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to 1 p.m. but apparently um someone had changed it to um no Sunday uh entertainment is that correct for Jamie yeah Sundays Sundays we don't typically have um anything going on so uh that that's been our experience in Hudson that's not to say that it won't change um in the future but okay and um where you're um open till 11:00 I would say your last call is at 10 10:30 yeah 10:30 uh you know okay we have the we tend to die down at like 8:30 frankly um so it's last call 10:30 is pretty pretty reasonable at that point you're kind of looking around going like all right time to wrap things up okay and I also noticed that in the diagram that you provided us uh the music area um you have an outside music area and I'm I'm a little concerned with that because that's actually downtown um I don't know if we have any other establish ments that have Outside Music Entertainment uh available um there are residents that uh new apartments across the street from you folks at 128 main uh there are Apartments uh off of uh conet Street off of conquet Street uh right behind um sunyside Cafe there there are a group of apartments that are there uh and then we also have a 119 Main Street and during the summer months or nice months where music does travel a little bit further than than normal and especially where some people don't have AC they keep their windows open so I'm a little concerned about that that aspect with the outdoor entertainment so if you could try to convince me that uh your music is going to go you know too far before he tries to convince you Mai when they were open had outdoor entertain they had music on their patio Mazy okay that's 126 and okay but this I'm just saying you know currently we don't have anybody but we do have I understand but this also changes a little bit of the downtown character we've we've had um music at the corner spot right so I guess what time in the summer do we know like what was the latest that we had music they didn't have lighting so you know run till like 8 but yeah yeah but there there they stand till 11: so is the entertainment going to be till 11 I'm I'm a little concern about that I would say no but I mean that's most of the time our entertainment stops at 9: uh has it run till 10: like yes it has uh but typically that's indoors in Hudson are pretty cognizant of our neighbors it's a similar situation we have 500 condos that share a parking lot with us um we've had zero complaints from them and we have single family houses that share a parking lot with us there and again complaints from them uh so it's just a matter of being respectful for your to your neighbors and letting them know if you have something going on that's out of the ordinary but ordinary for us is you know we're talking like two guys with a guitar um not not a full band in the stage or anything like that I don't know how you put acoustical that are you suggesting it'll be acoustic uh music and not electric uh I mean I don't know it's tough for me to forecast out you know five years but uh generally speaking when you think about what we've experienced is it's usually one to two people and they might bring something that has an amplifier something along that line to play but it's not like a concert venue or anything like that you're looking at background music um frankly and I appreciate that I just don't want to have a situation develop uh where we had a previous uh restaurant in town uh in Ashland Square uh where they had entertainment and they had bands playing there uh and they were inside they weren't outside but the music traveled so far that residents on Metropolitan a were complaining that they weren't able to get sleep because they're you know they were playing up until 11 o'clock so that's a concern because I don't want to have that repeat itself well my yeah I mean I can't oh sorry go ahead no that's okay my reaction would be let's give them you know let's give the entertainment license and and my feeling is let's see what happens because of where it is where I mean they're in downtown yes there is some residents around them but we don't know exactly and I don't want to restrict right now to just acoustic music because that's very specific I mean but that's my feeling so we we can discuss it as a board that's fine okay that's fine okay other Makita yes hi um just a point of clarification on the application and the materials that were uh provided so the says that like no Sunday entertainment but then there's an email that follows and says no Sunday music so I just want to get an idea of like what is what does that mean does that mean there's no entertainment on Sundays or there's no music on Sundays because entertainment could be and what what do we mean by music like no live bands so just a little clarification on that just and I took a quick look at the materials but it's not clear what that what the intent of that um no Sunday entertainment line on the applications uh I guess in that regard we're sort of a classic uh New England Puritans where Sunday is a day of rest uh we really don't typically do much on Sundays and it's it is like families friends hang out kind of day you know uh and we really have not done anything on Sundays and it's been a good vibe um you know background music nice weather that type of thing really yeah um yeah it's a fair question okay anything else Makita no thanks for the clarification so I'm just going to take that as like no entertainment no comedy no nothing music no yeah Sunday is kind of relaxed day like anybody who's come in it's kind of go sit and have a drink yeah and just relax all right thanks for the clarification appreciate it Claudia yeah yeah I'm just curious how similar um is this to your Hudson establishment in which regards in terms of um the types of entertainment the types of food are there many similarities or none at all because it seems you know like some of these things are you're a little bit uncertain about so I feel like maybe you haven't had don't have a history of some of these in Hudson but I'm not sure uh which things do I seem uncertain about um in terms of what the entertainment looks like what times it might end well no I mean these are all things we do in Hudson but it is there's variability in there like have we had a band that was scheduled to 9:30 play till 10:30 yeah because we've had you know 100 people in there having a good time asking for an encore so it's kind of like there's times you have to close you know what you're permitted to do but you know if you're asking very specific questions if we're going to close end everything at nine o'clock I you know I I don't know that for certain because will end when you tell me that so is it similar is it a similar type of venue as to the Hudson one in terms of what you do yeah yeah the I mean the we laid out the so uh from a practical standpoint just operationally we laid out the bar the same way so that way bartenders would have to go bartenders who are going from one place to the other would experience the same thing on their end and deliver the same service the square footage of the serving area uh in Ashland is about I think it's like 150 square F feet smaller uh but everything else is structured the same and we don't intend to do too much different uh nothing's the same 100% we can do slightly bigger things because we have a larger parking lot in Hudson but we intend to run them fairly similar okay and so are there is there anything that from your Hudson experience that you learned that you're kind of has helped you make some decisions here or that's a good question I mean uh I'm sure you know not there's definitely things that were um yeah we intend to do bigger events in Hudson uh frankly like we intend to treat Ashlin more as a uh a smaller Tap Room uh so in Hudson we have an 80 person 80 spot parking lot and the whole facility there is 5,000 squ F feet so on just an operational basis week to week month-to month you know we have some fair Fairly large scale events that we're going to do out of the Hudson location uh we're doing a a boxing tournament we're doing outdoor wrestling we're doing a food truck festival uh and we really do well when we do those big events and we we're putting more emphasis on doing those out of Hudson and then treating Ash more as the day-to-day uh uh smaller scale stuff we just don't have the parking or square footage to do anything like huge right all right I I you know I very much want see you succeed here um I think it's going to be a great space for our residents um and I I want it to be successful so I I just want you to you know um some of Joe's concerns I just want you to think carefully and and and maybe um step slowly in the in the early in the beginning to see you know so you don't get into a a problem where you have everybody all up in arms um yeah so we have an event we have an event schedule for Hudson for the year uh and we have not done that there so we could live in the space and find out what it's like uh I mean we have some small scale stuff planned have comedy nights and stuff like that um but nothing I'd like to do larger events there and I'd like to you know work with our neighbors to make sure that happens but until you're there you you know we just don't know what we don't know so I agree thank you Brandy questions no I I'm um we're just like Yolanda said we're we're looking forward to having you guys open and and uh you know officially cutting the ribbon and and welcoming yeah do you do you have a can we put you can we put you on on the spot and say when do you think it's going to be open no I've been saying uh I've been saying two to three weeks for about four months so know it doesn't feel great it doesn't feel I could be dying a by now but yeah yeah we keep diligently plotting away there's not too much on the construction side that's left for us um you know the furniture we ran into some unexpected Furniture hiccups but we got new chairs in tables are in so we're we're close we're close and excited uh the community has been incredibly supportive uh you know and I share thir everybody's frustration yeah for sure nobody's more frustrated than we've been waiting um I know I know it's uh but we're we're everybody's been great and I appreciate the town it really has been wonderful um across the board so thank you so much good okay if there is anyone either in person or online who wants to either speak in support of or against this project Mark yes both both sides quickly on and for can Mark St 119 Main Street I was against it because I wanted that that fire station to be more of a senior helper than a senior drug drug druger so I'm taking that opinion back this with the entertain music when I'm four I live at 119 right next door right up past the Y police station I got the window next to that looks overlooks it I do always like free [Laughter] entertainment I also know that when the when we had a Saturday weekend open shop open business that everybody was crowling around listening to the music at the edge of the sidewalk I was up in the window saying yes I can save my radio electricity so I'm I'm I'm saying I'm on the fans about the whole business but I like the entertainment and it's worth the time to say variety and if you can hit the 6070 80s you be all set thank you thank you thank you for that input Mark any I'm not seeing any any other hands online any other comments or deliberation from the board regarding this Joe and looking at the design um will you be opening up the garage doors at some point oh God I hope so well if you do then you probably won't need to have the outside entertainment because if you have the garage doors open IM mus uh yeah there's some V flexibility and variability in there so um again that's going to come as a function of living in the space yeah uh I I initially I I initially would have disagreed with you but uh so where we're putting the music with the three garage doors open I kind I think that will be a great Vibe if there's music in The Tap Room going out into the front and with the with the fire pits out there will'll be really uh uh it'll be really great hopefully and so I you I suspect you're right but you know I don't want to box myself into a space that I don't know yet you may want to try it first see if it works yeah oh we're going to yeah yeah okay I agree yeah all right any other deliberation if not if I can have a motion to close the public hearing second second all those in favor of closing the public hearing I and the public hearing is closed if I can have a motion to approve the entertainment license for Clover Road brewing for Mondays through Saturdays from noon to 11 p.m.

second have a motion in a second all those in favor I great thank you you have your entertainment license good luck thank you I appreciate it we we look forward to when it opens uh it's been nice seeing the progress from the outside it'll be nice to see the progress on the inside side and get it there as soon as possible well I hope um I hope everybody is see in a few happy thank you thank you Jamie take care okay wonderful so we passed those we're in old to new business uh the next item is to open the May 7th 2025 town meeting warrant which is still hard for me to believe that we have to do that uh Jen I believe this is you okay so we are opening it a little bit early um and what that will allow us to do um is to provide some time between when people have to notify our office that they have uh intent to submit an article actually build out the warrant so will give us uh several meetings to go over the warrant which I think helpful um and also just to make sure that um warrant is organized um so what I'm hoping um is that we able to close and post the warrant um on April 2nd which would be really early I mean we tried to we always try to do it um at least before the annual we're required to do it seven days before and so there is a typo the packet earlier um the no later date is April 30th correction hope is that we can oppose it a full month that we enough time to work the and further um and just to clarify we can vote to close and post the warrant even while the public hearings are happening for potential warrant items yes especially for the bylaws so obviously I need the language so if there is a zoning bylaw I need the exact Lang anguage um before we close it um but they can hold a hearing any other questions or comments regarding this if I can have a motion to uh open the May 7th town meeting warrant second all those in favor I and we can go ahead and start that okay next is discuss a potential tri board meeting we have been talking about this for a while um and it's amazing how difficult it is to get a meeting going uh Michael has the last we all received an email about potentially doing one on Thursday February 13th um sometime early evening later in the day uh and I think you were saying that even that's causing problem yeah it's not looking like that's going to work out after getting some feedback look again and and Michael and I had a conversation I think it's important that we do a tri board meeting I think last year we closed our budget Gap with some one-time funds um and I don't think we want to I mean we may we may need to do that again this year but not without a more thorough discussion between school committee finance committee and select board so that's why we're really trying to get this meeting going um I'm going to maybe ask Susan um if we can send out some dates that work for all of us and we're going to keep working to get this as soon as possible because the longer we wait the shorter our discussion time and we know to have a budget by may we potentially this point unfortunately yeah and I don't want people to think it's like a like a one one meeting thing I mean we are going to talk about 26 but you know we'll have limited options in terms of how we address I think you know the other thing that we do need to talk about is also 27 and Beyond you know the problem's difficult it's not complex there's more expenses than there is revenue so um you know like I said it's it's it's it's uh not complex but it's it's definitely hard um so there's just going to be some choices that need to be made uh ultimately by the boards and committees U then most likely it's probably going to be up to the voters what's your timeline I know you usually do your budget Workshop um What's the timing on that like when are you feeling like you're going to have all your yeah so um uh so all the Departments got their budgets in Us by the 20th UHC so um Britney sent to me today just kind of the first overview draft after she's pluged everything it's not pretty uh but I do anticipate either uh I I would say probably at some point in February we will have like that meeting on Friday where like just come here from department heads and requests are here overall spiel about that and then we haven't um I don't think we've set a date with fincom for their hearing that'll probably be so should we try to have a tri board meeting for that hearing definitely oh um yeah before we before we hear from the boards and the the not the boards and committees but the um the fincom the fincom yeah I think so no no usually so before we've had the fincom hearing usually late January sometime no so we so the Departments had their um budgets in to us for 20 for the 20th 20th so that that's what we have so far in terms of the okay we were originally hoping for that that first Fe Saturday in February then that you know some not everyone was available for that and then we looked at you know so it's getting tight I I I the other thing is I think we need to pick a date or two that says if the majority of members can be there from the three boards then we need to have the meeting I think that's going to be the next thing um I know there's a couple of school committee members that are gone for all of February I mean I um so I mean what what's the feel from people would you prefer an evening or would you prefer a Saturday morning Claudia Joe when are you gone Joe Randy Saturday morning it's probably better it it's I think it's just um I think it I think it's going to be nearly impossible to get everybody everybody agree so um I know the school committee is having their second budget workshop on the 25th um I know that there was talk about like you know trying to to do a a tri board meeting after that I know Yolanda's at MMA is there other people at MMA are you guys going yeah I'll I'll be at MMA you'll be at MMA too okay so um I know the school committees will all be obviously I mean I would suggest if there are people who can go and sit and listen to the school school budget discussion because from what I'm hearing they're having a large ask this year it would be good to understand that um but for me I really I'm I'm not willing to not be at a tri board meeting for finances so I think it's something that I pushed for a lot so I do want to be there so having it that Saturday and if Michael's not a you know Michael's at MMA as well is it sat when did you say it um the 2 Saturday the 25th January 25th so a week from Saturday y I think I don't know I don't have the time um my guess is probably 9:00 but I can I can check no no no for the the school committee budget Workshop I can I can find that out and send that out so it sounds like we're kind of up against it right now like Saturday's probably not gonna be a thing because like didn't you mentioned that um a lot of folks on school committee just aren't going to be around in February I don't think a lot of people but I know when we were looking at either the February we were looking at February 2nd and we could do there was that was a possibility but then one or two people from school committee weren't going to be there for February 2nd yeah that's a Sunday right is no no pretty sure the second is a Saturday I thought the first was a Saturday or maybe the first yeah um you know the other thing is if we think that the February 1 would work yes you're right February 1 is the Saturday um I mean yeah just just know if if we are going to focus our discussion the 26 budget just as opposed to just kind of finances in general direction where you go so there's still going to be a lot of information that's outstanding you know if we meet in February so um I don't know we should have I would hope that we'd have the governor's budget by that point yeah she has to do it I think she has to do it typically it's done before MMA right I think they're expecting it like the 20th of January is when the governor budget number out so there would be that and then a little bit more Fidelity on the GIC even though we got some preliminary guidance Kei Tech they probably they they won't have their number for a while so yeah um yeah probably I just think that the longer you know and as you and you had said Michael and you and I chatted it's going to be a multiple meeting it's not going to be a one meeting discussion and then we resolve everything I think the first meeting is going to be information gathering seeing where things are at seeing what the needs are and then a discussion of how are we going to meet these needs financially would like a a late Friday afternoon like the 31st or something would that be something that we could look at maybe maybe like two on or something two to whatever how long we want to go but yeah I think it has to be run by Jim first of all Mike and Jim have to review it and then send it out to all the boards start talking 17 people who have to which is why part of me is thinking that if we can't if we can at least get the majority of those 17 people we have to pick that and just do it I mean I think certainly you know Jim and and Michael three of the school committee members right represent the school committee quite well right right probably be Jim and Mike so right do we want to could we go back to the first of of [Music] February that Saturday I'm okay to look at that I thought Jim couldn't make Jim was gone as of the second was my understanding he was gone from the 2 to the 9th I'm I'm happy look at that let's February 1 that's Saturday because you don't you're still here and let's toss that back to them and finance and school committee and it's you know this is the first step in the conversation knowing that we you know we won't have 100% of the information but we should have more of the information especially because it'll be after the second budget workshop for the schools so they should be in a better position yeah they should know what's yeah what's what okay makes sense so we'll start with February 1 and then go from there okay great thank you you all uh next item something that Joe asked us to discuss discuss nips and the best way to mitigate litter uh Susan was kind enough to give us a list of communities that have banned um band nips when it went into effect and um some of the background on them and then Joe what are what are you thinking well we did have um a resident come in to and meet with us twice and um who was quite concerned about the fact that um he patrols or he Poli um Route 135 and he was nice enough to bring in three three large trash bags full of nips that he's picked up along the Route on 135 and that's just just that's just him we've had we've experienced nip uh dispersals all over all over town kid spot the Pavilion next to it um it's it's not an appropriate location for kids to be playing and you know picking up these plastic bottles and throw throwing them around and and whatever they may do with them and you know parents came to us uh while we were at the Pavilion and as you know is there something we can do with this this is this is crazy you know they're throwing the they throwing the knck bottles into the defense in area and the unfortunate thing is there are four trash barrels along the walkway I mean if they're that lazy they can't throw them in know maybe they're intoxicated that they don't even know that those are receptacles but I mean is there something we can talk to the uh the liquor establishments in town that sell these items you know because I'm not trying to take away their revenue sources in any way shape or form that's not it but at the same token uh they're they're providing the opportunity for these uh nips to be thrown Here There and Everywhere uh once they leave the store so maybe they put a 5cent you know recycling uh thing on them I don't know if that that's possible or not I I believe some other towns have done that that uh have banned them uh so I just I just I I just just want to bring it up for discussion right now and and just lay some Foundation to see that you know maybe sit down and talk individually with the uh the Licor store establishments and and get their opinion as to how they can help us resolve this problem so I don't know how you folks feel about that but I mean it com concerns or or how you want to move forward with this I mean Joe I just I I share your concern I mean I think that those of us and I think a lot most of us here volunteered for green up Ashland and you know picking up these things they're they're they're a menace I mean you know they're everywhere uh the question is what's the best what's the best from a policy perspective what's the best way for us to to handle that I think this does warrant some investigation and um I think this list of towns that have have banned the nips is a good good list we should find out you know we should find out how things are going in those municipalities like did it really reduce the waight the the the nips waste did it not um I know that I think New Bedford tried to get abandoned effect and think that got caught up in the courts or whatever like to find out like why why why and how they got challenged so I we've had a few residents you know talk about this Stu so I think it's something we should investigate and try to figure out what can be done about it Claudia or brandy or yeah I mean it you know certainly it it was uh little eye opening to when that gentleman came in with the number of nips and that he's collected um it's interesting to me to try to think about you know who's drinking nips and who's throwing nips and that that might be something to kind of explore a little bit for at least I'm sure that our liquor EST establishment owners have a sense of who those who that is um and that might help us figure out how to approach it right I mean is it kids getting their hands on nips uh I don't know it would seem to me it would be diff challenging is it someone that you know wants to just get a little quick drink I don't know probably but then maybe our establishments could offer them something to bring the nip the empty nip back I don't know but I think it'd be worth talking to some of the establish I mean um I I seem to remember that they were doing something on the state level with this too right that because I the the issue is you know we like I live so close to the Framingham line that it wouldn't matter so you know you think about it I feel like it we need to work more regionally with this I don't know I feel like I feel like a one-town solution is not necessarily going to make as big of an impact like I'm looking at this list of all these um all not that many but most of them are on the cape like so more of them I mean Newton's one of them they're not on the cape but but uh but I I think to your point Brandy like that's what that's the kind of like investigation that we have to do and I do recall uh hearing something about being done at the state level like I don't even I'm not very well versed in this issue I mean what if there's a deposit you know policy you could put with nips because you know on nips that would if not prevent the litter it might actually encourage more people to pick them up and and take care of them I don't know again like I agree with you we have to look at any and all policy angles strategies around this from a policy standpoint to figure out what can be done find out about I mean it's on the internet so so I know we I mean we've this has been an issue on and off since you know since I've been on the board and certainly as a community we've been dealing with this um and true when you when you go through and do Greenup jhin there's certainly I mean I was walking the other day and I found at least you know I saw three I didn't have anything with me so I couldn't pick them up um what I would you know it sounds like if if we want to talk to the establishments in town see who they're selling the nips to maybe they can give us an insight into who who is buying these um and I can work regionally we have a uh Metro West Regional collaborative meeting coming up at the end of January I can ask the question uh beforehand sort of get it out there what are people doing about nips are they seeing similar things uh my other concern similar to Brandy is we're close to Framingham we're close to hopkington right so especially on 135 it could be someone they've picked up their nip in Framingham they're driving through they're going someplace they have their nip and they throw it out the window or the other way from hackington so from a perspective of our businesses I wouldn't want to take their business away if if it's not going to make a change so I guess the other thing would be is talk to these you know I mean it's seven communities out of 300 151 that have this in place right the other ones that are on here they tried but it didn't pass so it's a very teeny percentage of people who have done this that I'm not saying we shouldn't try but I would I would look to have more data and information um to move forward with anything so I I just I I have no problem you know sitting down and and speaking with all the the establishments in town you you folks all have you know jobs you know I have I have a lot of time on my hands you know so I'd be more than happy to sit down with with all of them and explain to them the issues that we uh are dealing with uh residents have have Express concerns and I'm not happy with it and uh see what they would uh recommend sure and follow up on their recommendations and and and and you're right it's a very small portion but that doesn't mean it's not right you mean it's it's incredible you you walk around clean up as how much how much trash over the years have you seen uh a diminished amount of trash that you folks are picking up on a yearly basis has it gone down over the years because people are more attuned to you know littering and you know Greening up the the the area and and trying to stay green and trying trying to keep the environment you know clean you know I littering has been an issue for for years I mean I can't remember the commercials with the uh right okay so it's for years The Owl and whatever so C can can I just say before we close this out um first start talking about vintage PSAs um go for it but um no um I think this does provide an opportunity for us to take a look at the overall problem of littering in this town um so I I live on a main thoroughfare and you know yes people drive through town they throw their Starbucks or they throw their I don't want to single out any businesses but they throw their waste like or their dunkeys or whatever I had to throw that in they just to even things out but um you know they throw their stuff around you know what are we doing from a proactive standpoint to try to prevent littering in our community and regionally generally because I have noticed that there's a little bit of an increase over the past few years in that so perhaps this ni nips issue will lead us into some other Solutions yeah exactly to address this overall problem Ling overall yeah yeah you know the other thing that I actually noticed this week was um and I look like people's recycling but coming down Pleasant Street it was so windy and people's trash was blowing all over the place and I was thinking because I've cleaned Pleasant Street and but oh damn this place is going to be loaded yeah yeah so I think people have to be conscientious about their absolutely Recycling and maybe they don't recycle that week if if it's really windy or something I don't know but it it C I don't know again it's a it's a broader broader scope well thank you for allowing oh no discuss these types of discussions they have to get started and brought out so um I would say you know do some let's get some research done whoever wants to do what they can and then when we have some further information bring it back let us know and we can put it on a on a future agenda perfect thank you you're welcome okay next is discuss board's concern to be discussed at the legislative meeting scheduled for January 17th so um once a quarter uh Brandy and myself and Michael uh meet with the Le with Jack Lewis our our state rep as well as someone from Karen spilka's office to to sort of discuss what we're dealing with to hear from them um stuff that is going on at the state level and the question the con conversation here tonight is do you have any questions or concerns that you would like us to relay to our legislative team well we that you haven't done already we just disc that could be we could certainly bring that yep okay anything else nips and littering that's uh generally okay um I know you're going to talk about the 40 BS and right just housing in general I I did meet with Jack this week and um we had a good conversation and actually to some of Mark's questions about the MBTA You Know Jack did point out that it was the way that law was written was to allow communities to take advantage of what they'd already done which as did a very good job of um wait but I know was the insinuation that that was done intentionally on the state's part yeah listen yeah no I let him I gave him that I gave him that I know oh you're too kind I know wow I this is that's kind of um you know water under the bridge and I said well Jack to myself can't wait to see him on Friday no I I yeah okay I had too much to say about the 40 B thing so I kind of let that one go but I I understood that I understood in part because of the way he jumped in so quickly on it right so even if I hadn't known um I knew that he was a little self little self-defense there yeah he took a very defensive anything else or and if you're not sure now shoot shoot me an email or shoot Brandy an email and we can bring it up at the at the meeting on Friday I mean I just can't say enough about the whole the whole 40b thing and the whole process and how um you know powerless people are in the local front it doesn't matter what a community has done what it hasn't done um what there's only it's it's it's to me it's just an example of what drives is driving people um away from being more Progressive and forcing them to some very crazy things in terms of who they might vote for um because you know it's just an example of of you know it just it doesn't even do what it's supposed to do well and and it changes the quality of life it it's not I'm not against building housing and providing housing for the workforce and for um you know it I'm not against that at all but when it's going to impact a community the way this 40b at Main Street is going to impact this community and change the quality of life that's what I'm against oh just just a kind of a a different angle on the affordable housing front I would be curious to hear from our uh Beacon Hill friends about what what if any sort of real policy discussions um that folks have had around really looking at a actual affordable housing uh in the region um you know we talk about the 40b process and you know the formulas as we know I mean that at the end of the day that doesn't seem very affordable I'm just curious to find out what other Mis what other what other sort of things municipalities have been doing around this issue to provide truly affordable housing for for residents and you know I'm just from a regional standpoint very curious find out about those Sol I can tell you as part of our regional collaborative we've we've had many conversations about affordable housing and and meeting that 10% and how can we potentially work together regionally to meet that uh and there U many communities are dealing with similar issues not too many have had 40 BS but you know look at Framingham right they built that that building downtown that took over the fabric price right they have that housing right in their right on 126 they have the other housing that's on 13 five right right in their downtown so they it's it's it doesn't impact them quite in the same way different I understand I understand but I I think many communities are dealing with this unfortunately what I have been hearing is that some communities have their 10% and they're they're okay um I've heard rumors that this the legislature could and Senate potentially looking at increasing the perent percentage of affordable housing communities may need to have I've heard that too but again I would like to see more work or discussion or some sort of uh understanding of when we talking about affordable housing like you know the formuls that we use are not obviously you know you look at the the pricing oh yeah it's it's just not affordable right so I'm just curious what's going on in Beacon Hill if someone's if there are actual conversations or if there's any kind of legislation that's addressing that right now I think they're right now they're just pushing housing and any housing yeah that's very right they need more housing one thing that should be a little bit different in this scenario too is that the pandemic impacted what our community was was going to be doing in terms of providing affordable housing it it directly had an impact and so to just ignore that never mind all the additional units that have been built in this community in the last 10 12 years is just not right and go ahead let them go for 15% and none of them will be reelected because I don't think I'm the only person in this state that feels this way oh no no no no you're not there's there's quite a few that feel the same way and and if I could add if you're going to speak with the legislative uh Representatives I would suggest that if they're going to do anything with respect to the 40b that they add to the to the the 40b criteria that not just 80% a percentile why don't they start it at 60% Ami because that makes it a little bit more affordable if that's what people if you know they cry affordability then make it 60% put that in writing and make it part of the 40b formula none of this 80% crap because it it's nuts Ashland's Ami is $125,000 come on I mean we are we're pulled with brain tree Cambridge Welsley where did that come from it came from the insurance company that pulled us all together with that group so our Ami went up with them we're not anywhere near that well I I I I I'm G to I'm going to push back a little I think our Ami is high right you look at the types of Housing and the type of people and the the workforce that is currently living in Ashland and our Ami is pretty high I think what it is is is the gap AAP we have a we have a very we have very wide range so I mean so if it's even higher right if RMI is 120 right and we know what some of our the lower income is making we know that it's a very broad range unfortunately because they take that that median income it's but I would like to see it at least 60% of yeah yeah 60% whatever so um just to just to continue makita's Point too I think so I went to this 495 partnership um event on on on housing and my struggle with it is like it it's a lot of policy advocacy but it's not a whole lot of like nuts and bolts on how to get the stuff done it's a lot of talk it's a lot of talk exactly um but one of the things that was really interesting and I have it in my notes and I haven't had a chance to look through it but I think maybe we discuss it with with um you know on Friday is that there's two billion dollarars that the State put aside in an affordable homes act and I don't know what that implementation looks like because how can communities start accessing those funds to be able to do more affordable housing you know maybe we could do something where if we had access to it we you know I mean we've talked about I know it's kind of down the road further but we've talked about you know these small h homes on Olive Street that we've wanted to that would be affordable housing we've we know we have a habitat house coming we know that we've got these bigger projects that we'd love to be able to give more like you know lower that Ami to 60% so maybe there's a way we can tap into some of that money I don't know I I haven't had so they didn't talk about the plan yet as to how they're dispersing that no they just talked about how there's oh well there's you know this housing Bond bill that you know there's but but I wrote in my notes two billion in affordable housing like that's what I this this is this is this is the kind of solutioning I'm look I'm looking for solutioning here you know so I mean these are the sort of questions so I yeah I mean if we could get get some sort of answers out of our folks around that that would be great and like anything else that's coming down the pike that we're not aware of that you know that might help okay great that input next discuss the zba public hearing on 10 to 60 Main Street the sanctuary at Ashland Mills um I believe three of us were sitting there in the audience Joe I saw you on Zoom Makita you said you watched it on yeah okay um let's start with Claudia's comment of um let's go through a timeline of what Michael and we have John here as well from the zba maybe we can include him in this discussion when we're looking at this process for the public and I know John talked about some of this at the zba meeting what are we looking at as a timeline and what can the public expect in regards to this process we talked about it has to be completed in 180 days but what does that really mean if you can answer that or we can ask John to so yeah so 180 days you have to close the hearing within 180 days and then I believe the decision has to be rendered within 40 days after that now um that date can be extended by agreement both parties 40 days after after that's closed sorry I I'll speak up a little bit um but yes so you know 40 days after the hearing's closed to issue a decision unless so and the hearing period is 180 days unless both parties agree to extend it which um I don't think um that's ever been an issue here before I think when we've needed to extend it uh you know there's the applicant has been willing to do that um that being said we haven't dealt with this developer before so might have a different philosophy um and so and John please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this so uh I do believe right now that zba is planning on having um one meeting a month devoted to this and each meeting is going going to be devoted to a certain subject area and the first one is going to be traffic so um and the way the process is working is so our peer reviewers uh the zba when they had their hearing the other night approved the peer reviewers for the project um and so they're reviewing the applicants materials um and they will provide their own reports to that so um the peer reviewer will provide a report to zba and other interested parties prior to the next zba meeting um and at that zba meeting the discussion will be based on or focused on traffic what the peer reviewer found and basically if there's any adjustments that need to be made if there's any more information that needs to be collected Etc that'll be discussed yes believe so yeah they they did the other night John anything you'd like to add or comment or do that um no I think Michael summarized it very very well um in the past the one where the large 40b project that I was involved in on the board was the Valentine estate project and that went on for I think the better part of two years uh many many of the continuances were at the request of the developer because they didn't have certain plans ready Etc um I think that if we do need to have extensions of time I would anticipate that uh the developer would would agree to that um they were kind enough to agree to extend the time in which we had to open the hearing uh because uh if they had not we would have had to have opened it a few days before Christmas um and they agreed to extend it there was a written uh agreement to extend it signed by both the town and uh the developer and filed with the uh town clerk um so unless things get quite contentious um I would anticipate their cooperation if extensions of time are needed uh and at this point it's I think too early uh in the game to know whether we would have to do extend time or not uh but we've got a a pro process sort of set up of doing one area of sort of expertise at a time traffic will be at our next meeting in uh second week in February uh and going after that we have water and sewer at some point we have our Civ engineer peer review coming up um there may be an issue with the conservation issues and what the developer is requesting waivers of um so you know we're at the beginning of what will be a multimon process at the least so I just have a couple of questions um so you know one thing I had some questions and comments after the um meeting the other evening that I had forwarded um to a few people and so um will some of them were around traffic will those questions be responded to at this traffic Focus meeting say that again um I certainly think I would expect that they would be addressed at some point um I would anticipate the developers traffic engineer who made a a presentation at the meeting last week um will'll address some of those issues um I'm sure those issues have been brought to the attention of our peer reviewer to address um and we will get you know answers or we will go back and ask for for more information and more answers and what kinds of things um Drive extensions in in this process well I mean again just based on my my past experience um it could be that new plans have to be drawn up and for whatever reason um they weren't able to be obtained um there may need to be a new study or something done uh that couldn't be couldn't be done within the month a gap between um hearing dates uh you know basically that it could be the unavailability of somebody if they were scheduled to be the prime witness as it were at the hearing but for some reason suddenly became unavailable it may need to continue the hearing um it could be any number of things and in terms of the the the intersection um and the impact the current plan the way it you doesn't it really is very similar to the way traffic enters and exits the current site except now we're talking about many more vehicles um so what I mean what sort of um position are we in in terms of trying to force some changes to be made with that intersection do we have any stand legal standing in terms of that or you know I'm I'm uncomfortable in going into specifics because the okay the zba sort of acts as a a quas Judicial body in this and any comments I make should really be within the confines of a meeting uh but you know ultimately the the zba can make a decision we can make place we can deny the project outright legally um whether that would be upheld or not is a totally different issue uh on appeal um we can allow the project but Place conditions on the project um so there are you know things that can be can be done within our somewhat limited um Powers uh on this I mean one thing we've always been told by uh council is that the um as you were talking about the you know affordable housing and what not of the need for it and uh in the Commonwealth that the agency that oversees this the housing agency um is designed to encourage the building of housing in Massachusetts and that's there that's what they're in line to do so that that when they're consider ing an appeal if there's an appeal Say by a developer or even if there's an appeal by by the town their mindset is to support housing understood okay any other questions or comments regarding this process I would say you know all be as as involved as we can I know I took some notes not just regarding traffic because that's the first thing that they're going to be doing that um I'm going to see what we could do about that one thing that I found interesting was supposedly in their traffic study they mentioned that the timing of the lighting the lights in downtown could be different and that could potentially improve track traffic flow I mean is that something we could take a look I mean you know is it something that we should be looking at is there something with our traffic lights that you know not necessarily related to this project but just in general the traffic lights that are that are functioning right now are related to the train traffic that come through town on a daily basis so we're we are receiving more train traffic which causes those delays there's nothing wrong with the cycling of the lights right now okay actually it works better thank you yeah thank you and and that's some of the matters that we are going to bring up at so I'm Wonder Tuesday you know the other question I had was when did they do their traffic study because I think that is so I had same questions it needs to be done during school session it needs to be done Tuesday Wednesday Thursday which are higher traffic days and the other thing that I thought was kind of a glaring thing was that they really there was not much conversation regarding Pleasant Street which I mean the focus was how many vehicles are going out of town via Myrtle Street and that's a lower impact area than going through town um towards hollison so but what about all the traffic that's on Pleasant Street yeah and I did ask that question and there there was very minimal response and I also asked there was no response I just made comments and they didn't respond yeah I don't think they were answering stuff because the next meeting is traffic so yeah okay any other um again I think you know we're all very in tune to this I say we continue that if you have questions or concerns let's um you know work work to support our zba okay thank you John John thank you for being here any other thoughts you want to share with us or tell us to keep our notes out I'm just you know I I think all of us on the zba appreciate the uh the attention that the select board is given to this matter and your encouragement it was it was encouraging to have three people in person and one person on Zoom uh on a time when you know scheduling is not always easy uh for people and uh you know I would encourage each of you as Citizens send in written comments certainly you can speak at the meetings but written comments submitted to Peter magic they go into the record and it considered by the board um as far as dates or traffic studies and that were done um one of the items online is the rather lengthy traffic study done by the applicants traffic engineer uh and they list they have page after page after page of traffic study documentation and they're dated so that that would be the date of yeah I mean I year years ago um when I was not on the board uh but there was a neighborhood project that I was U opposing um the developer presented a traffic study uh and the engineer conducted the study on it was a traffic study of on Pawn Street the engineer conducted the traffic study on uh school vacation week and during two days where we had about five or six inches of snow so that that is something to uh to look at pay attention to statistics either way great well again John thank you very much thank you very much thanks John good luck and thank you for being the chair of our zba and moving this process through thank you byebye bye okay great um moving forward update on the board and committee review process Makita want you start and then oh uh let's see uh we we had a we I can't remember the date of the previous meeting but we had a meeting with was December 7th um so we we ended up meeting with a committee chairs to talk through some of the current um their current processes uh for appointment selection and and such uh we had a good discussion about that and also about the committee handbook that we're definitely going to have to make some updates to right now we're sort of as I put it in the period of Discovery trying to just uh make sure that we understand the current process before we start making recommendations about uh going forward with a a different process I I think we we're trying to get another meeting uh uh scheduled pretty soon um I think we heard so our our next meeting we're going to try and um so be M and I with Susan yeah so to get her perspective so Susan uh Sue you've uh been uh definitely you've been you've been very consistent and um uh you know uh on this process and I we're just very curious to find out like how how this is working from your standpoint how it's not working what you've seen um again just to get an idea of like what that the what is actually happening during the current process before we can even go on and and start talking about process Improvement so like I said we're in Discovery right now so uh that's what we'll be doing at our next meeting and it was I feel a very fruitful discussion with the chairs and some weren't chairs but they were asked to go by their committees as to how they're doing things so was very informative great Habitat for Humanity project at 487 Main Street local Initiative Program has been approved we received the letter so uh that's great they'll be getting to move forward on that uh and that is the parcel the empty little empty lot as you head up Main Street AC almost across from the entrance to Kitty Fen wall so it's great um habitat from Human for Humanity is a great organization and it'll be nice to see that coming through okay next are just a few reminders for everybody so reminder the winter parking ban is in place no on street parking from 2: am.

to 6:00 a. November 1st through March 31st another reminder drop off recycling will take place on Saturday February 1st 2025 at the DPW 20 Ponderosa Road from 9:00 a.m. to noon and that's for oil Mercury and oilbased paint nikad batteries fluorescent tubes and fluorescent light bulbs and a third reminder textile clothing recycling pickup must be scheduled with simple recycling at 1866 83550 68 or little easy remember simpler recycling.com and they will work with you I noticed one of my neighbors had a bunch of bags out that I'm sure are being picked up uh next is our consent agend um if I can have a motion to accept the con the consent ENT agenda with a thank you to Kevin Maat a thank you to Leia Lester and Fran Blake and a second second all those in favor I now with a consent agenda we we have so those are we're approving resignations that means we have some new openings on our Council on Aging our design Review Committee and our storm waterer advisory committee so if you're looking for something to do and you have interest in any of those fill out a talent Bank form and we'll get the process started okay moving on to town manager report Michael priority project update sure just really quickly Claudia I think that traffic study was done in August of 24 but but I'll I'll double check to me August the 24 would not be an appropriate time to do it yeah I don't know when do school start I thought school started in August so it dep it would depend right it starts the very latest you know very late in September I mean August you know yeah I don't uh think we started full Labor Day for three days it might be like August 28th or something like that I mean I could yes that's correct of Mendes yeah um yes so just on the priority project update so uh I'll start off with 126 I don't know if you've been by there but I don't know if there's been too many changes since the last time I updated everybody but um they did get the lights working over at algon everything already received quite a quite a lot of positive feedback about it made yeah been stu um it does work and allows everybody to move forward so that's great um downtown so 102 Property Maintenance um the the contractor that's doing the uh digging for the conduit and everything they they've actually um haven't worked on site the last couple weeks because of the temperatures but uh they've got to got to start get mov um we did get the bids in for the electrical connections uh which actually came in a little bit less than what we had anticipated doesn't mean the Project's going to end up you know that aspect is going to end up costing less than what we' anticipated but at least we're starting in the right direction so uh that's good um you know my main goal is to just make sure that there's really no lag time between when 102 Property Maintenance gets their stuff done when the new contractor which is deel electric they start so um so that uh the Warren Barn um J actually hold on in regards to downtown so we know that once all the connections are down then the polls can come down how do we work with uh the utilities to say okay everything's connected take the polls down what's the process there and what would the timing be yeah we'll have to do um I mean there's there's a whole like application process you have to go through everything we're actually uh before we meet with well before dagel starts their work we're have what's known as a preconstruction meeting MH um and we actually going to have the utilities have Representatives okay because as we know there's for Verizon anyway there's only certain Crews that can move polls or change polls or things like that and as we saw with 126 it sort of delayed the project because we were waiting for the crew that did certain things to come and be able to do our polls uh are we would we be dealing with that issue kind of thing again okay yeah yeah hopefully um hopefully won't the same okay same outcome thank you um but yeah so you know just for those of you that don't know you know all those lines that are on the polls they have to be taken down in a certain sequence which is what makes it difficult so um if like Verizon's the next one up and they can't get to it it's not like you can move on to Comcast and have take theirs down wait till Verizon it's it's I have no idea why the rule is the way it is but yeah um so in any case uh so that's that's the situation with the HS um the Warren Barn J was working through some of the the documents with that they did they do have the rink up obviously um I've had several people reach out to me I don't know if you have and just let me know how great an amenity is my daughters partici went and skated while they well my oldest my youngest was home for the holidays and they it was they said it was very nicely done and yeah so I think it's a great thing great great amenity for the community for sure he said what worked against them a little bit this year is that it's been so cold that people are skating on ponds in town yeah right otherwise they would have been headed there the ponds aren't you know they're they're they're saying be careful because the of the fle temperature I watch them shoveling them off but in any case rain like all year and when they start when they're trying to install this ring there's like a delu yep anyway so there's that um just moving on to the amorisco 7year oh wait but before we do that and um just to talk about the upper Charles Trail a little bit so we haven't really been able to to just Pete working on 40b stuff and everything it's been difficult to put some attention on that project but we are getting to a point where um we have not heard back from the property owner on6 so uh if we do want to look at taking the next step of acquiring that property at the next town meeting um I'm we probably need to start signaling our intentions pretty soon so um if you don't mind I'm going to send a letter to uh property owner just saying hey we've reached out to you several times we haven't heard back we're looking at taking the next steps and that would be potentially eminent domain because we have the grant money they had indicated that they were interested before so okay any questions or concerns on that no it's you know where the flash there's a um a crosswalk on Route 126 it's going into that parcel so you have Market Basket then you have the Higgins property and then the property next to it that's has a a fair amount of wetlands but it's on the same side as the Market Basket Pro yeah parcel yeah yeah because that's where the trail is intended to go into and then connect yes yeah um do that um so the other thing I have on the agenda I do have a couple of things that I don't have on the agenda here but I did provide a rather substantive report um that we get every year from emesco uh detailing our solar projects and some of what we have realized there versus what they promis and then as well as the performance contract so if you recall I mean we did the performance contract we did that town meeting almost 10 years ago and a lot of times you know when we're presenting things at town meeting and trying to get approvals and stuff we'll talk about like the the benefits right especially the financial benefits and sometimes we talk about them in the fact that they're going to acrew over uh a couple of decades um so I think it's important that we follow up over the next couple of decades just to let you know how we're doing um and so just to remind everybody of what a performance contract is um performance contract is when you uh work with a company in our case amesco uh they come in they identify Energy Efficiency improvements that they can make within your town and school buildings um they estimate how much energy you'll save they estimate how much money that you'll save by doing these projects and so of course you pay them to do it but they guarantee the savings and so the savings should actually be more than what you spend on the the program itself and uh basically a performance contract is set up to where if you don't realize the savings that the company promises you they in turn write you a check the difference so if amesco said that we were going to save $100,000 one year and we only save $80,000 um they write us a check for 20 so um but fortunately uh we have not had that experience in fact it's been just the opposite and so I'm sorry no we have actually realized more savings than what they had um guaranteed so uh this past year they had guaranteed a little over 300,000 in savings for the year and so um what we measured was almost 332,000 so um it was Surplus Savings of uh $28,000 almost 10% the whole amount so in total over the seven-year management or uh measurement period that we've incurred so far we've saved um 2 million 2,130 th000 dollar so that's over seven years and that's 180,000 almost $181,000 more than what they had promised us so um yeah it's turned out to be a really good good program for it I mean I always go to the street lights I mean when I came here the street light budget was $85,000 we did the performance contract actually we did that piece through a grant so we didn't pay for anything and our budget still like $35,000 now you know so it's been it's been a good program for us but anyway so we'll uh again some of you don't even remember this when we did this and uh I remember it yeah that was that was like a big that was a big deal for the town it was um but it's shown that it has been worth it yes for sure um and the Solar projects so so those have been good any questions related to to that oh come on Joe it's only like 100 Pages I'm not sure Joe I mean when Amores looked at this they looked at every building um for solar and U basically the ones where they could do solar they did so the so they did look at that too and so part of that was the high school solar canopy so at that point in time they didn't see any other building where canopies made sense now technology has changed quite a bit could be yeah yeah yeah it could be I mean maybe one day when we um you know have wrapped up some of these other projects that's something that we can gaug the other thing I forgot to mention is that we actually Finance these through those competitive qualified energy conservation bonds which saved us a million dollarars in interest non anyway any other questions besides okay um and so the other things I did not have um so this past Friday we did have our um unconscious bias training we had about say 40 40 employees uh participate so it was good um the consultant that we worked with the Dei task force work with TR Renee she um she was on zoom and provided it and was her uh she was on as we can always expect T Renee to be but she she provided a good training actually we got really good feedback um I was people found it very very enlightening um we looked at uh you know like I said it was unconscious bias or um implicit bias you know and just some of the examples that she utilized to help demonstrate that is just she did a good job she did a little bit she gave us one test case I think I remember during one of our Dei task force meetings where they showed the young you know the young guy and then the older experience and it's like so what do you you know if you're like hiring a CEO or something you know what would you think so you know you're looking at like the the guy with the white hair and everything oh much more experienced and that but you know just things that you don't you don't know these people but you're taking away these thoughts so yeah that was good um so one thing we always talk about projects and then Jen and I always talk about the fact that we do have daily tasks that we have um and sometimes those become a little bit more complicated uh than than usual and we had a really um important case of that happened just with this last round of tax bills um and so tax bills for the third quarter they have to be out on December 31st otherwise if you don't get them out you can't send that tax bill out and you have to double up for the fourth quarter and so you can imagine how wonderful it is for a taxpayer because I guarantee you they don't notice it when they don't get the bill right when they do get the bill and it's twice as much as what they're expecting um needless to say it can uh lead to a few phone calls but in any case um we had a really really hard time with munus this year uh just getting the right file having it converted correctly but I really want to give a shout out to um Cindy Scot and her office and um Don and Britney help you know quite a few people help they worked um like all through Christmas week missed like our boy get together and everything just so they could kind of make this work and so they did so uh just want to give them a shout out for that that was really really good um it is kind of funny thinking the town's people should thank them for getting their bills out right but you're so right yeah it is it would be really hardship to have to double up on you yeah um so last week um we also had our First Citizens Academy of the second session and uh so we have 18 people really interesting crew very different than last year much more interactive this should be fun oh gosh um we didn't ask their ages but it runs pretty wide how long they've lived here yeah it's very evenly right and but hadn't been aware of what town meet government really does I had a who have not I I would I would just ask and I mentioned this I remember at the last one is that um having them come to a select board meeting for one for us to intro to to meet them I think either we had talked about maybe the last one or whatever perfect great which so which meeting in June do you know is it June so the fourth okay I have a couple of questions about Citizens Academy and and maybe a suggestion um I think a couple meetings back we were talking about uh how we're going to how we could possibly evaluate like the or Define the effectiveness and evaluate Citizens Academy so um I guess um I'm just curious to find out like what kind of demographic information are you collecting from applicants and what can you get uh and second I'm just wondering for the first cohor is there any are there any plans to maybe follow up with them you know um maybe like a year out or whatever to find out like what their level of activity in the town has been um you know just so we could get like a get an idea of of how the program may may have impacted their uh not just their awareness and knowledge but their activity and their activism in town um I I hope I didn't dream about that I think we did just talk about that we did talk about that that's okay good we did talk about that and so your first question I think was sort of effectiveness of program what we're collecting as we move forward we have revised the feedback so our feedback was really open-ended you know three very high level questions last year um so I did a little bit more you know one through five how effective how effective were the materials you know and then still have the openend questions what you learn great um in the application process we really only collect sort of um you know your your name where you live how long you've lived here whether know what you to get out of it um of the program and then if you've ever been on a board not really demographics described their you know when they're our Icebreaker we getting some information they're sharing not necessarily certainly could add it to the sheet um yeah maybe not as part of the application but like as they progress in the program like to collect that data as part of their participation in the program that might be helpful so that we can you know be interesting to see like who's actually availing themselves of of the Citizens Academy and you know etc etc because we want to we want to make sure that what we're doing right we want to keep doing and what's not working you want sort of informally talk a little more into your mic thank you so um your second question sort of informally we have seen already the I have for sure um members that have come to through the academy at events participating like the Holiday Drive so I think that we certainly could reach out to them I still have all their emails um I think we've had a couple look look into volunteering at the food pantry and participating a lot more in the library programs so we certainly can know ask questions about you know what what have they done post Academy getting involved and you may want to give it a certain interval of time before you issue you know that to find out maybe even like six months from end date or a year from mate to find out what they've been up to just so you can get a a more complete picture but um but yeah that's really good to hear and and you know I think there's one other suggestion maybe that the board may want to consider as well like I think Citizens Academy is awesome um but I'm wondering if there are any opportunities to maybe do like a like a one- day kind of Crash Course situation that you know the the board could actually help um put on you know and like how does the town work how does your town government work it be kind of like the cliffnotes I am really dating myself tonight on the cliffnotes version of suan Academy um just so you know folks might get an idea of like basic just basic information if they want to deepen their knowledge they can go through Citizens Academy when when applications open but you know something that we may want to take a look at doing at some point this year um you know maybe even the summertime on The Corner Spot I don't know I'm just thinking make it fun you know I don't know just a thought one other thing just um it just kind of triggered it for me with with what Makita just said so I know we're going to have some vacancies on some boards and committees um and also Cindy had popped into um before we went into executive session this you know this evening people will be able to pull papers for running for office for May soon in a couple weeks um so it may not so maybe it's a good opportunity to reach out to last year's Citizens Academy and let them know of these vacancies oh um and also if they were interested in running for office I know that you know anyone that's interested is absolutely can come and talk to any of us about any you know kind of get a feel for whatever yeah the boards and stuff like that yeah because I know last year during the academy two people had expressed interest in running for office specifically Ally for the planning and um and like anec anecdotally I mean the participation afterwards has been pretty amazing so so you met Peter and yeah that's the thing yeah yeah and actually we had another participant there Stephanie was was there yeah and and I had not seen them at the manora lighting before um but even like Bob Romar was at the coffee this morning had like 12 or 15 people there and he was at the C and he was um it was his first time there but it's all I could talk about was the Citizens Academy that's awesome and that's why we want to capture we want to like cify that we want to capture that make sure that we're document because all we got is like all yeah we got like stories but we don't have data so we want to make sure that we've got we're capturing that that activity because it's important yeah um so and then our next session is next Wednesday and we're doing finance and HR HR and capital and so uh just two more things um so we're going through the process of uh implementing that open gov system so this is that permitting system um and so we're uncovering a lot during this implementation just how outdated some of our systems are so um you know this is stuff you're not going to see right most people are not going to see but the amount of overhauling of our like administrative systems going on right now is pretty pretty significant so there are we looking at fee changes at all as we do this or not really you take not on the we've really talked about for open go definitely not um so like our time like our payroll I mean we still do sheets where we sign oh yeah yeah so we're actually moving all of that online Catherine's spearhead and that good that's happening and most of the school or I don't know if most but a good chunk of the schools that to but uh open go we're working on something with the assessor's office it's it's a lot um so just wanted to give you an up just heads up on that and then uh oh Michael I'm sorry yeah I I think it's great this is right up your alley I know that's why I got to ask so I I'm I'm hardened to hear about the digital transformation that's happening here in town for a lot of our processes I don't know about digital I don't know if we can get into digital transform I'm trying well no that's what it's called that's technically what it's called right so like you know taking old pipe paper systems putting them online that's part of a digital transfer give yourself some credit okay um so we call it getting into the 20th century the 20th century exactly so 21st we're we're getting there um just as we're overhauling we're making these processes more digital um you know obviously uh security concerns around municipalities data is always something that um you know people you know you read in the newspaper and people do have concerns about in a couple FKS have approached me about you know hey what are we doing in town about that so um I don't know if at some point like you know you know just let us know like how what kind not I mean obviously we don't want to say exactly what we're doing specific so we can you know but um just kind of give a broad overview of maybe our Topline like processes around evaluation and making sure that you know data is kept as securely as possible so many horror stories about municipalities and other large like healthare organizations getting their data basically ransomed so um just wanted to know what we were doing on that front yeah and I mean Paul would probably be the best one to talk about this in specifics I do want to say like one of the things that he's talked about when I brought this up a lot of our a lot of our vendors now host data up on on the cloud so um that adds an element of sec security and redundancy I believe but also yeah an exposure pathway an exposure pathway it depends yeah the the I mean um yeah I mean obviously like on on Prem versus Cloud there are different advantages and disadvantages to both and you know a little you know a lot about that y as well um but but yeah I mean I just uh I just wanted I you know and we can talk about this more later but I just wanted to kind of ask that question and because I know it's probably been top of line for it folks here in in town but I've also been had some questions about too yeah yeah that and then finally um you know I've mentioned this some of you were just kind of restructuring DPW bit so Dan Mau is moved into deputy director role uh that Roy had had occupied um and we're actually we actually changed some things around that job description a lot more um there's a lot more responsibility with the deputy director role so we'll be doing a few other shifts as well just administratively number of goals that we're trying to accomplish with this um and I I think you know we're already starting to see some of that happen I wouldn't say that we've achieved everything that we wanted to achieve um but like I think Doug has definitely been able to kind of step back and do a little bit more strategic thinking as opposed to kind of like just being in in the mix good for him uh yeah it's uh it's it's tough when you're so used to doing something but uh yeah it's uh it's good so we're you know combining that kind of with our city stat meetings really it's been really good but yeah I'm not expecting like any board doesn't need to take any action but I just want to give you to give us updates and as to what's happening so that if people hear things were aware did you have anything so that's okay great let's move to board reports ideally to be done before we have to ask for an extension Yanda says keep it snap okay yes Madam chair yes yes Madam chair a couple of things uh well uh December was uh really wonderful to be able to take place or rather to take part in the uh employee recognition here in Ashley first time is just really wonderful to see that and see all of our dedicated employees and staff folks here in town again a hearty thank you to all of y'all that make this this town go go go uh wonderful beautiful manur wrting on uh 1229 I think uh just really just lovely to see the community out and see the congregation out it was wonderful um lurked around the on cable but not on zoom on the uh most recent zba meeting and uh and actually a planning board meeting but Yolanda could probably talk a little bit more about that I mean um Madam CH could talk more a little bit about that um and then of course um uh we've been working on the committee selection process together uh so that's pretty much it thanks yeah well first I I I too just want to uh I don't want to just say ditto to your remarks about the people that make this community run and it was a a great event the recognition uh luncheon and I'm very grateful that um for all of you you know both of you as well as so many people um in in this community to make it great place place to live I uh in fact you know last weekend I guess it was last weekend that we had a little snow there yeah Saturday right it snowed kind of all day you know more than we were supposed to I have to say these roads I was here these roads when you came into Ashland it changed all of a sudden um you know I saw coming from out of town I saw two accidents and then I got to Ashlin and the roads had been taken care of and so um I meant to send Doug Small a quick note but I just want to say that here as well I haven't got the bill yet but yeah no I I know I did think of that too but but it was nice to to see it Well Done um and then you know I I did attend the uh zoning meeting last week and it was very informative and um you know helpful to to be there and uh I think uh it's important that people participate as much as possible um and last night the historic um commission and you know I had actually a question about that kind of brings the two together if we had had a a historic district in place would that have impacted 40b I I didn't think so but I just wanted to be clear on that um and so um you know the town's very busy with a lot of people doing great things and certainly um the work that rub has done to for us to purchase um and increase our Mound Forest by such a substantial amount is really remark remble amount of work and he is um I know he was what was he for Ashlin day Town citizen year I mean he should be citizen year for at least five years we yeah if well it's all right we needed the rain all right thank you very much Joe thank you madam chair uh yes Kudos the all the uh employees at lunch in uh and you know you're doing something right when you hire people who are being acknowledged for 30 plus years 40 years you know 25 plus 30 it's incredible so hudos to all of those who uh have worked through all those years it's been greatly appreciated and I enjoy uh being part of that celebration as well and um uh I will be uh attending a ribbon cutting ceremony uh 25 West Union Street tomorrow uh the benett assessment and Behavioral Center at 8:30 to 9:30 tomorrow uh kudos to them and we look forward to their their new uh ventures in town and um just to provide informational uh background on the 21st of uh January next Tuesday at 10: a.m.

the road traffic uh Safety Committee will be holding their uh monthly meeting what we will be discussing uh projects such as the 40b 1060 Main Street project and the traffic impact and the potential detours concerning new road projects that will be starting in the spring and uh from what I understand there will be some uh major uh changes with the codal road bridge possibility working on that project with detouring traffic in that area I got that information from Dei small this afternoon so uh that's going to be very interesting yeah yeah High Street yeah High Street yeah so um and the potential detours there and uh with that uh if you can make that meeting that'd be great if not provide emails and i' be we'd be happy to uh provide all that information to you all and I would like to wish everybody a happy and healthy New Year and next Monday we celebrate M Luther King day and I would like to quote the good doctor relating to equality because that's what Ashan is all about being equal being fair and I quote Dr King by saying we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as so having that said I I wish everybody yeah it's been a while it's been a while yeah so yeah thank you okay I am not going to even go but you went out Tuesday instead so you know oh man I got to follow that huh okay um it has been a while since we met so um you know we've all we all did quite a bit around the holidays and um we've been we've been going to um a few meetings related to you know the and everything else too um I did I was kind of talking about a little bit before I went to the 495 partnership meeting when was that like that's okay December it's de was like December it was mid December it was following our last meeting but before yeah I remember looking at that and I just yeah could fit it in my calendar it it the thing of it is like they didn't take any questions from the audience oh interesting which was really disappointing is that the one that was a Gillette yeah it was a Gillette okay yeah um so it could have I I I think if you know I was giving some feedback to to Beth a little bit because she's she's on their board yep um because I think that could have been a lot more robust but they were fitting it all into like basically an hour yeah I looked at the calendar and I looked at that schedule and I'm like there's no yeah where's the meat it was brief it was a brief uh conference yeah so um but I did you know like I I have't like I said I haven't had a chance to go into the to the housing Bond bill but I think that was my biggest takeaway is maybe there's something that we can do with affordable housing but um so to be determined I'm GNA see if I can get into that and look at that before we meet sure on Friday Friday um a comprehensive plan group is back in Action next week um just wanted to say thank you to everyone who completed our surveys um we had quite a bit of particip a which was good yeah it was nice to see um and so we'll see what the results are and the next steps but I think at this point we're to be next Wednesday the 22nd at the library at 7 7 p.m.

yep um and so you know we're going to start drafting this thing so like you know the whole plan is to get it to a point where we can take it to fall town meeting so like heat mod so um guys on I just want to I just want to follow up on that because there were some comments that they felt like the survey didn't have like the information in the survey they felt wasn't well thought out and didn't have input from the community but the survey was based on all the feedback that was received through the different events the meetings in a box and and then we worked with the Consultants to come up with those goals and strategies so there's been a lot of input from the community on that survey and that will now help dra help us draft the language to set our goals and the action items related to them and if you are interested if you felt that the survey wasn't full or didn't reflect the community come to a comprehensive plan meeting look at the information and help us draft that because this is for the community so next meeting is uh Wednesday January 22nd at 7 p.m.

and come and listen and give us your feedback we had we um the committee hosted these technical working groups right before the holidays right so we had these groups of 15 people 10 15 depending on the session where it was more like focus groups and we were going through some of these strategies and talking about them um and then the survey kind of Flushed it out a little bit more and then the group my understanding is that the comprehensive plan committee will now kind of sift through all of those and kind of come up with a actual working list that's doable so more to come y so um and then we were talking about the budget before I had attended the school committee's first budget Workshop um right before the holidays 14th 15th whatever that Friday whatever that Saturday was yeah um and it was good so you know the thing that stood out for me um so superintendent Jim Adams had said this is his most challenging budget he's had to deal in I think 11 years um in the district so there's certain things that are driving those high high costs but they basically have one of the things that I found really interesting so they have revolving accounts as well and their revolving accounts are pretty much depleted so one of their big challenges is going to be how do they fund the things that they need to fund outside of like putting it into their to their General budget so um transportation costs have gone way up their out of District costs have gone way up um Sports have become very expensive like the user fees that that you know like it's it's hard it's really hard so well and some of that we know that we know that the bus fee that they collect does not cover the transportation cost of our of our community right I would the user fees that they for athletics do not cover all the expenses for athlet I mean it's you know they they're they're getting money in but it's not covering their costs and that's the issue oh or one of them yep and and those are things you know that those fees didn't even exist we went to right yeah well and some of the sports you know have you know one of the things that they did was they broke down the the cost per Sport and you can just see just how expensive some of these sports are so there's there's labor in there's like you know um rental fees for things like ice time and um golf is an extraordinarily expensive sport because they have to have practice time and they need green fees and it's a small group of kids but the per the per fees like per per Fe is very high so um so they're having three three sessions of of budget workshops and their next one is on the 25th so I will probably try to get get there for that um I think it'll help because it's just I I think the more the more we're aware of what's happening on that side the better the discussions are when we get together get together so I assume it's over at the mes school but I will confirm in the music room the last couple of times it's it's it's good yeah I'm sorry we we sort of got last minute notice last time and oh yeah yeah yeah yeah so um I was able to like I had that morning for you and I was like I as well that's great thank you for going um and that is I think that's it for me couple things so let's see first of all as Joe said Happy New Year uh we did not I did not recognize that at the top of the meeting I just sort of jumped right in and here it is already January 15th so we are happy to be back uh a couple updates the dog park thanks to Jen's diligent work has finally received its approvals from the planning board and conservation and design review so our next process is to write up the documents to out forbid to get the park actually built and then apply officially to the Stanton foundation for the grant and most likely we're going to be one of the last dog parks getting a grant from them so again I want to thank you all for your support Michael I know a year ago you had hope you had wanted to put it on a bank burner um I'm glad we were able to keep pushing it forward so that we can get this built with the Stanton foundations's help um so more on that let's see uh library reading program is going on if you are as an adult enjoy reading you can sign up it's on beanstack and you can track your minutes and have some fun there uh let's see I will be attending MMA uh it starts on Thursday this year they're starting earlier but it's still going through Saturday on Friday at the weimo luncheon I will be the moderator for the fireside chat with secretary Walsh our health and human services secretary uh on Saturday uh because I am chair of the MMA one of their policy committees I'll actually pres be presenting a resolution at the annual business meeting um and let's see and then uh Metro West Regional collaborative we have our meeting on uh January 30th 8 9:30 it's virtual if you'd like to attend I would like to recognize we here at the select board meeting have some new technology if you notice behind us it is no longer a big screen with projection it is a nice television and then we have two other televisions though I I don't know that I like the picture on that new one over there we like stretch but anyway um and I want to thank uh Paul Carpenter and Paul Bowden from waca TV for the work to get this done and run the cables and be able to make this happen we also have a new TV on the on the other wall for people who are in the in the meeting room to be able to see things a little bit better so there's some flexibility as to how these TVs can sit and turn so thank you to all of them for helping out with that uh as Joe said Thursday morning tomorrow tomorrow is a ribbon cutting I'll be attending that as well and I believe that is all I have our next meeting will be February unless someone has it quickly it's the first first Wednesday in February so it'll be February 5th is our next select board meeting so please hopefully we'll see you around town at different um events and things that are going on on otherwise we will back be back here on February 5th for our next SE select board meeting again Happy New Year I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season I can I jump in and say one more thing about the holiday season that I neglected to say sure I just want to say that the town its annual gift um program and and just the the amount of work um you know Courtney Laughlin um did a tendous amount of work it's a it's a such a big job you don't even realize what a big job it is and she worked short-handed um stayed late so many times and worked you know at home um and it's just such a significant program in terms of helping uh families and families with children who who might otherwise um not experience you know the the joy of receiving gifts in the holiday season and um and and the number of volunteers that came in and helped distribute collect and distribute I mean such a huge undertaking so I just um realized that thank you for bringing that up Claudia I I think it was a great it I mean it's always been a great program um and I think this year they even were able to help more families Joe real quick yeah real quick uh with this Cole snap uh being neighborly it would be nice to check on your seniors if you have seniors living in your in your neighborhood just I'm fine thank you I was going to ask you the same so but uh no just just check on make sure they're okay make sure they have their heat and everything is working well for them and if not help them uh get the uh the needed uh services that are that are desired and required and and the open space committee uh survey yes needs to be there needs to be complet space completed so if you haven't done that you need to do that to help support uh they need for Grants and and other matters as well to complete our open space plan y um before before I asked for a motion I also just want to do one other thank you uh I received a number of compliments of people who live in town as well as people who drive through Ashland on the wonderful holiday lighting that happened in downtown between the trees and the Garland on the polls and I want to give a shout out to Beth Reynolds who from our economic depart de Development Department who coordinates all that she doesn't go out and do it but she coordinates it and it's it did you see her on a poll know knowing her um it's what's nice is she keeps talking about how we keep adding and we keep expanding year over year and it has just been such a nice thing and again like I said we received a lot of um Kudos on that so thank you Beth um I hope you all enjoyed the holiday lighting as well um I was sorry to have missed the manora lighting um but family sometimes has to come first aough yeah it was yeah yeah yeah yeah Christmas Christmas was the first tonight and anyway okay on that note again we will see you back here on uh February 5th have stay safe stay warm we are potentially expecting more more snow so drive safe and we will see you soon if I can have a motion to adjourn second second all those in favor I thank for

[Applause] no everyone I'd like to welcome you to fer Winter band concert at this time if you don't mind please silence your phones and without further Ado I want to introduce our band director Mr [Music] ands thank you so much Dr be with you for one more second so thank you h okay thank you for for your patience the concert always goes off better when the microphones all work so thank you so much for your patience we're going to start things off like we usually do here at Fisher Middle School with our national anthem so if you're able please rise for the playing of our national anthem a [Music] Happ [Music] thank you so much this is the seventh grade band and we have three selections for you tonight including Mr bner uh the next song we're going to play for you is a really cool piece called dawn of the Spartans so we hope you'll enjoy back [Music] m hey baby hey baby [Music] I [Music] pap the [Music] [Applause] a oh [Music] thank you so much we were very fortunate this semester to have a student teacher from uh tcj and he's with us to guest conduct this next piece his name is Mr mcaffrey and we' like to invite him to the stage everybody have a round for Mr MAA [Music] no [Music] oh oh [Music] a [Music] a [Music] the [Music] let's give it up for our seventh grade band and also for Mr [Applause] mcy I had to sneak this behind the scool so Mr where'd you go Mr back up he took the shortcut Mr mcaffrey thank you so much for everything you've done for the students here and thank you we wish you well and all future Denver sir thank [Music] you okay we're going to have a little bit of the scene change so sixth grad is going to be up next so please bear with us we'll be right back thank you that's okay back [Music] I know you [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on girl [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] w [Music] look okay next up we have our sixth grade band and this is their da you as a Fisher Middle School Ensemble so let's give him a round of a hand Applause I love the Winter concert because you get to see the students starting out here in their first concert then you get to hear the eighth graders and where they are and the seventh graders and where they are and I'm really proud of these guys and they're going do a fantastic job first song we're going to play for you guys is called a new world Adventure is [Music] somebody fore speech [Music] the [Music] oh [Music] the [Music] thank you so much the next song we're going to play for you I think is the their most favorite song ever is that about right guys this one's called mechanical monsters and there's a bunch of surprises in this one and now I think the stakes are raised because I have to find something like it for the spring right guys okay all right well we'll see what we can do here so here's mechanical monsters [Music] what [Music] baby [Music] la [Music] la [Music] it's here for sixth grade band what a debut thank you so much next up is going to be our stage fans so sit tight we'll be right back [Music] w e am sorry [Applause] right w e excuse me we'll be right back we have to make a guitar swim hang on one second e [Music] okay so we're going to be looking for guitar text for the next concert so if anybody has any experience come see me after the show and we'll get this party started this is the Fisher Middle School Stage Band so we play jazz music and uh these guys are really cool they auditioned to become a part of this group and uh they rehearse every Monday night from 7 o'clock to 9:00 because Jazz is meant to be played at night so that's why we you go when they have a late night and they kick butt so first song we're going to play for you is called work song [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a la [Music] [Applause] n n n [Music] [Applause] [Music] the [Music] a [Music] it's City the next uh song we're going to play for you is one of my favorite songs of all time it's called Stolen Moments and it's an Oliver Nelson tun I hope you guys enjoy it [Applause] [Laughter] spe all [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] he [Applause] [Music] n [Music] [Applause] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] la [Music] here for us all as [Applause] [Music] inod so this next one that we're going to do is a vocal chart and it's going to uh feature our vocalist Avery we're good there comes Avery so [Music] oh she didn't sing that you're already that's right and we're going to play a song for you called haven't met you yet [Music] n [Music] many tried so very hard not to lose it I came up with the mil I thought I thought of every [Music] [Applause] possibility you make work so we out can I promise you that I'll give so I get I just haven't met you [Music] come out ofwhere know that we can be so amazing baby your love is going to change me now I can see every possibility [Music] you'll make me work so we work out and I promise you that I'll give so I I just haven't met you yet they say all St in love I won't need to F get be [Applause] United know the we can be so amazing being in your life is going to change me and now I can see every single possibility oh anday I know it'll all [Music] and out I promise you kid I'll give more than I get I get I get I get know it'll all turn out and you'll make me work so we get work to we get out and I promise so I I just Haven you yet I just hav [Music] I said I just met you [Music] yet I just you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] one more round for the entire stage thank you so much ath grade Dan is next if be with us we'll be right back for w [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] h look [Music] no [Music] are [Music] okay here is our eighth grade band and the first piece we're going to play for you is called counterbalance this one's a real Lively one so we hope you guys enjoy it [Applause] I [Music] la [Music] I and [Music] no wa [Music] la a [Music] la n [Music] thank you so much next song we're going to play for you is called apparitions and it's going to be a perfect counter to what you just heard uh so this one's going to be really soft and uh it's supposed to give you kind of an eerie feeling like there may be Spirits Among Us you know looking for you know somebody to uh connect with so this one's called apparitions [Music] know [Music] wa [Music] that [Music] I [Music] oh [Music] la [Music] [Applause] all [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you so much you can tell we picked that one out around Halloween time so so this next one is very very appropriate especially for today cuz I think I saw a couple flowes so this one is uh called Snow Day celebration and I have to tell you a quick quick story this one's a cursed song so the first time I played this piece with an eighth grade band we had to postpone the concert five times because we got so much to know that that that time around so fast forward to about two weeks ago when we had that storm on Monday that kind of happened at the perfect time just to make sure we got school in I was very happy because we had a rehearsal that day but I think the poor salt in the wound uh we we had a start out with Snow Day celebration and the kids were not very happy with me that day so this one's a really fun one I hope you guys enjoy it Snow Day celebration [Applause] why a [Music] n [Music] a [Applause] [Music] la [Music] la [Music] a [Music] let's here one more time for thank you so much we have one more Scene change to go this is through our big finale with our honor Symphony orchester so sit tight we'll be right back thank you so much [Applause] y oh e yeah Jordan [Applause] w [Applause] Co [Music] read [Music] thank you so much for our patience I have the great privilege here CH Middle School to co- te the honor Symphony Orchestra which is a combination of our Orchestra members and some of our 7th and eth grade band members and 7th and eth grade Orchestra members and uh Mrs TR is our co-c conductor first piece that she's going to play for you guys this is called Shahara by rimy corov and we'll be following it up with another rimsky corov piece Caprio after this one's over so please sit back and relax for [Applause] she original and arang famously feature um a violin solo um our soloist this evening will be my first you will he Elizabeth Mart and then you'll no [Applause] [Music] morning [Music] EX [Music] ha a [Music] la h n [Music] Hal [Music] you [Music] am [Music] [Applause] let's here one more time for Mrs TR before I introduce our last piece there's a uh we can't really do this without any uh all by ourselves we obviously need a lot of help uh there's a lot of students you saw go on and off the stage today so I really want to uh take a moment to thank the people who made this possible so first I'd like to say thank you so much to our Board of Education I know we have a few board members here so thank you so much for your support uh supporting the Arts in Ying Township and also to our students here so thank you so much for next up I would like to thank our superintendent uh Dr Gentile uh he is extremely supportive of us as well as long as as as well as our assistant superintendent Dr BR so thank you very much to both our superintendent I like to thank uh Dr Hannah also for being here tonight our principal here at Fisher Middle School and for setting us off right and getting us going today so thank you Dr Hannah also like to thank the rest of our Administration here um also Mr DWI Mr shlock Miss rco and also miss Freeman so thank you for all of your support and everything that we do next up I have to uh say we have a great problem fa Fisher Middle School we have so many students and uh we don't have enough teaching periods in the day so I have some great support here Mr Price who unfortunately could not be with us tonight but Mr Price comes down from the high school to work with our percussion students so we like to thank Mr price for all of his hard work also like to thank Miss Wright who works with our Woodwinds and she is here as well she's backstage there she is thank you we also have ant Elementary School teacher uh Miss marison backstage too helping us out and doing sound and and she think she's still back there so come on out there she is M and I'd also like to thank our amazing supervisor Mr mland who's in the back there also too work at the soundboard and keeping things so thank you Mr also would like to thank our custodial staff here our teachers our chaperons that are here that are staff members who volunteer the time to come and help the students backstage and also to all the rest of the teachers here fish middle school for allowing me to take the kids from for lessons and for working with me and helping us get our rehearsals in and I know we have a bunch of Staff members here today so thank you for everybody without any further Ado with the last piece we're going to play for you is called capricio espol and it's one of my favorites and I think it'll set you off right so here we are capricio [Applause] espol for [Music] la [Music] n all [Music] oh [Music] w [Music] one more time [Music] for thank you so much for being here today and uh we hope you get home safe and we'll see you in the spring Take Care thank you so [Applause] much e

good afternoon and welcome to the asdb board meeting um I call the meeting to order at 4 pm and Britney could you do roll good evening for roll call we have Linda B present uh I'm Britney banon I am present clot Chapman present uh Lynn Davon not an attendance Michael she's excused Michael Gordon on his way he'll join us shortly uh Su K present uh Katie Cino uh she's also excused we have Earl Terry present and um looks like our newest board member Susan Singler pres thank thank you moving on to 1.2 information item the introduction of our new board member um we have Susan Singler joining us she's been appointed by the governor um she is the new parent rep and I'm going to let her take over and tell us about herself first of all uh thank you so much and it's really a an honor and a pleasure to be here and I'm looking on looking forward to serving on the board for this wonderful organization uh my son is a graduate of Arizona School for the blind in Tucson in 2000 uh his name is Nathan wac and I'm very proud of him uh he is blind with Developmental and intellectual disabilities and some cerebal policy he is also a wonderful singer and sings the national anthem for the Special Olympics in Tucson and therapeutic writing of Tucson uh and has been invited to Sing the anthem for the road runners so I feel like this is a wonderful community and uh we look at ourselves as ambassadors uh for Arizona school for the deaf and blind so it's a pleasure to be here um my background includes a nurse I've been a registered nurse since 1976 um yeah that's a long time and and uh I was uh started a parent organization in Tennessee you all may be able to uh know that I have a little bit of a Southern accent um parent organization Tennesseee Association for the parents of visually impaired back in 1984 uh we started parent support group that grew into an Early Intervention Program that's now housed at vanderbelt University uh and started our uh early intervention services from birth rather than age4 I've also a contributing author to um a book published by the National Association for parents of the visually impaired it's a uh special education guide for parents of visually impaired children so this is my passion uh and I'm really happy to be here thank you thank you we're glad to have you thank you moving on to um item 1.3 information item Early Learning Program overview presentation with Dr Kendra Benedict and can I just mention for the minutes that Mike Gordon is now present hello assist director with Community also before I get started Michelle and I want to take a quick here to all of the STA everything we're to share with you today only happens because of them they're the ones on the front lines they're the ones with with children every day making difference so I would be remiss so I learned to tell you that my presentation is longer than 10 minutes so I'm G to skip through some of what can keep to the timeline um Michelle and I will be tag te here so if I can switch go to the second Slide the agenda we'll be going our programming all the different services that we provide around the state enrollment Trends which I think you might find interesting our student outcomes that you asked to see at our last meeting our current professional development initiatives and programming initiatives and where we're headed from here next slide two more slides please yes this is a super quick visual of how first of three of preschool fit in to the overall landscape of asdb and the state in regard to education ELP is made up of two very distinct yet related groups birth to three and preschool both programs of course fall under IA birth to three falls under part C and preschool light K12 falls under Part B three is overseen by as and preschool just like K12 is overseen by a I'm going to skip the next few slides it goes into a little more detail about part C and AIP and if anyone would like to know more about that at another time I'm happy to meet with you and go over that um but in respect for the time that we have I don't think we'll be able to do that today um um if we go to the asdb verse to three slides so about three more slides Perfect all right um we are the asip uh service providing agency designated Agency for all blind visually impaired deaf and heart of hearing and deaf blind children across the entire State we offer programs that are in the home Community bed and virtual as its's not only preference but mandate is that inh Home Services always be the is the first that is offered and then per family's choice we are allowed to provide virtual Services I'm let Michelle go about preschool all right um so we preschool uh functions under id idea Part B um and and a little bit about our preschool we're not just a one room Schoolhouse somewhere we do have multiple sites um we have uh itinerate services that we are providing services to kids in public schools um in region one and also in Yuma um we've uh we reach deaf and heart of hearing students blind low vision kiddos and also deaf blind uh we have three Campus based programs uh one in Tucson one here obviously where we are today uh and then one in Pima County this simonon campus um and then uh we have we also partner with the foundation for blind children and they uh here in town and they serve our blind low vision and DEP blind children in Maricopa County all right if we can advance about two more slides next one Michelle just went over and then the next one should be enrollment Trends all right and then one more please okay I'm going to go over the birth to three enrollment Trends and then Michelle will go over the preschool enrollment Trends these are over the last five years since 2020 you can see that we I think we are yes you'll see that 23 2023 is missing because that's when we had our um change in our student information system so the data is not as reliable from that period of time but this goes back from 202 2020 and you can see um the red line is our death and heart of hearing numbers and our blue line is our Blind and Visually Impaired numbers you can see that for the last five years we've had a steady incline in death and heart of hearing as well as blind low vision those lines are just are Trend trend lines this is not broken down by region um it is Statewide and next slide please these are our preschool numbers um so again we're missing the 2023 data um but you can see in red we have the foundation for blind children um and there has been a bit of a of a decrease there um not huge but it's there um at pdsd um more of an increase over time from 2019 to 2024 uh and then at the tuon campus um there's more of a u you know similar similar data going on there um our one of the things that I would like to note um is in in Tucson we do not have U the foundation for blind children so the kiddos that might be coming to us here uh in town in Phoenix we don't have that um that luxury uh to have that that those players on our team um and we also don't have any specific um specialized classrooms for listening to spoken language so families who are interested in that um we we don't have a desert voices or you know uh other places that might might really focus on that like they do here in town Phoenix um so I would say that's one of the reasons why Tucson's numbers is a little bit more steady um okay these are some of my favorite slides next three and I ask that you pay special attention to these I want to show you with these slides the geographical area that we cover the number of Children and Families we cover and the number of U teachers that we have to cover these areas I think this is this is probably one of our most important slides today in region one our providers serve both birth to three and itinerate preschool that is not the same for region two for Region Three we also serve itinerate preschool but only in Yuma okay so in region one we have four Deen heart of hearing teachers and three blind low vision teachers and one of those blind low vision teachers is traveling up from Phoenix to help serve the area so really only two that live in northern Arizona one in Flag Staff and one in Cho we have two teachers covering 65,7 4 miles let that sit for a second okay we serve 32 birth to three children 10 I tener preschool children for de heart of hearing 48 birth to three teachers for blind Lo or sorry birth to three children birth to Three Blind uh low vision is 48 and N turn at preschool six so the three teachers that I was referring to that was blind low vision we have four teachers serving de heart of carrying a total of 42 children across 65,7 square miles so we do our absolute best but you can imagine it is very difficult to get everywhere that we need to and want to be next slide in comparison in region two obviously a much more densely populated area we serve 9,22 square miles our um birth to three teachers again we don't have itinerate in this area region two covers itinerate preschool in the metropolitan area we have 200 birth to three dhh with 12 teachers and 141 birth to three with four teachers and those four teachers are employed by foundation for blind children those are not our teachers and then for the campus preschool here in Phoenix we have currently 26 students in our preschool classrooms with five teachers and we have um actually Four now and blind lision at FBC 34 students and eight teachers and then lastly next slide Region Three you'll see similar to region one we have teachers serving a vast geographical area for itinerate preschool we have seven children in Yuma where we have one teacher providing those Services we have 100 birth to three across all of Region 3 covering 38,4 71 square miles with five teachers and then blind low vision 50 children with three children with three teachers and then campus preschool 23 children in the death and heart of hearing PR preschool with four teachers now U Michelle oh no actually I've got one more slide two more slides please okay um I want to talk about outcomes uh how birth to three and preschools is doing now I want to preface this with this is the progress of our death andhe hearted hearing students over the last five years our Blind and Visually Impaired students in our last strategic plan we really struggled to determine a way to measure progress they're a very um heterogeneous uh small group um and we aren't the only ones that struggle with that we've been teaming with FBC with other states trying to figure out what is the most reliable and valid way to see if we're providing the services that we need to provide and we are still working on that happy to say we're closer and I look forward to the Strategic plan too to be able to improve but right now today these are just the Deen heart of hearing um numbers so for um birth to three progress over time you can see they're listed on the graph is are the last um four years and from our participation in the program Odyssey out of Colorado um every year the children take assessments six months apart from each other so six to seven months you want to see of course at least that much growth in that time to make sure that they aren't falling behind so we're right on that Target next slide and then this highlights birth of three progress over time in just the areas of communication receptive language and expressive language and you can see there that over a Time elapsed of seven months we're seeing about 6 and a half months growth so we still have work to do there I'm going to let Michelle Talk About Preschool all right also looking at the Odyssey numbers um we our original data in 2122 uh which was approximately 10 months between testing periods um we had a 10.5 in the growth area um so 10 and a half months of growth in in about just a little over 10 months so that's really really quite amazing which is why we want to also again send kudos to our staff because they are really killing it um and then as you can see as you go down roughly six months between testing periods and our growth is at 6.2 um and then we moved up to 7.6 um as far as the growth goes in preschool um for oh sorry I I forgot to advance the slide so there's all right and we're going to advance the slide once more this one is our progress over time in the specific subtests um moving from stating their needs giving commands um personal requests uh interaction uh explaining what they want um and in using higher language and overall um everywhere from between 11% growth all the way up to 21% growth you know depending on what those areas are um so we're we're quite excited about what's happening in preschool and um we'd like to keep moving forward I want to apologize it's difficult to stay up with the slides when you're not pushing it yourself they're helping us but we're not doing a great job reminding them to advance so um no it's it's sorry anyways um if you could Advance one more slide please okay um I'm going to not take as much time on these slides again I think you all are familiar with our contracts with foundation for blind children we have one for 1 to three one with preschool like Michelle said we don't have that luxury of serving preschool age children in Tucson that are specifically have needs and blind and and and and low vision we do serve some death line children at both of our campuses kdsd and asdv um and that's that's a learning curve for us but we have support from our blind VI teachers and death blind projects and so that's that's been going going well um each of those children teach us something every day um so if you could Advance the next I will tell you next slide next slide next slide okay I do want to mention the family support that FBC offers because this is available to All Families not just families that are enrolled at FBC they have many many different parent toddler groups um they have social events that families can and they they open it up to the state but obviously those in Maricopa County are the ones that most frequently going to to be there but they are a wonderful resource from birth to end of life in all reality they serve the whole Spectrum all right and then next slide and next slide I'd like to highlight some of the professional development efforts that we have put into place in the preschool programming um one is the pyramid model so we are embarking on a New Journey um working on uh honing in on those behaviors uh that we're seeing uh more and more kiddos with more and more severe behaviors and how can we reach those kids um how can we give our our staff strategies to um help make uh those kids as successful as possible um so the pyramid model is is kicking off right now as we speak uh we have our very first launch meeting um coming up next week so we're really excited about that uh we started the foundations for literacy it's a curriculum that's created specifically for de and heart of hearing students um it has a spoken language component and it has um an ASL signing component um so we've been I also have really fun data on that if you're interested if you like um we also been working on the um explicit contextualized vocabulary intervention with the UFA um and pairing that with our vocabulary strategies that we have been using over time um and coaching individual coaching is going to start happening with uh that ecvi very soon um and then uh there are many more uh but I just wanted to kind of keep it brief because I don't know how much time I have left but if you have any questions about more all the things that preschool is doing I would love to to talk more about that another time all right if you can dance the slide a few more next one yes that's correct thank you so improving efficiencies that's something that we are focused on doing we've been doing that all year um obviously for a number of reason reasons but to maximize our resources um to reach those kids across those 65,000 square miles in northern Arizona we need to be as efficient as we can in house um we have an incredible first to three um referral system that is overseen by Manuel giakomo and primarily Laura hawell but also Lisa ring and Melissa hoel and we also have um a few blind VI teachers that have stepped up this year Amy hakaba Dian Wells and Ali Scott to assist us in processing all of those referrals that come through 365 days a year even on Christmas New Year's Martin Luther King Day all of them um we are very excited about the request for participation that we started this year for campus preschool we've never had a formalized referral process for preschool on our campuses so now we're better able to track the number of children that that are considering our program we're able to track the length of time from referral to placement to see where we can improve in regard to that to get these kids in by three and then inhouse just a few things that that we're doing that help us move along more quickly in our day with some incredible admin support that also help us with travel requests purchasing requests and those are all the things behind the scenes that make el run and without without those folks it'd be very difficult okay um two more slides Advance okay implications um for implications all of this that we've shared with you today which again it we can go into much we can go into much more depth in a in a work study or oneon-one or in a small group if anyone is interested um but all of these things um let us know what it is that when looked at holistically give us an idea of where we are and where we need to go we need to continue to to to consider developmental milestones and make sure that our our children and families are supported to be able to reach those and make progress on an individual basis we have many children as I've shared before that are twice exceptional that come to us with additional disabilities and we are always improving ways to find um uh strategies to be able to reach them child find find is is another um initiative that we are working with asip aip's child find numbers are down um we are seeing later and later IDs um and whether that's going back to covid or the number of medical resources there there are no pediatric audiologists there may be one in all of Northern Arizona so that's going to obviously impact um the age at which those kiddos are identified um and then of course family support and we want to extend our family support we have amazing birth to three support but we'd really like to improve in preschool and work with FBC more to provide support for families with blind and low vision and um and then work with within our preschool programs with it tener and campus to provide better family support Beyond age3 can advance the slide and that is what we have today for you we can take whatever questions you have I have a couple um on the progress that you showed for us I I saw that the progress age was in months um any like rough median age for like actual age in comparison just to kind of give us an idea like where they started and where they ended real age if you there's one slide in birth to three and I think there's one in preschool as well um I don't know how to tell you to advance to it but I think you guys all have copies of this so if you go to the birth to three progress over time slide that has three rows of dayc 2 scores communication receptive language and expressive those are age scores right there so so so the aage the the age of the children at the beginning uh the the first test you have their average ages there by the time they took the second test and then time elapsed and the growth that they made within that with that with within that period of time we don't have scores um comparing them to their hearing or cited children um we don't okay thank you I appreciate the clarification and and also we our whole curriculum and assessment is all based on the Arizona early learning standards and so we follow everything we do is based on developmentally appropriate um growth for children um Michelle did you want to say anything else on that we can get those numbers for you if you do want uh typically developing peers um we can get those to you okay that I would be interested I ask a question that kind of Falls in line with that absolutely um my question is slightly related with the growth number do you have like what is expected growth like what what can I have a frame of reference for for this number like should we be expecting less than like in the specific chart you reference should we be expecting less than six and a half months of growth should we be expecting more typically like where does this where is this falling so it depends what they come in as if a child comes in preschool and they are say six months behind we're going to need them to double that growth in in in six more months and but we we definitely at least want to see them making a month's progress in a month's time or a Year's progress in a year's time that that's what would be expected thank you I have another question and then I'll open that up to everybody else as well um when we were looking at the numbers of teachers for both birth 3 and for preschool um you students per teacher ratio in some of those areas are very high how many unfilled positions do you have currently right now um we don't have any unfilled um dhh positions in northern Arizona we um we have other positions we've been approved for are filled I'm sorry in birth of three in northern Arizona and then in blind Pi we had one teacher just just retire and then we have another position that's opens so too thank you anyone else have any questions this is Gordon um looking at the uh okay um looking at the census information um I just want to make sure I understand it so region one is 66,000 square miles and and there are three teachers for the blind population that whole Northern Area correct okay I mean pretty daunting uh figures here for sure region two is basically Maricopa yes that's done by FBC correct and um that has about 9,200 now looking at Region Three the whole southern part of the state I heard a couple times saying there is no uh early services in FEMA preschool preschool yes I meant um but fbc's been mentioned several times what they provide here is it the position that they that vendors are needed in Region Three to provide the early intervention services or the bir to three I mean if there's and also that there was kind of a steady plane there well without any real Services that's gonna I don't even know how you read that but um go ahead fantastic question I'm so so glad you brought that up because we definitely need the board's support to be able to do that it's something that Annette and Orin and sha and myself and Michelle have talked about over the years our blind VI teachers down in Southern Arizona would love to see that happen um we've done some cost analysis um right now it's it's Fally would be difficult but we can look toward our partners as well to see if there are any opportunities there so we'll continue those conversations with the superintenden and gner any support that you can provide can I just add one thing um so blind and low vision children in Region 3 are receiving Services they're just not receiving them with us um they're receiving them in their home districts um in their District preschool programs and yes and with the itinerate program Region Three so thank any other questions yes this is board member Terry hi this is Earl speaking um I do have a question about your literacy program for deaf blind um low vision so when it comes to literacy we often think about reading and writing and those are great skills to have but obviously the other skill that we want to think about with our de blind students is protactile um and I know that time is of the essence in spe specifically this age range so are there any protactile curriculum or any resources that you're using in preschool um yes thank you for that question um for the specifically for the curriculum the foundations for literacy there's not a deaf blind component right now um however we are partnering with the protactile for kids um group they are here and they are working with our students um and working through interesting that that wasn't mentioned right I'm sorry should add yes going to be honest a lot of that falls under Jennifer scarrow's Department with de programs we wouldn't have the protactile team here probably if it weren't for Jennifer so thank you and they have been working with our birth to five families since Co um they braved going into homes back in 2020 and worked with um to to teach them protactile sign language to to use with their children so that is still going on today thank you for bringing that up any other questions or comments thank you ladies this was very informative okay moving on to 1.4 the call to the public for agendized items I have um two requests for agenda agendized items um the first one I have is for Elizabeth Rous hello hello superintendent rikman assistant superintendent katov and Cooper president kifil and board members I'm Libby Brouse Elizabeth brous preschool teacher and asdb president our agency is facing a 2.6 million deficit we have seen news articles with our school's future in question there's a mysterious audit being conducted looking into financial information about our agency staff have sent direct questions to our supervisors principes and directors those questions are being answered with I don't know yet I don't have that information it hasn't been shared yet rumors are beginning to start about layoffs hiring freezes and pay freezes there's confusion around what next year looks like for many staff here emails from our superintendent so so far have been vague questions about the specific budget items have gone unanswered transparency is lacking staff are feeling much like the Arizona legislative committee members that were left in the dark about the most recent vote to audit our school we are unsure and fear is growing I am here today to ask the board to vote to begin the process of developing an age policy as we Face such unsure times ah head asdb is looking to partner with our board and superintendent to help shed light during these un certain times we are not asking to be final decision makers just decision making Partners we are not looking to be the leader of the agency just to be recognized as the leaders we are we aren't looking for total power and control but we do think that those that need to find coverage to use the bathroom during the day should have representation at the decision making table we are looking to be a direct connection between board and staff a direct connection we are looking for that direct relationship so thank you for your consideration thank you uh the next I have um I am so sorry if I mispronounce your name is it AG swaka first of all thank you to our board for allowing me to come and make a comment and speak to you all first of all I have 20 years of experience with different school systems from age three months all the way up to K12 one thing that I've noticing over the six years that I've worked here is the number of students who are doing well um oftentimes those students they improve and then they leave pdsd which is sad um we have a high number of High need students and that number continues to grow and unfortunately the attention of our teachers is often diverted to those students and our high- performing students often leave the school due to those concerns they leave to other schools and so I want us and the board to think about how we as teachers can contribute and support our high academic performing students unfortunately we uh at pdsd have received a letter grade of D um I don't know if the difference between the Tucson c-grade and d-grade is because they have deaf adults in the dorms and receive language access continually whereas our day students do not have that luxury I would love to see some more representation when it comes to budget cuts um because we don't want to give up the things that have been supporting the Strategic plan and um we haven't had involvement with those budgetary cuts and instead there's a lot of fear and a lot of questions as to what's next I would love some support from the board of course if you have questions I would love to help answer and help brainstorm with how we can go forward with these budgetary Cuts thank you okay moving on to one .5 information item superintendent report superintendent rikan good afternoon president kifl members of the asdb board acting assistant superintendent katov assistant superintendent Cooper and ASB Community Welcome to our first January board meeting meeting of 2025 and I'm happy to see all of you here today I'm going to start with a short story about the American Bison some of you may remember this story which I shared with you maybe three or so years ago but I think it's a good story to repeat today the American Bison has a really interesting characteristic that I find fascinating that's because I grew up on a farm I was around a lot of cows and I know cow behavior when cows see a storm blowing in what do they do they run truly they absolutely Run for the hills they scatter the American Bison however does not do that when the Bison sees a storm coming they huddle together and they start running not opposite oos of the storm but straight towards it they make a beine straight into and through the storm think about that what happens after the storm blows away those cows someone else has to come after them and gather them back up bring them all back together and Resurrect The Herd or resurrect the system as it were however our buffalo have made it through that storm and they're still together that system is still intact they are able to just keep moving right along and take care of business that's a good reminder for us right now in the year of 2025 we are anticipating some storms some troubled times you've already heard from some of our community member our asdb staff who are deeply concerned about what is going on out and around asdb if we allow ourselves to run for the hills seek cover and Scatter asdb will surely falter we have to stick together we have to be United and we have to face that storm head on and go straight through it there is no other way to do this so we do anticipate some challenges coming at us one has already been mentioned and that is the forensic audit that is going to be happening with asdb this year why that forensic audit is happening we don't know what is going to come of that audit we also don't know we are not able to provide more information because we don't have it when we do have more information we will share it but at this moment we don't have any information we know that we don't have enough money to cover our expenses we have been honest and direct with the community about that fact we have projected a two .6 million shortfall we could have hidden that information but we chose not to we have shared that openly with you the board with the finance committee and with the asdb community everyone knows this it is not a secret how we address that shortfall is a little bit more complicated each of us of course of course each of us wants to make sure that our own program is not impacted does not have a reduction in funds does not have a reduction in Staffing of course we all want that I don't want a reduction in on anything either but if I am going to be a responsible superintendent then I have to make some difficult decisions I have to work with our leadership team and try to figure out what those decisions are that need to be made and try to minimize the impact to our students education and well-being that's our priority for us for all of you in the agency that is what we can agree upon that we want to ensure our priority as an agency continues to be our students education and well-being how we do that there may be some differences of opinion but we have to come together and we have to address this situation we have to ride through that storm we cannot hide from it so we also know um involved in all of that we have a shortage of qualified teachers interpreters and staff so how do we bring in qualified staff if we don't have enough money to cover those costs well that's a dilemma we are working on it but it does mean that the number of Staff um have to be in alignment with the number of students that we have we also know that the number of students that we have enrolled within a sdb has declined if we are going to be responsible stewards of our resources we have to look at our enrollment numbers and we have to look at our number of staff and we have to make sure that those two numbers align currently we are doing a realignment of the agency and trying to figure that out again the information that we have we have shared we've shared it with you the board we have shared it with our leaders and I just sent out an email today to our leaders saying that these are the decisions that we have made what is not there are the decisions that we have not made I don't want to tell people information and then have to say no never mind I don't want to cause additional confusion I want to be very clear in all of our communication about the decisions that have already been made and what's left know that we are working through it and we are making those decisions as quickly as we can when they are made we will share that information with the agency and then we can also talk about our facilities you just found out that the there's a water leak somewhere in this building that we are in right now so we had to close the bathrooms so board and community members have to go to another building during the break to go to the restroom and this is just one example of the deterioration of our buildings on both of our campuses Tucson and Phoenix we desperately need Renovations but we do not have the funding for those renovations and the state has made it very clear that we are not going to get that money to do those Renovations we have some really serious challenge ahead of us in 2025 so for us for you the board for the ASB Community for us to be able to think about our long-term sustainability as an agency we have to look at the resources that we have we have to figure out how to align those Resources with the funding that we have so that we can continue functioning as an agency and what we are doing here is critical to our students in the state of Arizona you just heard Dr Benedict during her presentation and Miss Ahern talk about the services that they provide throughout the State of Arizona no one else is doing that work we are doing that we have the best teachers providing the best support to our parents and to their young children and our children are making progress they are learning and that is solely because of the work that that department is doing we are committed to continuing that work but that also means that we need to plan for the future we need to take a hard look at the environment that we're in the resources that we have and figure out what we can do and do well so for you the board members you have a work study session coming up on February 13th and we will be giving a presentation about our budget we'll talk about how much we're bringing in how much we are spending so that you can learn more in depth about our fiscal resources and then on April 10th we are going to be providing you with the next strategic plan strategic plan 2.0 for 2025 through 2030 with your information about the budget and then the information we'll provide about the Strategic plan we will ask for you to work with us to figure out how to use our resources to support that next strategic plan you'll have an opportunity to look at that provide us feedback and then at the May board meeting we will ask you for approval of the next strategic plan we have a lot of work ahead of us this year but I am confident that we can meet these challenges we can do it if we stick together if we face that storm head on and we run right through it as a collective I also want to mention before I close my presentation that I am really proud of our teachers our staff our leaders over this last year 2024 we have had some challenges and they have stuck with us they have remained committed loyal professional and I truly believe that they are providing the absolute best education and support for our students across the State of Arizona I would not be asking for another contract for three years if I didn't believe that about my lovely community and everyone who works with ASB so thank you and I'm happy to take any questions you may have uh this is Earl Terry speaking um I did like the American Bison story that you told of sticking together through the challenging storm I do want to remind you that going through various storms can lead to burnout and can lead to uh negative consequences like people dying in a storm for example so I do want to say that that your communication style is fantastic but I do think that um seeing the presentation um I I from that presentation I've seen a lack of some frustration and a lack of trust in what is being conveyed um I would like to say that ongoing dialogue is very important we can't just say I don't know we need more information than that and do the best of that you can in filling in details because just saying that you don't know can lead to more mistrust in relationships and um act communication accountability communication and transparency I am very concerned about the communication style and the leadership style talking about uh numbers reducing and budget cuts Etc I understand those are concerns but I am also concerned about the communication style and I do hope that you have been taking account account of what the public has been staying um in terms of the age policy in terms of retention uh those are two important topics that I'm keeping an eye on since I joined in the summer in June uh and the various meetings that have been present that I have been present uh and part of I have not seen an improvement to be honest with you I do have a question and it might be better suited for the financial presentation but I'm going to ask it here um the budget deficit of 2.6 million is that all due to overe expenditure or is that in part and parcel because of the legislature cuts to the budget this is assistant superintendent Cooper um as previously mentioned on several occasions most of the deficit is related to the reduction in student enrollment increased costs with nursing um also with contracted transportation in addition to uh funding decline with the state's general fund Appropriations as well as the reduction since covid we received quite a bit of money when it came to co so a number there are a number of reasons that attri to the projected shortfall followup question on that um I lost my train of thought I'll if it comes back I'll ask it in the financial presentation I I do have one other um question for you superintendent rikman um in relationship to that forensic audit um I am under the understanding that we have not received any to date from either the external auditor or from the legislature um giving us any indication of what it is that they are looking for or what it is um that they are suspicious of I am happy to share the jlac meetings all of the details I went and was the legislative audit committee meeting and I shared I can share that but that's not going to give you any more information because during that meeting there was no information shared okay okay um I think that's all for now does anyone else have any other comments or questions this is Linda bo uh speaking of the same struggles the facil the facility struggles rather um in terms of student safety staff public who come to work at these facilities bathrooms being closed down um uh sanit sanitation issues um what is how is that going to affect students and staff and when are we thinking about uh safety concerns who's responsible for the student safety if the legislature or state refuses to support those needs where is that accountability and where do we stand in that regard so that's something I was thinking of in terms of Stu students staff and Public Safety coming to these facilities is that something that we can is there something that we can do we can talk about safety and sanitation concerns that there are significant issues that the state is going to have accountability for when safety issues do arise I'm not sure we regularly communicate with the Arizona Department of administration their building renewal Department we have provided an annual request thus far included with our annual request of our capital projects the state has very limited funding the building renewal department has to Prior prioritize which state facilities they are going to make Renovations and repairs to so Statewide we are just one state agency of many that are across the state and the facilities there're in that don't have enough funding to cover all of the needed Renovations and repairs so each year we do track a list and submit what we think we need to take care of with our two campuses and their facilities the building renewal provides some funding to us but most of the time it's not sufficient it's about 500,000 700,000 is within a year to help provide some of the repairs and the renovations have been put off and put off and put off and now we're at the point where the infrastructure of several systems are starting to degrade and we have to go back to the facilities renewal and get their assistance to take care of those issues so so far we have been okay not great but okay uh Shaina was there anything you wish to add yes in addition to that internally we have since I started in 2018 tried to build in a contingency for emergency related items when it comes to the agency's facilities um so that is something that we try to budget for when there are emergencies related to life safety issues um but again it's not ongoing sustainability and amounts to the funding that is needed to address all of the related facility infrastructure needs for both campuses Shaya can I ask a sort of a followup in regards to that um first of all the money that we've been asking for from the the building renewal Department as well as the contingency you are building in neither of those things were taking place prior to superintendent rikman and Shaya coming on to the agency is that correct the request happens annually and has all along but we've improved how we're submitting the requests both with Shaya Cooper taking the lead and Albert Duff when I was promoted to when he was promoted to director of operations he started taking on an improvement presentation for the building renewal because of his efforts we have been getting more funding and more report the last five or six years than we did previous to that thank you I appreciate that Clarity yeah this is um board member question this is board member Terry um a question related to the annual request for the building renewals um I'm hoping that that information is available to the public or if it's not available to the board could you make that information available to to us yes we can make sure that information is sent to each of the board members but it is also published this is Su I I would add that thank you um it's pretty clear in our financial meetings and in the budget um information in board docs but also the state asb's budget that they propose to the state every year is also public information it it's on the governor's website okay I I'm meaning more of the internal information because I don't see that information thank you for sharing though uh scort member beanan um I don't want to completely if this question completely derails what we're talking about we can not answer this but I do have a question relating to if we do have such a budget short fall um how that relates to our Master facilities plan and how that's going to relate to our Sunset audit because I believe that our Sunset audit that was our biggest issue was our Master facilities plan and if we're not compliant with that this is going to cause a Cascade we developed the Master's facilities plan in response to the 2022 Sunset audit every year we have made critical project committee crucial capital capital project committee review capital projects I think we have met the feedback from the sunset audit the challenge is is that we don't have the funding to do the major repairs the major Renovations on both campuses so as a followup to be clear is the the state understanding that we do not since they are not giving us those funds it's not within our ability to complete these projects to be completely compliant with this like how does this all like obviously I'm very concerned about our buildings and everything that's going on the safety to our students and everything like that but we can't uh you know you just can't make it up here and the state is what holds up this for us so I'm just I guess I just want clarification on how we're possibly looking at moving forward with that or um kind of mediating that or balancing that with the state well we have done everything that we can to address the findings and we have a beautiful Master facilities plan we would really like to seek private resources in order to fund that plan and do those major renovations if it all possible but right now we're not able to pursue any private resources um for the moment I would still like to do that within the next one to three years to figure out how we might be able to do that with the Arizona auditor general we have not gotten the 18-month uh report and that would be from the 2022 Sunset audit most Arizona auditor generals um what they when they do an audit a sunset audit specifically they do that initial audit they have their findings and recommendations and then they print a report which they give to the agency um and they also give that to the Slate State Legislature the state legislature decides to continue or not um the agency in 2023 the state legislature decided to continue us for four years the Arizona auditor general was supposed to do a six-month followup with us um um with an additional report that would be published as far as what we had done to comply with their findings and recommendations we have been actively working um with the Arizona auditor general to complete um fulfill the recommendations and findings and then after that 6 months um we continue to meet regularly with the Arizona auditor general and uh we they continue to follow up with us to ensure that we are implementing fully all of their recommendations from that original report the Arizona auditor general is supposed to publish an 18-month report stating what we have completed and what has yet to be completed however we have not gotten that 18-month report yet from the Arizona auditor General's office when we meet with them there is no information um they have not said we're not doing what they're asking or anything of the sort the only information that we're receiving um all of the information that we receive says that in fact we are completing everything that they've asked of us so as far as I know and verbally we've gotten confirmation that we have completed everything we just don't have that final written report from the Arizona auditor General's office will we get that report maybe maybe not I really don't know because now that joint legislative audit committee has ordered the Arizona auditor General's office to conduct an RFP to get a private firm to do a forensic audit of asdb and that is for unknown reasons then in 2026 our next Sunset audit will come up so now we are essentially blending that 2022 audit with the forensic audit with the upcoming 2026 sunset that audit again I don't have any information um I'm not able to predict what's going to happen with all of this uh thank you for all that that you kind of like set that out for us I appreciate your um transparency even if the state isn't always the most transparent with us and I just appreciate you your points of clarification on that thank you Annette are there any other hello we'll go with um board member um Earl hi uh the forensic audit that's happening soon have we not gotten an official black and white document from the people that you're meeting with can we ask for one we have gotten nothing we have gotten absolutely nothing or are we waiting for them to give it to us yeah we have asked we have gotten nothing the only reason that we even know that the forensic audit is happening is because Maria Murphy found out that we were on the agenda for the jlac committee and that was back in December and Maria and I decided to go because we didn't understand why our agency was on the agenda in the first place during that meeting there was no information or explanation provided as to why or what was going on um there was absolutely nothing shared thank you the only thing that happened was that um the committee voted and that vote was to give $2 million to the Arizona auditor General's office to conduct or to contract with that Outside Agency to conduct the forensic audit of asdb this is Gordon I don't really have a question but I do want to just put a perspective out there that um and this isn't in defense of anyone and without even a position as much as just an observation um you know what's occurring here at asdb is the same that's happening with every agency every not for-profit uh everybody's facing some severe uh Financial shortfall uh as Sha said said you know everything was propped up with Co money the last we're only really 2 and A2 years out of Co maybe two years people think that it's gone and that was it now maybe maybe the incidents of the infection have been reduced but the Fallout is still very present uh when it comes to uh student census when it comes to uh people participating in programs referrals a lot of the State uh government agencies are still working vir or mostly virtually uh it's that can work okay when you're working with um uh when you're in a shutdown virtual work kept things going uh when you're trying to segue that and have the Synergy of that with people on site uh that doesn't work that smoothly um you know I've been on the finance committee for I don't know many years now uh our reporting is as accurate and as up to date as we can possibly have it again I'm not defending anything right now I'm just saying this is what it's like out there uh having a contingency plan for emergencies is unbelievably expensive and particularly when you don't have when you have a shortfall all of a sudden it was going to say we're going to put 50,000 here we're going to put 50,000 there doesn't work that way in business Cycles you go through these types of things anybody has any tenure and I look around this table a lot of people have some tenure so this is what you deal with sometimes uh it's not a matter of not telling people what they want to know because you don't have answers you know the idea of this forensic audit believe me I understand this 100% that this came out of somewhere that they've got feel they got some teeth and they've allocated two million dollars but that doesn't mean they're going to tell you anything until they decide they want to and you can ask you can knock on doors Maria has a lot of good contact she would have the most upto-date information that would be passed on but she doesn't have it again third time I said it I'm not in defense of anything right here I'm just saying how it works and this is what it's going on right now uh ppb money small business administration money that pumped Millions into agency's budgets that's not there so all of a sudden you take that out and you know we go from a 100% budget to a 97% budget we're at what 26 projection that's about what 3% I guess you know or so yeah yeah three and a half percent or whatever um you know you put that in also you take into account that that inflation has been hard on everybody labor costs have gone way up but again with no income to support that those labor costs we put it together this is what we're dealing with in 2025 and I don't mean just ASB but this is what what the economic culture is and I guess I'm just saying so people understand this that as a collective everybody's trying to work for the same good cause and and the ultimate cause so that's what we deal with that's what everybody's dealing with and I understand for even people in the audience that's what you're dealing with too on a different way but it is a cycle right now and we can be you know running through the storm or what however you want to approach it but it's got to it's it's a complicated issue and it's going to take a lot of work and it's going to take a lot of time and it might take some pain because that's what happens in these kinds of things and you see where you can come out on the other side people don't want to hear that but that's how it is and I just want to put that out there because there is no lack of transparency here this isn't like well we're not going to tell them because you know sometimes you have to withhold until it's the proper time this isn't what isn't the case that's all Susan I thought you I think you had a comment um I may be overstepping my bounds here and as a new board member I'll I'll going to just go ahead and ask for forgiveness later um I happen to be privy and and basically speaking to those of you in the audience because I totally as a parent uh and as a recipient of the dedication and heart uh that teachers and staff uh put into helping my son get to where he is today I I see your fear I hear your fear and I too am very frustrated that we've got a senator who is not only uh not being transparent with our superintendent and with the board despite multiple requests there was a news uh brief from Phoenix that was held two weeks ago maybe that I happened to catch and is it okay if I talk about senators names and who we're talking about can I go ahead and say okay I'm looking to Michelle out there I'll just go ahead and repeat the what I heard on the news brief that we have a senator and Queen Creek Jak Kaufman uh who is the one who is actually bringing this to the Forefront with this mysterious audit and a $2 million uh request was passed and he has members on his own committee that do not know any information uh about this a it and they went ahead and voted for it anyway I don't understand that I'm a nurse I don't get it I'm also very plain spoken and feel like um Plain Talk is easy understood so I have no answer as to why we're not getting the information that we need or that our superintendent uh and that is not getting the information she needs our finance committee is not getting the information they need need to be able to address these concerns what I want you to know is that asdb has a very good reputation over the years I want to see us back where we were 10 years ago uh and I do think we are going to have to move through a storm and it's not only going to take your board members it's going to take you all as well uh holding hands and finding out why are we not being told what's happening why are we not why is the legislature by the way they work for us right we pay their salaries why are they not being transparent with us so that we can address these issues and get it all out on the cable for everyone so teachers staff thank you board members thank you um and if I've overed my events well you guys just have to forgive me and tell me later that I can't do this anymore thank you Susan any other comments or questions before moving on all right going on to 1.6 information item assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction report interim assistant superintendent catchup good afternoon board president kifil members of the board superintendent rikman assistant superintendent Cooper and the asbb community you all have my board report and I look forward to any potential questions similar to last year before the winter break all staff on the educational side of the agency were given the opportunity to provide Anonymous was it was called a two stars in A Wish feedback for their director or principal via a survey the purpose of this is to provide our leaders with formative data that they can use to continue doing what is working as well as find an area where they can continue to improve all the leaders have been given that information and have been sharing with their staff what their takeaways are from that survey unlike last year our big emphasis at this time is the asdb budget shortage and how that affects our plans for this year as well as next year Deputy assistant superintendent Rosie DEA Cruz superintendent rikman and I will be meeting with both principles separately in February to identify their scheduling needs for next year ensuring that the schools are adequately staffed while remaining fiscally prudent this will be based on both their student counts as well as individual student needs this week and next week we have been meeting with the leaders at both campuses and the preschools to ensure that we're maximizing billing for Medicaid reimbursement in hopes that that can help us close part of that budget deficit overall I do appreciate how everyone from the teachers to the leaders have been stepping up to try to find areas where we can cut back as well as areas that we might be underutilizing for creating Revenue as we navigate a challenging Financial landscape I am excited to see the grit and resilience in ensuring that we have continued success for our organization as you all know grit is defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals and I do believe that grit will be a key asset as we Face our current financial and fiscal constraints while the budget shortage does pose significant challenges it's not insurmountable uh I do believe that grit particularly in times of adversity can become an essential driving force if we try to harness IT staff and Leadership must stay focused on our long-term goals which ultimately are about providing services and education to our students we need to continue to focus and make sure that our we are spending on initiatives that that are most directly supporting our core Mission and our long-term stability before I close I would like to share some updates on the ELP itinerant services and our day schools in our itinerant Services we have been able to offer services to every District that we had on our waiting list we're officing we are offering services to every student that is referred to the asdv tenant programs we have inperson services for some students virtual services for other students and we are partnering with FBC for students who are referred to us from parochial schools that we are not able to serve as shown in Dr Benedict's presentation the ELP is excited to report on the progress of our infant Toddlers and preschool children across all of our programs the ASL parent and provider survey is underway as part of the identify services and improve capacity for children who are deaf and heart of hearing project which is made possible through a grant awarded to the ear Foundation of Arizona from the Arizona Community Foundation uh for more information on that Grant please feel free to reach out directly to Dr Benedict in practicing our operating principles of accountability collaboration and transparency asdb did get letter grades from the Arizona Department of Education this year this is the first time since becoming an Lea that ad has provided us with our letter grades as an Lea asdb received a letter grade of a c our Tucson campus also received the letter grade of a c as Agra pointed out pdsd missed a grade of a c by one4 of a point so not one point not a half a point but we missed it by 1/4 of a point we did did appeal that letter grade with the state board but that appeal was denied and I did share all that information with the pdsd staff uh this last Friday I'm I'm personally struggling with that we can't do anything to find 1/4 of a point but it is very clear that we've exhausted everything we can do and at this point it's just kind of accepting it and using that as a Baseline as we move forward as a point of reference I do want to share that gadets model Secondary School for the Deaf which is considered one of the better schools for the deaf in the nation received what would be equivalent to a c label by their state school's label designation and the only reason I'm sharing this is just a reminder that most State rating systems are not friendly to schools for the deaf and the blind no matter which state that they're dedicated or in what state they're they're located so for both campuses we will continue building upon supports that we currently have in place like tutoring tracking data on our students utilizing our instructional coaches in the classroom and identifying students who are close to moving up to the next level of proficiency as well as adding some additional supports as is ensuring that lesson plans are linked to State Standards spending more time with our students on understanding the practice tests so they know what these tests look like ahead of time uh as well as test taking strategies Arizona's letter grade system is a little bit complicated but if the board would like more in-depth information about it at a future board meeting I more than happy to to do a presentation on that through in closing the current budget shortage is undoubtedly a challenge but it is not one that we cannot overcome by leaning into the concept of grit perseverance passion for our mission and resiliency I believe that we will adapt innovate and continue to work towards our long-term goals as many have already mentioned in this meeting the upcoming months will require tough decisions but if we remain committed United and resourceful we will navigate this obstacle I'm open if there's any questions this is Linda B I do have a question um for the board members to understand what you mean when you made the comment that um programs are not friendly to De and hard of estate rating systems rather are not friendly to the the deaf and heart of hearing programs I'm not sure sure what specific word you Ed but you said not friendly to or does not align with or something along those lines what do you mean by that could you elaborate sure so for States who have some kind of rating system a lot of that does tend to be based on proficiency of understanding having being proficient to their standards um many of our students do come in below and we're trying to catch them up we also I think have a scenario where you know I'm trying to think of a specific term but I know for many words especially when you get academic terms teachers might be using different signs for what those terms me mean um on ad's test they do have Pearson that does some of the ASL translation which is wonderful and we appreciate ad putting that in recently um but a lot of times we do not get to see what those videos are prior so we don't know really the level of ASL that possibly some of those interpreters are using as well as some of those key words we might be teaching using a different sign and then when the kids you know click on the link to see the question in ASL it could be different based on is the person a professor are they based out of Pennsylvania are they based out of you know Colorado uh so I do think that some of those items which are hard for test makers to understand uh do make our kids and our our teachers have to try harder in my opinion okay you are right um tests do need to be developed differently in a way to accommodate uh deaf students based on the language that they use it's not English um they they're language tends to be ASL forward so trying to force them to fit into a round hole that metric is not it's going to be off at the same time because of language deprivation as well um in their childhood that also can cause issues with rating and also using differences in language but I mean as de people we do get used to and we do get used to adapting to various communication styles but not having a foundation due to language deprivation maybe because families don't sign or have not taken the time to do that or because they focused on the uh spoken language methods until uh later in their life and missed that critical language learning period um there's layers of issues um there's layers and there's also accountability that isn't taken at those different layers of uh decision making so you know we do appreciate the hard work of our staff and our leadership team as well it is impressive all the work that has has been done but we do have to look at the source of the problem first as well and take care and start working there and our our ELP program is putting a lot of uh language exposure to our very young children and that uh helps Stave off that language deprivation Factor and which is one of the elements that does skew those scores so looking at that it may doesn't make sense for us to be measured by those metrics and I tend to understand because of my own experiences my own lived experience right I have a family history I went to a a deaf school um but a lot of people don't understand those factors that are influencing this so that's where we have to kind of partner with and work together to come up with strategies and methods uh specifically pertaining to language acquisition um those were my thoughts in response to what you were sharing so I wanted to share those thank you thank you I do have a followup as well I'm not to oversimplify this but I'm understanding that this letter grade system is based also on um student achievement based on like State Standards testing those tests aren't normed for our kids either um they're typically normed for kids you know may not have a language um barrier may not have a cultural barrier may not have you know a variety of other barriers that are faced um in front of them and I think um while I know and I appreciate the fact that you guys did work work to appeal that degrade I also think that we're we're trying to climb uphill push that rock uphill um and the system is working against us as well my two thought my two sense thank you I I do want to say that again we do appreciate that asdb does invite us in now for some of the item selections for the testing uh the adding of ASL has has been phenomenal they've also been very open um when Michael olier looks at some of those videos and critiques them to taking those those comments to Heart uh in meeting with two state board people earlier in the week they do want to meet to get a better idea of who we are what we do and what are some things in the a through F model that might be unintentionally hurting us um that said though it does feel like there's there's more holes in the dam than there are fingers but you I just gave a big spiel about grit and so we will continue to to move forward and do what we can and not give up any other questions or comments thank you um it is now about 5:36 and I'm going to call for a 10-minute break to give our interpreters and our cart folks a little bit bit RIT and we will come back at about let's just say 550 to make it easy e e e yeah I'm ready when you guys are am I on not we will wait for the caption somebody's waving at you from the okay all right we are oh not we are not back hold on concern when one of our death board members are speaking the interpreters are blocking them is there a way we can all right I believe we are live we are going to um go back to uh or go on to agenda item 1.7 the information item for assistant superintendent of agency operation and support services assistant superintendent Cooper Welcome Back in person not hear good evening board president kifil superintendent rikan acting assistant superintendent catch off members of the board asdb community and staff members it's glad to be back in person um um although I've been virtual thank you each of the directors have provided their departmental reports and in summary the IT department continues to work on numerous activities including the firewall replacement on the Tucson campus and the Wi-Fi project on the Phoenix campus the student information system and data Integrity team continue to work on completing the reconciliation of the October 1st report for our azed data collection the transportation is working with ADOT on our Fleet transfers as a result of ASB no longer being exempt from the state's Fleet in addition the team is performing a midyear review of our Fleet utilization and will begin transferring lower mileage vehicles to our higher utilization drivers in order to directly allocate mileage across the feet excuse me Fleet the Food Services team continues to work with the two campuses along with our it Department to implement a barcode scanning process to improve the cafeteria line at the point of sale and the equipment has been received and we're working on Printing and distributing those student IDs in the upcoming weeks for business services the budget and financial report for November 2024 and 2023 will be provided separately under agenda item 4.1 and we were recently informed today that the fiscal year 2026 Governor's executive budget is being finalized and the state's office of strategic planning and budgeting has reached out to schedule a meeting with us next week with that said we should receive an update regarding the various funding issues that were subed in September which we were hoping to get funded and that related to our contractor transportation and one toone nursing Services the HR team have been involved in training and testing the new state of Arizona hris system called a360 and have been working through the Recruitment and Retention challenges the new system will launch in May 2025 and will impact all state employees we have been told that a 360 will be accessible to our blind low vision staff members which is currently not accessible and so this will most likely impact some of our payroll processes and HR processes in addition to the departmental reports I want to provide a brief update on the ongoing work to address our significant budget challenges and outline our next steps toward fiscal sustainability and as board member Gordon mentioned similar to other schools in Arizona and Across the Nation we are all aware of the challenging Financial realities many schools and organizations are facing specific to asdb as previously mentioned the shortfall last year and this year has been brought on by a number of factors such as the change in our Lea status declining student enrollment increase student support needs increase contractual obligations Rising operating costs due to inflation and a reduction to the general fund Appropriations and other Revenue funding sources inflationary pressures on our payroll benefits and services have outstripped our ability to reduce our expenses through attrition while our student enrollment and funding streams continue to decline in layman terms that means our expenses are outpacing our revenues which means we're spending more than we're bringing in last year we had a $1.8 million shortfall and as mentioned we're projecting A 2.6 million shortfall for fiscal year 2025 if no major changes to our spending occur the last few years we've had surpluses and a health healthy unrestricted fund cash balance which has helped to offset last year's shortfall however the balance is finite and will not last long if we continue to operate with the shortfall we will need to rely on that balance in the shortterm being careful not to spend it down significantly as we continue to try to build in emergency reserves making budget adjustments takes Precision so just filling budget gaps deficits or shortfalls isn't as simple as some people tend to think um and as I've mentioned on previous occasions a lot of our funding is restricted so meaning it must be used for specific purposes several of of our key stakeholders continue to review data metrics as superintendent wri MC mentioned specific to the agency's operations both fiscally and programmatically as we focus on finding ways to cut and balance the agency's budget for 2025 and the years that immediately follow as Acting Superintendent um excuse me as assistant superintendent kov mention we have received recommendations from agency staff and have identified spending reduction measures to help cut day-to-day operating expenses to ease some of the budgetary pressure that we've all received ideas on as well in in addition to increasing our Revenue so we've received recommendations on how to increase revenue streams as well as how to reduce the budget The agency's Current financial status future outlook and spending reduction measures have been shared with and communicated to educ staff to ensure that we're able to process through them and some of those spending reductions have include reducing travel Transportation professional development we're monitoring strictly more purchases for materials supplies and equipment and we are looking at ways to reduce our payroll as you all are aware more than 80% of our budget is earmarked for salaries and benefits which typically Impact Staff um so with that said Staffing levels are being reviewed as previously mentioned and being spare headed um by our Deputy assistant and assistant um to align our enrollment with student count as we also look at vacated positions we're trying to address that through attrition and trying to determine if those positions should be refilled or eliminated the next couple of months will be emotionally hard and difficult as we make these decisions but it's necessary um I know we all have a range of emotions we continue to hear about that whether it's anger sadness frustration that's normal and expected and I feel those same emotions as well I wish I could say things would be a little different but it is my responsibility to work with the superintendent to ensure we as an agency are fiscally responsible despite the challenges we all are facing our reality is we need to focus on our students and when we continue to look at additional reduction strategies to both address those immediate and short-term long-term Financial Health we're doing that equitably across the agency so not just the education side but also the agency operations and support services as well trying to make sure that we minimize the impact on our staff students our services and our programming whether it's funded or not regarding transparency financial information has and continues to be presented in the various fiscal reports that are published and discussed at the financial committee meetings and as a reminder prior to my start in 2018 the agency did not have fiscal data staff are more than welcome to send specific questions to the team and I and whenever possible we do our best to answer those questions but to be honest the six years I've been here I think I've only received a handful of questions I know this is a time of trust building and I want to reiterate I am committed to continuing to share information in a timely and transparent manner when available as we work together and find Solutions so where do we go from here I encourage everyone to consider what you can do to ensure the future of our students and ASB what it will take to balance our budget restore our financial health and create a sustainable path forward together we'll work through these challenges as we've all pretty much had the same message today and continue to prioritize the needs of our students family and staff and that wraps up my report and I'm open to answer any questions or address any comments thank you any questions for Shaina thank you I appreciate before moving on I do want to mention on record that um Susan Singler left but we are still meeting Quorum moving on to item 2.1 action item approval of the consent agenda consistent with board policy to include items 3.1 5.1 5.2 6.1 6 .2 7.2 7.3 and 7.4 I am open for a motion board president Kel this is board member Bo um I have a a question for you so these this consent agenda that's has multiple items that's all been lumped together so to speak is there a way that we can single out items um for example the BAC agreement those are fairly consistent uh the district agreements those are fairly consistent that we get those regularly um teacher contracts donations there's a lot in this consent agenda how could is there a way we could better organize this so in the agenda and it might be because of the new diligence system in in the agenda they are listed separately after the consent agenda so if you go through the other points of the agenda those are in there and explains a little bit more and some of them do have um yes attachments thank you um so they are in the agenda um if you if there are any that you would like to pull and look at and vote on separately we can do that as well I would need a motion for that though um this is board member banon I'll make a motion to uh accept all of the items on the consent agenda I have a motion do I have a second second board member Gordon seconding that all those in favor to approve the consent agenda items as listed please say I I I I I opposed hearing and seeing none the motion carries moving on thank you a point of order a question is there a way that we can organize this differently or better or a way to make this accessible separate these out that's just a point of feedback um to have them all lump together is quite difficult to access I will um speak with Leticia and see if there's a way we can organize this in a different way thank you moving on to agenda item 4.1 information item Finance report Kim bitr Director of Business Services good evening board president kipo superintendent reichman assistant superintendent C Cooper acting assistant superintendent kaccha did I get it right members of the board ASB Community you've been provided with our most recent board report that covers financial data for November 2023 and 2024 this data was covered in more detail at our most recent finance committee meeting held on Thursday January 9th with board president kifil board member Gordon superintendent rikman and assistant superintendent Cooper the total student count provided in the board report for December 1st 2024 shows 1932 students compared to 2,178 students as of July 1st 2023 that's the total decrease of 246 students When comparing to December 1st 2024 student count to November 1st 2024 of 1945 there is a decrease of 13 students Tucson campus increased by two pdsd decreased by two preschool has increased by five birth to three has decreased by nine and the region have decreased by nine as of December 1st we had about 514 full-time employees full-time equivalent which includes 8.5 full-time equivalents at FBC foundation for blind children at that time we employed 733 students there were 114 vacancies across the agency at that time since then we have removed positions that have been opened and posted for more than a year and we are reviewing all positions that have been opened for less than one year the highlights of the November 2024 financial report shows the revenue of 15.2 million was 44,000 lower than the November 2023 revenue of 15.16 million the major different difference is the decrease in the general fund spent year-to date offset by an increase in the voucher revenue and the classroom site fund Revenue these are both based on the student count since we are vouchering earlier this year we have received These funds earlier than we did at this time last year the budget fiscal year 2024 obligated expenditures of 27.6 million were 1 million less than the budget fiscal year 2025 expenses of 28.6 million the increases are in payroll and employee r related expenditures of 2.3 million this is partially due to salary increases given to staff as well as step increases for teachers and related services staff to match their years of service this is offset by a decrease in the other expenditure categories travel and Equipment are decreased as part of budget cruts food service is down as a result of fewer students we are spending more non-appropriated funds this year specifically the classroom site fund and the Medicaid reimbursement funds to the extent allowable um this concludes my report and I'm available for any questions any questions thank you so much thank you here where I about recruiting more board members for the finance committee even if you are not ready to join it formally you could always sit in and learn a little bit more and I would encourage that okay moving on to agenda item 6.3 discussion and possible action item education organizations at asdb all right um so we were going to have a presentation and what I will say is that there are minor differences very much nuanced differences as a state agency as far as having um a meet and confer policy one of the biggest is utilizing St resources which could be staff time um agency equipment um access to emails Etc um I I do I would like to move into executive session for additional legal consultation um if so I'm going to go so move that do I have a second second I have a motion in a second to move into EX executive session all those in favor say I I opposed hearing none you get to read your first to ARS 38-43 1.03 A3 the board may vote to go into executive session which will not be open to the public for discussion consultation for legal advice with the board's attorneys as it relates to this item so we will adjourn to Executive session at 6:13 which direction are we going e e e back everybody thank you for your patience um we're resuming the open meeting at 7:07 p.m.

hello clockers it is good to be back with another segment of waca news blog my name is hi silver and today I'll provide you with a quick update on the latest happenings in Ashland as highlighted in the town manager newsletter a priority project update the downtown project cold weather has paused phase two of the downtown project but over half of the underground conduit work is complete Crews aim to finish by early spring with dagel electric handling final utility connections the streetcape is nearing completion in bringing the vision for downtown closer to reality Municipal closures for MLK Day Town Hall the library and Community Center will be closed on Monday January 20th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day 2025 dog licenses dog licenses are now available register your pet by April 15th to comply with state law fees vary and seniors can register their dogs for free third quarter tax bills tax bills are due by February 3rd contact the treasur office with any questions the annual Town census return your 2025 census forms promptly to avoid being marked inactive on the voter list forms are mandatory but do not register you to vote open air burning season burning permits are allowed starting January 15th fires must meet safety guidelines and only brush is allowed the open space and Recreation plan take the osrp survey to help shape ashen's open space and Recreation priorities visit the town website for more details Town M manager coffee hours meet Town manager Michael Herbert for coffee and conversation on the third Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m.

hello clockers it is good to be back with another segment of waca news blog my name is hi silver and today I'll provide you with a quick update on the latest happenings in Ashland as highlighted in the town manager newsletter a priority project update the downtown project cold weather has paused phase two of the downtown project but over half of the underground conduit work is complete Crews aim to finish by early spring with dle electric handling final utility connections the streetcape is near in completion bringing the vision for downtown closer to reality Municipal closures for MLK Day Town Hall the library and Community Center will be closed on Monday January 20th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day 2025 dog licenses dog licenses are now available register your pet by April 15th to comply with state law fees vary and seniors can register their dogs for free third quarter tax bills tax bills are due by February 3rd contact the treasurer's office with any questions the annual Town census return your 2025 census forms promptly to avoid being marked inactive on the voter list forms are mandatory but do not register univ vote open air burning season burning permits are allowed starting January 15th fires must meet safety guidelines and only brush is allowed the open space and Recreation plan take the osrp survey to help shape ashen's open space and Recreation priorities visit the town website for more details town man manager coffee hours meet Town manager Michael Herbert for coffee and conversation on the third Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m.

welome to alcat um on the mic today it's GNA be BR Martin and Gracey Grace reporting live in this one we have the minog Falcons against the long East long metal Spartans East metal coming in with a four and five record Mina coming in at 6 and four as we get set to jump and Esa me takes it number four dishes inside gets blocked they fight for the ball and they can call foul on number 35 little physical start this this [Music] one number 10 on the Falcons brings the ball down the floor they they're going to kick it around to the [Music] corner set back up top he's play own he's going to pop it from Deep doesn't get the friendly Roll rebounded by number 35 on the [Music] Spartans number 14 has the ball he's driving inside kicks it back out number four number 35 has it inside trying to post him up down low it gets a bucket to go the first Basket in this [Applause] game again Esa met a playe a [Music] z it's swinging around they go all the way across the floor to the corner right back up top number 10 top of the key three no good Esa meow has it on a fast break H inside of number four and a foul he's got a chance for a three-point play first free throw is no good and is stolen on the play by the Spartans again they got another two-on one dis inside no good rebounded by minog Josh daa down low miles cus is driving down the lane kicks it back out MIT is going to reset they're to swing it around to Miles catching Sho off the back iron hea's going to slow this one up SP have been looking good with their defense so far in this game indeed they have and out of bounds MOG [Applause] basketball miles has the ball at top of the key the condition inside to Josh daa try to get down oh but it's stolen number four bringing the ball down the court number 14 has it he tries almost gets fouled and number four takes it back on the offensive rebound six nothing start for the Spartans Ball's out of bounds out basketball Spartans with a 60 run I mean what do you expect they're doing great ferocious defense they're playing together they're using their they're talking it's what you want to see for sure and it's a stolen Again by guy by number 14 number 13 thought about shooting it he said take it back to the corner on a given go Euro can't get it to fall miles Fergus on his fast break opportunity for minog mil C the shoot from the top of the key and gets it to go the ends the six nothing run from the [Applause] Spartans number 35 russing with the basketball and they're going to call the foul then bound to number 35 gets fouled as it goes up he'll be shooting two free throws first free throw [Laughter] Falls the key to winning this game is making your free throw set the free throw line Brendon McLoud has been really good with that lately out to JX as he thises the second M trying to get some ball movement on offense his Zone looks like it's playing into them quite a bit miles driving takes it all the way back out to the corner he bring it back to Miles top of the key no good Brendon with the rebound and they're call it jump ball MOG [Music] possession the B to Josh he kicks it out to Miles he drives floater cannot go Brandon M with rebound number four on the Spartans KS out to number 25 they're going to call a play here 24 is going to shoot it from the wing no good B go out of bounds staying with the Spartans the kick it inside to Brandon he gets fouled on the way up what they're going to call it on the floor little questionable call as they saying he's on the floor oh and a careless pass takes away by miles miles spins and gets it to [Applause] go Spartan still up two with three minutes to go left in the first quarter the Spartans have been doing a great job on getting open and moving to the ball 25 catches shoe from the corner can't get it to the fall miles spargus with the rebound pick it the inside and this is going to stay minog basketball I went out of bounds the spans are going to be helping out their star Brandon [Music] McLoud motw gets it inside on the inbound can't get a fall but number two puts it back up and in all of a sudden it's a tied game here in the first quarter number 24 driving kicking number four is driving he's got open number man number 13 short rebound met Miles trying to race down the court they're going to slow this one up miles kicks it to top of the key kick it to the corner that threee can't fall and the rebound by the Spartans 24 gets blocked as he tries to float it in Miles Ferguson driving locked number 14 with the rebound they kick up the floor and number 24 gets the bucket to fall it is stolen on the play by number 14 euros gets it to thr Billy Delaney with that sweet move that's a nice move met to kick it out swing the ball around number five catch and shoot too much Spartan's basketball number four takes the ball up to four looking for a man 24 he's going to pull for mid-range 30 seconds left in the period miles thought about shooting it takes it back they're going to swing it around catch it sh from the wing too much and number five on Min throws it away with 10 seconds left Spartan still ahead in this game but ch's catching up number four he got five seconds I think got to make a play they Cates the corner catches youo at the buzzer and gets it to go what a shot es BTO ented on a seven nothing run e the spart are going to start this one off with the ball Spartans look good in that 70 run hopefully they can do that again yeah they did really look good at the end of the half there were 24 too short on the three rebound minut [Music] a they're going to slow this one up number 30 with the ball they're going to kick it around the three-point line number 24 gets his hand on it patch sho from the left wing gets it KCK oh number 20 with his first bucket of the game for the Falcons they're going to swing this one around get it inside Brandon can't hit to fall again Mets racing up the floor catch and shoot for the left wing no rebound Spartans number 24 driving try to get to Brandon he eventually gets it number four with a great cut gets fouled no shoot two at the line [Music] number four too much on the [Applause] first as you said before free throws do win the game hopefully the Spartans can get their free throws in yeahuh too much on the second medock racing down the floor they're going to get it inside and they're going to catch and shoot from the left wing no but rebound offensive rebound by the Falcons no that way can't go but number 20 gets to go for the second [Music] try the strong start to the end of the half and the first quarter there is now what was caught back oh number 20 with caros with the basketball go fast break to the Falcons pass it up met on their own 7 nothing run number 14 Cano to the basketball and the head coach has seen enough and F timeout the Spartans with careless passes they have the bad consequences of having chog up 16- 14 [Music] [Applause] [Music] e e [Music] a strong answer end of the first quarter by the Spartans has now been nullified by a strong 10 nothing run by the Falcons here to start the second and the sparts going to call out a [Applause] play Spartan's just passing the ball around good ball movement number 14 kicks it out to number 24 drives blocked two on the play Billy tried to make it in Mina catch and shoot from the corner got it at 21 with his first basket of the [Applause] game m a full court press it's stolen miles Fergus gets it to go MOG out of 14 nothing R Brandon driving can't fall Hits it again it's fouled head coach Mike Ork on the sideline of medog not happy with that call First free throw can't [Applause] [Music] fall the Spartans definitely need to do better on their careless passes they got to make sharp passes MH too careless with the basketball ball what a rebound by number four but he gets called for a travel coach J is not happy about that [Applause] [Music] [Applause] call M Johnson call a play swing it around catch a shoot from the right wing number 30 no number 21 with the offensive rebound he gets it back but it's blocked but a late foul call on number four Falcons will shoot two [Music] first free throw can't fall a lot of these games are made and died at the free throw line Brandon with with the rebound for the [Applause] [Music] Spartans sparts to see more movement as lbl players are just standing around here go cat a shoot number 13 deep three can't go miles bringing the ball to four and there so down Spartan still a good with their zone defense but it's not enough here we go number four at the top of the key in and out with the [Music] rebound there get it inside of brandom to Cloud his his shot can't go number 21 with the [Music] rebound lots of overhead passes and those aren't the smartest passes you can do yep miles Corner three no another offensive rebound no Spartans do [Applause] recover a reach in there by number four on the Falcons with just over three to play Falcons up seven [Applause] sparts are going to call it a [Music] play almost a back court and it's stolen three on two miles gets fou on the way up F will shoot too and Miles get the first one to fall bringing the lead to eight the second one Falls and the Spartans drought continues number 14 with a nice underhand layup but they can't fall loose ball out of bounds Spartan's ball they get to Brandon on the three-point line he's trying to make a move on Josh daa that one is deflected out of bounds Spartans ball again with 18 on the shot clock they get it inside on the rebound and they get the number 14 gets the basket the ball [Music] met trying to call a play two Kess with the basketball out of bounds Spartans ball the Spartans have been getting the ball definitely from turnovers yeah some are unforced Spartans gotta be careful of the press [Music] though [Music] 24 is Mal and the head coach calls the timeout 159 to go left in the first half Spartans down seven that all right 159 left to go in the first half Spartan just had a great pep top from coach aad mhm let's see if this pays off oh it's stolen and they get up to miles miles gets blocked what a block number 14 with another block and a foul going spart way there's Spartan's ball right there that right there is the type of energy that you need after that great block lots of energy just sparked up from from the Spartans metot continues to press and they're gonna swing this one around Brandon one-on-one with Josh down low he gets blocked on the way up loose ball metog receives it number 30 driving euros and gets it to [Music] go nine-point game left that ball is deflected out of bound Spartans basketball SPS get it in bounds just over a minute left in the first half 14 kicking it out the three-point line number 24 is wide open and sinks it three the Falcons racing up the floor number 30 throws it away over back another turnover forced by the Spartans defense sparts get it in number 24 driving and he gets it to go here comes the SPs comeback a quick five nothing spurt in the last 10 seconds now it's a four-point game trying to call a play [Music] under 20 seconds left remaining in the first half 10 seconds on the shot clock open three from the corner No 5 seconds left Brandon with the rebound number 24 driving gets it to go a seven nothing spurt in the last minute of the half Spartans only down two now breaks it to a two-point game at the half we'll be right back e e e St all right everyone welcome back to alcat the Spartans ended on the first half on a seven nothing run they're down two to the Falcons medock will start out with the ball miles gets open in the corner too much on that one rebound number [Music] 14 they're swinging this one around get it inside Brandon he's going to shoot it on the outside Brandon is [Applause] good cloud is definitely a sharp shooter his first three of the game goes and the Spartans reclaim the lead to start the second half met to swinging the ball around the three-point line kick it back out number 10 top of the key no Brandon with the rebound Brendan McLoud is an all-around player rebounds passes shooting defense especially inside again the rebounds they it back to Brandon he goes up can't get it to go but number 30 can't get the rebound stays Spartan's [Music] ball and the inbound too careless with it gets stolen gets an inside number two can't can't get to fall Spartans get the rebound Tom Rodriguez pushing gets blocked by miles miles Fergus with a huge rejection there miles Fergus and the foul he's got a chance at a three-point [Music] [Applause] play miles for Fergus has also been an all-around player he is the leading scorer for the Falcons on the season D Rodriguez picks up his dribble kicks out to number 13 they get back to Dom he's getting double team from the corner no reset number 14 drives and gets fouled on the floor number 10 with [Music] push they inbound it number 14 puts it up too strong number two on the Falcons with the [Music] rebound 30 driving and hits the floater Falcons now up [Music] four Tom get face guarded by number 10 on the Falcons that one almost stolen 14 kicks it out to the corner to number four he drives almost gets it the B po shoot well look the Spartans have been shooting but not all their baskets have been falling there's nothing really you can do about that first free throw Falls [Applause] you have Shane Gray coming in the game he's subbing in for Billy Delany second free throw doesn't fall Brandon to cloud with the rebound that one goes out of bound stays Spartan's ball Josh diesa coming in the game for the Falcons BR M Cloud gets it to [Applause] go big boy basket there miles Fergus unguarded and the foul he's got a chance at another three-point play and that free throw go is good Spartans getting full core pressed by vog number four gets it inside the Brandon Brandon trying to go up strong but Josh Visa with a great defense causes the jum ball it'll stay Spartans basketball on the inbound they get it to Brandon he goes up too strong rebound [Applause] Falcons going to swing it around looking for open shot good ball movement here too much dribbling by number 30 is taken away by the Spartans number 13 open Catch and shoot Too Short rebound though goes out of bounds State Spartans ball [Music] they almost get the 5sec call but Josh Jesus SS it out of bounds stay Spartans basketball [Music] number 13 gives us to number 14 the SPs have been been looking good with their zone offense but it's not good enough minut a jog miles Fergus with the Euro Step on The Fast Break SS it to a six-point lead for the Falcons number four is get around Dom with a three short rebound THS miles going to take this one too short Tom Rodriguez on the fast break open three in the corner and he sinks it three-point game now with 3 15 left to go in the third quarter Josh daa can't get it to fall he gets gets the rebound number 34 sinks the [Music] three huge bucket for the falc BR McLoud driving contact on that drive kick out to open three no good box out from Josh daa the Spartans seem exhausted they look like they're Gass not enough energy other than like middle and they are call foul on the arm on the Spartans and the Falcons will shoot too that one looked a little questionable from up here but the saw arm contact and they called the foul [Applause] first free throw can't [Applause] fall second free throw is good brings it to a seven-point lead for now from the Falcons Falcons continuing their full court press driguez with the basketball billy gets it to Brandon inside for the [Applause] [Music] team men is going to slow it up play Josh diesa gets down low nice back door cut number 24 brings it back to a seven-point lead spart almost had trouble inbound the ball there Tom Rodriguez gives it to Billy but he stretch before he can go up Josh dies on The Fast Break he fights but he can't get to fall Coleman Rivero loses the Basketball contact down low no no call and the Falcons tip it in it's a nine-point lead they call timeout and the coach is not [Applause] happy e all right back out of the timeout 127 to go Spartans down nine the full court press is giving them some trouble and they need an answer for it Billy's going to shoot at top of the KE six number four from the top of the key BRS to a six-point game miles pass it down low number 24 goes up he gets fouled fouls up Brandon McLoud first free throw Falls just under a minute to go in the third quarter and second three throw Falls number 24 on the Falcons is proving himself on the free throw line bringing it to an eight-point lead [Music] [Applause] [Music] while the Spartans are moving around in the zone they're moving their feet now Brandon Falls and is fouled push two that was a hard fall from Brandon right there he's getting up slowly but I think he's okay [Music] gotta also think he's exhausted he's been playing hard out here tonight that's for sure and on the loose on the loose balls diving on the deck this first free throws short [Applause] Coleman Rivera checks into the game Brandon second free throw can't fall about a 4se second difference between a shot and game clock look like they're GNA play this one slow just moving it around the [Applause] perimeter 8 seconds to go on the shot clock m still swinging around from 25 fet out he's going to shoot it short they got four seconds to go Dom puts up a prayer no good 45 37 Falcons lead on the Spartans one quarter to go [Music] I eight minutes still left to go in this one Falcons still hold a eight-point lead on the Spartans sp's playing Zone at this point seems like MOG just milking the clock yeah they get to the corner swing it back out getting inside the Josh he gets blocked Billy Delaney on the Block right there stays metog basketball 10 seconds on the shot clock and they're calling offensive foul this one goes on [Music] Josh full court press from minog they back off some off Ball moving here picks up his dribble gives it to Brandon McLoud McLoud trying to get it to number 13 but the ref is going to say it was tipped stays Spartan's ball Med bench does not like that one he's barking at the ref right now that's for sure yeah they were not a fan of that call they call a foul on Miles Fergus on the push second team foul man C chokes is still barking yeah especially their assistant over there on the side by number four driving gets blocked by Josh he was on the Baseline stay Spartans basketball inbound to Brandon McLoud it's stolen away by Josh miles gets it down number 34 in the corner too short number 24 on offensive rebound Milesburg is driving it can't get it to go he's fouled though or shoot two oh that he's not going to shoot you he's on the [Music] floor Billy Delany is getting subbed out for Coleman Rivera Ben inbounded the ball they're going to swing it around the perimeter looking for any way to get into this zone defense number 24 shoots hits back iron hits the top of the backboard out of all Spartan [Music] ball full press from minog number 13 get it to number four Brandon McLoud inside spins puts it up no good rebound Falcons [Applause] [Music] MOG slowing this one up knowing they have the lead M Fergus driving he's fouled on the way up number four gets called miles Fergus will shoot too their second team foul first free throw [Applause] Falls and Miles sinks the second the Spartans need to get it to get out of this press D Rodriguez driving gets fouled almost gets to go pushu two if the Spartans want to come back I think it's have to come through Don Rodriguez their leading score his first one goes and the second free throw Falls as well there's Dom Rodriguez doing his magic miles Fergus floater no good but he gets his own Miss and he's fouled another on the court foul that's their third 538 to go Spartan's down eight he get to the corner number 24 Corner three [Applause] goes bringing the lead to [Music] 11 Tom Rodriguez driving gets to go tough bucket number 24 driving blocked and number two with offensive rebound time out [Music] Spartans e 509 left to go in the game Spartan's down 11 and men not choosing to go for court press Dom's going to call [Music] play Don pubs shoots scores another tough basket for Don Rodriguez as you said it before they're going to get their points from Don Rodriguez that's the key if they want to come back number 30 catch and shoot too strong and it hits a shot clock Spartans basketball 430 left to go Brandon's wide open down moow it was blocked by jge number two on the Falcons Milesburg will slow it [Applause] up catcher shoot Corner three good what a shot bringing in the lead to 12 Tom M get C he's going to pull up from three that one's no good this one might be getting Obey from the Spartans stop going to slow it down Ed stolen but Billy Delaney was out of bounds Falcons B with 15 on the shot clock Josh daa on the end B shoots from the free throw line no good and he's going to push up Billy Delaney drives circus shot is fouled that was a crazy move right there would have been a dream if he made that in but he got felled on the play looks like some words exchanged there from Billy Delaney and Josh dies he's shooting [Music] two no good on the first no good on the second that one rebound by Rivera but it's quickly stolen [Music] timeout Falcons coach or is want Falcons one over 317 to go e [Music] all right 317 to go fourth quarter fet up [Music] 12 Josh has it on top of the key and is fouled by D [Applause] that's their fourth team [Music] foul miles holding the ball he gets switched miles driving can't get it to fall but he gets his own Miss Billy Delaney with the steal and he gets to go looks like they try to dunk that one so close so close 10-point [Applause] game MOG chewing clock here number 30 is driving loses the ball sparton [Applause] ball he can't believe the call but spart basketball here 228 to [Music] [Applause] [Music] go Doms GNA give to Billy kicks it out to Coleman Rivera Doms catch a shoot top of the key no Brandon McLoud with the rebound blocks stay Spartan's ball D on the ball number 13 catch a shoot and that one's good Jack sarini knocked that down and they're going to intentionally foul here their fifth team foul looks like that was strategy there from the Spartans they're going to play the foul game that first a free thr [Applause] [Music] Falls second goes nine-point lead for the Falcons that inbound goes from pay wire Jack Sur is wide open Dom in the corner no nice rebound and they called a timeout that looked like it was going to be Spartan's ball nine-point lead e [Music] 155 left to go in the fourth quarter the Falcons hold a nine-point lead and the sparts will be inbounding tough pass try to get inside out of bounds Spartan's ball right now the Spartans need some Dom Rodriguez magic they do they need to move on the inbound and they call a hold on 10 and the Falcons and Dom will shoot two at the line his his free throw [Applause] Falls and the second doesn't go but Billy delini with a tough offensive rebound and he gets fouls M's upset with that call this is where free throws come crucial these late game situations coach Abad on the sideline trying out a play really can't s the first coach oric on the Falcons screaming he wants them to box out that's for sure and the second free throw Falls sepa point game spar's doing a full forward press looks he walks and he does a travel huge turnover there 146 to go timeout Falcons Spartans only trolling by seven this 146 left to go in this one Spartans ball on the inbound drop a playay screen Dom drives kicks out Rivera three no number two with the rebound but he loses it Spartan's ball crucial errors from the Falcons here late keeping the Spartans in this one those mistakes make a big game give it inside to Brandon he puts it up looks like he was going for a foul they don't call it and Dom fouls number two he'll shoot two number two in and out on the first stays a seven-point game and the second is off back iron Spartans rebound try to [Music] push Tom has it here set a screen he's a pull up oh oh so close almost got to go to Falcons rebound miles is fouled by Coleman Rivera miles will shoot too miles too short on the first one as you said before these little free throws make a huge difference they do miles gets a second one to fall eight-point lead now for the Falcons 114 to go don breaks the ball up the court he drives he's looking for a foul it doesn't get it miles is fouled Again by Coleman Rivera they're just trying to stop the clock with every chance they get [Music] miles get his first free throw to fall and the second goes 105 to go 10-point game Tom almost loses his dribble now travel and they're going to call a walk he dragged the pivot foot full court press another foul [Music] number three on the Falcons SS the [Applause] first 54 seconds remaining left in the game whoa they're going to call no shot all three players went into the paint before he shot that was weird so they're call free throw lane violation no bucket looked like the player almost pump fakes and faked the players out into going into the paint right there Tom needs help number 13 top of the key sinks it Jack sarini with the three eight-point lead for the Falcons 4 43.1 left remaining [Music] C for all right 43.1 left to go falcs inbound to Miles he has foued by Tom Tom held on to him for a second making sure he got that foul also makes sure he doesn't fall miles get the first to [Applause] fall a lot of free throws being shot late here and he gets the second one to go 10-point lead 40 seconds left Dom Rodriguez driving gets fouled and got the bucket oh shoot one th sinks the free throw seven-point game on fouls 30.1 left remaining his first free throw Falls for number 21 second short but the offensive rebound goes to Josh daa at this point MOG will drain the clock yep another foul here another for Coleman Rivera miles will shoot [Music] two his first Falls and and the second one Falls as well 10-point lead for the Falcons 25 seconds left trouble inbounding stay Spartan's ball number 21 with great defense right there Billy yelling at his teammates to get [Music] open they get it to go to Dom lots of misun miscommunication from the part Dom's going to drive get the bucket M will send it down the court and they's going a foul with 9.5 remaining and this one is going to be looking like a Falcons Victory eighto lead n and a half seconds to remaining number 24 SS the first [Applause] and the second one Falls n and a half seconds remaining D to bring the ball up give it to Billy Billy's going to shoot the three short Josh be with a rebound and that will do it a 68 58 victory for the [Music] Falcons is Falls to four and six on the season medock to seven and four next Spartans game will be on Tuesday we will see you then good night y'all [Music] good

Board of at business meeting to order on January 16th Mr jinsky roll call please here here thank you please join us in the pledge of allegiance to flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation Li and justice for all all right welcome back you to so next item would be our student reps Lydia and Malachi to give us a report all right good evening everyone it's been a whole year since we've last seen you all and we've got some really exciting updates for you CHS just wrapped up its first day of midterms which means we are officially halfway through the 2024 to 2025 school year year midterms will continue until next Wednesday and the second semester will begin the following day students at CHS are already looking ahead and will be choosing their courses for the 2025 2026 school year towards the beginning of February and while our students are planning for the next year at CHS Treasure's 8th graders will get to experience our high school for the first time on January 29th at 6m CHS will be hosting curriculum night taking parents and their students on a journey through the high school starting at the John H Thorp Auditorium and making their way to the Caff and& Commons the eighth graders will get to see each of the subject areas as well as extracurricular activities including the multitude of sports and clubs that CHS has to offer but before we jump too far ahead into the future we have many accomplishments to celebrate with some of our sports teams after increasing their membership from only four members to uh during covid to whopping 25 today our wrestling team won the warrior Invitational on Saturday and set a tournament record of 23.5 points our fencing team also hosted teser High's first fencing competition last Friday in the west JY hosting Morgan school and Simsbury High School which turned out to be very successful with all these amazing events happening all around the school it can sometimes be easy to forget about those who work behind the scenes to make all of it possible on that note though it is with a heavy heart that I announc to you that we announce to you all that Dr Gad will be leaving treasure High by the end of January um as you all know she's been our principal for nine years and our school is all the better for it although we're sad to see her go we know she'll do incredible things at torington high school where she'll be continuing her outstanding career as director of humanities thank you all for listening tonight and we wish Dr Gad the best of luck thank you board members have any questions or comments for our student reps Dr heran I just want to say thank you for um giving us the updates on the wrestling and the fencing because we tend to hear a lot about the the bigger Sports and um you know we have some smaller that have grown and have become sanctioned Sports chesher high school so it's um nice to get the report on that so thank you Mr gripple um firstly congratulations to the wrestling team uh but the extra congratulations to the fencing team considering um all the time uh was that last year all the time we spent last year trying to get the uh fencing team and and uh submitting and approving uh policies so that future clubs can uh obtain status that the Fencing Club did so happy to hear that they had their first uh successful meet so congratulations to them comments no thank you both um good luck with midterms and all that fun stuff too um and yes we'll be you know very sad to see Dr Gad go but um Mr hanin is going to be your interim interim principal so we're excited to see him being in that position as well voice um did we hear also news about Malachi we did did you can yeah some really exciting news if you want to share it with us okay um to whoever's watching out there um about a month ago I was accepted early action into MIT congratulations thank you brilliant congratulations really exciting news thank you what are you going to study oh yeah hopefully aerospace engineering nice and hopefully come back to Connecticut with that aerospace engineering oh yeah hopefully one day but got to leave [Laughter] first okay you're you're welcome to leave thank you both again oh just want to comment I went to uh school in Boston as it uh someone else in the audience there great town so I just want to say go socks looking forward to it were you a terrier which school no I went to Bentley yeah so sort of outside of Boston but you know thank you have a good night but thank you thank you thank you all all right up next um Dr Solen we have a recognition for our um so this evening it's my honor to recognize Mr Doug Johnson uh from Maran manufacturing last month we U were able to recognize some trades partners that we have in the community uh and unfortunately Mr Johnson and Maran couldn't be here uh that night so we invited them to be here tonight uh as I told them plaques are in the making we have the proof back now and so any day now um I would have loved to bring it over to you today uh as Mr Johnson was good enough to invite me to tour maryan manufacturing and it was such a fascinating experience uh it's a nearly 80-year-old company in our community that um does an incredible amount of business the the parts that they produce are so intricate um and the skill and detail that the men and women who work there uh possess to be able to crank out those parts ship them all over the world whether it be India or Austria as we saw today um or our backyard it is really amazing and uh I think one of the things that we had talked about and we recognized from our student visits to the different trades um shops in town was that really there's uh the old perception that you know shops are dirty and um you know just Manual Labor uh that it's not really an intellectual pursuit or that there's not much money in it all of those things could be further from the truth um I felt embarrassed by the car I was driving pulling into the lot no I'm kidding but that you know there is really a good living to be made uh in this field and I think a lot of folks folks are under the false impression that it's trades or higher education and um as we talked about today uh many employers uh including many here in chesher provide opportunities for students to pursue higher education while they're working and making a lot of money doing it um so it's really uh an untapped opportunity and so part of the reason I was at Maran manufacturing today was to talk about a connection we have with uh the work that we had done around the anxious generation book club so uh at Norton school there's a lot of open space cleared in the front from the land that we acquired to expand the school and we're um going to Institute an Adventure Playground there where students can employ creativity build things forts um and we were looking for everything from pallets to parts to things that uh kids could engage with and be outside uh so I stopped by and um Doug took me around the shop with his uh son Tyler who who works at the shop and um we're working on what what can we build into that Adventure Playground as well as you know with some other local companies so uh I can't thank you enough for the time and energy that people like you and Tyler and Joe and S uh put in uh every time I see Doug he's always happy to tell me about how many chesher High School Employees he has there and uh we're hopeful to work together so that that continues so um again thank you so much Doug for everything that you do to support our students and Community very much [Applause] appreciated thank you guys I just want to say you know we talk about what's important to our company this partnership with the school system is one of our number one Partnerships we're celebrating our 79th year this year in chesher the whole the whole time and that pipeline that we're getting from the high school and the school system here will help us get through the next 80 and it's really important we have five kids that graduated chesher high some went off to college and came back to us some didn't my son is one of the graduates um we have three of those young men are 28 years old and they are our top managers for our company so that's a testament to the school system to put out that level of talent because if they come out with the soft skills and what they learn at the school system we can turn them into something and these young men are really lighting the world on fire it amazes me um what they get done every day I was telling marleene earlier sometimes I call them the three stoes because they went to school together their whole time here in chesher and they wanted to work together and they want to make things and now they're recruiting for us they're our biggest recruiter they're out talking they go to career day at the high school and they're trying to recruit for us because we know that these young people that are tied to our community are the people that we want working for us because they're going to stay here and they're going to raise their families here in our community you can tell by my accent I did not grow up in chesher but I've lived here 24 years this is my home I've lived here longer than anywhere else and we take a lot of pride in that and I just want to say thank you for the continued support of the school board and the school system and the sky's a limit for us so we really do appreciate it I apologize I'm not going to stay for your exciting meeting tonight I have a 500 a.m.

you were I was going to come this way but isely they defitely twins so we would compare you know what the wor part is I don't know I double check thank [Music] you make sure you sh SRA this one you know okay hi how are you just you just me just you just us you never got this last time I got this in rest my hey I don't see I don't see L are you like H not me what and I didn't have chance I don't know it's not good okay good you keep it maybe I should give it to you potato potato no you're I'm to whoever you always are I mean I am I have the of arrest if I need to there's I don't plan to do any of that here we're a safe space safe Zone No Such have you had to ARR hey how's it going you have your handcuffs they serve I'm asking earned it so I carry it um depends what un you're in oh I know some of them do Secret if I have one hi happy New Year good to see you that you're here so um hopefully we're we have you early in the agenda okay probably with um depending on how it goes we'll see and if I somebody sit next to you nice yeah welcome welcome to should should have access to it so one minut during the board meetings you can on all the you can click on all the supporting documentation have you have you access it yet no let me know if you want to yeah right yeah I was at it right before this I was like oh man I have not looked you're welcome good evening everyone um it is March 16 2025 it's 5:30 pm I would like to call the meeting to order Miss Maribel can you please do roll call today is a regular board meeting of January 16 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

e e e evening good evening thank you well reconvene our meeting and have a pledge of allegiance led by our student board representative Aaron Beck please stand put your right hand over your heart ready begin Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all as many of us know there has been a devastating impact of the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles since January 7th these fires have claimed at least 25 lives destroyed over 12,000 structures and forced more than 32,500 residents to evacuate to honor the memories of those we've lost to support the resilience of those affected and to express our deepest gratitude to the brave First Responders and volunteers tirelessly battling the Flames please join join me in a moment of silence to reflect on the lives impacted and to stand in solidary with our community during this challenging time thank you we'll now have um close session report from our clerk thank you 4.1 no report of action taken regarding public employee performance evaluation superintendent 4.2 the Board of Trustees by a vote of 5-0 approve the settlement agreement in Orange County supremor court case no 30-20 23-01 00- c-p - CJC 4.3 no report action taken regarding existing litigation 4.4 no appro action taken regarding negotiations 4.5 no appro action taken regarding Personnel 4.6 no reportable action taken regarding Personnel 4.7 the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to suspend without pay for 15 days employee hr-2 24-25 d06 and that concludes the close session report thank you at this time I'd like to recognize and introduce uh Maria rapael who is our new director of purchasing where is Maria in The there she is you care to come forward and say a few words uh good evening everybody um I want to take this time to uh thank Dr Nancy n for giving me this opportunity Unity I am also very grateful and thank you and looking forward to serving you guys uh thank my family for always pushing me to do bigger and better things and uh I'm hoping this to be my final home and retire from here and um looking forward to working with my co-workers peers and I'm very excited for the opportunity so thank you very much Maria do you have any family here in the audience you like to recognize unfortunately no my family is at home sick with the flu Oh no so um but yeah thank you though okay well thank you and welcome congratulations welcome next 6.1 penty Statewide academic and Leadership award class of 2025 certificates will be presented and I think we'll come up to the front here board want to join me yes I'm just going to have to sit here the pointy project is a national awardwinning program that for more than 30 years has improved the college going rate of tens of thousands of California California's individ educationally underrepresented students the py project Statewide academic and Leadership award recognizes their top 12th grade qu quas in California after a thorough review of the students academic transcripts Community leadership involvement and the personal statements the Puente project Statewide office recognized five students from ahsd and as I call their name will you come forward for your certificate it's all Cordova and I'm high [Applause] school Nel Val Val Valena thank you [Applause] from arel Ortega Cortez from Magnolia [Applause] no not here okay Michelle Mendoza from [Applause] Savannah and last is Han newn from Western High School [Applause] do [Applause] I [Applause] I was going to let you sit down come on back we need exercise here work up a dinner so 6.2 honoring our outgoing board president Miss Randall tro on behalf of the Board of Trustees we'd like to thank trustee Randle tro for her service as board president this past year it's been a very interesting year a lot of challenges that we've uh put behind us but and you've handled them very well so I want to thank you on behalf of the board for all that you've done and um I'll just like to say that she stepped from president of Anaheim un High School District into the president of the Roop board so it she just moved from one to the other I think we warmed her up [Applause] [Laughter] I had w okay okay next is item of business uh Financial audit for fiscal year 2023 2024 normally uh Nancy nean Dr Nancy neon would be here to um take this item but she is out of the country for a family issue so uh we have Mr um Andrew Park in the audience from I Bailey as representing the our cons auditor and you have any words of wisdom for us to begin with words of wisdom that's a a bit of a Twist well Happy New Year first of all okay I'll take that you know the flu's going around so hopefully everybody stay safe that is the the word of the the wisdom word of the day I guess uh um so I I believe I'm presenting both items today both so why don't we begin 7.1 7.2 okay why don't we begin with the main audit report do do we have copies of the audit report yes okay so um just to kind of preface all of this before I get into the results my job is to report back to the board as always I work for the board my primary responsibility as it relates to the audit is basically audit the financial statements now what am I talking about back in SE September of 2024 you were presented with unaudited actuals document that's the overall Financial picture of a district covering 2324 fiscal year at that point it's un audited my job is to come in audit the information and report back okay um so the audit report is a technical document unless you practice in the governmental sector as a CPA it's kind of hard to understand I'm going to be honest right but as board members the easiest way to kind of gauge how the it went is to refer to page 102 of the audit report okay I'll wait and wait until everybody flips okay so as you're flipping so on on the uh top of this page this page is called the summary of Auditor's results really it just essentially summarizes the results of the audit now before I get into each of the results of the three sections noted here which which is financial statement Federal Awards and state compliance let's talk about some of the technical terms that I have to cover in order for you to understand just as your attorney we render a professional opinion when it comes to an audit we do this by varying Assurance levels the highest level of assurance is an unmodified opinion followed by a qualified opinion lastly a disclaimer or an adverse opinion again what you want to see is the unmodified quote unquote unmodified opinion which which is synonymous with a clean opinion okay so I'm just going to go down uh each of the levels each of the sections here first section is on the financial statements this is very specifically covering July 1st of 2023 through June 30 2024 as it relates to the financial statements as of June 30 2024 our opinion was unmodified with respect to the district's financial statements through the course of our audit procedures we did identify an exception or a deficiency if you will the deta details of that are in the following Pages hopefully you had an opportunity to read them moving on to Federal Awards so to provide some background as far as what federal awards are if a non-federal entity receives an excess of $750,000 a year and spends it your subject to what's called a single audit requirement which is basically synonymous with Federal compliance during 2324 FIS school year the district spent an excess of $75 million and as a result you were subject to the requirements now um for the 2324 fiscal year we audited a wide slew of programs including your Child Nutrition cluster which is basically a federal subsidy related to your free and uh reduced meal programs and a wide variety of your one-time covid dollar programs So based on the audit procedures performed on each of these programs as listed our opinion again was unmodified we also did not have any exceptions as it relates to the checks and balances or what we would call internal controls that are in place to make sure compliance with these programs in other words it was a clean opinion okay moving on to uh State compliance now I do see a new board member sorry to pick on you just in case you're curious as far as what we're oping for um State compliance if you could flip to page 99 and 100 okay page 999 and 100 is a comprehensive listing of all the state compliance requirements that were required to audit we don't identify these programs this is basically identified by the California Department of Education in conjunction with the state controller's office now on this page you're going to see some yes notations and not applicable notations yes notations are what we audited during the 2324 fiscal year because the district either had the program or received subsidy and as a a result there were strings attached not applicable means that the district did not administer the program or did not receive subsidy and as a result there was no audit requirements So based on the audit procedures performed on all the yes notated programs our opinion was unmodified again a clean opinion of the state compliance side that pretty much summarizes the audit results overall unmodified opinion in all three of the areas with a slight bit of an exception thank you sounds great any questions for Mr Park what is the Gan limit calculation yes what what what about what is that it's it's a very specific requirement that we follow and you know it was a requirement um the the requirement came about back in the 80s this was kind of Beyond when I started my audit career but it's basically a very specific step-by-step calculation comparing year-over year numbers right I'm the new board member so yes okay the others are are kind of obvious yeah any other questions that I may try to answer no okay thank you on that okay go ahead so uh should we move on to the bond report 7.2 so I'll make this a little faster so this is the smaller report Bond audit report is a two-part audit report first pertains to the financial statements related to I believe yours is measure H I do so many of these I can't track measure H and the second half of the report is what everybody's interested in this is what we would call the performance report or the the the we basically set out to answer the question of did the district do what they're supposed to really from from a compliance standpoint okay so really quickly on the the financial aspect of it based on the audit procedures that we performed a measure H funds as it relates to the financial statements our opinion was unmodified not the same exception related to the financial statement carried over to measure H because it was very specifically pertaining to measure AG okay moving on to the performance aspect of it so just to kind of reiterate we basically try to try to answer the question of did the district take the proceeds from the bonds and spended in accordance to what the voters have approved and the approach is yes or no there's no maybe it's either yes or no it's black and white okay uh just to kind of give you some context on page 18 number three we covered 33 roughly $33.2 million in expenditures which represents Approximately 80% of the total expenditures of 41.6 million okay so that's a pretty high coverage so based on the testing that We performed on the samples that we selected we have nothing to report to you in our opinion the district spent the proceeds in accordance to what the voters have approved okay so kind of a vanilla audit if you will any questions on this excellent report yes excellent anything to any comments it sounds like the district is doing what we should be doing thank you so much thank thank you okay moving on to reports 8.1 student representative report Aaron B all right so starting off at Anaheim during the month of December anaheim's entrepreneurial business class conducted a schoolwide Market Day featuring various Goods highlighting the power of economic strategy anim High School's winter wishes allow teachers administrators and staff to Aid students in their material needs during the holiday season the power giving was fervent leading up to the winter break next for CVA in suit of the RSVP celebration event they also conduct concluded their second Summit of the year and will continue to work towards Summit number three and we're excited to see those responses next looking at Cyprus they officially opened their Wellness room which is a space dedicated for stress relief and wellness on the campus they also brought back their mock Tri team at Cyprus which brings real life courtroom scenarios to their future lawyers at Cyprus another highlight that their that they have is the teacher of the year who is Miss Sarah bford her hard work and dedication as a teacher and ASB director has not gone unnoticed there were also some issue updates at Cyprus there has been controversy regarding the local businesses Plaza and student parking Administration and the local businesses are in contact and implementing The Good Neighbor policy those are some notable events and activities displayed their Centurion pride and were incredibly fun now looking at Kennedy Kennedy's highlight was definitely the winter wish assembly which Kennedy hosted a Candyland theme where students and staffs played games their presentations and their winter wishes next with catella one of senior Knights were enlisted into the Navy and selected into the nuclear power engineering program he was presented with a check of $85,000 congratulation Gerardo James Jr Cella also opened their new pool after two and a half years now let's look at Laura the winter wishes assembly at Laura high school was a memorable event filled with excitement and holiday cheer the dance team in collaboration with the teachers put on an incredible performance that captivated the students in addition to the performance several lucky students received amazing gifts including a Macbook a bicycle and many other prizes making the event even more special the assembly highlighted the spirit of giving and Community with the performances and prizes bringing smiles to everyone in attendance attendance next with Magnolia Magnolia's highlight was her second RSVP Summit where facilitators and students worked hard to gather more detailed input for the second RSVP Summit the summit was dedicated to finding what specific issues RSVP will tackle during the spring semester can't wait to see what the changes will bring with Oxford in response to the wildfire in the nearb community Oxford ASB hosted a last minute donation drive to donate to those in Pasadena showing their giving spirit now looking at Savannah Savannah's holiday staff meeting it was filled with joy as the staff got to enjoy delicious food and watched their band director perform some holiday Tunes as well as Savannah's choir team got to perform for the staff to hear and then their highlight on the report is Summit number two lastly we'll look at western western highlight was their Japanese student visitors where Western's Advanced Japanese language program brought in Japanese exchange students for the second time this year and that sums up all the reports thank you thank you very nice very nice done can I can I have Erin clarify something so the audience knows can you explain what RSVP is because you talk a lot about the Summits we're in Summit 2 right now and I see that in all of the reports and who that includes and so RSVP is just a group of students at school who is trying to bring a change to this um to the school of matching of like what the students want and it's basically where students just like genuinely want to make the best learning environment so that students can actually enjoy school and show that their voices matter and that is run by our amazing ambassadors who um work very hard to help facilitate these events and show that we are actually trying our best to show these students that they matter yeah and what does RSVP stand for raising student voice participation everyone hear that okay thank you I have a sure you know um Erin we've seen uh these get better and better I mean it's it's really amazing but uh Dr freed and I were just talking about to what extent do we uh spread this right to our pta's um are we do we do we share this with our uh PT and some of our school sites an electronic version no I don't think they get to see it nice we should share it yeah to send it to our various organizations yeah don't you think we should do that and make sure it gets out there to everybody because this could it be part of our website under students and in Ambassador like bullet or something no I I think it well I think it could go electronic version should go out to all the parents and some of the school sites right that way just boom I like that yeah okay yeah we we'll make that happen okay good thank you Mr mat okay I don't see any student speakers here this evening or are there and they just haven't filled out of form nope seeing none okay uh next is uh reports of associations so first i' like to recognize people in the audience we have Jeff Morganstern from AA uh Britney Busa from apga that is our counselings Jennifer sasai from Ulta which our leadership team and we have Mary Madrigal who is an interpreter guest from anim Elementary thank you oh I'm sorry Heather Hunter from CCA and we also have Lauren kker who is a Fullerton joint board member so welcome everyone so first of all Mr Morgan Stern you like to come up and say a few [Music] words all right good evening board president O'Neal's Board of Trustees superintendent matuda executive cabinet staff community so want to wish everybody Happy New Year here I hope you enjoyed your break two weeks of fun rest with family and friends I know I needed it so I'm sure everyone needed it as well and thinking about what I wanted to share tonight um I wanted to highlight some of our ASA members some of our ASA leaders who cumulatively volunteer dozens of hours every month to collaboratively engage The District in meaningful work on top of their full-time jobs as aohd teachers and also slps so I just want to read off a few names and some of their roles and just kind of bring attention to the work that they do um every week every month on behalf of all of our 1200 members and on behalf of the district so I first want to recognize uh Christy bondorf and James Goran they are co- bargaining chairs and as you can imagine that's quite a task in engaging the district every year in bargaining so we're very much appreciative of their efforts um for the teacher imput group who co-facilitates with Dr freed this group is special to to me I started this uh back during the pandemic with Manuel cologne um but I want to recognize iise hin from Oxford uh who co-facilitates with Dr Fred as well as Dana sporn from catella who does the notes and if you're not aware those notes get sent out each month and are read by probably several thousand people across the district um which is a great feature of that particular group we have our special ed uh teacher imput group and for us that's led by Jeanie vaner Len from Brookhurst uh she works with with our director of Sy Lauren clater each month to surface special ed concerns and issues at the sites uh we have our insurance committee um I want to highlight Jack Upton from Kennedy uh James Gorn from Gilbert and Lisa Holly also from Gilbert who do a terrific job uh participating in the insurance company uh committee and making sure that we achieve our consensus and maintain our excellent health benefits we have the student discipline task force um and I want to recognize uh Susan Larson from Lexington she's been on that task force since its beginning probably s years ago now I served on it for a few years as well but she does a great job and she's and she's there every month um for elcap um representing ASA on the elcap steering committee we have Julie neelen who is a teacher at CVA in Cyprus the teacher support network um work group that was now concluded but the Joint Committee for the teacher support network which is a replacement of par I want to recognize Jessica masy from anah and Carissa Velasquez from Cypress for all the work that they've done to put into that um just this week we brought together two members of our bargaining team Wendy kryer from Western and Sean fleshman from orang view to begin to work on a consolidation article for the contract that we're going to hopefully have ready by Tuesday of next week and send off um just want to recognize their work uh was a big task to come up with contract language around the consolidation of orange View and Western we put together two work groups this past year for bargaining we have our PTA work Group which is still in action and we'll be receiving feedback from uh teacher volunteers who will um practice the PTA evaluation this spring and then eventually that feedback will be brought in to revise the article in in its final form uh Jason caller from South uh Rob gadet from Dale Michelle Sati from South Lisa Shandy from Lexington Jeff Watson from orang View and Ruben patino who is a curriculum specialist uh we also Al have our SLP work group there's two work groups going on for the slps uh recognize our slps Ashley pothoff Gina white uh Ashley's at Brookhurst Gina is at Sycamore Kim Fam from South Caitlyn Garten from Cypress and Stacy Williams from Hope and lastly we have uh Dave Janowski who joins me and representing ASA on our new budget stabilization committee so I just want to give them an opportunity uh to share everybody with the crowd tonight and uh give them credit they deserve for all the volunteer hours they put on behalf of our members and behalf of our students and we look forward uh to continued opportunities in 2025 to collaborate with District leadership for the well-being of our members and our students in our community so thank you thank you thank you Mr morgenson next is uh Heather hutner you have uh there she comes welcome hello everyone president O'Neal Board of Trustees executive cabinet staff parents students and community members um thank you for the opportunity to address you on behalf of classified CCA members as we start the new year I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our board members for the time and effort you spend helping to ensure ahsd is a district that supports its students families and communities and staff we do appreciate you and I know it's board appreciation month so we want to make sure that we do get that message out to you I know sometimes we always just get the negative so we want to make sure we get the positive to you too every month I always s enjoy sitting here and listening to to all the things the teachers counselors admin and students share about the things that they've accomplished but in a lot of ways it's harder for us to share our accomplishments because we have over 80 different job positions although I would like to point out I don't know how many of their events or projects could get done without classified ordering their supplies and handling their budgets but no one's really interested in hearing how many diapers we've changed or how many files were mailed out on time or how many copies were made so this month I'd like to share a few shoutouts that are from and for our members to this to the Lexington front office staff for helping each other out when the need arises which is every day to the incredible office staff and healthtech at Dale Junior High School for the amazing teamwork dedication and positive energy they truly make the office a bright and welcoming place for everyone whether answering questions supporting staff students or parents or tackling any challenge that comes their way they always do it with a smile and an unwavering sense of collaboration let's give Standing Ovation to The Graphic Arts team your dedication to Excellence and making sure that we meet deadlines at the last minute is greatly appreciated and never forgotten thank you for all that you do and I know that's probably from a lot of people a big thank you to Desiree and Luke for all their hard work and positive outlook and grateful to have you both on our team great job to the CVA senior admin the senior administrative assistant is an amazing team player always willing to help and offer support to any department or School site needs our senior admin David CIF helps faces and register when we have been absent without any hesitation he loves to learn any duties and takes pride in it thank you Candice she's one of the LVN for being an exceptional team player your Readiness to assist co-workers and encourage everyone's achievement is incredibly valuable to our team as a side note Candace was also nominated by The District School nurses for an employee of the year award Laura Lee and Marisella thank you for all your kindness and patience you often help people at a time when life is already throwing them a curveball and you always do your best to support them and give them the information that they need Fabby Perez was nominated and selected as the California school library associations I love my classified librarian winner for the southern section Mrs Perez always makes sure that her school library is a safe and welcoming space with equal access to the resources that students need this past summer she led the bookan year project taking Sycamore students on field trips teaching them about Library resources and building a strong and tight-knit community and for me to all of the classified employees in csca unit I appreciate you whether there's one of you in your position or 279 of you you're all a vital part of making this District work we hear your concerns and we know that there's some areas that need urgent need of change changes that can benefit our staff and changes that will bring the district in compliance with the state's labor laws there are too many classified members who work unpaid time that are overloaded on their duties because they don't want to let down their students or their fellow staff members but it helps nobody when those employees become exhausted bitter and leave us for other districts while change can sometimes be hard I'm confident that these changes can both benefit employees and the district and I look forward to seeing what we can do together in 2025 thank you Miss hutner next Britney Busa from apga good evening ahsd board members Mr matsuda executive cabinet and community members I'd like to begin by congratulating our pointista student leadership Award winners and their dedicated counselors these students embody academic excellence and Leadership on our campuses but it's the intentional and purposeful guidance of their pente counselors that drive the success of the pente program through a multicultural lens Pote counselors provide opportunities and insights that Empower students to Envision Bright Futures Beyond high school as we find ourselves two weeks into the second semester I want to recognize the steadfast commitment of our counselors who have once again hit the ground running counselors are already working with students at the beginning stages of course selection for the 25 26 school year a reflection of how Forward Thinking our team remains amidst the day-to-day demands of this semester this year we're excited to utilize the academic planner and E Cadence for course registration while course selection is just one facet of what e Cadence offers the platform has already proven to be user friendly for students and counselors alike um once course selection is complete we will be working with students to create their individual comprehensive six-year academic plans these plans will do more than map out coursework students will gain a clear understanding of how their courses align with their individual interest goals and postsecondary pathways through EMB oh though embracing new systems can sometimes present challenges our counselors are optimistic about the ways e Cadence will guide students choices and help ensure education works for them we would like to extend a special thank you to the E Cadence team um counselors gave a ton of input um we always have a lot of things to say um but they were great they listened to us made changes when we asked for changes um and it's just been a great collaboration with with the E Cadence team and the ahsd counselors um their willingness to learn about the critical role of counselors play Within the ah system has been invaluable and then finally apga is currently evaluating disaggregating first semester data we look forward to sharing this data with you and demonstrating the tangible impact our counselors have on students and the broader ahsd Community thank you for your continued support of our counselors and the vital work they do to uplift our students and guide them towards success thanks thank you Miss W Jennifer Society from Ulta good evening president O'Neal Board of Trustees superintendent matsuda executive cabinet students parents and school Community joining us in person online first we'd like to say happy School Board appreciation to our school board members today ahsd families had the opportunity to participate in impactful parent workshops and a summit at Kell State Fullerton these sessions aim to empower parents with tools and strategies to support their children's academic and personal growth by collaborating with our higher educational Partners we are strengthening the bridge between families and schools ensuring our students Thrive across the district our community of practice continues to focus on Street dat data a framework for understanding students lived experiences and talents this initiative provides valuable Insight that helps us create Equitable opportunities for all of our students by engaging deeply in this work school sites are better equipped to honor the diverse strengths of our students and Foster inclusive learning environments we are proud to report an increase in attendance and engagement across our school sites this positive trend reflects the collective efforts of our Educators families and Community Partners in creating welcoming and engaging School climates improved attendance is a critical indicator of Student Success and we remain committed to sustaining this momentum congratulations to Cambridge Virtual Academy CVA for securing a $15,000 sustainability Grant from the Anaheim Public Utilities this grant will support CVA in implementing Innovative sustainable products furthering our District's commitment to environmental stewardship and education in response to the recent Wildfire schools across ahsd have rallied to support those impacted numerous sites are collecting essential items demonstrating our District's unwavering commitment to community service and care we also look forward to giving back through our annual servathon on Saturday January 25th for example hope school servathon project focused on acquiring and organizing basic need items such as socks and toiletries these donations will be distributed through out the ahsd mcken vento office to support families facing housing instability The Hope tigers are making a tangible difference providing comfort and dignity to those experiencing challenging circumstances we also are thrilled to announce the upcoming walk-in my shoes youth conference scheduled for February 28th at Cal State Fullerton this inspiring event will bring together students from across the district to share ideas celebrate diversity and explore Pathways it is also with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our former colleague Sam JW Sam served as the principal of Lexington burkers jior High leaving a lasting Legacy of dedication and care to our student staff and our brother Community his contributions to ahsd will always be remembered and his impact on countless lives will not be forgotten we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time these highlights underscore our dedication to our Schools staff and students in Community by making a meaningful difference through our collaborative efforts Innovative practices and a commitment to equity ahsd continues to lead the way in preparing our students for bright and promising Futures thank you thank you thank you Mr moving on to number nine public comments Open Session items uh opportunities for public comments occur at the beginning of each agenda item and at this time for items not on the agenda first off is Matel welcome thank you I forgot to uh there's a business card of one of our lawyers um thank you all for being here happy New Year um I uh basically we're giving you information in behalf of the Tango gabri lenal tribe uh that packet um we had a couple meetings um during these holidays about the school name the colonist the revenue the last time we were here uh when we voted out the mascot thank you so much for that the Conquistador Pilgrim mascot we uh talked to Al Jabar and asked them you know we're were hurting we're angry we're maybe a little bit disrespectful we apologize uh but we were asking why aren't we taking down the name the colonist well because uh according to elar because of funding Revenue but there's good news we have Revenue now uh senator we are finishing our last meetings with him soon and uh hopefully we'll have to um uh get a letter from him soon and the revenue is uh on it has to do with Bill AB 1821 I forgot to keep a copy for myself but in that packet it explains exactly how go about that um getting the funds to change the name so there's money now and the last thing I want to mention too is I want to thank the principal uh Ren ceros from Manheim High School um oh he's not here no more okay uh we had uh sitali arisu uh she's the daughter of Virgina carelo she's the one that um submitted a letter to the school board to you guys about the how we felt about the mascot in the school name a colonist the term and once a Col always a colonist and around inside the campus and um and I let me see last thing is oh we want to thank our atic dance group there that performed that's us mesika atic dance group teanis oot Jaguars maybe in the future we can call the school um haes or Jaguars something represents identity something that represents High self-esteem if not that maybe the Dolphins the Eagles something but just not the colonist and thank you so much and I want to salute you thank you for defending our country and we're going to be going through some hard times but let's stick together thank you so much thank you next Mr Castillo good evening everybody um some of the things that will come to my mind is safety of the kids education and bring bringing up that we have a voice a lot of us back in the when we were kids we didn't seem to have a voice or be believed in sometimes we were the ones that had to be I mean I had can't I'm not going to say the name of the principal but he said sorry I can't call a teacher a liar art and but we had a pack together he helped me and he and he stood by my side and some other teachers in in the school district of Anaheim and I felt uh with that kind of support I made it through three these the days that um during those times that's 50 years of me being here and I used to come here 25 years straight organized in organizations actually gave all the information to other organizations that came here to this to uh fight against certain issues on on things of teachers doing something bad or you know the the the issue to me was I was coming here and I was hearing expulsions like crazy and um it was really hurting me that what and I tried to get involved in a lot of it saved a lot of young men I did it at the teachers level the principal level at the schools and it worked you know that they they looked at it so a lot of these kids that had get any investigated in the issue sorry some of them didn't make it but some a lot of them that I did get with principes in these high schools and Junior highs uh uh they thought twice about it and these kids made it and they graduated so there's a trend that we go through and we come out of it and I feel bad for the young kids that were uh killed by the police department that we've had in 2012 and prior that um you know that called out for help and there were kids that went to our school and so they weren't strangers and and so we just the mothers just lost really good a lot of a lot of children we lost a lot of children to this issue but my main concern is that the the community has a thing called uh they did a survey the Anaheim Community Foundation survey and bringing that to your attention you know I did it before I found out that people were mistrusting the law enforcement and nobody was really listening to me and then they did a survey and found that that what I had gone through was correct so I'm just wanted to pass that on to if you guys didn't know anything about that um and we need to work on these issues um you know I got big family here I got three more Generations ahead of me ready going to these schools so I'm I got to be concerned and I I want to make sure that um and I want to come with a note too what we went through uh and and and not being an argumental this is also just for uh history bringing it to you what we went through and through myself being part of it I have to talk for myself because I can't speak and bring people's names up but uh I was not too happy with Harold Martin at the time at the last election that he had that when he said f students or gang members that was at Savannah High School kind of hurt me we had talks together he had a bad out with another person why blame us for it he used to drive around with a kid in the car and parade him around and other officers would do that at other areas so we had a bad come start with the people and in the communities that they were in and I I went out there for 50 years being in that community and seeing it and but I just hope that this new board this new school district can uh recognize that with uh uh the troubles that we're having that we were here at the last board when we found out that uh a lot of kids are not going to school and that's that's going to be a real big friend but that's what I do I just go out there to help them try to keep them educated stay in here even though even though I went through the every year here I didn't even have I would they weren't recording me and a staff here in the in the administration came up to me and says Mr casti you don't have any records here say that you even went here and I went through the whole school so it was a hard time back then I don't blame anybody here I I I just figure there's things that happened I've let it go and forgave uh but I want to make sure that it doesn't happen we're changing that and I can see it's happening now so I I just like to thank you guys you know God bless you all thank you Mr just to let you know that we were informed this evening that our attendance percentage for the school district has been increasing so we're we're pleased to see that Trend we hope that Trend continues so thank you uh moving on to um our regular business move into resolutions we have 11.1 resolution number trusty O'Neal um number 10 was the superintendent and staff reports oh I'm sorry you're right thank you for calling my attention Mr superintendent I have no report so I have a few things to report I know Mr Soler will have a few as well so uh for the board a couple quick updates um as you know next week with the transition uh taking place at the federal government um want to make sure I provide an update that we're we've been doing some work as relates to board policy 8145 the response to immigration enforcement there's uncertainty in terms of policy changes that may take place and we want to make sure that our schools were prepared in the event policies did in fact change uh so we've been training our principles we have also uh we're going to be pushing into our senior admin meetings are register our attendance meetings to make sure they're updated on the policies and the protocols connected to those policies uh with our principles we've ask them to go back and train and review the policies and protocols with their staff as well um in addition there's a few key takeaways that you take from the policy one has to do with all students uh making sure that all students and families are updating their emergency contact list uh it's always an important piece and then reminding staffs and I know Heather I don't know if she's still here but we talked about the importance of just customer service and our classified staff office staff do such a remarkable job of making sure our students and families feel welcome and so when families are coming in wanting to update their contacts we're going to make sure to support them in that effort another key takeaways uh is with our families is to make sure there's contingency plans and the event policies do in fact change and one of the key um things that we talk about is a caregiver affidavit so in the in the event someone is potentially detained or or taken we want to make sure the students who maybe stay have someone who can have those um oversight over the students with medical the permission to make medical decisions and support their students uh that also establishes residency for students so those are just a few examples of things that we've been doing to support um also I think it was mentioned in some of the public uh or the the updates from the associations we've been really empowering to the staff as a district that focuses on Civic engagement uh We've we've we've given staff and sites permission to bring the things happening in society both at the local level state level even the national level into the classrooms you heard I think Jennifer Sai talk about the the lessons going on with regards to the fire right in the access service that's an example of that also wanting to empower students that if they want to engage in conversations and dialogue or activities around potentially um immigration related issues that is okay that we want to be able to connect that to the content and that is the heart of our Civic engagement and our community school approach right bringing things from the community into the classroom context and our teachers do such an incredible job with that work which will then go to my second update that I want to share is the board is aware we have a partnership with Chan Zuckerberg czi the grant it's in partnership with UC Irvine and the work that Dr junan is leading along with e Cadence and of course our district and part of that work is to do deeper dive into what our community has valued as a TR top driver the 5 C's so we're at the place now where I'm proud to say we have a tool within the eaden platform based on the great work that our teachers are doing with the Capstone and their performance task assessments as you recall students do Reflections at the end of those ptas and those are now uploaded into the acaden system and yesterday we had I want to give Diana Fujimoto I she I think she's here I saw her there she is Diana Fujimoto and our amazing curriculum specialist from the Ed division along with Amy Quan who I know's been working closely with with Chan Zuckerberg Institute and the folks e Cadence and UCI uh yesterday we demonstrated the the tool that is built within e Cadence where those Reflections are now there connected to the algorithms of AI that Jun Dr junan and his team at UCI have been doing with e Cadence to then begin to give us access to how we can begin measuring student progress as it relates to the 5c's so although it's still in its infancy stage a lot of great work is coming out of that so I'm excited for the momentum in January 31st our non-student professional learning day um our schools with the exception of the few that are going through the visioning work they'll do that at a later date but they're going to have some time to interact with the the tool in E Cadence to begin making sense of what these Reflections and how students progressing around the five seas are making so I'm excited about that and then Britney also kind of stole my thunder she mentioned about the uh six-year plan so I do want to double down on that too it's really exciting the work that we're doing with our counselors who doing a remarkable job in that area along with the E Cadence team and I know Tyler Sherman is not here but I think we should probably give him an honorary counseling credential because he's learning the job of a counselor as well they are building into the E's platform um the six-year plan which is that map for our students but um Brittney talked about this the the interest the assess interest and strength assessment that's integrated it really does allow students voice to to Bubble Up in terms of what they value in their own life in terms of what they identified as their own strengths and what they find interesting and then through the AI algorithms it's also going to help connect them to potential Pathways and help counselors better make sure that the courses they're choosing in their their schedule each and every year align to those strengths those interests that they're asking for whether it's pathway work through or elective work um even different levels of classes that may be of interest to them so a lot of good things to come from from that I think it's going to be a game Cher um because we want to make sure that education is working for them and when the big thing is with master schedule making sure the the courses they take and the path they choose really does align to what their values are so exciting for that piece and then lastly I think it's been mentioned too just happy board appreciation month um we really appreciate all the work that you do um I've always said being a board member you can tell is the ultimate community service gig uh you you put in a lot of hours and a lot of effort and we appreciate it thank you doc Dr fre I have a question your first topic um getting the information from students and parents are they able to do any of that online or do they actually have to come into the school and and see someone face to face so there's a way for them to update their contact information on on Aries okay um so there is a way for them to do that um but they can also come into the campus as well so whichever is is easier for them thank you I had a I had to follow up on that too on the first topic um I know our community schools created a really comprehensive flyer on the resources um and know your rights um um is that also being uh dismantled in some of yes so it's interesting we talked about this actually I think at the parents today I know we talked about it at another meeting one of the things that a lot of the family members have asked for is we are getting out there we have a number of dates set um to do the know your rights um uh kind of town halls and forums but there's also some anxiety in posting things on social media uh because people then may be alerted so um I think the consensus that we heard from our parents and and Carlos correct me if I'm wrong has been more the word of mouth it was the principal yesterday that's when I remember hearing it it was the word of mouth is what the preferred method is because of the anxiety associated with making it more public these dates and whatnot um via social media post which is you know could go viral and get into the folks who maybe um people are nervous about coming so that's what we've talked about okay thank you that was my question thank you okay did you have oh you know I I would like to just acknowledge the work of um Amy as well and Amy Quan because I was talking to somebody today and found out we always talk about not teaching to the T test and I'm wondering okay what other metrics that we have so um the um e Cadence is I'm excited to hear your report today because it is measuring the 5 C's the work of the 5c's as well as College and Career Readiness so it's just another like more metrics that we have to share with our families that we are making our students you know well-rounded thanks for doubling down on that trustee because uh I think it's important the audience understands that this is being developed in partnership with the University of California there is real potential that eventually this tool is used Statewide as another measure of student Talent anybody else iise yeah I do and I'm just going to again there's a couple things I've already mentioned but I'm going to double down on the instructional piece and student engagement our framework our ptas and go back to the increase in attendance um we went from 91 to 93% this past month and which is not normal typically you start high and as a year progresses you start to see a decrease in attendance so we're excited about that for many reasons and and one of them being because of all the work being done in the classroom with our teachers and student engagement and our ptas and the reflections around the 5c's also in you you know doubling down culture and and relationships and creating those uh welcoming environments both in our offices and on campus and in our classroom so from our certificated staff to our counselors who social workers who are both meeting with students um endless hours a week um our teachers and our admin teams um all the way to the district so so just just uh wanted to make sure we we uh build build on on on the Ada piece uh attendance so also the family Summit was mentioned earlier by uh Dr Sai our our ala ala president and just wanted to again just just really um give kudos to Carlos our director of uh family and Community engagement and Community Schools and and his team and the work that they they do this was our third annual Summit um we had close to 200 parents uh from across our district and and Anaheim elementary as well um Cal St fton hosted it obviously one of our partners through the collaborative um we had Dr Jose Moreno keynote um uh the event and provided a very powerful keynote and linking back to the important of post-secondary education and that was followed by a variety of workshops um helping to build the capacity of our parents or continue to build the capacity of parents um around how to support their students so and then the last thing is our outc cap season around the corner this is really for everyone else are those that are watching online or Community here and it's it's uh literally around the corner so we're going to be sending out an email in the coming days um both one there's going to be two separate emails one that's going to be regarding our survey our outc cap survey and then registration as well another opportunity for our parents our Community or staff our students to you know to to play uh that that vital role of of that voice that we need in terms of um forming um the recommendations of the lcap and how to better support our students at the end of the day it's really about our student so so just a reminder so look out for that email and or those emails and then we hope to see you there all right thank I have a quick uh clarification um there's a lot of talk about PT it's not the PTA that uh some might say can you get elabor uh yes not the PTA that we're accustomed to but it's a performant task assessment so it's Project based learning it's um typically it's it's uh you know projects and lessons that are connected to to stuff going on in the community um things that are of interest to our students going back to the strength finders assessment that our students take our our teachers are connecting lessons and projects uh to the uh interests of of students um and also taking Community um events that are occurring in the uh both at a local level state level National level like as as Dr freed mentioned our our um our recent fires and immigration stuff that's going on and trying to bring that into the classroom and and through the lens of whatever topic or content that they're teaching yeah performance task assessments to the heart they are wayed for us to implement our career preparedness systems framework cpsf right the content that's where it lives but it's also the 5c's it's also where we find student voice and purpose so thank you thank you for that question okay now I can move on to number 11 okay uh number 111 resolution number 2 2024 25-b d10 signature authorization so move second Motion in a second um Miss Smith I Mr hosi i m rold frejo i m guo i and I vote I that's 5 z uh item 11.2 was pulled prior to adoption so 11.3 resolution number 2024 25- E-1 white out Tobacco Control Alt Delete nicotine week 2025 so move second Motion in a second Miss Smith I'd like to give the floor to a trustee hosi and I second everything he's going to say well you have to say yes or no on this it's a resolution so yes okay thank you now Mr hosi I you want you want to say something um well I again I we have a lot of these weeks and I I really do want to know have a report to the board on the activities um of what is planned you know from these groups that like we have um um what do we have tupe and so I just want to see if there's going to be any kind of report or if the board can know of the activities at that are going to be at the sites and so forth and something about real education about nicotine and vaping not just having door contests and you know what I mean pledge hands and things I I really want to know the impact that we're going to be making in students lives since vaping is a huge thing and and on campuses so good yes it can be done yes we can do that yes okay thank you and you vote I thank you Mr rold tro hi M Guero I and I vote I that's 5 Z 114 resolution number 20242 uh hr-02 National School counseling week so move second anybody wishing to speak on counseling would just we certainly appreciate their service absolutely yes absolutely so Miss Smith i m OSI I okay Mr R tjo hi Miss Gro I and I vote I 5 z uh Business Services 115 new board policy uh 12:30 School connected organizations this is first reading information 11.6 revised board policy multiple policies this the second reading and it's 11.6.1 and it's a revised uh board policy 6 6209 Andes 4040 employee use of technology and 11.62 point2 yeah revised board policy 01.03 parentheses 61 63.4 student use of technology so move second any discussion seeing none all in favor say I I oos opposed that's 5 uh 11.7 career technology education advisory membership that's information only 11.8 agreement Dr June on so moved second motion a second any questions seeing none all in favor say I I I opposed 5 Z 11.9 agreement AI edu so move second motion a second any discussion seeing none all in favor say I I I opposed 5 thank you uh consent calendar uh anybody wishing to pull I'm going to pull 12.5 12.6 12.26 anybody wishing to pull anything else 1213 motion for the balance second just let me let me get to [Music] okay okay um all in favor for the balance i i i opposed okay so let's take uh 1213 oh not five or six no we'll take 1213 first okay uh so move second no discussion I uh just really I think uh Britney stole the my thunder I'm really um impressed that they've had these really deep dive conversations with the counselors and reading this talking um and I know they're going to have some more um uh courageous conversations with uh staff and students uh oh did you want to go ahead and you're chomping at the B okay um no I just um I I I just really um Want To Praise this organization um the first thing is they're nonprofit and and um they've been working with us um you know and these folks are top-notch and they have integrity with the work that they're doing and um I'm just really pleased to hear that report today from the counseling staff um my only um concern is even with all of our um onboarding how are we going to or do we have a plan yet with parents to really get our parents to understand learn this because um these this is so valuable um yeah so Tyler Sherman who is our kind of our teacher lead um who's doing a lot of professional learning I know he's been working with both Carlos andeli our family community engagement manager uh to be able to push in and provide those support so the app is now up and running so there's there's a lot of training that's going to be going on to support our parents with their access to e Cadence um so the first part obviously as you know this year was the first year that we made the Gradebook or requirement new Cadence so truthfully the first semester a lot of focus was on our staff and our parents and making sure we're at the speed so once we have our staff in a in a better place then the shift goes to making sure we're really building capacity our parents um so that's been the the process I don't know Carl anything I want to you want to add today yeah Dr Fred is there any way to track how many parents actually sign in to EC Cadence and and also Aries because you know that might guide some of the of the um trainings that we need to do to just to encourage parents and make sure that parents are using it so do we have a number of that so I don't have it off the top of my head but I I actually reached out to Tyler Sherman earlier this week so he's going to have a report to me in terms of the number of Staff who are actively using the grade book and what that looks like and then also the number of parents who are accessing e Cadence as well so I'll have that probably sometime next week I mean it might be advantageous just anytime we're we're having an event you know to have someone stationed out there with the big sign saying hey if you haven't signed in you know here's an opportunity to do that and have somebody walk through um you know because a lot of parents won't say anything we won't know if they're on it or they are on it I do have a quick story about um a a parent that I work with that is on it and uh she was notified about uh their students absence and she was right on it even her husband even called her like within like 30 seconds he's calling to tell her no my daughter's at school I don't know what's happened the daughter called the mom and said I'm here Mom I'm in school teacher just made a quick mistake it was fixed like all within you know five minutes but you know think about that you know if you're at work and your kids not at school and they didn't they said I'm going to school bye and parents off at work and you get this notice you know that says in real time your kid is not at school uh so uh I think it's just an amazing thing um and parents should really really have it it's a tool that they can use to monitor you know what's going on I used to just get a phone call from school saying my son wasn't there where is he yeah yeah but think about he be different and it is our plan to do more with parents I mean that's truthfully the focus has been more on the teachers so we do need to shift and do more aggressive work with our parents one thing I also want to mention is with the teacher imput group I think Jeff mentioned the teacher group is one of the folks um a group that came out of the teacher in group was an e Cadence focus group so we do have teachers who have volunteered that meet with Tyler and Deng one of the Reps from co-founder of e Cadence um on a regular basis to provide feedback to strengthen the the program and also to troubleshoot issues that come up that um teachers have identified all right thank you uh we have to vote on this yeah we have to vote on all all of here say I I I opposed okay that's 5 Z okay item 12.5 and 12.6 so move second motion a second all in favor say I I opposed abstain I that's 401 um 12.26 so moved second Motion in a second okay I just wanted to uh bring this to Public's attention uh This concerns our superintendent and the uh Orange County Department of Education and they've asked him to uh come and help them and I I say to myself well why would the Orange County Department of Education ask our superintendent to come and help them and there's only one answer because he is the best in the district not in the district in the county to be able to go to them and help them give them guidance in creating what they need to have created so kudos to you Mr superintendent thank you thank you so here we have a motion a second all in favor say I I I osed that's 5 and and just to clarify it's a release for up to 4 hours per month so it's not like you're going to be there for long long time that's not yeah okay so next is board trustee reports so we'll start with Miss Smith well I attended the insurance committee yesterday and it was like a refresher course because the areas of which our insurance for this school district exist is very comp complex and very difficult if you're first time listening to this material it's like um a sausage and it's very very difficult to keep all that information so they get a lot of help our employees get a lot of help through their organizations and their groups but I appreciated hearing the information again and I uh attended the discipline committee and uh one of the things that was brought up by one of the uh participants was um earbuds that you hear you see people with earbuds and it brought to my mind that our granddaughter at 23 finished college is planning to go to medical school to become a psychiatrist and she is wearing what am I trying to say earbuds earbuds pardon earbuds no she's wearing hearing a wouldn't come to me and I thought for her line of work that's not a positive but I said how do you think you got it and she said it was from earbuds so I caution people because so much of this technology becomes very popular with people and maybe more excessive with some people than it is others so I just mention that just because that's our experience and um I wanted to ask about um the telephones if you could explain to the public about the telephones in classrooms yeah so um I don't know it's it's going to be agendized for next month uh so it's that we're we're going to be bringing our first read of the cell phone policy that's coming out of the State Assembly bill um that we vetted through the teacher and pick group and um parent PTA ambassadors so I don't know if if you want me to yeah it's going to come at the board meeting next month and I'm glad the Public's hearing this because it's very important and I had it in my ballot statement when I ran for reelection I'm Absol absolutely amazed that this has been allowed to go on for so long and the disruption for the classroom and the teachers is not a healthy thing for education so I'm very grateful that that's coming forward and then one last thing I saw a um informational piece done on CNN with Anderson Cooper and um it's called Uh a new group of people that is evolving and I think they're in Korea have you heard of kop yeah has anybody raise your hand if you've heard from about K-pop everybody and I called our head psychologist and she had only heard of it but didn't know about it and I think it's something of real valuable interest for us as a society to understand understand what this is I see parts of it could be good and parts of it not good and um when you get into it when you see that their the the calories that she they eat are all predetermined their body types should be the same and I find that is a bit of mind control and not a healthy thing and apparently the way I saw the program it was started by an American male that went over there and put this whole thing together and it has caught on and I hope now it's spreading throughout the C the world and they said it is also coming to the United States so I just want you to all know that this is something that we're going to have to deal with in the future and it's worrisome but I think to be educated about it in itself is important and um I want to to thank Dr nean that isn't with us tonight but when you get that report from the uh accountant this lady has a job that is so complex and so huge I am odd that she can handle it so well and explain it to us when we're in close session if we have questions it's understandable and it's a gift that she has and I'm sorry she's not here tonight for me to tip my hat to her and I want to thank everybody that has worked so hard to keep this school Under going School District going under very difficult times so our population is going down but our attendance is going up so we always try to take the good and listen to what's going on with the negative and those of you that are here tonight I wish to thank you for being here and listening and I'll pass it on to Mr hosi thank you um trusty Smith um one of the great things of coming to the board meeting was the very next uh day I was invited to a staff breakfast at Sycamore Junior High School and um uh they had um a whole the whole staff there with food and I was 7 o' in the the next morning so I want to thank Sophia Romero for inviting me and reconnecting with the staff there what that was one of my assignments when um I was an interim AP so um staff breakfast was really good and they had a former student who plays professionally now saxophone and we should have him at some of our events or grand openings in the days to come um I was also at the um student discipline committee when we came back and um Dr Fred's going to be sharing and presenting the cell phone policy at the next meeting um I'm going to be sending this out to our board and our um staff here Dr John dalum um over the break had his memorial service there were so many people in the room it was like standing room only um and the reason why I um copied his his um celebration of life was he always had these great sayings and at graduation this is one of the sayings this is not the end it is not even the beginning of the end it's simply the end of the beginning and I just always I mean I think I went through like six or seven graduations and at Kennedy I always heard that and he he had some other really nice quotes and things just to that it's interesting because some some of his wrestlers um he had uh copied off a card and laminated it and a kid um not a kid anymore came to the memorial service and had that card and so it was a true testimony of what an impact coaches teachers and principles can make so um I just wanted to share that um Tuesday um January 8th I was at the teacher presentation teacher of the year presentation Ray solar Rano from CVA was named um Lexington the 9th I went to the coffee with the principal and they focused on students support the different types of support at Lexington and encourage parents to get involved with the alcap and the parents Summit that we had today um um on Wednesday of that week I went to the revision meeting with at Western High School which included the curriculum specialist and Ed staff and um moving more forward to making that dream become a reality so it's exciting to go through that process and see everyone working together on the 11th on Thursday uh January 10th I'm sorry coffee with the principal at Orange View and Western and there was a a counseling presentation led by our faces um the meeting was led by our faces but then we were able to um let the parents know the current findings what we're doing with the revisioning and they're very happy with that um Tuesday of this week I was interviewed to be part of a core project and so I met some students at theama library and core is a honors program for seventh graders and they pick a current topic so their topic was like education how it differs from different countries how the election might impact um our um education system in in America and that was fun uh and I was nervous being interviewed by seventh graders I know go figure um and then uh this morning uh teacher of the year Sean fleshman one of the people on the redesign team at orang view a teacher leader at Orange view was named uh their teacher of the year and then I attended the parent Summit with a couple of our trustees and um thank you uh Mr Hernandez for your work it um I see some parents here tonight and I went to the the parent um involvement group and it was great to hear um their their stories of how they got involved and um one of them is here tonight and I just want to give kudos because this teach this parent had gotten other parents involved that gave their testimony tonight and they're all from different schools so that was the amazing thing so it's amazing what one person can do if you just invite them to be involved so I want to encourage everyone to do that thank Youk you m r are you referring to M miss bermudes out there yes yes yes kudos to you and a shout out to you you are the president of the uh PTA and you work with ok ok so um shout out to you um just a couple things uh I attended my Roop meeting and um you uh you did not mention um your involvement with the um graduation that we did that we held for a student at uh Cyprus um there were some circumstances that mitigated um and Jennifer Brown principal the staff um surrounded this student with a lot of love and um just just really honored to be a part of uh something like that that this school district has such a a tremendous heart and um that could pull that off um the family was tremendously grateful uh even though they're going through uh it's unimaginable um circumstances but the student was uh really loved on and you had a big part in in helping in that and uh thank you to um everyone at Cyprus who um made that happen District John um Graphics I mean just uh everybody pulled together at a really really quick turnaround time and so um it's just a um Bittersweet um Bittersweet uh um thing to be a part of also Bittersweet um sending love to Dr Neen out there and U congratulations on you know the work that you're doing um with our district and business office um you are an amazing team uh do we let them go home sometimes I used to kid do we let them out but it's amazing work that you do and I also um want to give her some love she's going through some hard times right right now uh and also want to clarify I was a little nervous um getting my uh my my um recognition and I inadvertently didn't say or I meant to say uh the work of all of our staff all of our classified all of our teachers um counselors everyone that um just really makes this uh District so special um and um Dr dalum and je um alarz uh our superintendent of Orange County uh passed away um just a tremendous uh tremendous loss uh to to all of us um and also I want to acknowledge our former uh President Jimmy Carter um what I heard over and over was um about character and how important that is how important um it's not really the position and and over and over he didn't want to be recognized I'd heard a story that when um they used to play Hail to the Chief he didn't want it and then he realized he was kind of um insulting the you know the folks that were doing that for him and so he had to change and backpedal just um a tremendous character uh human being humanitarian uh and I felt he didn't get enough recognition during his term and what he did lasts is still lasting for the the test of time all the initiatives that we are enjoying right now um but a tremendous character a human being uh want to send out that uh congratulations on our attendance um let's keep that going and I think that's due in part to our e Cadence and last on a really really high note happy happy happy note congratulations to our superintendent Michael matsuda on your honor of superintendent of the year for 2025 by the California Association of Asian and Pacifica leaders in [Applause] education yes Miss Guerrero thank you um I had the opportunity uh um to attend the anim High School football banquet I want to thank the football boosters for inviting me it was a great night uh to support uh such a wonderful season that um the team and the coaches all did together um so I want to thank them for that I also had the opportunity uh to attend the insurance committee meeting um and I attended a boys basketball game at anim High School versus Laura High School anim did win uh so it's a good night um and then I also had the opportunity to join some of my colleagues as well about the anim collaborative parents Summit this morning and I just want to thank all of our parents uh for being there and really supporting our students supporting our schools um and really for your continued dedication uh just supporting uh just supporting the collaborative in the pledge and thank you to our uh family and Community engagement our community schools team uh for putting that together um and then I want to Echo the lcap uh starting next week um elcap meetings are starting next week I know we have our student meeting to introduce the elcap and then our parent meeting to introduce the cap process so I'm looking forward uh to being part of that and hope to see all of our families and students and parents there thank you good thank you so let just start out I received an email from a person as name is cork Snider and he happened to be the best friend as he said in the email of uh Ed pring uh who was uh his n uh the gym at laara high school was named after him and so he just wanted to he ask me uh I want to thank so many people and I hope this email is read at your next board meeting so I'm won't read the whole thing I just wanted to recognize him and that he says the gym will will forever be associated with hard work dedication and commitment because of the Ed prang name so he wanted to thank everybody for all that went into doing that so Mr Schneider there you have some recognition um I also uh I attended the um the first uh graduation preparation meeting and it's amazing that Al we are already starting to prepare for graduation and as we know it it'll be we'll be looking be in the rearview mirror real soon and saying oh you know it went off real well so uh congratulations to the staff to get moving on it and um looking forward to the next meeting uh sounded really organized I had the pleasure of attending um a performance at Kennedy Performing Arts Center just before it was at the end of the year the 29th it was by the green band from Japan who marches in the rules parade every year and they put on a uh fundraising performance at at Kennedy every year and they do a fantastic job and my wife and I were were very fortunate we were in the area uh and able to host three of the of the Japanese students so they had 150 girls and 14 boys that needed to be housed for a couple of nights and so we stepped up and we had three and our neighbors across the street they were crazy they had seven girls 17-year-old girls we had three 20 year old girls so we got off really well uh but we had a great time and really enjoyed their presence and uh learned you know the difficulties of of communicating we Ed Google translate a lot yeah so it it definitely works we get the message across they they would we'd say something then we'd show them they say oh yes okay um yeah so we don't know what our situation will be next year but usually we're not in town or we have so many family in the house we couldn't get anybody else in the house so this year it was uh a little bit different uh attended a ro board meeting um with M anal Trejo and then the an collaborative this morning I was there for the opening session and I just say ditto to what you said about thank you everybody and and want so well and and the parents that were there learning uh for their kids and themselves um and let's see what else um I want to uh end the meeting well I'll do that at the very end so Advanced planning anybody have anything you already mentioned about that which is already agendized um I just want to start the thinking of to think about the health courses in our school district 7 through 12 to teach genetics there is so much that we can now know especially young people about their future of what they have inherited and there are some diseases in this community that are very very severe and real so I think that for 7th and eighth graders to be able to ask their grandparents what are your health problems and learn Lear through the experience of speaking to family members and then as they go through high school they will come out with the capacity to be able to figure out in their future what they need to do healthwise what to not do healthwise and to have a healthier life so my hope is that if we get this started in our health courses that it will become a reality and our young people graduated from high school will go out with power to know how to take care of themselves better Dr frie do have a comment on that yeah so trusty Smith uh genetics is actually in the in the science standards but it's taught in the junior high it's also taught in the Living Earth and then if students choose to take the elective Anatomy it's also an anatomy so it's it's covered in the curriculum for our Junior High and our senior high I'd like to see the uh syllabus for it can you get that for you absolutely okay anybody else yes I'd like to see a future report or presentation on the EC Cadence findings from um Dr onor we can do that absolutely okay anything else zland uh do we have a motion to adjourn so move we have a motion in a second so injour I'd like to just uh have us all remember the fire victims you know it's it's it's you know have a house next door you burn down you have one person but when we have I haven't heard the last figure but last I heard was over 12,000 homes were lost and multiply that by one person or 10 people in the home who knows how many people were displaced um there's so much that we can do individually helping out physically or helping out financially these people they they um I can't imagine what they're going through when you lose absolutely everything and you don't have time to get anything out you can't even grab your passport you just grab your keys and run so uh with that said all in favor say I I I I opposed 5 Z good night everyone

e e e meting is called ORD at 604 just like to take a moment of silence for the people in Los Angeles that thank you all R for the [Music] pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America America and to the repu for it stands Nation God indivisible withy and justice for all during close session we covered Personnel issues employee negotiations student discipline or other confidential student manners as well as pending litigation student versus vassel uh Elementary School and there were no decisions made okay consent agenda do I have a motion I'll move approval of the consent agenda I'll second any discussion no discussion I I and now we go to hearing of persons wishing to address the board I don't have any slip showing any comment so we'll move to item seven action items a is approve the school accountability report cards I move approval of the school accountability report cards I'll second that any discussion comments it's a big document yeah lots of big documents lots of words I do have a question actually okay I will ask um when we're look I recognized it's real big on the front page that it's the 2324 um published during the 2425 school year and when I was looking at the um teacher preparation and placements there's there it only goes to 2223 and it's the same on all it's supposed to be this is my favorite because my spreadsheet every year is the it's the 2425 it's a 2324 SAR reported in 2425 and you're to use 22 23 data okay three I just want to make sure that like the fcal numbers and all the data are 2223 and then you report on it in the next year and then you actually put on the agenda this year okay so it's always two years and a years so then I was noticing that there are other sections that identify 2425 it's just in the document is inconsistent yeah so makes it very confus it's really confusing but you know we can get through it and they beautiful thank you all for all your hard work that's the principles they're pretty [Music] awesome D thank you DT any other comments okay hope to appreciate all your efforts and hope to see some higher numbers next year okay moving on to item number eight monthly items and financial reports I think we need to call sorry about that roll call vote I I I I okay now we move on to item eight monthly items and financial reports we have the approval of the warrants I move approval of the warrants second any discussion comments no all right and a roll call vote i i i i Item B is audit 2023 24 Action to approve the 2023 2024 audit report is there a motion I'll move approval of the 2023 24 audit report second okay any discussion on that yes we have um our auditor here Christina Zar she's going to do a little presentation about it here I'll give mine I think we have an extra one too so each of you have a copy of the audit report a hard copy um if you have it electon electronically that's fine too but I'll refer to the page MERS that are actually on the physical report so um just to start off um we start our audit back in the spring so actually as early as May is when we get things going and started on the report and so this is the audit report for the 2324 fiscal year and it gets submitted to the state by December 15th of each year and so that's the year that we're looking at so the audit has been submitted to the state they do a review of the report and then they send um like certification acceptance letter to the district they usually do that starting in March through the summer is when they start sending those letters out um as in the past the format of the report there are some State mandated schedules in here it's also in accordance with auditing standards and also because the district spends over $750,000 in federal funds there's also Federal single audit procedures that are performed during our audit and so um a copy of the audit does get submitted to the federal government through an online data collection process and we just got got that submitted this past week okay it got submitted so I'll have you first turn to page one of the audit report if you'll actually see the independent auditor report this U what we call like an opinion letter this is a result of the financial portion of the audit and so we give an opinion on the district's financials which is in the first two paragraphs of this report and if you were to read it through you'll see that we're giving what's considered a clean opinion saying that the financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects and so um just want to point that to your attention as well as having you turn out of page um four um I if you've heard me go through the audit reports in the past few years um I like to go through the this section of the audit the managements discussion and Analysis it's more of a summary view of the financials and it gives comparisons to the prior year so rather than going through the detailed financials I'll be um going through this section of the audit report so there are some tables in this section so if you turn to page five the the first table is the table with the district's net position so if you look at the bottom of that table you'll see the total net position of about $3 million so I want to um just explain that this represents all of the districts activity all of the district's funds combined as well as it includes like what your capital assets and long-term debt you don't traditionally see that in your inter reports um and so that's all included in this table so just to compare with the prior year um some of the larger changes you'll see in the current and other assets and in the longterm I mean and in the current liabilities um the that decrease is due to the district spending down some of their estra funds that they had received so that used to be sitting in your cash and it was unearned Revenue so the district was ending that down during the year and then also you'll see an increase in the long-term debt of the District of of approximately 1.9 million that's primarily related to um the increase in the district's proportionate share of the stirs and Fs liability that you're required to report on your financials so that's what that increases there and it we'll go through a table of both the capital assets and the long-term debt in in the next few pages so now if turn to page seven that's where you'll see the overall change in the net position compared to the prior year so there was a decrease of about $1 million in the net position compared to the prior year so um part of it was like I said the district spending down the erra funds that were received in the prior years and part of it was also there was this you'll see a prior period adjustment for about 164,000 that's not something that you traditionally on the financials um what that had to do with for this year was um in in your bond interest and Redemption fund the county actually overpaid taxes to you guys that were um for Bara County and they ended up um you guys did repay it during the 2324 fiscal year but it related to I believe it was either the 2021 or 2122 year which is why it's shown as a prior period adjustment now you turn to page nine like I mentioned um this shows the detail of the district's Capital assets and your long-term debt which you don't traditionally see in your in reports so your Capital assets that's where you'll see your your land buildings Improvement equipment all that all those items um net of depreciation so there wasn't a large change in total compared to the the prior fiscal year and then Table Six has that long term debt which is a total of about 30 million and um once again the largest change you'll see there has to do with that net pension liability relating to that proportionate share of your stirs Anders liability and now I'll have you jump ahead way ahead to page 51 on this page is uh one of the required schedules that the state has us including the audit report um it's this is a trend over the last three years of just the district's general fund this just a general fund as well as the budget for 2025 um based on the UN audit actuals time frame um so you'll see here that the general fund shows a change in the 2024 column of a decrease of about 450,000 once again due to that spending down um primarily of the eser funds um you'll also see the the percentage that's on like in the middle of the page um which is the available reserves as a percentage of total outgo so for a district this size the state does recommend that percentage to be 4% and so for 2024 you will write out that 4% you'll you will see where there are some years like the 2023 year as well as the budget at the time of un audit actuals where you were falling below that per percentage um so we do have a little um as on those items and a little footnote there explaining that the district will continue to to monitor that percentage I also want to point out that the average daily attendance the Ada of the district has decreased compared to the prior year by about um 23 Ada um which um had to do with I believe you have less kindergarten classes for 2324 so your your kindergarten 88 was less during the year which is um what really was the cause of that decrease in your attendance okay I'll have you announ I'll wait for my question up you can ask um the second to last paragraph on page 51 says that our 88 decreased by 16 that's over the last two years so that's showing it from that 2022 column to the 2024 column but what I just explained was just the variance from last year okay yeah okay let me turn now to page 57 through 59 so similar to how we have our audit report on the district's financials we do also have um reports here in the back of the report that has to do with our state and federal compliance procedures we also audit so um page 57 through 59 lists the applicable audited procedures We performed on The District um there's a whole schle of them these are primarily the the items we work on in May um and this includes attendance and our audit of all the state programs that you'll see listed here so um we did have one issue in the state compliance area which is one we've had over the last few years um relating to the classroom teacher salar so when we go over the findings we'll go over that um so that was just the one area we had an audit finding for but everything else um was fine it did not have any um issues reported as audit findings in the state compliance area and then starting on page 60 to 62 that's where we have our report on the federal compliance so with the federal compliance audit um for the single audit um you pick up major programs that we audit so this year we audited the title one and special ed Federal programs as our major program and we did have one audit finding relating to the title one program that we'll go through we go through the audit findings so going to those audit findings um they start on page 64 so the first audit finding on page 64 is that Federal compliance audit finding relating to Title One um so we sampled a a School site for testing and so this year the School site we had tested was wasuma elementary and so one of the items we have to review is that the School site council is properly comprised with the proper members and what we found during our audit was that it was not there should be parody between two two groups um two groups being the first the principal classroom teachers and other school personnel and then the second group would be the parents of students attending the school or community members um so what we found was one group was five and the other was three so there wasn't an equal amount of votes so that was what this audit finding relats to so we just recommend that um that gets reviewed each year to make sure that they're properly comprised the second audit finding on page 65 um is a repeat audit finding that we've had um and this has to do with the classroom teacher salaries So based on the Ed code uh School District should spend 60% of the district's total educational expenses on salaries for classroom teachers in the event that that percentage is not meant there is um the ability to receive an exemption from the county superintendent of schools and so um the district didn't meet that 60% and so um the exemption was approved from Madera County Superintendent of schools for the year so we just recommend that that continues to be monitored it did get skewed quite a bit in the years when there was the higher eser funds which is part of it um um and so if the district is not meeting it we recommend you just continue to request that exemption from the county superintendent of schools and my understanding um for like the Madera County Schools I believe almost all of them needed to get an exemption this year from this requirement so now if you turn to page 67 um we do as part of our procedures have to review the status of our prior audit findings so the first audit finding had to do with the classroom teacher salaries from the prior audit um which once again we went over that so it was a repeat again this year um the second audit finding had to do actually with the school account School accountability report cards for the that year in 2023 um but we did not find um similar issues as we did that year so that was clear and and our recommendations were implemented so in closing I'd like to thank Tara and everyone involved with the audit there's lots of different areas we cover during the audit there's a financial information attendance State compliance Federal we had a new program we had to audit this year which was the elot program which took some time so um but terara was very helpful in making sure we got the information we needed and all the staff that was involved was very helpful so we like to thank yeah thank you for helping me too and thank you to all the school sites uh the secretary or the school office managers gather all those records and work hard with Nicole who works on the attendance and then also our partners at my club who got all the records that we needed for you to if you have any questions let me thank you thank you very much any other discussions or comments on this before we approve I think just thanking Tera for all our hard work and everyone in the district that that worked on this yeah it's a lot of work thank you I I next item okay does that approval also include the certification that's okay okay number nine information items we have the academic achievement oh no it's a separate it okay so I make a motion that we approve the 23 24 audit certification of corre corrected action second this is a form the county requires if you have um findings you have to do um this form it'll be signed tonight and then the board approves it just saying you were made aware of um the audit report the auditor presented it and you knew what the findings were so it's just a formality okay did any second I did okay good okay we call hi I I I okay now we're on to item eight which is information items a is academic achievement for for so I just I don't have any form anything formal for you guys I just figured if we want to ask questions or have any conversations about academic achievement we can talk about that now I ready um window is closing tomorrow so I'll have that data after tomorrow um we were pretty close to looked at the percentage of complete today and it looks like we'll be have a pretty high percentage of completion by the end of tomorrow for all School sites so that's good um we have our Workshop coming up so we can talk about some of that those um results there and I also have coming into me um spreadsheets from um wasuma and O for RTI students and reading to look at their progress from the beginning of the year um so is there anything else you guys want to talk about or discuss I guess I would just have a question about oci knowing that we don't have an RTI teacher there currently correct so have we what are we doing with RTI and oci currently so there's no like formal RTI it's just um differentiating instruction in the classroom yeah or no yeah they don't you know they're not getting pulled out like they were yeah forward to those results yeah okay next one is uh 9B enrollment Ada reports and also I didn't have it on here but the P1 attendance was just due on January 9th and we came in at 7:33 so when the auditor was just reporting on that um you know the projection in the budget was 750 um but knowing their enrollment was down and in even within the average it came in lower um so you know if we have around like it says on here 8004 85 students um our our attendance right now is tracking around 733 so um just to give that update because I didn't have that in here but we've got the enrollment so you can see over the previous month it wasn't much of change just a change of of the one and um nothing really major to any of the sites and then the other attachment is the Ada an enrollment percentage where it shows uh how many people are enrolled how many students are enrolled versus the average attendance so we're still uh tracking around 91 to 93% roughly there so you know about 10% of that enrollment is what's absent average on day on a daily basis so so usually P2 will come in a little bit higher that's our that's what we're funded on that's our second attendance reported period in April um but uh I I mean I sure hope it comes in higher because I didn't expect it to be 7:33 so um that's you know about 80 less than what for that 70 before Co it was about 40 difference between enrollment and Ada and now it's been the last couple years it's been 80 so it's almost it's double if you look at being funded average of about 13,000 a student and if you're down 80 students that's the funding you're down so but that's why we're in differentiated assistant and we have different programs in place for pism so if we get those numbers back up it's challenging if kids just want to stay home and the moms and dads and families don't make them go yeah there's a lot of um short was like a lot of like school refusal from a lot of our like older students too and um trying to figure out strategies to get them to come to school is something that we're paying attention to and trying to get get some strategies in place for because that seems to be um a big problem right now I know my parents are like too bad you're going to school I told them I don't want to go to school different mindset I think it's really shifted you know since school was closed and everything no I had mentioned uh last meeting that we attended a workshop and went to the uh annual conference all of us last month and Stannis L County had done that uh campaign called everyday counts and uh they were able to raise enrollment by 5% at a cost of $2.50 per student so it was campaign of ads uh you know 30 second ads they had t-shirts they had all kinds of information and so I put in another request to the G that was in charge of that at Stannis she's she's out at the office right now but they have a press kit they have a lot of information and so it's really very incentivizing for the high schoolers they even had a Toyota uh donated car so she had perfect attendance yeah get this car so very effective at least for them so yeah and it's it's not just us um when I've been at different conferences or meetings it's a theme at every District that they're dealing with the declining enrollment is one whole issue and then also the attendance issue so it's not just unique to our district or our area districts across the state are feeling it this campaign was very effective for them okay inter District transfer reports and looks like here there are we have not had any students transfering to the district we have not had any students transfer break we get no movement okay we are getting a bunch of students enrolling I think because the apartments have opened we already have four oh cool was that like just today or you got some full classes already yeah we do we really like when they keep coming too yeah we can plant some Seas for some privacy for the apartments for school protect the school are pretty fast growing kind of nice anyway okay accomplishments and other reasons to celebrate from throughout the district we have Archer [Music] want a cheerlead a cheer was never I know but you do a good impression all right welcome welcome to the new year let's see if I can get this up here so I'm really bummed our kindergarteners is do an annual um gingerbread man hunt and I know it played for me but I it wouldn't it wouldn't load so I'm but whatever I think it's on parents s prob find it again but think we need to go there okay so we are not moving there you go so this is going to cover gosh the last few months obviously so um trying to get kids to be in school trying to get them to want to be there to see what Shenanigans everybody's up to so uh this Halloween we all dressed as different colors of crayons and um so we tried to recreate you know that children's B The Day the Crayons you know they travel they do this all the Crayons do so the cray quit the CR the cray gave up the CR quit um so that was our little the book yeah we the other book uh you've had our choir club here last board meeting and they are on the move they this is a picture of them at the yhs annual choir day they invite Mountain Area Middle School choirs from around the area and they spend the day with Miss rice and her choir students uh learning all sorts of arrangements and activities and exercises and they have a blast uh they performed here in that week and they sang at the O Community Tree Lighting and then they had another performance and then they took a well deserved break and they just added two more students this uh just this week who wanted to join so it's kind of cool because it's Fourth through 8ighth grade so quite the range of uh everything they're fun um Mrs P second graders uh love to perform wonder where they get that from the uh primary team had a Thanksgiving performance you see theyve got little Thanksgiving hat and they had Thanksgiving waffles waffles with like a fan of tail feathers of strawberries and beaks of banana or was it a banana and it was a candy corn uh and um they put on little performances for the parents that morning parents came for waffles as well and they have a glast they turkey jokes you can't get enough of those uh our holiday performance they were snowflakes and so they'll have their little outfits several of you were there to watch it it was super fun you know how December is it's that Thanksgiving to December to Christmas break is a lot con oh yes it's the turkey tinsel triangle of Doom turkey tinsel triangle of Doom because you got Halloween oh Terror Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas break and there's so many things and everybody's excited and you always have a full moon in there at some point too uh all of our great after school clubs this is Garden Club during the winter it's a little bit harder right so they're getting creative and they're working on um different projects they're making planters they're um making art with pine cones they're making breeds um they they've got an indoor Greenhouse area where they're um they planted micro lettuce um we have our new planters that are outside of the Dome and the kids are working on doing some research to figure out what plants can survive in our region that can handle the temperatures being exposed all winter and that are Hardy enough to withstand children so I'm super excited to see they come it's a high bar bar for sure um so several years ago decade or so um our Middle School teachers started a make a difference program and it used to be mandatory the whole idea was that the smallest little thing that you could do would make a difference to someone so it was mandatory uh and we had students who would complete a VAR and had to do one activity a week holding a door for someone writing five little positive messages and hiding them in library books um walking a neighbor dogs all kinds of things and kids who completed all 30 tasks in a quarter could earn their name on the make a difference wall Fame and get a special award at graduation and all of these things uh we kept it going during Co I managed it online and it became more of a more of a growth mindset seal type activity the kids had to keep journals we had weekly meetings things like that and now it's completely vol and the projects are determined by the students so they come up with the project they come up with the plan the timeline everything that needs to be done and they have to check in with Mrs Bond so she keeps them on track um they've done can through drives coat drives uh Toy drives for animals and Foster Care this is the current one that's going on right here um Millie and Mason are having a plushy drive and the Plushies are cleaned and sanitized and all those things and they are delivered to First Responders Sheriff CHP ambulance Force Litt who are in accidents or having a traumatic event they're available and they pass them out during like 10,000 oh bring bring on uh this Steppy Drive ends the 24th of this month so if you have them bring them to W yeah kids are all over it we had a we had people who lived in Mariposa the grandpar they were the grandparents everybody was big grandma saw this and she rolled in with five big garbage Vibes full of stuffed animals she's like they're all washed I did the grandma test anything that was stained ripped torn ragged I threw it away these are the good ones can I bring them yeah you can absolutely so it's totally Community oriented now it's really fun um just talking about our kids in the community if you were at our holiday performance you got to see this young perform Violet Garcia is an eighth grader that link there will um take you to a story from on km ph24 but Violet has been in the band uh and practicing on her bariton sexs not a musical person Baron sa for the last three years she auditioned for the I'm G to get this wrong Fresno Madera County something music educators Association honor B that's what that is um there were over 600 students from schools all over the centr valley that audition Violet earned first chair honors for her baritone sacks she uh yeah it was pretty amazing and it's all voluntary they travel they do shows they do holiday performances she just was at a performance and her mom said she had a band director from he runs camps around the valley he approached her and said hey what do you want to be when you grow up I want to see if you want to come to one of my camps this summer where's your mom and saw her out and they had a whole conversation about it so it's super cool yeah she's a very talented girl uh our holiday performance kids love to perform all bigs and Littles it's amazing to me how many of the middle school kids want to get on stage they sing they dance they perform skits that they wrote themselves the one in the top Center there he stayed for the grand finale not everybody did but we encourage them to um that's Ariel Barker she's a very talented violinist um and if you ever have a chance to hear her you need to make time to hear her for sure part of the December fund we have Santa pancakes some special guests came to flip pancakes and serve students PTA does this for our kids and it is for all kids kindergarten through e8th grade so we've got some eighth graders and some seventh graders their child on the pancakes and they love their little snowman hats and everything else that went along with it our PTA people took over the kitchen and they were in there for about 4 and a half hours making pancakes just constantly turn out turn them out turn them out so they had their station set up and they were good to go it also was the day of our Jingle Bell run normally we wear our cozy onesies because it's cold outside while we're out there in our way dancing around the black top but it was so hot we were all sweating we had to start layering our our lunies off because it was brutal I swear we got sunburn but it was a great day it's always fun uh some academics here because it's can't all be fun in games Mrs star and Junior High these are some sixth grade projects kids were doing some hand on Hands-On work building zigurat they were studying the Mesopotamian Assyrians Sumerians so we've got ziger out there in the top they were learning about advancements in Civilization so we've got a wall City there I don't know if you can it'll come to you but you see the little people on the left side are defending their wall City and um the others are trying to get in that was a great advancement until the engineers showed up and theyve built that thing that looks like a broken wagon it is uh you put your soldiers in it and you lean it up against the building and you wheel it up and then the soldiers are all just run over the wall so got to love it right the eighth graders are uh doing an American Revolution game to try and figure out to try and understand the American Revolution it was great they had these little people set up they were divided into Patriots and the British and depending on what battle they were involved in she had promps that she was reading so the British got to get their cannon balls which R lots of paper and they got to roll them down the ramp because the Patriots set up on this side of the river and this guy had Intel and it was a whole thing she was doing and then they rolled the paper down the ramp and see how many of the Patriot soldiers they knocked over and then they had to move this many spaces and now the Brits got to do this and it was it was hilarious it was really fun to watch so they were trying to get that going my pictures wouldn't love for this I'm kind of annoyed but our PBS reward s are doing great the kids are super excited they're about to experience experiences for the first time and so they're super excited about that their next store is Thursday this coming week um Mrs o 2.0 she's 2.0 because already we already had one but uh y has been working with the eth graders on some career aptitude tests which is super fun because they have this idea of what they think they're going to be when they grow up and then they type in their preferences and their character traits and the things that interest them and then these things come up and they go whoa whoa whoa that's no that's not going to work for me um so trying to talk them down from that is kind of fun and get them to explor a little bit differently so she has been doing uh research on what the educational requirements are how much school costs where do you want to live when you are an adult and working what's the typical cost of living there what's the salary in that area can you afford that and so she's trying to get them thinking a little bit ahead they are going to the high school in a couple of weeks to start thinking about high school life so moving along I'll have to send you guys the gingerbread man scavenger hunts um because it was fun but of course we caught him he always ends up in my office somehow trail of crumbs everywhere uh a Pon scrimmage is tomorrow oci and OE uh and basuma are heading down for their first scrimmage and the main event is in March uh we have Garden lessons if you guys want to come on out we're not in the garden because it's still cold in the morning so come on out we're talking about inators next week I talked about the eighth grade time to WS we have uh Jordan Wright our school nurse set up a heart health assembly which is really fun I think it'll be good for our kids and our adults that'll be happening in February spelling be and Dr sus will be at the end of the month too so there'll be some fun stuff going on more than welcome when we have the um dates for spelling be we'll ask you guys if you want to come visit uh o w as Cadet for went to a competition um in Atwater just last weekend and we had two of our Cadets who uh were very successful at the event Cadet Sergeant Christian Foster he's this one over here on the far left on this bottom picture um he was he placs third in the junior Division and first year Cadet Milo santes Rosas plays first for first year Cadet there were four primary areas where they were competing an or examination and interview a written examination interview drilling ceremony and their uniform inspection so super they had a great time the next thing is January 25th at Camp slow for the state competition and it's fun to hear them studying so uh the oral examination I think was on leadership so was good um coming back from break in the turkey tinsel triangle of terror we always have to review expectations Mrs Frank set up a Jeopardy game in her classroom uh to review expectations with the kids and they just do a couple every day she was saying just the other day that one of the kids did something that they had already reviewed and and three kids go dude we just talked about that today and he goes oh yeah you're right okay I knew better okay okay so it's just kind of an easy fun way that's non-confrontational for them to review their expectations because we all need to get back in the group right and last but not least tomorrow is Shannon ean's last day as a professional educator she's been with bass school district for 18 years and tomorrow is it she gets to move on to her next job Grandma I'm getting to spend some more time with the first grandchild who I'm sure owns every single one of them and she's going to have a Blass when she was ready to start subing to go ahead and give us a call and um Shannon's favorite thing to say is peace out so congratulations sh thank [Music] [Applause] you always so fun okay item 11 superintendent reports so welcome back everyone to a new calendar year right second half of our school year so um excited for some some good things coming coming around the corner and I'm looking forward to um doing some plans for next school year and um there's a lot of really good ideas from a lot of people that I've been chatting with and um we're excited about that I was I just got home late last night I was in San Diego with um our special ed director Scarlet Ortega Ortega and educational program specialist Taran Hopkins we were at an AXA conference um for it's called every child counts and it was special for geared towards special education and multi-tier system of supports lots of attorneys in lots of sessions and um we learned a ton but really what I wanted to highlight is um it was really validating I know that the district has made a lot of changes in those areas and that has been difficult and um new for a lot of people and it felt good to know that we were doing the right thing in those areas and um that felt good and we also learned a lot about the law and things that we need to make sure that we're doing and um so we were we came back really really excited about that and um it was a really good conference so thank you to the district for sending us to that and that's all I have for tonight M Townson okay board member comments jul n tonight thank you Ronda me neither welcome back happy 2025 that's Happy New Year and I'm looking forward to our our board uh Workshop and I'm looking forward to being in Mrs Gwynn's fifth or kindergarten class tomorrow the first time and uh and I love the idea of the make a difference Mrs Archer that is so awesome and uh with that in mind you know there's so many discipline problems like we've never seen here I'm sure everybody knows about it here and um love to see you know the Rachel's Challenge to please reconsider that having that here proactive kindness I think that would benefit a lot of the students here an atmosphere kindness and I guess that's it okay uh future agenda items any anything next okay our next meeting date is February 12th and this meeting is adjourned at everyone you

um in regards to 6.3 the discussion and possible action item regarding education organizations at asdb um per further um discussion and consultation with our attorney generals um it's my understanding that the theoretical intent of a of a meet and confer policy that asdb has policy in place to address many of these issues and staff in place including the Ombudsman to address some of these issues um I'm open to any further comments questions or a motion um I will this is board member I would move that we establish an age policy this is board member Terry I make a motion that we establish an H policy I have a motion do I have a second there is no second the motion fails do I have an alternative motion or any other discussion I am board member of can and I will make a motion for the board to not adopt an age policy I have a motion do I have a second I'll second I have a motion and a second all those in favor say I I opposed I'm opposed this is board member Terry we still have a majority the motion carries moving on to 6.4 discussion and action item renewal of superintendent rikan's three-year Employment contract beginning July 1 of 2025 to June 30th 2028 I will entertain a motion um to for the contract or to go into executive session I oh I do want to just make a comment that there would be no changes to her current contract it would just be an extension of those three years I'll make a motion to approve the contract I have a motion do I have a second I'll second that this all those in favor say I I I I opposed hearing none seeing none motion carries moving on to 7.1 information and discussion item introduction and possible discussion of policy gcfc Maria Murphy director of policy and government relations uh board president kifil superintendent rikman members of the board staff and members of the asdb community you have before you the redline of policy gcfc it was posted online I have not received any comments in regards to this policy uh just so the for the board's information these changes were recommended uh by the Arizona School boards Association and they are in response to changes in Arizona revised Statute from the previous legislative session and with that I'd like to make myself available for any questions thank you Maria any questions for Maria on this policy there's this is the first read correct Maria so we will see this again for Action yes ma'am any questions all right thank you Mar thank you 8.1 call to the public for non-agenda items do we have any oh sorry okay sorry all right um moving on to 8.2 discussion and possible action item agenda items for the next regular board meeting I would like to propose that um we add to the agenda for the next meeting discussion and Poss action about utilizing some of our work study sessions as the board to hold Town Hall meetings for um the asdb um Community as well as staff um to address concerns and bring issues to the board and executive team any other agenda items currently that you'd like to see okay um you can always contact the board or um Annette if you have anything you'd like to see on there I think we are down to 9.1 action item adjournment I'm open to a motion we don't have Lynn this is board member B I'll make a motion to adjourn the meeting I have a motion do I have a second I'll second that all those in favor say I I opposed motion carries e

at the community center now let's welcome new team members Ashlin welcomes new staff members across various departments including assessing Human Services and public works there's also some job openings and open positions include COA van driver water technicians and Recreation assistance check the town website for details Community liens wanted help create a decarbonization guide for ashin residents no experience is needed and this is a paid position The Citizen Academy success the second Citizens Academy session engaged 18 residents in learning about local government and ongoing projects welcome new businesses Bennett assessment and Behavior Center for Children offering evaluations and therapy for children at 25 West Union Street Ashlin Family Eye Care Now located at 300 Elliott Street providing comprehensive Eye Care for all ages this week's Community shout out goes to Caroline Cara Caroline Cara a high school student is a role model known for her dedication to community service she volunteers extensively with special needs students through programs like extended Year services L inclusion camp and youth sports as a student athlete she also assists with softball training captains her JV field hockey team and participates in leadership training notably she runs a free weekly bake shop fostering Community connections through her love of baking Caroline selflessness and commitment to inclusion leadership and service makes her an inspiration to all coming up some exciting Events first up the family book read and yoga with local author and certified children's yoga instructor Ava the salt this family friendly event includes a reading of Renee finds her calm and Renee finds her Inner Strength along with yoga and crafts it's happening Saturday January 18th at 10:00 a.m.

at the community center now let's welcome new team members Ashlin welcomes new staff members across various departments including assessing Human Services and public works there's also some job openings and open positions include COA van driver water technicians and Recreation assistance check the town website for details Community liens wanted help create a decarbonization guide for Ashlin residents no experience is needed and this is a paid position The Citizen Academy success the second Citizens Academy session engaged 18 residents in learning about local government and ongoing projects welcome new businesses Bennett assessment and Behavior Center for Children offering evaluations and therapy for children at 25 West Union Street Ashlin Family Eye Care Now located at 300 Elliot Street providing comprehensive Eye Care for all ages this week's Community shout out goes to Caroline Cara Caroline Cara a high school student is a role model known for her dedication to community service she volunteers extensively with special needs students through programs like extended Year services the inclusion camp and youth sports as a student athlete she also assists with softball training captains her JV field hockey team and participates in leadership training notably she runs a free weekly bake shop fostering Community connections through her love of baking Caroline self- assistant commitment to inclusion leadership and service makes her an inspiration to all coming up some exciting Events first up the family book read and yoga with local author and certified children's yoga instructor Ava Dal salt this family friendly event includes a reading of Renee finds her calm and Renee finds her Inner Strength along with yoga and craft it's happening Saturday January 18th at 10: a.m.

flight but again thank you we really do appreciate the partnership [Applause] I'm gonna ask I will yeah but sometimes there's a Mis Doug do you mind before you leave actually can you specifically tell kind of the community exactly what Maran manufacturing um produces because sometimes there's a misconception um and once you go in and do a tour you're like it's more than just assembly line and trinkets beyond that so there's a couple things that we make that are pretty critical um the number one item we make is a small ring about this big round mhm that goes into a device that's used for uh rapid blood transfusion oh wow as an example if you're in an in a hospital and you need two pints of blood is probably coming out of a refrigerator it's got to be warmed up to your body temperature so these we make 12 for each device and it goes into a machine and the blood flows through that and gets warmed up to the proper temperature we make 350,000 of those a month the second item that we make this high volume that you everybody knows is a little washer that goes into the end of a cable connector for that cable that runs from the wall to your TV yeah and even though that's being cut and most people are Wireless I was telling Dr Solen today at the peak of the pandemic we were making 10 million of those per week oh my goodness 10 million a week and those that's just for North America and the most prideful thing of all of that is we won that business five or seven years ago by beating our Chinese competition by two10 of one penny wow two10 of one penny and turned it into a multi-million dollar account awesome we also make if you've ever had your heart monitored we make the little metal snap that when they put the pad on and they snap the lead wire on we make a small percentage of the World Market but we're we ship those parts to India a Australia or Austria and all over the United States and those are probably three the titanium that's in the the titanium right we make a titanium part that is used in the heat exchange for the Strike Fighter for the US Arsenal so um it's just a small plate but there's thousands of them that go into to the strike fighters to cool the Jet Engine and all the Hydraulics those are probably our four biggest items and we make other things we make parts that go in the soft top of the Jeep Wrangler as an example and the the mechanism for that we make parts that go in the steering column of the Grand Cherokee well we were talking about that item where you said that you know you're cranking out during the pandemic Millions uh a week one of the things that was F fasinating to me is I pictured in my head this massive machine doing that it's really pretty small but the the sheet that the parts are punched from runs through so insanely fast how like you were running we run that at about 700 hits per minute so we're making five at a time 700 times per minute so it's making multiple million of pieces per day and the tolerances that we hold are less than half the thickness of your hair so think about that that's and these are Chester graduates that are working on these tools that can hold that level of Tolerance on a part that small it's pretty impressive and and I will say just to stick on the the youth we are a unicorn when it comes to a company like ours to have a staff as young as it is when I went to work at Mary and our average age was 62 right now it's in the 30s we got down to 32 so that's a testament of what's coming out of the school system great thank you Dr her I just want to ask a quick question um actually it's not a question I want to to make a statement it's joyful to hear you speak about your company you are so enthusiastic about it I imagine that recruiting is really easy for your company and I would just put out put this out there please make sure that your three young chesher men who are recruiting are also recruiting some young women into your company yes we do that for me we've actually although she's left us for greener pastures we had we actually had a young lady who dropped out of chesher high school and went back and got her GED we picked up on it she was actually working at the wash here in town and just every time you went in there you saw this rock star waiting to come out and we hired her took her all the way through her apprenticeship which is four years 8,000 hours and turned her into just a wonderful employee but because she was a young lady larger companies were looking at her going we really need that and we ended up losing her but that is trust me I I I put a lot of effort into making sure we don't have a boys only sandbox because that is an issue are other women that work there oh yeah we have we have several that are we don't have a Chester grad I'm working on that yet but we do have um a young lady who's runs our business development she's 34 years old she handles all of our new cells all of our new accounts our big accounts um our two top people in our quality Department who by the way make very good money that's a another very important trade for us um young ladies that are doing a fantastic job for us so it is something we're well aware of and we work hard on that so thank you for mentioning that thank you for all you do for the community thank you thank you Doug any other board members have questions or comments thank you we don't want to hold you up to any longer but We Appreciate You adding to the the value of the community and opportunities for our kids and I'll say open door policy give me a call we'll be happy to have a young Chester grad give you a tour I didn't give the tour today did I no so a lot better coming from a young person thank very much I appreciate have a good evening thanks bye all right next item we're um audience members who would like to speak please go to the mic to address the board if you have anything but do not forget to say your name and street address no all right we're going to move on um committee reports first committee up on is curriculum Miss cenin will give the report thank you the uh curriculum committee met on Monday of this week under new business we discussed um the PE health program of study changes at cheser high school the move is from a traditional Health PE classes to integrated Wellness classes these classes will be based around building resilience in our students Healthy Lifestyles social connections will be key components in the course and the design will allow the department to be responsive to the needs of high school students and each of these Wellness courses will meet on a semester schedule for a half credit the other new business um we discussed the safe School climate surveys which are administered by annually to students staff and parents at each grade level band the questions um have remained consistent since 2018 um the information is reviewed by representatives of each building that's the data is looked at um based on the answers to the survey questions and plans to address any areas of need are addressed through uh School climate plans for each um school and a district plan to look at the district holistically based on the data um The District in accordance with State guidelines will communicate the com the administration of the survey to the parents and will include a pdf version of the student survey so the parents can preview it um and they will have an opt out availability to them if they choose not to have their student participate in the survey then we moved to informational items and I'm going to ask the assisted superintendent to just update us on some of her areas thank you miss Colin one of the items that I briefed the committee on was that kindergarten registration will begin on February 5th in the evening from 2: to 5: parents can register online or in person if they prefer to come into the school to ask any questions on April 28th we will be conducting screening assessments for families who are seeking early admission to kindergarten our district science coaches I was giving an update on how they are moving off of the robotics unit and into Agro science so that will be starting this second semester in addition Kelly gillo the principal at Chapman School along with Kristen Shanley who is our Ela department chair and Kristen Castellano who is the reading um teacher for the middle school gave an overview on a reading assessment called aadience reading for grades seven and eight since the sunset of the previous reading inventory which was our Universal screener the district has been looking for a replacement and we're going to be moving in the direction of using aadience which will also be a nice continuation of the reading assessments that we're doing K through six currently so DOD is going to try out this assessment it what's nice about it is that the measure includes reading passages that include a science passage a social studies passage and and a Pros passage so it's really more appropo for the middle school because students are doing a lot of reading in those three areas we had an update from Dr Gad on the master schedule at chesher high school the team is in the final stages of vetting that schedule where they're looking at having five sessions per day and those um blocks would be 68 minutes which is a reduction from the current schedule um and also is a little bit longer than the previous schedule preco which was 55 minutes students would meet for five sessions on an 8 day cycle so both students and teachers have provided feedback on that schedule and there are plans in place to make final adjustments in the rotation before the end of the month lastly we discussed the outof State field trips which are to Nature's Classroom for this year that's an annual trip that many of the elementary schools engage in this year DD I'm sorry dittle and chat um Chapman's going to Deep River while dittle and Norton are going to the Charlton campuses and those trips will be happening in May the trips are relatively the same price Highland in the last couple of years has um engaged in some local options that included team building and Hands-On science related activities and that concludes our report thank you any board members have questions Mr per J uh thank you uh I forget during Monday night's meeting we talked at the very end uh whether or not we wanted to print out the survey questions or bring to the board and we said no right can we can we send those questions out to the board members so they stay aware you know what absolutely when you get around to it I know it's not going on right away but sure awesome thank you I also have them here if there were any questions but we I will certainly send them out Z thank you Miss ginin oh Mr GLE do you have a question um yeah firstly um when looking through the minutes I I figured you guys were there for like three hours considering the subjects and I saw it it took 43 minutes is that right to go through all of this stuff uh so that was very very efficient meeting I I suppose so congratulations um so um on the the climate uh survey um does the I forget does the board approve those questions or is it just it's reviewed and then uh just applied the board has the opportunity to review those questions which we had done at the curriculum committee meeting and then it comes before this board in particular because there had been some some changes to the law about surveys that were asking students to complete so when that happens I believe the law was put in place since the last administration of the safe School climate survey so for example knowing that we were surveying students using the pupil attitudes towards self and school those questions came before the board and also an an email is sent to inform parents that this assessment will be taking place on the pass and we will be doing the same thing with the safe School climate survey okay so so just to review when you say the board you meant the committee and not the board it's like we're not voting on anything right we're not reviewing it the board as a whole we did not vote on it at curriculum it was it was new business but we did not bring it to a so is a draft like is this to be applied next year or it would we would conduct this survey in March March it's typical that we Pro we produce this survey every other March so the survey is every two years so did we approve these questions already or am I am I confused on something these questions have been the same questions we've used since 2018 oh no change okay no so little history so remember uh I if it was a year or two ago I believe we had discussed the then board about the survey should it be reviewed by the board Etc I think we left and I don't think a policy came out of it but I think what came out of it was a curriculum committee would definitely review them uh I think the board has a chance to review them that's why I asked a s of the questions if folks have a you know issue with them we can certainly discuss it but I don't recall anything that requires a vote on the board I could be wrong but didn't you hear that last part Tony it's only thing I I remember anything requires a vote on the board for survey questions I we did add the layer review for the survey and the reading list at the dod school but all I say is if any board members have questions reach out and and yeah we still have two months so we can bring it back yeah absolutely if there's questions I'm sure and Mar and I will definitely be happy the very least great thank you um next committee would be Finance Dr harrian hi so we had our first um budget Workshop uh on Tuesday evening where we discussed certified salaries and benefits and non-certified salaries and also medical benefits and um I'm going to let Mr Mariana take it from here and talk to us about medical benefits oh and our next one is next Tuesday um January 21st at DOD Middle School join us thank you Dr haragan good evening ladies and gentlemen um Dr haragan you don't want me to give a recap of Tuesday night to you okay good so the finance report uh the board members do have in their package the financial report as of December 31st I will just tell you briefly that the budget is looking Rock Solid at this point there are no um areas that I have um any large concerns over I will talk about medical benefits which is a minor concern at this point um I'll talk about that in a minute but the budget is in good shape U part of that uh that what we do every year is we put a cap on our non-payroll expenditures until we've gotten through various points in the budget so we're halfway through the year that expenditure cap has been at 50% we're going to raise that expenditure cap I feel very comfortable doing that we're going to 70% and we'll hold there till April till we get through the next phase so that really is a long and short on the finance report I'll go to medical and then if there are questions I'll answer on both also on the board's package is the medical benefits update through December claims for the month were 1.2 million so up a little bit from November and just above the expected monthly claims of 1.19 million um that left the balance at the end of the month in our Reserve at 1,461 662 so it's 1.23 months in claims Reserve a little lower than we would like to be but I will uh share with the board that even though it's not reflected in the report yet because I've not gotten the final report we um will be receiving about $417,000 in stoploss reimbursements and that does add to our reserve and also I was notified earlier uh late in December that we would be receiving payment of about $200,000 in prescription drug rebate so that the total of those two is 617,000 if we add that to the reserve that would take the reserve to a balance of just over $2 million that would get us to 1.7 months of Reserve I'm you know certainly not surprised that either one of those uh reimbursements coming through um and so that'll get us closer to the goal which we had this year and I know I talked about this at our presentation Tuesday night we had budgeted so that goal is that at the end of the year we would have the same Reserve balance that we started with we started with 2.3 million you know with these reimbursements will be back to the $2 million Mark we're moving into January claims which is the beginning of the new HSA plan year so you know if we see just a little bit of an easing in claims over the next 3 months because people start a new plan year and they have to meet their deductible before claims are charged directly to the board um you know we in my opinion look pretty good for the remainder of the Year ending with a Reserve balance at a close to that two million to $2.3 million that we sought to achieve um so that's it on on medical benefits and Fin Finance I'll be glad to entertain any questions members have questions can I just say I think we asked a lot of questions on Tuesday night and if you were to recap everything that we did Tuesday night then nobody would come to the exciting meeting that we have next Tuesday so thank you we'll leave it at that then this might be a little off topic but um the uh decision on the MU increase can you just clarify we were going to increase the price on which increase the meal price increase we discussed last time um mid year and then notifying the parents I don't know what was the consensus there was no vote taken so we don't have to make any announcement just yet but you know certainly if we if the board does approve an increase we'll bring it back to the board in May May typically Carol May okay um and then we would announce for the following school year so we parents will have plenty of notice okay thank you there is another question Miss Rosenberg yeah I don't on the meeting on Tuesday did you give a brief update on the performance contract moving forward I did not just a brief one so we did receive the um proposals from three firms in response to the RFP for new energy performance contract Honeywell Johnson Controls ameresco the company energia that is our owner rep is reviewing those proposals they'll provide a summary which I uh intend when we have our planning committee on January 21st we'll give an update then so much work lies ahead of us but all three firms have presented proposals that would enable us to engage in a contract that would allow us to increase or improve our infrastructure and reduce our energy costs which would pay for those improvements so looks like we've got viable Alternatives you know and with that being said the only caveat is we still need to get through the review process um so it's good news and just one last point you had mentioned raising your cap on I forget non payroll expenditures yeah non-payroll yeah um just generally speaking as you do that when you're talking about spending at Norton Darcy and Chapman you're having a conversation saying you're really do you really need the desk type of thing like just being mindful of the reality of that's all I wanted to hear thank you VIN yes sir thank you um next committee would be policy committee Mr Aki thank you we met on uh January 6th and discussed uh several policies that are all getting us uh in line with state law is that's correct Dr s so we talked about non-discrimination sexual harassment Title 9 um which you know hopefully doesn't change in two weeks and did it already did today published so um the there was a court case in Kentucky that struck down the current Title Nine so we're now to revert back to the 2020 version and so the next policy meeting so it's not the final version or whatever what was it was the final vers it was the final version um a little premature perhaps on nomenclature there but um yeah it's changed again so we're back to the original final version I guess and uh who knows it may change again but we'll have to revert back the this policy is going to have to change and we'll go back to the beginning with that there we go um we also have three policies that were uh bringing for four po four policies that we bring more bringing forward for a third reading uh again all stuff that was done by the lawyers for us uh Security check fingerprinting right responsibilities and du duties and social networking uh FASA completion which is a state mandate and alternative education program do we want to do those motions now yeah okay so we will call for a motion uh make a motion that the ches Board of Education give a third and final reading to the policies 12.5 212.5 Security check fingerprinting criminal justice uh policy 4118 .51 rights responsibilities and D duties social networking 6148 FASA completion program 6172 alternative education program and direct the superintendent to put set policies into immediate effect there a second for the motion Mr grippo second um discussion Mr White and then Mr kble yeah I was just hoping to get a quick um recap at least of the first two the security fingerprinting and the social networking so the security fingerprinting piece is um a reform that came out of a committee that I served on in Hartford probably like five or six years ago but this is all about really how are how is that data handled by school systems it was it's really much more regulation heavy than it is policy heavy basically who has access to the sensitive data who um what happen happens if it becomes compromised who who receives training so like we've all received training online that was required as a result of this law about uh who monitors that data that's all this fingerprinting one was the rights responsibility duties of social networking was an existing policy that we had um after the incident in the fall uh we had our attorney review that again um with limited updates uh to that that policy uh FAFSA completion is a law that's been on the books for some time requiring districts to have graduating students complete fafs fuff forms uh the state almost annually pushes back the implementation date on that because a lot of people push back on the implement the idea that we're required to complete fafs forms so um that's what this is the law just pushed back the state so we updated the policy uh law pushed back to date so we updated the policy to reflect that uh the alternative education program basically says that we need to offer alternative education opportunities for kids and that you can't like basically banish kids who need these support so uh it's something that obviously through humiston we are very engaged in but we also provide opportunities through our adult education program and uh relationship with Wallingford for other courses like um GED credit diploma programs and um English acquisition and then some elective courses through that so just to be on the second one the social networking yep that is exclusive to staff yes there's nothing okay and so anything to do with social networking and kids or phones is still in the hopper we're in the process of updating our phone policy oh sorry yeah there's more yeah we're going to talk about the yeah two different things just want to be clear thank you yep um yeah I just wanted to comment on the uh social networking policy um uh we did have a uh I say a decent discussion I don't want to say robust that might be too much of a yeah description um but uh my because my concerns or hopes would that was that the uh policy was going to be perhaps more restrictive or more punitive or give uh the superintendent perhaps more leeway than is in the policy but as was described by Dr Solen and through his discussions with our attorneys the language that is in this policy if you were to read it is intentionally vague I guess due to of course you know my personal concerns or all of concerns is naturally uh First Amendment rights of uh of individuals but and how that relates to uh your duties as an employee for chesher public schools and how that all intermingles and that's why the policy exists the way it does and why we moved it forward from the policy committee so I just wanted to make that comment so when you read it it's you know yeah it's definitely fair there are different sets of rules for different sets of circumstances you know our um employees and students for that matter uh have freedom of speech rights that um when they're not representing the chesher public schools are pretty vast and um when somebody is apparently or looks to be representing mentioning uh chesher Public Schools they they are much more restrictive um so there is a pretty broad swath of how to manage these things and I've as you can imagine done a lot of reading on free rights Free Speech rights of Staff this year and um you know understand where our attorneys have crafted this uh policy as a result uh I read through the policy I saw the changes I am encouraged um and I understand uh you know why it's certain the way it is in the chain but uh there is a section where you do have some discretion um which you know is good so I thank the policy committee for working all these policies but I'm glad that that one was U tweaked as best as I could thank you any other board members we did we did have some there was a lot of questioning about why we couldn't put certain things in there and why you know why there's a reason we ended up with what we ended up with Mr White thank you um yeah I just wanted to uh add Echo the concerns about Free Speech but also add the what I feel is really important which is superintendent you I think you maintain pretty good relationships with our unions and the reality from my perspective is not being a lawyer is that whenever something comes up with a me a union member the union will become involved and having a good relationship with the Union is really important for difficult situations yeah and I want to acknowledge them too because um I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of different L uh excuse me union leaders over the course of my career I was the union president for the administrators for a decade you know some are much more reasonable and grounded than others um and they this Union leadership that we have has a a very clear interest in supporting all the teachers and maintaining a positive reputation for all of our Professionals in this District um and they keep a great eye on that certainly they uh represent their membership vigorously uh but they're also um you know very reasonable in that process so it's it's definitely a two-way SE Street there thank you though too any other board members no so we do have the motion on the table that was second um call for a vote all those in favor of the motion that is on the table unanimous thank you and I believe that concludes policy Mr real quick we did uh we have been uh discussing a cell phone policy the the current policy still talks about uh pagers and uh we're in the process we did have a survey conducted are we going to get into that Dr Solen or yeah there is a link in your packet for the survey that we conducted uh we asked feel like starting off few we asked a 100 people questions about cell phones we asked um we asked the parents students and staff across the dist District at all three levels their perceptions of the impact of cell phone use but also the um existing practices that we have in place uh as Mr II mentioned the the policy that we have is super dat you know talking about beepers and pagers and whatnot um and so that just hasn't been updated to reflect the time the times in the survey that the link that's shared with you it's a pretty heavy packet um it outlines what the policies are at each building so they're developmentally appropriate we think you know at the Elementary grades um there really is no cell phone access cell phones should not be out and about um at all period anywhere uh at the middle school pretty much the same thing you know that cell phones are not out about and at the high school level there is limited use um during quote downtime like go study hall or um lunches and things like that but uh uh because we've been much more restrictive in the classrooms at the high school what I've seen just walking down the hall this year at cheser high school the kids are so much more engaging um when I walk down the hall they'll say hello you know you can say hi to them they used to be earbud you know zombies um you don't see that anymore uh it's it's really refreshing uh to see that uh I had a conversation today we talk to all of our principles about you know I know six weeks ago you said you know it was much improved how is it today and um Kelly gillo at the middle school was the first one to speak up and say amazing it's so much better um and they've done a great job of reinforcing expectations there at the high school the biggest concern expressed in the survey is that my neighbor doesn't enforce the policy well out um so we talked a lot about you know making sure that teachers are all on the same page about enforcing that policy in their classrooms um so that it makes it easier on your neighbor when they have to call you out for a phone that the student is saying yeah but next door I can use my phone um so I think it's it's more of an Enforcement issue of course developmentally high school students are going to be more inclined to you know Lobby about their freedoms and um and and they should should have more freedoms no doubt uh but uh basically the gist of the administrative team and what you'll see in the surveys is General support for the existing practices not Universal but pretty good support um given the topic from the three different stakeholders and just to clarify when we're talking about policy that is those are building policies or building guidelines right we not District policy yeah so we need to update that yeah our goal is to update that policy so we have something more robust right and just getting back to the whole idea of beepers I use the word beeper in my freshman class today they said what is that they had no idea all I know is from caddy [Laughter] sh all right I think that's it that concludes policy thank you Mr ay um another item we did have a a legislative meeting and we want to thank uh represent linahan um who came to um address the board but also um Dr Solen you know um we appreciate you just um basically outlining some of our concerns and areas that we need support in from the legislative body um session did commence last week so some of the items that were addressed or brought forward to rep linan to at least um also speak to her uh her colleagues would be the educational cost sharing discussion and hopefully and it I don't think this is a treasure problem um all other districts are also seeing the reduction in educational cost sharing so that clearly impacts our budget here um the other item would be to support us in trying to elevate the profession as a whole um because obviously it's very difficult to hire um talented professionals um or influence um younger uh Generations to come to the field um and then just I think you guys mentioned this at the budget review meeting the other day just the excessive list of mandates that we have to follow um and I really I personally like the fact that you brought up the strategy of possibly reviewing it every five years I mean we have curriculum cycles that we review so there's got to be a process in place that at least puts some consideration to determine relevance in offse impact of costs too so for those of you um oh and the other point too um asking the state to make a decision on you know we love the flexibility of the kindergarten age but really just follow the research and make a decision on you know September one that's it for um entry into kindergarten so hopefully um she could bring that back I know that there was going to be a follow-up with Dr Solen to at least um go to the capital or Lobby yeah so I appreciate the time that the legislators have given um actually this afternoon I met with representative zupkus uh we've had some email communication with um U Senator Samson uh R Vino has uh emailed back and forth representative linan is obviously was here last week um but I am working um with Robin and Cary uh and Miss Cullen and to actually get up to um hard next week to have some face-to-face conversations particularly around special education excess cost Grant we saw a significant dip in reimbursement rate on that which uh with the rise in costs as I said last week uh is is uh important that we address those things so uh the the items we discussed last week as long as everybody's fine there I'll be honest with you the one item that we didn't talk about that uh We've contemplated adding to list and I would love your feedback on is uh the state just uh last year revised the law uh outlining sick time for employees uh we provide sick days in excess through our collective bargaining agreements of the um what the the law directs people to provide unfortunately though the logistics of record keeping that are are required and some of the out you know some of the um directives like we can't ask uh an employee for a medical documentation until they've been out more than five days um things like that uh are very onor and concerning for us um but you know I and given the fact that I also know that there has been more talk in the legislature about that the implications of this law on Public School Systems I think Vin would like to see it included you know it's it's up to you guys if if we want to include that I didn't want to do it without you weighing in appreciate your thoughts yeah and I just want to add I know there's other boards that are um advocating for this and trying to address it so I I would personally be on board with um you know Dr s moving that forward but if there are any board members who would like to express Miss col and Dr Solen correct me if I'm wrong but I thought included in there too I thought I read something about um employees could actually take an hour of during the day or two hours during the day and you really can't ask them for any kind of documentation as to why in in a school system that's almost impossible for us to be able to allow that yeah we don't have a Dugout waiting to fill in for an hour uh or something like that so so uh thank you for bringing that up that is one of the things that's more honorous about this you know current law you know if you're um in a shop or something um and an individual leaves for an hour or two that's you know got different implications because you don't have to cover a room of 28y olds you know so that's uh one of the things that we are concerned about so if if you're comfortable with adding that to our legisl of priorities I'll certainly do so and send it out to all the legislators Mr D white I'm comfortable with it thanks yeah comfortable with it yeah um yeah I think we can probably move forward with that with Dr Ran but there's uh Mr per was there a a legislative I know K publish there's a legislative meeting also coming up you can kind of uh yeah well we could talk about it during uh after your update later oh okay yeah all right great I'll give some more detail gotcha awesome um next item is the approval of minutes for two meetings a meetings held for December 19th and January 9th so I do need to call for a motion to approve the minutes if Mr White can you read the motion please move that the treasure Board of Education approve the minutes for meetings held on December 19th 2024 and January 9th 2025 is there a second Dr herin um are there any additions or corrections to be noted no okay all those in favor of approving the motion to approve the minutes of both meetings please raise your it is unanimous Mr zeny thank you um Mr secretary are there any correspondence to be read there is no correspondence thank you thank you sir and then we move to um superintendent report so I'll hand it over to Dr Solen for any updates thank you so much um I guess in no no particular order here um the first item on the superintendent's update is that we've been working closely with the Park and Recreation and um uh the YMCA to design a phone free fun event uh for grades 5 through 8 that'll occur next Friday uh from 7 to 10 p.m I want to thank John gock um Doug Levens from the y v masana for helping plan that event along with our treasure High School peer Health Educators who will help supervise that event with me and those other two gentlemen from the Y and the park and wreck next Friday uh Kristen Shanley former teacher of the year who's our library media specialist be running our Creation Station um in the library uh with all sorts of activities for kids to do uh there'll be activities in the gym in the calf and the uh technology room we have instruction zone with Dr OD day uh so the the goal here is not to provide all structured activities for kids to do the goal is have you know multi-age engagement with each other to come up with something to do um which I I kind of hypothesize will be awkward for our kids who aren't used to just showing up and playing together um so I really appreciate the chesher high school peer healthed Educators they read chapter 3 of the anxious generation about like how do we get kids engaged in that stuff um both Doug Levens from the Y and and John gock from Park and wreck have read the book uh so we're really trying to provide a catalyst of an opportunity and I I it's a little bit of a social experiment I feel like um low stake social experiment where we'll see how kids engage with each other and if they can create activities to do with one another without saying all right I'm going to help you pick teams to play basketball together you know it's it's not going to be like that and so uh it's really fun uh to to Branch out and say hey here's your resources come together let's have a good time uh we've put a a 100 student cap on it um hopefully we get there and we'll see see how it goes so that's kind of exciting uh stuff that we're doing I wanted to talk to you about open Choice enrollment project ctions um we have worked diligently over the course of the last five or six years to substantially increase our open Choice enrollment and it's been great um Malachi is an open Choice student um the challenge that we're running into is seating at K through 8 at this point um are we're adding you know multiple Portables Highland we've added you know the the we're going to be redistricting uh come the end of this year uh as much as it pains me to say it it's my recommendation that we don't add seats k through eight frankly we're super close in seven and eight from needing two more teachers there uh it do uh so I'm anxious about that so um in calculating it you know we do have one freshman next year I'd like to add um five seats or six seats for freshman I I think that's your best opportunity for you to come in as a freshman we can add limited seats for sophomores and juniors we already have nine sophomores it's not like they need a peer group The One freshman I'd love to have more students on the bus with that student um we're losing six 12th graders so if we can add you know to keep that number at Treasure High School a little bit more robust I mean that's my plan uh to communicate I don't intend on adding any seniors um that are just new for the senior year at ches high school so um that's that's the plan with open Choice enrollment and then finally new schools update um Vin and I met with um Jody Rhoden and uh the full cast of characters who represent om and arcadis yesterday at Norton school if you haven't been to Norton yet uh it's it's pretty shocking to look at the back and where it is already I'll send you guys some pictures because it's like you can't believe already where we are and it's it's pretty exciting stuff um as Mr grippo will tell you uh nothing too sexy going on at the North End yet we're just moving a little bit of dirt around but there's some hammering going on today yeah hammering yeah so um that it's really exciting to see that just so people have a sense of our timeline now uh this spring will be uh consumed with laying you know foundations and concrete um all spring the uh structural steel should arrive at the end of the school year uh and you'll start to see you know the frames form over the course of the summer um so we're really excited about that uh we had a request which is is fantastic from uh Norton they're you're drilling the geothermal Wells so uh we're trying to get some of the folks who know about geothermal Wells to speak to the students about it get the kids out there if if you uh saw my Instagram post earlier this week There's a great picture of a group of like 15 kids all glued to the construction they're all standing outside watching what's going on with their teacher um and so we want to incorporate the kids as much as we can we've talked to Luther uh our transportation director about getting some buses to Chapman to run kids up when we're ready to do geothermal Wells at the North End so we want kids to experience this to like Doug's point from earlier you know making that awareness and um it's really exciting to see it happening so that's where we are with school construction I apologize uh my wife was out of town for work this week and I had to take my youngest to physical therapy um um and missed the naming ceremony or not ceremony excuse me the meeting that was held V I know you were there can can you provide an update on that uh yes I can thanks there there were um several names that we knew about already that were presented this evening uh Harvey C baram was one and that that did get um a lot of you know recommendations and people that spoke at the at the turn this evening also schaer Farm uh the site of the new North End was schaer farm that house that is being used as a construction site belong to the schaer family the Tuttle name came up Edge view was a dairy farm in town that was suggested Frank J papandrea longtime resident of chesher uh another suggestion that came in um by email was Darcy Chapman Elementary or DC Elementary uh and also there was a an email to name the school after M Richards uh who was retired from the treasure public school so those are the names that were um mentioned this evening the Town Council um and the committee that's formed by the council you know will take action uh in the future um and the goal is to do it you know relatively soon you know before the the tentative you know June 2025 deadline is when the the name is needed by The Architects so that they can work through the process of Designing everything you know including the signage for the schools I mean the the work is coming along it feels like Breakneck Pace now uh Vin and I met with uh rich that our director of facilities and Anna petronio from um pwn this morning about ceilings and stuff so you know it's it's a lot uh that we're trying to to juggle but at the same time you know there was a long period of time where we put a ton of work in never sure if it was going to amount anything so uh it's at least you know you know it's it's it's there closing in right Mr White and I don't know Dr her you had a comment yeah my understanding is that with Norton you've put together a a committee of playground professionals so we have students weighing in who could not be more excited about uh this Adventure Playground that we're trying to do um you know I have a lot of pressure in my job but that like meeting the expectations of playground for little kids is a different sort of pressure so um hopefully it meets their their expectation I I am confident it well they will they will give plenty of feedback oh yeah yeah it'll work out in the end thank you a quick question are you hearing anything about um problems with the noise level at Norton school with the building going on not yet um not yet ad Adam's complaining yeah about the hamers the folks that work from home on the North Ender really been out of shape and I can hear it so I know you can hear it too but uh no complaint though I will say that the volume was probably a little bit more intense last week when they were cutting down and clearing a lot of trees it happens all during the day at least um so I would assume if you're working from home it's a little bit more problematic but uh one thing I will credit om on there's been a lot of effort made to communicate with the neighbors um and so um yesterday the gentleman um who's kind of the pivot person over there is Brian at Norton um he's got relationships and other gentleman Colton over there they've connected with neighbors they know neighbors by name they uh are working really closely I mean it is important for us to be good neighbors uh hopefully you know it's kind of like doing your kid and over you know there's uh a lot of aggravation but at the end of the day you know you're left with a really uplifting and beautiful place and I think that will be the case at Norton for our neighbors too great thank you any other important members comments for the super um I have a question unrelated to the schools is that can I um uh it is now January is there any update on Staffing I'll just leave it at that sure um it well we have a few um Staffing updates first of all um we had a teacher resign before right at Christmas um before right at the the break at Chapman um we're excited that uh we have extended a offer to somebody today who will start on um January 24th um at the building and then be in classes on the 27th um at chesher high school um as the our student reps noted uh we and I know I've shared with the board in December we sent out uh information to everybody who holds a certification for a building administrator certification in Connecticut uh it was a video about that our kids made about why it'd be great to to work at chesher high school um I know Malachi was in a video Lydia may have been in there as well but uh received over 1300 views on YouTube most of those are Marlene but we know a lot of other people watched it too um and so we publicized the position in January and have over 45 applicants so far so uh I think we'll have a really uh good pool to select from um that's not what I was asking about but thank you um it was more about the uh the issue that we had the beginning of the year trying not to um draw the social media oh oh oh that Staffing update yes so um yeah the uh sro's uh first of all I want to thank Mike Khan publicly Mike is one of our SOS um unfortunately we communicate pretty regularly uh and that guy is always there to pick up the phone I don't care what kind what time of day or night it is he is incredibly responsive uh his partner Oscar Rivera our other um our other school resource officer as we know is the reality in our community took another job in another town um got a better deal and um so he left the uh shortage that our treasure Police Department faces is still reality um the memorandum of understanding taking people off special duties has been extended to March 1st however uh there is a carve out for uh sro's so they should be returning soon um that's optimistic it's good news for us I I'll email you with more information when I have thank you for that update appreciate it that's good news yeah absolutely is there actually to Dr haran's question you know I remember being a teacher and our school was being constructed is there any impact right now because the noise level is I used to have to yell so that the kids can hear me so are there any um concerns coming from the classroom we haven't heard that yet sorry about the pun but uh that hasn't been expressed yet I think I think the uh enthusiasm you know probably tempers that the other thing that's kind of nice is that the structural steel which will be loud um occurs over the summer when we don't have classes in session the vast majority of it so you know hopefully we kind of Dodge that issue to a degree but um certainly we'll pay attention to it thank you Dr Solen any other board members um next item would be any old business seeing none uh we'll move on to new business um again I just want to thank Dr Solen for um the legislative meeting and bringing that forward um and to that I just wanted to see if uh Mr per can kind of update us on the next um cave legislative breakfast or the intent behind that meeting yeah thank you uh Madam chair so uh there's a area legislative bre breakfast I think January 29th it's at Seymour High School I I'm not sure if every gets to C emails I forward it to you any everybody anyway thank you um I I haven't talked to the a directors yet um but it's typically board members um uh local Representatives uh superintendents you have Educators there and and it always tends to focus on some topics that are about to be discussed in Harford uh I don't know what those are um I'm not even sure if our Representatives such as uh represent Lans upus um or or the rest of them have been contacts I'll find out but once we have more information I'll send it out probably next week uh other C again because I am your Lea on the C just some stuff's going on so yeah with the session kicked off in Harford um I think we all got our legislative agenda from c a couple weeks ago um we're gearing up the executive committee uh and C leadership to be out there in Harford given testimony on a number of items I'll definitely be out there so um as you have your summaries prepared I'll be happy to give those to Patric and team so that and um I foret miss Mackie so that they can uh and I also have direct access some folks I'll be um meeting with them whether they like it or not in Harford so it's it's all good um uh for what it's worth cab was awarded um an award for leadership I think from the national Schoolboard Association uh this past week simply because I think we're we're we may be the only Board of Association I think in the country that has partnered with the state department of Ed I'm not sure folks realized C has a contract with SD to provide professional development for board members and that's been utilized very well so every conference every webinar every thing you see from cave is if you attend that it goes to your um credits as a c member but also uh meeting that legislation that we supposed to be you know trained so uh that was a good thing and um last item T night uh just for folks aware there was a opening on the State Board of Education uh C nominated uh four folks I am one of them so uh it's an appointment by Governor uh it's a long shot because you have to lobby at this point and I am not a politician like Lobby and I just like working so uh but if it works out we'll let you know if not we're trying so thank you and I do recall reading something that you did satisfy all the board credits too so congratulations on that [Laughter] so um and the other item I did get a notice from um speaking of the YMCA there's an upcoming plunge um so I'm just uh it is an awesome team building Tony and I did it once so I think we need to add on to this and Dr senen I believe your name is on there too good seat still available just say I I uh I've done it multiple time many times Kevin didn't you do it once too oh this year I forgot he is yeah thank you for volunteering to do that unfortunately in the audience directly behind Kevin hanling is Kevin buono my intern and when I said Kevin you know I could see the fear shoot through I'm like dude I am an intern I am not jumping in ice water trying toing some Kudos points here so um I think you're the captain of this okay so we'll post the okay just talk to the administrators today awesome thank you um that is it for and can I add something so Kevin Dr Sol's intern you can just do like I do and just say I'll write a check because as much as I like the cold weather and the winter I'm not jumping into ice cold water it's good for your muscles awesome so we have again some upcoming meetings um as mentioned before we do have a planning committee meeting on the 21st at 6m at D Middle School um and then we have the Monday February 3rd policy committee meeting at humston boardroom as well as the curriculum meeting on February 10th at humston um Thursday February 20th will be the Board of Education business meeting at Town council chambers um and I also want to um I'm sure you're aware that Monday January 20th uh we will be um there will be no school both schools and offices will be closed um in honor of Dr Martin Luther King Jr day and then Monday through Tuesday February 17th to 18th it is President's Day um February break so schools will be closed um just to remind everybody again the budget review um meeting schedule as mentioned the January 21st is the next one at 700 p.m.

members of the board and attendance president Linda Chavez pres vice president Andres quo he's on his way clerk MF pres member coordin ala present member Min present members of administration superintendent hmana pres uh this meeting is being recorded and we do have Quorum can you please all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance the United States of America and to the and let the record reflected uh vice president G came in at 532 so we're all present here um moving on to open S whoops to um members of the public who wish to address the board uh Mr Carlos trioli could you please thank you he's The Interpreter for uh Alan rock thank you Happy New Year remind me what item Madame President number one uh one pardon uh you could do please uh 1.2 and 1.3 and then 2.1 thank you okay un e number two transpar question and just a kind reminder we have Spanish interpretation available for the public thank you thank you so much for the good job um so on the 1.2 discussion and or modification of the agenda the board may change the order of business including but not limited to an announcement that an agenda item will be considered out of order that consideration of an item has been withdrawn postponed rescheduled or removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion and possible action uh truste Corina erera can I request to move item 4.3 to after 3.6 please restate that number 4.