vote on it yeah so so it's something we certainly need to look at right so just like we didn't have someone that was really alas on for safety right and we should have had that as well too um I've added that to my list so we'll come back to more than before the summer and yeah May June whatever you know what I mean so we're going into the year with every so you have a a second policy on there do you want to vote for that um the dress code the dress code um we really who wants to talk about address code who was um I think that was it was on my list as well we had just recommended the revisions that we had presented to the school committee at the um December 4th meeting um to the current um policy so the revisions to the policy J IA in order to have a district policy that is most ref reflective of the current three schools handbook policies because that's where the disconnect is basically if you had taken a look at the revisions it's really just the more specific language the bulleted items um all of the narrative language um it would stay the same and the commitment of you know the administration piece that's the commitment with the parents um but it's just those bulleted items are really the the the change um that were more specific items and and we really actually had a good conversation you know from John and Cindy's lines right we we we heard from them as well as at the high school level um but we we really as an agreement right now we feel like this is the language we want but we've actually added this on to our list during the summit we need to get some some some surveys out to the families as well to in students and really feel like what what's acceptable for a dress code policy um not only that but we want to also engage with other districts and see what's around us like what exactly is West Bolson doing what exactly the other communities as well too so we're recommending this right now all right so can I have a motion to approve policy jca student dress code as recommended Jess Lisa any discussion I swung to a nice Middle Ground okay anyone else all right all in favor I anyone against thank you all right so that motion passes thank you thanks for uh all right the last one Al yep I don't think so many people are interested in this could you go ahead anyway yes we're going to talk about the approval of the Tonto an um we're going to come to you with a couple proposals that we going to ask you to vote on one that we're recommending um we heard what people have said we read the emails that you guys have seen as well too um we've had many many thoughtful conversations on what we should be having at time so especially at this particular time um that we're going to do so we're going to give this is going to walk you through a couple of proposals that we're looking at for the cbook for um whether it's um the thef in what that looks like we hear from Paris you want to walk us through that pleas so participation in athletics and extracurricular activities as you've heard um is essential for many students as an opportunity to thrive in non-academic Endeavors and become a well-rounded person through long discussions with the school council department chairs and the athletic handbook Review Committee which will again be meeting tomorrow all parties agreed that the policies as written in the handbook reflect both a focus on academics while supporting student involvement in the act in activities this is reflected in proposal a with no change to the handbook understanding that the school committee has requested a revision of academic eligibility in the handbook these same groups also agree that the existing policy with the following additional language quote if a student is failing one course and is participating in any extracurricular activities to support academic success the student must attend Ace club or an extra help session two times per week until they are no longer failing that course during the next quarter or interim report which ever comes first if a student misses two consecutive sessions the student will meet with the coach advisor and or Administration and if a student continues to miss sessions after this meeting the student will not be able to continue participating in the extracurricular activities this is proposed in the drive as option b we we really feel like we can wrap our heads around option b and we can do this here at at the school there shouldn't be we have a little over 500 kids in in our school we we should be watching them and paying close attention if we see a students and we do I we do play pay very close attention just to give you an example um so at Team meetings at the middle school level there's a constant review of what's happening with those students um I you know when um we walk around um during the day we're very visible I know I get Stu on multiple occasions I you know I know you have a great relationship with so and so they haven't handed in their essay um if they don't they're G to fail this quarter I'm like I'm on it I go and have a conversation with that kid Hey where's that essay this is what happens all day long so I just want you guys to understand that this is what's happening in in our goal as educator is we don't want to see our kids fail right that that should be something and we're going to make sure we're putting these things in place so that along the way if we see that a student is not the work that we're doing now but we're also going to use what we have called an H program here right so to help those kids like we heard people say be well-rounded right um we know the rigor of of being an AP we know the rigor of playing a sport I mean look I'm tired at 10 of eight and they're still starting their practice their games at this time there's a lot right to go along with that so our job is to make sure we're supporting them along the way so the child is not failing and that they're being successful and and they're doing it now they absolutely are Le so well said but we want to make sure we're memorializing that as well too to make sure our kids are successful and by the way and I want to be very careful going back to what you were talking about earlier Beth when we look at our data right and they're showing the data it is such a minuscule percentage of students right now that this would impact it it's just so small right now and again a little uncomfortable because I don't want to be too specific it's not an impact but now it's causing us to pay a little bit closer a little bit eye on these and making sure that these students are going to be able to be successful academically and be successful in playing a sport or enrichment let's be careful about that right enrichment you look at the boys that were sitting behind you the kids that are in the National Honor Society the students that got inducted the students that are also all in Hors right this is what we're looking for well-rounded students and I have been in the opportunity to meet with college recruiters and they're looking for the wall around the student not just a student that's an athlete or an extracurricular but they're looking for the academic student as well too right they're competing out there with them um so we want to make sure that we're giving those kids every opportunity to go to wherever they want to go to college and universities are are their jobs so this is where we could wrap our feel comfortable with this well to we're bringing it to school Comm we feel it's important if you guys have options and not just say this is the one we want you to do does anybody have any questions I have a couple of questions um so Lisa um first of all I love this because the whole idea is to move these students towards success um and to to um you're going to give them some scaffolding for that I think that's great that's the whole point um I noticed the second to the last sentence it says if a student continues to miss sessions and I felt like that was a little bit vague does that mean if they miss the next session the third session they're out does it mean they have to get to minut two or three like like they I would say they have to miss you know two more after like so if they miss the F the following two so we could change that to the following two so stud thises like four consecutive sessions okay um and then another question I had was if our whole motivation with this is to get the students to be engaged in the academics and to try to you know get themselves above water as well I mean because we're here our whole point of being here is academics I mean the sports are also part of it but good um can we consider doing the Ace Program for senior privilege because I can think of like seniors as well that might be motivated like did they automatically not get it if they're um sen so so senior privilege is it it's it is it's part of the academic day so if they don't have so if they're failing they they don't get senior privilege I understand that so so so then they would then they would have to come to their study hall they have to be in school that's so we're forcing them to be in school if they're not passing they have to be in school I get that and I totally I totally support that my point is could they then be a part of the Ace Program to help pull themselves up so the next semester they could have a senior privilege or senior privilege just done if by the end of junior year you're failing class you don't get senior privilege at all the whole entire oh no it's per quarter okay that's what I understand yeah yeah it's per quarter it's you know so that so thank you that and then um the only other comment that I wanted to make and I just I find this to be so hurtful that I've heard that um that the school committee is motivated by a ranking or that we have individual agendas we're volunteers and we do a ton of work what you see in this meeting is a fraction of this and we genuinely care about these kids I don't want to be punitive to anyone and I don't think that saying you can't play something or you can't do something it's going to motivate a student to do it I love this I think this is a wonderful idea because that's really what we want we want these students to be well rounded we want them to have opportunity so I truly appreciate this thank you oh you're welcome it was really good collaboration amongst us getting this work done anybody else clarify like so the option two not only Sports and EXT extracurricular but also senior privilege correct no well senior priv senior privilege is already has a no failure that senior privilege is different because it's part of the academic day the so the extracurricular is like outside of the academic day yeah the senior privileges is because we have study halls here some schools have done away with study Sol Al together so if you have a study and you're a senior at the beginning of the day or the end of the day and you're in a good standing then you can have senior and and there are many seniors to be honest with you that don't have a study hall because they're taking because they're taking you know a full course load and often times the the kids who have a steud hall um tend in in my experience they tend to be signing out at the end of the day to go to work and this policy this here B sorry be careful really shows a message to our students right that we're we're here to support you right so yes take those AP classes play us support we're going to help you it's not like okay you're on your own our job is to make sure that and here we have it in writing that we're going to support you and we want to make sure that you're successful with this there's a little bit of irony in here and I I I I I feel like I need to say we've had conversations at the high school so according to the MIAA and even our handbook right you get demonish in all your classes everyone's good and everyone's okay to be playing a sport playing everything right in all your classes right there's a little irony there so we're we're making sure not only if our student failing but if there's a student in Jeopardy of not doing well and being in N failing category D minuses or F we want to make sure that we're getting these kids into this so now that goes a little bit along with that we we might be looking at talking to Aaron a little bit about we might have to make a little bit of budget assessment with that a little one-offs but still we might need to get some additional support in that as well too but in full disclosure because I always promise you I we be up fr the budget but if we go with this it might be a minimum amount of money that we need to add to give some additional support in that so what is Ace um Ace is um it is an after after school peer tutoring um Club so it used to be called peer assistant and peer assistance in about probably about four years ago or five years ago I reinstituted it and had um high school students um and Matt you were um I'm currently the president currently the um yes and so originally there were a lot of um middle school students that were hard having a hard time transitioning and so we actually had a like large groups of middle school students come and and are peer tutored um by you know high school students um and then it kind of got traction and so students who were having trouble in you know geometry or Algebra 2 they're like well can someone in Ace help me with that and yes we can so there there is that opportunity there's also opportunities for students to um make appointments and go to after school help with their um with their teacher um every teacher is um required to have after school hours um you know identified one day or make an appointment um with the teach for after school help so so I don't know if Matt wants to add anything else to Ace but it's a wonderful program um it is really wonderful and it's a lot of it's awesome to because I've like personally seen a lot of people benefit from it um my only is wait because I don't have it in front of me but was it two sessions per week with the correct and I know that you you guys are currently one session per week and that's why we would have to do like an additional advisor because I can imagine like logistically speaking that being difficult between the schedules of the students getting tutor the schedules of people like who are trying to um I can imagine that being difficult to get two times a week so I think we're jumping the gun on voting something is that we haven't put the infrastructure in for so shouldn't we put that in place first then vote well we do have the infrastructure right now for it says two sessions so one could be ace and one could be the after school session so with the teacher you know so iten to my experience that we've been able to a lot of times they I don't want to be specific has been redirected to Ace Club so I think it' be very difficult to meet the two day a week requirement without defaulting I think it's I think we have to put it in place see how it works out I think we need a trial run I think I I think we're really but maybe for next year but we haven't done it yet if you if you vote not to go this direction then like we we have to based on going to do it based on what you're recommending right and what we're going to put in the student handbook will help us do it that's one so if we approve it you will put the infrastructure in place and and again I know we've got a lot of emails at school committee and we've been working hard on this this is work that we on top of our day-to-day operations you just got to give us some time right and I know there's this there's a lot of misunderstandings out there whether it be the attendance whether it be this this is work that we've been working on in meeting and making sure that we can give to school two proposal that we can live with both of them and make sure that we can not just live but Implement for our for our kids as well too and we're not talking droves of students right we're not we're not talking jobes of students I mean we have students um for for um after school you know for um detention and you know and it could be for tardies or whatever I had a student in my in my office and we were doing biology I was like okay I see right here this is not good so okay crack open let's go through your binder so like we do that and that would be considered a session okay you know I mean so there be some flexibility for what you would check off as having received the bonus yes so there will be opportunities right so Lisa you mentioned data or research whatever but you have students now who are doing things of the current winter sport students who are playing right now if this had been in place since September are there any students who are playing right now who would have received an F on their previous report card don't give us names are there any so minimal so minimal it's not every percentage viice it's so minimal it's so minimal zero or more than zero could I'm sorry just a clarifying question do you mean as a far of that current handbuff policy that follows the Mi no I'm just saying let's say this had been in place in September like we asked last year are there any students who are currently playing a winter sport right now who would have missed out on playing that sport because they failed on their most recent report C there were some that did it's okay that are not currently playing yes that are not currently playing no for any C they had two apps right he's asking if there's anyone with one F but that's very specif right it is specific that's very specific yeah right and it's not appropriate yeah yeah I'm not I'm not asking for a name or a grade level or class or the team yes yeah yes okay yes so this would have helped them be able to play and and as much as the the great work that happened in Tanto it's going to hold us all of us everyone in this room as well too all of us a little bit more accountable right we're going to make sure that we're giving everything we can to make sure these kids are successful so they can do both things so if we had had this in place in September there are students who are right now not able to play a sport who quite possibly could be no because that would have been I mean perhaps because you would have had this written and documented and en forced extra help that would have been for so there are students right now that are not that were not eligible to play a winter because they had failed two core subjects okay because that's the Mia policy right that would I I don't know how we go against that like we no no if this had been in place and you were forcing them to go to Ace Club two times a week if they missed two sessions they have a meeting with Administration and parents get your act together let's go what help do you need come on we're gonna help you it's very well possible that you could have got them to be eligible for that's that's the tricky piece EX only got they played soccer and then no no the question the question was is there a student right now who would be playing a winter sport who is not playing a winter sport because they got FS on their most recent report card you answered yes I I think we're it it's like a confusing confusing questionus it's play are now right now we're saying our our handbook says uh if you have one f you can't play right is that what our handbook says right you can't so you have two right we follow the current Mia right so you can have an f and still play yes correct if you have two FS you can't play that's correct okay and your answer to that question was yes there are students who fit that bucket of two fs and they're not playing right now correct right so if we had had a program in place I don't know why we need to have a program in place but if we had had this as written in place it's very possible they would have been noticed could have got that extra help and maybe one of those SS could have turned into a pting theam you don't look into it more than it is the only other piece you're absolutely right yes so why aren't we just doing this a matter of but I think they are we are doing it we are doing it just Memorial don't always know who's going to sign up to trial for a sport either all right and the only other piece sorry yeah because nobody's looking to punish anybody as laor said it's not punishment it's just it's all extracurriculars but student athletes typically are held to a higher standard in a lot of areas you travel to an away game you dress up a little bit right your behavior on and off the field there are different rules that coaches might have so to hold a student athlete to a higher standard isn't discriminating anyone it's just what you have to do for a privilege so I like this policy and Lori asked some really good questions about the number of days um you know how many days would it be is it arbitrary and Lisa you mentioned an additional two days okay so that's four total four consecutive days so I have a problem with consecutive I do have an issue with consecutive I feel like you could end up gaming the system that way if it's consecutive because you just go to one a week and then you're never missing consecutive it's per week is it it says two per week yeah yes the coaches will hope once the coaches are now involved I imagine that we empower the coaches and we encourage the coaches to motivate the students to keep their grades up and we should be recognizing teams that have great gpas that's right I mean I expect that's going on now right oh yeah we are we are again this is just holding us a little bit more com let me let me just be really clear I know everyone spoke today the emails I got from parents as well too that said let me just tell you superintendent G if my child gets a c minus or D they're not playing any sport right because they're parents not letting them play so some of the things that you know that we're we're hearing as well too so we're just trying to memorialize what school PR has asked right um to give a second option we we're presenting this to you we feel like this is something both full of these we can we can Implement and be successful with it and monitor it as well too and I think um superent gandam I do believe that you just brought up an excellent point it is parents prerogative to hold their child accountable to any standard that they want sure absolutely absolutely but no matter what if you're failing two classes because the I'm just trying to be clear on this if you fail two classes you can't go to Ace club and still play because the MIAA says too bad you fail two classes you're not playing so this only applies to kids that are failing one class instead of no the point of this is to catch them before that grade closes that's right but it says they are only going to be the policy is if a student is failing one course so I mean there should be something else I think we've all said this the school is the teachers or whoever is paying attention if a kid is about to fail maybe they should go to Ace club and I don't know if that's probably already happen there's like notices like your grade is now an A your grade is now a b and and I get what have we're in the business of making sure our kids are successful right we should not want any of our children have an F if we as educators are given an exam and we have multiple kids feeling that exam we have to look at our practices right so we want to make sure we're giving kids every opportunity to be successful so we might have to look at a little different Sally and I have been talking about some of the professional Le we're going to be looking at at the secondary level right there's a lot of pieces so we understand that we want all our students be successful we we think this is a thing that we can put in place and be able to do it we're already doing it now we're going to try to expand it so we can catch every student and make them be a successful athlete or have extra curriculum activities as well can I offer three suggestions though sure can we remove the word consecutive can we clarify Lor's point about continuing to miss meaning four total y and where it says we'll meet with coach and administration can we add parent okay so here we are January already don't have a handbook that's sort of been approved by school committee um I I I guess I want to talk to spend a little time with Tanto and talking about moving consecutive continuing to miss and Coach admin I think the one that concerns me most is that parent one right um parents parents being notified is one thing right absolutely notifying parents that's I think the work they do now meeting with a parent I know it's semantics but that that that's time and in parent schedule you talk about dentists and doctor appointments having a parent miss not being able to attend these meetings or okay all right so maybe we don't say parent must attend but notified parent must be notified of the meeting I think they notify they notify parents now if a child's not being successful there are so many I think it's um you know I hope I hope that everybody in school committee understands um how incredibly important the work that all of us we know we we know it's incredibly important and we take it very very seriously and we don't necessarily and and I appreciate the safeguards I really appreciate the safeguards that are trying to be put into place um but we but we we don't need to be micromanaged at this level because we are doing so much already and sometimes the students who are failing are are the students that need the most care and that we have wrapped them up with supports we we talk to them on the daily we sit down with at lunch with them we we do all kinds of things to support them and sometimes sometimes the student who fails is needs needs needs more or is is battling um burdens or carrying burdens that are far greater than anyone in this room we can solve right here with micromanaging something we like I think we we we want all our kids to be very successful we love I mean do we love you know 4our meetings close to that you know no no no but when we're at our schools with our students just aside I had the best day today because I was in a class like two different classes teaching and being with the kids and seeing how they're doing and seeing what they're what they know so being visible and being connected to our students we run failure reports all the time where are the kids at our guidance department is on point they're like okay do we notice there's a kid who's dropping in you know these areas this this really is happening I want I want to assure you that we're we're not like nine to five in it yeah Lisa nobody I don't think anybody doubts what you're saying okay using the term micromanaging not great all right but I think our shock was that you know we saw there you know if you get an F you can still play versus it was if you're failing we need a a a documented institutionalized way to make sure you don't fail Y and it's not a punishment it's more um a message we have a mission statement we have the bbrsd Tahanto mission statements it's a mission statement to say are the Privileges that you have of being student being in a club extracurriculars doing all this is because of the hard work you put in in the classroom Aaron was mentioning the minimum uh contribution that schools are required to pay for schools and every school goes above that because they want above that for their students and that's all it is so I think this is a great compromise I just think the way it's worded missing two consecutive sessions allows this to become they only have to go to one session and to and to Mike's Point what I take from that and I don't know if this is what you mean but it takes three weeks to make to change a habit right to make a good habit right it's not that we're trying to penalize the student saying you have to do two it's the whole idea that we're trying to lift them up and have effective change and so that's that was my concern with the with the you know board sessions or is that I I trying to help these kids and I know that you know that I'm like I'm not but I want you I just want to make make sure like there's I I sense frustration and I think people just aren't hearing like I think there's an assumption as to why what the motivations are and it really is genuinely we want to help the kids as much as you do so it's not like I don't look at it as micromanaging I look at it as we want them to be heed that's all I think everyone's intent everyone's intentions are good here right we want to absolutely and I apologize for using that term I just couldn't and I think what she's trying to say is what you're trying to do and how going to be able to implement it that's and being able to make sure so ranging parent conferences making sure like who's checking off every single time that whether it's consecutive and not so so we remove that parent that I suggested okay that's fine and the notice that goes out is something like you know your child is which we do already is going along this course and if they miss two more then they're in danger of not being able to play in the Super Bowl next year extra curriculum activities are all of that we're we're concerned and it's not like we can't revisit it if there's issues that well I was gonna ask that Jess that's a good point yeah I'd like if we whatever we come to an agreement on yes I would like to see some data on this how many kids is helping how many kids are falling into this so can I two things we need a handbook approved yep like we need a handbook approved tonight so I I I understand Beth what you're saying and all that you we just need to get a handbook approved it's January and again I I without being so uncomfortable the percentage that we're talking about is so minuscule that you just need did know that right so so Lisa you and the your administrative team isn't uh recommending option the highlighted option a option two yeah a club and all that okay can we um is the the word consecutive a big issue it is it in the so I don't solidifying into two after the meeting Rene what are you thinking I can tell you thinking up my my only concern if I may just have one it's really just a comment as we keep talking about this is that we co-op with many other towns if we and this is really just a comment okay this is no but just thinking about if we change our policy against the state and we're co-oping with several other towns for several other sports how is that going to play into our participation level our potential co-ops in the future it's just something to consider um you know it hasn't really been brought up tonight but it is something if we're going to change this language and now we're going to get really into specifics something to consider we're changing something pretty pretty it seems like it's at our level but it then ends up being more than that when we're considering how many different teams we do co-op with so if a kid fails though and we're co-oping with us Bo he can't play at all anyway or fails twice fails twice twice no because that's every I don't know I is it really that difficult to say that if a kids in danger of failing on their report card that we're going to get them some extra help after school that that's that's that're we we agree we absolutely agree and and we're just memorialized if that's the case we're memorializing so if that's the case why does it matter if it's so we're saying you got to go twice a week but if you miss something you've got to be consecutive before you have this meeting why can't we just say if you missed two how many weeks are we talking about in a quarter would be if you missed four no no how many weeks in a quarter nine 10 they will set up they will set intervention they will set inter so 10ish so that's two a week um if you miss two I mean I was going to suggest missing five l wants to miss four but um I just I just feel like I just feel like consecutive is um just an opportunity for this to become once a week and then they're not necessarily getting the help they need uh maybe they're help maybe they need help with the teacher but they're only relying on the Asus program vice versa whatever it might be I just feel like it's a way to miss out on what we're trying to do so um I don't know if your document is is it run off as a PDF and then loaded or is your document live yes yes okay so I'm working on the live document so if um so changing the language this first sentence stays in place all it would do is remove the word consecutive executive so if a student misses two sessions the student will meet with the coach and administration the parent will be notified adding that in the parent will be notified and if a student misses four sessions after this meeting so it would be a total of six sessions yeah this after this meeting the finish that sa after this meeting the after this after this meeting the student will not be able to continue participating in extracurricular activities they would have to miss six total sessions to not participate so essentially you can still fail but going to this Ace Club is showing you're trying to you're putting the effort in correct and then you can play correct or do your activities correct in our goal is to make sure that no one's failing right we're going to put all these things in place that they're already putting in place we're just moralizing them and making sure that our students are going to be successful in both things you're not waiting for that grade to close you're catching them before that that's right yeah and now it holds the student a little bit more accountable as well too so they have to go there yeah no this is good because this is giving those kids that might fail and you know I I hear what you're saying people have burdens and that could be why they fail this is giving those people a chance correct to to you know improve and in an olive branch and their peers and hopefully advisor so I'm gonna make a motion but before I do when we use the term extracurricular that's covering Athletics as well yes okay correct uh so can I have a motion to approve the Tanto handbook amended with the following language if a student is failing one course and is participating in any extracurricular activities to support academic success student must attend the ace club and or an extra help session two times per week until they are no longer failing that course during the next quarter or interim report whichever comes first if a student misses two sessions the student will meet with the coach and administration parents will be notified and if a student continues to miss four sessions after this meeting the student will not be able to continue participating in extracurricular activities that is a motion so moved Megan and Lisa any more discussion Rich Renee Lisa we we can we can Implement that successfully yes yes yes any discussion yeah state is two failures our our current policies one failure this is in the middle giving additional formalizing additional supports for that one failure one failure we're coming up with options for you guys all in favor I against all right that motion passes thank you nice work to nice work okay um almost 8:30 we're GNA enter into executive session and we will not return to open session may have a motion to enter executive session and not return to open session executive session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 38 section 21A purpose 3 to discuss strategy respect to collective bargaining BBA CBA and litigation kisy versus bbsd if an open meeting may have detrimental effect on bargain and litigation position of public body the chair so declares also executive session pursuing to Mass General laws chapter 30A section 21A purpose one to discuss the reputation character physical condition or mental health rather than personal professional competence of an individual or discuss discipline or dismissal of or complaints or charges brought against a public officer employee staff member or individual and Jess could I have a roll call vote please with Beth hi Jess Lisa Lori Megan I'm as well thank you very much yes

[Music] and I [Music] welcome tonight is one of the uh special nights we have when we get to recognize some of our students and some of the achievements they met made so we're really excited about that we're glad you can make it tonight so we're going to start off with the Pledge of Allegiance then we'll go through our our regular um reports and then we'll get into the uh uh celebration of the students so if you join me with I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the it stands one nation God indivisible liy Justice for thank you okay the first part of our meeting is public comment is there anybody in the public here before we go online anybody in the public want to say anything to the board any anything you want to impart to us informationally or otherwise no okay hearing none how about online I have a raised hand from Lisa I'm allow Lisa to call hi Lisa you just state your name and your address for the record please Thank you Lisa cogin danar Drive good okay first I want to say Happy New Year to everyone this is the first um meeting of the new year and I I really want to thank all of the board of education for their dedication um know we've already all put in a full day of work but but you're all attending tonight volunteering to do more and I know that the district has seen a lot of positive changes recently that's a testament to all the hard work from the students the staff and the volunteers are all working really hard and I'm personally very grateful for all that everyone is doing thank you a couple of subjects that I wanted to mention tonight though were about transparency and the communication of budgeting I I do think that Anna Robbins is doing an excellent job bringing information forward and I feel really confident about the work she's doing but at the special town meeting in December there was a mention of the $300,000 that was needed to be transferred and I don't think that that ever showed up on any of the board of finance and Facilities committing units there was no mention of the sum and I think that if as a lay person who balances their checkbook I find it hard to understand how things were track and balanced each month only to have the $300,000 show up so I don't know when it was discovered or when it was discussed but I hope that you can elaborate more on that at some point lastly I just wanted to ask if there was a districtwide school space study that addresses storage administrative offices and classrooms and if there is such a document if there's a place where the public can access that document to review it I think the public should be able to understand how decisions are being made and where tax dollars are being spent because at the January 8th Board of Selectmen meeting they said that they're committed to renovate Town Hall in order to accommodate additional Board of Education offices and I don't see a mention of that in any of the 2024 2025 2023 2024 or the 2022 2023 meeting minutes for the facilities and finance committee so I just think if the district has a need that the public need to be educated and informed about it so that they're the town is not conducting urgent meetings and making decisions of Pa thank you very much for your the time um and the opportunity to provide feedback I appreciate it thank Youk Thank you Lisa thank you for those questions anybody else online no other raised hand thank you okay we'll move into the uh administrative reports and we'll go to the Chairman's Corner what I have tonight is uh effective January 1st we uh put together um the new subcommittees and uh if you could pass those down that way um I think I spoke to many many of you about the subcommittee um I just want to mention I want to thank Felicia for stepping up and Felicia is helping out now on policy uh and I want to thank uh Cindy for stepping up as our new new Youth Services Bureau liaison so other than that chairs have stayed Finance is Russell Bush policy is Joe shidler and curriculum is Erica Hayes so those are the Committees the ad hoc committee now is Communications um as you might have all heard there's the Farmington Valley Press is no longer so we're going to have trouble getting words out or our message out and uh so that committee is going to maybe be looking at putting together a quarterly uh some type support electronic report um that we can begin to communicate with the public I think Lisa cogin is is right that we have to be as transparent and during the budget process as possible we have to be able to get that communication out so uh that is the communication group that'll me quarterly kir is on that also so um any questions on those assignments no okay hearing none that is all that I have other than to remind you that the 28th is our next meeting it's a it's a special meeting and we will have our um we will have our legislators here and as you'll hear in a few minutes that meeting is going to be even more important for us to uh make our points and and get some questions answered so with that I turn that over to superintendent Dr G super thank you Mr Daniels it's great to see everybody it's great to see the the children from Cher Brook primary school that I get to see on a a regular basis come to what we hope to be your future School in probably six or seven years from now and I would invite anyone to stop by at the the the basketball game and watch and have your kids your kids can go in free that was one of the things that I said that students are free so go look in see what it's like to uh watch a basketball game at K High School we're very excited rry to present your students this evening I will be presenting questions to the board in the commity based upon my forecasted budget memo that I presented at the last meeting and I'll also be presenting how um I'm recommending to spend open Choice funds for next year we had a and Maggie I believe you were there and you're the president I attended last week was it last week the This World Language Department hosted a a cultural night uh great dinner um that we had I I thank Maggie and that group for inviting me it was a great night and it was just a night that I didn't have to worry about dinner because somebody else worried about it for me I do want to talk a little bit about facilities and a recommendation that I made um I I since I'm going to talk about facilities I will mention a little bit about Cher Brook Primary School since we do have Cher Brook primary school here there was a a committee that looked at the space needs at at Cherrybrook Cherrybrook right now for those of you that have walked the hallways we don't fit that well at Cher Brook that we have tutoring that is out in the hallway we have special education services that are smaller classrooms that should be in bigger uh classroom spaces so there was a group that met and really looked at what are the space needs and we're actually going back to the um the board of Selectmen and asking them to resend the resolution based upon Poss POS Portables and really do a more in-depth analysis based upon where we are relative to um some of the numbers that we received from outside Consultants on how many kindergarten students that we would have each year are actually lower that they're actually higher than what we're receiving by approximately 25 to 30 students so we really need to look at that and one of the questions that you heard in public comment today was there a space study there was totally a space study done I believe it was two or 3 years ago was before my arrival it was done by frier architecture and I'll have Mr Bishop when um he's in District I we post that report online and what that study did look at was not only each of the schools but it also looked at the administrative offices within the Ken Public Schools prior to my arrival so there is a study that was done by an outside organization and it was followed up by U nezda so there was a study of all our schools the space needs and the administrative offices within there and there are some things that we need to work on so we're making a recommendation to the Selectmen to uh formulate a committee made up of board of Finance members Board of Select members Board of Education members and town Personnel to really look at what's the best situation for Cher Brook Primary School moving forward one of the things that I was asked by many members of the community is we had a a legendary coach pass away in the fall with uh Nancy Grace and Nancy Grace touched maybe some of your lives that are in here you might have had her as a teacher some of you might have had her as a coach and people came up to me and said what are we going to do as a school district to honor Nancy we need to name a field we need to name something in memory of Nancy Grace I need to let everybody know that it's not the Board of Education that names any Fields names um any gymnasiums or anything like that it's just that we can make recommendations to the selectman and then the selectman move forward so this week I sent a memo to the the first selectman uh Kevin wios and our CAO mark penny with three recommendations actually and and the first recommendation and again these are just recommendations I'm not saying this is going to happen so I need to let the board know I had a lot of people that were asking me to make a recommendation so I'm going to make a recommendation it's up to the town and the selectman to decide if they accept my recommendations that's great if they don't well it at least starts the conversation of uh many people coming up to me and asking so the first recommendation that I'm sharing is that I recommending that the C Middle School High School stadium that we have the whole stadium that the stadium be recognized as the Nancy Grace Memorial Stadium that the stadium become the Nancy Graves Memorial Stadium right now it's called nothing there there really isn't anything it's just a stadium so I'm recommending to the the selectman in the CEO that it's called Nancy Grace Memorial Stadium while I was at it I had a couple more ideas that came across um my uh mind because we've had a lot of um coaches within our time at zakan public schools that have made a tremendous impact on students and Athletics within our school so I'm recommending that right now the field that is out there they call it the turf field the reason they call it a turf field is that when we built it it just stopped that that's our turf field so I'm making a recommendation to the selectman that they call it Legends Field Legends Field what that would allow us to do is formulate a program to honor past Canton Public Schools Athletic coaches Varsity athletic coaches that have made a significant impact on our Athletic program at uh Canton High School and there's certain criteria that I listed out to the to the Selectmen to the first selectman in the C and there would be a committee and then if they accept Legends Field my recommendation is that we would put a big plaque outside of Legends Field and on Legends Field we would have all the coaches that have been nominated and selected so for example I give you for example I've never been a coach with the the C public school so I could say so let's say Jordan Gman wasn't incredible which I probably wouldn't be an incredible basketball coach and I won several state championships and I I just made a my team won several state championships that I coached and one of my former players who lived in the Canton Community said you know what they named Legends Field and I think Jordan grman should be part of Legends Field and the committee selected me my name Jordan Gman basketball coach from 1968 to 1972 wasn't born yet so I'm going to say that this means I'm just kind of making it up but that that would be the point of Legends Field to honor all our coaches the last part since I had the attention that I have the attention on the topic is we had a field in 1999 that was named the Catherine T designus field right now that field was torn down it's now a parking lot in part of the corner of our new track so I am recommending to the selectman that they rededicate a field the upper field where our track participates in field uh for track and field to be uh renamed the designless field so I I share with the Board of Education and it just happens to be that jar P families are here that I made three recommendations to the the the first selectman and the the CAO I don't know if they'll accept the those recommendations it has to go to the selectman but enough people have asked me um throughout the town um what what am I going to do and it's not really me what am I going to do um to honor the the leg of the the late Nancy graay and and talking to um a lot of people that I that I trust and some thoughts that I already had in my mind uh these are some recommendations that I put forward in writing and I share with you as a board of education just in case it gets to a selectman meeting before I would be able to tell you I believe uh first MOS is going to put it on in February um so I definitely wanted to let you know um before because it's a drafted memo for me so I know that was a lot I know really don't talk that much in my updates I want to let the board know that we do have a meeting on the 28th where our legislators will be there you it's still time to send Claudia questions that you can have of our legislators and we'll send them to our legislators January 17th we have an early release we have no school on Monday and I've been told we have a curriculum committee meeting on 29th at 9 a.m.

and then uh lastly the Ambassador applications are still open uh folks can join the seventh cohort of a20 ambassadors to gain increased knowledge tools and resources to discuss sustainably broadly and specific option actions you and your community can Implement to advance carbon neutrality folks can learn more at OSI ov.org ambassadors and that is all thank you um we'll move on to reports from uh Council I guess I I have an update um trying to get my brain back into the space of remembering what we did um so when that was notable in the last council meeting is that we um uh moved to uh postpone um a phase 2 study for the municipal energy utility um to make sure that we were sort of in better better alignment with Community between the different entities that have interest in this subject so um that's likely to anticipate that would come back to council for consideration at some point but um um I know some folks who are paying attention to energy commission meetings are also tracking what's going on with potential Phase 2 me meu study so good um just just by way of clarification is um are there any elements of that that would be worth it for the energy commission to um consider and and we and we or or weigh in um down the line potentially down the line I mean I think one we have to get to the the you know Contracting for a phase two study which we have a you know we have a contractor in mind but assuming we contract for the me me us has to get past that getting to the results and then yes I would anticipate that there is going to be interest and need for the energy commission to to share some thoughts as well okay but I'm not sure what that timeline would look like yeah thank you thank you uh and then did you have a comment on on that or yes okay go ahead uh frankly I was disappointed to hear that staff went directly to city council with a recommendation of a phase two um if we all remember I think it was in 2022 or 21 where we devoted nearly three meetings here in the energy commission where we had probably over the course of those meetings 35 speakers from the the community including many from uh an aror for Public Power where we talked about uh the idea of a phase one um what it needed to include um we developed a resolution on that and in this case that completely bypassed um this uh commission which is supposed to be making policy recommendations to council and um I'm yeah I'll just leave it at that that was a disappointment and and I would think that it would be a disappointment to the rest of the commission as well okay um and then any updates on um environmental commission uh the uh energy commission M met last on the 12th of December uh the environmental commission met prior to that and did not have a December meeting after that and its next meeting will not be be until this one so there's updates from the environmental commission okay thank you okay we'll move on to uh last opportunity for public input again this is an opportunity for the public to speak for up to 3 minutes and if you're watching on CN please call 888 788 0099 or 877 85352 47 and enter meeting ID 956 8718 7876 this is displayed on the meeting agenda and on the video feed and City staff will select callers that have raised their hand uh using the last three digits of your phone number please press star n on your phone to electronically raise your hand and your desire to speak or come up to the podium um and uh uh um if you'd like to speak as well um when speaking please move to an area mute any background sounds and um please state your name and address at the beginning of your comments any callers I've got to turn this back on again I think ah there we go um you think I would have this down by now um so yeah thanks for the great discussion it's still really great to be with you here in person um yeah on the benchmarking I'm really glad the city is making real progress on this and as you touched on it really opens up some possibilities of leveraging this data and this information in order to um get better performance out of buildings you know I'm especially glad that commissioner burtch brought up performance standards which I know nothing about but seemed to on the face of it seemed to make a lot of sense there was um seem to be some disagreement over how legal that is and this sort of Echoes the discussion around the green rental housing ordinance I mean both of these involve you know existing buildings but the city seems to be invoking um you know a well-known uh state law um called act 230 or the Still d roset hail single state construction code act um which was designed and intended to create a uh a uniform construction code across the state of Michigan um and but doesn't explicitly apply to existing buildings and to the extent so it's a gray area I think and I would love to get some legal Clarity over how much that law applies to you know our existing buildings cuz that's not I've read it it it doesn't really talk about existing buildings at all but that seems to be the inference of our city legal department so um yeah I know commissioner L has legal expertise but it's uh I don't want to put the whole burden on him but I would love to get some um some clarity on that question um because I'd love to see performance standards and even um some like Cambridge Massachusetts has done with their larger buildings which is to put a um a fee based on benchmarking performance that would be levied in the future I think 2035 is the date they have but would have impact in how buildings um perform now in anticipation of that I'm not suggesting that we go that way I'm just saying that we it would be nice to know what we can do legally as a city so um but in the short term I'm really happy with what's going on with benchmark marking and uh finally and um I'm happy you guys uh are meeting in person so I hope we can do more of these and thank you again for for all your work thank you uh no further callers or attendees thank you um and last time item on our agenda is our uh items for the next agenda as I previously mentioned we're aiming to have a discussion and a presentation around the rebate program uh and an update on where that stands um and is there anything else that I didn't touch on that might be useful y yeah I would like to address one other topic it's a topic um that I addressed um with you about uh uh email via email and also um in a a zoom meeting uh the energy commission currently has nine members the bylaws allow for up to 15 members um with two council member Liaisons um that means we only have seven um at large members versus 13 which could be um the case um with that expertise and those personal experiences Etc um we have no youth members right now um I've brought this up repeatedly probably I think every everybody knows every other meeting or so and I frankly don't understand why over the last 18 to 24 months this is already before members started dropping off in May of 2023 um why those seats haven't been filled um I I'd just like to add to that that reflects my concern that the energy commission isn't valued um as a policy recommend recommending body um as it once was in the past uh I just made comments about the uh Phase 2 municipalization study um if you look at um the work that the energy commission has done in years's past versus which it's done more recently um I think there's a number of other IND indicators um you know in the past um Missy as a department head used to attend all the meetings I recognize she's managing a much larger Department um pursuing grants worth millions of dollars etc etc um if you look at we're getting a lot more reports um as opposed to really looking at policy recommendations and I just um want to express publicly that I'm concerned um about the future and frankly the the present um in terms of how the energy commission um is um valued as a partner in decarbonization we know that uh the globe is warming uh it's now 1.6 Dees above pre-industrialization um we know that the globe and the country um and uh the city are not decarbonizing fast enough it seems to me this is a case where we need to have all hands on deck and um right now we have a miss that only has nine hands on deck and we could have 15 hands on deck um and I'm wondering if anybody's willing to comment on that yeah and I'll just say for my part I I apologize because I had um fully intended to follow up in more detail on that question with um with other staff and council members too in between the the commission meetings and I that slipped through through my hands in the last month um so I apologize for that um but I'm going to um prioritize that too also in the in the next couple weeks just uh particularly next week as we set the next agenda um to just make sure that I follow up um on that topic as well just to get some clarity around where we're headed um with things as well in appointments I don't know if there's yeah council member bricks and you know simply to state from the um Council perspective I mean and as previous commissioner myself before I was on Council I served on multiple commissions um I you know recognize the desire to fundamentally let me just say we greatly appreciate everybody who takes their time to volunteer and serve the city um on every commission um across the city it is it is you know you could be using your time in other ways in other spaces and um the fact that folks are willing to come and serve on these commissions and um take your time and your energy and and provide feedback it's really valuable um and maybe it doesn't seem as valuable in some ways to provide feedback on a report like this from my perspective in the Council seat it's incredibly valuable to have a set of expertise eyes that are outside of City staff we don't most of us on city council don't have te technal technical expertise or in-depth knowledge so to be able to go in and take a look at these reports and provide feedback both ways is it's a real service um and so I don't want to Discount even um the fact that reports are you know that that is coming to the commission we really need that that um participation and and insight that you can bring um we've talked about this over time um commissions particularly energy commission environmental commission the changing departments in the city there's a little bit of an Al learning curve in terms of as we've grown our staff expertise what are the roles of commissions look like and particularly in this one where we we when we you know increase our level of internal capacity what is that how does that shift at the council at the commission table and you know we're kind of sorting through the the pieces of that and trying to figure out um as Council shift too you know and and we move forward with plans how do we how do we best position ourselves to have that advice that we need and so it's not always smooth sailing um that doesn't mean that we don't really incredibly value folks that are here so um I think we're you know trying to sort through some of those questions and having cross commission conversations around this and you know I'm sure we'll we'll get to that in terms of um figuring out um next steps offer one more comment sure uh in terms of uh people that are passionate on energy and climate and uh their willingness to serve as Commissioners I'd like to point out someone here in the room uh Mr Garber who turned in an application to be a commissioner um many years ago when I was chair um I'm aware of other people in fact I made recommendations specifically about people who would be willing to serve um one who works 100% full-time in the energy field um in industry is extremely uh well informed so as I said um through this stepbystep reduction in the membership of the commission we are missing an opportunity for people to weigh in on benchmarking on M municipalization studies and so on and so forth and as I said we need all all hands on deck we need to decarbonize much faster than we are that's no no criticism of an arbor the whole globe is not moving fast enough and uh we can only see the consequences of that um in the last weeks in Los Angeles and every single week around the world um so I don't need to say more comments well taken yeah council member Ricks I'm just going to add a little bit to that I appreciate um appreciate those comments you're absolutely correct you know we know that we have to move rapidly on this that um we have um I'm so proud of the city staff that we have that's working so hard on this and and the group of um folks here that are putting lots of energy in um I mentioned having served on previous commissions prior to being on Council I also put my application into commissions that I did not get selected for and so the fact that certain folks don't get selected for C misss it's nothing to do with with you know there can be whole lots of reasons um for that and so um you know that's um greatly appreciate everybody's willingness and um those who are serving as well um I just want to thank before we close tonight I just want to thank everyone for um being here and taking the time out to be here in council chambers and and have the energy commission uh meeting tonight in person and for the extra effort that took um to get down here um I think it's been it's very valuable and um it's it help I think it'll help set the tone for the the next year as well um as we continue these conversations and and move forward so um I'll say now that it's 7:55 and as chair I adjourn this meeting and look forward to next months thank you you're welcome e

in this room so two weeks from now um and we still have quite a few policies to go over that are in addition to what's being presented tonight so um again those are live streamed and you can come in person and their public meetings so you can give comment um and and we would appreciate that if you do have any um moving forward um I'm excited to start my third year on the school board um halfway through my term I'm eager to continue the work that we've been doing in the committee um proud of the work that we're doing with the student outcomes to against governance um just proud of the culture changes we're making at the district um and just so happy uh to have everybody that's on our team that we you know have right now I think I'm one of those people who just always believes that like people are in the places they're at and we're at the times that we're at for a reason and so um just really pleased with everybody and just happy with how we're moving and everything with with every change comes growing pains and implementation pains and that doesn't matter where you're at in the public or private sector or in education or sales or whatever it may be and so I know that um what we're doing I have faith in it um if I if I didn't I wouldn't be doing it because I'm not that type of person and so um and and if people have forgotten also I'm an Alum of this District I've lived in this District my almost my entire life um my my oldest son will be starting kindergarten in the fall in this District because I believe in public school to my core and I believe in this community because it's the one that raised me and so I don't come here and make these decisions lightly or do anything on this board for clout for political reasons or anything of that nature um it's mainly for uh people that I grew up with who didn't have that chance and so I hope that no one out there questions what I do on this board or has any um inkling that I'm here for something else and if you do I'd love to have a personal conversation with you and I'm not saying that in a threatening way but I think you maybe just don't have the whole story and so I just want to make sure that when I'm signing my name to to something and committing myself to something an agenda it's because I actually believe in it and I think we're going to be doing something good and so I hope that everyone can know that as we're moving forward um I really truly believe that we can change lives with what we're doing if we stick to it it's about planning seeds and and watching those grow and sometimes it takes a lot of sewing and a lot of tending before something Sprouts but I know that if we just keep at it and we stay the course we're going to do great and so that's just happy to be here and continue to do this work thank you Miss Gibson McAn Mr Jones good evening uh I'm just excited to be here and uh to be working for all our kraton students parents of the district and our community as well um My Two children attend Belmore Preparatory Academy in the district and uh they're my main reason for being here but looking out for all their friends in the district as well all our students but other than that I have nothing to report thank you thank you Mr Jones Miss Marquez hello everybody and um I wanted to first off thank everybody who supported me and helped me get into this this place um you know started off a couple years ago doing a PTO and now I'm I'm here and um all along it's just been about wanting to build community and and you know make make things better for my my kids my neighbors our students and um I look forward to getting to know everybody here our our teachers admin principes obviously more kids families and um see you know see the great things that we can do I know we're doing a lot of good things here in this District I know the board has um you know set us for a good trajectory to improve our outcomes for our kids and to to create better Equity um in our communities and you know I I have a personal belief that you know there's um you know who who knows what the future holds and really what we have you know whether whatever happens in Washington you know it it's not going to matter as much as who your neighbors are and what you're doing in your own community and your own backyard so um you know our schools are are anchors of our our society and our community and so much hinges on that and um that's why this work up here is so important so um yeah that that's it I look forward to to seeing what we accomplish as a Bo I think we can be brilliant together all of us up here and of course with our our staff and our teachers um you know out at the schools so I look forward to meeting many of you and getting some work done thank you thank you Miss Marquez um I have a couple of things first I am honored to be the president again one of the things that I've learned now this is my fifth year going into the school board um here at kraton is how to bring people together and make sure that we find Common Ground regardless of what you know ideologies or political beliefs or whatever it is that that we have um it's one of I believe the strengths of this board is that we've been able to look past that and make sure that we're focusing on what really matters for all of us here um is our students I always say that I do believe we're the last line of defense for our students here in Kayon so I look forward to working with our new board members um to make sure that we're setting everything at the governing board at the top and Trickle it all the way down to make sure that our students are being um put first our data is the data that we have and it's amazing to see all of us working together to make sure that our students have the tools that they deserve to maximize their learning in this District um with that being said I am also really thankful for the leadership training that just happened I heard that you guys had a half day of Mr Mastermind AJ krael himself and Dr Ramos I really appreciate to all those who attended I know it can be a very vulnerable scary place I I've been there in a 9month cohort of you know almost nine months of this rigorous training I'm about to go back to Fresno to make sure that I deep dive more into this training and um obviously one of the biggest things that we say is you know student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change and we are the Genesis of change so I appreciate everybody who attended um and it this is not a right or wrong thing this isn't or bad people or good people this is just really a reentering a refocusing of what we have the power ourselves to do to optimize their students learning so I'm thankful for the administration team and all the leadership that was there um to go into this um type of training and I'm hoping that one day we can get you know our teachers and more staff involved because it really really does does matter um recently you know Monday was opening day at the legislator so congrats to all the homies that I know that just got elected to the representatives and Senate seats that's great to see but some interesting bills were coming in um today in education committee one of the big ones was the facilities board oversight bill that's trying to come through so I'll be attentive to what's going on at the legislature I also do believe part of being an elected official is having conversations with our Congress with our legislators regardless of what aisle of um the realm they're in because at the end of the day Arizona has a student outcome issue we have about 40 you know a little shy than 45% Statewide passing any literacy rates and that's a problem um so I look forward to building those relationships and seeing how they can um combine those forces with the student outcomes that we have here in our district and with that being said that's my report so now I will turn it over to Mr Man for his superintendent report thank you Madame President um first off I um this is not in any sequence of priority but just sort of in the random order um but uh parent conferences are next week so just a reminder that we'll have early dismissal Wednesday Thursday Friday and we're hoping that um our families will um take advantage of this opportunity to connect with their teachers and talk about how we can work together to help support their students being successful so did I get the date wrong I noticed it's I'm sorry it's this week oh sorry I said next week it is this week it starts literally tomorrow so thank you always count on the amazing staff we have to keep me from really messing up that um I'd like to reiterate president cio's um thanks you know in relation to our leadership team spending some time with AJ krael it was amazing um one of the things I was most proud of is the level of participation that the folks present put into the process which I think you know my belief that what you put into an experience is what you're able to draw out of it and so seeing the level of participation um makes me hopeful that we'll we'll get good benefit out of the time well spent um in addition to our conversations around student outcomes focused governance we sort of had our entry foray you know it's something that's been in the district in the past uh restorative practices are very important to this board the community and and to our district but the conversation um was around a new book that Mr krabble has um are tools they deserve which is focused on um student Le restorative practices and so that was a very um interesting initial conversation in that Arena and then Dr CTO Ramos who is our um the coach for the governing board here in the district then also spent time with our leadership team um kind of taking us through some of the mindset exercises and other work that the the board and the leadership teams had an opportunity to do um as as president kuo mentioned this is important because ultimately we need to create a vertical articulation that runs from our governing board all the way to our students and so this is sort of maybe phase three right so the board's been exposed to the work leadership team's been exposed to the work now we've extended it all the way through our principls assistant principles and coaches and then the hope is next step would be through our teachers and then all the way to through our teachers and staff and all the way to our students so um with that it sounds like everyone's been doing a lot of hard work people are going to be working hard this week with parent teacher conferences probably could use a day off so um that will be Monday um as we also honor the memory of Dr Martin Luther King and so um hoping everyone um has an opportunity to enjoy that day and then we only have 49 more days until our state testing our aasa so as we talk about student outcomes Focus governance I think it's important for us to keep our eye on the ball and that is the all that we're keeping our eye on and this Friday January 17th is our 100th day so another big milestone for us so and that was a lot real quick but thank you for the time to share all thank you Mr man that brings us to 5A which is our student outcomes Focus governance update we will be looking over progress monitoring report goal three and guard rail 2 and three and just as a refresher in the fall of 2023 crayon School District adopted a student outcomes focused governance sofg framework to ensure a focus on improving student outcomes what is student outcomes focused governance work it is a framework that is based on the idea that student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change using this sofg the using sofg the crayon School District board aims to create conditions that support improving the sofg framework is structured around six research informed competencies vision and goals monitoring and accountability unity and Trust guard rails communication and collaboration and continuous Improvement vision and goals describe the community's vision for the future direction of the school district it distinguishes between inputs outputs and outcomes and pertain only to student outputs and outcomes and our goals and vision are smart goals formatted which means that they're specific measurable attainable results focused and time bound our guard rails which we'll be learning it today in um our board I mean our reports are based on Community Values that strategically plan the vision and the goals they identify specific actions that the district leaders may not use or allow in Pursuit Of The District's student outcome goals and they do not undermine the district's ability to meet goals but often required leaders to accomplish them in a different way with the progress monitoring some of you may ask why do we do that too often in public education leaders do not pay attention to what's working and what's not working the results can be a revolving door of initiatives programs silver bullets that drain resources frustrate staff and fail students breaking the cycle requires having clearly agreed upon data a predictable Cadence of reviewing the data to see what's working and what's not working and the expectation that this information impacts what happens next this is the purpose of monitoring goal monitoring is a conversation between the school board and the superintendent that provides boards the opportunity to evaluate the alignment between the community's vision for student outcome goals and current student performance growth which is a reality while goals in reality may not perfectly U match it only becomes problematic when there is no evidence of student growth and even if students are yet growing and making progress that's only catastrophic if the superintendent does not have sufficiently a aggressive strategies in place for helping students make progress goal monitoring is beneficial because we lead by example what happens in the boardroom is more likely to be echoed in the classroom board Behavior sets the culture for an institution if board members want a culture where teachers are open and reflective in their craft they set the stage for that by demonstrating what it looks like for the board and superintendent to be open and reflective and it's grounded in student outcomes data it clarifies strategies communicates expectations and forms evaluations and with all that being said we're going to go ahead and get started I do have uh I guess something to say I breached my Integrity this week with our superintendent usually we have meetings about this stuff a week in advance in our one-on-one meetings and it is expected that I you know that the board submits questions in advance because life happens and we all know that happens um I did not submit my questions on time I submitted them this morning before the meeting actually this afternoon I don't even think it was this morning so if my questions are answered I really appreciate the team for doing that um but I also know that me not being prepared in submitting questions ahead of time can be a disruption to actually get information on what we're doing and not doing for our students so what you guys can expect from me moving forward is that I will not leave my questions and reviewing of the documents to last minute with that being said I guess we will start with um our SG goal three progress monitoring report and I'll turn it over to Dr dupin thank you president thank you president CIO can you hear me okay thank you president CIO members of the governing board and fellow members of the executive team goal three Focus is on increasing proficiency for our emerging multilingual students this evening our team of leaders is present here this evening to help respond to questions and provide int insights and context Dr Lorissa pombo our director of curriculum instruction and assessment Dr Pomo will you int introduce the remainder of the team um president G and members of the board we have Sarah Beth George she's our coordinator for language and literacy um and then you want to introduce our coaches I would love to all right I am very excited to introduce um two of our language and literacy coaches we have Jessica soloro who coaches teachers at the kraton Academy and builtmore Preparatory Academy we have TAA Stanford who coaches teachers at Gateway Elementary School and Mont Vista Elementary School so in the spirit of authentic conversation I've invited the team just to stay up here and be present after we go through some cycles of this you're going to know everybody's name we're not going to keep doing uh new introductions but in the but in the spirit of Welcome to our new board members we wanted to make sure everybody felt included and part of the circle so this team is part of really the the one of the most critical elements to advancing the inputs associated with this goal which is that the percent of emerging multilingual students that increase one or more levels on a Zella will increase from 25% in August 2023 to 40% by August 2028 in service of this goal we have established for this year an annual Target which is that the percent of emerging multilingual students increasing one or more levels on a Zella will increase from 28% in August 2024 to 31% by August 2025 we actually did exceed that number uh with last year's work so a lot of the input um we the work that's going on around this goal is being continued to maintain that increase that we that we experienced even as we address some of the challenges that we'll continue to speak about we have two we have a current measure uh which ties back to our DNA benchmark assessments the current measure 3.1 is the percent of emerging multilingual students that increase one or more levels on the DNA English language arts Benchmark assessment will increase from 10% in May 2024 to 20% by May 2025 and I just want to draw out in your board packet you will recall in October we updated some of the timelines on some of our interim measures so in creating this for your initial draft we didn't capture the change so the draft materials that you have received said had the old date of of by Jan anary 2025 so this presentation has been corrected to reflect the adopted uh revision to the to the goals and interims which was made in October so again trying to get to that 20% uh of students increasing one one or more Levels by May of 2025 and then the second interim measure ties to aella which is the state test Arizona's L English language learning assessment the percent of emerging multilingual students in grades 3 through 5 that increase one or more levels on aella will increase from 33% in May of 2024 to 35% by May of 20125 the rationale for selecting grades three through five is that those are critical years for language development the younger you can we can allow students to reclassify to reach English proficiency the better in grades three through five there's a pivotal opportunity to do that before going into Middle School where content learning becomes more challenging academic language becomes more challenging and English language fluency becomes even more imperative to school Success so in focus on our current measure which is again the DNA Benchmark assessment we have by school a some data to highlight today these are the students who the percentage of students by school who increased one or more level and one of the things I want to highlight about this particular conversation this particular inim right now we're talking about DNA assessments that were taken in October so we're going from the preest which was taken in August to interim Benchmark one which was taken in October when we come back to our next round of reporting we'll integrate in data from interim Benchmark to which was taken right before winter break so I'm G to pause just to see if there's any I have a a question on the interim um testing is that something that's done um districtwide or is that's something that's mandated do we get to choose how often we're doing this interm benchmarks we do get to choose the calendar for these assessments we choose the instrument and we choose the timing okay and as of right now the inter benchmarks are happening like every two months about I mean the end of each quarter so the in October December and then we have our um State assessment and then we don't take the the last one until May perfect thank you and we also have that preest that's at the very very beginning of the year so we try to spread them out evenly uh across the the duration of the Year perfect quarterly is pretty standard and of course it aligns with the sofg prce there have been at different times and I imagine I can't cite it off the top of my head but there have been different times based on either federal or state level School Improvement requirements that the district have a a plan for benchmarking assessments and I know for move on when reading there are requirements specific to third graders and reading proficiency which we use these assessments along with the fast bridge to comply with state law so some of it there are some requirements but for the most part we do have a a broad degree of latitude in the instrument and the timing okay thank you so at this I'm to turn it over to the team to jump into some of the current data so you want me to go over the the data do you want me to jump into it or do you wanna yeah I then I can answer some questions about it okay so this highlight this goes back again we're trying to highlight three years worth of the of this progress data and this goes back to the beginning of our use of the DNA tool we adopted that um in the 2022 2023 school year and so what we're observing right now is that from 22 to 23 2223 school year to 23 24 school year the percentage of emerging multilingual students who increased one or more levels um from the pre to interim Benchmark one grew by 1% from 2324 to 2024 25 the percentage decreased by 3% so you know we're following following that then from 2223 to 2324 the percentage of emerging multilinguals who increased one or more proficiency levels from pre to IBM to remain steady at 10% so going across the top that's kind of where we're we're topping out um over the last couple of years so to reach current measure 3.1 by that should say may 2025 we need to see a 16% increase from where we were in October um in order to reach that 20% goal by the post test in in May so at this time we do not feel that we we're not confident that we are on track to hit that 20% by May uh but we are are seeing some progress that we're going to highlight now okay and I I just want because I know we have new board members and we had the study session about the DNA assessment and DNA stands for data and assessment and it's the assessment that we use to um test grade level standards so if you're in fifth grade it's testing what the kids should know by the end of fifth grade if you're in fourth grade what you should know by the end of fourth grade and the test is um the pre-test as uh tests obviously the test for the whole year every single time so it's not like it's uh adapted throughout the school year so it's the same test just different questions every time they take it um and so when we're looking at our multilingual Learners with the DNA it's testing them on grade level standards so just to give an analogy about that if I was um in Japan and I'm learning Japanese um this has given me a test on fifth grade Japanese standard so I'd have to be able to read Japanese write Japanese do everything at that grade level to do well on this assessment so that's why you see the very low um well moving levels and then also in our data you'll see low proficiency for our multilingual Learners now the aella assessment which is the measure that we're using at the end if we met our goal that's measuring language acquisition so m I learning Japanese do I know how um do I know the letters and do I know the sounds and do I know how the language is structured do I know what the characters mean um in the alphabet so those are looking at language acquisition so when we look at our students being tested on the DNA assessment they're being tested for something that they don't haven't acquired the language yet and so the aella or language acquisition is something that would come first before they would uh master or do well on our DNA assessment or the state assessment and what we don't have right now is is assessment that is directly aligned to language acquisition so that's something that we want to look at for next year and the DNA is something that is looking at grade level standards but it's not directly aligned to language acquisition but that was the closest thing we had to look at for this year um and one of the questions that President C Kio asked was if you look at last year we were at um seven uh 7% of our students were able to move one level and this year we're at four %c and so asking why is it you know what's the difference between those two and why that happened um and I just want to share we looked at the numbers and last year we tested um at this time 694 students but there's 1,5 multilingual Learners and out of those 694 students 53 are the ones that moved the level and the levels are pre-emergent basic and intermediate um this year at the same time we tested 890 students um out of 968 and 37 were the move levels now what we didn't have a chance to do during the time um when we got your questions was look at are they the same students are the same students are these different students that are moving um we would have to look at each student to see how they did last year to this year and that could be done at the more like the school level but we can also get each student um so that's the difference between the two because the only only way we can get the data is if we have the student take the pre-test which is in August when they first start and then the test in October if they didn't take the pre-test and they started late we don't have those kids in the number or say for inst they took the like the one in October and then we just took it in December if they didn't um take the October one then they don't get counted or they if they only took they have to have two points but if they took um the October one and December one then we can compare it even though they didn't take the preest to see if they grew or move move levels on the DNA assessment does that make do you have questions for before and I'm just going to reread the question so they have Clarity on what the actual question was it says what insights can be drawn from the decrease in DNA assessment proficiency among emerging multilingual students from 2324 to 2425 and how can these findings guide adjustments to the instructional strategies and resource allocation to meet current measure 3.1 that was the question that that I had asked um and I know that I gave it to you guys light um late notice so in the future if you do start finding a little bit more answers to this question if we can just put it in a board update that would be great one of the things just one of the insights as even just this afternoon as we were considering the question we had a really good conversation about what it means to calculate growth from pre to ibm1 so in order so what Dr Pomo mentioned is very important in order for a students's score to count on on this graph they have to have taken both of those assessments and so we went in and that analysis revealed to us that there's a possibility that we're not fully and effectively capturing all students in in both assessments so what we don't know is why that is possible contributing factors could be we like at this you asked about compliance testing so for the state assessment we have a requirement to reach a minimum of 95% tested if we don't there's negative uh ramifications for school letter grades and so we pay very close attention to that we and I what I mean is I don't have not given that same level of focus and attention to the participation rate in these assessments so if we're only testing 70 or 80% we're missing a large number of students then potentially so that's that kind of in that is an Insight that emerged this afternoon when we were looking at these like oh we really effectively capturing all students or if we are are there some factors based on attendance or communication with families that help these students know and understand the importance of this assessment or their ability to to feel confident in doing well and given the size the actual number size of some of these student groups it can significantly potentially significantly impact the difference very much so so so that could be a difference now we are are so as we move into inputs for the remainder year we've discussed a little bit with you and we'll share a little bit more shortly the work that we're doing to engage the families of our emerging multilingual leaders so this suggests a real strong need to effectively connect with those individuals so they can make sure that they you know they know the importance of the assessment how we're using it and then how it's shaping what the learning day looks like for their children so so what I wanted to add about um inputs like after seeing this data in October so I know we're kind of talking a couple months later just some things that we um observed and noticed is that the one thing if you remember we and we we reported last time we said we would adjust our coaching and so we adjusted our coaching I'm gonna have TAA talk about that real quick how we adjusted our coaching the last couple quarters to address um our multilingual Learners you want share real Qui hello um so some of the things that we have done to adjust our coaching as language and literacy coaches is we recognize a need for a deeper understanding of the English language proficiency standards um excuse me and then also how to capitalize on the resources that we have within our curriculum to support that um and also we have been receiving outside consultation from Heidi kosy which has been um really Paramount in supporting our teachers with understanding language acquisition as opposed to literacy um and as Dr pumbo mentioned they're they're not the same and so um how can we support our students with with um language acquisition and um the next sort of level of that was the implementation of the the strategies that Heidi kosy has provided Us in the training um both in our district professional development but then we have a small cooh cohort of targeted teachers or teachers who are teaching targeted language acquisition to students um and supporting them with what that will look like in classroom and again just a deeper understanding of language acquisition as a whole thank you thank you um and the other thing I wanted to add is that during that coaching the last the the last quarter um we noticed our teachers were time out with the planning and part of that planning has to do something that Sarah Beth and I talked that we need to do is that our um seci teachers were going to our unit guides and going to that um unit guide to teach that standard and then they have to do a couple clicks to get to our ELP standards which is to address our language acquisition and so what we're going to do with our work is and and that's going to take time in the summer is change it where they can go straight to the ELP standard and then it leads them to the unit guide for that grade level um the other thing we're going to change is the for our seci teachers they're getting a lot of training on verb tent study and so we're going to create a pacing guide like you teach this lesson and this lesson and kind of a Continuum of when to teach the lesson based on the grade spans and also the um proficiency level and so that's something that our teachers are asking for too that we're going to we're going to be working on um based on when we're doing these planning lessons or planning meetings that the support that they need is there anything you want to add that I forgot or okay yeah go ahead hi um so in addition to so we're talking about inputs here some of the things that we're doing to support our teachers in um teaching language acquisition strategies so in addition to the verb tent study and that scope and sequence for grammar we also have um an additional resource that we've some teachers at different campuses have started it's sort of like a soft rollout um The kraton Academy we've got a couple of teachers that are really going ahead with it and those who have done it really love it but it's for small group study it's a program specifically for certain grade bands by proficient proficiency level so that when they're pulling small groups during that targeted time they can really Target by proficiency level so you have your whole group lesson where you're teaching structure and phonetics and all the things necessary for learning a language and then we target even further in small groups with you are um a brand new English language learner I'm going to give you this type of instruction for additional um support those in the middle are Basics and then the intermediates which is one step below proficient with the goal of bumping them to proficiency so that is another input that we are working with this year um and then well I don't know if I should say this but Eric we we know that some of these inputs are you can go ahead and say it okay but we we just last week analyzed all our new data from December and so we know it's not where we want to be still but this this quarter we have nine% of our students um moved up a level and so we know that some of those are working and then we made new plans for this quarter to reach our goal by 20 by um May for for our grade level standards just so just to say it another way in from 2223 to 20 pre PR ibm1 to ibm2 there was a 4% change then last year it was a 3% change this year we got a 5% change so we'll celebrate that again when we come back for that with that data set but we know it's still short of the 20% goal so we we we're very acutely aware but we're encouraged by that the ability to make that change happen in that short period of time um and I was going to add I'm famous for analogies or metaphor I don't know which one which one is which but um is that this is all a process and we've done a lot of inputs and so when you think about an egg there's all and there's a chick that's gonna be born there's all these things that are happening inside so many process and changes but we can't see anything we don't see anything changing and so sometimes when we look at down like we don't see anything changing but we're doing all this stuff to help and so it's going to be messy it's going to be a process going to take time but then finally you see the chick and so we're hoping um with all the work we're doing by 2025 of course our goal is that you will see the chick come out but right now we're we're all during the process and when anytime everyone's doing something new their practice is new it's going to be harder before it gets easier and then my other analogy is like when you're working out it once you start working out like you're you're really sore and you can't work out or lift as much the next day but you're getting stronger and we're getting stronger it's just not you can't see the results yet and obviously I that's why I appreciate you know having these conversations and I appreciate you guys attending that leadership training too because now that I think most instructional coaches and admins are on the same basis of what the vision of the board was there's a better understanding and that can fill in the Gap so I'm just glad that we even have these conversations of me being able to ask questions and hearing all the different inputs because it sounds great and it sometimes it's sitting up here in the board I assume certain things are being done but having this addinon explanation and even you guys pivoting from what you've been doing to new strategies obviously it's it's it's the work in itself working right that's what I'd like to see it so I I appreciate it and I know that this is why we did fiveyear goals because I know that system changes is is hard and sometimes it takes longer for people to get on board but I I'm just a no of what I'm hearing so I appreciate it um board members do you guys have any other questions or comments I'm sorry I didn't mean like just in this if you had anything else I know we have more of the presentation but that's a lot to intake at the moment just want to know if you guys have any other questions or comments before they proceed sure uh just um I know you may not be able to say it here or uh that's something that's back inside the egg to go back to your comparison but are you looking at reasons why that you can't just break or you are unable to break that 10% barrier I mean is it something you're watching and well the number one with research and then also with observation is instruction so that's the number one input that we're trying to improve is improve instruction so last year we did a lot and this year too a lot of observations in our seci classrooms and we're we were finding that our teachers needed support on how to teach language acquisition because they were teaching the how to do reading and writing in the grade level standards compared to doing how do you acquire a new language and so that's what we've been working on this year is uh training and providing professional develop to our teachers and our coaches and to all of us on how to help our students um be proficient in English thank you I would just add um I forgot what I was gonna say sorry if you think of it please don't hesitate to no uh now I know what it was it was a question for you all do you feel supported by the administration of the district yes y onot be honest um 100% honestly yes um I have really enjoyed my job this year um the teachers are so excited with everything I'm speaking so I'm say am I saying we and our a lot um my experience at my campuses has been extremely positive and the teachers that I'm working with are very open to it very enthusiastic to learn are implementing it and like Lorissa said um are going through those growing pains because they're trying and they're taking risks and they're learning from it and they're getting better and better every single time I go into their classroom so I'm actually super excited for that egg to crack yeah you wantan to add um I would also just add we through observations we all have a like administrators and coaches um we have a collective understanding that this is something that we need to work on and so they have been very supportive in how um Jessica and I have potentially had to prioritize or shift how we've been coaching so I'm very fortunate in that um we share an understanding that this is this is definitely something we need to address and the inputs that we're putting in and being strategic about how we're doing that so yes I I 100% thank you I would also like to add so I'm in the middle right I'm coordinator and one thing that I would like to share that I've experienced this year is laser focus from Dr pombo and Dr dupin and Mr Man on these goals and making sure that the work that I do is very much aligned to these goals and very often in education our jobs become other duties as assigned and oh you're good at this so why don't we also need you to do this project that project and this project and so my particular position is has acquired additional projects over the years before I even started in this position and one thing that was very intentional this year from my leadership was looking at all of the projects and selecting which ones will make the most difference for students aligned to these goals and allowing me to focus entirely on those and so that's my answer to your question I feel is one very significant positive change that has been very lovely glad to hear it thank you Mr Jones anybody else before we proceed okay can I I'd like to add a little more information yeah of course on this slide so when we're looking at this particular page we and in reflecting on board president Kio your question from this afternoon we this also ties to your um question governing board member Jones about are we looking at why we're at this 10% and we have been trying to answer that question we've got a lot of things going on a lot of inputs that we're working on inside the egg and one of the things that we did this afternoon was we D drilled into the actual student numbers and different facets of who is represented in this graph and one of the things that was interesting I think is I'm hoping is helpful to you in interpreting this graph is that what this is showing us is the percent of emerging multilinguals that increase one or more levels on this DNA assessment and the levels that they need to increase are directly aligned to the levels on the state test and so that's minimally proficient partially proficient proficient and highly proficient and when we think about the analogy that Dr pombo shared about learning Japanese versus learning the content of Japanese language art at grade level we're this graph is showing how many students are advancing in their academic content and we looked at the we were interested in knowing where this the are emerging the multilinguals were in their levels of language proficiency and so we looked specifically at are third through e8th grade multilingual Learners who are represented in this graph and in in our language acquisition levels are measured from the lowest level of language proficiency which would be pre-emergent emergent the next one basic the next one intermediate and the next one is proficient and so while we know that not all of our language Learners so not all of our language Learners took are represented in this DNA assessment but what we do know is that this school year so 2425 19% of our multilingual Learners are at the intermediate level which is just before Proficiency in English 80 so that leaves what 80 oh yep 81 I questioned my math and the moment I had it written down right here I couldn't find it fast they our language experts yes yes 8 1% are below the intermediate level so 40% are at the basic level and 41% are at the pre-emergent emergent level and so those are our language acquisition levels and those students are being measured in this graph as to how many levels they're increasing academically and so the that piece of the Japanese analogy is helpful when we're looking at that hopefully that was worth your time yes absolutely was thank you so I'm just going to jump in ahead um the the interim measure ties back to AEL which is the state assessment and that our inter measure 3.2 is that the percent of emerging multilinguals in grades three through five that increase one or more levels on a Zella those language acquisition levels that uh Mrs George was describing will increase from 33% in May to 35% um and you can see here the percentage of students in those grade levels by school who who did increase um so for example um the number of student 17% at built more 30% at excellencia 28% at Gateway uh 39% at Lolinda just to highlight a few 43% at manav Vista who went up one one proficiency level we also have students who increased by two proficiency level so when when you're actually using a language assessment to measure language sorry oh when you're using a language assessment to measure language progress you see much more encouraging results so that and we don't we don't have that yet because we won't get that until we get the aella data back staff are actively involved in training for a zala Administration as we speak the zala Administration begins when February 3rd so it's right around the corner really and so then when we get that data back we'll be able to speak again about uh interim we'll be able to share information about interim measure 3.2 and we'll be able to populate this graph hopefully with with an increase uh in our student growth on language so we've talked a lot about these inputs I think what I would say is that we I'm going to let you highlight the changes since our last report but you know one of the as we reflect on inputs two things are true one is after our work with AJ and last week we got some really good insights in how to make these inputs in much more smart format so when we're talking about how to calcul or how to really focus and create Effectiveness for instructional coaching or um the Prof the professional development activities we have now some greater clarity about how to reformat these to make them really tight and I think s m SB has done a great job of getting us to where we are but now we have a vision for how to make that better uh moving forward so please anticipate tighter more focused smart go smart format inputs for the future um I love that by the way so thank you well AJ gave us a big set of examples I was like oh I mean I personally was like oh that's what it could look um and then there was another thing about the inputs that was true which relates to the assessment we're really grappling with for for this goal in particular the role of DNA as a grade level standards test versus the role of aella as a English language development assessment and then what you know what is appropriate in the middle without adding a whole bunch of testing so we at we we were just discussing this before if we add a new formative assessment for language that's going to really has the potential to increase the number of Assessments that our students are taking particularly our students who are learning language if we opt them out of the Benchmark assessment then that could really affect our awareness of how they are progressing on grade level academic standards it may also really throw off any predictive validity associated with our benchmarks when you consider how they affect the whole school whole District so there's a lot to consider around the assessment process and the assessment products so we're really we really are grappling with that and we we don't have answers but we we are we're very thoughtfully thinking about the the relationship in assessment and cresting that 10% to reach to our goal the if I could just add to that the other thing that I think is helpful in conversations that we've had with Dr Ramos this is also a perfectly normal place to be actually he said I think he said we were a little bit ahead of the curve but it's a perfectly normal place to be at this phase of the work that we're doing because what happens is when you when you start working on student outcomes focused governance the goals are set you're looking for what you can use as interm measures and you're working with the tool sets that already exist within your system so it's it's difficult initially to be absolutely certain how effective they are um from a correlative or a predictive level until you've had some experience with them number one and until you're steeped in the work you heard a lot of the ahas from the team here over the time frame that we've been doing the work already like if we had tried six months ago to go out and select a replacement tool set our level of understanding of the work we're doing would cause us to not be truly efficient or effective in selecting that correct tool set but as we develop facility and understanding if it does become necessary that we truly needed a tool set the criteria we would use and our understanding to be able to properly select that tool set would be much greater if I've misstated any of that please correct me and how how much time do you think using a certain tool set would be needed for you guys to realize if it's the correct tool set for the outcome that we're looking for I know six months to a year may be a little bit shy but do you give it the full five years do we look at a um a precursor or you know I how does that look like for your guys's expert opinion so are are you asking like if we picked another tool how long we would how long it would it take to yeah for example if we notice that DN a maybe isn't necessarily the correct tool set for emerging language learners but maybe there's something out there that could be SE I don't know what that looks like I'm just wondering it at what point do you realize that this certain tool set's not giving you you know the outcomes that you need and when do you start having conversations on if you need to shift gears for that because it may be working for English you know for our non- multilinguals but what I guess how long of a time frame do you give that to see if it needs to be changed for that specific goal I don't I don't know if there's a specific goal but I would want to look at least a couple years like does it align to is this assessment helping us adjust our instruction to be able to make an impact on our summi of assessment and so okay that would be inclusive of making sure people know how to use it effectively right which is you know we've been on that trajectory with fastbridge we've been on that trajectory with um BNA just the initial the initial Pilots I think were like a quarter maybe a semester so we made the decision relatively quickly but then to get to full implementation it takes longer time but we one of the things um SB can I put you on the spot so we talked about fast Bridge a reading so what we're we're kind of thinking about and I'll let sth explain it is looking at something we already have that we've been using for one purpose that we might like and it's incorporated into one of the other goals if it's having the effect around basic literacy skill measurement maybe it would be more appropriate here so instead of getting something that's all new and teaching people how to do it all again maybe we can use something that because these like Fast Bridge has lots of stuff in it DNA even has lots of stuff in it so there's there's there might be it might not be as radical a transformation as we think to get to something that's more precisely aligned can you elaborate on that just what just what we were talking about with think you hit all of it I one of the things that we talked about was that we really want these tools to help measure our growth toward the goal right our goal of our multilingual Learners advancing levels in their language proficiency and we are noticing we're in the conversations right now of you know this measuring their academic growth on DNA is really not translating to their language proficiency growth BR to find out to to tell us really if we're helping students during the school year and so like Dr dupin said if we if we add a like let's say an aella mimic so something that looks like the aella in the middle of the it and then students then have to take an additional assessment many times like several at least twice during the school year and in fastbridge we have the the assessment called a reading which includes basic comprehension includes some phonic skills it includes um vocabulary I think one more I can't think of right now um and our wondering and this was really just a conversation this afternoon was our wondering is would student growth on that assessment that they already take three times a year would that provide us information about their growth that is more aligned to language proficiency because it includes more foundational skills and it is a it is designed as a screener to show level of risk of ability to meet grade level standards and so that potentially could be something where we're not adding anything on to our kids or our teachers we are using something that we already have in place K8 all year and the the question is is that something we can look at would that be useful so what we might be able to do is leverage our relationship with Han Handover or internal expertise to look at that relationship with this year's kids so it wouldn't have to take a whole other year to like try things out right and it would even allow for a comparative between the measure we're currently using and if we shift it to that measure which ones appears to be more predictive based on the results that we get at the end of this year and like complete transparency we do assess okay we assess all of our students K8 on Fast Bridge three times a year we really as a system only spend time looking at our K3 fast Bridge results um because those are required to be reported for move on one reading for state legisl for state legislative requ requirements and we're already we're looking at DNA right for our grade level standards and because fast Bridge really is a screener it's it's used at an individual student level so when I say systemwide we don't really look at it that's we don't make these big graphs about it for fourth through eth grade and we don't look at trends of growth what we do use it for is identifying risk levels of individual students and using that to differentiate instruction the classroom so it would be interesting and hopefully helpful and enlightening to really start looking at looking at that as looking at the trends at the systemwide level so I like what I lot going on so thank you for a great goal thank you for challenging questions they really do make us reflect on our input so sth if you wouldn't mind and team just highlight us on some of the changes since last we spoke about these inputs yes okay so everything without a yellow arrow is exactly the same as you saw our previous um board progress monitoring report and so the updates are um in terms of professional learning we are staying the course we are continuing those processes in instructional coaching we're continuing our training with Heidi kosy and then of the five days of intensive training with the Arizona Department of Education our language and literacy coaches have completed four of those days so they went once in the fall we had a three-day conference um in Glendale actually at the um with the Arizona Department of Education so we have one Training Day left in the spring and actually at that three-day conference is when we had a ton of conversations we had we learned a lot and then we had a lot of conversations about these what's happening in the egg and and how can we advance that so our chick is as beautiful as we need it to be um and then so in terms of instructional materials Jessica was Miss was sharing with us that she has a couple of teachers at TCA who are using language power so that's the new instructional material that's referenced here and so we when we presented in November we had six targeted SEI teachers using it and targeted SEI meaning it's a type of instruction it's not that we're targeting those teachers it's that they are Del delivering targeted instruction so it's English language acquisition instruction only to English language Learners that's what targeted instruction is so as of the beginning of January really should have been December we had seven teachers now we're at eight teachers so when she referenced that soft roll out that is what's happening and it's starting to gain traction it's more of like an organic like oh my gosh did you realize this oh if we move our student groupings around this way so we have students all at one level in a small group we can use this resour so that is exciting that that's growing um and then the when we talk about family engagement we spent some time at the last progress monitoring report talking about our family nights and so in addition to an update we've also created a new smart goal or a new input goal around this so our goal initially was just to have the nights so four nights once a quarter per School total of 36 so we've now div veled we are going to by the end of this school year we want 250 of our emerging multilingual students represented by caregivers attending the family nights and so we'll be able to report this by quarter so in the quarter one we had 135 students were represented so that could mean two parents come for one child or it could be one parent comes for three children we're counting the number of children that were represented by the caregiver not necessar we're not counting the number of adults in the room right so and then second quarter we actually increased the number of students who are represented to 189 which I think is also really exciting because I know that there were concern that we that family night was on voting day and so we had a lot of conversations about how we are still allow like absolutely people can vote we have early voting we have all we have a lot of different um opportunities for that and so there was a concern that families wouldn't show up and they did more so than they did in the first quarter and we actually received an email from um a staff member so the the CEOs so the community engagement and Outreach specialist also formerly known as the parently aison at each school she was sharing actually from one of Miss L School the Katon Academy that the teacher who was facilitating those family nights was so excited the second quarter because she feels she was sharing that she feels like she's actually doing something for families and she had families bring their friends to the second night and then those friends that came the second night said oh my gosh I'm going to tell my neighbor and we're going to come back the third night so we are excited about the momentum that that's bringing I love that and I I want to thank you guys for making sure that the community is always on the Forefront because I'm a True Believer that it's not the parents don't want to show up it's not that parents don't have the time obviously every parent is interested and invested in their children's education it's just that meeting them at where they're at and bringing the information to them so they don't feel so confused by the system so I love and I even love that that you guys did it in a smart format this is like making my heart so happy so I appreciate all the effort and all the work that's being put in this so I think we've talked about all of all of the points that are reflected here um you know we I still want to highlight just under what needs more attention we are being we are being very intentional or just we're acutely aware that this is the team um that is and there's one more Co two more coaches so picture two more talented humans standing right there but that's the group that's responsible for doing all of this capacity development and and they they are not only focusing on the needs of emerging multilinguals and the development of the teachers who support them and the leaders who support them but they're also focusing on our goal four which is third grade literacy and the development of our dual language programs so that's a lot to put on and and to highlight sb's example that that role coordinator for literacy and language I mean that's just very broad so one of the thing glob languages and literacy that's right so we wanted to like we moved and I think we discussed this we moved the Native American Family program that was one of her initiatives so she was responsible for um with the team but she was responsible for reading move on when reading and language development plus Native American Family programming and so we've made that adjustment plus dual language so we're really trying to get much more focused and aligned but that it's still it still feels thin to be honest so when when we think about the some of the most important work that's happening in the district that supports student learning in every other content area language reading multiliteracy that's what's going to get the job done so that's something that we're continuously is this enough what else might how it doesn't necessarily mean more people but it might we don't know yet but that is one of the things that needs more attention in this regard awesome do we have any other questions Miss marus uh just a couple kind of random points and a question um I brought this up to Mr Man when we met um but just on on this slide that we're looking on I was a little confused where it says under with higher needs it says and now makes up 49% and then it says and now makes up 47% um and I was like wait is it 49 or 47 then he clarified for he's like no this was for December and this one was for for November so just a little wording thing like and in this month made up um so so that's just a little thing there um I had a question because um so if we go under instructional materials we went from six targeted SEI program teachers to seven implementing the materials how many SEI teachers are there alog together many more than that I don't have the exact number off the top of my head but it is a much larger number than that and so one important also when we're talking about capacity the reality of this particular program is that it is designed for specific language proficiency levels so it is if you if you have students who are all at the pre-emergent emergent level that's the program that you can use the vast majority of our targeted SEI classes include students at the pre-emergent the basic and the intermediate level and so those materials are not relevant to those classes um we work I and Dr pumble we work really hard in the spring of each school year to prepare for the next year looking at Staffing and figuring out how we can how we can organize classes to create the most opportunities for homogeneous groups of language level students for that targeted time which is 60 minutes a day for K5 and 50 minutes a day for 68 um one thing I also want to point out about that number of six and seven three of those teachers are actually providing this instruction during tutoring it's not actually during the school day so I imagine you were thinking about during the school and that number six or seven teachers it's actually four right now okay okay and that kind of um I was gonna say to add to that sorry to um so last year was the first time we applied for a grant to get more seci teachers and um we got two we how many we one and a half we got one and a half so we'll apply for that again but the reason why we need more seci teachers is because of the grouping but also for um the scheduling like it's hard to pull students for the targeted instruction and not have them miss any other part of their instruction during the day so Master course scheduling is something that Sarah Beth and I work on with the principles um and the assistant principles to help make sure we get the minutes that we need for for all of our students okay that kind of answers my my next question which was B basically addressing the bottom Point under what needs more attention about not all multilingual Learners receiving the required number of targeted minutes so that that makes sense um and then my last thing is just a kind of a suggestion or recommendation I love that you're doing the family nights and that that's getting some good traction um Mr man knows as everybody kind of knows I'm a huge proponent of trying to get parents into the schools to volunteer and help out even in the classrooms and I think you know we have so many families like parents that would love to learn English or you know might even be taking English classes at through through the district but you know if we can maybe encourage some of the teachers to to maybe recruit some of the parents to to like be a volunteer in the classroom I think you know obviously then they get that extra adult those extra eyes the adult presence um to help with the kids and whatever else might need help but then you know the kids see another adult like wow they're learning too like just kind of you know I guess I think encourage them and give them a little more you know pride and eagerness to learn like if this grownup is learning the same thing I am well then I can put extra effort um and I just you know again just it's it's part of community building and I think that could be you know another way to you know because obviously the more parents are involved the more the kids learn so just a a suggestion yes thank you for that suggestion and I want to share that that can actually be done very easily as you were talking I was like oh how perfect because the family the SEI family engagement nights I over I I do in coordination with our director of Community Education and he is the one that oversees our parent volunteer programs so we already have an existing relationship on these family nights and volunteers so that that will be very easy and I know he'll be really excited and I know just from my experience working with some of these parents on the PTO like they you know any opportunity they can to like help their kids and even you know themselves to learn the language like that's that's huge so thank you any other questions or comments from other board members all right I appreciate all the explanation and all the hard work thank you thank you so I will go ahead and make a motion given all the information that we have um just know that every time we do a progress monitoring report we do have to have a motion and vote on it and it's based off of you know the administration convincing us that they are working on the inputs to make sure that our outcomes are moving in the right direction so I will go ahead and make the motion that I motion the governing board approve the cranon S SOG goal 3 progress monitoring report second all those in favor I I any nay hearing none the report passes and again I I'm so thankful for all the information I every time that we do this and we go through more progress mind reports I feel more at ease and understand what's actually going on so I can make better decisions um up here so I really appreciate all the hard work I know it's not easy you know making changes so thank you so much that brings us to our next um report which is the crayon sofg guard rail 2 progress monitoring report thank you president Kio members of the board our guard rail 2 focuses on the following the superintendent will not cause or allow conditions practices or procedures that are inequitable or insufficient for students this guard rail has two interm measures the first is that the percent of observed dual language immersion lessons that reflect a score of three or greater on the learning walk rubric for curriculum use will increase from 37% in March 2024 to 45% in March 2025 the second inim measure is that the district's access equity and inclusion work will focus on anti-racist practices increasing from zero standardized District trainings for staff as of June 2024 to one provided training by June 2025 so using two data sources for the guard rail the first is the learning walk observation rubric the second is participant attendance in anti-racist professional learning experiences so when we focus first on interim measure 2.1 I want to start by orienting everyone to the uh up on the upper right hand corner what we look for when we're actually talking about curriculum use there are four very specific areas the first is that it aligns to the kraton curriculum unit guides the second is that it aligns The Learning Experience the lesson aligns to the Katon curriculum pacing calendar the third is that the child's learning experiences align to the desired instructional outcomes of the Craton curriculum resources which tied to the state standards and then finally that adopted kraton resources and materials are being used to support the learning and I will say that over the course of this year and engaging in these learning walks when we started the focus was just kind of on like just open the darn book let's make sure that the res you know to kind of be flippant about it let's just make sure that the materials and resources that we've purchased are being utilized by the students whether they're in hard copy or digital format let's just get that out but over the course of the learning walks and the conversations we've really broadened our understanding and our emphasis on all four of those attributes so not just having the materials out but also making sure that that alignment is there so um president K if I just may share your question to start us off the question was asked what factors contributed to the Dual language immersion lessons scoring three or greater on the learning walk rubric and how do these practices address gaps in our curriculum alignment so what I'm uh report able to report today is that the percentage of dual language lessons at a three or greater for curriculum resources planning and preparation has increased by 52% s since March of 2024 and that is inclusive of all four of these areas um adopted materials and evidence of alignment to the unit guides and pacing calendars is being seen with consistency in the Dual language classes and we are currently on track to reach interim measure 2.1 when we first started what we were seeing the the Gap in alignment was really around two things one is did the kind of timing like what were the lessons appropriately paced to to get through a Year's worth of content study and and we weren't seeing as much of that and two are the is the learning outcome aligned to what the standard would require so now because we're emphasizing all four of those areas we're seeing that alignment tighten up substantially and the evidence is is is here for your consideration the um the work that the coaching team has done in supporting teachers in initial planning has been significant the work that the principles and assistant principles at the two dual language campuses have engaged to help Orient their teachers to all four of these attributes of curriculum use has been significant and then Dr pombo mentioned our data analys analysis and action planning process through data wise we have two important pract I mean there's a there's eight steps to data wise but in that set of steps one thing we do is identify a learning centered problem that's centered in in around the children's experience of learning and the other one is a problem of practice associated with my leadership and how my leadership affects the children's experience of learning so each school has a plan of action to address both of those and to continue Drive improvements in this area so it's it's I will be honest and say it's it's exciting to see and to be able to report this kind of an increase B because what it shows is the capacity of the adults in the system to focus on experiences that are meaningful to the students and to advance the curriculum um so before I move on to anti-racism I want to just emphasize a little bit more um well I I have a slide for that I'll get to that in just a second but before I do that I'll pause for any questions or discussion just on this one do we have any questions or comments I'd just like to say that looks really good and thank you for all your work Dr Doan it's a it's a team for sure it's a lot of work and it's a lot of continued emphasis but we just completed a round of learning walks yesterday we saw I think our number was like 47 classes yesterday in two schools um one of them was dual Language School one of them was not but we really got some good examples of students using academic language tying back to to the curriculum to the standard so kids are help are starting to drive some of this as well and that's where we know the next opportunity is to continue forward when we're talking about the guard rail four which addresses learning targets and success criteria the kids and their engagement um really is is vivid but we're seeing some very encouraging signs any other questions or comments all right we can proceed thank you so inter measure 2.2 ties to our District's access equity and inclusion work and providing anti-racism training on a systematic and continuous basis so our updates to date include our partnership with Dr eoma ononuju Who has provided an introductory presentation to community council members on November 21st 2024 we've also established an anti-racism and student support committee that includes staff and parents I wish I could could and Miss Marquez be making me think of this how many people are on this committee and what groups do they represent I don't remember but I could get that information for you um that committee has met several times and created a scope of work um and a set of desired attributes and a request for proposals was initiated so because of the co the investment threshold for this project uh we did need to go out to the broader community and make our intentions known to seek this kind of professional development training so we have been active over the break we I think with our procurement manager we we issued maybe four amendments along the way based on questions we were receiving from interested vendors and that's a good sign because it means that people were looking at our request they were considering our request and seeking clarification in order to provide a response that was going to meet our needs so the committee is going to come back together at the end of this month here in just a couple weeks to review all of the submitted proposals and bring to you a recommendation of a partner or Partners to engage with to have more systemic uh anti-racist training say Partners there's a possibility for more than one or what yes we explicitly structured the RFP to have the potential for a multi awward and the scope of work we wrote it so it would have activities for engagements for staff for students for parents and community so some entities do a really good job with maybe a couple of those groups some groups are like super focused on community some people are like I'm all about working with teachers so we wanted the flexibility to be able to potentially divide it up based on expertise okay and that Insight I think came from our initial work like we thought we'd just go out and find somebody and so as we were talking to several some buies to find it was very interesting because some people were guiding us down One path some people were guiding us down another path we knew from the board's direction from the conversations that we had directly with parents and from the and when I say conversations with parents I mean over multiple years and the insights we've received from parents students and staff that we really wanted a multi-tiered approach where we were um I don't like the word targeted but we were focusing on all of the um the different individual groups that we would need to partner together to make us successful in making systemic change which included teachers and staff leadership um parents and community members and the students themselves and so like Dr dupin said since different individuals have expertise in addressing different types of groups it may be to the best interest of kraton um for us to uh partner with more than one of those potential Partners um and with that being said I do want us to be cautious of picking too many vendors too one thing that I've learned through the SG framework is that one who focuses on a lot focuses on nothing and sometimes when we have too many pots in the hand it can create other unattended consequences um especially with this type of work I know that this type of work is new to the district um it's something that you know we've been trying to do and kick off um throughout the years especially the years that I've been here but I really want us to try to stay focused on on and ensuring that the vendors that we do choose will be the maximization that we can to get this stuff implemented but you know focusing a lot on the back and forth and the Amendments I know that can create delays in the system and to me this work is is something that should not be delayed it's it's the work that directly impacts the student that we're servicing and if students are not feeling you know valued just like you know the adults in the system if they're not feeling valued or if they're not feeling like they're they're being heard when this racism or whatever it is that's going on in the classrooms and we don't have the teachers equ quit for it that's obviously going to impact their learning because they don't feel Brave in their in their education system so um I'm I'm all for it for right now but I just want to make sure that the subcommittee and um the administration does know that sometimes when we have too many people in it giving different directions it can cause a whole bunch of worldwinds as well and this is something that I believe me personally is a priority to me because I want our students to feel Brave and empowered um in in the classrooms so those are just some thoughts that I had thank you for the feedback we did incorporate into the RFP a language around an expectation in the event multiple individuals or entities were awarded that there would be an expectation of collaboration so built into the cycle of work would be an intentional bringing together of those groups so that the work could be coordinated in with our goals and intentions I I would say that I hear you because I'm often the one that has to in this context coordinate all the people and I definitely believe less is more when it comes to that for efficiency and effect thank you thank you for the feedback um I'm not trying to get in the weeds of what the RFP had in it or any of that stuff what I will say is when I am presented with something um given my experience uh professionally working with with um with vendors in the past in the education setting in an anti-racist uh uh whatever that may be space um I am Leary whenever I'm like being uh presented with folks who are like white folks who are running or centered in like an anti-racist like curriculum or something like that and so if there is somebody who's like answering the proposal and their entire like staff is white and the leadership is all white I will be leery of that and have a lot of questions so I'm just putting it out there um you could probably already sense that I might have a red flag on that one but I'm just putting it out there I don't know what things look like and I obviously can't know and don't want to know but I'm just putting it out there in case it becomes an issue because I know people do capitalize and I'm just not interested in feeding into that thank you and we will thank you for the feedback I we will absolutely take it in so in in these kinds of decisions we obviously have to follow all the laws associated with procurement I would say that and we understand the value of culturally relevant and aligned providers and practices so for sure thank you and we do have a a policy that also kind of reiterates what Miss Gibson said about women and um minority owned um businesses just just to put out there too that it also goes into one of the guardrails that we have and it also um validates the policy that we have and we We Will We Will Follow all applicable state and federal laws related to procurement um but we have a concern regardless of the makeup of the Staffing like and I and I I hate to say this this way I am always concerned about the risk of people who are interested in the money related to the work that's being done or the opportunity versus Partners who are interested in the outcomes that we are seeking and in creating Improvement for for our district and I it is my belief that by using those filters we'll be able to make certain that we're bringing you partners that you you won't have any heartburn with working with certainly I appreciate that thank you it is 8:30 you're more eloquent than I at this point I we appreciate the opportunity to run the RFP because I feel like ites it has given us a a we were reflecting it the other day and I was kind of saying gosh I wish I I wish we I wish maybe when we started some of the work we had had maybe gone into an RFP process to get a more broad um P A Wider net I guess but the the reality is which I appreciate Mr Man for helping me see he's like well we wouldn't have necessarily even known what to put in it yeah so now you know as a result of our work to date we have a much clearer perspective of the fact that we must involve kids we must involve their parents in these ways we must involve teachers and staff and so on so it's a much more informed process it's much more rigorous it's subject to our laws and policies in a different way so it definitely um reflects progress and we're excited to bring to you a recommendation and thank you for the feedback so we can be sure to within law and policy highlight the alignment of the recommendation yeah and that outcomes part is really what's at the core of it especially given how many both in the private and public sector are having to move away from these types of um contracts um I could see that they're clearly being a huge market for people that are hurting maybe even to try to fulfill these types of proposals or wanting to seek them out I was surprised by the number of of kind of inquiries and just and that reflects nothing other than my being surprised but there did seem to be a a great deal of Interest any other questions or comments regarding this guardrail all right hearing none I will make a motion for c um for the I move the governing board to adopt crayon s SOG guard ra 2 progress monitoring report second all those in favor I any nay hearing none report passes thank you and that brings us to our sofg guard rail 3 progress monitoring report guard rail 3 focuses on the superintendent not allowing the district to operate without a system to recruit and retrain strong teachers by empowering staff through culturally relevant and differentiated professional development we have two interim measures the first is attached to the number of teachers sponsored by the district through H1B and J1 Visa programs our Target is for the to increase from 11 in 2324 to 22 by 2425 so this reflects an increase of international teachers to address not only um to adequately staff our classes but also to ensure that we have teachers who reflect the backgrounds shared experiences and potentially language of our students the second interim measure is focusing on the percentage of teachers with three to five years of experience who report positive responses on indicators of school climate on the Panorama survey our goal is that they would increase from 50% in May of 2024 to 55% in May of 2025 so in our inter measure 3.1 focusing on International students International teachers there are 20 currently 22 International teachers on H1B and J1 visas currently employed by the district these teachers were hired between 2122 and 2425 so this reflects the kind of the growth over the last three years of those actually more than that one five years of of of international teachers working in our district to reach that 2022 sorry that number 22 my tongue is getting tired can you tell um so we currently are on track to reach in our measure 3.1 we have that that group of 22 uh teachers and before we move on from that I'll ask Dr Lauren is here to answer any questions that you might have about this specific process um misso we did receive a question from you if I may share that at this time absolutely what specific strategies are in place to support and retain International teachers on the H1B and J1 visas and how do these strategies align with the goal of increasing culturally relevant professional development thank you for the question I think there are a couple of factors one is to kind of think a little bit about what culturally relevant instruction uh professional development really reflects uh in our and our understanding so we we really when you look at a international teacher program you're looking at how to bring uh a increased cultural sensitivity to people in our community uh with instructors that reflect who they are culturally right so looking at the breakdown uh of our International teachers we have one teacher that is from South America from Chile uh one te teacher that's from the Philippines and one teacher that's from Spain the rest are from Mexico uh so the international teachers that we have that are J1 and H1B Visa teachers are really reflecting predominantly the cultural relevance of the experience of our students um as well as many of our teachers and our community as a whole um as far as how that then supports the retention piece is that there's a requirement for J1 Visa te teachers to really have a cultural exchange component it's a it's a requirement of the Visa program uh the J1 Visa program is a cultural Exchange program uh so that's why the the the way that that is implemented looks a little different than an H1B Visa program which is more about require or qualification um so with that requirement that can look at a a couple of different things one is how do they provide that experience for their students and this is not just for those students in dual language programs which we have quite a few uh teachers that are in that International teaching group that are teaching in the Dual language programs uh but also in the general Leed curriculum uh at schools that are not dual language schools in the district U Mackin comes to mind they have quite a few teachers that are on the Visa program that are at Mac in school so I think when you talk about when that and how that structure of those cultural exchanges are happening that's not only related to a teacher sharing their experience of their own culture it's also inviting students to connect with students from their home country um creating dialogue in whatever way that is I know back in the day it would have been pen pals and now it's probably more aligned to maybe Zoom calls or other avenues for that connection to be made um and it's you know in incorporating their experience of their profession in their home country as well that they bring to those conversations in professional learning communities in our schools so when a teacher comes to us that's from another country they're not brand new teachers uh they're generally experienced teachers they have a minimum for the J1 program a minimum of two years of experience so they bring their best practices not only uh in regard to how they express their culture but also in how they instruct students so there I think there are a lot of different benefits and different ways that supports that becomes empowering for that teacher as well to be able to share you know this is how we handle these kinds of learning challenges or or um work with students with their behaviors or or connect with families um as far as how they experience their experience my tongue sorry M Dr D and one question I just thought of and this is you don't have to answer it this is just a thought is um obviously the United States is not the great an academic achievement um so I'm wondering how much of of their voices are we creating and the implementation of all of our other stuff because they have an experience from an out you know a different country's education system um so I'm just wondering how what that's looking like or what their experence with the educational system that they have from that specific country that they're coming from um it's obvious that any other country has better outcomes than the United States has um and data shows that especially in Mexico I know that they have um High academic success so how we're incorporating those Futures that we have here to you know have them be part of the of the voice when it comes to thinking of other strategies or or that and that's just a thought that I had as you were speaking just going to say one of the great things about these programs is that they do they involve a multi-e commitment which takes which allows for the development of relationships for which allows us to to ensure that they are fully integrated in all aspects of the district's work so whether it's um opportunities include being a grade level lead being um and serving on the design studio work in the summertime those are just two that come to mind which would really be so your your question stimulates an idea which is to explicitly ensure that these folks know and have access to the opportunities that exist um I just skipped ahead a couple slides I'll go back but one of the things in terms of needing more attention is we know that they these teachers are in the process of learning the differences and similarities between their educational system at home the cultural system how teachers and students interact what student student student to staff interaction looks like um and they're making those adjustments and then they're working on building their social connections with people in a network here while also maintaining connections with the past but that's great feedback that could be very very helpful because we believe in particular when thinking about our the expertise that exists within our Spanish-speaking teachers who are part of this program and the needs of the Dual language curriculum um math instruction when it takes place in Spanish being able to have those planning conversations in Spanish is significant most of our protocols most of our documents are written in English so that creates in some cases a barrier so there's an opportunity where these people not only could fully integrate but but uniquely create a quality outcome for the district thank you for that I was going to mention uh also that one of the models that I'm looking at or support for the teachers is to create a Cadre uh outside of their home school so that we can create some camarad and some connections among the international teacher group um I think we're a little bit behind the eightball on that this year just because we kind of jumped into this process uh late in July um and so starting the school year we had some of the teachers that we had hired that weren't starting with new teacher orientation they'll attend new teacher orientation next year uh so there are some other areas where that support uh can be solidified um and that's something that we're looking toward for support in the future uh I would also mention that the J1 Visa teacher program we have intermediaries that we work with so we have a an agreement with a group called iag and they divide their allocation of J1 Visa uh applicants between different intermediary groups so we have two that we work with one is called in trxx and the other one is called greenart they both offer support for teachers for um professional development and they have webinars and they have meetings that those teachers can participate in as well that are really focused on one of the things that Dr dupin mentioned is culturally being in a classroom of students in the kraton district looks very different than it does probably in their home country as far as their behaviors their needs the Moray the values um all of those challenges that could be part of that transition and so that's part of what those intermediary programs can help us with as well awesome thank you go ahead I know you guys don't have the answers to this but have you had any ponderings or thought about contingencies for um slower processing times for H1B visas or higher demand for J1 visas given that in that possible or likely circumstance and and our ability to meet these goals if there's drastic changes in those programs well for operationally what I've uh thought about even before uh in the last six months uh is to start this process earlier um and to make sure that we're being more intentional in our needs so that we can communicate those um we were talking today about expanding our International teacher pool to maybe incorporate teachers from uh other cultures that aren't represented by the teachers that we currently have on international program so that those are things that we can consider and the partnership that we have with iig is very specific in how to recruit from different countries so that will be a possibility as well and I think we can't predict what the future will be for the Visa programs I think the J1 Visa program is very popular um and very successful as an exchange program um we hear a lot about the H1B visas more related to the tech industry currently um but I also know that it would be a challenge to staff vacant teacher positions across the country if we didn't have a robust uh system for bringing in additional support from International teachers well I certainly hope that's priori Dr Lauren has done an excellent job of of making sure that we're we're planning ahead to get started early yeah so that we're for next year ahead of the curve not behind it because of all of the potential barriers that might might start to crop up and because of the need to be able to fully integrate International teachers into our Summer Orientation activities and other things that we do to make sure that they're ready to to start strong that's really great that we have the partner and that they have the additional like supports that's really great and I do I do want to shout out she's not here this evening but Marie twist um was in charge of our new teacher orientation program this year she made a PowerPoint presentation and had a packet of information that our International teachers could access even before they arrived uh so that they could start to get a sense of what some of the um again the value and the systems that we have in place in the community that is Craton uh even before they were um you know here as as immigrants awesome that's awesome I also know that beyond the work that Dr Lauren's done um at the school sites um there's been a lot of work to make sure that there's you know welcoming environment for our teachers as well and I know um Dr Ramos is with us in the audience tonight and she's one of the people who not only helped us recruit a number of of the teachers but um I've I've heard from people on her campus what an amazing job she's done U making sure people feel welcomed and uh integrated into the site and all the support that she's put forward for them so and she's one of our amazing success stories of someone who joined us in that way many years ago and is now a leader within our district awesome sorry sorry to call you out this late at night and you're still here with us at 8:45 I've got a question on the J one that's okay so for the J1 visas because it says it's like a cultural exchange like I just think back to like exchange students where like they swap like do we send somebody to the other no no okay and then what's the like because the the the H1B is three up to potentially six years how what's the how long do we get to keep a J1 teacher J1 are between three and five years uh the distinction is that the the home country has to agree to extend their visa so um there are some countries that are a little bit more liberal in their uh um allowing that visa to go forward and there are some countries that are very focused on making sure that their teachers come back to them for that required year or two that they have to to then reapply if they choose to do that in the future okay is there something on our end on the J1 where we're like selling what we're exchanging in the marketplace of ideas and culture to them or how do that are we writing this down how do like what I just can you say that again so I mean we're obviously not exchanging a human being but there're supposedly going back with something is there some place where we're having to like sell ourselves to these people or something or the whole program is meant to be a building bridges kind of thing um you know to they don't necessarily have we don't have to provide teachers from Arizona equal to the number of teachers that we get but I think I think it's uh you know really is up to the person the person who's going to apply for a J1 Visa's cultural exchange is a person who really is passionate about making those connections and really passionate about coming to have the experience of teaching the US and generally wants to return to their home country and have that exchange and build those bridges and there's a lot more opportunities for the other visa to become a permanent resident and get a green card rather the J Visa that's not really and they can transition too we have some employees that or some people who have got finished their J1 visa and then start their process for an H I think a concern I would have is that in three to five years boom We Lost 22 teachers um because they had to go back so I guess one thing I would like to see perhaps a little more of is um yeah whatever I don't you know I'm sure you're doing a lot and like you know this is part of being new but like you know we're what are we doing to find our local teachers and get them but obviously picking are slim these days and um that's it for that okay thank you any other questions or comments all right hearing none I will go ahead and move the governing board adopt and accept cran SOG guardwell 3 prog PR monitoring report um we haven't gotten to the Panorama part or discuss that oh my my apologies thank you Miss Marquez because we kept that kept going to the last slide so I was like wait what I just moved it ahead because I wanted to highlight a couple of those pieces about the Visa program but the other interim measure ties back to retaining our teachers kind of Miss Marquez to your point we don't want them to just leave so we want to look at those teachers within that critical three to five years of experience and and take feedback from them about how their experiences of climate and culture are reflected so the Panorama survey tool is one of the instruments that we have that allows us to do that and the questions in that are in that survey are actually tied to um they're tied to student outcomes so the they look at student student behaviors as a reflection of climate and culture on a campus and then ask the teachers you know how they feel about that or how often they see those behaviors in action so for example um students modeling convers or students having conversations or using language techniques to process their emotions um would be an example of something kids do that would indicate a healthy climate and culture students able to um kind of moderate their own behavior engage in self-reflection engage in calming so when teachers see that that's a reflection and of uh of growth and progress in this area um when teachers see things like like kids engaging in a community Circle or restorative process that can be an example of a healthy climate and culture that a teacher might reflect on this survey so what we what I've shared with you here are since the 2122 school year when we started collecting this data the perceptions of teachers in that area so we are currently at 52% of our teachers in the fall 52% of teachers in their third through fifth year in the district are reflecting positive so that takes us back to where we were at the fall of last year so you'll in in other years I'll just kind of float along the screen we increased over the course of the year then new teachers come in we kind of start fresh and rebuild um last year was kind of interesting in that we actually decreased over the course of the year we can trace those back um to some specific instances now we're we're back on trajectory so it is our goal and our expectation to to reach that 55% positivity um by the end of this year the spring administration of Panorama so this puts urgency to the um selection of the new academic director who we hope to bring a recommendation to you very soon uh that is supporting um that is will be in charge of student support and inclusive practices the further implementation of ruler the the further implementation of armony because those are all tools that will allow students to engage in the work that creates a healthy climate and culture on campus that teachers can see and reflect in this survey I hope that makes sense please let me know what questions you have um I was wondering if we could um maybe get a copy of the the questions on that survey yes I can provide you with those in the next update any other questions or comments I am kind of a a wondering here uh so because we're we're in measure 3.2 it's specifically looking at the replies from the 3 to five years of experience um you know and I I would think that you know it's like the ones that have the less experience that we want to make sure they're having a good experience to stay on so I don't know three three to five years was actually intentional because that is and this is kind of ironic considering our just previous conversation right so we talked about how there was that three to five year window with the with the H1B and the J1 Visa teachers and the concern of what if we lose them you know after that five your window this is the window we lose people in so this one of the things that we know statistically and correct me if I'm wrong dror Lauren but like where we see a lot of our loss and not just from leaving kraton from leaving the profession is in that three to five year window and that's why we targeted that specific window that's correct thank you thank you for that explanation and I I feel really hopeful for this intome measure just because I believe the more aligned we are the more paralel parallel processing and vertical you know the word they um Mr man likes to use vertical articulation vertical articulation I think that this will start going up more just as we all get um on board with all the student outcome goals that we have um just because I do believe that we burn out our teachers a lot of the times based off of throwing them 10 15 here's a new initiative go for it here's another one here's another one so I'm really hoping that especially with this last leadership training and now that it starts pipelining and making its way down that teachers do feel that there is a common goal in all the district and that we're all moving forward in the same and it causes it alleviates that stress and it also it alleviates that burden of continuing to throw more things onto our leadership and to our staff when in reality we're not even giving them the opportunity to shine the way that they need to because we're so busy throwing new initiatives at them so I'm very hopeful that with all the systems that we've been putting in place that this next time around with this Panorama survey it starts going up and I'm hopeful that we beat that 55 that's just my my projection for next time and I'm going to stick to it and I think that's very insightful and I think one of one of any teachers that are listening to this um hopefully watching the recording tomorrow not up late with us tonight um but you know my hope is that they hang in there with us and they see the value and what we're doing because I think two things there will be two outcomes if we can do the work with Fidelity one of those outcomes is we'll see the Student Success coming back which when you're a teacher that's what fills your heart and soul so so the work that may sometimes not be as fulfilling as it should be will become more fulfilling as we're able to achieve those measures but the other piece is you know the things that we're doing to try to help support our students with um you know their own understanding of their own emotional regulation executive function skills and actually to be quite Frank to help our adults with that especially after the highly dysregulating events of the last half decade um I think as we start to see the results of that the dayto day for our teachers and staff will get a bit easier right because the burden right now is you know dealing with the levels of disregulation that are out there is is draining and when you're not having those positive outcomes come you know when you're not able to see those positive outcomes it's hard to refill that bucket and so if we can both drain the bucket slower and fill the bucket faster I think that will um in the long run and you know people who stay with us that's going to be the reward down the line think in the long run we're going to be a rare District where people are going to truly see that fulfillment in their career because of that go back to my words vert vertical articulation and the parallel processing that of the board's leadership and as that trickles down through our system I agree any other questions yeah go ahead Mr Jones since we're not going to see each other for almost a month go ahead and bring up my concerns uh just to clarify that this survey has only been in we being used by Katen for since 21 the data we have1 uh I would just say when I look at this graph it doesn't look like anything's changing which I don't know as a parent is concerning and if the public when they see this that that would be their first impression too I would guess so to me it seems like the teachers are feel like the climate is not changing but um I think having the data is good it's a very fair uh observation and and that's why you know to credit the board that's why this specific guardrail was put in place to kind because to get to this point we looked at a lot of different data sets over time and this was one where board was like yeah this is an area where we really do want to see changes that are specific to the experience es of teachers to support retention so um you know I think it's a it's a very accurate um observation and so the inputs that we've been describing are intended to create a meaningful change and also just to add um to that the sofg framework that we've been doing hasn't been implemented since 21 and I'm hoping that the more training that we get from the pipeline you know top down um we did have a a very long period of time where it was just that administrators that were kind of um developed into this work and then just recently even almost a year after we've implemented our instructional coaches and our administrators and principles and assistant principles were part of that so that could also be a lag that's why that's why um I'm just hoping this is why I said when that vertical articulation actually starts happening that this will increase because you're absolutely right and through even years before the 21st when the Panorama survey did didn't even exist it was even worse um so I'm just hoping that those changes do have an outcome and that's why we do these interm measures right because if it's not working then we need to figure out what needs to change more in order to make sure that our staff are feeling supported and um in the district so yes and also I'm just hoping that now that we're getting more training with more people we're getting more igned to the end goal if I may add one of the things that we value about this this particular survey is that it does have National Norms so we can compare our results to people across the country and so if if the board has interest and if there's a desire I'd be happy to share that that data as well so we could kind of see I I would like to see that how it relates and in some cases we're a little bit better than the national norm and in some cases we're off any other questions or comments I mean I'm not here to make excuses or anything but just a reminder that we're like very early on in this process and also this is the first time we're looking at at this progress monitoring goal um and so I think and you know like Dr dupin said the goal is to continue to do this progress monitoring and adjust as we go if needed but otherwise as long as we're sticking to what we've um what we've committed to we're hoping to see the growth grow obviously absolutely any other comments or questions all right hearing none I move the governing board adopt well I already did the first motion and it was second I believe right no okay so I already made the motion if I can have a second please all right all those in favor I any nay hearing none that concludes our student outcomes Focus governance portion we move to public comments Miss quadis do we have any public comments thank you that moves to um item seven which is approval of the consent I move the governing board approve consent agenda items a through I in accordance with policy bb- second all those in favor I any nce hearing none motion passes and that brings us to 8A which is the revision to governing board policies recommended by the board advisory committee um and this reference basically all our jics and ji um policies and I'll hand it over to Mr M and Miss Gibson McLean to further have a discussion on this um Madame President members of the board I just want to thank the board for putting forward this this work um having had the opportunity to work uh with the committee their work's been amazing um really solid and really focused on the values of this board and as as it represents the values of our committee um having Miss Gibson mlan as an ex aicio member has been sort of lynchpin as we were re kind of resetting for our work in the spring one of the things that everybody realized was we've been depending on her to kind of get all the initial structure set up um and she's done an amazing job we're know about amazing well you have done an amazing job I just will say I can definitely improve on making sure I'm timely well and the beauty of it is we as we submitted all of these uh policies to um for additional legal review from an education attorney there were like literally maybe six small adjustments I've never seen anything submitted come back that clean before and I think a lot of that is because of the The Upfront work done by by Miss mlan so um very excited that we're bringing these forward I know we have myself and Miss Gibson mlan who are ex officio members but we also have uh Mr James Diaz our assistant principal at Gateway School and also chair of the committee who is getting the um hang in their baby award for tonight um staying with us this late to to be here to answer any questions that you might have and yeah I if you weren't going to say it I was just going to say thank you so much for all that you've done on the committee I've really appreciated your leadership and all the time you've committed and contined to commit um I want to say kadus also I believe that you know all the the work that we're doing we need we've historically have been saying for years that we're more on retri we want to move away from retributive practices and do um other types of things but our policies weren't matching that we have a lot of policies especially under student conducts that are outdated that do not match the vision or where the board is going so I really appreciate all the hard work that's been doing this um into this because now they're going to become crance policies and they're going to match the needs of our community and our students to reflect all the work that we've been doing um with that being said Do we have any questions any comments any information um or any add-on information this is just a first read so the way that it works is that we have a discussion about this um her policy we do a first read we discuss whatever changes we think we need to be made and then after that we will have another board meeting where we'll have the opportunity to actually start adopting these as our actual new policies do we have any comments or questions and the way that this work started too um just so everybody knows is that I I had originally went in and worked with a policy um person that helped us restructure some of these and based off of that feedback the the committee was created and it was in more an indepth um change to these um policies so by this time around going here it's been almost I want to say a year of of work since the first initial set of revisions and it's gone through three different policies and attorneys so um a lot of work has been put into this and it's close to a year and a half oh a year and a half but part of that is because there was also a lot of Engagement so I know last spring there was engagement with Community Council um with our assistant principal group so one of the things that's been great is the committee has been engaging other stakeholder groups to ensure the alignment of the work you know not only to the community's values but also that it would be aligned with the other work that's going on in the district related to our shift away from retributive towards restora and one thing I'll just quickly add to that I know we've had a presentation but um you'll notice not only is it that aspect of retributive to restorative but it's also just some of the way the these policies were worded were just like really Curt and like robotic and I think what um you know what Allan did a great job at word smithing and Adriana um particularly those two are really good at word smithing and trying to make um some of these kind of conform more to just our district culture and have a more friendly feel than kind of how they read before yeah and one of the biggest um tasks that we have as elected officials of the district is passing policy that reflects the community and also the vision of the district so I'm really proud um because we can go sometimes years being stagnant without new policy being um passed or really looked into so again this just Double Downs on the great efforts of the governing board as a whole to make sure that our policies are matching what we're saying it's very difficult to get people on the same track or get everybody on the same boat when you're saying something but then your policies or your operations or mechanisms in the district are opposite from what we're saying so this just aligns um everything a little bit better Miss Marquez yes thank you um yeah so I I got got was able to be on this committee for a period of time and I think no it was definitely a lot of work looking at it in this um kind of like main rough draft form um you know I see so I'm thinking about you know looking at the time and and and and everything as far as thinking about process of going through it together as a first read um you know there's there's small things that are just kind of like um you know like commas and word smithing I guess um that I see in some of them and I just want to I don't know I don't want I think going through everything like bit by bit is a lot for right now and I don't know I'm trying to think like what's what might be a good way to kind of address those kind of like little things because I think overall tone wise um it's obviously it's great we did a great job um do you have a way that you could share those like in a document with Hilda and then she could distribute that to all so I I had her print them out and so I just tagged it up with a pencil so I'm like oh man I probably should have done it on the computer but I could you can just scan it in and then email it yeah so I think that might be a good way for for those little things um and [Music] then because this is opportunity if you feel really strongly against a certain policy that was created or something that you think would work best that's it but when it comes to you know like more of the technical stuff we can do that like on a one-onone or or do it in some other format there was something else I guess this is kind of regarding tone wise and so this can be some feedback for the committee and um I intend to pop back in at least to a couple more meetings before the final stuff's done um but because now we're you know we're in a new day and age where it's like cell phones and pictures and and and I think working in there as far as like if kids are taking pictures or using their phone for that like con consent like getting consent kids must get consent to take pictures of their friends something like that um because that's something that I've been been hearing about you know I just was listening to NPR I think it was today or yesterday and they're talking you know about kids using cell phones and and starting fights and recording the fights and so I think um yeah and I think this might have so like the last 18 months is like a mush in my brain and I can't remember exactly when you joined us cuz we did have a lively discussion about something similar to this topic right and so there are I think it's not right so when you're in school you have limited rights as we know right however at the same time um it when it comes down to policing some of these smaller things with students it becomes a lot very difficult and tedious on like on the teacher and administrator's end but also on the end of where we're getting into these gray areas of what um what is infringing upon like you know what you have rights to do and when you're in public spaces it's considered that there's like a free use of Photography and things like that right now again you have to sign a release to get your kids stuff published somewhere but for example if you or I were to just be standing out here and some Rand comes up and takes our picture there's nothing we can do about it unless they start doing it in a way that's harassing or intimidating or stalking right behavior and that's where we got into the conversation in the meeting about where is that line how do we draw it legally speaking and it's kind of a weird tight rope to walk and and I don't know that there's a definite answer and so I think it's hard to put that in a policy in a way that's going to like work even most of the time and and I think if I remember correctly where we landed was it probably more lives in the electronic use policies um because we do have more control when they're obviously using District property also rather than their own property to do those things as well or using the District internet Hardware software Etc right but if it's like their personal phone right obviously you can regulate when they can have it out at school but if it's at a time when they're I don't know if they somehow take a picture with their own personal phone and then even like let's say I mean are we going to prove what IP I mean we're getting into some convoluted stuff about who posted it when and did they use the school internet versus they went home and did it so I don't know there's just a lot of of grayness there yeah and then the other thing is we just kind of as a point of order we need to be cautious what policy items we're talking about because we're posted to discuss these specific policies um and and that's probably not within the purview of these policies so uh it's one of the challenges of the limitations of open meeting laws we we can't just have open discussion it has it has to align to right you know what we're actually posted to talk about okay you mean this was at least related I don't think we drifted too far so yeah any other questions or comments yes the changes though that does have to be made is on ji and G i-r because they the headings do not align yes so um the committee had changed it to expectations but the regulation was left with title of responsibilities and we had a little discussion last night about this and kind of landed on wanting to probably just remain with expectations but wanted to bring this to your attention that either way the committee's intent was to try to get this to be consistent with whatever the board ends up landing on obviously the committee intended to change responsibilities to expectations on both of them okay so okay for when I bring it to Second that I change J i-r to expectations we couldn't change it because at that point we were already within the 24hour window because we just met last night okay yeah and that and that makes sense to me so changing jir and ji to read student rates and expectations versus responsib abilities just on those two yeah the already expectations okayi D and they should match because that's the regulation to the policy okay makes sense um do we have any other questions or comments regarding our student conduct um policies revisions I really don't have any added on comment I've you know watched some of the board meetings I mean some of the committee meetings which have been great I really want to double down on the efforts of actually including our community voice in this we did we're very very intentional I'm going out to the community and figuring out what was important to them and their students so I'm really happy to see that and I'm also happy to see that some of these changes actually align better to some of the guardrails that we have when it comes to social emotional learning so um I I'm just very happy with this work and can't wait for the second to read to actually start adopting this and one surprising thing was I think the most anticipated policy was the student dress policy um in which we probably got through the fastest of all of them because it seemed like we were all pretty much on the same page for that so that was nice and there was like actual comments for that but then it ended up not being like super contentious I think there was a lot of misunderstanding out there about um The District's uniform policy and how that works districtwide versus at the school site level and so I think the presumption in the past has been that that's been housed in this for some reason but that's just not the case and so I think you know with more communication and um I guess how we kind of make this available to people then then that can just be kind of dispelled in the future either way now this has also been brought into the 21st Century 24 five years later so I've got sorry just so on um jic if you flip to page four so item four and item five so it talks about um you know the reporting of incidents of harassment or bullying and the principal shall ensure student um so those two so I'm wondering if because don't and maybe correct me if I'm wrong so here's the the new coming in um do do the assistant principles handle a lot of like discipline stuff right like CU I'm wondering if in those two sections we put the principal and or the assistant principal shall ensure that all reports of bullying or kind of spread that workload and this was something that was part of the conversation as well it's important to know that in policy there's only a few identified like individuals and when their titles are used what it really it doesn't necessarily mean that person what it means that person or their design okay so as an example and you know not to make this like super dramatic or anything but but in in policy the board has only one employee which is the superintendent so when the board guides me that we're going down an sof G pathway I don't go well that's all me none of you get to do any of this work right like it's um in being embodied within the superintendent means the whole District like staff are are are guided in that direction that would be entertaining though right right I have yeah it would not be so entertaining for me um it's the superintendent's responsibility to have the oversight for that and so in the same way in a school the principal is like the superintendent of the school right so so things that are that are designated to be handled at the school level are typically designated to the principal but they might be handled depending on the circumstance by a designate who's an assistant principal um in the past we've also had Behavior Specialists on the campus so there's any number of Staff members who might support student conductor Behavior or investigations on the site and in point of fact there are thankfully relatively rare times where we even bring in an outside investigator to be involved in something if if we need to separate staff from from that investigation um you know often that's less less common with student to student issues but sometimes if there's teacher to student issues or teacher to teacher issues so thank you any other questions or comment for this first read all right awesome I look forward to actually adopting these policies and and streamlining them so I appreciate all the hard work that brings us to 9A which is the board initiate Direction meet and confer regarding this is regarding um our policy HB and HC so we um had executive session and we talked about um a whole bunch of of different things and I will reflect back with either Mr Man or whoever you think it is to initiate this conversation and then we can open it up to um the board members to see if we have any recommendations or things that um our Mee and confer team need to no yeah Madam president I don't know Dr Lauren if you'd like to take it if you'd like me to take it sure uh we had uh discussion typically during the meet and confer process we asked the governing board to provide guiding principles for uh the work that the team will be undertaking uh we are in our second meeting coming up in the end of January here next week next Wednesday uh in this room um and uh thanks to the the board's guidance this is uh some of the information that we discussed that would be the guidance for the team moving forward for this this year do we have any comments questions or recommendations from the information that we were given and from these guiding principles that we would like to make now I don't hear any for the moment but one of the things that I am going to be very adamant about is alignment with student outcomes focused governance goals I uh really want to make sure that the me and confer has some kind of response to What mechanisms will be in place to monitor whether the changes proposed are actually working when there it comes to tiered races com um compression adjustments or recruitment strategies and how those directly impact our student outcomes especially for historically marginalized groups so as these conversations are happening in me and confer I'm really going to me personally I'm not sure how the other board feels but when these recommendations are coming up I'm really going to be looking at the adult convenience part and making sure that that's not being prioritized over our student outcomes and to have a little bit more of I guess a tracking however that looks like that these changes that are being asked for or the changes that we approved last year how is that really reflecting in the student outcome data that we're having so that's just where my mind is at um I know that there's a lot of stuff that we did um propose last um last year that was a lot of you know technical stuff um for me personally I want us to move away from that technical stuff and really focus on how these recommen recommendations are actually adhering to the budgetary recommendations that we have right now we're not going into some sticky situations where funds are not being properly dispersed and tying them directly to our student outcomes yeah the only comment aside from the stud acon spoking government that governance that I've had on my mind is that um for years um thanks to Jay thanks to Vanessa and thanks to the whole team that does our finances um we are in as good of a position financially as we are given our our district size given the political landscap we are in and given um the cultural and demographic shifts in our Geographic small little area um it's remarkable and I think that we have to continue to just uh follow I think the very last one is is also important and also because Vanessa from what I can see is already working in a way with her team to make sure that the budget itself is is trying to align with sofg as well and so I think those go hand inand in making sure that we're getting getting where we need to be and we're also being financially stable and responsible at the same time any other comments or recommendations all right I thank you for the time and I know that we went over at our executive session but it was much needed information that the board needed so I appreciate that patience that brings us to our next agenda item which is 138 future agenda items um as you look at the screen for our new board members these are items that we have asked to be put on future agenda items you can see them right here and eventually we will work them on the schedule if you feel like there's something that needs to be touched on or something that interests you you can always place it as a future agenda item and then the president directly works with the superintendent to make sure that we get the information that you need and how we present it at the board for future meeting um these are the things that we have in place as of right now Justice transparency the CBS and the cgb are all policies that have to do with the evaluation of the superintendent um just because we're been in this work of the sofg we haven't really been able to get there but that's what those policies been it has to do with the superintendent eil but other than that um do we have any other future agenda items that we would like to place or see go ahead Miss Marquez um I'm not sure if this would fall on us or superintendent but I would love to visit the cell phone usage so perhaps like I don't know if that's in policy but you know some kind of restriction of use on on cell phone cell phones for instance the the school my boys go to they they they lock up their phones like and so and we can just keep it brief that way we don't have a full discussion of what that is but we can put it on the future agenda item if you would like like um cell phone usage in the district and that's blatant enough and then miss htis will send you an actual form and in that form you can explain your rationale what exactly are you looking for from the administrators um but that's enough um blanket statement of cell phone usage in the district so we can put that as a future endend item no problem and it would definitely requ Poli any other future agenda items all right hearing none we move to 14a I move the governing board adjourn second all those in favor I thank you very much BU as notes to everybody drive safe was a good one I still need I got to

next Thursday cabinet and board are invited to Coronado Elementary for school visit January 28th Tuesday is Kinder Roundup at all of our elementary campuses please invite your neighbors and let's fill up these sessions and on Thursday January 30th at 6: p.m. here in the district office boardroom we have a social media and a Youth Development parent event and that concludes upcoming events there we are right thank you for that um next on the agenda is request to speak can you please play the video we value input from our constituents this time on our agenda has been set aside for anyone from the audience who wishes to address the board those that wish to speak should have filled out speaker cards which are due prior to the start of our meeting members of the board may not discuss comment or take action on matters raised that are not specifically identified on the agenda therefore pursuant to ARS 38-4 31.0 1i action taken as a result of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter responding to any criticism or scheduling the matter for further consideration and decision at a later date also we ask that audience member practice proper public meeting decorum refraining from either negative or positive responses including clapping or verbal outbursts to ensure fairness to All Points of View those that refuse to follow these rules may be asked to leave in accordance with policy bedh public participation at board meetings if considered necessary the governing board president shall set a time limit on the length of the comment period in order to ensure that each individual has an opportunity to address the board the president may also set a time limit for individual speakers thank you for your [Music] cooperation um first up is Heather Balch good evening happy it on oh there we go uh good evening and happy New Year I just wanted to say hello to our new board for the next uh two years before our vote there was one topic on the agenda that I did want to address I saw that we are considering moving our start time back to 5:00 which I'm in full support of um it's difficult when these meetings run as late as they sometimes do um and that moving it back to that 5:00 start time would be beneficial I think for a lot of us the other point that I want to bring up and I've been trying to think of how to tactfully say this is that I think Higley has a really good problem we have so many amazing teachers and classified staff members and amazing teams and championships and I think it's great that we celebrate it I really do I don't want this to come across that I don't want to celebrate it but I think maybe moving forward perhaps at the beginning of next uh school year we look at maybe revamping the way we do things so that we're not spending 45 minutes to an hour on the celebrations before the meeting starts that's it thank you next next step is Timothy's Chow so Tim can't be here tonight he just St out to go get this Middle School child that's okay okay I'll I'll call the next person thank you um Kim Jackson good evening District members administrators parents and students my name is Kim Jackson I stand before you today to advocate for the addition of a physical education release time option or independent PE into our high schools and junior high schools this idea is not new neighboring districts such as Gilbert public schools and Chandler Unified School Districts have already successfully implemented unique programs and it's time for us to consider the same opportunity for our students the concept is simple yet impactful a physical education release time option allows students who are actively involved in organized sports or other structured physical activities outside of school to fulfill their PE requirements without taking up valuable space in our already crowded PE classes this program would decrease the risk associated with high school High student numbers in physical education classes and create a safer more effective environment for students who do participate on campus Beyond addressing logistical concerns this option provides academic benefit by freeing up a class period students can focus more on their core subjects or pursue additional electives that align with their passions and career goals whether it's taking an advanced math class or dual enrollment course or exploring the Arts students would have time to engage more deeply in their acade academic Journey without compromising their physical fitness furthermore this program acknowledges the hard work and dedication of students who already spend hours training and competing outside of school from club soccer players to competitive dancers these students are meeting and often exceeding the physical education requirements providing them the flexibility to earn credit while continuing to excel in their extracurricular activities is a step toward recognizing and supporting their efforts as we look to Gilbert and Chandler as examples we can see that this is practical and proven solution that benefits students teachers and the district as whole it promotes a safer environment eases schedule pressures and allows for more personalized education experience it also should be considered an amen it our district is in need of exciting Innovative and creative ways to attract families and turn students to its campuses this new amenity could do exactly that let's take this opportunity to show our students that we value their individual needs and are committed to providing them with an education that supports their success in both in and out of the classroom thank you if I can please make this a call for Action to have the board and admin look into into this I have paperwork um from Gilbert public schools of how they do this um and Chandler in particular has uh it's called Elite Performance Academy both things are available on Gilbert's Gilbert Public Schools website as well as Chandler Unified District's website as well is the next person Jana Mason not yet okay thank you uh Maryanne Paskowski good evening board I come here talk to discuss our agenda points 5.1 and number eight number eight dealing with our start time I'm not sure if the board realizes that the Middle School families who are involved in after school tutoring and after school clubs those don't get out till 5:00 p.m.

so I'll take any questions out of the superintendent's office at that time I apologize that that was so long any questions for the superintendent any questions on those recommendations felici online or no is Kim online okay anybody on the board questions good okay let's move on thank you Dr um we move on to student rep reports Lucas is downstairs I saw him there who's doing his report he told me splitting the report so nice all right who wants to go first um so I'll start so I'll be reporting on Cherry Brook which I'm sure all of you guys in the audience probably relate to a lot of the stuff I say um before break um that Friday that half day uh Cherry Brook had their sing along along event which was with great success um being part of the High School chamber singers we actually joined them for that so it was really cool seeing a ton of two schools coming together and singing for some holiday cheer um now this is after coming back from winter break um cheer Brook has launched the science unit titled uh weather hibernation in Winter which is a play based uh learning in primary grades um which Fosters engaging uh students in um activities that promote uh cognitive social emotional and physical growth uh in addition Unified sports at Cher has launched its 16th season this past Friday um with much appreciation to the chair of teachers uh Mr stevea and Mrs farmer um and all the additional staff members that help with that program um and lastly uh cherb will be participating in the uh Jump Rope for Heart on February 7th so yeah so the PE classes will be doing that are we gonna see Mr hem that great thank you Maggie I'll be reporting on CIS uh several CIS budist played at lal's Market as part of the town's Christmas and Collinsville event uh fourth grade scientists met virtually with a volcanologist who shared his expertise about volcanoes enriching their birth of raw science unit CIS held its grade five 3 six which concerts in December and all of the band in the choir SED fantastic on the Friday before break the C the CHS chambers of your CIS to Carol uh for their students during their lunch wave and there was singing along and dancing after break author Beth brael that with each grade level on author day to share her presentation titled why it's okay okay to make a mess of things sixth grade student council members attended C's annual student leadership conference last week and last Friday roaring book Nature Center presented their clean water program to the fif grade students we'll move on to the report now um I'll be doing CMS so CMS hosted their Partners from the State Department of Education for their midyear audit the school climate team hosted a resiliency lesson during advisory the CT Human Society presented the seventh grade science classes to discuss dog reads and trads as part of their unit on genetics and the library learning progams is holding a organization Jeopardy competition to focus on stay organized at the mid of the year very good Juliana um and then I'll finish off with the High School uh so Quarter Two in semester one ends next Friday um the prisms band concert will be February 1st I encourage everyone to come it's Disney music so if you're a big fan of Disney music good for all ages so even you guys Cher book families I would encourage you guys to come um model un the Yale um field trip will be uh January 23rd to the 25th uh Northwest uh regionals band Festival will be January 17th and uh last Friday we had our blood drive uh that was sponsored by the National Honor Society and that went super well I think we had around 40 people that came out uh community members and also students that came so that was super great um and then seniors uh so safe graduation is hosting a fund currently right now uh they're selling raffle tickets for a calendar fundraiser uh which uh each day in February they're going to pull one of those tickets and you can end up winning some great prizes so if you're interested I know there's a bunch of senior parents that are selling tickets um so yeah we would love if you guys are interested we're just the money also I think they're selling um different uh sweatshirts and shirts like that and that money goes for the uh prop goes to the seniors so if you're looking for K outerwear or if you're thinking about the Memorial Day of parade M March you can wear Canton sweatshirts and shirts right Erica okay all right well thank you for those reports any questions for the student reps okay moving on business manager report Mrs Robins Mr D I'm just going to jump in so Mrs Robins is going to share uh with you the the financial report that went over we went over this morning and and chair uh Bush will chime in a little bit to I'm just going to set Mrs Robins up a little bit um there's something called excess cost which is money that we received from the the state of Connecticut and we budget to receive 72% from the state of Connecticut and a lot of you may hear about this in the news you may say what are they talking about this is what they're talking about um when our legislators are meeting right now that we're supposed to get 72 vote we're supposed to get more than that we're supposed to get 100% of reimbursement and it's been coming out to be 72% reimbursement for um student special education costs over the amount that um we're obligated to do well we were informed this week and we reported that in our financials that Mrs Robins will speak about we actually receiving 62% so that that's a big difference between what we're planning on and what we um actually are receiving so in simple math terms it's $370,000 that the state is 370 370 that the state is not providing to the town of can in that we thought that we were going to get based upon budgets that were submitted uh through the the the government our state government Mrs Robins will speak about that I'm actually also going to ask her to speak about because we did speak about it that finance committee this morning about the $300,000 that was spoken about in in public comment and in the timing of that and I'll just be right out there the timing of it was we didn't receive the audit report till after our our meeting last time and Mrs Robbins will explain what that is so Mrs Robbins and Mr Bush Chim in any time so thank you you're going to have to speak up and because we got a big problem got it thank you and good evening so um um as Dr Gman um mentioned we're our our U our overall forecast is on favorable compared to last month and that is due to the um excess cost adjustment um we actually operationally um we're doing better although still at our loss at 150,00 ,000 positive um forecast uh change for special education which we were pretty excited to report um and unfortunately uh look dampered by the excess cost news we are um projecting to be about $92,000 um dollar positive in the general fund um so overall um we we are $180,000 worse um but again due to the excess cost um situation we did have some slight changes in a variety of categories um no big swings except for the one that we mentioned we can continue to be UNC concerned about our facilities repairs and maintenance as um we're spending more than budgeted on that line item um because of I believe the lack of um funds to invest in capital items off the operational books um and then our janitorial custodial supplies um are a little high um keeping very close eye on that um now that's the the monthly operational um report that we have um we did at the finance committee meeting um discuss that $300,000 deficit um as Dr Gman um this was for the 20 for the board members this was for the 24 25 school year that with the audit Mrs Robins was 23 24 excuse me where the a audit came in and this is where there was a town meeting which you have to have to offset the the money so the the town was off funds and the board of ad was off funds from Mrs Robins will explain why it wasn't brought to the board of AD first and why it had to go to town meeting correct and thank you for that clarification so this is the fiscal year 24 results that are being audited um the the our last finance committee meet uh finance committee meeting was on December 10 these results um audit questions and results became available after that time and then were presented at the board of Finance meeting on December 16th um so it did not we didn't have the ability to convene a finance committee meeting but we did discuss it this morning um and that that $300,000 was a is connected to revenue um the board of was projecting to receive um revenue from to from other towns um it was whose books were they going to be reported on um and uh we assumed reported on our books and in in fact they were reported on the town's books and we had to request the money um so you know that's without being too technical um how that worked out um so if I may the board of education did not overspend by $300,000 there was an allocation to the town that went to to the town and we needed that money back it was it was Town money so by us taking the $300,000 it created a $300,000 deficit for the town it wasn't an overp the second thing you need to understand is and I think this is important that what we've just talked about about the state not funding at the proper level down to 62% affects all our pocket books it's about 1.2% of our budget that we are not going to get now from the state now if you look at the Harford curd you're going to see articles about it if you turned on the TV you're going to hear uh the news about it the towns the large towns were just uh on TV last night about saying they can't make it every town in Connecticut is facing an educational deficit because especially in a town like Canton where our property taxes is where we make where we fund Our Town that's what you're paying for is not sustainable our town is not growing you can look up and down 44 there's not a lot of growth I'm 44 so our property taxes you as individuals that's where you're paying for it so our legislators are coming in on the 28th I'd encourage you to come to that meeting and make some noise about the fact that they have to fight for the towns going from 60 72% to 62% is tough when they should be in the 80s or 100% really that was the promise we're not getting there from that so we need your help so when you hear the budget come out and you hear that there's a six or 7% increase you have to look at where that increase is coming from it's lack of State money that you have to fund now because the state's not paying their fair share anymore that money is going elsewhere so just remind you that the board of education is doing all they can to try to be tight with their finances especially when it comes to special education superintendent has done an outstanding job as has our pupil Personnel person in creating a D program that keeps students with special needs in town instead of sending them out of town there's another project that's going on that will also help us in the future we're doing everything we can to squeeze as much out of the rock as we possibly can I just wanted to give you that promise from the Board of Education sorry to jump in that's just great I couldn't have said all that all Mr Bush you good I'm good yeah sorry between the three of next my I'm sorry just had to get that off my chest all right um sure questions on finance uh 72 to 62 72 was low to begin with 62 is a lot worse is there an explanation and is it find it yeah I'll explain that so the explanation is the following and I'll explain it I think I explained it all right this morning you did if there's a million dollar that they they budgeted for special education across the state of Connecticut that money is divided amongst all the school districts that million dollar it's not enough so when all the schools submit their excess cost I'll just put it in these aren't real numbers but it would be $2 million so what they need to do is they need to say okay we have a million dollar and they have it in tear how much is this school district going to get how much is this school district going to get B upon the formula the bottom line is they didn't budget enough money for as many special education students that we have across the state of Connecticut simp as that is it the 62 final could it get worse could it get better well my I thought we were getting 88% last year and it turned out we got 70% and that was late in the gain they're telling us now that it's 62% could they tell us because we get part now and part in the spring could they tell us in the spring that we're not getting them full amount of 62% yes and you thought it was 88% because that's what they told you to say correct and what is the formula Bas on it based on the size of the district econom economic considerations um mostly um the the the state pass us teers um underserved communities um get a higher percentage we're in the mid-range and then there's a a range um above us that actually gets less um based on economic position and what I want to make it very clear this is not a special education Parn or student problem like this is not we we service all children within the can Public Schools it's just for some children it's expensive and we need to do that for kids it's not that we don't need to do this for children so I don't want people to walk out of here and there's a lot of people here maybe a lot of people watching oh it's a special education issue my child that's not what this is about it's not what this is about this is not about an individual child or an individual family we're we're all one Community here and we need to support children in the the children of what is best opportunity to serve them in an educational environment so I don't want people to walk out of here saying oh my goodness this is this is reality this is public school and this is what we do and we need to provide the best education that we can to all children within the cam Public Schools any other questions I'm Fray sure just in regards to when the 300 was communicated um to the the public and to the finance committee is that the typical time that there will typically be a lapse between when the audit comes in and when the finance committee meets great great question um um the audit is usually um buttoned up a little bit sooner than this okay we were up against I believe that the audit needs to be filed before December 31st yes um so I think this was a little bit late in the late in the game to find out that information um typically that's a little bit earlier so um yeah this is it was it is a little unusual okay and what would War a special meeting for the board of in regards to the finance like when would we have to call or when would it be the board to call a special meeting or something like that board of education yeah because we the Board of Education didn't know about any of that until it went to the board of SL or to the town meeting um I mean it to be honest with you it it it happens like overnight okay okay and it needed to be posted on the um the agenda which I believe has to be posted in advance and there was some leg work that needed to be done before that not just on my part or the superintendent's part but also the auditor part and the town's part and so it it was it was literally a I found out about the town meeting go forget the town meeting happened two days before Christmas I that Monday I I found out about it on Thursday that we were having a town meeting I was finally notified okay so it's really this was a unique situation it won't happen again yeah that's what I just making sure have the finance meeting a little bit later in the month if that's going to happen again but okay okay good point all right thank you any other questions on finance okay let's get to the fun part Mr Amber all right you're up all right thank you Mr Danel Dr Gman Board of Education members welcome Cherry Brook friends and families um this is a really exciting opportunity for me this evening um it's one of two opportunities this year where um I get to recognize um Cherry Brook students for all the great things that they're doing every morning boys and girls hear me say at the very end of our morning announcements at Cherry Brook and Beyond Cherry Brook we work on being kind being safe and being responsible in addition to that you know we work on our necessities and you know and our positive initiative and through that and through this year through our programming and what we're doing together as a Char Community our children here are learning about flexibility being respectful being a contributor being a problem solver and showing Integrity um things that you know they hear me say that takes them through life through the situations that they're going to be facing so tonight I have the honor to recognize the group of special students um friends I see every day um who demonstrated these AC through our Essentials Essentials program through our Arts physical education music um and and media and steam program so I'm really excited um to have and I'm honored to be able to recognize um our Cherry Brook students here tonight so Bo go when I call your name up I'd like you to come up because I have something to read okay so you'll stand right next to me and I'm going to start with Mr Connor Bridges Conor is a third grader at Cherry Brook he's being recognized through through music um by um Miss C for showing flexibility Connor over all all your years at Cherrybrook you've shown tremendous growth as a musician a student and a friend you practice flexibility and bring a can do attitude with you to music class every every time you're there he's also enthusiastic member of Cherry Brook singers if Connor ever encounters difficulty he perseveres until he Masters it you should see him on a xylophone Connor makes a conscious effort to make any learning environment a positive setting for himself his classmates and he is very deserving of this award [Applause] congratulations so families we'll be taking a bunch of pictures after so if you didn't get a good one we'll make sure you get good ones our next student is a first grader Hannah miar blade come on she's being recognized she's bring recognized in music by Miss card for being a contributor Hannah is a spirited music student who brings her focus and infectious enthusiasm to music class every day you can always hear Hannah's powerful Voice singing from M from the music room Hannah is a great contributor in her class she actively participates is always a first volunteer and entertains her classmates and teachers too with her great sense of humor I can't wait to see how Hannah continues to grow as a [Applause] musician all right our next student is a third grader Natalie Nim she she's being recognized in music by um Mrs D deino um Natalie has demonstrated being um respectful and being contributor Natalie is a wonderful respectful and attentive music student she's a role model for her peers in her class she she's always actively engaged in the lessons each week from singing to reading music and playing the various instruments I look forward to seeing engage I look forward to engaging in seeing her in band um in chire when she moves on to CIS [Applause] congratulations [Applause] Leonardo Leonardo is being recognized in art by Mrs raposo um for showing Integrity respect for being contributor Leonardo is an ex excellent role model for his peers he displays respectful listening during instructional time and is willing to contribute his knowledge and creativity to the group Leonardo is a diligent worker who focuses on his art yet he's there for classmates who may be struggling Leonardo is a young man with great integrity to do the right thing his creative thinking art skills and most importantly his outstanding character are attributes that make Leonardo so deserving of this [Applause] honor Bry Bryce is being recognized in art as well by Mrs raposo um Bryce is in first grade um he's being recognized for being a contributor Bryce has shown great enthusiasm for art his participation and willingness to help others shows what a great contrib contributor he is to his class he's quite creative and enjoy sharing his ideas and helping others congratulations [Applause] chce Emma you can go to her Aid yeah just bring it to her go to her you just talk about it yeah right there Emma is very creative and enjoy sharing her talents and ideas with her classmates and she's being recognized for art by Mrs Roso um she's always eager to help others find new ways of creating art through her own example Emma is an excellent contributor in the art classroom and we're so proud of all that she does congratulations Emma Emory Emory's the second [Music] grader okay um um Em's being recognized in in media and steam by Mrs santanella for being a problem solver showing integ and being respectful Emory is an exemplary student who leads by quiet example embodying our school's Bare Necessities she's focused and responsible setting a positive tone for others Beyond her personal work ethic Emory offers practical solutions to problems during class conversations she is assertive when when needed asking questions to ensure her understanding with kindness respect and integrity she contributes to a positive classroom environment making her a role model for her peers [Applause] congratulations you're welcome our next student is Griffin who's in third grade good he's being recognized in media and stee by Mrs santanella as well for being showing flexibility and being a problem solver Griffin is student with REM with remarkable problem solving abilities he demonstrates a logical approach to challenges and consistently thinks critically to find effective Solutions what stands out most is his flexibility when problems arise Griffin's positivity helps him to see the good in every situation which helps him to adapt quickly adjusting his strategy as needed his calm demeanor and ability to navigate obstacles with e make him a strong asset in any situation congratulations [Applause] bu our next student is Adam Adam is in second grade nice to see Adam McIntyre um is being recognized by Mrs santanella again in media and steam for showing for being a contributor and and being respectful Adam's enthusiasm respect and love for reading make him a wonderful presence in our school Community he's a gracious reader who dives into books um with enthusiasm and is dedicated to finishing an entire series he is open to book recommendations eagerly exploring new titles and is is a consistent visitor to the learning comments Adam is a respectful contributor during media classes always offering thoughtful insights and showing kindness to others his ability to interact comfortably with both peers and adults make him a true Stand Out [Applause] congratulations K Kira's in third grade Kira is being recognized in physical education by Mr Oma um for being a great contributor Kira is an outstanding student and in fiscal education and wellness classes she is an except she is an exceptionally hard worker who always gives her best effort Kira is fun talented and a great role model and a classmate to everyone in her class Kira is also a valuable member of our Cherrybrook Unified sports team congratulations Kira keep up the great work our next student is okay and then ohow Owen is being recognized in physical education by Mr Barnes um for being a contributor Owen has been a standout in physical education and wellness this year in first grade he always gives his best effort every day in class while bringing positivity and excitement to all activities Owen excels in group work leading himself leading leading his classmates with kindness but is also eager to challenge himself in individual tasks congratulations Owen on this amazing award and your exceptional working class keep up the great work [Applause] so Cherry Brook family boys girls are going to come over we go over here and take a picture [Music] come [Applause] [Music] oh it's fine you know everybody [Music] so I have everybody together I just want to thank parents such a great job with these kids but I also want to thank our staff teachers that came tonight you all know that Jerry Brook is a school distinction do some great things Cherry Brook under the leadership of Mr grory with the teachers and staff we have we have some of the best teachers and Pars in the uh in the state in my mind is a great school to to go and learn and have families grow so thank you all for coming tonight we're going to get into our one of our business meeting I don't think many of to say so I thought I'd catch you before you go out thank you P for coming tonight thank [Music] [Applause] so you guys [Applause] [Music] there may be something else hey we do PTO pres PTO pres i' like to introduce uh can I bring if we can your G where is my gab I used to have a g I had and when I retired the first time they gave me a G okay we can uh bring the meeting back Mr emry I think you have an introduction for us you have an introduction for it yes yes um Mr Daniels thank you I'd like to introduce uh our PTO president Jamie be providing update onerry hi hi Jamie I'm sorry it's a little noisy in here it's going to it's going to calm down pretty quickly how are you tonight I'm good how are you thanks for joining us thanks for having me well Jamie you're going to give us a report on Cherry Brook PTO yes you're up okay so in August we hosted pops on the playground round the incoming kindergarten students received welcome treat bags I we provided welcome back meals to the staff and stocked the lounge students and staff walked the red carpet with balloons and music on the first day we provided $8,000 towards buses for field trips in in September we launched our hospitality and fundraising committees we have some great moms that are spare heading those committees for us we hosted a Lyman pie fundraiser which did exceptionally well we recognized our top pie sellers who received an award and received pies for their classroom Thanksgiving celebration in October we provided Mother Goose enrichment program for all the kindergarten classes we provided popsicles for all the students during field day we hosted our annual uh classroom pumpkin decorating contest we saw lots of creativity from the classrooms some examples of the pumpkins were sores minions the wild robot and Nemo we also launched our birthday book club in partnership with Mrs santanella this program is where um each month families can donate a book to the library in honor of their child the student gets recognized with a picture a book plate honoring their birthday and are featured in the Cherry Brook uh Gazette this program has really taken off um as of today we've had 65 families participate and 80 three books donated to our library in November our Hospitality committee posted any way you slice it we appreciate you event where the staff enjoyed slices of pies and various treats in December we hosted our annual gingerbread decorating event where families came out with friends to decorate gingerbread houses and enjoyed music Refreshments um and they left the mess for us our Hospitality committee um organized meals in a coffee bar for our staff during conference week on the horizon we are excited um we just purchased nine square for Mr romea to use in PE class which is a combination of volleyball and four squares um we are launching our staff shout outs which is a fun way to recognize our dedicated staff members families will have the opportunity to send us why they think a staff member is amazing we will then post these shoutouts in the staff lounge and in our monthly newsletter um we begin then planning our beloved children's Fair which is scheduled for May 30th and we will be hosting a family game night in March that's great qu questions for Jamie on uh cherb PTO comments questions jammie I just want to say on behalf of the board um we couldn't do half the things that get get accomplished in our district without the ppos and all the work that the parents do and I know it comes from the leadership you guys show a lot of the burden but I know the parents all come together you can always use more members we know that but thank you so much for the hard work that you do for our children and really pushing it over the finish line for us where we may not have the funds the PT steps up and does that for us so thank you so much and what can we do what can the board of education do to better support you I know when uh I think it was uh was middle school PTO that was in last time they said membership is push that membership button I know is is important but anything else that the board can do to be more supportive not that I can um think of right now it's just just getting um maybe more hour giving us more hours in the day right to have people to be able to volunteer um right but not that I can think of right now okay is there an event that you would like us to to make sure that we're at coming up would you like board members to uh to participate is there something that we should be thinking about being at or we would love to have you all come to the uh children's fair in May um okay that is one of our biggest fundraisers it's lots of fun um last year we had a dunk tank um we are working on something fun this year for Mr Amry to how about Dr how I paid big money for that I WR a big big check he's not saying anything couldn't have done that you know back in um back in the early 90s Mr shy I might remember when uh Dr quani was here um I was one of the barkers at to to Children's fairer was uh we called it the DAV and L show Dr kapani and myself so we had a lot of fun Children's fair so I'm glad that that tradition continues it does yes good okay thanks thanks for being part of the meeting tonight Jamie oh you're welcome okay thank you Jamie thank you Mr emry um continuous Improvement you're going to bring the entire board up to date now I think yes um last this past Friday I had the honor to you know welcome um some of the board members to Cherrybrook and um it was was a great day great morning to you know be able to you know showcase the work that we were doing and have the opportunity to walk around the building and and see students in action with with their teachers so it was it was a great visit and I thank board members who attended um at last week's um board meeting I shared this quote with with everybody um that you know really Cherry Brooke um is is foundational instruction we're really um focus on foundational instruction to drive growth Innovation and success for all students um our areas of focus this year include um a continued focus and refinement on our instructional practices to support Foundation foundational literacy and math math strategies um are Contin um or continued um focus on early identification of achievement gaps um data decision um making datadriven decision making to inform and support data driven instruction um our continued refinement of cherry Works culture and climate and belonging initiative and recognizing and continuing to bring awareness to staff and especially our students about being kind being safely being responsible those are our overall focuses for this year um for student growth and achievement our action steps include um our building based team meeting structured and focused on curriculum data and instructional strategies um continued refinement of our mtss process which is multi- tiers of systems of support with the goal of supporting all students continuing to monitor student achievement data using a variety of Assessments utilizing current benchmark assessments to analyze growth for all of our students um and trends in in classrooms and grade levels engaging in high quality instruction and high and utilizing high quality resources and strategies and continuing our partnership with this assigns of reading Affinity groups and our collaboration for the with the hill for literacy and especially with Benchmark Advance our new um Ela curriculum that we're going to be launching this month we have our first um PD opportunity with them this this Friday so we're looking forward to that with Partnerships and community engagement our action steps include continuing to maintain formal formal and informal communication between home and school focused on academic social emotional well-being um and and classroom and school Community um through obviously the cbbs weekly classroom updates from teachers we're continuing to work with the school leadership team and Specialists that plan and schedule and school based events for families such as I wonder night and art show music events and curriculum celebrations we continue to collaborate and and support the Cherry Brook parent teacher organization as Jamie shared they do a tremendous amount for our school and they support our school in many many different ways and we're much appreciated for that we continue to deepen our productive Partnerships with other outside organizations with financial sustainability and efficient operations we're we're continuing the work with all stakeholders within Camp public schools to ensure a budget that reflects and supports the needs of all cherry uh Primary School students we continue to work with all stakeholders with thinking on public schools to adopt the financial management process that will fall their long-term um sustainability and we're always monitoring enrollment um and class size to ensure appropriate learning environments and staff for learning environment and belonging our action steps this year include our continued refinement of Cher Brooks culture and climate and belonging initiative um providing all staff with ongoing professional learning opportunities which focus on so student social and emotional wellbeing with a focus on learning environment belonging in social emotional learning practices we continue our implementation and and staff development around Desa and we're creating opportunities of recognition and celebrations and success for embracing Equity we um Collective collaboration to support each and every student that's a big Focus for us um utilizing high quality instructional practices support learning opportunities for all continue to analyze subgroup data with the focus for growth for all and recognize and bring awareness to staff of students about being kind being safe and being responsible and finally our Workforce Development um action steps include hiring both certified and non-certified staff to meet programmatic and student needs um retain high quality and high high qualified certified and non-certified staff pre and Implement a collaborative series of professional development opportunities high quality instruction for all staff both certified and uncertified and continuing training and development of our science of reading practices um so for this year you know we have a lot of exciting things happening um we're seeing um as I shared at Friday's meeting we're seeing some real return on our investment um we know we still have a lot of work to do but we're really proud with you know with the work that we're doing and we're looking forward to what the future brings to us thank you great report good SU questions for board members maybe the board members weren't there you have any questions for Mr Mr sh thank you it's a very good report it reads very well too um Staffing are you fully staff powerwise looking for f almost we're just there we have a few fluid things happening right now with some resonations that I I didn't foresee happening so we're quickly trying to fill Five Short across the whole District not certified so I don't know how many are in chare room it's not many and the new curriculum Ela curriculum yeah Benchmark Grant was just adopted and supported by the board yet we um we have a really um strategic um roll out starting um this Friday where we'll be meeting with um representation from Benchmark ashy Garrett is going to be our kind of our staff developer um with marjerie Sullivan um they're going to help lead us um in a soft launch this spring we're going to start in January Friday I'm packing what does it look like um teachers already have the resources in hand they've been looking at things we've been doing some in-house um um review of the material but on Friday we're really going to start unpacking it with Benchmark staff developers um February we're going to um beginning of February we're going to be doing a focus on reading starting with unit three and then we're slowly then going to launch writing with a follow up to how that's going small group instruction and then at the end of the year we're going to be doing a lot of reflection reflection and planning for launch for full implementation um starting in the fall feedback has been overwhelm overwhelmingly positive from you know from staff and and from parents that I've heard from Good Luck yeah thank you we're excited we appreciate the board support other questions so I was just looking at the The Chronic absente ism numbers those are down from last year yes yeah we continue to um um continue to reach out um as I shared at Friday's meeting for for Cherry Brooks students it's their first experience in school and a lot of them come without without that strong immune system so a lot of it is is illness illness that you know just just have it's not a lack of anything just typical elness that some of our young oh we have a great system within our building to make sure we get those kids to school thank you questions so I I would just say um that our walk through on Friday um there's a energy and a um High uh morale if you will as we walk through school with the teachers and the teachers have presented to us and I think that's a testimony to what you've been doing at Cherry Brook and uh we're pretty proud of that school and what's happening there thanks for all the hard work thank you Mr I appreciate that comment and your support great is there anything else a board of education be doing for you I know you work through the superintendent but anything come to mind he he won't mind if you blurt something else so you've done you know you've been so supportive in a my time here in this role good and I just continue to appreciate and um appreciate your support and welcome any good thanks thanks for coming tonight thank you okay um moving back on to uh Dr brosman super the the next part of the agenda is to go over some questions regarding the forecast and memo for the budget so in your packet I provided for you another copy of the forecasted um memo and anybody that's here from the the public um care if we could give the forecast memo and forecast memo is also posted online under budget in budget 25 26 for those people that are watching the the document that I'm passing to the right is what I'd like to go over with you uh this evening as I said with the forecast and memo if you could just stay with me as I'm going through the the the questions um we asked you after the the forecasted memo presentation to send uh myself questions Mr Bishop Anna questions to Claudia so tonight in this PowerPoint which is on the screen I'm going to answer every question that you provided us with and I'm going to read right off the slide I one quick question on that are these just questions from board members or also the just questions from board members okay you just questions from board members so the first page is the cover page slide two on page two I just want to go over the budget summary I want to remind everybody that this is the forecast budget as of December 10th this is not where I'm going to land when I present the budget in February I I can already tell you that that at this time on December 10th we were looking at a 5.97% increase with four 4.56% of that of salary benef benefits Insurance property liability Transportation including fuel electricity he heating oil and natural gas so you can see the the the rest of it and some of it I'm going to talk about within the the questions that you ask but on December 10th I was at a 5.97 and for the community at large and for board members this is an typical superintendent normally don't present budgets twice I'm presenting a budget twice I'm giving it to you where I am am in December and then I'm going to give it to you in February so page three question number one 1% of the budget this was a question 1% of the budget proposed budget is equal to approximately $370,000 please confirm the answer is yes the budget forecast are presented on December 10th 36 m969 279 before additional revenues are applied if we were looking at 1% it would be $370,000 question uh two on page four with the exception of health insurance increases all of the other numbers in the salary benefits column are are in the two to 3% what is the reason that the overall increase is 4.56 is it the health insurance so what I ask Mrs Robbins to do if you just take the salary at 2.92 benefits at 1.37 Transportation at 02 in the transportation in including fuel 03 and gas 22 that's 4.56 so if you went back to the first slide 4.56 to the 5.97 are all those numbers listed below page five question number three the difference between the enrollment projections that came from NASDAQ and the num the number central office has determined is pretty stunning assuming that the central office numbers are correct will we be able to reduce one section of first grade next year so let me just explain nezda is the group that does our projection for enrollment and we also ask Peter Proud to do that also projections at the kindergarten level be become increasingly fluid across our demographics de democ first their projections are based on birth rates coupled with typical year Trends over time with that our kindergarten projection for the 25 26 has the greatest possibility varability with 121 projected by nzda 106 by pra and 85 projected by F in my team an actual Community data and up until last week because we sent out a survey for the past two or 3 weeks I'm still at 85 the current 2425 cor has five sections and we will assume that those will move forward as five sections in the 25 26 school year in this forecast budget I am planning on 85 so I have five sections last year if you remember I took the number that Peter PR and I actually had to cut a section so I'm being very transparent right now I'm just going based upon the numbers and then if the numbers go up in the next month I'll propose another section and if we have a tremendous amount of growth come in in the summer I'll call Jordan here's a perfect example I will ask the chair first special meeting and we'll talk about uh increasing kindergarten class acts Jord the number of first grade sections this year is six I'm going to do that in the next slide so page six question four while the smaller numbers projected at chair will not solve all our space needs at the school it should have some effect what might this be preliminary projections based on the current and predicted enrollment May yield one additional classroom to address space needs at cherro at this time we are projecting five sections of kindergarten five sections of first grade this is for next year five sections of first grade we're also projecting six sections of second grade and six sections of third grade this may yield an additional classroom next year we gained one this year we'll gain another one next year we're not prepared at this time to move our Preschool location from CIS to cbps the potential room will be used to support tutorial and school operations so this came up at the meeting the other day that we had on Friday that I gained a room this year at Cherrybrook we'll gain another room next year at Cher Brook that's two rooms one of our Thrive programs went into the the rooms so now our tutoring still on the hallway if we gain another room next year we'll move another program you may ask well why won't I move the preschool back because if the numbers are correct Peter PR in in nezek I'm going to need that room the following year but if I have a three-year Trend we'll move the preschool back to Cherrybrook and the other thing that we need to talk about as a board and administration is we do have cpat that is here at the high school that was a program that was at Cherrybrook so those are all things that we would need to be uh talked about so Cher Brooks with enrollment is a a tricky subject right now page seven question five this is a a long one that you may have to digest a little bit special education will make up about 25% of our budget next year what percentage of our Roman is special ed how do these numbers align with our neighbors andur Mrs McAn when she did her special education report when she came here she provided this but I want to answer it again the 24 Connecticut State Department of Education reports a special education prevalence rate is 17.3 if you look to the right we're right on the state average of 17.3 C is align with it C's preface rate and budget allocation reflect our conic into addressing individual student needs in align to the Durk and into the right of you ask how does it reflect to our Durk in the community around we didn't do our entire dir but you can see with the communities that we did were were flat right in the middle and we're aligned with the state question uh six page eight a maintenance position is proposed what isn't getting done now that a new full-time Position will address will this position save us any overtime cost this was a um a position that was proposed by Public Works last year and asked of me to put it in my budget this is not anything that should be new to the board I put this in the forecasted memo last year to be put in for this year 25 26 Public Works will help in maintaining athletic fields tennis courts public buildings and other public spaces as needed the town of K W currently maintains all the grounds for the Board of Ed the goal is to continue to provide well Grom grounds athletic facilities and safe campuses to meet both Public Works and pbet goals additional Staffing is required and I do anticipate that overtime cost would be uh brought down by having an additional person page question number seven a human resource position is proposed again this was in my forecast budget last year for something that you would see in 25 26 what will this person do and how are these tasks accomplished currently this person is going to do a lot they're going to maintain employee records with a high level of confidentiality and accuracy support HR initiatives such as mandatory staff training coordination assist with recruitment efforts and manage hiring processes including background checks provide guidance to administrators investigate grievances and ensure compliance with District policies and federal laws maintain District position control system manage time and attendance system and assist with leave requests assist with budget preparation prepare and track annual employ employment assignments and contracts ensure adherence to collective bargaining agreements prepare required state and federal employment reports respond to unemployment claims those functions are currently managed throughout the District that have been assigned to multiple staff members on the town side and the school side across the district on many occasion Administration relies on outside legal counsel to assist with client compliant grievance investigation and inherence to collective bargaining agreements the Board of Education had an HR person the previous administration due to um budget cut the HR um individual question number eight this is a tricky one the teacher residency program that's the one if you remember that we bring in and we're working with the state I'm bringing in um a a candidate a minority background to work with our staff and then provide a job for them the following year and I'm going to be very transparent if I understand it it guarantees a a position assuming uh here or she is successful here it is if we kept the teaching residency program in this year's budget if we had someone working right now for us um I cannot confidently say based upon our enrollment Trend going down that we would be able to project placement for that person at this time the article in the CLA of the trp agreement shares that the district will make the best efforts so tonight you're going to hear me and you saw it in the forecast budget that I have it in the forecast budget for next year to for us to take part that is one item that I don't anticipate that you will see in my final budget proposal because I can't guarantee that we will have a job for that individual for the the following year question nine what is an mtss pair Mr hry actually went over this tonight mtss stands for m multi-tiered systems of support and evolution of the previously used srpi acronym these kindergarten mtss paas that are being proposed provide Foundation academic and behavioral support for our youngest Learners question 10 do you have projections for open Choice funds for next year and Beyond yes the open Choice memo will be presented this evening with specific details on how the funds will be used for fiscal year 26 question 11 given the projected declining numbers at Cherrybrook please explain why there still is a need I tried to explain it when I had the Cherrybrook families here I thought it was a good opportunity but Cherrybrook school still and many of you saw it the other day has required additional space for number needs including tutorial space program space office space and meeting space again I'll say it again as documented by the frier architect because we did have a study done and it was a study for all our schools in including administration offices central office based on the revised enrollment the committee as I mentioned needs to be formed by the board of Select and we've asked them to determine the exact spaces that are needed question 14 under proposed staff districtwide operational point five is this a floating person this is for a social worker this position will actually say US money if it if it wasn't in our operational it would be in our special education budget the point5 F social worker will serve as a districtwide position based on current needs this position will be assigned to Cher Brook for the 25 25 2526 school year it will provide therapeutic supports and services within our Thrive so it's allowing us to keep kids in District if we didn't bring the social worker in District we would have shouldn't go out of District question 13 in 2829 school year the end implementation cost of the new reading curriculum the answer is yes the cost of the new reading curriculum includes a 5-year contract which is paid across four years the current contract will be paid in full at the close of the 2829 school year and the new contract will be negotiated after that point 16 has the public address system at Cher Brook primary school already been replaced I've been told that the PA system at Cher Brook primary school is working fine right now with no signs of deterioration our maintenance department tracks repair request of the public address system at CH Brook signs show signs of deterioration then this item will be added to our Capital Improvement the PA at C CHMS and CIS have consistent maintenance issues this equipment is at end of life unreliable and parts and services are not reliably available that's why it's in our CIP question 15 please talk about the turf and track lifespan how old is it and when will it need to be replaced the turf and track at CHS and CMS has been operational since 2013 the turf has been expertly maintained by the board of AD maintenance staff in town DPW annually the field is maintained by an outside contractor the materials Foundation is tested every few years with excellent results when build the field was estimated to have a lifespan of 10 years however in 2023 this assessment extended the lifespan from 23 to 2728 so we're doing pretty good on that field the track was expected to have a lifespan of 20 years when originally installed when evaluated in 23 the the projection was confirmed based on use we will have an additional 8 to 10 years before the track needs to be replaced but one of the things that we're going to speak about at CIP meeting on Thursday evening is we have been um saving money in CIP for the field not for the track so we got to we got to talk about that question 16 why is special education at a decrease when we're already over 500 roughly this year I explained this a little bit this morning I'm going to explain it tonight the projected decrease in special education cost for 2526 is largely attributed to reduction in added District placement we anticipate 33 students being placed at a district down from 39 so there's exact numbers this decline is driven by strategic programming including the implementation of District options like Thrive and learning lab which provideed provide tailored support for students and achieving significant tuition savings additionally three students are expected age out of the school system as Mr Daniel said I'm working with Mrs McAn on a possible another program um that could possibly save us money next year it would be flat be at a flat cost but the years after it could possibly save us money um but I'm not prepared to really talk about it because we're finalizing um some details question 17 can we get a line item of new Personnel so we groke it down in the forecast memo but now let's get it into one slide operational funds that means out of town funding operational campus supervisors 19,800 each for the campus supervisors at Cher Brook CIS and CMS that is to provide supervision for those schools the maintenance personnel which I spoke about and the the social worker that's a total of $164,000 of operational money and then the the grant funded positions the kindergarten mtss the human resource Specialists the teacher Residency program that the 60,000 which I spoke about that probably won't be there that's not really Staffing but it's grant funding for a total of $343,000 again there's not one position that is on the slide that was not in my forecast and budget from last year so it's very important that this Administration communicates and is very transparent that there's not new staff members just reappearing in a budget cycle and people didn't know anything about it I'm setting these up in the forecast memo of what we're going to need two years from now 3 years from now or what we won't need 2 years or 3 years from now page 20 question 18 what percent do we use to project special education percentages if we are forecasting we should add the the same type of trend factor in collaboration with the business department pupil Services utilizes the Connecticut Consumer Price Index as a benchmark for certain projections ensuring that our budget reflects current economic conditions in with known trends for special education expenditures we also prioritize budgeting no based on the known cost when forecasting special education we apply a trend factor of approximately 4 to 6% to our current expenditures and I won't go into this but what it means I'll say it in simple terms we don't know what our added District placements are going to charge us next year or so we go with a 4% to 6% because that's based upon what the average there is no fixed increase that a private setting is mandated by the state of Connecticut this is something that has been spoke about at the legislators to be able to say that hey keep it out a 2% or 3% if they need to adjust It Up by 4 to 6% they can page n uh page 21 question 19 on page five at the bottom funding sour SCE Grant funded is $178,000 how long will this grant be funded this funding source on that page is the open Choice funding this funding is based upon as long as we participate in open Choice which I'll explain we'll have the funding but if we don't have our enrollment say it is it's less funding if you follow what I'm saying and I'll talk about that when we do the open Choice M the next question I'm glad somebody asked this uh regarding grants I really go into this at budget time when I present the the final budget but I it's a really good opportunity I won't go through each one of them but it's a good opportunity for you to look at it the forecasted the fiscal year budget forecast memo focuses on general fund spending and does not specifically address all grant funding the open Choice attendance brand budget forecast will be presented this evening all other expected grant funding is typically addressed at my administrative budget that will be presented to the board of B on February 11 this is the current listing of grants that we're working with so you can see the title grants Ida grants um the open Choice Commissioners Network and ARA so this is all approximately of what we're going to be looking at so the question is a real good question if these funding sources go away one or two things happen right if we have positions that are tied to that they either get cut or it goes into the operational budget and our budget increases it's as simple as that so it I often say that it's not always good to put Staffing in Grants but we do that it's not ideal but we have a lot of Grants and you'll see that tonight that we have Staffing that is part of it but if all these grants went away one of two things would happen is it things would get cut or would going operational my favorite question that I've ever had and I've never um really thought about this one was have we considered this from the board of education budget to the Board of Education estimated expenditures when using the word budget the public conception is that we won't go over that number estimate as a public conception of being higher or lower I just need to be high honest with you this is not my decision um for consistency purposes the use of word budget is used by both the town and the Board of Education the renaming of the budget is a board of education decision and the town's decision but I wanted to answer I've never been asked that question before and I it made me think a little bit I actually um worked with Mr nardy we actually looked up the definition of budget so at my last slide on page 24 um I I provide again the timeline um that this is what we'll go through there's a lot of meetings and part of the agenda tonight is to do a budget Workshop a little bit so that's why I didn't really take any questions that will go into a budget workshop and we'll ask some questions that you may have or more information um that we need um but there's a a lot of time um that we have there so that's the timeline can I just go right into the um open Choice medal that's all so the open choice and I will um present or Mrs Robbins will present one of us will present at the's that oh that's my district up um we will also present the open Choice memo like we did last year to the board of Finance so um tonight beginning last year the administration developed budget projections for open choice that support the C Public Schools Board of Education goals the open Choice funds helps the can Public Schools meet the legal requirement for Connecticut school districts to increase opportunities for their students to interact with students and teachers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds the cam public schools has participated in open choice for many years we we enroll one of the highest percentages of open choice in the state in fiscal year 2526 the district expects to receive $10,000 per enrolled open Choice students plus an additional 4500 per open Choice kindergarten plus additional Appropriations for and entitlements related to the program to be determined our current ratio of open choice to Total student population 6.65 is above the the state threshold of 4% enabling us to receive more benefit so if you have more than if you have more than 4% of your population make of open choice and we're at 6.6 we get bonus money for having that if we were at 3% we wouldn't get bonus money so the chart below gives you our actual of what we received this year and what we're pro ejecting for next year so this year we have 85 students and we received $850,000 in additional Appropriations we have 21,000 early Beginnings which is our student for kindergarten it's 4500 various Chef grants 134,000 so a total of a million uh 10,000 next year we're projecting 92 students for a total of 920 and then the same formula that we're anticipating a, 189,000 coming in the next page is the chart that explains where we've been with open choice and you can see it's very clear that we're going down with our open Choice numbers and that's just not a k um issue that is the whole greater heart harf for area the numbers are going down and that's because families are choosing to keep their kids in the Harford public schools and another reason is we're far from um from Harford so that that plays part too but you can see fisal year 26 this is what we're anticipating uh three students for kindergarten four students for first grade four students for second grade four for third grade three for fourth grade nine for fifth 7 4 6 1148 and 104 uh nine we are not declaring any new seats for 10th through through 12th grade um it's just not something that we traditionally do we try to add more students at the beginning of of the year so we have longer time to work with them or at transition grades so there's um our 92 but you could see that we're going to be trending down so it goes back to that original question that was asked what happens if we run out of grand money one of two things happen and you'll see it on the next page we either lose programming lose staff or goes into the operational budget so what does this mean of how we're spending the money page three goes into the MTS Paris that we've discussed we also have the human resource specialist the teacher Residency program 60,000 I don't anticipate that I anticipate that we'll take something out of the operational budget and put in an open Choice collaborative uh kindergarten tables the subscription that allows our fans to be able to watch our games online family consumer science the dishwashers textbooks many of you know that's been cut the past few years technology the new equipment a lot of our open Choice funds is used towards technology technology replacement equipment Tech contracted Services go ahead what is number 10 what is that number technology replacement equipment 243 M Robins can you give me an example of what's so it's 243 correct okay okay yeah that's right yeah can you just give an example of what would be um replacement cycle for um I just clarification but I I'm assuming somebody's going to ask what the 243,000 is so M Robins just explain that one more time a big number replacement cycle on Chromebook um teachers um computers whiteboards um replacement cycle for the technology that's used we the district um primarily for educational purposes um contracted Services Tech Supplies tech software um social studies as you know we have the the new personal finance um course they need um some materials Can Academy which is our our program for students that struggle in in a regular environment and here's some staffing $328,000 worth of Staffing the reading specialist that is here at the high school that you met Gigi that's funded out of a grant we have a special education teacher and a special education parah that totals the $920,000 that I discussed earlier so it's very transparent like it's not anything that um it's very transparent Chef grants this is uh more money that we receive it's not the attendance Grant it's academic and support grant that helps us um work with children that are coming into our district but also work with um Camp students so it's a combination and we have uh student engagement and development activities for 6900 our after school supervision for um some of our choice students that stay we ALS o have in this grant point4 special education teacher CHS tutor our Equity team facilitator or open choice leaon that is a Tha and partners for educational leadership that's providing our professional development is this all state funded grants I'm yes yep well the attendance Grant yes it's all state funded it's all state fun and then the next page I just wanted to provide for you the the amount of students that we have to go to a magnet schools these are our numbers for fiscal year uh 25 we'll have um 24 students attending magnet school we used to have to pay 100% of those students now it's what 58% 58% that's another example that the state's supposed to be paying 100% And then the next page um the last page on page six is just the cost of each of the the magnet schools and this may change um because they may we have not heard if they're going to increase U the the tuition rate so I threw a lot at you tonight with with the questions that you have so I'm going to ask the the same thing that if you have questions on the open Choice memo that if you could get those questions to Claudia by next Tuesday so we could formulate a budget of questions uh for like we did tonight with your questions next Tuesday I think gives us enough time yeah next Tuesday should give us enough time um if you could send them to Claudia myself Anna and John and we'll come all these materials will be posted online for the public to be able to um look at and um the public can come any time and ask questions in uh public comment and then um when we have a budget Workshop we certainly can answer those questions in a public Workshop so Mr Jango I would recommend to go right into the the budget Workshop okay we are going to move into the budget Workshop but I just want to remind everybody you should start keeping a folder on the budget because you're going to get a lot of questions and I think this is this is uh you know packed with information to start there'll be other iterations that come your way but um start carrying your your budget folded with you can we have these all electronic they are all posted all after the um so everything that I everything that I've spoke about so far is on our um website the forecasted memo and open choice will go up tomorrow morning because we presented it tonight it's all listed under budget 25 here can you pull that up on the website sure so everybody can see where it is on the public and we have record of it so if you go can Public Schools district you go under budget and then if you can open it up you can see 25 26 you may have to update it it's 2526 there it it is you may have to um refresh there it is that happened to be the other day I'm like what so tomorrow all the information that I presented um tonight will be up on the website okay thank you y okay let's move into the budget Workshop so it's an opportunity the budget Workshop to ask me any questions that you may have so far yeah just if ask any questions they you may have so far remember this is not final budget um when we get to the budget budget um as some of you know last year I'm going to be presenting almost the same materials to you it will just be much larger that you'll have a line item of every single line item in in the the budget um but this is where we are right now so you want questions on the answers to these questions no my my my recommendation is I presented the forecasted the open Choice memo so if you have any questions on the open Choice memo then you could ask send question but if you have questions based upon what you heard tonight followup we could do it all in one two you could submit those two I mean like Dr BR said you've gotten a lot of information tonight you got to pour through it you have some questions be great if you can send those through to Claudia yep for our 28th meeting uh also that meeting you're going to hear more about CIP do you want to talk about that at all well no in the the CIP um you you have in the forecast memo the the CIP list what will there'll be three items that will be added to that list the Cher Brook primary school project will be added to the list because that wasn't on there the CIS cafeteria will be added to that list we do the cafeteria and then the um a possi community gymnasium can I ask for one more thing to be maybe added should be a PA system for uh well no for Nancy Grace stadium for we we could use a PA system on that um I don't know when that will come it could be in five years but it should be at least listed yep will that do it then you put your questions together unless you have something burning right now I just have one fin question from one of my questions question 20 was just asking what do we have in um federal grants or federal funding right now title title is federal ID Ida is federal anything that says two year is a federal I could have put it front of there yeah state grants are one year federal grants are multiple years so the commissioner's network is federal that's State actually is State yes that is a um the first year of a twoyear state Grant they'll do two individual when we do the budget book yeah you'll have a whole page that will give you the definition of all the grants and what they are and how much we're spending and what we're spending it on so when you get your book um we learned a little bit last year that we're going to put some more information in the the budget book um but there is a page that is designated to Grants in the budget book okay thank you anything else anybody okay all right then we're going to move on to uh standing committee reports I think these will be short uh Russell anything more you want to add on finance uh no I think everything was covered other than a comment regarding the uh public comment that our finance commit meetings are hyd and they're open to everybody and we go over all these issues that we cover in a short amount of time and extensive amount of time for all those so if anybody wants detail more deta finances Mee good thank you Russell um Joe policy two policies for first read tonight uh one is both regard regarding changes in the law and there I believe would be fair to say minor changes in the current policy one is family medical leave um Family and Medical Leave as of October 1 24 we were required to provide benefits equal to those provided by the federal FMLA to non-certified employees uh they've been employed by the board for at least 12 months and worked at least 950 hours uh that's the only change in that policy the homeless and children act homeless children and youth act also known as the mcken vento homeless education assistant acts requires each state to ensure homeless children and youth have equal access access to uh public school to education uh it defines homeless children youth to mean Children and Youth 21 years of age and younger who lack a fixed regular and Nightmare residence apologize for reading I want to make sure I get the details right uh as of July 1 2023 contic L requires Boards of Ed to provide special ed services to a child until such child graduates from high school or upon the end of the school year in which that child turns 21 whichever comes first we'll have the change we revise our policy to eliminate the age limit and now Define homeless children and youth to mean Children and Youth who lack a fixed regular and nighttime residence Boards of ucation will continue to provide free appropriate education to all homeless children and youth consistent with education provided to other students in accordance with the law again it's a relatively minor change to the existing policy and law but it is change and we are obligated to adopt it if you have questions I can send you that explanation I think from Johan's not here tonight I can send it to you if you don't have questions need the policy committee has has reviewed it this would be a first reading so the you this will come back and if you have any questions on it uh policy will take place in February and uh you can come to that meeting also if you have further questions certainly can send you those two par paragraphs that just you to listen to so okay any questions for Joe curriculum Erica yes um so we at our December meeting we uh went over Mr Bishop's monthly update um he also gave us a professional learning update which uh he kind of went over the areas that were covered at each date um that was requested by committee members um and we had Mr D and Mrs Harley there to give us a demonstration of the AI program that they've designed and are implementing monitoring um for kids to use it was uh they did a demonstration that we were able to participate in pretty cool yeah it was pretty neat um and then we voted on a few things we did the AP update for the environmental science textbooks um we also passed the Benchmark Advance reading program that Mr Amory talked about uh for Cherry Brook grades K through three and we did the final review and approve of the CHS 2526 program studies our curriculum was busy we were busy yeah very good it's an excellent update thank you y and our next meeting 29th 29th at the high school great thank you any questions for Erica curriculum okay and Communications I think uh I don't think Alicia is on but I will say that uh this new Comm Comm Comm Communications committee we're going to have a u a meeting probably first week of February to talk about how we're going to be able to disseminate budget information and things like that in a uh in a better manner now that we've lost uh the C uh the valley price um calendar events is in your um is in your packet of what's happening in January uh call to mind your attention to the meeting on the 28th of course uh Board of Finance meets this Tuesday Monday is Martin Luther King holiday Board of Finance meet it's Tuesday 27 27 Oh actually we just checked it okay I I was taking that from our meeting this morning all right so uh Board of Finance is the 27th uh for everybody and um you you'll get more of those from superintendent updates weekly updates on what's uh what's what's ahead um okay Christmas I received Robert's Rules For Dummies it's amazing what we can what we can get accomplished I've been diving into this so for the consent agenda I don't necessarily need a motion is there anybody opposed consent agenda then we'll accept the consent agenda is provided okay so that's the first thing uh on on far is approval of financials reports uh don't necessarily need a motion but I think for financials I'll take a motion to accept the financial report for this evening um and Erica thank you for first second thank you Peggy all those in favor okay so it's unanimous thank you okay and then uh we will um as far as uh the discussion for first read on policy 411 FMLA is there anybody opposed to the first reading then we just accept it okay and uh as far as the first reading for um policy 5013 is there anyone opposed to that then we accept it okay um items d& have been tabled um and I think that's self-explanatory everybody thinks you know I think you know why and with that the chair declares the meeting how about that don't need a motion oh I'm B with this thing I am so

or 5:30 p.m. so if we move the meetings back to 5:00 P pm. you are disenfranchising the Middle School families of Higley unified considering the fact that Higley unified is fighting to keep families might not be a good idea to disenfranchise the Middle School families who feed into our high school programs furthermore when it comes to number 5.1 and our Higgly vote this at evening for President and Vice President I would really like to see Miss Anna as president because she has put in the time the effort and continually reaches out to the community for various viewpoints I think she is very deserving of that position as president thank you for your time thank you next up is Dave Burner good evening board thank you for your time and your volunteering I know what it takes my background is that of a CEO and working with CEOs and I'm here to talk about my interfacing and working with Anna van hul over the last couple of years I have found her to be outstanding is a dedicated well informed individual I run a meeting a little bit of two miles three miles from here we have 150 members I ask Anna to come in every now and then and represent the school district and she comes well prepared she knows all the topics she puts together a PowerPoint presentation and she presents an incredible representation of this board and the volunteers that are here today and I think that she would just be an outstanding president of the board so I want to recommend that you vote for her being president thank you very much thank you next up is Linda Payne board members and welcome to the new ones that are here and of administration my name is Linda Payne and I'm a member of this community and I'm also talking to I don't even know if you voted to put in a new president or not but if you haven't I also would like to really encourage you to put in Anna she has not missed any meetings that I know of to vote she has not she has done her homework every time she does the research she really has in my opinion shown that she loves this district and she wants to make it work and I think she would be an amazing board president and the other thing is that the time that you want to change to from 6:00 to 5:00 there are so many parents that cannot come and we're talking to parents a lot trying to get more and more of them to come but 5:00 is just out of there's too many things going on at 5 o'clock and six o'clock is a much better time and all with most of the parents that I talk to they would really prefer the six o'cl time and I really think as a board member I'm board members you need to listen to the parents and and Community here I know last year when you voted on the on the dress code it was such a disappointment because we had so many people here that were against the changing the dress code and for whatever reason you decided to go ahead and change it and it has you know it has really run a lot of this the parents away from this school district you're losing so many students that would like to come here but because of the decisions that were made on a lot of the things last year they they don't want to they want to go to a different school and they've gone a lot of them have already left and and we really need to encourage them to try to stay because it's you have a lot of really good programs here but if you would just consider these things and I thank you for your time thank you next up Kathleen Richards good evening board and District administration happy New Year thank you for the opportunity to speak I want wanted to take a moment my own um life reminded me that perhaps there are others in the same situation and that is around the um tax credit that families are able in Arizona to dedicate to our Public School Systems uh this is not something unique to Higley District you do not have to live within Higley School District uh you just have to live in the state of Arizona so for example my own parents who live in Gilbert Public School District make sure to donate their tax credit to one of my daughter's schools we have an elementary school student and a middle school student and the end of the year came and went and I realized that I had not done my part of sending our donation to realize that we're still able to do that until April and given the fact that our community uh did not pass the continuation of the M override um line item on our ballot in 2024 the impact of which you can see already in our agenda tonight discussing the cuts of teachers from our elementary schools our high schools our middle schools 11 Transportation individuals potentially cut these are cuts that are going to affect every single family so if there is a small way that you would like to have a positive Financial impact and perhaps did not have an opportunity before December 31st to do so I just wanted to be a voice to remind our community that that opportunity still exists and it is still something that you can do through the Higley website or you can do at the individual sites and I just wanted to thank our current sitting board um especially those members who have made it very clear How Deeply you support public schools and specifically the higgle Unified School District you speak about our district in positive ways this is not to say that you do not ask for improvements where improvements are needed and I look forward to seeing what those genuine Public School supporters have to do for us in the remainder of 2025 thank you thank you next up is Jana Mason I'm speaking for Jana Mason with her permission and the paperwork's been filled out um she can Miss D hook this is Jennifer mclenon um you can't substitute a speaker in the public comment the person has to actually be present for uh the public comment to occur oh we've done that before that's why I thought it was okay you have okay so miss Richards is telling me that you have done that before advice of council is that you not do that in the future since it has been a past practice and there wasn't notice to this individual uh we could permit that today but uh going forward you should require individuals to be present thank you good go ahead Miss Jackson uh I'd like to push back on that some parents can't make it and the fact that she can't make it tonight is because she's at a wrestling match for the junior high school and her son was part of the country cross country club that actually won the award tonight so she would be here but she's at a sports event uh dear Higley school board members my name is Jana Mason I'm a parent of three children within the district I have won an elementary middle school and high school I'm also a former physical education teacher I taught in Mesa and I am a huge advocate for PE I am also a current Fitness at trainer I know the many benefits firsthand of a quality program and believe Higley has one but today to to suggest that some children can gain many benefits like teamwork Health coordination and many other skills in either a team and or an individual sports program I believe greatly in our school district however it has proven difficult for my te te to manage Sports and homework due to the early morning or late evenings of practice my teen boys are up till at least 10 almost every night doing homework but many times they have been up till 11 or 12 I know that a 6-hour PE release time would give my boys an extra hour to get homework done allowing them to get to bed at a more reasonable time I am for a 6th hour PE release time for these students that are involved in our extracurricular sport within our schools or within our community please consider this program to help our youth within the district manage their academic and extracurricular Sports this can improve grades and healthier sleep schedules by allowing them to get to bed earlier thank you for your time this evening sincerely Jana Mason thank you so much and uh Miss Richards if we can obtain some information I'd love to get more info on that thank you so much absolutely all right now on to 5.2 election of I'm sorry or 5.1 sorry it's written incorrectly on here um 5.1 um election of governing board president um we will now take nominations for governing board president I move to nominate Vice President Van Hook as president while we might may not agree with every decision Miss Van Hook makes her dedication and transparency in the this district is truly admirable over the past two years her thorough research and detailed explanations and questions related to agenda items and diligent oversight has given parents confidence in the process Miss Van Hook remains a strong advocate for accountability and transparency always working to support the best interests of our students and District I'd like to nominate um sorry this thing all right um I'd also like to nominate myself um over the last two years I've worked hard to improve our district by focusing on transparency and curriculum finances and operations my goal has always been to build trust between the district and our community and make sure resources are used effectively I've pushed to ensure that funding goes directly to the classroom where it benefits students and teachers the most while ensuring that raises are financially sustainable in the long term I've applied my knowledge of state laws to protect districts from potential legal challenges helping to shape policies that ensure accountability and compliance I've been actively involved in key policies like making um sure our counselors don't cross a line that could lead to Serious legal consequences creating a vaccination policy to ensure parents are informed about exemptions and speaking up when the district was at risk at violating state laws by using taxpayer money for race-based training additionally I brought to light the issue of inappropriate content accessible to our elementary students through the pebble go application which was ultimately blocked from our students even with a full-time job family and my advocacy work I prioritize staying involved in both the district and the community I've attended every board meeting and study session for the last 2 years leading by example with my perfect attendance making sure I'm always prepared doing my research to ensure I'm asking the right questions not just to inform myself but to educate the public I'm often the only one asking questions that helps us understand what's really going on I've also attended the new teacher orientation for the last 2 years in a row and show up to as many district events as possible because I'm committed to supporting our schools teachers and students thank you so much um any other um nominations actually do we I have a question does there need to be a can you miss mlen can you please clarify for me before I nominate um so typically in a nomination from the floor which is what you're doing you would receive all nominations and then the board would vote vote in the order received thank you thank you I'd like to nominate board member Wade for uh president for the 2025 School uh year um board member Wade cares deeply about the Higley school district and public education um she too has attended every meeting has volunteered attends uh School visits and um after school visits when she can um and I think she would be a great asset to are or uh to run the meetings for us as well are seconds required okay no seconds are not required for the nomination process thank you for asking Mr Glover well thank you any other nominations uh no I don't have a nomination but I feel considering my name is out there I'd at least like to express some things um I'm a itive of that I think um my schedule is is definitely conducive to being able to go to a lot of the events um I look I care a lot um about Higley and I care a lot about the things that take place here and how we continue to move forward and be a district in which that is not only recognized in our area as a district you wish to send your kids to but a district across the state and Beyond um I do wish to correct I did miss one meeting I just wanted to C cuz when I was elected I had a a previously scheduled cruise that I did not miss but outside of that I do routinely attend those events the things that I have the hardest time uh going to would be evening events because I have young children I don't know about the two newest board members but I'm the only one with both kids still solidly in elementary so um I'm appreciative of that obviously uh should that be the way things vote I would be more than happy to uh you know do what I can forly all right um all in favor for um my uh for me as president um I I all in favor of Amanda being president I I I all right um Amanda is the um new board president and um do you want to run it typic typically the board president would then take over so all right so now we move on to agenda item 5.2 uh election of governing board President we will now accept or sorry Vice President we will now accept uh nominations for vice president um I will nominate myself for vice president I'd like to nominate um Miss Schultz any other nominations okay cool um so all those in favor uh for Anna Van Hook as vice president Hi I okay all those in favor for Tiffany Schultz as vice president I I I will also be an I so Tiffany will be vice president this where I now can continue on or do we need to move or do you want us to keep us here well we'd have the new president take the middle seat sure with the vice president on the side all right so and then I think Christine will we can help with name tags or we will take a three minute recess while we rearrange here we go ch e e e all right all right to those lovely audience members who are also cold at the present moment in time I too have put on my jacket uh I am being told that we are figuring it out I say the those of you who are teachers just keep pushing it over and over again m m Richards it'll go eventually you have the power whereas they just say that's unfortunate all right has that been 3 minutes I have no idea at what time I said three minutes all right cool good talk I motion to approve consent agenda items 6.1 through 6.14 second we no longer do the time for right all those in favor I excuse me hi I'm Sor I apologize all those opposed oh sorry motion passes 5 Z go ahead I just want to mention um item 6.14 was added um very late yes yesterday or yes yesterday before the agenda went live um I don't know if it was just like a last minute thing that was added but if we can be notified a little bit of ahead of time um just to kind of give us time to be able to review the document being added that' be wonderful thank you okay this moves us on to uh hold on now I got now I've got two agendas in front of me sorry yeah know ADHD is real items information item 7.1 first review of 2025 2026 maintenance and operations budget we will now hear from Mr Mo on the first review of the 2526 maintenance and operations budget thank you Pres president Wade members of the board tonight we'll be presenting the first review of the FY 26 M budget feedback I think it's that all right maybe that works there we go so just a reminder um for our new board members and our community is our our Arizona School District budget timeline as um our board knows and most of our constituents we operate on a fiscal year that is not a calendar year and so our budget that we're looking at today is in preparation for our July uh next year uh school year and so our timeline uh hasn't changed in the last few years but uh we are working towards that June timeline in which we propose and officially adopt this budget uh when those final forms come out uh but as our as our board knows we um issue contracts in March and so um the reason we bring forth this budget early and look at projections early to get the board comfortable uh with attentative approval to give us Authority um to issue contracts in March so uh again we're working for that that June uh timeline and so we're six months out and so you'll see a lot of the information this presentations estimates and information to come um but we do have some known that we've uh started to project out so looking at kind of the known and what is uh taking in to uh assumption in this presentation in our projected budget numbers on the far left um you've heard this term several times and it's uh not going away but um the aggre expension limit or AE um there is some uh optimism that it will be Exempted or there will be some permanent um legislative exemption in the state budget process that is currently just undertaken uh this week and so uh there's been some bills proposed to potentially include the aggregate expension limit exemption in this the K12 or state budget process so if the state were to approve the budget uh the a would be Exempted for schools for that year and so that would give us some reassurance way earlier in the in the year um that we wouldn't have this fiscal cliff hanging over our heads come March so I'm optimistic that there'll be some permanent uh solution to the eel going forward which will give us some certainty when we're projecting out our budgets on the middle um our known budget implications um this is kind of our state or known assumptions the first bullet the estimated 2% inflation adjustment to the base level support So currently I monitor the state's um budget in the state inflation level uh there's a statue um a stat State Statute that's in um that's current right now and which states that if the inflation level is above 2% uh the state is minimally obligated to to provide a 2% in adjustment to the base level support and as a reminder the base level support is our per pupil amount that we uh are allocated by the state and currently that's at $513 and so um in this presentation I'm assuming a 2% increase to that current base level support um some other known the Arizona State Retirement System which the district is a um mandatory member of um the State retirement system came out with uh FY 26 numbers and uh good news for both the district and employees is that those uh percentages are decreasing and so for the uh State Retirement System asrs um the amount for the district and the employees is going down to 12% that's a negative.