Reader

pleas appreciate it there has been adequate notice of this meeting provided by the Board of Education in the January 2nd 2025 notice in the Asbury Park Press in the coastar setting forth the date time and location of this meeting similar notice has been posted in the burrow Hall the Brio School website and the burrow Clark has been notified call Mrs bino present Mr Beaker present Dr de brosia Mrs Huck here Mrs mcdev here Mrs re here Mr Vali Mrs Walsh here Mr wal here we could stand for the flag salute I to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible liy and justice for all could we get a motion to approve the December 18th and January 8th uh minutes I make a motion to approve the December 18th 18th and January 8 8th meetings minutes I'll second that that to m Mrs Pao yes Mr Becker yes Mrs hu yes this MCD yes Mrs re yes Mrs Walsh abstained from December 18 Mr wal we have no presentations this evening which brings us to at 702 visitors business visitors are permitted to comment on agenda items only at this time we just ask that you approach the mic and state your name and address they're not even here I was like are you gonna we can't make fun of M Siana or no correspondences none all right uh committee reports uh District operation Mr vitel there was no uh meeting none Dr Dian brosio is uh representative manisan I don't believe they had a meeting where he was present which brings us to curriculum and programs Mrs Walsh yeah we had a brief meeting yesterday on the 21st 345k met um with the administration Mrs P Mrs Pearson and Mrs baldino representative from the board of myself handful of items discussed the first one was the administration reported a very successful halfday inservice on Friday January 17 U where they were able to each grade level group worked in professional learning communities to really dissect the middle of the Year Benchmark data the staff was led by the administration in exercises to analyze patterns and Trends in the data then they worked to formulate and design plans to Target the students needs based on this updated benchmarks uh the second topic was um an update on their math program selection the committee has been working hard they're looking at about three to four updated math programs and their resources and reviewing samples the next um step is booking the company Representatives that they're interested in to come in and present to the committee and they'll review all the resources and whatever they provide at those uh presentations um this was exciting for the staff here the Brio Elementary School welcomes a group of Red Bank educators to collaborate with them over their roll out and implementation of the Whit wisdom literacy program the BS teachers teachers were really excited to share how they transitioned into this new curriculum and they engaged in a lot of professional dialogue about the program strengths and of course like most programs there are things in areas where they can further Target um different needs especially based on the new Ela standards that have been updated since the adoption of that program um Mrs petti has been working with the administration and hosting grade level meetings this week to review of course what's expected at each grade level and behavior um attendance goal setting for the second half of the school year so that's I've been hearing about that at home um been exciting uh the administration also gave us an update on the new website and the progress that they've been making with that they're including these three spots on the homepage one will have the update at of fingertips another one will have the Blazer bulletin and the third will have like presentations that are recent and what's happening um and that brings us the last big thing is that we had a very successful veg presentation on the evening of January 14th the administration alongside Tower Healey um the district occupational therapist discussed the district's NSS which has been multi Sy support program for real that targets and addresses students with academic social emotional or behavioral challenges um the school uses a systematic approach to address the needs of the individual student they develop targeted plans with the team um and they support all these supports are put in place to help our students grow and develop and make progress towards their personal goals um this was a great opportunity for parents and Guardians to learn about the interventions that are available and all the supports that are here uh bees for other students the last thing we discussed in Old business was the preschool open house that just recently took place um and they're looking forward to rolling out those registrations for both prek and K in upcoming weeks so thank you to the administration for all your hard work in moving these initiatives forward does anybody have any questions [Music] question my wife attended she was really happy with it yeah and the website's noticeable yeah still has some little strange things that were we're working on figuring out but you know it's nice to kind of take our time and build it when we recognize me so the um idea about presentations actually came from some of the feedback we received so we took that feedback and said you know what let's find a spot for that so it's kind of nice that we're building it piece by piece trying to really clean it up um and I do want to thank um you know both uh Mr Greenfield and Mrs Kennedy for their help with that um because they've really been instrumental in helping us move that forward noticeable uh I am HR and I did not have a meeting this month but we next month which brings us to Mr Walman and policy Mr Beer yes we did have a policy meeting on January 15 at 4M intendance Dro Walsh myself boardra from the administration um the meeting focused on a recently released alert 234 from stra smme which really contained two separate areas of updated policies uh the first deals entire entirely with policies updated to changes and statutes for the uniform State memorandum of agreement between education and law enforcement officials second for General policy updates that are not related to that tonight we will be putting forward 10 policies and regulations for first reading from the alert while reserving three policies and one regulation for future meetings and the additional work that is required be as brief as possible the first group group a policy 5512 which concerns harassment ination or bulling HIV has been revised to incorporate information regarding coordination of HIV investigations specifically the policy now includes loation requirements and procedures for when a school district must pause an HIV investigation to allow law enforcement to complete their investigation policy and regulation 5533 regarding smoking has been revised now require School District to report the use for seizure invol electronic smoking device to law enfor and school officials have a reasonable susp that the device contains control dangerous substance or can can is no longer control substance in the state New Jersey so they are separate policy 9320 uh addressing the cooperation with law enforcement agencies has been revised to address the handled of Care Program which requires law enforcement to notify the school district when a student has witnessed a traumatic event outside of the school the superintendent is our point of cont regulation guide 9320 has also been revised to include or other drugs in addition to marijuana canid because again marijuana dangerous substance but still requires law enforcement notification when a student influence Sor suspected to be um and and and basically that's just they're saying that even though it's not substance still legal for a minor title so so this need to Bei okay uh outside of theou in the second group of Group B policy 5111 concerning the eligibility of Resident non-resident students has been revised to align with the latest statute 18 383 and clarifications from the state station regarding tuition for non-resident students in this revision was primarily concerned about the enrollment School staff members and it went detail about teachers versus staff for those who live outside of the district however BS does not offer this option to school staff members we're just updating the policy to be consistent with the new statute policy and regulation 5516 concerning the use of electronic communication devices has been revised to address the students personal use devices including cell phones during the school day and to incorporate new Provisions regarding limiting or prohibiting their use uh M Administration that this is not a tremendous problem currently in this school however this policy now includes a broader definition of what electronic communication devices which include cell phones smart watches tablets earbuds wireless headphones and other devices uh the revised policy addresses the prohibition or limitation of the use of electronic communications during the school day the revised regulation aligns with our overall condex and our discipline po policy it permits use of these devices only when per by staff for education purposes and before and after school and also outlines a progressive discipline system for offenses policy gu 2710 regarding student grievances has been revised to provide more details regarding student grievance process and adds more structure and detail of the student griev process including documentation escalations and timelines policy 8500 concerning Food Services has been refed to reflect changes to New Jersey working-class families anti-hunger act federal regulations and federal guidance documents related to the eligibility of School meals uh BDS does not currently meet the threshold uh required to offer the national school lunch program however we do cover lunches for students in our district uh that would qualify for that and this helps us cify exactly what the services are that we offer so ping further action um policy 2365 concerns the acceptable use of generative AI or artificial intelligence as I mentioned November we've been evaluating this new policy for several months um Mr Greenfield recently had ATT specific training sessions on J and he's now conducting surveys with the staff to understand which gen tools they may be using Mr Greenfield will also be selecting workshops at texo to help inform District positioning on this policy and he's also reached out to some at Google provides our hly collaboration and email platform to the district to discuss access to Chai Mrs fer continues to coordinate with Nan to see how their policy is progressing so that we remain align with our fellow sing districts asly as desirable uh policy 571 concerning academic Integrity uh we need to review this and be the section for the possible AI use policy uh basically you know when it's okay to use AI our AI policy will imp1 our code of conduct uh which is also 5600 which is discipline uh we can do this move that reality policy forward and finally policy and regulation 7441 concerning electronic surveillance in the school buildings and on school grounds uh this is related to theou and it deals with the capability of remote viewing of our school's cameras by law enforcement only in event of an emergency and that is still being reviewed in conjunction with our annual work thank you Mr Walman very thorough as always we got some classic policies on here from smoking cigarettes all the way up to uh electronic devices Ai and AI yeah it ain't easy uh man uh all right that brings us to community relations Mrs re please all right so some updates from some of our Community Partners um are bef has a a lot cooking right now um they are excited that they are scheduled for a big uh event their annual event is May 8th um at Boatyard in Point Pleasant um and they have the band so shop that will be performing and it is actually made up of some bees graduates um which is really exciting so please uh save that date and um more details will obviously be forthcoming um there are sponsorship opportunities available um there's a new form so if that's something that uh you might be interested in please reach out to the bef um all money that they are uh raising right now will benefit students both in and out of the media center with technology upgrades and resources um and there is a new treasurer for the bef Jen Mangold um and they're really excited to have her coming in um and coming in with new ideas and ready to continue the work they're doing uh the bpeg had their uh event their meeting January 14th which was spoken about um and the PTO as always has some events uh coming up Bingo this next Thursday day um definitely come out a good time the sweetheart dance is scheduled for February 28th for our uh young ladies at school and the Blazer boys event is scheduled for March 28th so it's easy to remember those dates and that's for our young men in school um to enjoy with a guest of their choice um the eighth grade gertude Hawk fundraiser should be coming up soon soon so keep your eyes out for that and the PTO currently has 13 enrichment courses running and it's really nice to see the kids skipping and running out uh at 4 o'clock um when those are over so it's even though it's really cold lot of lot of great things going on and people are willing to come out for them so that's good all right thank you very much no problem questions any all right that brings us at 716 to administrative report so much was covered um through committees so you see our our teachers are hard at work uh halfway through the year it's always a good time to kind of take stock of where we are and you know we've taken advantage of that by using our Vine your benchmarks and the the half PD day on Friday as Mrs wall shared um and also to reset our students a little bit so we did do um grade level meetings actually I think we finish up tomorrow with grades 5 through eight just kind of touch base go over some reminders um you know let them also think about where they started and where they are now where they want to get to um and even though it is winter and it's cold there's a lot going on here still between you know winter enrichmond and Sports basketball is finishing up pretty soon and that's been great to to see going on um so still a lot you know happening even though it's you know kind of a the do Drums of winter um I also just looking ahead a little bit we are going to open kindergarten registration after February break that will all be online as it was last year so we're working on making sure that is all prepared and ready to go um and then when we come back from February break as well uh we will also be uh doing some special events events the week we return is a random acts of kindness week so similar to like the week of respect we will be planning events for each of those days we have um an assembly plan for upper grade students from the tiger stolo Foundation that does a lot of work across mou County um so that is also that will be coming up Upon Our uh return so I think everybody else kind of Hit the highlights of what's happening so that's my report thank you mrra any questions any concerns all right that brings us to Hib reports which were on the attachment uh any questions concerns there no which brings us rapidly to action items that is all items below are on the recommendation of superintendent and curriculum and program for squash could you move that yes Mr Becker yes Mrs H yes Mrs MCD yes Mrs re yes Mrs Walsh yes Mr wol yes all right [Applause] awesome that worked very well we we were jealous people were jealous of us how it worked all right uh moving on uh District Operations uh Mr Walman can you move District Operations motion the board accepts the annual comprehensive financial report for attached and I also [Music] second Mrs yes Mr Becker yes Mrs H yes Mrs MCD yes Mrs B yes Mrs Walsh yes Mr W yes motion car and again Mr Walman please policy iuc policies in C1 for its first reading second this is bino yes Mr Becker yes Mrs hu yes Mrs mcdevit yes Mrs re yes Mrs Walsh yes Mr W yes before we go to Human Resources um I just want to acknowledge the retirements that are on our agenda this evening um you know uh Mrs carheart Mrs Patron and Mr y will be retiring as of this June and I certainly you know not having been here as long as as many people um I just know um what they have brought to our school over their years of service and um they are really going to be missed and you know I'm just so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them and you know I certainly I think I speak on behalf of all the staff and our students um you know in in recognizing their great contributions to our school so congratulations on your retirements um I always accept those with a Bittersweet um kind of sentiment uh but I just wanted to at least acknowledge that this evening and you know say thank you to Che that awesome want me to motion then yeah we'll we'll recognize that I'll Reserve I'll reserve my comments for then could you please yes uh I'd like to make a motion to move items D1 through D7 I'll second this is B yes Mr Becker yes Mrs H yes Mrs mcdev yes Mrs Reed yes Mrs W Mr wal yes motion car so at 7:22 thank you everyone that brings us to visitors business visitors are permitted to comment on agenda and non-agenda items at this time we just ask again that you please approach the microphone and state your name and address come on every nothing it's fair one point we're going to hold you to it uh which brings us to the payment of the bills uh this baldino will you pay the bills this evening sure I'd like to make a motion uh for number 12 motion that the Board of Education authorize the payment of the following January 2025 Bill list and that the secretary is authorized to draw warrants of the treasurer in the total amount of 1,759 second Mrs Bina yes Mr Becker yes Mrs H yes Mrs MCD yes Mrs re yes Mrs Walsh yes Mr wal yes motion right that brings us to the standard board secretary certific ation that is there does not need to be read uh there is no executive session this evening which uh takes us to a German yeah please right yeah and there is an audit summary in your packet this evening yeah the last the last page is very helpful lets you know exactly what is great but right to point out as well you know yeah C it which now brings us to a motion for adjournment anyone who who motion motion yeah in a second oh [Music] second fa hi 72 thank you everyone good job everyone hey by the way that band is

e how you good good okay everyone can we please stand for the pledge Stephie I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all welcome everybody to The Cliff Park Board of Education uh meeting January 22nd 20125 uh Lou I'd like you to start with your opening statement thank you Mr capano the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public will advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of public bodies which any business affected their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of this act clite par P of sc's notice of this meeting to be published by having a date time and place there up posted in the office of the b cler or a library or a recor p Office of the Board of Ed and the offices of school numberb 3456 and the high school on January 14th 2025 and notices were forwarded to the reporters of the record January 14 2025 this is an official meeting Mr capano I'd like to take the role if I may please uh Mrs Abu here Mr capana here Mrs Freda here Mr Gara here Mr nadw here Dr pontano here Mr ranc cour Mr Russo here mrak here Mr Yi okay Mr cap thank you on again welcome everybody uh would like to start off with the superintendent's report please thanks Mr uh there are 38 Personnel resolutions this evening uh vast majority of them are perfunctory covering professional development leaves of absence substitute teachers and teacher aids but there are four Personnel resolutions I would like to speak to you and the public about uh resolution number eight is apologize I have the wrong agenda I apologize folks I I don't have the latest and greatest two resolution 8 is appointing The anav Vasquez as the high school vice principle replacing Mr Schmidt and I thank Mr pinto and his committee for the work that they did interviewing the candidates and recommending to me Mrs Vasquez and I am recommending Miss Vasquez to the board of education to replace Mr Schmidt I wish her pending her approval this evening I wish her a long wonderful career in clide Park High School resolution seven did go backwards is replacing Mrs Vasquez with Stephanie Brennan um Stephanie Brennan is a former multi language learner supervisor in the district and uh she's been filling in for Mrs Vasquez since the summer she's doing a fabulous job and I'd like to recommend making her permanent following this Vasquez two retirements I'd like to bring to the Public's attention and the boards once again number 25 we are as asking you to I'm sorry question number 26 we're asking you to accept the retirement notification of Middle School ESL teacher Mrs Park uh we wish Miss Park very very happy wonderful new chapter in life and we thank her for her service to the Middle School ESL program and lastly resolution 25 accept the retirement of Dr Edwood Meyer effect of April the 4th of 2025 and I believe Mr tabaki is going to speak to Dr Meyer's time and career with the Cliffside Park Public Schools so Dr Maya wrote a letter to Dear Dr Hayes Mrs Cal Mr aano Mr PTO and members of the Board of Education serving the students of Kista Park and Fa communities for many decades has been one of the greatest Gifts of my life the only great blessing was the gift of my daughter Madison after 42 years I CLI Saar high school and 46 years in education it's time for me to begin my next Journey having worked with many of you and your children along with your former colleagues as either as a teacher or counsel I think you know how much I truly love Renville I look forward to helping our students in the future if there's ever a need for now all I can say is thank you and your pre pre predecessors for your unyielding support trust and kindness over these 42 years I am blessed I would like to furthermore say about Dr Meyer when I started high school he was our history teacher correct our freshman year and then sophomore year junior year and Senior year he was my guidance counselor I gave him a run for his money but I uh I work through all my journey in my life and I came to where I am with the help of Dr Meyer so it's it's a little bit sad but he has to move on with his life and take care of Madison and his uh and his true passion hisort he likes to do that Co reing and all that so I want to thank Dr Meer for his 42 years of dedication to uh taking care of a lot of families and a lot of kids a lot of us adults because of him that's all I got to say yeah I I think it would be uh prudent uh with u our principal High School principal's assistance to have him here uh before the April meeting and maybe a nice plaque can be given on behalf of uh uh the Board of Education to to Dr Meyer he he he was a tremendous asset to this District Larry I think you you could handle that and maybe invite some of his colleagues to come up thank you anything else uh Dr Hayes I just wanted to let everyone know that we have our formal qac visitation from County Superintendent Fletcher and his educational Specialists on Monday I will say to you knocking wood and but confidently that Mr alfano has done a trend mendous job in preparation of their visit with our facilities and all of our fiscal paperwork that they're going to be viewing Mrs calibri and the supervisory team have done a fantastic job uh making sure that all of the paperwork that they're going to look at in the area of curriculum instruction and programing are in place and I thank Angelo Albin and Frank savastano for all of their help in the areas of operations and uh governance and lastly Gia favano has done a fantastic job helping us prep everything they going to look at your as in Personnel so again that visitations Monday and we hope we have good news for you by Tuesday thank you very much Mr thank you anything else Dr Hayes No Sir Mr Alano anything on finance couple items Mr capano uh Dr Hayes mentioned qack I think we've done a lot of rigor I think we'll be in good shape but as Dr hay said we'll uh let everyone know shortly thereafter um we we're completed our fiscal year end audit which is 6:30 2024 went well we had two Food Service audits procurement administrative review both went very well so we're through most of our Audits and monitorings we have one more left which is one uh Monday so fingers cross if folks can just take a look at the agenda go into Pages 13 really through uh 18 just want to quickly just go through them their resolutions 51 through 59 and it starts on page 13 uh year end and fiscal year end so this is calendar year end so our December reports will need to go to the county that are going to be approved tonight our treasur report secretary report and our transfer report they'll be emailed to the county uh tomorrow morning so I thank the board for in the public for their approval we have two resolutions after that essentially approving uh payment requisitions for two of our larger projects that are are coming to a conclusion are high school gym Lobby project and our stair Tower security doors project those are uh resolutions 55 and 56 resolution 57 we touched a bit on at the work session this is a new project that's going to start in Earnest in the late spring we're going to do a a full-blown renovation to our multi-purpose room at school number six that's resolution 57 and the last two resolutions 58 and 59 uh also going to be spring summer projects HVAC upgrades at our gymnasiums at Cliffside Park School number three and four and essentially what this is is getting the ball rolling to engage the application process with the Department of Education Dr hes Mr Capal that's pretty much it on the finance side thank you very much Mr Alano for the members of the public Mr Alano did indicate in our 2025 26 budget uh we're going to undertake uh a complete renovation of the middle of the number six School old gym that don't like to use the terminology Antiquated but it needs to be upgraded uh to uh meet uh certain codes and also it's in dire need of uh a facelift uh the recreation department utilizes it a lot and it's it's better for the kids and also uh enhancing uh our Auditorium for concerts Etc with new seating it's and that also most of our schools are are air conditioned but number six School number five School Number Four School number three School their uh uh auditoriums gyms uh and cafeterias aren't air conditioned and we were thankful with some uh Surplus dollars that we had left over in last year's budget that Mr Alano was able to allocate some dollars to bring put in HVAC into our uh number three um gym SL cafeteria Auditorium and the same thing at number four School as everybody knows uh when it comes towards for graduation or some events it can get awfully hot in those facilities so I want to thank L uh hard work and always giving us a an operating uh Surplus at the end of the year thank you so much Lou thank you at this time committee reports um I know we have our high school representative Valentina uh cannot be here but Stephanie the high school secretary of the council is here any report from high school at this time um not much as of now right now we're just trying to work on fundraising like as a school Al together um the charity of our choice to help the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires and then for Valentine's Day just a spirit day thank you Stephanie any questions for Stephanie from the board did everything end up great school year nice uh committee reports from the board Dr penano yes I'll report so good news from our athletic teams for our winter 2425 Athletics our girls basketball is 5 and8 the team will enter the county Invitational Tournament and congratulations to them on raising $1,376 at their home American Society game against clion very good boys basketball is seven and four the team will enter the county tournament and they are the number six seed in their state section bracket Bo wrestling is two and four but I did see that we had individual wrestlers compete at the county tournament so congratulations to Junior Isaiah Rodriguez he placed third in the county tournament the girls wrestling I was happy to see that is in inaugural season so have we seen the girls wrestle yet how are they doing so they had their first uh they had their first meet I believe on Friday um and I I was unable to talk to coach Tara um but I know he is happy and high on them before the season so we actually had girls come out for a wrestling they had a I was there I'm sorry 24 yes there was 24 of them against Tom on Friday they did pretty good well congratulations and congratulations to the high school for even Fielding the team I'm very happy to see that um the indoor track team has been competing at uh conference County and Invitational meets in New York and Tom's River student athletes have been successful with their personal best Madison aino will participate in the njs AA tournament boys bowling is 0 and eight but girls bowling is 8 and one and the team will qualify for the county tournament individual girls Bowlers will enter the county tournament and and the girls team has entered the state tournament as well and as for M and Coach Club side I was very happy to see that the competition cheer has been competing at the big North conference and the team won the division championships I believe that was earlier this week and will advance the BNC playoffs congratulations to the girls competition cheer very happy to see that they're doing so well um and they competed at Wayne Valley and will be competing again at Saddlebrook so it's nice to see that they have regular schedule of competitions because in my day they didn't the basketball cheer team happy to see cheering back at the basketball games they will be uh cheering at the basketball games and our dance team performed that month their state Invitational on the 18th and they took third place in the varsity hip hop category soloist senior Allison Moon placing first and Senior Al Alysa Suarez placing third and they will compete at I believe that's Bic Valley in February the team also performed at halftime in some of the basketball games so that's wonderful because it's a great opportunity for our student body and our our community to see the girls dance as well as them competing uh Sarah conrey was honored at the 20125 national girls and women's day in sports at ruers so that is basically our overall uh report on the Athletics but not only are we proud of our athletic teams because they been doing so well over the past few years but our mock trial had a significant Victory um for the first time in seven years in the history of the school that we've had mock trials they made it to the playoffs ranking number 11 in buron County so not only do we have tremendous athletes at the high school but our mock trial is doing very well I believe they faced white tomorrow and they were the number six ranked team um and they'll be playing them uary 27th so congratulations to all our athletes and our mock trial participants and congratulations to Mr Pinto on the high school because it's so wonderful to see how our students are doing terrific things and more good things to come thank you thank you any other committee reports just to touch on building and grounds as you know there's a lot of uh movement uh with the lobby restoration project uh it's uh almost complete uh now they're doing some internal uh work uh inside the lobby and um you know the high school uh um doors have been also uh installed and uh some some stairwell doors were completed uh qac as you know we're in the middle of it now but they did come in and uh do the facility uh evaluation on January 8th I believe Dr Hayes and uh we had got we've gotten big accolades that are as our schools are aging they're in tiptop uh shape and everything passed uh beautifully um any other committee reports from anybody okay at this time I'll open it up to the public anybody from the public have any comments questions be more than happy to take them sure Hi how are you Mark how are just state your name and your address please for You2 linoln sorry to hear sorry to hear about Dr Meer wow big influence on me my sister had him so if you see him tell them I said hello and good luck in the future sorry to hear Dr Hayes thank you for all your time and everything else um as you know I'm just checking in on the status uh estimated time of completion for the renovation Jo well Renovations uh should be done probably in the next less than 60 days the outside work is on hold uh the board of education has made a decision to uh do that probably early spring or in the this summer because we're thinking of doing the entire Riverview driveway all the way to Winterburn try to get some extra parking spaces uh so we have some surveying work going on and we want to install ballards in concrete and now is not the right time to do it uh so we took that out of the scope of work and we're going to have our local contract that's like a riggy or CI put some proposals in and we'll hopefully get that done soon but the lobby hopefully should be open uh I hope by by hoping by the end of uh February beginning of March anything new on Engineers Architects for any yes on Friday Mr alfano myself and our director of uh facilities are interviewing some architectural engineering firms to conduct the physical need assessment on the expansion of the high school we currently use landan Associates as their contracted in-house but uh you know on any procurement and uh you know being conservative with the taxpayer's money we want to ALS o procure some other Architects and Engineers so we're meeting a firm from angle e Cliffs that has done some physical need assessments and some expansions in the pamis area so we're going to meet we'll see and we hope to have that physical need assessment before the school year is done and as you know I've started coming to these meeting about 3 4 months ago possibly just want to reiterate my main concern and my only concern for coming today's meeting sure is our kids safety that's it safety for every one of our kids even even if you don't have kids in school you live in close side it's the only reason I'm here sure appreciate that I just want to make that perfectly clear yeah but we can also make it perfectly clear that this board of education does not turn a tin here to nobody absolutely and we look at these things seriously we've worked with our fire officials the cafeteria is safe is it adequate to accommodate all those people no uh unfortunately when we decided to go to the block lunch uh for the educational purposes uh we did run into some hiccups for we are working through them also with now the lobby coming into play we're also looking at our food program to maybe have a grab and go there's been a lot of things in motion behind the scenes that we since I started coming I see progress every month I'll continue to come but that just want to reiterate that's my main concern thank you thank you anybody else from the public any questions or comments Hi how are you CHR how are you just state your name and your address please um Kristen tany 37 Avenue how are you how are you guys so good I am the guardian I don't know most of you guys know me some don't the guardian of Dario and Devon two students in your school that Dr pencil and you just spoke about um Athletics and how good the school is doing unfortunately I can't State the same um do you guys know what happened or nobody knows what happened some do no we're at the board of education is well versed with what transpired Steve Fogerty legal counsel guided us accordingly through the whole njsa investigation perfect so I have two kids that have been living in my house for over two years one came last year one came two years ago both of them came from Bad situations Dario's father was killed he's been with me for a while from that Devin's best friend got shot in the head next to him in the elevator I provided all this documentation to Mr fogy to give to the njs no one has given it to them apparently I spent about $10,000 on a lawyer ready unfortunately I can't do anything because the Board of Ed chose not to appeal the decision so I am looking to find out why the Board of Ed chose not to appeal a decision to protect two students in your school they came from both amazing basketball schools Brooklyn CIT Bishop Lin they came to Cliffside Park they're not going D1 based off of Cliffside Park thank God they play aaou so it's irrelevant they came to get a better life I have recordings I have videos I have like so much doc mentation that I gave to Mr fogy to give to you guys I've been asking for private meetings I've been asking to get a meeting now the season's over it's whatever it's not about basketball anymore Devin nor Dario are in school anymore The Bullying got so intense letters on my car baseball bats behind the target three police reports four Hib things finally and only finally because I was in the meeting with Mr pinto and darl happened to be there and he got a message on his phone threatening him to not walk back into the school that I was able to let Mr Pinto see that he finally take the bullying allegation seriously and now the hip is founded but the hip should have been founded two months ago when he's been harassed and harassed and harassed and harassed it's crazy how a kid went from all FS to A's and B's he has an IEP too both of them have IEP all FS to A and B's back to allf in his IEP it states he is to play basketball it's clearly in his I from third grade but no one took that into consideration you have an athletic director who I've written to emailed my lawyer has written to doesn't return calls doesn't the only one that communicates with me is Dr Hayes if it wasn't for Dr Hayes we could forget about it no one has told me how to correct this situation I'm forget about basketball at this point it's irrelevant right like they're going to do what they have to do what am I supposed to do with two kids that live in my house like what am I supposed to do with them if they were recruited to play basketball here they would have left when they couldn't play basketball anymore they wouldn't still be here so I'm stuck with two kids now that I have to pay for private tutors for in my house they're on Virtual learning they're no longer in school because of the harassment no one can fix the problem Mr Pino can't fix it he doesn't know who's doing it nobody knows who doing it until they see the messages then now someone's doing it so they approve a hi or whatever the case but when no no consequences or nothing Devon got pushed by a teacher the hi was swept under the rug but what I'm telling you is I have video I provided this it's got swept under the rug I have audio swept under the rug so either somebody's protecting somebody at this point or I I don't know what you guys want me to do I grew up in Cliffside Park I went to school here I graduated school here I lived at 440 Lincoln Avenue my entire life why do I have to go against Cliffside Park to have two kids get the same education as everybody else and do the only thing they know how to do they only play basketball where they're from they either go to jail sell drugs six of his friends were killed in the last two years I provided the documentation Mike Miller came to my house they live in my house I don't get Public Assistance I don't get food samps I don't get any free lunch I don't get anything I don't get a dollar from their parents I do this all because it's it it was what was supposed to be done and then Delio did so good so Devin Kate after his friend got murdered like I just need guidance no one has said to me no one has appealed it so I don't know what the problem is I don't know what was said I no one has told me how I recruited them why I recruited them like you guys have no documentation so why would you not appeal it when I gave you all the documentation to say that they weren't recruited can I interject please pleas okay so the njs njsi daa is its own entity in the State uh and it's a very tough to-do organization that polies uh all these uh regulations a complaint was uh alleged that the Cliffside Park uh was in violation of it's a recruitment rules uh and uh Mr porito and Mr Pinto received that complaint uh they gave documentation indicating that the complaint was invalid it went down to the njsa and it was returned to us that the complaint is valid and they ruled against us so the Board of Education was well aware of it and what we do as a board of education we're here to checks and balances and uh Dr Hayes called uh our legal councel uh fog and Hara Steve Fogerty came up looked through documentation Etc also looked at the document that Mr poro and uh Mr Pinto responded to the njsa telling him that there were no recruitment violations at that time uh we felt confident that we can win this case unfortunately the NS njsa came to a decision that uh uh we were in violation of so-called recruiting uh Mr Fogerty came to the Board of Education discussed the violations that I can't share with the public uh but he did indicate that this is probably a case that we're not going to win and if we were to take this case on an appeal and lost the appeal we would be jeopardizing the athletic uh program for the next two years uhhuh you'd be put on probation for two years correct we'd be put on probation for two years if you didn't violate anything else that wouldn't matter but what I'm getting at is if you put the documentation in that I didn't recruit the kids cuz I gave even after that meeting after it came back I gave the documentation again you didn't recruit the kids everyone said I didn't recruit the kids obviously cuz they would have already left if I recruit everyone except the njs I correct but they didn't file the violation against me I can't go after the njsia correct it's against Cliffside Park and we did go after them and after we sent the letter to them that Mr porfo and Mr Pinto filled out objecting to them indicating that we had never question too but but hear me out let me finish and I agree with you and and and I commend you for what you're doing and what you you've done for over these years because you're a good standing woman and you've done a lot of good things for for those children but Mr uh Fogerty came back to the board of education and said this is not a winnable case and as your attorney I recommend you don't move forward with the appeal okay and the Board of Education took Mr foger's recommendation and uh we did not go forward with it Mr fogy wanted to be here this evening uh but uh he did prepare a statement that I'd like to read uh the njsa issued a complaint alleging that Cliffside Park was in violation of its recruitment rules with regard to The Residency and enrollment of four student athletes based on evidence the njsia daa had received the complaint was issued to the athletic director and the high school principal who responded to the complaint in an effort to refute the allegations and established that the student athletes were not enrolled for recruitment purposes and we still do believe that regrettably the njsa did not change its position based on the evidence submitted by the high school administration to refute these allegations faced with the serious consequences and penalties of an unaccessable appeal and after Consulting with Council regarding their likelihood of a success of appeal the administration determined not to pursue the further the appeal we were taught as when you you get elected as a board of education uh member trustee checks imbalances and the state initiates let me finish the state initiates let listen to your professionals Steve foger is one of the best uh school district attorney in the state of New Jersey and he recommended not to move forward with the appeal all right but we have two cops on the board right correct you guys arrest someone but you have no evidence on the person you're just supposed to be like they're guilty I'm not quite sure ask a question they never gave you one piece of documentation except letters that were written by people back here by athletic directors people that don't want kids that are better than their kids playing that's all this was about so instead of like you guys like fighting for them because they they're playing for Cliffside Park they put up a banner he put up a banner last year he the number one scorer on the whole team he could be playing anywhere burn kathle D he could play anywhere he chose to come here the problem I can't move him it's not a big deal like he's not going to get looks from Cliffside Park it was never about that he hasn't IEP you have a great special education department I have a very hard time moving him somewhere that's what this has been about the whole time so what I'm asking you is how is it that two kids have a problem you're you name four one is not related to me I have no idea what you're talking about and the other one was never eligible to play so that's another thing that they didn't even know he was never even eligible to play he had FS when he came here and he had left before the decision was even made there was an issue so it's to kid what would you guys like me to do with him how is the athletic director this is his job right he's an athletic director his job is to know the rules every single time I had a conversation with him I have emails of this is this okay is this okay yes no big deal everything's good do I need everything is good I followed his guidance so how is it that he doesn't have a problem Mr Pinto doesn't have a problem nobody has a problem except me and these two kids that's what I want to know as a board okay to recruitment so then why is there no penalties against them against who against Mr poro I I own a company I have employees if something happens guess who's responsible it's my problem right Mr poro uh was in agreement on the appeal and when before sending down those documents on the appeal the Board of Education and Dr Hayes asked Steve fogy look to look over them was the poo and I'm not defending him in any way they go out of his way to indicate that there was no recruitment here and he tried everything in his power to reverse their philosophy down there at the njsa we can't control their outcome it's a board it's regulated by only thing you can do is when they say this then you say but it's not recruitment appeal the only thing there's more than their appeal just so you know you know that right there's three more appeals after that which we would not have lost which I had a private meeting with foger and I showed him everything and then once again figured basketball season's going to end we'll sweep it under the rug until after basketball season the problem is it's not going to go away well I think Mr Fogerty uh took all those things into uh conclusion and at the end after evaluating everything he did make a recommendation to the Board of Education not to move forward and the Board of Education concurred with with him not to move forward because he is going to jeopardize certain things but moving forward I'm sorry I believe you've had some dialogue with Mr uh Fogerty and Dr Hayes that there's other possibilities that you may be able to uh accomplish where where the athlete can come back and play next year if I adopt an 18-year-old I have to adopt at a cost of $77,000 to me again after $10,000 I have to adopt an 18-year-old when he already led me so he could play basketball in Cliffside Park it's not about basketball so he can get an education you're saying so like but do you do you see how you guys left me no option I don't understand left you no option what do you want me to do with them I can't answer that for you our experts are telling us that unfortunately this is the situation that the njsa ruled against us Christian and and there's nothing we can do at this point you know if you'd like to make an inquiry to the njs IAA I did okay and what did they tell you they I have to go after you that's what they told me I have to sue the Board of Education and go through another process for $30,000 I understand Christian you don't understand I no don't understand I do understand and I feel your pain but but there's nothing we can do you guys legitimately took kids getting straight after to A's and B's to straight us and and like they were good enough to come he was good enough to play last year he was good enough to play last year so how was he good enough to play last year but not good enough to play this year because people wrote letters because people wrote letters Christian because they're upset and I I agree with you but the njs Ia ruled against us it it ruled one thing against you you put in documentation with the wrong leases and they and they you got to number two that was coming out of Mr Pinto you got to number two they never made the full 18 questions that's all like that's what I'm saying do you guys as a board know all of this absolutely so the whole board knows all of the questions they read all the answer like they know this it's impossible we did not go into all the details I know myself and Mr tabaka knows as the President and Vice President because we spoke to Mr Fogerty with Dr Hayes and he recommended to us then M Steve Fogerty came in and spoke to the entire board that was present that evening at the work session and Mr Fogerty indicated as per his statement that this was not a winnable case this board of education would have done anything to try to win this appeal but according to our expert that is probably one of the best attorneys in the state here when it comes to school boards he recommended not moving forward and as a board of education we had to take into consideration also the taxpayers cost of moving forward on an appeal and the possibility of losing the appeal and jeopardizing the other athletic programs in our district so what's going to be the cost when I have to sue the town of close what's going to be the cost then I I can't answer that for what's going to be happen when I put out the pressure he's like what are you guys going to do as as fathers mothers like what are you guys going to do that you totally neglected two kids we did not totally neglect I I have to disagree with you this board of education did not do that we would have neglected those children we would have not responded to the NJ A's first had to respond inquiry yes and we did resp and we did everything and then just stopped and we and I'm not defending the administrators in the high school but I have to tell you they did everything in their power with Steve Fogerty's guidance to try to change the mind of the njsa and we were not successful we didn't do anything we sent I have the paperwork no I have the paperwork did everybody have to I have it I I don't think you didn't get past question too it you sent in leases that's all that they saw they never saw anything else I have to disagree with you we sent in an extensive amount of information and I believe you opra that information I yes okay so I'm telling you what we we were able to send and I think moving forward if you'd like to have another discussion with our board attorney be more than happy to arrange something but we're guided from our board attorney and he suggested don't move forward on the appeal and we really thought about this hard because we want to appeal because we feel that we weren't treated right by the njsa but you have to understand the njsa is a powerful organization that implements regulations and policies and they strongly believed we were in violation and not to compromise the entire Athletic program we decided to not appeal it based on Mr not in violation right based on everything I gave you guys you just stated that right I do but unfortunately the njsa feels that we were in violation but what's right and wrong you talk about checks and balances like what's right from wrong I I understand but if somebody's doing this much of an injustice to two kids you appeal it get the at least then we know which people wrote the letters we already know which people wrote the letters you everybody knows who wrote the letters no I I don't know who wrote the letters okay like the parents time you wrote the letters that's why they come the athletic director I I I don't think this is the form excuse me excuse meot the letter Christian I understand uh you may not agree with us I definitely don't we were guided super disappointed you guys as human beings okay well well I I I beg to differ okay because everybody on this board puts in a lot of time and effort and we had to make a decision to protect the rest of the Board of Education and the high school decision to protect your athletic director that's what this is about he was the one that when I brought each child in told me to bring the kid in just so you guys know I I think that I have Texas I have recordings I'm telling you I have all of this it's not not going to be good for the board with what I have I promise you for no reason you guys are pushing my hand because it's not fair to these kids this kid is on Virtual learning understood a D1 Athlete on Virtual learning not playing basketball cuz I can't put him anywhere I understand at this time we're going to move forward and if you'd like to have some conversation again with Mr foger we'd be more than happy to set something up anybody else from the public have any questions or comments this evening I please come up and State name and uh uh address 319 New Jersey so talking about the checks and balance my question is if everyone was aware of what was going on my son is one of the players of the basketball team Jam Galas why nobody thought about the rest of the players why nobody thought about letting the parent know that this whole situation was going on and it was coming down so that at least it gave us option of what do with my kid my son is now a senior I can't move him to any other school because if I do he has to sit 30 days but he's still playing correct he's playing now okay so what's what's the reason well he's playing now but he doesn't have his team that he played for last year so Dario was playing with him last year was not playing now he played all summer he had a team we were looking forward for a great season right now I come to find out the day before or maybe a week before the season started that there is no team team the coach got banded now he a whole new coach my the coach got what banded from the team no he didn't get banded from the team the coach is paperwork wasn't in order and this is not I'm not talking about Personnel matter his paperwork wasn't in order and we can't talk about that okay well this is the information that I have what I know to misinformation okay so he has a new coach right a whole new team um he was very stressed out he was very frustrated he didn't have his coach he doesn't have his teammate is a whole team now a whole new coach and I was questioning as to why why why didn't I know about all of this you guys know about everything that was going on with the nji all of that I didn't know anything about this I tried to like transfer my son to another school but your son wasn't affected with the investigation he wasn't affected he wasn't affected with the investigation can I just jump I I I really have an obligation to jump in and just listening to this as a former superintendent I can't sit here and say we are not allowed to discuss student issues in open public session and I would venture to say and I'm not speaking for anybody else but I don't think anybody would be allowed to talk about other students to you because it's two things that we have to hold confidential student matters and Personnel matters and I'm just being honest I understand you all very frustrated but I feel very uncomfortable here with a board member discussing two things students who were by name which we are never supposed to do in public meetings and employees because we're not supposed to discuss Personnel or student matters so I I have to just note my discomfort because I know that we're not supposed to talk about these issues publicly back next month with Steve f i if you'd like we we can set up a meeting with Steve Fogerty and be more than happy to discuss em request in this meeting so everybody here and nobody responds me I did you send it specifically to me oh boy send it to the board and nobody respond 20th requested an emergency board and Steve fery guided us that it it wasn't necessary at this point and like Dr No told me that Dr Pantano did indicate a lot of stuff is is Personnel matters and we really can't discuss it but I wasn't aware of that I was just ignored I'm sorry so I'm I'm bringing this up and I'm here today because I did send this email out and nobody responds to the email and this is why I'm here I'm not want to come out to any of these meetings I've been a cide resident for over 13 years now you know I'm affected because my son is playing I'm the one who comes home to my son frustrated after every game um and I just wanted an answer as to at least as a parent at the very least why I didn't have the option or the opportunity to know of everything that was going on so that I can be able to transfer at least at the very least transfer my son out and that he can play for the season I was left out without an option because if I did transfer him out he will have to sit at the 30 days or if not he's playing like he is now but you're I I still don't understand and I I I I don't think we we want to go further but your your son is playing he is an athlete correct okay so I don't know why would you transfer him out if he's playing on the basketball team and a basketball team is is playing well from what we're told from the athletic director and the coach he's playing well yes okay why would you transfer him out then because it's a brand new team but teams change things happen right and I understand that but every all of this happened at the very last minute I understand okay and and that's all I'm asking we received the complaint at the last minute from the njsa and we did respond and try to do everything you guys received it way before I found out I found out not necessarily November 26 25th no we're not in agreement with how njsa sent this at the last minute to us and I understand that I was just questioning as to why wasn't I aware at least a heads up to be prepared I think it was a personal matter with u you know few uh students and and and again you know I don't think the Board of Education or the athletic director had the you know the requirement that he had to let you know the program was still moving forward and the kids were still playing unfortunately the njsi doua said that certain athletes couldn't play and that was a decision that we didn't make the njsa that governs athletic sports in the state of New Jersey made that decision and I'm not in agreement with their decision this this board of education is not in agreement also but we concurred with our attorney how to move forward not to compromise the rest of the athletic program I'm definitely not because I know Dario played all last season you know I know he lives in town I drop him off myself thank you thank you so you said to have a meeting with who if we'd like we can try to set up at our next uh uh public meeting with our attorney Steve Fogerty and he may be able to answer your questions better than I can okay he he he was the one that made that recommendation he couldn't come this evening but he did send a statement to us that I read out this evening thank you anybody else any questions or comments anybody on Virtual uh Mr savastano yes Mr Muller you can come up so I I know we don't see eye to eye or people may not like me in this audience or whatever it is it is what it is okay but what does this have to do with no I just want I just want to read it my question to you is NJ a IA whatever is that's specifically just for sports correct correct so Kristen's argument why can't the kids just go to school oh they they can go to school they can go to okay maybe I'm misunderstanding because he was threatened and bullied and it's a founded hi account not left on my car we're not going to get into that that's a personal just there's regulations that we have to I misunder anybody else from the public Mr savastano anybody from virtual I'll make a motion to the meeting well we we still have to finish up on on an approval of the agenda at this time can we please uh get a motion to approve the January 22nd 20125 consent agenda we have a motion on the floor second I second Brew roll call please okay I'll take a vote call now uh Mr the bru yes Mrs Fredo Mr Garcia yes Mr NRE Mr nadw yes uh Dr pontano yes Mr Russo yes mrak yes okay Mr cap so move thank you at this time can we get a motion to uh close the meeting I'll make a motion a second okay all in favor thank you everyone thank you everybody have a good evening thank you so

e e e okay okay both groups are finished let's have our speakers share your framing statements all right so our topic was class size you want me to Share story or just framing statement you know what share it all uh so some stuff like right now we have the ratio system which is how class sizes are determined so the school sites kind of figure it out for themselves and it doesn't really cap the classes it creates like a bit of winners and losers systems where some classes are very low some classes are very high um some principles involve staff input and collaborate in decision- making regarding how those staff are allocated but some don't um larger class sizes lead to Greater Behavior challenges and more difficulty with differentiation for student learning um higher class size is just higher teacher workload with conferences grading work meetings parent contact and then also dealing with the higher student behavior um in terms of like facilities you'll get more wear and tear on classrooms with like higher class sizes because you're trying to cram all these kids into a small small space and there's just less supervision of students and so our framing statement was um how can we systematically balance class sizes to prioritize student safety and learning I think that's just part of like the higher workload right and the the behavior yeah I mean yeah for per students not really for the teachers but I mean I can speak great volumes on the difference between last year I had 20 students in my class versus this year I'm almost at so um like James asked if you meant like teachers or students but I mean I could just talk like on the teaching side managing the emotions of 35 kids is a lot harder and more intense for an adult than like 20 and then for the kids I see a lot more like antisocial Behavior I see a lot more peer conflicts between them when there's 30 plus kids scammed in a room versus 20 and everyone's got some breathing room and some personal space no I was just asking like I think Daniel's like I completely agree with what Daniel's saying like it was one student brings to the back of my mind he is a big um a big need of me and I always feel bad because with me being the only teacher I can't give him everything he needs so when I have those when he has emotional breakdowns my my energy is shot and unfortunately like it's a lot of social emotional on us as teachers as well because then we get upset and then you know it just trickles down over here this group um we did internal investment advancement and promotions um people SL staff because you know staff are people too are not seeking advancement within District due to loss or decrease of salary um our statement is experienced staff are now applying within the district for promotions because of potential decrease of income um and then our statement question how do we compensate internally promotions competitively to avoid decrease of salary I'm a big fan of the mic yeah thank goodness she is coming around she likes these small groups thank you Ariel okay let's go on to the next twoing a option and special education workload relevant open positions or leave of absence I think we could yeah even though we'll have make sure that's one of our recommendations though because it's still right we don't need to do that one okay so then it's the special education workload D relevant open positions or leave of absence which I don't fully understand and I'm in Special Ed but okay and then PTO days we'll take the special education one Okie do okay we'll do PTO let me take that over to them cop it okay we will have 20 minutes again and the timer will take begin seems ad relevant open positions or leave of absent so they're covering of because right now a lot of this teachers don't get like it was open so was e e e okay it appears that both groups are finished um let's go ahead and share out okay let's start over here with special ed workload hello we did special education in workload etc etc etc um the district special education employees are often ask to take on additional legal work without compensation to fill in compliancy gaps due to leave of absence vacancies I heard you over there Dorothy noncertified employees um our statement question how do we compensate sped employees for additional workload due to vacancies okay anyone want to add to that okay let's go on to the next group then I'm confused I'm just confused with the lack of compensation because there's a market demand there's a stien so where is this comp I guess what she's saying is like if I'm a sped teacher and my co-worker is a sped teacher and they have to go on leave I now have to take all of their kids with as my case load with no additional compensation similar like a class for the classification I missed that part thank you a long-term sub or um you have a contract teacher who's not certified they're not allowed to actually do any of the paperwork and then also we talked about the workload you can have maybe like 27 kids on your case load if like 25 of them are Level BS that's a lot of services you have to provide okay yes James is your uh is your uh was your conversation about around like equitability within that is that what it was about um we didn't go over any options but we did talk a lot about the story and we did kind of talk about that wasn't an I I I'm not I wasn't mentioning an option I was just saying was it equitability is it is an equitability conversation like there it's not Equitable to have yeah I don't I don't think it was Equitable it was you have 50 level bees at one side and the same SP teacher has you know all level A's then it's not Equitable they're not servicing the same amount and if you are at a site and you're taking on extra a whole bunch of extra work extra IEPs extra meetings that's compensation can I just clarify the um the way we do Staffing is with a weighted model where we take into consideration uh level B students versus level a students and but we send the staff to we say this school gets 3.5 teachers or school gets three or this school gets 2.5 or whatever the Staffing comes out to and then it's up to the site to decide how those are distributed among the case managers but we do take into consideration um if you're a level B you get a higher weight that student gets a higher weight question on that Dorothy do you guys look at that again at a 100th day or is it just done at the beginning of the year we do do it again at 100th day and we're talking about maybe doing it also like 140th day because there's so many initial evaluations happening right now okay thank you good to know make sure we get the story yeah good to know and not that I'm an expert in sped or anything like that but I know like a lot of those conversations happen on those monthly meetings where they look at case loads just because in Prior Years it' be like okay you take seventh and eighth grade I'll take fifth and sixth grade you take but it it doesn't ever turn out to be Equitable so what's oftentimes happened is that you are the teacher you might be you might have a lot of seventh and eighth grade but this teacher is responsible for the math minutes and you're responsible for the reading just because of like the number of minutes required to service a student but it's never perfect yeah we leave that to the sites the department does not get involved in how you use your Staffing allocation I think whoops I turned off uh I think it's important also that there is a mechanism for teachers who are helping support in a position where say a substitute teacher is in the classroom or doing the resource minutes but they need someone to do the IEPs if that IEP limit goes above their workload then they are eligible for compensation for that and the the sped department does have a fund for that what is the workload number Cas Lo number what's the case Lo number to the point where you're at your max right now it's 20 to 22 depending on the weight don't give me that sideways look we staff the school if your team has decided that you get 27 kids that is not on the department it's by the school number of special ed students not by how many does Ariel Williams service every day talk to your team and make some changes Amy's right other teams including hers have done that over the year with their self-contained and their resources as it comes up I can I add to that I would also like to add to the caveat of that most principles are not experts in special education and creating special education schedules and minutes and all of the things is way more is is so different than creating like me like school schedules and so maybe support and balancing those out would be beneficial because I know I'm not an expert to go into see like minutes or something so that way we could look at like I can have one teacher say hey I have this many kids but they might be all level a and this person say I have only have 15 kids but they're like pushing the Max on level B almost level C so I think I think some support it may be left up to the sites but maybe when we get to options some support and guidance for administrators would be really beneficial I have a question Dorothy oh if that um if we would need to make another framing statement part of the role of the s aison for sure and we have two right now instead of six that are supposed to be working in our department so we're underst staffed but yes a sightly a I have helped groups of teachers work on their schedules or individual teachers do you think Amy's conversation um we need to word we need to do a different framing that's a whole different level of support like the administration of a school so I think would benefit from having that knowledge and understanding it better so therefore we should add another framing statement I have a question Dorothy what if um all three sped teachers are at the 22 Max but then you still have some that's over the 22 I don't know ask the gened teacher when they get their 26th kid what happens right we accept everybody and you know we there's we can only do Staffing so many times during the year it's very similar to that we don't really have a cap there's going to be new kids identified and you know we address it as fast as we can but um I was going to I was going to say if the issue is compensation that's what that first interest is saying so for example it doesn't matter what how many teachers you got or what the numbers are if one's out and the two people have to split their kids like that is like an issue that's always going to happen regardless of how good the allocation is right um and then the other issue though is that of is there a cap and if there is is it a hard cap is it in policy as it it's dictated and that would be like another that would be an option but that would also require an interest but the interest would be in like kind of the Amy's point of balancing like how can we balance um the case loads of sped teachers right to meet the needs of stud and teachers I've looked through board policies and I hav't seen nothing about a 22 case load well yeah it sounds like it sounds like a sort of like a practice that is not necessarily part of policy or a contract so if if you were if the SP teachers over there or whoever is working on this are interested in a case load cap that would be an option they need to have the appropriate interest on the page Amy yours was really providing how do we provide support hers was support too support but they're so lied right now we don't right right but that's just right it's been this year I mean but they yeah but there's just no one just not yeah it's like I had four SSA positions ask me how many I fed no true so Amy how would you like them to word that um do we support administrators support training or guidance for administration and special education teachers to support balance their case loads I I don't know what the right wording is how do we so we do do we need to put that there if that's the purpose of the coaches okay so if the kids are there and we're all over the case load Max and the site is there to support us what we're going to say just put the kid in the empty classroom do they not get Services what happens because you saying how do we provide supports in order to balance education in case slow their sites what if we're all servicing 20 plus level bees then what I hire more teachers having a special education department would then be supporting sites in order to balance the case Lo right so that could be an option right right know so I think the wording of that second framing statement right takes care of it yeah the way she has it worded okay um so we have our two questions there I think that takes care of our discussion that we just had any more discussion on that okay I want to see what time it is do you want a break now do you feel like you need a break now or you wna okay okay go ahead and tell us your story our issue was PTO days wait a minute Daniel I'll wait okay Daniel's waiting to have everyone's attention him um story on PTO days as there was a lot of confusion regarding the different pots of PTO so for example the prop 206 six leave and personal leave just like across the board but especially with newer employees um there's no initial amount of sick leave for new employees who might get sick before leave has accured and that includes like probational employees um and there's a gap between the number of days you have to acrew to start getting paid out um and the number of days you can get paid out for at retirement so when you retire if youve worked 20 years you get paid out for up to 135 days um but you actually start getting paid out for the days that you acrew over your work year and there's like a so for example a teacher that works 180 days they can save up like or that in a year if they have 180 days of sick time after that they'll start getting checks every year but then they when they retire they only get paid out for 135 days so those 45 days just they lose them um and so our interest question um interest statement was how do we clarify available leave time for all staff provide sick time for new employees including those on probationary status and address the gap between yearly payout for acred leave and Max separation benefit payout that's it there's a lot of um it's broad there'll be a lot of different options for different parts of that we just did it all in one statement we didn't want have to get another poster okay are expensive yeah um how do we clarify available leave time for all staff I guess that's one provide sick time for new employees including those on probationary status to and address the gap between yearly payout for ACR leave and Max separation benefit paid out um this is going to be very unpopular when I say this but one of my concerns is that it feels like we're giving much more PTO than any other District we give 16 days of PTO which results in teachers taking a ton of time off and US covering a lot of classes and I would love to frame something so that we can end up giving an option of not giving that much PTO um well what is the I don't understand what the interest in giving people less PTO is the interest is that teachers are here more often and students students will achieve higher at higher rates because their teachers are here teachers can only take the number of maximum number of leave days in a year that they get in a year would be 16 they can except that they're given 16 days but then we put them into excessive absences days that's with the prop 206 days yeah it's 12 days Days total it's 12 days total in a year but the total is still 12 per year that we earn 12 total no I'm replaying like 60 emails between Joel and I am I and you're like I clarified that with you and I thought you got it maybe I didn't get it I I thought I calculated it out and it's like cuz you get six prop 206 are five prop 206 and on top of that we also get 10 days nine and a half so it's not nine and a half plus five days it's total of 12al four teachers I mean that's and that's a certain category of okay then I totally agree let's clarify it yeah proving our point the clarity is needed honestly Amy when you said 16 days I'm like that's a lot of days yeah yeah Okay we okay with that one then okay okay thank you let's um let's take a little break um and we'll be back in what time is it 2:15 and we got rid of this one right we didn't do the free option one e e e this e e e we're going to get started again so we have two more to do um you have worked together wonderfully and I appreciate how um hard you are all working and just a reminder and I think this has been happening as I was walking around we want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to talk okay so if you're um maybe the Taskmaster or you have one of those jobs and you're noticing people in your group are not um saying much would you please kind of um make sure that they're talking because everyone's um voice is super important in this process yes that's a good point that's so talkers we want to hear voice other people talk and remember we have our Norms the norm Master what it's two minutes um we came together to determine that's enough time for you to talk at one time so let's make sure we're following that too um other than that um really happy with the progress we're making and like I said we only have two more um any suggestions how we can group this time let's do a different group Kelly oh I was just going to let the group know because I know we talked about it with Dorothy and those of us that were over here but we did combine um what did we combine Dorothy new teacher illness pay into PTO days and then we also eliminated I think it's on yeah is this thing on uh and then we also eliminated the health benefits one because we already heard from the presentations this morning that thankfully the district will be able to absorb the cost of health benefits at least for the base plan um and it seems like every time we get to that one each year it's sort of like we're in consensus of like yes let's do that if we can and that's where we're at so just wanted to make that public in case everybody didn't hear so we don't need to go through all the interest for the healthcare because we know that that's going to be covered um and you're okay with the way we combined the PTO days with um what was it the old new teacher illness okay is that fine with everyone how would that work that be consider different funds that we give P time before they accur the funds be we get options yeah when we're there which will be next one okay so we're going to divide into two groups um Let's do let's do different again um we'll do last name alphabetical order um so if your last name initial a through M your group one um o through Z your group to and let's see where that takes us one two can we start the timer again again not yet until we're in the groups um I want it to be 20 but not yet because they have to get their groups we go again okay we need some people over there just on your own go walk over to the next group Daniel go over there you haven't been on that side there's some different different um let's see one two three four six Dorothy why don't you go over there that's to special ed that's yeah one principal yeah that's fine over there four six one two three four five six we're gonna anybody one more go over here okay um now that we have our groups take uh one minute and decide who's going to do what do you remember the jobs yeah huh the Topic's thep oh we haven't done our topics yet let me Dorothy can I see your spread will you read the topics ADV wait a minute hold on okay let's listen for the topics salary Advan level start and end which one do we we're gonna take salary advancement you guys get work time start slend no we're not than okay okay uh make sure you select who's doing what in your group and we can start the time now e e e okay it is see it seems like we're High Achievers and we finished early so let's get started and over here our speaker for work time start end Al righty in our team we wait please wait a minute we ready all right on our team we discuss uh work time um start and end and most of the time okay go ahead most of the the conversation that we had at the beginning is just we were thinking that this is very similar to the t-shir workload um and then we went into because there are a lot of similarities finding that work uh life balance but we also discussed um the desire of having a start and end time and we went into the discussion of like what we salary if you're classifi it's you're on the clock you're not of the clock that's just stop but for for salary or exempt employees it's it's different but the desire is to ensure that there's that work life balance and so our interest question was how do we bring Clarity consistency and fairness we're refering it uh fairness into Equity to work hours across all Sites some of the examples that we play as the story is like if uh somebody doesn't have duty do they have to be a specific their time or they just need to be at the time uh another example is if they have a um an IEP what time will be a time that is not only convenient for the staff members but also convenient for the parents that they end the time another example that we discussed was about parent conferences in which if you get all of your conferences in one day then you're done and the other early release days you still get compensated for your day but you can leave early uh so we were just thinking and I think the struggle and somebody else from the group if you want to add something that we were thinking more into this could be transfer into the t-shir work uh workload questions arel you need a microphone um because I think we combined a few of them because the ideas were similar I thought in this one we were also going to address the fact that Excellency it goes until 4 I think that's where like it was like work day and then stting an time I thought that started end time we were going to address excellencia of four o'clock well we can't end time we can that is currently in process of being discussed and reviewed with the community Through surveys so Administration is already working towards that at excellencia that's great but can we put that down as part of the interest is that something we can do for this team discuss schools itot pieces it do we have number but Mr Lauren um especially at X Dr Lauren um especially at X I know our principal is um doing his due diligence because in all reality our school technically us as teachers technically really don't leave till 4:15 at the earliest um and that's if all of our buses are on time for Mo for the most part um but one thing we did talk about or I personally brought up was when I taught in New Mexico when I was in undergrad like IEPs were done within the work hour and me as a sub um I would be at one School site one day and we would do all IEPs for 30 minutes per grade level I might be in a Kinder class at 8 am I might be in a third grade class the next day and then the next day I was at another School site and the next day I was at another School site to make sure I they hit all of those IEPs for the mar so okay I have another question because excellencia used to be like very bus heavy is it still bus heavy compared to in the past when they moved to four o'clock um we have condensed Transportation routes for Excellency and I think their bus their bus number has gone down some but I think with the number of sped students and how they're scattered throughout the whole District like we bust there's kids from excellen who go I think all the way near Camelback traffic at 4M like don't get me wrong Transportation wants to do this because it' get us out earlier but I think right now we I've had a conversation with Scott and Vanessa um it's have some feedback here want yeah um it's definitely been brought forward as an interest for the district to look into um all the reasons why it would be a good choice to go from three different start times to two start times um as we started investigating it transportation is one of the first things that you start digging in digging into and so um part of it was what would the cost of that be because we can't find the bus drivers um it initially came back very prohibitive uh to do the contracted bus driving that we'd have to for the special areas or special education students I think one of our numbers was like 3 million uh something then there was another one that was even more it just kept getting to more more so what we have done is we've taken that uh into consideration for the um oh fiscal stewardship committee so sorry um first we needed to handle the fund balance Reserve which everybody's just like don't say that word anymore um uh and then the next topic we're taking on is um the school closure and repurposing what we've determined based on all of the information that we've been pulling together on this particular topic is we need to go into that committee um we're not seeing the fiscal ability to do it uh in the current setting so once we have those disc that will be a part of the topic in that school closure repurposing committee uh is an interest to decrease the start times to two and what that information entails and we would bring that back we've heard that it is an interest and we are actively investigating it yes go ahead you you talked about uh putting uh that under the other heading over there um I I I think that I mean me personally I I don't think that's a big issue I just think that the heading shouldn't be teacher teacher workload is that what it says right it should be staff workload that was just my my suggestion because that specifically is focused on teacher workload and that one expands it out a little bit so just a comment yes ktie if you're not talking about teer workload and then are you talking about classified workload or what what are you talk or admin workload because that feels separate well I'm just referring to like because you have staff are seeking I'm just looking at the wording I'm just saying if you're gonna combine the two it the umbrella is the the wording doesn't match I guess is my point I'm kind of just thinking let's leave them separate we already did the interests for both of those so um I don't know I just I kind of see it and then I kind of don't see it so um Dorothy I had a question about um so the excellencia situation wasn't one of the interests isn't just making it two time slots it was being able to rotate which school possibly has that later time slot also and I mean I know staff who that is still an interest of so I kind of feel bad if we just completely leave that out as one of the interests and and don't address that because yeah when they first started it that was supposed to rotate it wasn't supposed to be one school is stuck being the late school forever now what would that fit under I would think the start end time one that they just did so we would need to come up with an interest question I mean I I think that would be the responsible thing to do knowing that there are people out there with that interest right I mean it's yeah it's complicated and you'd have to have different ideas about the options because it's not like you could just just wave a magic wand and make you know right an even switch when some schools have more busing than other schools but it was to be explored at least now Joel is that something um and Vanessa that we are permitted to do in this committee um discussing start and end times of schools and the rotation of that we were talking about when this first happened all those years ago it was stated that it was going to be a rotation the excelin wasn't always going to be the four o' one they was going to rotate that's how it was communicated to us at excellencia when it happened so can you look into that and then at our next meeting give us the data that you found and then if we want to go back to that and add an interest uh framing statement we can also I would add that just because something is not a good idea for us to discuss doesn't mean it's not within our scope like that is a really big like thing with many cascading effects that would require a lot more input the times that we have to show up and go home from work are definitely within our scope of like working conditions that's like pretty again it's a big conversation that probably ex exists outside this committee but just like calendar stuff anything like that like four day work week that's all within our scope as a committee it just is not NE necessarily a good idea for us to be like yep let's change the times or whatever right that there is a rotation That was supposed to occur I think it would be really good for us to have that to see what exactly the wording is because I think that would help us too that would help but also as Daniel's pointing out there's a lot of things that we bring up as concerns in here that we know we have to take to committee and then once we take it into because we know it's a bigger topic so I agree I mean it I I don't know what'll I think it's good to put it in our interest and to get that yeah me and confer wants this to us to continue looking into this and um yeah I agree for sure I don't know if it's a scope question or not I think it's just get it up there and uh we we will be discussing that in committee since we're willing to let's add it and we'll see when we get more data from Joel if we need to address it at least it's there and we won't forget although I did write notes down for that so how do we assure fairness and start I don't know start and stop times basketball our sport excellenc in sport practices professional development they don't really do a lot of after school extra activi because it's already so late I and teachers don't want to take okay thanks Katie could be yeah um um okay any other input about these two okay so let's um thank you everyone wonderful work it's get back to our seats I kind I want to get oh I'm sorry go ahead sorry all right so ours was salary advancement for education level uh the story was lack of licensed uh psychologists no interns as a result currently people do not always feel compensated for their education um for our interest statements we have how do we compensate psychologists for achieving lure and how can we competitively compensate employees for their education level okay any more input with that okay great thank you okay everyone give yourself a round of applause we did all this today good work and if we could all sit down and I have a couple questions I want to ask before we leave okay so um now we know what our um framing statements are so the next time we meet we will be working on our options we will be doing a real quick review next time of what an option is very quick and then we will start our options for each of the framing statements knowing what you know now after what we did today can you think of any data that would help you you always have that document you can place that data in but just quickly is there anything that you think would help us that Joel or maybe Vanessa um can get for us okay go ahead when we were having a conversation about um um um about what is appropriate for compensation for educational levels uh I had asked the question about how we compare to other districts so if it's possible we'd like to get an idea about how other districts pay I don't know if that's possible or not or like a master's degree right any other data that you can think of Daniel um yeah I think the um the nextg salary comparisons by district and job description that we had last year was like super helpful I want another one of those if possible um and there was one other thing I was looking at that I can't remember oh and um PL the last year we got a preliminary Staffing retention survey overview um that was helpful I think those two things would be really good just you all saw that [Music] on the pment connection last Last Friday so make sure you're encouraging people to so we won have information which is our okay we get a comparison what we not everything talking about get that till February sorry next gen when can we get that our next meeting is in February oh yeah February 12th are there particular groups because I I think part of the challenge and Vanessa you might want to jump in on here about which is there interest in because have a disparity between or an Inc in congruent identification of names that list I think that list that we had yeah I can get those and then add the facilities ones the facilities ones are going to be a little difficult where we start bumping into problems where we call managers and supervisors start getting compared to different types of managers and supervisors in other districts and it's not comparable but uh teachers bus drivers the ones that everybody calls the same kind of thing those ones are very easy to pull and um we definitely have dat for that it I I'll I'll need to take a look I'll need to take a look resource teachers selfcontain and then um I think they might have self-contained I I'll take a look and see what they have I was trying to get uh the gentleman uh who's part of the nextg group who built the tool to come into our next meeting to do like a um he's going to know the best about exactly how to look at the data to answer the questions so it'll be kind of like an on the on the spot he can say you guys can say hey what about this and he can pull in all the really cool bells and whistles that the program offers we can pull in the the teacher comparisons I think I think I can get the the Masters and bachelors and all that comparison um and then bus drivers there there's quite a few things we can get to you ahead of time before uh he hasn't answered me yet about whether he can come in and do a a who else is coming in a presentation thank you they're coming in too it might just be a good presentation one yes the salary comparisons to about 200 different districts but we can also focus on just like where we're at right yeah that that's a comparison is us to them us to the other districts and then specifically I tend to drill down like I can do comparison to all the districts in their system or we can do it to the surrounding districts you know so there's a lot of things that um it can do I just it's a very yeah it's a big deep tool and that's why I want that guy to come because he can really drill in a lot quicker than we can it it's very timec consuming on Joel and I to try to to figure out the product so very helpful yeah especially because we have specific questions from different lenses and I think that' really help yes um in another area is it I don't know how much work this would be so if it's too much work never mind but it seems like it would be useful to know how many staff members um took Le sick leave and did not get paid out so that if we were going to try to like frontload some days we'd have a general idea does that make sense so how many and I don't want to just say teachers because we talked about staff new staff members who took sick leaves that they didn't have acrude days for so they did not get paid for those days they took off you know I really do want to talk about that really quick we don't have a mechanism in our contract approvals to have unpaid days like that so it really does become a tricky situation um when people take unpaid days uh it it technically based on the way contracts work should become a a discipline cont conversation I I don't know if that's too de it's right at the end of the day I don't want to jump into all of that but are maybe I'm misinterpreting how many new teachers are using how many teachers calling in sick before they earned the time to call how many teachers have been in that situation they missed days of work because they were sick and I mean if you're sick you're sick so EXC about that becoming a discipline issue but they haven't accured enough time yet because if one of our options was to start everybody with five days instead of having them to slowly acrew that information would be useful like how many days are we talking about that people they get is everyone gets a little bit different based on what they crew right so we frontload and then see teers because they why not but we don't no I'm saying we the the we're gon we're moving down a path of recommendation that I think you guys are looking to see how that harm is happening to teachers I absolutely can pull that data for you perfect and absolutely we have mechanisms to make that happen okay great I think that would be useful definitely keep wanting to hand it back I don't know if this is something that can be calculated um but it is something that has been kind of on my mind just as a curiosity because I know it comes up before and I I know you can't predict it going forward but maybe reflecting back to last year's recommendation um if and if this is not something that is important then it's not um but I was curious because we had what like 30 how many things did we pass like how many things did we say go forth and do I think 27 or something so 37 37 um so of the 37 things if there was a way and I don't know if there is if there's a way to calculate on the because we we we do these things right and we say go forth and make this happen but then the next step is somebody's got to make it happen right and I'm curious what are the man hours and the resources that are required to have that happen and I'm not saying it should change the discussion but I think it would be helpful for all of us to be aware of as we're here making decisions you know this is what it's going to take in order to make this successful because the last thing we want as a team is to say go forth and do this and then next year come back and say well we couldn't make this happen because we were focused on this this and and we didn't have the resources to do that is that something that can be one thing that we were doing was we were updating you with the progress made remember the um it was it was in the PowerPoint yeah like by this time this should be finished and then I think Joel has a spreadsheet where he's documenting as things get completed but my concern is your concern in that how many things can we have them do that they're going to continue doing every year and then we keep adding on to their workload like when is enough enough you know right I kind of get that not meaning we don't want to suggest it but I think we need to keep in mind the recommendations an example would be like the sub one right and someone is in charge I think at the district to keep track of that somebody somebody has to make that happy and and please don't misinterpret this as wo is admin and you know that you give me something to do I'm gonna find a way to make it happen but I I think it's just in order to make sure that we're being mindful of those things how what is realistic uh realistically going to get done because the last thing I would want is if somebody came to me and said make this happen and I just couldn't physically I I just couldn't do it so I think that comes about with uh the building of the trust with our groups and and being together you know my second year uh Joel's facilitating um I think what we try very hard to do is bring that to you immediately if we feel that something is going to be a a huge lift or impossible lift so we try to communicate that at the time I don't know that like with last year it was a different kind of thing and we just went at it and there no way to really track how many hours because we weren't sure ahead of time how many hours it would take us what we did um commit to was giving updates so I don't know if we can prevent maybe something coming at us that we can't handle I couldn't have anticipated that I would have the huge amount of turnover in the finance area in critical positions which makes a big impact if I didn't have that there's things I could just say yeah sure boom we got it done but with turnover and especially in certain types of positions in payroll and finance and R you know especially too um that then starts making it difficult and I don't know going into it if we're going to have that kind of year or not so I think what I could say to everyone is that we can definitely um use our experience and the things that we know that our staff have on their plate to have those discussions with you real time and if we do bump into problems or there's a concern bringing it to you guys as quickly as we can we have our uh CA meetings that we bring things up and we say hey we thought was going to happen but because of this thing so I think that's it is that the process then because I what I'm worried about is making promises to people that are listening right making promises that we can't keep I think we have done Daniel correct me if I'm wrong I think that has been a concern in the past and with our new process with our bargaining agreement that we move forward things would get promised and then they would fall off and nobody would say they say well wait didn't we remember didn't we ask for this last year so I think we've made changes to the process to help keep everybody accountable I would say James like I think in Meet good fur we encounter like two types of things when one are like solutions that we come up with as a committee that go to our bargaining agreement if something the bargaining agreement is not being upheld that is time to file a grievance which I think makes it essentially official District business puts it in front of everyone's face y um if you're aware of something you know probably reach out um and then there's a lot of um what I've just been calling like District needs to do their job type things where there's not really a recommendation that needs to happen there's not really anything needs to happen there's just a thing in policy that just wasn't being done that needs to be done because it's already in policy it's already an established procedure and just isn't happening um and yeah like the sick Bank thing from the previous years um is a good example and we bring those up to District leadership at our monthly meeting as like a union exec team and you know so is the process if something's not being done you file a grievance is that if our contract's not being followed yeah if it was if it was presented to whever was supposed to be was a yeah you have to have an informal conference see that that that makes me uncomfortable um and and not that I'm just saying what makes me uncomfortable is like it you know promises made Promises Kept right and if there's something that is not being done and the formal grievances I I I I take those very seriously and I'm sure everybody in this room takes a grievance very seriously especially if it's something that can reach the governing board level um so that makes me nervous I I think we've do you have more recommendations to things that we could put in place sorry two things sorry do you guys have suggestions for other so we've heard what's been said about past um groups before I was involved and we've taken steps to put Protections in place to make sure that things are getting done we have spoken up many times when we've said I don't think that our teams are going to be able to do that so we have that solution we have the bargaining agreement we have a process we have policy is there other things that you guys would like to see from us to try to help with resolve that situation or that problem or concern and and if I'm the only one that feels this way then I'll shut up but it I I I take a a grievance very seriously so that's not the only solution though I do I do have a comment before I forget sorry I appreciate you mentioning the things that have been proposed and already implemented like professional agreement and stuff like that I do appreciate your comment James of saying we are asking for so many recommendation 3750 or whatever recommendation and the district it's not an entity omnicient it's an administrator it's a classified employee it's a certified employee and if we are talking about working conditions work love work life balance attention attraction compensating we need to also be mindful of the number of recommendations we're going to do and how those are going to be implemented and and best resolved that doesn't mean that we're not going to bring problems because oh it's going to be too much we're gonna ruffle feathers or what I'm saying is there has to be that balance because the reason of the IBN is to create balance that works for the majority of the employees or for all of the employees and so when we said the district will just remember it goes down to a colleague in a room another human being not just an entity that magically is going to do the things yeah but you don't file a grievance I mean I've never heard of somebody filing a grievance against another teacher you're filing a grievance against an administrator no you're filing grievance against the district yeah you're wrong okay uh the grievance goes against the district it is submitted to the um direct supervisor but it is because it is the district that's why in our professional agreement says the district will the district Wills because it's the district's responsibility to assign those roles and responsibilities and so for example something in the professional agreement that might not be being followed might have nothing to do with my direct supervisor it might be some it might literally just be some person somewhere took a vacation day didn't see an email or whatever thing didn't get done but that's also why our grievance process in our professional requires an informal conference you have to reach out to your direct supervisor say hey there's this thing that needs to be done it's in our contract whatever and then if that is not resolved within a I think it's 5 days then um you file you could file a grievance and I would also say to our point about overworking people um last year we did like 30 plus recommendations and almost all of them are being followed like very like I want to say easily because obviously it's lot of work but they're being followed there are some things that are not being followed I would say to the letter but I in asking around I haven't found any agreed parties because those are like more minor things because again for a grievance to be filed you need someone who is AG grieved no one is really walking around looking for you know letter violations or anything right um and so unless there's like some harm done and someone willing to pursue that harm to the end of filing grievance like there's no reason to that like I would say the compression thing is like the big example where like we made a recommendation it's not getting done the year is not over um but we need to evaluate that as a thing where it's like if the district is not is if it is not possible for the district to fulfill a recommendation of ours then that's something that we as a committee need to look over at our professional agreement and what we put in place thank you so what we put in place because that was a conversation I don't know if we had it last year or the year before is maybe it was my first year that I got here I think the concern was the IBN recommendations were not being followed so what we put in place was like Dorothy said we put dates when it had to be finished and then Joel has a spreadsheet of all of um the recommendations and where we are with completing those so um we're we're hoping that that takes care of and I think it has I think it's done a great job yeah I mean I I would say I'm probably one of the people in the union staff who's like most willing to like file Grievances and like looking for that for our contract and I don't think I've filed any this year because most things have been resolved that people brought to me have been resolved with an informal conference and I will add that having the enforcement mechanism makes it so that when an email is sent and it says hey this is part of our contract I have noticed that things get solved a lot faster and easier than they did before when it's just hey could you do me this personal favor you know that I this would be helpful to me right yeah I mean I I personally appreciate like transparency and language and policy it to me wouldn't be any different than like uh following policy if you're going down the disciplinary process of a teacher too so I I see it I see it supporting on both sides I just uh like and I don't know maybe I'm being paranoid but I worry as we add things because I'm assuming this is going to be an addition process that it's going to get uh it's going to reach a saturation point where it's going to be difficult to say the phrase promises made promises fail well and I think that's an important conversation we need to have and we're I think this group is open enough and I think they feel comfortable enough that they can express their views and we can have that conversation so thank you for that and the professional agreement all that helps memorialize that right that's the whole point is that everything's written down so that then things can be referred back to and followed up on that's very helpful which was thanks Daniel last year saying I don't support the process I'm just saying it's I I I worry about how that is managed okay it's also why it changes year to so we move what I'm saying is that it's just it's Dynamic right right so it changes year-over-year we're going to add to it probably and it we also could look at things that were recommended and remove them from previous years because we did that last year to me that's that's the implication I get from that like it becomes an editable document right based on correct yes corre so the professional agreement so some things will naturally um be removed because they were Oney year recommendations other things we might look at and say this isn't working for one reason or like I'll use the compression thing like if I file a grievance about the compression thing and it goes to the superintendent and the superintendent says the district cannot fulfill this obligation there's not like that doesn't go anywhere you know what I mean it's just not possible same thing with like anything it's like we don't have the staff to do this we can't do it it's not that it's not a priority someone's not doing something um and so like with the professional agreement like we might remove things we could remove things because it's just natural for them to go away after a year might remove them because they might not work and then also some things on there just become esta lished and so they're not the burden of them being new is not contributing so I'll use like split pay as an example it seems like across the district split pay for teachers has been implemented is being implemented consistently seems to have most of the Kinks ironed out I can't imagine like you know if we add something in professional agreement it's not like the split pay and this new thing are a burden split pay has been taken care of is work that has already been done that is being done right and so it's not like every new thing we add is on top of all the old stuff most of the old stuff should be hopefully like established procedure by that point yeah I um so I I I think it's just important for us to be mindful of the document itself because I'm and I don't know if Phoenix Union is still like this but I know at one point Phoenix Union their professional agreement had something like 300 and something pages and it became kind of an albatross around their neck and I I know that there was some conversations and there was some angst about it and I I I I don't want our professional agreement to be something that becomes a burden I want it to be something that becomes a useful tool for both sides to be able to say Hey you know this is the documentation it's not personal it has nothing to do with uh how I feel about you it's just the transparency it's like another version of policy like that that's that's how which is that's that's an effective an effective process to me okay well thank you I want to have you look over here at our parking lot um so I wanted to give you an update on uh the translation pay we were talking about that and we'll talk more about it next time that's still we're still working with the lawyer on that so we don't have any information yet and we really don't need it until we do our options and then the temperature I know arel was concerned about that and wanted more information maybe you can put that in your data needs about the rooms being very very cold you mean the temperature the temperature and the room the room rooms so I just wanted to address it it's on the um parking lot so for you new huh no her classroom oh in the classroom yeah and then Joel as we know Emily isn't by the way our agenda next time just so you know we're going to be doing options and we'll just do options for each of the interest statements we'll see how far we get that day but that will be the agenda and then we have some speakers as you know we have the um health care right coming and then maybe if vanessa can get the Gen Ed survey people here that'd be that would really be wonderful will you'll let me know that in advance so I can and how much time they will need for that okay how many how long does he need just let me know an hour and then the other person I'll need to know how long the survey okay about Emily okay so Emily is not here as you know and Joel was kind enough to actually complete the template that Emily usually does so Joel's going to share with you what he wrote and we will agree if everything is correct in that for him to give to Emily to post okay Joel it is available on the um in the folder if you want to take a closer look at it meet and conferred January 22nd um first two bullets just a a brief description of what I presented which was reviewing data requested information related to use of contract teachers and class size by site and grade level based upon 100 day census then uh Vanessa's presentation preliminary draft of the budget for 2526 school year she described what is known and unknown at this point and how that may change moving forward as the state continues to develop a budget I don't want to say moving forward twice uh then the team used small group discussion process to develop stories for the following meet and conferred topics for the 2025 26 school year so then I just listed and I think I need to i' combin them so PTO and new teacher pay um so it looks like a work time we combined that with another one didn't we with uh teacher workload uh so then after the stories have been identified team listed additional information they may need to help develop options to address identified interests uh next meeting is on the 12th is there anything that we should add to this this is the the really brief article that goes out right and then Diane's notes will be linked and then we'll have a link to the um archived video yes we need to add facilities to the employee group compensation bullet the third one thank you and then I was on the end of Vanessa's little blur could we just add something like uh as more information becomes available Mr perel will keep us updated or something like that just so they know it's not just preliminary and that's it but we're going to get more budget information so we are going to combine thought we did yeah we did yeah I think because we added an extra interest statement I think we can benefit one on I'm just concerned that people are going to have seen the list of interests and we took it off so so we can add another little paragraph to say that the following items were what I just yeah I was just gonna say maybe once we get the information from Jameson that would be yeah you got it did his organization change was it always called Brown and Brown Valley Schools uh Valley Schools works with brown and brown Jameson's an employee of Brown and Brown they're the underwriters thank you sometimes that has a connotation to it and somebody who hasn't been through the interest space negotiation process and knows what we mean when we say stories as we also did the you know the framing questions and other things that maybe sound a little more professional than just stories I don't know maybe I'm being ridiculous but if I was not informed of this process and I heard stor stories you could put background information and I was also thinking we could attach the um that little document that has the infographic this one just in case people are curious about the process yeah shared interest framing questions framing questions okay so maybe one person tell me what to write go comma developed Collective stories even though some of you didn't do this but wrote interest statements and ended by developing statement [Music] okay does that help Dorothy okay yeah yeah all right any other uh this is this is last time so any anything else that we need to add to this um document by Friday yeah Emily will send it out and ask for feedback yep okay everyone thanks for your efforts oh there's only two questions so please complete the evaluation and again thank you so much for your hard work

e e e I think this is good evening I would like to call this meeting to order Miss Richards may I have roll call please yes president Wade let the record show that all five board members are present this evening please join me in a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance e uh I motion to approve the agenda second I'm G to be honest I have no idea whose voice that was so we're going to go Anna it's going to be on you all right thanks all those in favor I all right motion passes 5 Zer hello Miss Richards I believe you're up next for introduction good evening uh we have an opportunity this evening to introduce ourselves I want you to tell us why you're serving on the governing board and if you're not a governing board member and you're on cabinet you need to tell us why you're with the school district and then everybody gets to have one fun unusual fact so president Wade would you like to start [Laughter] well Mr Moore will start then sure I mean I can in that I doesn't matter if I go first or last go ahead Mr Moore all right my name's Tyler Mo I'm the Chief Financial Officer for Higley UniFi this is my fourth year uh with the district one fun fact for me obviously I don't serve on the governing board so um you want to tell us why you were working for school district this one okay yeah well I work for Higley because it's the best school district in the state um I've worked for uh four different districts uh Katon Elementary Madison Elementary Scottsville unified um and Higley by far has one of the best cultures um in my experience um shortlived experience I'm not very old but uh my short Liv experience is one of the the best cultures uh any District I've worked with so that's one of the reasons why I enjoy working with Higley um a fun fact um this is going to be a boring one but I ran a marathon in Switzerland up the Alps yeah that was fun how about how many miles you ran last year how many miles I ran last year like 750 miles so yeah I like running it's my Forest uh good evening my name is David liser I'm the executive director of secondary education this is my fifth year um I am why I have enjoyed working in Higley as the people in the culture I think we're relationship based business and the relationship so we've been able to build within our cabinet is very very strong and collaborative and I think that allows us to be prepared to make hard decisions to lead our district and a uh fun fact that many of you don't know but when I was in college I was a professional rapper at like what I would like to talk to you more about this at the end of the meeting that'd be great thanks um to be fair it was not um musically rapping but I worked at Dillards in the gift shop and I gift wrapped professionally and I got paid to gift wrap and uh I want you to know I was very good at it and uh I learned how with a double-sided tape I could hide seams and do bows and ribbons but when you say it out loud everyone assumed that I was like the next Eminem and we know that was not true I still have follow-up questions so thank you uh good evening my name is Jeff Armstrong and I'm the executive director of Elementary education here in the district uh I actually came back to Higley because I student taught in hi and as Tyler and David have said that the culture that we have in our district is far above many others I'm experiencing that one fun fact I did not run 700 miles last year however I was a part of an organization that we did a ride from Scottsdale Arizona out to San Diego over four days raising money for Wounded Warriors so I was a part of that organization so so I'm Jessica Bautista I'm the marketing and public information director um I will Echo the sentiments of my colleagues in that I work here because it is the best district with the best people um I live here my kids go to Higley schools so we're very invested in this community I also love um working in public service so I came from originally journalism and then I worked for the town of Gilbert the municipality and then school districts so um enjoy serving the public in whatever I do uh and a fun fact about me is that I am a h certified scuba diver so I used to live in Florida hi I'm Christine Zimmerman and I'm the assistant to the governing board um I was hired by Sher Richards almost 13 years ago and I'm still here so higgle is a good place to be and um I live in the community community and my kids have graduated now from Higley schools they graduated from williamsfield high and they're doing great they got a great education um fun fact about me my family goes back really far in Arizona in fact my great great-grandfather was the first mayor of Mesa so yeah we have long history here all right my name is Scott Glover I am I am here because I'm a a longtime public school teacher uh strong supporter of public Ed I believe in service to others and uh I believe our schools need uh more support than they ever have so I hope to contribute in that manner uh fun fact about me I just mentioned it to uh president Wade uh so that's what's on my mind my first paid teaching job was in post uh post fall of the uh of the Berlin Wall uh and the Iron Curtain in Warsaw Poland and I taught kindergarten to a bunch of kindergarteners that didn't speak English and I spoke no polish so that was my first Endeavor into teaching I'm Tiffany Schultz and I um serve on the governing board for my second term because I believe in public education I've always supported public education and I got involved because of the terrible funding that public education receives from our state um and I love Higley school district and my kids go to Higley school district and I am having trouble thinking of a fun fact about myself you rap I rap yes I WAP often in my car to '90s WAP yeah it's inappropriate but that's fine uh hello I'm Amanda Wade um I serve on the board because I believe in public education I believe we have a responsibility uh as a community to take care and provide the best education possible for the community because we are all better for it um having taught for most of my adult life um and being a part of those types of things when I decided to no longer teach and an election was coming up um I decided to you know go through with what I believe in and I think that matters it's one thing to say you care about something and it's something else to show up and put in the work and so that's why I'm here for um is the work I guess as far as a fun fact um I don't you know I have double-jointed elbows that's fun facts Anna Van Hook um I decided to uh run for Schoolboard um because uh my kids have been in this district for a very long time um and I wanted to ensure that um we are as transparent as possible with our community members and that we provide the best education possible um and to ensure you know our student achievement is um topnotch and uh we provide the best education and a fun fact um I used to be able to do a thousand push-ups and sit-ups at one time and bench 250 lbs but that was a long time ago that's all hello I'm Sarah jarmin I have been in the district for about 10 years I love this area I love this community I've been helping out in my church and the community members and scouting and church organizations Etc I'm a mother of five I'm a holistic practitioner which really drives uh this last decade which really drives my passion I'm very passionate about empowering moms and families and um putting put forth their best efforts in uh protecting the vulnerability and innocence of children I am grateful for Higley for providing a uh education and academic excellence and I just hope I can be a voice and really um Propel and and create help and ensure that hickley is the best District it can be and and the best choice for those who have the option to go here I love the feel of this District so I'm so excited to start this out I just barely started I'm a newbie I would call myself or a noob is what my son would call me but I am passionate about this area I really think it's the best kept secret so um and a little fun fact for me is I'm very sensitive to the cold weather even though I was born in Montana and um but I love the Sun and hot tubs good evening my name is shaa Miller I'm the execu director of special education I am in my 18th year in Higley I was originally recruited to Higley by a previous administrator that had worked with me in Mesa and I came over and I brought my four kids with me who all went to Higley schools who have all graduated and through those 18 years I this is more like a family at this point I can't imagine going anywhere else um I do feel like it's the best District because of the size and the ability to collaborate with each other and really work together as a team so not planning on going anywhere anytime soon um fun fact I've been here so long everyone knows all my fun facts because we do this a couple times in different Arenas but um I'll go to the when I was in the fourth grade my family decided to move out of Arizona to Alaska to Juno Alaska to open up the first McDonald's there and we broke the world record on opening day but then we most people most things sold but then Russia beat us a couple years later but fun fact I got to grow up owning a McDonald's when my family did so good evening uh my name is James Walker I'm the Director of Human Resources and student services I'm in my 14th year in the school district um I'm here because um I appreciate what the school district has to offer I'm a Higgly dad before anything else so I've got two sons that are in first grade and third grade in the school district so I stay because I think this is a great district and it has good opportunity and I want to support uh through my line of work both kids and professionals and the community and so I kind of have the The Good Fortune to work with with everybody uh in the school district so I really appreciate that opportunity um like to help solve problems and get to good resolutions uh across the board so um that's why I'm here I live in Gilbert like this community um all good things uh fun fact uh I did win the best dancer award uh in eth grade so hi everybody my name is Karen Johnson I'm your Executive Director of Human Resources and student services um I spent the last 37 years in some form of Education from K12 to K8 k12 and postsecondary uh next week I will celebrate two years here at Higley and I'm very excited about that I enjoy working with people obviously and I love to see the students grow and progress and that's I believe in public education fun fact about me I survived the blizzard of 77 back in Buffalo New York I was a child a small no I was a child but that was a three-day in the house blizzard that we didn't leave and so that's why they have basements there and they store a lot of food in their basement so uh that's just a fun fact about me well hi everyone my name is Julie bacon and I am director of leadership development for the Arizona School boards Association um I do well I was a board member um I served for three terms in the Paradise Valley Unified School District and so I call myself a recovering board member because you're never quite out of it um I do what I do at aspa because I want every District like yours to be successful and I want students to achieve all that they can um and so I believe deeply in local control I believe in the people closest to the community being the people who um govern the community community schools so um that's my commitment to um Arizona schools uh fun fact about me I have a daughter who's 31 and she's a sixth grade teacher in Arizona schools I have a son who's 27 and he is a mechanical engineer and my daughter was born on Valentine's Day and my son was born on St Patrick's Day and my brother said to me after my son was born be careful nine months before Flag Day because so it's all about holidays at our house uh Sher Richards superintendent here in Higley I always think about education and how important it is so I started my journey as a deed teacher and I love that so much because I would go home at night and my kids have language and they're learning and I can see it every day so I worked in Texas for a long time and when I moved out here Dr Nance hired me and he kept talking about Community Schools and I was like I don't know what you're talking about because we don't use that language in Texas well I learn very quickly what a amazing Community this is and how supportive people are so I've been blessed um to do a few different jobs here in Higley and every single one I learn so much so much and I want to say to the board thank you because you give of your time and your resources and your experience and it's a big deal a big deal and the pay is terrible right so you have to do it because you care um a fun fact I'm fairly tall but my grandmother was 4 fo1 she had a size 4 foot she was adopted into the uisu Indian tribe um right after she got married in South Dakota and she proceeded to work every day till she was a hundred and she died when she was 107 so I'm not wishing that on myself at all but it's kind of interesting to think because when I think about if I live that long I got a lot of work to do and a long time to live right so an amazing little lady they were glad when she quit coming to work cuz she owned a furniture and hardware store in Lisa Texas and I bet nobody in this room has ever been there nor should you but she just sat in the chair embossed everybody around at the end and they were like no you can go home so anyway all right that's it for the introductions thank you everyone all right moving on to 3.2 uh we'll now hear from Julie bacon with Arizona Schoolboard Association thank you Madame President and um we are going to have a conversation I don't want this to me to be me talking at you if there are questions if you want to discuss something just jump in and um let's have that done we're going to be able to skip a slide or two here I think oh no roles of responsibility so we'll talk about oh that is very fast um it's difficult believe me we have trouble so roles and responsibilities so when we talk about the senior leadership team of a school district or the governance team we are talking about the board with the superintendent and together the five of the six of you make up the governance team for the school district um Arizona rides statutes 15 341 and 15 342 um have what you can do and what you shall do what you have to do and what you may do um there are duties that are clearly not delegable in that list um but most of those Duties are delegated to the superintendent and whoever the superintendent delegates to do it um the things that cannot be delegated are approving policy passing a budget and the HR functions or the supervision of the superintendent um the five of you as one entity are the supervisor of the superintendent however you have five distinct personalities um you have five distinct priorities probably um many more more priorities and so the superintendent sure has a job trying to work with each of you and meet the needs um that you each have in the work that you do as a board member the day-to-day operations of the district are left up to the superintendent um and it is um important that each of you um adhere to the roles that you have the board stays in doing their board's job and the superintendent stays doing the superintendent's job so the board's job is to govern obviously um evaluate the superintendent another really important part is to set the direction that you think that the the community wants for the students in your school district um and that is the whole community and so sometimes a challenge that we have as board members is really getting to know what the community as a whole wants we all know what the people close to us want um but that's something in terms of setting directions setting strategic goals um and and um objectives to meet those goals that is an important part of what the board does providing oversight you adopt those policies in the budget and then you set goals and monitor progress on any strategic goals or strategic initiatives that you have in the district um one of the things that we have to remember M as board members is we can't really fulfill our role as policy makers if we don't monitor the impact of policy um that is one of the most important things that we do as board members or you do as board members I can't get rid of the wi that's why I say I'm a recovering board member I'm not a board member anymore I can't use that word we um but you're accountable to the community and if they don't like what you're doing they're not going to elect you again that is how they tell you that uh the superintendent's role is to manage the day-to-day operations of the district um implement the policies set by the board um and then develop plans to meet any strategic goals that happen and the superintendent is accountable to the board so this is just we have tons of different Graphics that help you kind of um visualize what this looks like but here are just some things that we have put together the board does the what why how much the superintendent is doing the how when where and who who's going to do these things the board sets that vision mission goals your policies Your Role is to Monitor and your other role is to vote that is why you were elected um the superintendent does those objectives action plans is needed um make sure that the regulations and procedures are are clear uh for everyone then Implement um and also recommend policy um and anything that comes before you as a board so we we get a lot of board members who get upset when we say that um board members don't have any individual power and and under a legal definition that is true so when we talk about power we're talking about legal Authority and legal power um you certainly have a lot of influence in your community you also have the perception of power a lot of people believe that you have the ability to do things that you may or may not in fact have the ability to do um so just knowing that as you're out in your community and I know higgle is a very close Community you're going to be seen um as someone who has power to make changes or do things differently and you do as a body of one not individually so we just want to kind of clarify when we say power at asba we're really talking about legal Authority and legal power any question about that okay um this is another graphic that we use um to talk about um how the board and uh sup superintendent interact with one another so the board authority the oversight of management and sets the expectations for um the way the district is run and the superintendent Authority is to make recommendations to the board um provide leadership and supervision and you can see that kind of continuous Improvement cycle on the outside um with dotted lines in the middle and arrows because you need to communicate with one another communication is key um that is what makes great teams be successful is making sure that each of you are informed about what's going on so um a number of years ago I was working at asba and a superintendent called me and he said hey I want to get that graphic that you use and I was like which one and he goes you know the hamburger graphic apparently he thinks that's a hamburger it is not it's just a circle but I don't know if he was hungry or what but so I we always called in the office the hamburger graphic do you have the hamburger graphic um I'm going to we're going to talk a little bit about upwood meeting law but I want to preface this with I am not an attorney so I've taken a very kind of basic overview of what open meeting law is and what it means to all of you and um would be happy to answer questions if I know the answers um so the purpose of open meeting law is to favor transparency it is we they call them Sunshine laws for a reason they want there to be Bright Lights um on entities that are responsible for public funds and public decision making um anything that doesn't pass the sniff test or if there's indifference about open meeting law really will bring scrutiny and suspicion um from your community members and voters and your staff um Everybody um so it really the law is intended to protect the Public's interests not the interest of the board or the district so it is to make sure that decisions are made in open Forum um and there are no kind of backroom deals being made so in the boardroom again the Power Authority of school boards happen when there's a quorum uh members at a publicly noticed meeting um that has an agenda and the agenda needs to be released 24 hours before the meeting so that you um your public has an opportunity to see what you're going to be talking about um meetings are used to have discussion that is what this is about this is about you coming together as a body as a public body to have discussions listen to information that will help you make decisions about things that are before you um once the board votes on an item board members support the will of the majority now I can say this having been in the minority in voting not a great place to be not fun necessarily um and it doesn't mean that you have to raah Rah cheer everything I mean you just your job um and I can remember PE people saying to me why did you vote that way and I would tell them why I voted that way and then I said but the decision has been made um and my job now is to monitor the impact of the decision so if the board makes this decision I need to make sure from a policy perspective from a budget perspective um from the supervision of the superintendent perspective that things are being done and it's not harming students so that is um supporting the will of the majority um the public must have access to a publicly noticed meeting you have to have the open room you have to allow for audiences um some some districts live stream there are other ways that they allow public participation other than in person um public comment is not required by Arizona statute um it is something that most if not all Arizona school districts do as a matter of transparency to their Community you're not sitting there because you don't want to hear what they have to say you're sitting there because you do want to hear what they have to say um and so there can be Place time restrictions time limit restrictions on public comment so you can say you have this amount of time to speak um and you can say you have to be in person to do that or you can be in person or you can submit something electronically so whatever it is that your board does just has to be done routinely and consistently so that everyone who comes your meetings understands what it's going to look like um if a board member is attacked in public comment um which happens um they may legally respond to that attack at the conclusion of public comment so if you have 10 people who want to comment and number one attacks you personally you need to wait until number 10 is done before you respond to that attack I would caution you to to be careful about the responses that you do I think often um it is just kind of uh continuing a conversation that maybe isn't true uh so how do you want to look at that um that's clearly it's up to you how you want to do that but um I would just consider carefully what that looks like for you the board can't respond to items that are not on the agenda other than to ask the superintendent to follow up or have the um topic or item be placed on a future agenda um and that is if the Committee Member is speaking is something not on the agenda do you allow people to speak on agenda items they have during the open call to the public yes okay but during the regular session when we're doing that no the only other time would be the budget when they're for that yeah the public hearing that's it okay I believe the district used to do that and then they stopped but no we we have not allowed um individual agenda item comments and and you can do whatever you want obviously because the there's no requirement that you do it the the way way that you um execute your public comments is up to is at the discussion of the board so the Board needs to make those um put those parameters in place there's a couple of things that have happened recently that you probably have seen about in the news one is was in Surprise Arizona um at a city council meeting um where a um member of the community criticized the City attorney I think it was and um was told that they were not allowed to do that they were taken out of the chambers by police um and were arrested um that quickly changed their policy around public comment um and part of that was they were saying that the um the the employee didn't do their job they didn't know what they were doing I don't know the exact things but it it wasn't it was it needed to be allowed um you know First Amendment rights are you know top of concern um these days in terms of what um boards and City councils and public bodies are hearing so um that's one and then um in brever County Florida there was um a case brought by moms for Liberty um about the way public comment was um handled in the difference between board presidents um so there wasn't consistency in the way one board president executed public comment versus The Other Board presidents so just thinking about that whatever it is that you're doing we really make sure you're being consistent no matter who is running the meeting um and so that's just something to be clear about um in your packet I also have a public participation um at your meeting it's just a handout that we made um during the pandemic and have updated um continuously so that we can give you some information that is um pertinent to the work that you do may I make a comment please okay thanks just to anybody I know people do watch this stuff believe it or not um but um you know public comment as a board member I appreciate it and I support the First Amendment uh but it's it's unsa satisfying I'm sure as unsatisfying it is to talk because we're as you can see from the slide we really can't respond we want to we have good ideas we appreciate the things they say but we're really not allowed to say anything at that time until it becomes like an action item so uh just know that it's hard for us sometimes because we really want to speak or we really want to say something I really do value people's input and also we got a we got a long email from a couple people this week um and you know sending us an email for me just for anyone who cares to to know I have time to read it I have time to digest it I have time to respond I'm able to ask questions at that time where I can't do that here so to me that's that's every bit as good I know it's public and and on camera but but email uh you know for me works just as well too and it's it's it's a public record too and we do read our emails so that's just a good way also to communicate with us especially we're talking about board meeting times and people able to make it but I like that because there can be a a sort of give and take yeah any other questions thoughts about public comment I do have a question but I'm not sure if legally you can answer it um but it's at our um last board meeting um we had a situation where a speaker um spoke by proxy and I know that there's no law preventing that I you know the the attorney that was at the at the board meeting said it wasn't allowed but I looked into it and I can't find a statute that says you can't um so um maybe it's you know better to ask an attorney but um that's definitely and and we don't have a policy against that um and I know we've allowed it before um and we do have a lot of situations where people can't make it to the meeting um but they want to be able to voice their concerns or comments or whatever um so I just want to understand the legalities behind Jennifer saying that it it's not allowed so board member then hook we've been in the process of following up and it's my understanding it's a practice that if you guys choose this we do this if you guys has choose that and so miss bacon should know that um like during Co we were allowing people to read other people's statements or even email them in and so that is one thing that hasn't happened a lot but has been a little inconsistent so I mean we took to heart what was shared and and put it on our request to speak form um and sent it to you guys last week saying they needed to be present but since it's a practice I mean how would you yeah so I think the best thing to do would be for the board to look take a look at that policy together and have a conversation about policy we don't have a policy we have a request to speak form right you don't have a public participation policy well it doesn't address that sorry they don't have a policy that says that yes so what I yeah okay I was a little bit like what you don't have a policy that it doesn't say it's silent on that right okay so what I would do is maybe look at some other school districts there are some districts that have policies that are a little bit more specific about that you know um I know in Paradise Valley we had one that you can't seed or give your time to someone else we didn't have a no proxy but we did have if you're there and you're talking and your speech is 15 minutes you can't get five people to give you their time so that was one thing we also had something in there about no solicitations during public comment that there was a way there was a time in place and manner for you to do that it's not at a board meeting so there are a number of policies that you might want to look at just to see what others have Incorporated some of them have also done we're only going to do 30 minutes of public comment or we're only going to do an hour of public comment comment and the board president will allocate the time per person at the time of the meeting we do have that yeah so I think there are things that you can put in there and the board should have a conversation about what the board's will is in terms of what that policy looks like and kind of digging into some of the specifics Rel other things right so so ultimately what was said at the board meeting is not factual um the fact that it's not allowed um and so I you know that's definitely something a conversation that I think should be had um and um I think that we shouldn't be updating the request to speak for form prior to having that conversation as a board um so if we can further have that discuss one thing I would like to point out though because in the two years we've been here we've had somebody else read by proxy and we've also stopped somebody from doing it so I think it isn't we literally have so there's been a situation in which somebody else came up and we told them we couldn't because the person wasn't here much in the same way that we had another parent who the other person couldn't make here and then we've moved on from them before so like I I do think there is benefit to us going through and having a conversation considering that we can move forward from whatever that is um I don't think there's any harm in in making a decision so we can make sure we're clear before it goes forward I just think part of the confusion in our lawyers defense is we literally in the two years I've been here had one person do that and then we sto somebody else after them because after that meeting somebody else and I would assume it was either the individuals who were on the board previously had talked about we stopped doing that because of covid and that's where that confusion came in and so then the next person that they stopped they expressed because during Co we made changes and again I I think we be human humans error and so I don't think there's any wrong in in being specific going forward so I'm gonna president Wade um ask a question would you like cabinet to look at different board policies that specifically address that and bring you our thoughts or how do you how do you want this handled I mean I don't want to make a decision for all I don't think there's any harm in presenting I you gave us what the updated thing looks like based off of the confusion from the co time to this time and what it should be that things were not clear that's fine we have that to go off of I don't think there's necessarily any harm in looking at other districts for some of that because there might be some things that we have yet to think about that we might want to just preemptively be like that's actually a good thing let's add that so I'm if if we are doing this then I think it would be benef IAL at least to see the other options that are available um I don't know how that would work for us because part of the joys of this process is that it's not really a work session and that we can't have some of these conversations to be like I like this part and this part until we're all in a room together so I don't know to give us the information and then when we come back um but then like I'm just meaning like when we we choose right cuz if we're all voting for different parts or whatever does that make sense so like I don't want to be like you like option A you like sample C but you're a big fan of sample B over there kind of deal that seems confusing does that make sense so I mean look you all do this so at the end of the day I think an information item on it I mean do we have to P if it's not a policy this is just a practice of choice that we have does it have to be an action item after that fact if so then maybe just make it an action item so we're not going three meetings just to solve whether or not somebody can read a piece of paper from somebody else okay so I it it would have to be approved if you change your policy there's there's nothing that you should do in practice that isn't in policy um so and and this in particular is very it's very wise to be um specific and let your public know and be intentional about it so I mean what I might recommend is here are three policies the cabinet has pulled you all identify the things that you like not the whole policy right here's our policy here's what they have what parts do they have that we could incorporate and then have that conversation instead of saying I like number one or I like number two what pieces and parts of one two or three would we like to include um I would guess that many of you will agree on what you would want to include one option can we just do it then as an action item and then that way we don't have it as two separate meetings or an information and then action later kind of deal I'm just all I want is whenever we get that information presented to us we make the decision in that moment so we're not kicking the can again essentially to make this decision I mean you might I as a board member I think I would appreciate having a discussion about it at one meeting and voting at the next so that then you have the opportunity to take it back rework it Wordsmith whatever the the cabinet can do that and your superintendent and then bring it back for a vote I completely agree I think it needs to be a discussion item um information item to have a conversation and and be able to go back and forth and then make a final decision and then bring it back for a vote um discussion is always important and it shouldn't be the day of the vote right considering we have um what you updated Us in status can we rock with what we currently have until whatever that situation and change so we're not going back through just to make a different change for the inter president Wade we'll keep what we currently have we'll set that aside we'll bring three four different options for you guys to look at you give us instructions we'll go back and modify so this this is good because we don't know we have a problem until we have one correct yes that's usually how it works I mean you might have a problem that someone else knows about but you know unless you know about it you can't do much about it so um no I think the and these are conversations that are happening all across Arizona because the utilization of call to the public is has increased since the pandemic and so to be very specific I think is is important okay okay so when does open meeting law apply it applies at any meeting of a quorum of board members and what's a quorum of board members three in a five member board um we do have some three member boards in Arizona and a a quorum is two so you're kind of on your own you're not talking to anybody about anything that's on the board um so it's an interesting Dynamic um um a quorum or meeting includes conference calls email and it may include other forms of electronic communication so if three of you are texting about something and you're talking about an action that you want to do that is a violation of open meeting law um what constitutes a meeting um a discussion a proposal of action taking legal action or deliberating with regard to any legal action so that is what um a constitutes a meeting and this is um a meeting also can include one-way electronic communication by one member of the public body so one board member proposing legal action to a quarum of board members so even if the two that so say I propose to two board members that I'm serving with even if they don't respond if I'm proposing legal action I violated open meeting law so you have to be really careful about those conversations um in exchange of electronic communication among a quorum of members that involves J I'm sorry if I can just clarify um so obviously every you know Scott's new on the board but he's been on the board and I just want to C verify for Sarah that um let's say you get an email and it has all the board members on it never hit reply all ever yeah um and and I have in fact once replied all and then I replied all again and said that was not intended to go to all of you please disregard I did not intend to break open meeting law so yeah so it just make sure and if if you get a text from the superintendent who has all of you on it don't respond to that go offline get in a a text message with the superintendent if you have questions so just being careful really careful about that there's also the idea of a perception of this so three of you are walking out after a meeting we always say be careful of the parking lot because sometimes the perception is that you are talking about things that have to do with board business when you're talking about where you went on vacation so you just have to be really careful I always joke that everyone thought that our board didn't like each other because we literally never spoke to each other in public or private frankly we just worked in a board it wasn't that we didn't like each other it's just that we were really concerned about that perception of doing board business when we weren't um okay so discussion deliberation of legal action um concerning a matter that like that is likely to come before the board and then also a series of one-on-one discussions intended to lead to an agreement among a quorum of members and this is something that staff has to be careful about um board members have been known to direct staff to share their feelings with more than one other board member can't do that that is a violation of open meeting law so not only has has the board violated open meeting law but staff has violated open meeting law so just be really careful about that okay um we're going to talk a little bit about effective meetings but can we take just a time out just any questions any thoughts anything you want to share uh yeah with permission I I have uh just just a comment I guess just to sum it sum up what we've all said but very you know to I'm a teach so I like things you know dumb down a little bit um you know so we as a just so the public knows we can I can talk to One board member about you know anything that I want uh it's when you it's it's things that are likely to be voted upon or will be voted upon that we can't talk to a second person which would be three which would be a quorum um so there's a lot of people especially in this community that talk about transparency transparency transparency and I get that and I understand that um everything we do pretty much that you see happens in public so um I can I remember there were times on the in on my previous term when I was kind of surprised by something because no one gave me a heads up and I didn't know it was an issue because we don't talk to each other deliberately and so sometimes you're watching and I'm not I'm not always very good at it you're watching us think in real time uh because sometimes this is the first time something's been brought to our attention and we have to kind of it's It's Not Easy you got to think quickly on your feet sometimes and make some pretty impactful decisions because we don't have the opportunity to talk to each other anywhere outside of here in public so I just want people to understand that it's it's you know there's no I'm not conspiring behind closed doors about anything you know we talk and we meet here and so I like to ask questions so and I would say to our our cabinet you know if there is a hot button item I just you know as a courtesy give me a heads up please I'm not directing you to do a specific item but I'm just saying I we appreciate it because it gives us a time to think and to to to act with knowledge MH well and I always say that about public comment if if you all know that something's bubbling up in the community let the superintendent know there's probably going to be a lot of people coming public comment about this and vice versa if the cabinet and superintendent know hey we're hearing you know talk of 20 people coming to talk about this particular item on our agenda let the board know so so you can be prepared for that moment when so that doesn't happen anything else um yeah so on Slide Five um as far as leadership team roles um I just the part for the board um and at the bottom where it says accountable to the community um I think often times uh there's a perception um you know not just in our district but in general um and I can't figure out where it's coming from but the accountability to the community I think a lot of board members forget that that's who we are accountable to um and the decisions that we make is for the community and for the taxpayers and often times uh we see you know votes being made um with not necessarily the community in mind and so I think it's a good reminder to um to board members to know that that is who we are accountable to um and and we just need to remember that um to our students to the parents um and community members um who voted Us in the seat to to their voice yeah I mean I would say Obviously you have you're indebted to your voters they they put you here um you have many clients though and they're usually um the they are the students in your school so it it is a very difficult line to walk um you know where where we how do we manage this but but what your job is to understand what the community wants that is true and that is something that you need you know to be thoughtful about as you make as you vote thank you for pointing that out and then um sorry I'm just going through my notes as we go through the slides um and then on page 10 yes um back room uh back room decisions being made um you discussed and mentioned um and sometimes I like I'll during board meetings I'll hear things and um and it's like well why wasn't the rest of the board notified about this um and you know somebody will say for instance like we recently discussed board meeting time change and um somebody said well staff members have been coming to me and asking for uh you know for us to change the time well doesn't that then have the impact of possibly violation of open meeting laws when there's cabinet members potentially talking to board members about something that we might vote on um well if it's just a we this is what we've been hearing that's really just an informational item if it was we want to move the meetings to this time I think that you have to be careful about that um and and you're I know you're going to go through your communication protocols and I I'm guessing that's in there is you know what one member the what one member gets as information every board members should get as information so um that's just something that's often just a management issue where do I how do we do this what do we do how do we take care of that um one of the superintendents that I worked with would you know say in their weekly update I got questions from board members about these three things here are the answers that I provided I had another um superintendent who had a Google doc and he would weekly update that with here are the questions I've been asked here's the information that I provided so that it was incumbent upon us to go look at that and find out what it was um but there that information was provided by them so that again that's another conversation and I don't know it's covered in your communication protocols but it's something to have discussion around Miss Bacon go ahead no I was going to say to be we do that yes we do I I think at least the way I took what Miss Van Hook is describing is no different than people in the community tell me kind of situation in that I agree with you in a formal process or of staff's doing that type of thing obviously especially talking to multiple board members about it or whatever but I also go we have a lot of of Staff who also live in this community or have kids who go to school in this community those types of things and so I think especially if you've been a part of schools or you've been a part of this district for a while those types of things I at least the way I took that is no different than when we say things like people in the community because you express that you have people in the community to talk to you I have people in the community that talk to me I guarantee they're not the same people we don't even live in the same Comm we're all in Higley yes but we're nowhere near none of us live in the same neighborhoods none of our kids go to the same elementary schools kind of deal as far as zoning um so I we do have a weekly whatever question one of us gets gets sent out to us in a status report sometimes the questions are a little bit more immediate so then we'll get an email that's said a board member reached out with this question those types of things that is definitely part of our our protocols yeah and I think if you as an individual board member have been hearing something specific you can say to the superintendent hey I've been hearing a lot about this why don't you let the rest of the board know um that way everybody has that information and they can they can go into a meeting knowing what's coming up and then again the um on that same Slide the law concerns itself with protecting the Public's interest not the interest of board members or District employees um and then um as far as once the board votes on an item board members um support the will of will of the majority um I do disagree with this and I've I've disagreed every year um I think that we as individual board members have a right to our opinion um about the vote um and we don't necessarily all have to be Kumbaya on a a specific topic that um was voted on and that we don't necessarily agree on um and I think that we individually have a right to um say you know yeah it is the majority vote I don't you know I don't necessarily agree but yeah you know it is what it is um and so uh I just don't agree with the with this you know let's all it passed this is it and we all have to be Kon by all about it yeah no I and I would I would not want to um implicate that you should be um like I said I've been in the minority before it's then it's my job to say I don't I didn't support it but I have that's what's going to happen and I'm going to monitor the impact of it it's not like Let it go you know and never talk about it again that's not you know and and if you're monitoring the impact and you think it's harmful then you bring it back and you ask for it to be talked about again so I don't want to ever say that board members should give up their individual opinions or um thoughts that is not at all the implication um but just like we do in the country that we live in once we once our elected people make decisions we can we we go on and that decision is part of our the fabric of our country it doesn't mean that I have to agree with it it doesn't mean you have to agree with it and we can be vocal about that but what I think what this is is um this is more about how you manage that disagreement that is disagreement because the way you manage disagreement is is important thank you yeah um else um as far as like uh when open meeting law uh does apply page 13 um I as far as for Sarah to to understand like and initially when I got on the board um Christine reached out and said you know when there's an emergency or something I text all the board members and I actually opted out of that um and I said just email me or call me um I don't want to utilize my you know this is my personal phone I don't want to do board business on my personal phone um so I opted out of text messages um and um but one of the um things is so initially that first year um I I I believe it was Chris Thomas that came and did the open meeting law training um one of the concerns was texting during board meetings um and one of the things at the time Chris mentioned was that you know if it's if it's not board business then they don't have to turn it over um but that's something that I think um could be a pretty fine line first of all we shouldn't be texting during board meetings um we should be concentrating on the actual board meeting and I think sometimes uh there could be people that are sitting in the audience possibly texting a board member on what to say and um and and what to do um and so with that in mind I think it's important an that um that we not text during board meetings um and then and then to have to open up those text messages to public records request um and to I mean any board member can just say oh it wasn't board business so I don't have to turn it over um I think it's wrong um so it's better to uh just not do it in the first place yeah and and I think the Attorney General is leaning towards it it doesn't matter whether you say it was personal or not if it was during a board meeting it's public record so just being thoughtful about that um you know I I have done training with board members and one board member in particular she came up to me afterwards and she was practically in tears and she said I can't use my cell phone and I said well no and she said but I'm a diabetic and that's how I monitor my blood sugar okay okay well there might be a reason for her to be looking at her cell phone and there might be reasons that you need to do that I you know I would often say during my board report U board comments that my kids who were clearly old enough to be home alone but were clearly not old enough to get along that my husband who traveled all the time I I might be looking at my phone and that would be why I would be looking at my phone I'm not I'm not talking to anyone about the business of the board so there I think there are ways you can do but in general I agree with you cell phones probably don't need them during a meeting thank you yeah okay anybody else have questions concerns so I'm going to warn you that there are some videos some of them are louder than others so brace yourself oh okay it it may come through very loud um these are just some videos that um I did a presentation at our law conference confence with the general counsil in Tucson unified um Robert Ross and these were some videos that we pulled just to kind of accentuate some of the things that happen at meetings um and the way they look I think one of the things to think about when you think about your meeting is this is how the public is viewing you this is a really a PR event and they want to hear what you have to say and how you work together as a team so um just bear with us during these videos to me a gun is like a American Express card you don't leave home without it I don't carry a gun to intimidate anybody and I really don't believe that Lauren dhy was intimidated by my carrying a gun in here I carry a gun because I'm seven shut up I'm talking oh whoa whoa whoa whoa let's calm down right now hold it stop it right now I've listened to enough so far I've never had this happen in my 23 years of Maring this has never happened you know you can go ahead and finish Mr Bush and I'm going to finish the cards okay but that I'm never called anybody down this is ridiculous okay this is not Council business this is political actions in this room right now right and that is not what we're here to deal with and that's not what these obviously we had to cut them off because you know board members City Council Members they like to talk um so this was just one of those things where the audience was participating in the meeting and that was that is not the intention of governing board meetings for the audience to participate the intention is for them to observe um other than call to the public where you set those parameters for participation okay here's another one the civility what about the civility piece when you sit up here and you say exact you actually twist what I said when it's in writing right there and it wasn't a slam on you so where's the civility there where's the civility when you attack a citizen who's up you did and the mayor wouldn't even stop it she has slandered me in public hey we're up here we're up here we take it right no we're up here and we take it right a 10minute recess until 10:00 years of my life par city council so this is a situation where you know board members are kind of going after each other which sometimes happens um but really we should be thinking about the issue that we're talking about not the people you know we really want to stay focused on what the issues are um you know I served on a board where there were people who really didn't like me um but we were always civil with one another and I think that is what's important kindness politeness you don't have to agree but you have to be able to have a a conversation that's reasonable because they're going to see what kind of representation they have on this board and president sard president sard theid sardo president sardo the voters I'll take the 96 to6 vote every day of the week they also know of the double standard where your police report says you threaten to kill your wife and this is m or I was not charged with anything trusty sigwalt I was not charged I was not charged with anything the questions been called and don't you ever defame me in public unless to Def unless you want to talk to my attorney oh please it's okay for you to defame us though no I'm not def question has been called you guys are a Senor trust do all from the convict at the end to the woman whose uhry son had sex with the convict's wife unbelievable what a town what a beautiful place I mean that's self-explanatory right I don't have to tell you what was wrong with that um and then this is the final one hopefully that story Alex in Monday night's meeting video shows councelor Robert Lombardo making gestures several times but he claims he wasn't the one who started started it I want to know what kind of circus you guys are running here how you can allow a counselor to sit there and throw a vicinities out so again uh why are we in a board meeting what is the purpose of a board meeting um it's the board for the board to do its work um meet meetings are vehicles for um members to have discussion around agenda it items provide direction to the superintendent and listen to information that will help them make decisions and vote on items so our job is your job is to vote when something comes before you it's either a yes an a yes A no um there are situations where you would abstain um for for good reason um extensions are not so that you don't have to vote the idea is that you vote on everything um once an item is voted on um board members should support the will of the majority and I can tell I know you're going to talk to me about that the will of the majority so I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna think about that in the way we have this written going forward um so quick some quick tips to have effective meetings um Place agenda items strategically so if you know something is going to be you're going to you're going going to have public comment for 4 hours and normally you introduce new employees at the end of the meeting perhaps move that for this meeting so that those people don't have to stay for the whole meeting go through the whole agenda and then be introduced so there are things to do that provide Early Access to information make sure that board members have all the information that they need um so that any questions that they might have are asked before the meeting information can be gathered that doesn't mean you won't ask questions during a meeting of course you ask questions during a meeting but um just know make sure that there's enough information um advaned Outreach to board members do you have any questions is there anything you you have questions about for this board meeting that's coming up the use of those procedural rules consistently so whatever that looks like however it is that you do it going back to call to the public I worked with the board that they they decided that when someone was done with public comment no one was going to say anything except what the next person's name was for public comment because they didn't want to forget to say thank you to one person and not say thank you to another person so whatever they're talking about it has to just be consistent application of the rules and that is what happened in brard County also was inconsistent application of the rules during the meeting so just be careful about that um refer to one another and others with titles sometimes that gives you it makes it formal and it makes us think about what we're saying a little bit um obviously adhere to open meeting law all of you have that responsibility not just the board president but everyone so if you as a board member think something is going off the rails say something um and be Court courteous and thoughtful discuss issues not people the road maps your agenda is a road map so they provide you structure Focus transparency and accountability um this is an agenda rubric a copy of that is also in your folder this is just something we put together so that board members could say is this something I should put on an agenda or not so um just look at that when you have some time because I know I'm going over time call to the public we had a long conversation about that um when you have open call to the public you can't discuss um or you can't discuss items that the they're talking about it called to the public um The Rules of Order if you want to make changes to your Rules of Order that is the at the board's discretion um Mo most of the board policy around that is very simple it's you know the president May motion there should be a motion a second and a vote but making sure that everyone is in agreement about those Rules of Order um is important so I want to say thank you I know I took a lot of more time than I was supposed to sorry everybody thank you so much you have any questions for me um my contact information is there so if you'd like to email me feel free um I just want to say you know just over the last two years I typically will will go back and just watch board meetings because during the board meeting I'm concentrating on the topic at hand but afterwards I I like to watch just to see if I missed anything um and and what I notice is during the times where I'm speaking other board members are making faces at each other laughing sometimes and just being um disrespectful towards um myself and I I think that that doesn't come off to the public very very well um and it is disrespectful um and and I want you know part of this is be courteous and thoughtful and and we should all be respectful um and we're all adults and I think that everybody needs to act like an adult um and and nobody should be making faces or having sidebar conversations uh when people are speaking so I just wanted to point that out yeah you can that can be part of uh communication protocols or meeting agreements um as you're going forward and having those conversations as a board is a good thing to do yeah can can we just take maybe take a moment and just talk about I mean I I I heard uh board member van Hox you know say and I just want to share how I feel about you know my what my Approach is so you guys understand where I'm coming from as well um I think when we have board meetings I like to be prepared I read every I've read every you know my previous term I read every single page every single um expenditure sometimes at 300 pages I read them all all of them um so I think it's our responsibility or for me speaking for myself I should say um try and ask questions and get answers ahead of time I think that's really important and it saves time uh during a meeting uh so the people aren't rambling and and you know they uh the cabinet likes to be prepared for answers and sometimes you know don't have it and if they knew then they would have that um I think during the meeting bring up issues you have um make your stance known educate the public I think that's part of our job too a little bit so on some things maybe they don't understand why we think a certain way or why something needs to happen and you know if we can help explain it or clarify it I think that helps and then you vote and uh I also agree we don't all need to be Kumbaya I was I was the one in and some 4 to1 votes um that happens it's you know it's democracy um you win some you lose some some and you'll live to fight another day um and you know you can be visited another year but um I wouldn't publicly undermine a decision that that people made that I lost just because I lost I mean that's just the way democracy goes sometimes you lose um but it doesn't mean you have to give up either um but I I for me just speaking for me um you know I I I I'm happy to move on or to revisit it for another day but I won't publicly disparage or I didn't I don't think I did publicly disparage any of the votes that I lost um anyway so that's just where I'm coming from if you guys also want to say or have any comments cuz I don't I don't know these folks um I worked with Miss Wilson who's in the back here but I haven't worked with any of you but that's that's just how I approach things and I would love to I mean I'll learn on a job if you don't want to share it now but uh you know if you want to share your thoughts I would welcome them I appreciate that uh board member Glover um to board member van Hook's point I think um some frustrations I had with that statement is there are assumptions that are made that I think are a perception that's not necessarily based in reality in that genuinely I struggle to process auditory information only and so the idea that a board member is clarifying something happens routinely there are a number of times in which for example Mis Reese would turn to you or you would turn to miss ree for clarification and so I think it is important to understand that at the end of the day we all should absolutely be respectful but I also think there are certain human elements that genuinely happen so if things are disruptive I absolutely agree that those things are not there but sometimes statements get met or state stated or numbers get said Etc and in order to make sure that we understand that or is that something that's happening or what school I think those things matter they are important and I also think it is an appropriate fashion should you especially going through a meeting and feeling some kind of way about it it is also possible to talk to us individually and express how those things are are done or ask questions to make efforts to understand us I think would be beneficial especially for new individuals on the board or things are happening and questions arise I don't want somebody to feel like if you're lost stay lost because that's not a safe space to be in a lot of times there can be certain things that are a clarification or I'm writing down something and because I was writing down something I miss something else and so I I do believe it would be beneficial for us all to uh acknowledge the human element that exists in the room on a constant basis I'm appreciative of the efforts that we all make routinely to be prepared to show up with the stuff that we have ask the questions and all of those types of things at no point have I assumed anybody coming here was unprepared to do those types of things um because we are indeed adults as you've expressed and I think that matters um president Wade um uh we received an email from um the attorney that states that any we shouldn't be having sidebar conversations and that anytime we speak when we are on the dis that our mic should be on and um because of open meeting laws um that no matter what the question that is being asked while we are on the dis that that is heard by the public um so if if it's something that one board member doesn't understand or doesn't hear um then we should be able to ask that question and say hey can you repeat what you said or can you explain what you said um and to avoid uh the conversations that might seem to the public that um is we're not being transparent um and and that was explained to us in in that um email that we received from the attorney um and then another thing I wanted to mention and again I don't know if this is something that you can answer because I think it might lean more um of a legal question um but as far as your thoughts on for instance uh admin meeting with board members individually about something that we might be voting on um and just to whether it's to discuss ahead of time uh to possibly reduce questions or um to to or to have us you know ask questions ahead of time where does that I think that that there might be like a fine line being crossed as far as maybe them knowing where board members stand on an issue prior to a vote happening um do what does that make sense well yeah the superintendent certainly can't PLL uh board members or ask how they're going to vote that's I think that's known um but it you know I think there are conversations to be had about how you prepare for a board meeting so if a one-on-one conversation is helpful for you as an individual and the way that you process and learn I think that's fine but there shouldn't be information shared during that meeting that isn't shared with all board members so I think that is um kind of the standard and um it I'm going to let you kind of talk about how you do that yeah I sorry board remember Van Hook I think at times we want to meet with people so that they have a complete understanding and it's not polling are you going to approve this are you going to approve this are you not going to it's that's not the purpose and so when you're a new board member for example the budget is extremely complicated and even at for us that have been around for a long time I think sometimes hearing it more than once being able to ask questions or reflect is helpful so I know there are school districts that meet individually or the superintendent meets individually with board members before every meeting we haven't chosen to do that but I do like to meet with you guys periodically because it's it's a relationship right and I get to know you I think you feel more comfortable calling me when I SP spend time with you um so I I believe we're being very careful just to make sure that the in information is clear concise makes sense but not to say are you going to approve this or you not going to approve this because that's not right so I don't that's kind of where where we stand and sometimes we have two board meetings a month and I would hesitate to say do you want to come meet two times this month you know it's I want to be respectful of people's time but Tyler is excellent explaining the budget stuff but sometimes we and cabinet have to hear it more than once so I don't know that answer yes and and I'm not saying that that we've done that I'm just saying in general um to have have you know if it's if it's an item that the board and we haven't had the situation where we've met oneon-one before we've taken a board vote um just in general like if you know if there are one-on-one meetings um regarding an item that's going to be coming up for vote and whether it's a poll taking or not but sometimes based on the questions presented might bring up the situation on how a board member potentially feels about something or or that item and then um if that information is then shared with another board member that that you know the admin meets with um so I just want to make sure that when when and if those situations occur uh that we're careful um on how the communication happens to ensure that open meeting laws are not violated so board member Van Hook I appreciate what you're saying and we're very systematic in these conversations to the point of did I already say that you know what I mean it's like you're teaching a class and you've gone through it so many times so I try to be very thoughtful so do members of cabinet and you know there are things that are complicated or involved or you know and because you're you're the voice of the community too it's important that you have understanding of things so believe me we're trying to follow the laws and stay within policy every single day but just like this Pro y situation with public Comet I didn't realize that was something we needed to address but now we do right so anyway I very respectful and appreciative of the time you guys give all over the place president Wade Miss Bacon I do have a question just kind of a general question I love the art of the open meeting law just how the discussion are out in the public and all that kind of stuff do you have any tips and tricks on kind of because I understand how it's helpful to ask your questions before and all the things but do you have any ways to go about that because I do love open prompt to conversations so I see the value in both so is there certain tips and tricks like as a board member um on what to perhaps present more as questions and conversations for the open meeting law which helps our community really see impromptu you know oh I'm surprised by this too let me ask this question Etc I hope that made sense yeah I mean so I I always classifi the questions that I had for the superintendent as these are like just random I just am curious questions or these are questions that I think the public has to know about so even if you ask a question beforehand and you get an answer that you understand and think is satisfactory three you just tell the superintendent you're going to ask that in open meeting so that you can share and have that transparency and that would probably go for most meetings um or most questions that you have because your job is to provide transparency to the community so if you have questions I would just let the superintendent know which one you're going to be asking um in open meetings so they're prepared and have everything in front of them board member ger one other thing that I would add to that too that's beneficial is when you have the questions ask them because like it may be a question for you that I didn't even think about and then when I get to see your question because they email everything it prompts me to have a different one um and so that's beneficial right and then we talked like because you weren't here when we changed it over ultimately we put all of this up so people can see that yes we do in fact act ask questions because not all of them get asked up there but any of the time any you can ask I just think it's always beneficial to ask them ahead of time in that it gives us an opportunity to see that question digest that question because like there are times where a question gets asked and I'm like o I also am intrigued by that right or somebody asked the same type of thing but maybe in a different way that is better um and so I'm appreciative of that as like a board member and so you may find also the same types of things because especially early on there's so much brand new information that you can see some of these questions and it helps you to understand the ways in which certain people look at certain information that can help you better understand what you're looking at sometimes um so I think in general it doesn't hurt always to ask them ahead of time knowing you can ask them again if you need to repetitively kind of deal but it also is helpful to us to know what questions you have because I might not have thought of it okay thank you so we are on to 3.3 Communications protocol Miss Richards we'll uh review some of the communication protocols for hickley Unified School District president Wade um everybody has a copy of these communication protocols and just a little history these were developed in 2021 between the governing board husd superintendent superintendent Richards I'm so sorry I skipped a page you did yeah uh we're going to take a five minute break you better fall then I'm just kidding yes I was gonna say Miss Zimmerman's very good at following instructions everybody how long did they haveon okay thank you no I I went to the restaurant and I know you're on a break that Miss Bacon has to leave and so I wanted everybody to be able to I'd love to clap for honestly and tell her thank you for driving over here and we appreciate it very helpful appreciate it thank you and now I know where I'm was it two or three days it was two after after four hours I not it was an interesting approach to training I know yeah I I mean I I understand the concept I just didn't I didn't like his Deliverance of the material yeah and so a little bit more confrontational than I'm used to very yeah yeah so for sure you e e e all right I apologize Miss Richards that one's on me please review some communication protocols for the Higley Unified School District thank you president Wade you all have a copy of the these communication protocols and um board member Glover and board member jarm we went through this in August and we revised them and it was approved on August 6 we went from 13 Pages down to I believe it's six so we wanted it to be more concise you're going to see a whole lot of overlaps between what Miss Bacon just shared and what's in our document so rather than go through this document page by Page there were just a couple of highlights I wanted to go through so we're a team or we consider ourselves to be a team your District administration and the five of you so I think it's super important um that we're all on the same page and we keep learning together so board members will will adhere to board policy K and KB and refer questions and concerns to the superintendent you guys do a very good job of that um and we try to do it in reverse so we're all on the same page I did want to mention and I know this was brought up like we put updates questions answers and Status every week sometimes we'll send something in an email and sometimes that could be something I would call confidential so those are important things that you might have received an email from a parent and you all got it so then we get questions about it and we want you all to get the same response makes sense so if we put confidential on there I appreciate you guys keeping it that way um and then any any time you know we are providing statements for husd it's really nice if we know so if you're representing the district in any form or capacity if we know then we're not caught off guard and that can be a news channel a radio spot anything all right this is somewhat repetitive that District Operations emergency communication we try to let you guys know if emergency vehicles are at schools or at the district office don't go into tons of detail that make you aware in general of what's going on um you have the same access to the same information and your cabinet works really hard to ensure that from everything from board meeting packets and supporting documentation which we work really hard to get you five days prior so now that board meetings are on Tuesday Christine works really hard to get it out the Wednesday before and that gives you time hopefully to review it one board member's requests for additional information means that you're all going to have access to this same information and this includes legal advice special Communications are provided to all board members all right how about don't go backwards okay so the preparation and the processes um board members will call or email Chris with questions about agenda items or supporting materials before the scheduled meeting and we've already talked about that that helps us know hey we need more information to make sure we can answer this we do that prior to the board meeting that doesn't mean you don't ask questions during the board meeting because sometimes you'll go through that whole process and you'll get up here and you go oh I forgot to ask this so please do if we need to research something or get more information we don't have a problem telling you we'll get back to you um we post these answers questions and answers on the website and then this one I thought was important for Scott and Sarah to know if something's on consent and you want an indepth discussion about it you let us know and we'll pull it down to action so we can have a discussion about it and I don't know if that was different Mr Glover when you were here before so that's one thing I believe has changed and then um we also like it when you guys tell us during a board meeting that you want a future agenda item sometimes you don't know in the board meeting and you can request it um you can call and request it or email it the one thing that I think we need to think about if something's going to take a whole bunch of time then we would say to you hey let's take this to the board and make sure this going to take 10 hours of Staff time does the board want us to look into it does that make sense we haven't done that a lot um but I think it's it's important because if we're going to give you information we want to do it right so yeah I think that kind of contradicts policy BBA um because we as individual board members have the right to um Place something on the agenda you do and so um I think that and requesting for an entire board vote for us to be able to have that discussion publicly um goes against policy bdba I'm sorry for clarification superintendent Richards my understanding is that is when we ask a question like so if we want information I.E how many kids do we have in kids club right now if the information were requ requesting takes a certain number of hours at least is what we talked about at whatever meeting we had in the past if what we're requesting in terms of information or what we're doing that is not necessarily an agenda item because that information is being presented to us and anybody can add an agenda item if we're directing the superintendent or the cabinet to do something that requires man hours with respect to putting together this information if that information or if that requirement would require a certain number of man hours that is making it difficult for cabinet and everything else to continue to do their regularly scheduled job which is a lot that's what we talked about needed a board thing so it wasn't like an agenda item it was if we were making requests and the request required an ex an exuberant amount of work that request then has to come to the board rather than any individual board member being able to say I would like a record of X Y andz or whatever the situation is if they are reasonable requests we do them it was I don't even think we've had to do it it was just if there was something that was being requested that was going to take an exuberant amount of time and we had talked about it but we never actually ended up doing that and I don't remember for the life of me at this present moment in time what that specific thing was that we never ended up asking for but the question came down to the amount of hours that it would take in order to do that very specific request because of the amount of hours we have to decide as a board if that information is worth the m hour and so it it is in the protocol sh guys approved in August and so I sometimes there'll be something and maybe we don't know how long it's going to take so we need to come back and explain you know we've discovered this is going to take 25 hours of Staff time is that something you want us to do and we haven't done it but it is a scenario that could happen so yeah my my okay so I read it as as like an agenda item um so it doesn't apply to that but my concern there is um then how how do you expect the board to know the information um and so you say it's going to take 20 hours staff hours to to put that information together but it's information that the board should be aware of so do we just because it's going to take so long do we just as a board never get that information or I mean there has to be a workr for that because if if I as a board member I'm asking a question it's information that I think it's it's important for me to know as a board member so how do we work around that knowing yes it's going to take a long time but it's also important for us as board members to have that information board member Van Hook the work around about that is we would vote and if we all agree that it's worth it that's the that's the functionality that's in place the whole point because we I'm still talking for a second we are all collectively and at this point we've had this policy in place since you and I got on the board we've changed and updated this specific we haven't even used it should this scenario befall us we still as a board have the absolute authority to say NOP we still want that information thank you president Wade but my question was for superintendent Richards so how do we um aside from the board let the board doesn't vote to allow the admin to provide that information so again do we end up not getting the information because it's going to take a long time when it's something that we as a board should know so I do believe that a lot of times it would apply to Future agenda items okay and that's what I'm referring to that sometimes we don't know the Manpower it's going to take out of Finance or HR to gather the data so we haven't had the scenario but if we did I think it would be beneficial for the board to understand hey we had this request it looks like it's going to take X do you do you guys as a board want us to proceed do you want to modify the item or do you not want to do it it doesn't mean it's out or we say no okay it just means we're trying to say hey this is a it's going to take more time than normal you know a few hours we're used to that so right yeah again I just my concern is yes we haven't had that situation arise um we haven't had to to make such vote but in the future if there is a situation and we're setting ourselves up to require a majority aboard vote in order to obtain that information that we as a board should be privy to um then if we don't get a majority vote then the board just doesn't get the information um I have concerns about that board member Van Hook I would like to express again if it's something that the board should be privy to there is no world in which we would vote to not the idea or what it feels like or what I'm hearing you're saying is if we're in a situation and if it gets to the vot for whatever reason and we put it to a vote and the vote doesn't come down in the the way in which the individual who wants the information does that is part of the democratic system and the Democratic process we just went over for 40 minutes the idea of what our specific roles are so again when we did this conversation before a policy with you were part of some of those changes the intent was to say that there are some requests that we have to decide as a board what kind of energy we wish to expend towards that again we have not had that scenario I recognize that there is a future unknown that we do not know and let's say we create a system in which we then learn that hey for this specific scenario it wasn't great we can make those changes as it is but to say that just because you find it important even though the rest of the board doesn't and you still demand I mean that's part of this process it's why we were all elected as a governing board so I'm still anybody can add a future agenda item that is always going to be here I just think it is important for us to keep in mind with respect to our requests these individuals still have jobs Beyond answering our specific requests and so the idea behind that was to ensure that we're not disproportionately taking our time to answer specific questions rather than doing business so I I hear your concerns I guess my question is with respect to this policy knowing you've been on here for 2 years and it's been a large part of what we've done because it was part of the very first time we did this communication protocols you've not been negatively impacted by it so I I'm still struggling to understand why it has to be anything other than the practice with which we are doing if you have a request that request can get met if that request is taking an exorbitant amount of time we as a board have to decide that request because we are a governing body not a single [Music] entity um again it hasn't come up yet but it could potentially come up so I get you can continue to repeat what you keep saying but it could potentially come up to a situation and you might not care for the information but to me the information is important and to people in the community that might want to obtain that information is important to them then we should be able to obtain the information even if it takes some time and again not important to you but important to me so there needs to be the opportunity to be able to say okay you know it's not urgent but over time can we gather this information and pres you know be able to present it to the community um versus taking a vote and saying no you can't have that information and not necessarily that we might take that vote and say no but it could happen not now maybe not this board maybe five years from now that's all I'm trying to say and again ma'am I hear you it's not you versus me in this situation it is a board I'm struggling to understand why you're resistant to board approval when it comes to dictating information as far as agenda items the the scenario you just created you get to do we all equally get to add future agenda items and some of those items that we've requested to add have been informed to us that it will take a time and it won't come up for the next few board meetings because it will take time to collect I am talking about and that specific thing are issues regarding information that we wish to collect if it is a process that goes to the board I understand the sometimes democracy sucks when you're on an opposing side but like I I'm resistant to the idea that we would remove power from the governing body which is literally what the function of this process is that's all we can move on we each individual board members should be able to ask a question and get an answer that shouldn't require democracy to get an answer from the entire board board that's all I'm saying thank you we could move on so um board member Van Hook and president Wade and the entire board I think you have a cabinet here that is going to work very hard to supply the information the agenda items that you request and I have complete faith and trust that we're going to work together and work through these things so you know I only put that on there in case should it come up and you're right sometimes we don't turn around by the next board meeting because we need more time and you guys have been extremely patient with that and we do appreciate it so I have faith in this Higgly team everybody in this room so anything else that is a burning question or concern so repetitive of what Miss bake did but I appreciate her coming and you know taking us through this training so I think Finance is ready to go president wait so I will let you Mr Mo now has school Finance presentation for us thank you president way members of the board it wouldn't be a governing board meeting without a finance presentation uh I'll try to be uh brief in this but um several board members uh have have been through this presentation uh this my my school Finance 101 presentation where I attempt to uh simplify School Finance or at least break it down into uh uh an easier way to understand and maybe uh contemplate um it's especially kind of important for again our new board members who AR particularly familiar with school Finance um but it's also a good reminder for our current sitting board members as a lot of this I live and breathe it but a lot of this can be um omitted or forgotten and um it's ever changing so with that I'll go through this presentation so just to start off um I just want to give a summary of school district funds so first the one uh that we we've been talking about uh rather recently is our maintenance and operations budget um that budget limitation is Formula generated uh derived by ADM and then the state uh base level support so the per pupil amount uh it's Revenue sources local property taxes and then state aid um our local property tax base does not support our total um budgeted formula and so we do Oar supplemented by state aid our property tax um individuals are not picking up our total budget um in terms of uh property tax fees so the uses regular education special education pup transport people Transportation supplies Services those are some of the main uses um the district additional Assistance or better known as capital is what we more or less refer to it as as again formula controlled um just the last couple years was restored to 100% funding but it was in previous years during the recession area cuts um is reduced up to 70% so um again local property tax funded um again our base is not enough to fund that full appropriated amount and so state aid comes in picks up the difference that on the flip side is used for textbooks physical tangible things uh Furniture equipment library books uh computers etc and at any point in this conversation just like Miss Bacon just please stop me and ask your question um a couple more funds that I think are are preview to the board uh federal and state grants those are formula applications so um we have some of the big hitters are I'm looking at my computer not this one um thank you uh it's formula application the big uh federal and state grants that are preview to the district are one and Miss Miller's Department Ida that's to help support a special education um and then um Esa or Title One basically that's the other big one um with our demographics our fre r percentage uh dictates a lot of the title one funding and so our free to reduce percentage is about 20% um so we're not we're pretty high social economic status and in the grand scheme of things and so we do not get a a large amount of funding via that application because again that's formula controlled by that um derivative the revenue is federal state government um supports those grants that is not property tax based and then typically supplements educational programs so like I mentioned Shauna has a grant for special education because it's to supplement those students needs and help provide either services or support for those individuals adjacent ways um this is a uh levied fund by local property taxes and this is one of the few funds that the governing board solely can levy on property tax owners without a uh election per se um the sfb does approve anything over $50,000 um so they do have some oversight over the projects being uh funded from this funding source and then the typical uses are sidewalks streets curbs bus base perimeter fencing any kind of public RightWay use um we've typically in the past couple years have used this to enhance our uh Bus drop offs any um parent drop off parking more recent is the higgle High drop off with the light modifications the um massive changes into the parent drop off there so a couple more the students first sorry I'll just look up there trying to do better speaking my mic because that's what it said to do so got you Scott students first is um was basically the induction of basically the school facilities board and so a little background the students first was originated from a lawsuit in 1991 Roosevelt ver V Bishop claiming that Capital funding portion of the State education Finance system violated the uniform uniformity requirements of the State Constitution educational clause in 1994 the Arizona sueme Supreme Court agreed to that basically forming the school facilities board in 1998 the legislature and Governor U moved the responsibility of funding of school construction from districts to the state again creating that um uh venue or that uh third party and then in 2002 the courts uh lowered um the courts ordered the legislature restore the 90 million to the school facilities fund uh however on appeal the state Supreme Court held the plaintiff must show that the underfunding resulted in facilities that below standards so in summary the school facilities board has appropriated $90 million annually it's now up to $180 million um that is built into the state budget they have typically appropriated more money um based on need um but that is a uh the school forage board is uh supposedly the the only the Avenue in which school districts should submit up projects and um more most recent project approved with the was the weatherization at Higley High that was a $1.2 million application approved by the school facilities board um but in more recent years they've gotten more requests than they have read they have money and so um we have seven additional applications in with the state um several that have data back U multiple years and we've already been notified this year that they won't have they've already allocated other funding and now we're waiting to the next uh budget cycle which should start July so I'm sorry M Moore do we have to redo it each time or does it like stay in a queue or whatever yeah we stay in the queue so they they have improved their process um it is a prioritized process so if we have our application submitted and and kind of buttoned up we are in the queue and so then it's just about having it funded and so that's a part of the administrative um responsibility for the school facilities board and then again it's always comes down to in recent years is they don't have enough money to fund these projects um so that is also being litigated currently if you if you've heard in the news the glendel elementary is L is um suing school facility board or the state for underfunding um basically the the state State facilities board to to support these projects um that litigation I don't know where that's at right now but I know they've they've gone to trial and they've discussed that but I um as of right now I don't know where that's at but the other fund on this page is The Debt Service so that is for uh bonds a debt payments so uh this district has not issued any debt in some time I don't know the exact date um but we have less than um $80 million in um outstanding debt um this is a local property tax um fund um and again this is voter approved and so once its voter approved um those property tax funds pay down that outstanding debt payment the principal and interest on a yearly basis so all right one more the classroom site fund this is a Formula based fund um this is a state revenue so this is the 610 sales tax um and that is more recently extended Ed um all the way through 2042 um as a teacher Scott will would be well aware of this fund um this is really used for teacher salaries and performance pay and this is solely um this is we cannot use this fund for anything um above and beyond that and so the legislature did open up um this fund just more recently to allow for us to use it for uh student support so basically instructional coaches are are not eligible to be paid from this fund and we have taken advantage of that and the board approves this classroom site fund plan annually and so uh we'll be we're working on that right now and me confer myself and Miss Johnson um and we'll work bring the recommendations for this plan next year I do want to point out this is a different bucket than the maintenance operation in capital and so I think it's um kind of important to to remember that because um this bucket is something we can only use for fut salaries and and performance pay so um really restrictive in that sense the other Enterprise funds special Revenue funds I've just put some of the the main ones um these are based on basically the amount of Revenue we capture um participation user fees so gate fees um facilities rentals rental Revenue um these are some of the examples Food Service fund uh again facility rental summer school athletic bookstore um all these um whether they're School allocated or not are based on the amount of Revenue that we bring in um so we're restrictive to what we can expense um if we don't have a revenue okay uh the M budget I don't need this any um the M budget expenditure formula so I I wanted to break down the formula for ML um just all the way down to to the to the bones kind of um so this formula is takes in consideration um I will start at the top uh our weighted student count and again so what um I often bring forth in front of the board is is unweighted student count in terms of ADM counts um but once um I present the the total General budget number that takes into consideration all the weighted student count and I'll come to back to that on the next slide um we take weighted Su count times the base level amount U for our current that's $513 per student and then we add in teacher experience Index this is actually the first year uh in probably higley's history that we are we have now a teacher experience index above the state average so we actually get a an add-on uh that equates to this year about 180,000 um so our average teacher experience is over 9 years um and the state compensates you for that because typically your teachers the more experienced they're going to be higher paid so we take those U plus the non-federal audit expense so our audit we required to do an audit annually um and the state pays us back for doing that audit so um that is added back in that gets our base Revenue control limit we add in our transportation Revenue control limit and our current miles uh it's based on the miles kind of recorded um but our current Transportation Revenue control limits about $1.2 million we add that in that gives you our RCL and we'll get to our add-ons but before that this is the weighted student count and so um for every um student that goes through these two criteria um and so on add-ons preschool in K8 um preschool for every preschool student and for preschool the only state funding we receive is for sped preschool so keep that in mind U we would get a 1.45 add-on and that's so you take the $513 time 1.45 and then if they are also a group b we also get that addon for that student as well so I'm not going to go through all these because a lot of them relate to miss Miller's Department um because those are typically our highest need students which costs us uh the most money to provide them the services and the education that those uh students require so I do want to point out this 912 we get a little bit more funding than Elementary uh Mr Moore just you reminded me of a moment in my early teaching career the superintendent uh had come into my room we were talking about budgets and money and this is gosh this is the mid 90s so we were still concerned about money even then uh and I made a comment to him about you know the number of students and you know I had come from other states and uh he just looked at me he said this is Arizona one student student never equals one student and uh that's true when you when you wait them out like that so yeah people have to understand that one student rarely equals one student with all the multipliers that we have Mr Moore can I add something to this slide yeah um if you look at all those sped eligibilities why it does look like we get you know quite a big multiplier or weight I want to point out that the majority of our students fall into that dded mid sld section which is a point2 um that was recently raised from 0.003 was the multibot and it that still isn't enough um so I know there are people in the community who think that we get an excessive amount of money for our students but in reality we really don't so talking about our add-ons so again separate from our state budget so this is really our state budget formula um on a and this can be calculated again looking at our student count and then this would calculate our our Revenue control which is our state approved budget for the students we have any add-ons um or adjustments to the m budget are in this category and so um some of the add-ons that we currently have for the override but we're phasing down um that is an add-on to our budget um dag is only applicable to some districts budget balance carry forward is an add-on um we don't have a tuition income some of these others um are just add-ons to our state approved budget and so um I think miss manook when I kind of present it as a as a deficit right I think and again I can change that language but I'm taking our state approved budget and running it through um without the add-ons and so when we add on then yes we're not in a true deficit um but we do have an OP operating deficit in terms of that year so um this is the most recent school funding by per pupil um by the US Census and I just again I think we all know in this room that Arizona's 48th in funding and so I just snipped um kind of the bottom half and then the top half and you can see the the the discrepancies and on the far left is the total basically um spending per pupil and we're sitting about 10,00 300 as a state um and that's again bottom half of the the country in terms of State funding um override elections I wanted to talk a little bit again we've this is very prevalent with our dis right now um but we currently have a seven-year M override uh that was passed in 2019 um we are currently in the phase down um next year year 7 FY 26 um will will be phasing down to it'll be 9.5 million from the current um override and then year 8 at 427 will be 14 million about 60% of districts have an M override um which is a interesting point I mean a majority of those are Central and Maricopa County are extending weding districts on the rural counties do not typically have overrides as um any additional funding those property taxes they can't afford to take the additional um add-on to support that override districts can also ask for a capital alloy override um those are seven years they don't have a phase down which is interesting um that's just it would be straight you're limited to only 10% of your RCL and uh if the district were to consider that there'd be approximately 8.5 million in additional Capital funding um talking a little bit about the capital outlay formula um again that takes our it's a formula controlled so it takes our um District unweighted ADM and then those are the breakdowns of the amounts we get um based on the grades that those students are in so uh we're currently at $549 for preschool through eight and then $600 for 912 and we get a high school textbook add-on of $84 per student uh that equals right now currently we get about $7.3 million in capital funding for our district I do want to point out Charters have additional a different formula they get annual inflation increases on their um Charter additional asss which is the equivalent of District additional assistance uh they're currently at $2,000 a little over $2,990 for preschool through eight and 2,400 through uh 912 if if Higley was funded at the charter calculations we'd have about $27.3 million uh in capital funding which would probably eliminate the need to go out for a bond but again this is this funding mechanism Chargers cannot ask for bonds or or any sort of overrides um and so this is part of the reason uh they get annualized inflation uh they don't have that local property tax base uh they tap the state budget for their um formula needs so classroom site fund I talked about this in the earlier slide but then again this just really outlines the the The Limited uses on this fund um HC receives $12 million annually um it's a non-s supplanting fund so what that means if somebody's currently being paid from M I can't take that and move them to this fund that'd be supplanting um and so what we can do is with our plan we've typically increased our BAS amounts or increased our um amounts from our performance plan or custom s fund plan um but we're never supplementing m&o for that um those dollars so budgeted control funds um again I kind of already talked about this but you know m capital adjacent ways uh Debt Service class site funds state and federal grants these are all budget funds um we typically you'll see a lot of these funds go either um on especially on our state and federal grants go negative as those are reimbursement based um our M and capital we've been able to maintain cash values for those but uh keep in mind we do um those funds receive cash we we manage cash in the back even though their budget derived but if that cash goes negative then we basically have to ask the county treasur to um take a loan out to cover either payroll expenses whatever expenses we have and so it's important to carry forward enough money to cover your basically expenses for the first part of the year before you get your Revenue in November and so um it's one thing that our team manages but it's not publicly well known because all you see is our budget but on the back end there is a cash that we have to maintain uh to continue to operate and pay our expenses so and then these are all our cash controlled funds I'm not going to go through these unless you have a specific question but again these are whatever Revenue bring in that's all that we can expense and so um we've done a good job of trying to leverage a lot of these funds as we did in our last presentation we've transferred some positions that were currently being paid from ml um to some of these cash funds that are are able to plant um and you know we work hard to to leverage you know some of these other additional Revenue sources to support and sustain some of our district needs the list goes on there's we have about 80 active funds that we manage um with my team and so um each one has its own requirements and restrictions the list continues but um just know that we're you know these are all on your monthly financials uh we present those monthly financials to the board um and consent and so if there's any questions that you guys have on a particular fund on what uses it may be you used for um I'll be happy to answer those so coming back to uh kind of uh property taxes so Equalization assistance um our this is basically a snapshot of um our m&o and capital so our local property tax is only basically we support 36% of our budget um 72% is uh Equalization assistance from the state and the reason is because if you look at our 24 square miles it's a lot residential so our property tax base is not high enough to support our our budget and so whereas other districts uh for example you know Scotts unified or Paradise Valley have huge assess valuations right they have commercial properties they have um large Investments there um they're large they're 100% supported by local property tax base um so just something an interesting fact I guess because I do this all day um there's also a miscellaneous Revenue in there that's about 2% of our budget uh 38 again 38 districts receive no state aid and this is just a graph that alludes to what I was just talking about this is our assess valuation um it's capped at a growth of 5% a year but um you can see as property values have gone up um if you look at your tax bill um that tax bill is is capped at 5% growth a year um and then um on the right your Zillow is going to continue what you can get on the market is largely different than what um you're being taxed on um and what this uh graph exemplifies is just the assess valuation of our district continuing to grow to catch up to current property um property values your property tax value sheet is probably half of what you can get on the market if you actually look at it um and so we have some time before that actually catches up um and so we'll continue to see unless we we go into a recession um this graph continue to rise again this is we're 83% residential um we have 14% commercial and Industrial assess valuation 1.8% Agricultural and vacant land and that 1.8% is continuing to go down as these lands continue to get built out um one of the the main reasons uh kind of I monitor assess valuation one is for the for setting the tax uh rate but two is it also is a main formula in boding capacity and so this was in the presented in the citizens committee if you look at the left column um you'll see the 1.6 uh billion that's our net uh full cash assess valuation um there's a formula to determine bonding capacity which is 20 20% of the net full cast assess valuation so our current bonding capacity is 320 million um but it's one of the one of the reasons that we monitor net full cash looking at total tax rate um we're kind of smacked out in the the middle um Queen Creek is is continuing um to be really high again it's because their property tax values have not cut up to the um increase in their budget for the school their enrollment is in a in a enrollment District that's increasing enrollment um their budget needs and demands based on the formula are a lot higher than your net 5% cap on assess valuation and so um and and then again Scot sell being a huge um I think they're 127 square miles with a lot of industrial um their tax rat is going to be lower when you have this large assess valuation you don't have to tax every R resident or commercial property as much to Garner uh the budget amount so and then I put in here the classroom spending report this is a report that's provided by the Attorney General's office u based on our annual financial report um I just wanted to highlight some of our uh key areas so instruction uh we continue to be one of the highest dist um in terms of spending within the instructional category um this report is public on the Attorney General's website it has a lot of good information and a glossery to look at peer groups um and what some of these categories mean um just highlighting us against uh the state you know again we uh prioritize um instructional spending heavily within higle UniFi that aligns with our strategic plan and our most recent you know board goal um and then you can see our other operational spending areas this report also touches on operational efficiency measures um I'm not going to touch on all this but you can see that we're either very low or low in a lot of the areas where um you can see excess spending or spending um exceeding um or being you know spent in an area that's not instruction and so this highlights Administration plant operations food service and transportation um if you want to call it non-instructional areas um but you can see that we operate very efficiently in these areas um we do have some advantages of being 24 square miles um within Transportation but um we do PRI ourselves and again being efficient in these areas and then the last kind of bit is teacher uh compensation and so since I've gone on uh this district has been priority from meet and confer to um get our uh average teacher salary up and competitive with our neighboring districts again you know maybe a disadvantage of us being only 24 squ miles is we're nestled in between large uh districts right Gilbert Chandler Mesa who have um salary schedules that are are a bun you know either higher than us or um at us and so we've done a lot to get in the last 3 years above the state average um you can see the the line and uh the black line across is the um trend line and then the purple is the district um average um or I guess it' be light plink but the amount from other funds which is again mainly m&o the bottom half is the amount from classroom site fund we've tried to continue to utilize that fund to help push up teacher salaries um and then you can see the state average I guess State average is the black back line sorry and us uh being above it for the last three fiscal years so and that's it it's kind of snapshot of some key areas I thought that would be important for the board and so um if there's any questions that be happy to answer any may I is anybody else all right thank you you put this in everybody's folder Mr Moore yeah just uh maybe for Miss jarm I don't know if you already saw this one or not but this is a really handy one if uh I would be happy to show you how I use that or read that if you're interested or anybody else can I don't you know it's uh this is really handy when we look at uh things that we spent on and I want to know like what school just got this this chart will help you identify those numbers so thank you for putting it in there yeah that's our cheat sheet that we use in our finance team but it's a yeah if you're looking at vouchers and you're looking at expense um fund you know codes um you can help it's it's kind of our our key um to help dissect what fund is being expended from and um board members um I just went blank German um there's a this is also available online that will help um to know like which I don't like which ones are restricted and which ones like you can um utilize funds out of um so I can show you where that you can find that as well thank you thank you Mr Moore does anybody else have any comments All Right Moving on uh future agenda items does anyone have any requests for future agenda items uh I'm going to add the the public comment thing that we talked about earlier um and the start time because I feel like by the time next meeting rolls around that'll have given us a month to get some Community feedback and then we can do that does anybody else have any requests for future agenda items what about the athletic the athletic um was that in status did you guys talk about that we're currently president Wade working on that uh Mr lots and hauzer working with the schools and the surrounding districts and yes we'll have we'll have that yeah we can we can provide you an update we've already reached out to Gilbert about what they're doing and seeing what those look at um yeah currently it looks like these are uh K8 programs not high school programs but there's some opportunity there and if it's a good idea then I want to embrace it and look forward and so uh we'll we'll give you an update and status and then if we need to come back in an information item present it publicly we're welcome to do that too the the question then you just becomes how do we change processes or add something to after having already gone through a course guide process but we can cross that bridge when we get there thank you president Wade it's not on here but I'd like for your cabinet to bring you an update on the Strategic plan and goals CU we had said we were going to do that quarterly okay all right then I motion to adjourn this meeting second thank you m jman seconded all those in favor I I all those opposed motion passes 5 Z and thank you everyone for staying late for

e e e it's gonna be late and since we don't have um a clerk or anything else I guess um I'm GNA go ahead and do this I'm back so um I'm going to call the meeting to order at 502 and I will need to hold please okay I need a motion to adopt the agenda I'll adopt the agenda governing board special board meeting January 22nd 2025 okay I'll take a second I second all in favor I I I motion carries four to zero so we'll do the pledge I pledge Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay so first thing we're gonna do um discussion and uh consideration of approving a board president just so you see we we broke out into two different ones this time just because it's easier the way're we're now taking the minutes within um uh board dos it's easier to do two separate than try to cram both agenda it or both president and clerk into one so that's why it's split out it's a little bit different than what's been done in the past okay all right um so before we start this I just want to preface some some things so so in two years the only person that is going to be on this board is Lisa horn everybody else will be up in two years so let's just keep that in mind while we're doing this that's that's the only thing that I'm uh not that you won't be back on the board but your your all of ours um terms are up in two years so that's it's not um set in stone that she's the only one that'll be here for four right because her her because she was technically elected even though there's no election her term runs for four because Shelly and and Melissa were appointed yep uh the law states you have to run after two years of the next election Jason and stepen fouryear term is up right so therefore they could all of you could run again or none of you could run again right and that's the issue and kind of scary I mean not scary but like that's that's really um that's hard for on a on a school board so be a feeling of continuing or trying to recruit other people to be part of or just someone else being so what I'm saying is think about this when we're when we're nominating people that somehow along the line Lisa has to know what to do that's that's all I'm saying is that like because she's the only one that's she's Last Man Standing so anyway so that's I just want to put that into your head before we move on so anyway um I will take um a nomination for board president I motion to nominate Shelley haras for the position of the Schoolboard president because well I don't know if I have to give up a because but you can if you'd like but you don't have to because looking at Short Term and knowing some different things um there's some expertise and um grit that I think is needed at this point and who better to train someone else that could possibly come in and take over or fill in grit AKA for something else grit determination and kindness that you have is a grit right okay um that I would be um thrilled to see you um as the board president okay any other motions any other nomination okay someone uh we need to make a uh a second a second on that no we don't we just have to close nominations so um so we'll just go ahead and close nominations there needs to be a motion to close I will motion to close nominations I guess then we'll need a second by second okay um so then we'll have to um vote on that oh well okay all in favor of Shelly being president say I I any any opposed okay I guess I so that's four to zero all right are we good on that one it's so crazy I don't like this process um so now we need to make um a motion a nominations for board clerk I move oh sorry go ahead okay I move to nominate Dr Melissa Valen for the position of board cler okay um I actually am going to to motion to um to nominate Lisa horn only because then I know that if she can learn things and then be able to bring that on to the next uh years that I that we know that she'll be here that's my only that was my only thing does that does it make make sense am I not I don't know okay any other nominations okay um I will motion to close the nominations so we will make um we'll all in favor we we'll vote for um Melissa Melissa Dr Valenzuela so um all in all in favor for Melissa Valena Dr Melissa Valenzuela any I hi yeah okay um I'll let's see any opposed did we do opposed okay any opposed I guess I I that's three okay so then all in um those in favor of Lisa horn I I any opposed me I guess okay that's fine yes do it okay okay so that's three three yes one no and then um so that motion carries three to one so um that makes Lisa for clerk we're good oh yeah yeah you have to switch places okay yeah let's just do that we don't have just do that just switch those for now do we have to do that right now can we do the next next one I think we can I already have my set up okay so question and consideration of um a board member we usually uh to um represent the board at the comes uh Education Foundation so this is how often do we meet like once a month uh no quarterly we meet quarterly uh Shelly and Bob kind of duoed it last time in the sense that there was both both of them were on it and whoever could make it could make it so it it can be set up to be one person doing it uh you're an ex official so you're not really part of the voting of the meeting so it's really more just an understanding of of what's going to take place or what is taking place excuse me with the foundation so it could be one person or if there's two of you that want to do it like what happened with Bob and Shelly last time it can be two people so it's totally up to the board um but again it's ex officios so you're not voting on anything but you at least have an idea of what's taking place the meetings generally run in the morning morning on a quarterly we have two business breakfasts one in the fall and one in the spring and we try to make the business breakfast from like 9 to 10 10:30 or 8:30 to to 10: and then the board meeting is after that the other two board meetings uh may be virtual just because of distance travel and that usually runs about 11 o'clock and and mo all the board meetings will be lucky to last um 45 minutes maybe an hour at the most you're saying breakfast is longer than the actual meeting well the breakfast piece what we do with the breakfast piece is in the fall we have all the CTE programs here and so they basically the business breakfast they go around and talk to the kids in the spring in order to make sure we have the elementary schools and middle schools represented uh more thoroughly we have the student governments of each of the schools present and so they talk a little bit about what their school's all about what they're doing as as Student Government so that really takes up the B bulk of the business breakfast and when the business breakfast is over just to make it easier because so many of our business partners are out here anyway that're on the board we then run the the meeting as soon as that business breakfast is over just so they don't have to come out at another time so we're trying to put uh limitations on travel and stuff for them um coming all the way out here because many of them live North Phoenix or something like that so so that's why we set it up the way we do but it's quarterly do you need a rundown do either one of you guys need a rundown on on what actually goes over the meetings like what happens in those meetings or you think you got it I think it's okay think you're good yep okay do do you guys do either one of you have a desire to do that you do oh yes let's Okay I would tag team with her that's you want to tag team with her yeah oh let's do that okay I nominate that do we have to do this do we nominate or just we disappoint are you sure I think in the foundation uh bylaws it says that the that the board has to approve it so it's more it's more a function of the okay right okay I'll I'll motion um to nominate um Dr Melissa Valenzuela and Jason Beach um for the uh representative to the cones Education Foundation take a second I second all right okay okay all in favor I I I four to one four to zero motion carries four to zero okay the conflict of interest it's not hard it'll be good it's not hard it'll be good just time consuming okay um we have the conflict of interest form are we on now we're on good evening Madame President members of the board colleagues that are here tonight discussion item 5.1 is to comply with governing board policy BCB and Arizona revised statute 38503 on the conflict of interest the conflict of interest states that any board member or employee of the district who has or whose relative has a substantial interest in a contract sale purchase or service to the district shall make known that interest in the official record of the district and shall refrain from voting upon or otherwise participating in any manner as a board member or employee in such contract sale or purchase revised Statute 38502 defines a relative as get ready spouse child grandchild parent grandparent any sibling and their spouse and any spouse's parent sibling or child that's a lot of people refrain from participating in any manner is defined as not just refraining from making the final decision it means participating in any way in the process leading up to a decision an employee with a conflict of interest must not make recommendations give advice or otherwise communicate in any manner with anyone involved in the decision-making process the reason we're reviewing this is tonight because as governing board members you do need to review this on an annual basis and we know it's in your handbook but it's also now in the uniform standard of financial records or the usfr questionnaire which is reviewed by our Auditors annually so we have to make sure we review it we give you time to ask any questions um do you have any questions about how this works or about the conflict of interest that we need you to sign no okay I do have those form available for you tonight and I'll come to you after the meeting if you come up or think of another question between them just let me know and I will get your designation on whether you have a conflict or there is no conflict okay thank you any questions on that nobody okay um all right discussion information regarding board dates times and structure so usually we do what the second Wednesday of every month yes the second Wednesday of every month is for the meeting date that is in policy so the change for that would require you could do it in it's normally two readings you can't there's a way to do it in one reading if if you want to make the change the time starting time 6 5:35 6:36 7 you know just depending is up to you guys uh we would just advertise it accordingly there's nothing in policy that talks about it the structure uh to some degree is dictated by policy BBD um and so depending on what the discussion is it may or may not necessitate a first or second read to the change of the of the structure if you're saying we want to get rid of the superintendent report as an example then in the policy we would have to say we're going to take out the superintendent report because right now the policy dictates that there needs to be a report so just depending on on what the discussion is uh there may need to be a change in policy or it may be that you change the structure of the meetings um but it doesn't really impact the overall structure of the meeting in terms of what's in the agenda so we wouldn't have to do any anything in that particular situation I bring this to you just so you know because there's been some conversation about the length of the meetings and so I'm just just bringing it up so that we look at there's is the meeting too long is the meeting not starting early enough and you're going too late so if you started early it's not too long I mean what's the the the concern and then we can kind of tackle it from there so it's pretty wide open to have a discussion but but that's why I'm bringing this to you guys uh based on on the conversation with Mr Ray uh uh probably about a month ago so we'll start Jason what are your thoughts I don't have any trouble problem with Wednesday at six o'clock I think there could be things within the meetings up we could consolidate or minimize just a little bit to still celebrate but because I don't think we don't to take away from the celebrations right but if there's a way to minimize some work take a load off of some people and still cele I think that could be a good thing okay do you have any I know you guys are only had one meeting so that's going to be hard do you have any after and your one meeting um Melissa did you no I mean we had a situation where we had two schools present so I think it that ran a little longer than normal so it's not usually 9:00 at night you know it ran till but um no and I think it would be nice to move it up a little but then I worry about can the parents get here Pro you know to celebrate their children when they're at working and we don't live in a area that's real close to anything so I just want to make sure that they can what do you think Lisa I agree about um commuting it's it's pretty difficult to get here even at five o'clock and I live on Coyote Road right over there so um I think in an effort to make it feasible for families and children um staff to be able to make it here to celebrate um the time is is fine I while that was my first meeting um on this side of the day I have attended and viewed other meetings I do know that the celebrations can tend to linger on the long side of things um I would my opinion would be to maintain them as they are um with a caveat that from a marketing background we use that as material that is already created when the district doesn't have to create content for marketing and they use the heck out of it and they use it in segmented pieces to Market our Sports Market our clubs Market every part of combs that we can so that we're not bleeding out students to the other options that are out there we really need to ramp up our marketing and that is an opportunity that I see every time I've seen one of those celebrations why are we not screaming some of these things from the rooftops and we have them here with photo opportunities video opportunities and everything else okay so I'm just going to throw this out here and you guys can tell me why we shouldn't do it or why okay if we had celebrations from 5:30 to 6 um it's not necessarily our meeting but we have the celebrations um that way my thinking was parents and kids and even our um employees know that they're here at 5:30 and they're leaving at 6 um then we have we start the meeting at 6 um then then we're like down to business at six o'clock so I don't know if that is we could do superintendent report at 6 though you know yeah man still have it still have it yes content that we'd still want to hear from him right yeah so I'm just saying like the um the schools that present the the the the employees I mean I know the employees stay here a long time so from them to get out at 3 4 o'clock and then have to stay until six hours I'm just saying like if they were if they could be here at 5:30 um board members like know we don't all have to be here but I know that it's hard to get here but then we can we can get it going um I just don't know know if the 5:30 time is is good for everybody um I don't know if you want to start the meeting at 5:30 and then we we do we keep it the way it is I don't what are your thoughts on that I don't know I and I'm asking you guys too because as PR as principles and um knowing that like your your people coming to get recognized how would they feel about it like if I if they knew oh I only have to be there be there for a half an hour I can make it maybe we'd have more attendance of our of our employees that are being recognized I what do you think I I like it think in just their day how long it goes right on those days think it could shorten it a little bit I like the idea I I think it still needs to be part of the board meeting though I mean I think we can start the board meeting at 5:30 have the celebrations in there and then have the okay we're going to take a pause or whatever and do the superintendent's report in five minutes and then let people clear out or let them stay for the superintendent's report but I think it still needs to be part of the meeting Ju Just for uh so everybody's on the same page I've been watching and timing the the whole thing and and it takes somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes to do that so so we move it to to 5:30 then then if it's part of the meeting then it just the meeting runs to whatever so if it takes to 6:05 or 608 let's just say then you just go to the next agenda item if you say we're going to do it before the meeting then we have to account for or what are we going to do in terms of it's now 6:00 are we shutting it down and we're not done um and so there's a way to post this so that we know that I've been in many situations where you you put language but but just just to keep in mind because I've been watching because I knew there was a concern so it's roughly closer to 40 minutes each single time so either way is okay we just have to adjust accordingly could we just ask those that are presenting to tighten it up a little bit and be a little bit more mindful of the time but I don't I don't think it I think I think they're told at time anyway but I think that it just I think when you're in in it it just it goes as long as it's gonna go I don't know that I thought that so just on that I thought that we just had to say okay meeting starts at six as long as it's we don't start it before 6 then that's fine yeah it is but my point would be because we normally run about close to 30 to 40 minutes 40 minutes if you only give a half hour then we have to address what we're going to do on the back end because if we're not quite done with let's just say we we do it the way we're doing it right now and it's also in student of the month and at six o'clock are we not doing student of the month so we have to just notice people to let them know if if I'm showing up at six o'clock for the meeting and it doesn't start in some districts that's a real issue other districts smaller communities like ours it's not as big an issue but you just have to account for it so that so that when if you get the half hour and you're not quite done how are we going to handle that and as long as we notice it if it's part of the regular meeting starting at 5:30 then it's no problem but if we're going to say this is from this time to this time and then we start the regular meeting we just have to put some language in not a big problem but we have to put language in so everybody knows what may happen Okay so I do like the fact I mean Melissa I think that's a great idea can everybody get here at 5:30 that's the thing I think that the only one that might have problem is is Stephen and so I mean we still have a quorum right and I think in the case like today with Stephen when he called he just had a meeting that ran long and that's what just forced him out at at five to five to five and therefore yeah but him driving up here is going to take 25 30 minutes Jason I don't know if you have meetings that run that long with with your job but if you don't no I would be yeah you just plan accordingly I think okay is 5:30 an issue for you guys out there okay okay listen I gave you a voice if you if you guys complain about this later I don't care I've seen um I've seen celebrations for students of the month not read the big long paragraph but actually nominate more kids so you have more of a more kids up here and for talking think of marketing if I have more kids up I have more kids having to check out the website or something to see um it can be bigger photo shoot we'd have more people here to celebrate we'd have so if we cut down even the paragraph to say let's tell you I know just this these are the people these are all our kids that are being nominated for this incredible characteristic that we have this month and then perhaps the principles or whoever is nominating them can send that paragraph into the marketing department and that go there's your copy there's your content that goes along with your marketing image so then it's already created for them just options I've yeah and I'm gonna ask another question I know Stephen's not here but I'd ask it if Stephen was here prior to Stephen being uh President we tended to have very few discussion items Steph's request was to make sure we brought items twice so bring it to a discussion uh for the first month and bring it to action for the second month true and so so for perspective um that increas es the number of items that are there that can also increase the meeting beyond the concern of of just uh recognition of students and celebration of of schools and stuff um so for example because of some things that have that have come up right now we're running um as of today I think it's seven action items and eight a discussion items uh for the upcoming uh February board meeting uh and so and as we get into March and April and May in particular because it's the start of a new school year uh you will see much longer ones there if if there's a discussion on what what you want us to bring twice and so as an example next month some of the things we're bring in twice is is we have uh every year annually you have to declare what's going to be your class sizes uh for open enrollment purposes or the number of kids in your school and so we're telling you this is what it's going to be the next month you bring it back uh we have to have a conversation about what are we going to be course fees and then you have to bring it back for course fees what are going to be your convers so there's a lot of these perfunctory things that happen every single year if you still want us to bring them forward we will but but as we talk about length and structure um I would say some of the meetings have gone longer because you never know what the conversation's going to be and so even though it may be perfunctory depending on knowledge you may end up getting into a a five minute 6 Minute 10 minut conversation on a bud on an issue that going to bring back the next month so I don't know if that's a consideration for the board or not but I just bring that up because that has changed the length of the meetings too as we've added more into the discussion items um it just automatically means you're depending on what's going on during the school year you may have a a boatload of of agenda items are we saying every item has to be issued or seen twice that's that was what Mr Ray because I know we've had topics or issues that come up we like we need to table it and talk about it again and there's other things no we clearly can make a decision right can't we approach them that way if we need a second reading we'll say hey we I don't feel comfortable this yet I need to know more information you can do that what what in talking with Mr Ray with the exception I'm going to give you an example on the agenda next next month we just receive something for a Consortium approval with na relative technology it has to be approved based on what's there and we just got it so there's not a first read on it there's just going to be the second but if we have it ahead of time based on the request I've brought all of them there now if you guys want to sort that out a little bit and say we think this is a Hot Topic bring it twice we don't think this is a Hot Topic don't bring it twice we can work our way through that I can work with the meeting with the board president on what the agenda is going to look like for that or or whatever you want to do but I just bring that up because we we do have issues on the front end but we also have issues on the way the structure is relative to agenda items and I think it's a combination of the two that are stretching out the meetings and so I I would be remiss if we didn't at least talk about that and not just deal with with the front end of celebrations and and recognition so I would say I would put out there that our interest in shortening the meeting is not to compromise the quality or what we're doing I think all of us have signed up for if we have to go a little bit longer to make sure something is done correct I think all of us have signed up for that but if there's something that doesn't have to go long and we can still have a good quality of it and still celebrate together then I think we we would be okay with that so I I I just want to see a balance with that I guess if something needs to go longer we're going to discuss it longer if it can be shorter then let's just do it is my thought I think one thing that I if we are if we are spending money I think it should come back twice I think that that's something that we need to talk about in just because being mindful of our budget or whatever um there are some things that are just that we do every year I don't know I think that maybe we we just look at our look at our agenda and make that they make those calls and and you guys you can at any time if you if you just say hey I want to table this that's always an option we can table it till next time we want more information we want it or I just want to think on this I want to do some do some homework or whatever at any time that is you can you can do that as a board member there are things that have actual deadlines right and we have to make the decision at that meeting but right there are a lot of things we can say I'm not ready to make a decision yet can we table this let's let's be mindful I'm not and I would think any of us that said can we table this for till next time so we think about a little more I think we'd be supportive of each other at least answer questions or come to you know a good I don't know if that gave you any answers I'll go ahead and start working on some of that and then again I think the conversations uh with the board president when we meet talking about the talking about the board agenda I mean I'm telling you something right now the board agenda is not due for for another couple weeks to you guys and two and a half weeks before the meeting and we already have a framework for it so our our ability to meet and talk about it might address some of these some of these issues and so I think between those two kinds of conversation we' be okay okay that's fine any other any other discussion on that you guys have any other ideas comments okay so for clarity we're starting the meeting at 5:30 correct and then we will look to uh uh we're not changing student of the month as of right now even though Mr Beach talked about that we're not changing as right now uh we'll look at at a time frame that tries to keep it at 30 minutes maybe 40 max and then we'll take a look at discussion for the actual agenda items be action items or discuss items and I'll try to make sure we adjust those with the help of the board president to utilize our time as efficiently as possible okay and to utilize those celebrations more so on social media okay all right um discussion and information regarding School sight liaison so in the past we've always had um one we each take you got you jumped over two yeah 5.

e e for get rid of my phone good evening everyone good evening and welcome it is Wednesday January 22nd at 6:30 I call this meeting to order Lisa can you please call the rooll Robert Downey present Patty coute present Carolyn Lopez present Ben Owens present Shante Rothchild present thank you I move on to um pledge of allegience and have asked um our newest board member member Rothchild lead us in the pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you now move on to item 1 D adoption of the agenda I just want to point out that um Dr lopman is seriously ill today and won't make it so I would ask that um we maybe consider pulling item it f the executive session since um Dr lman sort of key to that session Mr oh he that wasn't a motion he wants one of us to motion it oh so I I'll motion that we remove item 8f from the agenda I'll second Lisa we have a motion to Second shant [Music] Rothchild hi Ben Owens hi Carol Lopez hi Patty coute hi Robert Downey I moved we might I move on to item two superintendent's report Miss Pastor I believe you're going to do a present present the report thank you president Downey so tonight's report is abbreviated uh the full superintendent report will be at the upcoming meeting um but Dr lman wanted to ensure that we acknowledge National School Board uh recognition month and pray tribute to our musd governing board School Board member shoulder immer enormous responsibilities and have an essential role in the success of a district every student and staff member benefits from your tireless work and countless hours contributed by these local citizens who are without pay for their positions board members thank you so much for caring about our students and our staff your service is truly appreciated as a token of appreciation musd governing board polos are placed um at your your spots tonight representing the important role you play in guiding and supporting our district thank [Applause] you thank you now move on to item three governing board members report member Rothchild good evening and welcome everyone um couple things that I'd like to share um was able one yesterday to participate in a Martin Luther King event held at City Hall so that was a great event saw many of you there uh as well as participated in the districts or um observed I was not on stage I'm not great at spelling uh The District spelling be and so congratulations to all of the participants and of course the win winner and then in addition to that uh there was a tiny homes um event that was held at Desert Winds which is an amazing event so kudos to all the participants uh the faculty and teachers thank you m Owens nothing this evening Mr Downey thank you thank you member Lopez uh I went to the state of the district lunching they had last week and it was wonderful to see all of our community members but was extra special this time I think was the report that three of our students gave um was great to hear from them great to hear about what they're doing their aspirations their future and that's it thank you vice president CR thank you president Downey um I too was able to attend the District spelling be and I will say this year we went a lot of rounds compared to what we've done in the past so it was amazing although I probably would have been out on one of that first dings so uh kudos to all those participants um and thanks to the judges and our pronouncer that was awesome um I was also able to attend the state of the district lunch and like member Lopez said it was awesome listening to our three high school students speak they really do uh make us proud of what we're doing and and you can see all of the efforts that our teachers our staff our our parents the support that they're giving these students really shines through those those three students that spoke it was awesome um I also was able to bop into one of the MHS basketball games after the spelling B um and last night I did attend the city um council meeting and the other meeting that I attend is I'm part of the Rotary Club and so there's there's something I just want to share with all of you who may not even realize what our Rotary Club does so the Rotary Club of Maricopa is a valued partner of musd dedicated to promoting student achievement with a strong focus on literacy throughout the first half of the school year their generous sponsorship and support has enriched the lives of over 3,000 students through various events and programs these include Maricopa Kids Day the Railroad Club Steam activities like the rocket launch boys and girls cover the sun Corridor special events like the summer Library program rotary reads at elementary schools and the student of the month program and more none of this would be possible without the dedication of the rotarians volunteers and the enduring Legacy of Mary Lou and John E Smith we are grateful for their commitment to empowering our students and fostering the love of learning and if anybody's ever interest in becoming a part of this amazing organization shoot me an email thank you thank you I'm not going into detail some of the stuff but I'll just reiterate I was at the future city tinny House's um competition review um we were selecting a couple of teams to go actually I think was the state level up in Phoenix for the following Saturday really interesting really nice and actually a lot of fun it was a lot of fun um I attended spelling spelling be I attended the state of the district lunch and I've attended two girls soccer teams and if anybody knows me and know I like soccer I probably watch between six and 12 European games every week so uh attend I was able to attend the girls soccer schemes okay now moving on to item four Spotlight recognition Miss Terry well good evening everyone and thanks for being here tonight tonight the Maricopa Unified School District is excited to honor Spotlight recipients across three categories community members musd employees and students before before we begin I'd like to thank our sponsors at Freddy's Steak Burgers and Frozen Custard Culver's Frozen Custard and Butter Burgers and auction Circle for helping make tonight special for our honores our first honores are community members who contribute time and support to make a difference in the lives of the students and families we serve congratulations community members as I call your name please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to members of the governing board and then make your way to room 123 for a group photo Mr Harmon give us a wave so they know where room is congratulations to Cheryl pvis Community volunteer from Butterfield Elementary School Mary Bren Moore Community volunteer Maricopa elementary [Music] school Deja Williams Community partner at pimu elementary school Fu win parent supporter from Saddleback Elementary School Jackie Crow volunteer Santa Cruz Elementary School Jessica Ross PTO board member and volunteer from Santa Rosa Elementary School seon jeie marugan volunteer desert wi Middle School William and Nicole de decl parent supporters Maricopa Wells Middle School Amanda Evans parent volunteer desert Sunrise High School Raymond neev Community partner Maricopa High School Jenny barbush and Megan Wyrick Community Partners Maricopa Virtual Academy congratulations again to these outstanding Spotlight community members next we are proud to honor our Spotlight employees of the month and these staff members are phenomenal individuals who go above and beyond expectations to meet the needs of our kids and support their school communities congratulations Spotlight employees as I call your name please come forward to receive your certificate and give a qu a quick fist bump to members of the governing board and then make your way to room 123 for a group photo congratulations to Tin batone lead custodian Butterfield Elementary School Stephanie spear front office clerk Maricopa elementary school Kelly Gomez fifth grade teacher Pima Elementary School Jacqueline Pratt developmental preschool teacher Saddleback Elementary School Kim Olen fourth grade teacher Santa Cruz Elementary School Ivon mestas preschool teacher Santa Rosa Elementary Tammy s AZ security guard Desert Wind Middle School Casey Burns academic coach Maricopa Wells Middle [Applause] [Music] School Kevin paw math teacher desert Sunrise High School Marcela Guzman Administrative Assistant Maricopa High School Mario Duncan security guard at Ram Academy Leisa V social studies teacher Maricopa Virtual Academy Dana Simmons academic Services specialist from academic services and Samuel Hernandez IT Tech from technology congratulations Spotlight employees and finally we're thrilled to honor our Spotlight students of the month school principals select these remarkable students based on their outstanding commitment to their education their school and their Community these students set the bar high and are recognized for efforts in academic achievement demon demonstrating Great Character helping others and being great ambassadors for their schools congratulations Spotlight employees as I call your name please come forward and receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to members of the governing board and then make your way to room 123 for a group picture Mr Harmon give us another wave all right congratulations to Ethan Santiago Perez fourth grader from Butterfield Elementary Adam Gomez Ruiz fourth grade student Maricopa elementary Samuel roller second grader peut Elementary School [Music] Weston Brown second grader sleach Elementary School Kenan Snell fourth grader Santa Cruz Elementary School Conley AR kindergartner from Santa Rosa ele Elementary School Justin Kota Walker eighth grader desert wi Middle School Jordan Miller eighth grader Maricopa Wells Middle School Emerson Jimenez [Music] Junior at Desert Sunrise High School Derek day junor Maricopa High School Marlene Taha Corona Junior Maricopa Virtual Academy and balen Smith Senior from Ram Academy congratulations again to these Spotlight students parents we have one more recognition before you meet your kiddos in room 123 in partnership with the Maricopa Rotary Club we'd like to honor a deserving group of students rotary honors young people who are developing leadership skills and making a difference in their communities rotary students as I call your name please come forward and Mr Abel and Miss coutre will present you with a special certificate in addition you'll receive a $50 gift card on behalf of the roty a special thank you goes to John and Mary L Smith Education Foundation for their sponsorship that helps make tonight special for our honores congratulations to Ria given eighth grade student Maricopa Wells Middle School Kamari Sparks eighth grade student Desert Wind Middle School [Music] zier Smith Senior Maricopa High [Music] School Thor aen or ausen senior from Desert Sunrise High School David Diana Allen eighth grader marcoa Virtual Academy and balen Smith Senior from Ram Academy parents you can meet your kiddos in room 123 we are taking a five minute break to allow everyone who is here for recognitions and classroom Spotlight to make their exit and then we'll begin the business portion of our meeting or you can stay like your now hold on midle e f [Music] spe e e e hello real Jim 30 seconds hello we're back in session and at item five information item specifically 5A project award to update Miss Pastor good evening president Downey members and guests um we're here this evening with a project aware update aware stands for advancing wellness and resiliency in education and I'm co-presenting tonight with a couple of my colleagues noala Pura our community project manager for project aware and Becky horn mental health counselor at Desert Wind And Lead counselor for the district I'd also like to thank some of our district aware team members that are in the audience tonight for being here to show support um three of our counselors are here we have Tera Roy Pablo Stephanie Spence and Lina meech thank you for being here so project aware is a federal initiative that develops a sustainable infrastructure to support student mental health it is funded by samama samama stands for the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration it is a five-year comprehensive Grant and um our grant cycle will end September of 2026 the goals of project door aligned very closely um to our strategic plan specifically a couple of um the goals and strategies goal two U we have uh gold star parent University being the healthiest school district in the state and then in go three uh Goldstar Partnerships for health and wellness we also are very proud that project aware aligns very closely in supporting the attributes all of the attributes of the portrait of a graduate by Building Systems of support for student mental health we are promoting student advocacy and voice the infographic is a visual of the pathways for referral to school and community-based counseling services it's available on the musd website and is also provided um by counseling staff to parents and uh students initially a student student uh is identified by a parent guardian or staff member um who may observe a concern with a student whose social or emotional health may be impacting their academic performance additionally a student may self-identify as needing support once the student is identified a referral form is submitted to the school-based counseling staff at the respective School the school counselor then meets with the student for A needs assessment uh to determine the appropriate level of services and if ongoing mental health support is deemed necessary the school counselor will discuss recommendations with the parent um or Guardian to obtain consent and following the needs assessment the school counselor provides school-based services to the student and or submits a referral to community to a community partner Agency for Community Based Services during the first semester of the 20242 school year the counselors at all musd schools collectively screened or triage 991 students counselors will triage or screen students in response to academic concerns Behavior concerns uh security alerts or other issues of the students triage are screened in the first semester of the school year 182 students were enrolled in school-based counseling and 18 students were referred to community Based Services it's important to note that the uh coun musd counseling staff are working with more than 182 students counselors are also delivering school-based services to students who are continuing counseling services from the previous year or who are receiving Counseling Services as part of their IEP or 504 plans first goal of project aware to is infrastructure which is building that system sustainable system of support existing memorandums of understanding with Horizon Healthcare and Laona impact were drafted with sustainability in mind allowing for continuity of care without laps due to Renewal periods a new aware initiative in year three was with Hanover research who is conducting a series of reports that include qualitative and quantitative research search on three challenges we are currently facing as a district this includes chronic absenteeism school safety and increasing student outcomes these reports which are now available to us will inform how we address these challenges as we approach the remaining 18 months sustainability becomes an important consideration we have built capacity to to sustain by strengthening Partnerships with Community Partners as well as placing a heavy emphasis on training and developing the Knowledge and Skills of our staff and our multi-disciplinary teams goal two of project Weare consists of Outreach and engagement this slide contains a very small sampling of some of the project aware supported events on both the district as well as the school level during the first semester there we go we continue to offer a variety of trainings to staff and students I'd like to highlight question persuade refer gatekeeper training our Suicide Prevention initiative which is currently offered to all secondary staff members as well as all Freshmen The Freshman students who participated in QPR this semester consist of half of the district's total freshman student population we will continue to offer this and more training opportunities to our staff students and families in the future which brings us to our next steps infrastructure in this semester will see project aware teams continuing to push for sustainability by building on the established foundations we will strengthen Partnerships and seek new connections with additional partners for engagement I'd like to um highlight parent guu.vn [Music] health series platform on a series of topics parents will have the ability to select a time frame that they want to watch any of these sessions that are available as well as any topic that interests them which is a huge change from the past where we have chosen the specific topics for the online live uh series that parents would get to watch so now it's all in their hands and they have access to this 247 um finally for training we have coordinated the following opportunities for staff and students such as sending counselors to the Arizona school counselor Association conference as well as training on restorative and Equitable disciplinary practices thank you Noel thank you Becky and we open it up for questions and any feedback thank you um I do have quite a few questions that were triggered on with this wonderful presentation um um so out of the 991 students that were triaged and only 182 were enrolled based service in school Services what happened to the difference what what what did those whatever happened to those kids that you triage that didn't qualify for those Services were they just handled with student discipline is that what so I'll give you an example of something that comes to mind and then Becky as a counselor chime in if there's more um so one of the reasons why um a student um might be triaged by a counselor is our securely alert so a certain word or phrase was typed and that gets picked up by our system that we use in it and then when the counselor met with the student we found um that they were innocently researching that they didn't mean to use a word that would trigger some concerns and that there were no other signs of of concern with that particular student everything was well so that's one example that comes to mind but um are there others Becky that's a great question because there's a a big difference in that number so sometimes when we meet with students um say a parent says can you talk to my child about some you know they're being bullied or they're having some peer conflict we talk with the student uh kind of determined that okay this is maybe you know an isolated incident or something that we can resolve through pure mediation um and it doesn't necessarily require ongoing counseling there's also times where even though we might recommend um school-based counseling or Community Based counseling um the parents um aren't receptive to that or don't respond to us um or um decide that they want to kind of just follow through with services on their own um and sometimes it's meeting with a a student just a couple of times where that situation is resolved so there's a couple of different ways that that can happen so that's an awesome resolve right and and I'm glad that we're looking out for the kids um one of the other questions I had with the QPR why did we just do the Freshman um good question we can certainly consider um adding other grades um there's a particular class that's required of all freshmen that we were able to fit it into the curriculum um and and so we can look at adding additional grade levels um it isn't necessarily something that secondary students need to repeat every year but maybe we could look at um another grade level that could be added in the future is it appropriate for a middle school grade level um it I'm not sure we we will have to get back to you on that okay um anything that we can do to help our students and stuff is happening younger younger and younger nowadays so I think it's great that we do it for the high school and help prepare them to go into the high school but if there's a an age appropriate level that of this type of training that we could launch at for sixth graders or eighth graders even um it might be beneficial it is great training Becky is one of our trainers as well as another mental health counselor from miracal Wells and um we are um researching bringing a parent version of it as well to us and then um my last question I promise um so at the district level some of the events we had um were for parents uh what parents need to know about suicide prevention was one of the ones that you um shared and situational awareness how was the attendance on that did we get a lot of participation um we can get you those numbers our situational awareness evening was um uh a little less than the number that normally attends safety and discipline task force those individuals were invited and then we had some others join us I don't remember the number off the top of my head and then the other parent event you mentioned uh it was another one that you had what parents need to know about suicide and situational rareness was was a couple of them that you listed on your yes the um the cook Center virtual Suicide Prevention we do have numbers on that um um that our analytics that they give us and we can get you that okay I was just curious if it was well attended or if it was something that we just was one of our challenges that we need to see how we can get them continue to work on it um we offer it in multiple ways um you can join virtually you can watch it later in that particular instance and um we play with what best time should we put events at it's it's nevering I know I appreciate I appreciate all your efforts really truly um it does show especially in those numbers um and the culture of the schools are starting to change and I think a lot of that has to do with everything that you guys are doing so I appreciate it thank you thank you for answering all my questions I have a few okay um you said there's 18 months left in the grant right what does that sustainability look like now with only 18 months left and then the second part of that is have you engaged in those new Partnerships yet or are we still just looking uh great question sustainability is very important in the last two years of Any Grant but in particular this grant so um we're looking at studying the various initiatives to make sure that we're looking at the return on on investment and um what what are the outcomes associated with the different things that that we've decided to do with project aware so Handover for example Gallop um base is a secondary curriculum that we're using with students um all of these things are are studied to see um and measure Effectiveness so we can um begin to think about um which projects will we look for Al alternative funding because they've um yielded the most benefit okay um another thing is some of our um Partnerships with outside agencies um were established before project aware we've just solidified them we have established these memorandums of understanding and um defined our relationships in particular with Horizon Health and impact La Tera um the uh other agencies that we've um welcomed to be a part of our mental health t Tas Force for example will um continue to be invited in the mental health task force is an example of something that's definitely sustainable um with beyond the grant we'll continue to engage Our Community Partners our faith-based agencies that come and and they're a part of that um so those are some of the things that we see as very sustainable okay um and then the of the resource so when we give a resource to parents let's say whether they're just Tre the the child is just triaged or the student or they get Services they're always given other resources um do we have data on whether the triage worked the resources given worked or the counseling and or the help they the child was given do we have any data on the end result like was was there increase in healthy behaviors was there a decrease in unhealthy behaviors was there an increase in attendance was there an increase in in grades did they go up um was an IEP written better did we get to a bottom of it do we have any data on all of that so we collect and we look at the data in a couple of ways um through our partnership with project aware and those other districts that we work with um we um collect data and the counselors who submit this data to us on a monthly basis we collect data on referrals and then um access through these Community Based agencies our intent is to close any gap between students that are referred families that are referred and then um may fall between the cracks and they're not accessing the therapies that they that they need so we follow up that's why our um partnership with these agencies is important because we pick up the phone and and follow up with those referrals um then for looking at the other um factors discipline academics what have you um we have um a a spreadsheet that um principals and counselors um and others on a need to know basis are looking at that looks at students um on multip levels to see um if some of our interventions that are provided are resulting in differences in our grades in our discipline um we have for example um a very low number of students that are re-offenders for alcohol drug and tobacco so we think that some of our education using base um assists but also conversations with our administrators with our counselors um helps to contribute to a very um low I I hate to use this word because it's not my favorite but recidivism it's those students that have a repeat so well I love what you guys are doing um and thank you and thank you for giving access to parents and children that that need your services um first off great questions I think by by our board board uh great uh presentation uh um that's a really good information can you can you explain what an enrollment in a school-based service looks like that's so I've got one that's question that I've got an observation after that sure so something that we've determined um I would say this was maybe two or three years ago um is that um any student that sees a counselor um more than than twice needs a parent consent form and then counselors track those notes we use um a a software that allows them to keep those notes very confidential um called BH works and so those um sessions are recorded there they're part of the student record um the counselors are very um collaborative with the teachers to make sure that our students are not falling further behind by being pulled out during core classes for example um sometimes the support might look like a Lunch Bunch where they're pulling together a group a small group of students that struggle with a similar social skill for example um the whole intent is to get students um back into the classroom um with more developed social and behavioral skills and um to not continuously need those those service gotcha that that makes total sense so um the observation that I've got is we're our counselors just in this instance are touching over 10% somewhere what 10 to 12% of our students um in in half a year I I think that's pretty good so what do all of our uh the the counselor's times or you know the the um the meetings that they've have with students does all that encompassed in in what we're seeing here um great question certainly not in that slide um it definitely does not show the full picture of how our counselors spend their very busy days they're also pushing into classrooms to perhaps do an anti-bullying lesson um they collaborate in our secondary schools they work with our sro's um they work with administrators they work as followup if a student had a discipline incident and they may need some follow-up support they're there for that um parents I used a counselor's space for some for meeting with a student and the counselor I was spending quite a bit of time supporting a parent struggling needing support for their student they're just such a tremendous resource to our our entire Community gotcha thank you thank you counselors too thank you for what you do first and foremost um just the mental health of the world right now obviously everyone is struggling specifically our youth um so with that just a couple of questions one of which you mentioned after so many visits um the parents have to sign um or be made aware can you expound on that as to the reason for the the parent acknowledgement sure we do have um some um policies that we and statutes we need to work with parent consent is something that we um need to have in order to move forward but the counselors are a great bridge in helping our counselors un or our parents sorry understand uh the value in this um we're sometimes not successful in in convincing a student that may benefit from some communitybased um mental health um support but in most instances we're able to get parents to understand the value of school-based counseling through those conversations so it's parent awareness not necessarily what was discussed is there some confidentiality um some type of rights that the student has yes and our counselors are very aware of what our limitations are and how how to work around that you and you Pro you may have already touched on this a little bit but um initially I thought the program was going into 2029 but with it almost ending in 18 months um what are next steps so basically what was kind of done before the grant was received and what will be done afterwards to continue to have this focus on our use Mental mental health so I can't say that we've worked through all of that yet but um as I said earlier we're looking at the components the initiatives that are yielding the greatest results um and um and then looking at um both noal and I have experience with other Grant writing and so we're always on the lookout for other opportunities should they fit the needs of our initiatives as thank you so I'm gonna just put this out there um because I have an experience of this and maybe this will help some of the parents maybe feel a little bit more comfortable to reach out but also answer some other questions about confidentiality so we've had I've had to reach out to our school counselor to get one of my many kids some help because we had changed our routine right I started to work outside the home too many things were happening and we just noticed they were acting different so I reached out and the confidentiality was just they have their personal space I don't know what they talk about and it's been wonderful theyve changed back to how they used to be um still working on some things but it was it was great and it feels really good and they're able to come home and talk about it um of course I think the confidentiality comes more into if they were to talk about harming themselves or Haring someone else or then that would be where we come into play and and that would be a conversation between the parent and the counselor right um but I just can't you guys enough and I whatever you guys need to do to keep it going whatever you you have my support 100% so thank you that was great presentation and thank you for all that you do um great questions and comments from the board um I I like this program and liked it initially because it went above and beyond the student it actually involved I'm going to use family but in a very loose sense of the word but people outside the school that are either impacting the student or can help the student I like the sort of family approach and say family very small f um I'm very supportive of it um I want to build on but um I'm looking through my notes and all my questions were sely answered but and I can't pronounce for cism so I'll use a different tag we're three years into this program and we spent a lot of time and money on this program so we don't obviously need to see specific student names or whatever but I think there is a requirement to come back and build on member Lopez's question and say look we've seen this number of students and their grades improved sorry their PR should say we've seen this number of students because they were absent a lot of absenteeism and after we had them for 6 nine months whatever it's appr I don't know what's appropriate I'm not the expert they're not attending 100% that type of metrix I think will help certainly me and maybe other members of the board whenever it comes to the question of how much time money and effort do we put onto this after the 18 months and the grant runs out because there's only limited funds available um so I just challenge you with that um as say some of my other comments have already been addressed so I'm not going to take any more your time any other questions from the board comments thank you very much very good pres thank you all you do thank you all now move on to item 5B fiscal year 2526 budget First Look Mr Harmon all right good evening president Downey and members of the governing board purpose of this presentation is to share the first look at our early projections for the fiscal year 26 budget I'd like to review our budget calendar for the rest of the year we're doing our first look of the fiscal year 26 budget tonight in February we'll we'll hold some employee meetings at the school sites on March 17th we'll issue our teacher contracts in April we'll have the second look at the fiscal year 26 budget in may we have our mandatory final revision of our current year fiscal year 25 Budget on June 11th we'll have our fiscal year 26 propos budget approval and authorization to publish our budget and a notice of public hearing for a budget adoption will take place before July 15th the next couple slides show some highlights of the projected fiscal year 26 budget um first we have some potential fiscal cliffs the first is the aggregate expenditure limit or what is uh usually referred to as the a most of us are aware of that by now it's a Statewide limit on all School District uh spending it requires a two-thirds approval in the legislature to override the limit each year this year we were fortunate that the legislature approved the override early and didn't wait until the March 1st deadline we're unsure about what will take place next year if they approve it early or wait until March the second fiscal cliff is the expiration of the proposition 123 we receive an additional $600,000 each year from prop 123 um this is the last year or current fiscal year is the last year of this add-on there's a lot in the legislature about extending or or changing proposition one 2 three there is a chance that something is approved and that this fiscal cliff doesn't take place um but at this stage we're planning for a reduction of $600,000 in the memo budget and I will say if you want to stop me at a slide and have questions at that point instead of waiting to the end that's shouldn't throw me off too bad some key drivers uh oh I'm sorry some key drivers of of this projection include a 2% increase in the base level amount per weighted student as part of our budget formula inflation Factor the Arizona State Retirement contribution rate paid by each qualifying employee and matched by the district is decreasing by0 27% and the alternate contribution rate is also decreasing by 0.20% this decrease will will see our average teacher save about $200 a year but the district with our 1,200 employees will see a savings of $150,000 due to this um rate decrease we're seeing a slight decrease in our teacher experience index lightly to turnover leading to incoming teachers having slightly lower experience levels than those of our outgoing teachers we're still uh well above the state average and will receive additional funds and we are projecting a growth in ADM of 377 here's some Investments uh in people and programs we're continuing to support site based leadership and decision making with our school allocated budgets in m capital and vision we're committed to covering any increased costs of employee health benefits we're investing $200,000 in the creation of an employee wellness program we're continuing to prioritize competitive compensation increases and we're raising the base rate of first year teachers from 54,000 to 56,000 this chart shows our 100th day ADM trend from fiscal year 20 to our projected ADM for next year the blue bar shows the total ADM each year and the orange bar shows how much we have grown in each of those years this table shows the ADM trend of neighboring districts from last school year to this school year the top five growing districts on this list include musd several Maricopa charter schools and coolage unified Leading Edge is up 57 students musd is up 405 coolage unified 130 Legacy up by 33 and Heritage by 21 the CAG Grand districts are relatively flat the four districts that show significant decline include Florence unified and all three of our of the T districts tempy Elementary down 266 Florence unified down 304 Tempe Union down 527 and kirne Elementary down 696 students sooya pathway in Maricopa lost the largest AG at 11.2% and 99 students we thought this was good data sorry what was that what would you uh attribute some of those decreases to so the decreases in students I don't know if you have hard facts or maybe some assumptions sorry the uh the tempy districts are those those communities are aging out and property values are increasing we see this in a number of communities I didn't put Chandler on this list but I could have shown Chandler's decline or Mesa UniFi decline in many of the Phoenix districts lot of typically every District or Community kind of has a you know process where they're they're you know a young growing Community like Maricopa where you know property values are a little lower or house house prices are a little lower and families are younger but as as those families stay put the kids grow up and and move away and and then houses become too expensive for young families to to purchase and that that really speaks to the Tempe districts uh Florence unified is a little bit of a different one they're in panal County they're in a growing area there's a lot more charter schools and and neighboring districts that um that pull a lot of that open enrollment so um that's kind of the only outlier on there the CAG Grand districts um just aren't seeing as much I think Housing Development growth there there might be some water factors that that have led to that but that's where I'm kind of speaking out of uh out of school a little bit thank you Mr Harmon do you think the esa also has played a a big part on some of these declining enrollments in these districts as well yeah that's a great Point member C tray the esa's 100% impact all of these districts we have over probably close to a thousand Esa students in our boundary and I know that's the same for the districts on this before we talk about the projected budget for next year we need to start with our current uh our current year final revision to kind of lay a foundation we're anticipating a relatively small increase in the general budget limit resulting from a minor gain in ADM over the adopted projections we're also decreasing the amount of M transferred to Capital to cover some of the changes in this year's expenditure plan around special education we're moving the rest of our carry forward to Capital to address our multi-year Capital plan we anticipate a revised General budget limit of just over 84.1 million next is our fiscal year 26 projected budget limit with a key factor factors and assumptions mentioned at the beginning of the presentation we're projecting our FY 26 M General budget limit to be just over 87 million we aren't anticipating any additional budget balance carry forward to transfer transfer to Capital next year this results in an M GBL or general budget limit increase of 2,888 49 we know that this uh we know that our budget is made up of you know many different funds so the next uh the next slide will will show three other funds that we're using to fund our our full expenditure plan for this year sorry for next year so the trend of the of these funds is essentially the same over the last several years we've restricted the expenditure levels far below our outgoing or ongoing Revenue levels to build a budget Reserve to mitigate Financial Risk and uncertainty each of these funds have reached a point of sufficient reserve and we are planning to increase expenditures to match our expected Reven Vues the classroom site fund is based on a special state sales tax this fund is used for Teacher compensation we in this year with a reserve of nearly $6 million our available ongoing revenue is 2,684 1870 next uh next we have our Medicaid reimbursement fund meant to offset the cost of special education we're on track to end with a reserve of $6.5 million in these funds are ongoing are available ongoing Revenue is 950,000 and then the indirect cost fund comes from Grants to cover the district's indirect costs associated with writing tracking administering and Reporting the grants we expect the fund balance Reserve to re to reach $5 million at the end of the year our available ongoing revenue is $650,000 we're proposing these expend we're proposing expenditures in these funds to equal our ongoing revenues this will help fund our strategic plan and offset expenditures from M while maintaining these reses for future Financial stability all right now that we've built our budget limits we'll shift to uh the expenditure plan starting with some of the fixed costs um we experience inflation each year in Goods services and utilities we're assuming a 2.44% inflation and setting aside $353,000 we won't know our employee health insurance rate increase for a month or two but we know that health insurance gets more expensive each year we've built a 7% set aside in the budget projections on a similar note is our property Casualty Insurance we've built in a 5% inflation for for that category as mentioned the savings from the Arizona State retirement pension um contribution rate we've also added a contingency fund equal to 1% of the M General budget limit this is a set aside amount to handle unforeseen positions and needs that arise after the budget adoption to account to account for growth for new positions total fixed costs are just over 1.5 million um excuse me Mr Haron the 1% contingency fund is that a finance standard or where did we come up with a 1% yeah that's a that's a great question um typically we would use you know reserves or other um Carry you know our budget balance carry forward if we had some in m to account for anything that was kind of unplanned this is a good standard to set aside a contingency we we looked historically and every Year from July through junee of the of the the following year after we adopt a budget and kind of finish our expenditure plan needs arise the new IEP you know growth resulting in new teaching staff um there there's a number of of things that will happen so you see every every month uh every every board meeting there's there there's there tends to be a position that we're approving that's that's ongoing um this year in particular that we're in has been a pretty a larger than normal year having a a contingency fund like this set aside will allow us to have room for that in the budget and if it's if it goes unspent then it'll lead to carry forward that can be transferred to to capital projects um it's definitely a good practice and the percentage again that's the the 1% that's a standard or just based on what you've seen in years past no I I just I like to work in formulas that that have numbers and 1% is close to the level that we were shooting to set as thank you wish I had a better answer we're showing uh the total District cost for compensation increases to all staff at three four and 5% we built our budget plan around a 5% increase for all staff we participated in the salary study with 96 other Arizona school districts as a highlight of study our teacher base salary was in the top 10 um $738 above the study average we did have a few positions under the study average that we're planning for adjustments above the 5% here's a list of those positions the cost of this adjustment is a little over $107,000 Mr Harmon may I stop you there because I have several questions on this one um so I see that we ranked number 10 in our teacher base and I'm very proud of our district and the efforts that we've made for our teachers to to be the leader in the state really um on what we pay our teachers [Music] so where did we rank with our admin and our classify I can definitely send you that data okay and the and and I do have to acknowledge and thank you for the salary study especially for our classified um to really take a look at at what they're being paid at an hourly wage um and I do appreciate the efforts and I recognize it and thank you however y'all chuckle yall know y'all know what's coming don't you um so we want to be a gold standard district and and I think we we do a great job with our teacher compensation I think we're doing a great job with our admin although I still have some issu some uh statements I want to make about that but when we look at these positions a lot of these positions that we are that we under the study that we're bringing up which is great but they're not 12month positions when we look most of them aren't when we look at our salary schedule and our classifications for classified we have a lot of 12 month positions that are very low on that scale and we we have four e goals and one of those goals for our graduates is employment but we don't want them to come and work here because they wouldn't be able to afford an apartment A Car food utilities based on that I would like to challenge us to continue what we've been starting because it's awesome but I want just because a salary group study says okay we put this category of this employee at this are we look can we look at it differently and going okay these are our 12month positions do they have a living wage can they afford a living I there's a lot of single parents out there there's a lot of single income households out there there's a lot of just individuals that are just living by themselves and they can't live by themselves so I just I would like us to look when we're when we're planning our budgets and we're looking forward on how we become that gold standard District to maybe take a different approach and not just fall into the same just because that District ranked it this way that's how we're going to do it maybe we need to look at something different so that we really do prioritize our staff the ones that are working in classified that maybe just have a high school graduation or just some college or some trade knowledge that we're making sure that we're acknowledging that and compensating them so that's what thank you I will speak to the the study these are the groups that were that fell below the average um they were still and every one of them was in a different uh a different rank um which which reflects different adjustments um we are adjusting our overall classified salary schedule by half of our of our raise that's a good practice to increase the the base salary for incoming employees at at half of the the raise that we're giving to make sure that there's SE proper separation from a one year and a two-year employee so on top of those adjustments um this will also help us make up room in that study this is not a you know our five our goal to be in the top 5% is not something we're going to address this year all at once but over over multiple years this this positions us really well on that path Mr Haron I want to sort of piggyback on what BP CZ says if I recall correctly we did something similar last year where we give a percentage to the classified and additional money um to pick up on that theme I would like to think that i' like to see is that we're sort of going into these surveys later this year and it turns out that we're already above average I maybe we can't do anything this year but I would set that as a goal to look upon that if what we're doing next year let's see if we can see if we were at least at the average and not below average of the following year you get what I'm saying that's try and get ahead instead of playing catch up and I'm not saying we should be at the outage by the way we potency should be above it but but that's the same as we did with the teachers it took us I think it was six years to get to the point where we're in the for a period of time we're in the top five% instead now we're in the top 10% that's okay with me but that see can do the same with um these these classifications as well yeah absolutely and this study that we participated in is is the best study we've had certainly maybe evera um it's hard to get data or you know it's getting harder and harder where districts are putting their data on you know employ access only so um this study really helps us gain access to 96 of the largest districts and really see where we where we are in every employe was very useful thank you for your questions it's almost over here's the expenditure summary so starting with with the total of all the funds mentioned in the presentation with a budget amount of 7,17 $2,096 on the expenditures we have fixed costs $200,000 for the new employee wellness program our 5% compensation increase the additional adjustments for the salary study um for new positions we have three new teaching positions for growth District athletic director planning principal for the new school and the serrento development and that brings our current expenditure plan to 5,737 238 which just over 1.4 million remaining based on our remaining budget amount we're confident in our ability to give a 5% raise to our uh to employee compensation and handle the rest of our needs for growth in funding a strategic plan there any other questions I do have one other question but it wasn't as complicated as that so um you said you're going to go and take this to the employees in February is that to inform the employees or is that to gain their feedback um Mr Becket and I we did a similar um group of presentations to all the school sites a few years ago and and we'll have some new budget uh items some other there's a few things we're going to be talking about so inform and receive feedback will be um part of that that those presentations and will we be doing any type of community um engagement um for our community to come and see what we're doing for our budget and to have any feedback from them um we that's not something we've done in the past we can certainly look at that outside of the public hearing that we do in July which is a public side of the public hearing more of an informational kind of like what you're going to be doing with the employees um explaining where we're at what we've got planned getting their feedback so you're giving information and also getting information at the same time um because a lot of times you know we always hear from especially when it's time for overrides and and bonds you know what are you doing with the money well here's an opportunity you want to know what we're doing with the money come and find out yeah if that's if that's a direction the board wants to go I'm happy to work with Dr I I think I I don't I don't think it could hurt is what I'm saying I think um some people might want to come out or you know maybe it's one of those um things that we could record and people could watch it or something just so that they can have information I love a budget presentation I have a question about the wellness what what does that entail um it's so it's it's based around uh the employee our employee benefit package okay um so it'll be a combination of things we're still kind of working out what that what that is going to Encompass um part of it will will be we're looking at a number of of apps um that can be used to track Not Just Fitness but but mental health and um you know challenges to to um to really get people more aware of their their well-being education um so they can learn how to not just use their benefits but um give resources from everything from diet and exercise and the overall Benefit Plan okay um so yeah we have we have a lot of ideas okay and that is enough um the 200,000 that's like it's a stretch but I it's a it's a really good start starting point okay did that include like the biometric screening and the shack clinics and the other stuff that yeah because all of those things will be included okay let's say we have a point structure that will lead to incentives um the biometric screenings we do those anyway we do have plans to expand those um they usually do uh you know someone gets a new screening they they say oh do and we want we want to do more screenings we've done the Mr be in the skin IO skin cancer screening that was well received um we've got some good stories about that so we want to bring more cancer screenings um expand what we what we're doing all of that's within the envelope we work really closely with with chyos our our Benefit Partners to to to help us devise a plan figure out an Roi to see if this $200,000 is really doing what it's intended to do soing forward then question about the uh three teachers that are listed for growth do you know where out of the K through 12 schools uh those particular teachers would be allocated or roaming any idea question we are we've looked at Staffing at all of our schools it looks like at this point in time we may see a reduction at our high school levels uh so we we may be reducing some staff at that site but we're looking at I think total seven Elementary positions at different sites you could probably guess which sites will be the the hotpots uh again we're continuing to look there a very fluid process we're still early you see the house Toops probably going up one day to the next and so uh but again at this point of time we're looking just at a net gain of three Mr Department I I can't help but put on um my industry I mean I spent 20 years with Bombardier or Bombardier and honey will and I have no problem with a percentage increase across the board in principle but I would just say that my view is that we should do more in the way of bonuses um for example an a school that retains an a school that's good A B school that becomes an a school that's super good teachers that get certified that's good because our our goal here is the students and producing good students and it's not necessarily I mean it certainly it helps that we're in the top 10% I suspect at getting good applicants and teachers but I want to make sure that the schools in general are getting rewarded for the students that come out at the end of their 12 years 10 12 years going through our district so I just put that out there not that were just examples by the way um I want you to think about that because that would be something that I would look to see instead of just a flat increase across the board but try to do something with bonuses for the teachers and staff as well schools as well that as I say maintain or improve any other comments or questions from the board thank you Mr Harmon Lisa we don't have any call to the public so we can skip item six we I move on to item seven consent agenda so moved second Lisa we have a motion to Second Shante Rothchild I Ben Owens hi Carolyn Lopez hi Patty crae hi Robert Downey I so moved we I move on to item it action items specifically it a discussion and possible approval of the Personnel schedule Mr baket thank you president Downey company board members thank you for your taking a look at this Personnel schedule there are things in there that make awesome questions that I'll take your any questions you have at this point in time Mr Becket there was just um on the board docks there was two schedules I'm assuming they were both the same they they are the same like don't make me do double the work thank you good catch good catch just wanted to make sure I was reading the right one um if there's no questions I make a motion that we accept the HR schedule second Lisa we have a motion a second shant Rothchild hi Ben Owens hi carola Lopez hi Patty coutre hi Robert Downey I so moved we now move on to item it B discussion on possible approv of school year 2025 2026 Works Cal calendar Mr Bucket thank you president Dy as members of the governing board um this is a standard practice we do every year we bring these calendars to the board for approval these Encompass all of our employee groups these are pass contracts or work agreements that uh clearly specify the days they're expected to be here so again if you have questions I'd be happy to take at this point Mr beget I don't have a a question because I think I already know this but um our contract for last year and this year and going forward for next year we've um put all of those teacher prep days instruction days at the beginning we front loaded them um so that the teachers would have more time to get prepared for the school year um where three years ago I believe that we used to give the teachers one day extra um they would have an inservice like after our break so the students wouldn't return until Tuesday but the teachers would return on Monday um but last year well the beginning of this year we decided to frontload all those days and have you received good feedback from that and that's why we're continuing doing this practice thank you member krae I would say there's been some mixed reaction anytime there's change that's always a challenge uh there's some benefit to having some of those uh in service days during the course of the year but again the overwhelming uh feeling from the committee that worked on this was that we would have frontload us and that's the plan moving forward you just answered my question Mr Becket if there was uh a Comm a committee that helped to put this uh together so um were there uh any reclassifications or changes in the work schedule say a a group was last year on one schedule and moved to a different do you follow me I am thank you member Owens we have academic coaches we had a specific request from the beginning of the year that uh our sites needed more support at the beginning many of our academic coach were coming in off contract to help prepare and also finalize our school years and so we moved them from their 187 day contract to the same contract now that our Jet and esss toses have so it's 210 days so it's an additional support for the sites it's more money for those coaches as well we base that on a daily rate so it's a it's a great opportunity for our sites to be better prepared and also to finalize their years that is the only change T there's no other questions I'll motion second ladies we have a motion a second Shante Rothchild I Ben Owens hi Carolyn Lopez hi Patty crae hi Robert Downey I so moved and I move to it C discussion imp possible approve of the employee Compensation Plan for 2025 2026 school year Mr baget thank you president Downey members of the governing board you have our compensation plans outlined there in front of you I did put under the background section three of the plans that were our Focus that to make some slight changes to but I will take your questions at this point Mr Becket I'm gonna challenge you like I challenged Mr Harmon um so when we're looking at our our our placements and for example we'll start with the admin ative Compensation Plan and we have the various levels what is the Matrix that you are using to determine where that position Falls so I wouldn't say we have a matrix member betray but along with the 96 other schools districts that we're looking at one of them is also analyzing each one of those director level assistant superintendent coordinator level positions and seeing then how we rank in those situations um we are in competition with the Valley Schools we're also a large District so those school districts in particular are the ones that we're focused on whenever we post a position we want to make sure we're going to be competitive to get the best talent here uh for the district so we do have I would say standards other schools that we can measure ourselves against as we start putting together our schedules administrative compensation planning is a direct result of that analysis the I noticed that the newest position that we just added um at the last meeting the district ad was not listed on here um on the it' be compensation B level but and here and here was my thinking you know we have a lot of director positions and I don't know exactly what the what the Matrix of having the district ad position under level B um I look at the District athletic director being encompassing of all district of the entire District right they're responsible for the entire District but then we also have um a director of child um nutrition we have transportation we have facilities again that's a districtwide position at a director level so that's why I was asking what type of Matrix have we put together so that we know when we are creating these new positions you know maybe our our district I'm challenging you to create this Matrix so that when we are coming up with new positions or developing other roles um that it falls in an equal position so that you know when we're doing something new we're not pissing off somebody who's been at the district for six years but this other guy came in and he's like two levels above so um just I I would kind of like to know if that's something that is possible that we can work on obviously I don't to be done you know immediately but I I would like to see it because I think again that's going to help us be that gold standard District having a matrix that we that we know we can formulize because Mr Becket you're not always going to be here you've already told us that you're retiring you know you told us that yes so you know it's just it's it it's sustaining us for the future um and again when we look at our classified hourly as I mentioned earlier you know we don't have a matrix for that but some of these low level level like one through four those positions I can I that hourly wage I can see for nmon employees 10-month employees but we don't put our 12month employees at a higher rate and I think that should be part of a matrix when we're looking at our CL classified employees they're here 12 months out of the year so we don't want to tell them hey work for us but we know you're going to have to have a second job if you're going to be able to you know feed your family so I think that's something that again I would challenge youch you know um again I wantan I want to see us maybe have that Matrix and and put those 12month employees um because they're hard workers just because they they don't have a degree and they're not in the classroom doesn't mean they're not valuable our district does not work with all without having all three groups of of Staff it just doesn't work and each one of them are equally important and should be treated that way thank you thank you can I just I want to copy what she just said but I also think having a matrix when you whoever comes up and asks us for certain positions and you can base that on the Matrix that maybe there there wouldn't be such push back um not that we have a lot I'm just thinking bigger terms no that's not pointing at you but I agree because if if if you can base that hiring decision and their qualifications and skill level on a matrix that says this is the position and this is the pay rather than I mean so far since I've been on the board it really kind of just feels like oh we're going to make this position and this is what we're going to pay him and and we could say the rationale is well that's what this position's paid for but I don't see that I don't know that so I think that that's a really good idea I love that idea I love the Matrix for all positions that that don't have you know not teaching we know that we know what that skill level is I'm not aware of a a tool that does that specifically happy yeah be happy to do some research on that we're gonna we're pioneers of this we're gonna build our we're gonna go out there and do it copyright that's right you go off of it um Mr beg I do also want to acknowledge and thank you though for the fact that we are doing that two and a half% increase on that classified schedule I do appreciate you heard me um and you guys have really worked hard towards that and I do want to recognize that even though I'm challenging you to do more that's right so thank you you're welcome Mr Becket do we have um any instances where someone coming into the district at the same level as an existing employee would come in at a at a higher rate no that's our commitment to we preached that consistently all along we don't want somebody coming in any position having same experience uh same education and have less longevity getting more money that is not going to happen Okay and part of that is with the 5 per raise that we're giving across the board and that's why we can we can increase our teacher our starting teacher pay because even with that 5 % everybody's going to be above that so a first year teacher coming in is not going to make more than somebody who has been here we've not always had that there have been times we we've compressed that down to where it feels like that the employee who's been here for a couple years thinking the same thing somebody walking through the door yeah we need to move past that we made that Comm make a motion to approve uh if there's no other discussion I'll second Le we have a motion to Second T child hi Ben Owens hi Carolyn Lopez hi Patty coute hi Robert Downey I so moved I move on to item 8 D discussion of possible approval of the J contract and above the threshold purchase to Core Construction for portable classroom buildings at Santa Rosa Elementary School Mr Harmon thank thank you president Downey and members of the board we have an agenda item to approve the the J or job order contract to Core Construction for portable classroom building and which will be two classrooms at Santa Rosa Elementary the uh the proposal from core included two alternates one for a a used classroom building and one for a new the cost difference between the two in my opinion did not warrant a used building so we are going with alternate a I think the only other import is that they have uh built into this uh this proposal is a substantial completion date of May 30th and we're early enough in the process so we get a we get approval tonight we can get a PO tomorrow and the manufacturer of the of the building as long as they had the the purchase order by I believe it says February 10th they can honor their their deadlines so we're positioned well with approval tonight to make sure we have a building before the start of the next school year think any questions you may we oh sorry go ahead no can we get this done with City permitting and and all that stuff in the it is a when when you look at the at the whole time frame right so we're looking at five months it's a it's a pretty condensed time frame in in the whole grand scheme of it right um can we have have we done this in five months in the past um that's a great question I can't remember what our our total timeline was for the last project which was much more complicated it was four campuses um so being on one campus um starting this early the team wouldn't give me a a a date if they weren't confident um there is some wiggle room in this date we really don't need to have that building for a month after this this uh substantial completion so obviously there's things that come up um re you know reviews don't take place when they're supposed to take place we we do have great City Partners um we can call down there and and help you know Grease the gears if we need to we're confident that we'll get get done by uh by this dat gotcha I'm not saying that they're that the city's going to hold it up that that is not what I'm saying at all that's just a big component of what's what's going on obviously and then you know you said um or Dr Lin I think mentioned it in our last meeting as well that we need to have state um the state Housing Authority also uh there's permits at the state level as well yep so it's not we know we're using Core Construction for a reason they did a great job with the last portable project um Mike the site super he's fantastic with with communication he's very familiar with the city city permitting he's developed relationships there and so all of those will lead to a successful project good deal Mr Harmon we only are doing Portables at one school we're not doing Santa Cruz we're just doing Santa Rosa that is correct we believe we have a plan to address okay our needs at Santa Cruz Mr Herman should um that buildout time go beyond I think it was what you said May there would not be any disruption to any of the youth so there is placement for them currently if it extends it extends we just we really need the space before um teachers return so a May 30 even a June 30 is is a you know somewhere between the middle and end of June can also work before teachers return there's also I mean there's a reason that we want to hit this May 30th because you know we're having Furniture delivered to these classrooms we want to make sure that we have furniture you know staged in time so that's really the deadline that we're shc thank you any further questions not just how to hope core isn't listening to this meeting cor construction anyone that got an extra month oh I'm I'm very yeah we we had a very similar discussion I'm very transparent with him but but we mentioned the deadline that we that we desire motion if there's no further questions I'd like to motion to approve the portable ad sen I'll second Lisa we have a motion to Second shant Rothchild hi Ben Owens hi car Lopez hi P gay hi Robert Downey I so moved we now move on to item it e discussion of possible approval of the J contract and above threshold purchase to manth sports construction for Maricopa High School football field Turf replacement project Mr Harmon all right thanks president Downey and members of the board um work excited to bring this project to you our our turf field is um currently I believe it's about 12 years old um these fields are in this proposal we have an eight-year warranty on the seams anything beyond that is in Arizona with the you know temperatures in the sun they really start to degrade you know in year 10 year 12 um this H particular project will take place over spring break which is a tight window um but have it done before uh before graduation and we also rece to Discount doing an off seon the summer season is the busiest time so doing this over spring break was also advantageous so we're we're excited Mr harmit the one question I have is what is going to be the underlayment for this because right now we have we went the expensive route so it would keep it cooler um so what is the underlayment on this are we changing that out as well that is a great question I'm going to do my best to uh to to your question I'm so excited for this it's not even funny so the uh this we're doing a very like for like so there are options there's some some much more expensive options that were I think about a quarter of a million dollars more to do a different uh cushion the cushion would actually be under the turf and then they would have a much more uh temperature resistant uh topping we weren't going that route we we stayed with the light for like so the the uh the turf still sits on a regular base uh you know whatever base aggregate is down and the rubber fill which is the same thing that the NFL players use that's where the cushion comes from on top of that we are there is a $35,000 alternate add-on to add what's called a goo fill which will help drop the temperature you know as much as 30 or 40 degrees these fields do still need to be wet down before they're played on every day and have some some drying time this particular infill is different than the infill that was used previous it did what they called migration it wouldn't wouldn't last for very long we have to add it every year we will still have to top these things off every year to some degree but this geofill does not blow away it's a little bit denser and so um there's they have better results with this particular add-on So speaking with uh with M magnam and Mr Moody and our facilities and grounds crews that's the decision we made to go um with the standard like for like and this this geofill Aton so we're hoping that we get more playable hours especially in this the hot great Mr Harmon so in uh in the board packet it's um there's a picture of what the what the field looks like um it's a fantastic looking field um most of the fields that I've seen um do not have a logo this big on them this goes basically from the 10 yard line on one end to the 15 yard line on the other end uh it's a massive logo um is there any uh change in uh or cost savings um shrinking that down to most of them that I've seen are like the 40 to the 40 you know or something like that is there any uh any anything that that we could potentially save there um this particular system that we're going with the way that they build these these uh whatever these swaths of of turf um they they've eliminated the number of seams so they're usually you know 144 seams or something to that degree there's less than half of the seam so that's good on the failure side but it's also how they manufacture this Turf they can print a a dark logo like that Ram in the factory doesn't cost us any extra to have a large logo because they can they can build it into the design you want anything special like lettering um it is you know $2,000 a letter so we're getting the in zones and this big logo as part of the package without any additional cost for for logo design um which was a which was a big selling point really unique to the the designer of this particular so um the picture that I Shar with the board that was just a kind of a um sketch up that the that the the vendor did we'll be sitting down with with staff and kind of working out there might be other Rams that are in their Graphics package it might not be that exact Ram there's a lot of other striping and and things that will that will be added on we can add press line so press can't go beyond a certain line we can add you know things for like flag football or other sports that are just kind of in there so our ground sprw doesn't have to constantly be you know chalking things off so there's some really neat things we're going to do with this this yeah that's the one thing that when I noticed the because the soccer field lines um if they're not well defined it can be very difficult to play and so when you're bringing um and I'm assuming you'd have to do this pretty soon if this is going to be done during Spring Break um all the athletic coaches that utilize that field to get their feedback um yeah we'll be finalizing that you know those conversations and Mr Moody has already been working with with Mammoth the grp so we'll see approval well with that any other questions uh it mentioned above threshold amount so what was the reference how much above threshold was our our uh our policy requires anything over $100,000 to to come to the board for approval so that that threshold is $100,000 per purchase so you'll see that above the above threshold Fage a lot especially when we're doing a a job order contract like this thank you for the clarification any other questions or comments I like to motion that we approve this second Le have motion second shant Rothchild hi Ben Owens hi Carolyn Lopez hi pag treay hi Robert Downey I so moved and I move on to item nine adjourn motion to adjourn second Lisa we have a motion to Second sh rth child hi Ben Owens hi Carolyn Lopez hi Patty coutre hi Robert Downey I so move we are now adjourned thank you everyone

e good evening everybody it is January 22nd 2025 the Ashlin Public School strives to be a model District that creates a culture of inclusivity for our diverse students and staff who feel safe and supported are empowered with the academic and social emotional skills to pursue their chosen path and embrace their roles as positive contributors to local and Global communities this meeting is being recorded by waca cable TV our order of business this evening includes our call to order opening procedures agenda review and adoption we'll have time for public participation and we'll have Sarah Davidson from the preschool and the PBIS team at the preschool um competency determination regulations superintendent Adams and assistant superintendent Dr Kyra warrant approvals superintendence report assistant superintendent report and our action items discussion updates and votes this evening include five first reads of policies bdb school committee officers bdfa School councils e FD School nutrition program charge policy GBE Personnel use of Technology [Music] innd access to digital resources jnd DB use of technology and instruction and J JN DC acceptable use of digital resources our consent agenda includes the approval of gifts and donations Grant approval and the minutes from January AR 8th 2024 then we will have reports of school committee members and then I will move to enter into executive session under mgl chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union Personnel superintendent Jim Adams or to conduct collective bargaining with the intent of not returning to public session then we will adjourn so I will take attendance and ask if you all are okay with the order of business this evening Marcy he and yes Paul yes Mark yes yes for me and um Tina is absent this evening um I will then ask if there's anybody from the public either online or in the audience who would like to offer any comments tonight and seeing none um we are ready for you Sarah Davidson and team hello good thanks can we get your shirt always be kind a a awesome welcome everybody hello that is green yes there we go hello so at the preschool as um all the schools do in our district we have anal team previously um it was more devoted to PBIS but after a few years of kind of adopting multiple different things under seal we have um made it under anal umbrella but specific to PBIS which I feel like we do a lot of at preschool a lot with our theme be safe be kind really works out too with um our small kiddos it gives them kind of something to focus on um we have a mascot you will see later in one of the slides um so really going with that theme um next yep um if you want to press play these are just a couple wonderful friends saying our core values volum we did this the last time what was it g to be cute so so working to get preschoolers on camera um kind of depends how that works it's mine because I thank you want many keep going awesome um so those little guys were stating are two core values at preschool I know that they grow as schools go on of their core values but ours are be safe be kind and you'll see later kind of how that's um explained um can go back oh sorry um but what you will see is just an umbrella that kind of explains everything we have under seal so PBIS is still there we have some pieces of responsive classroom zones of Regulation um and thank you and pass our actual curriculum where all kind of have lessons and different ways to teach our small ones about social emotional learning how to regulate themselves how to um play with each other but specific to PBIS we it um PBIS stands for positive behavior interventions and supports so it's research based um in what we see from it through the research also that it kind of limits behavior um behavioral interruptions really increases instructional time um so it is something that is across the whole school it is for all students there are obviously different ways for kiddos need more that gets um specialized but this is kind of our overall um way to approach that and it's across all classrooms and all um common areas of the school too that's okay I don't mind talking through it if you want to um but some of this so that is um our lovely Mrs be there on the bottom kind of showing some of our um daily expectations where she is reviewing what our be safe beind rules and core values mean um so that is from our most recent b-day and it's really important we have that visual representation but it just this kind of just shows how we um work in the classroom and the common spaces so in our classrooms each one has a beehive it's kind of that top picture um where we're earning bees as a class either everyone did something great we're all working together or individuals are also doing great things are super kind to their friend they were safe and they're really getting recognized and we're putting those on throughout the day where they can earn something together as a group you know fun dance parties bubble parties things like that big screen movement breaks going to the gym extra recess um and then in our common spaces um they can have individual B stickers something they can kind of have and keep whereas in the classroom that's kind of working on it together out in the common spaces it's the B sticker they can keep or a be stamp we added a few years ago um so they can have that with them a little reminder it goes home sometimes they wash off so if they have the sticker can go home and they can talk to their parents they can ask them what they did it's a little hard for preschool to kind of relay what that was but they can kind of know oh they got kind of recognized for being safe or being kind um perfect and it's very um so what you're seeing on the side right now is our Matrix um so this is actually available to all of the staff and students to use throughout the school um and it's a way to kind of guide our teachers and staff their use of positive language so it gives us some examples of phrases to use um and we use the positive phrasing especially with our littlest Learners because it explains what we want them to do as opposed to telling them what not to do because if telling them what not to do they might not necessarily know an alternative so you know we're using language such as walking feet instead of stop running or we're saying maybe um quiet voice instead of stop talking so it gives them examples of exactly what we're expecting from them um and this is really important at the preschool because a lot of times our students are this is their first time in a school setting so they might not know some of these expectations or have heard some of this language before so it's really important for us to be using these um this language to teach them um so this is an just a close-up example of something you saw on a previous slide of our core value beehive so these are in all of our classrooms as you heard as well as our common spaces so they are in some of our therapy rooms our gym our hallways and they provide visual representation of our core values as well as some of our Behavior expectations so you can see like listening walking feet eyes watching um ways to be safe and be kind and these are really useful again for our students who are maybe learning language um and they have some of those visual supports to help them remember it's also a way for as you heard our teachers to review some of those expectations not just in the classroom but sometimes in the hallway if our friends need just a quick reminder we can point out to them you know oh our expectations are that we have a quiet voice in the hallway and so we can review some of those expectations using the visual instructions um and so we also have two days a year um which we call our PBIS B days so you'll see us now in our black and yellow and B themed clothing um we have some teachers who might wear some antenna or things like that um so these are the days that we designate as our B days and we also um reach out to families to let them know that students are also invited to wear B themed gear or black and yellow um and these are the days where we really focus on our PBIS initiative so we set the routines and expectations in September um and so we'll review what our core values are what the expectations are and then we'll do a reboot in January so we just did this a couple weeks ago and the teachers will reinforce all of those routines that they had been learning about and all of those expectations and retes needed and we typically do this with that first week back from our um December break it's a bit of an extended break for some of our friends so it's just a nice time to sort of reboot remind our students what the expectations are and just have fun we do some really fun activities on those days which you're going to hear about um At a next slide okay so this picture is a picture of our um BJ that we just had and this is bumbles he is our mascot for PBIS and um bumbles shows up every um time the students we have either um the first day in September or in January and the kids get greeted um in their arrival time and they get to you know shake hands and give a hug to to bumbles um so in this next um slide here are a bunch of the activities that we um did recently um the very top one if you look to um the left um left top Corner that is bingo with pictures of different ways to show being safe or being kind at school um another activity in the center in the top row was a b activity an arts and craft activity that the the students were making um and on that last picture in the top row um is another um is another activity with save the bees activity where students were kind and save the bees from being stuck in the Model Magic so that was um a fun activity for them to find motor skills as well and then in the bottom um left corner um that was a kind theme coloring sheet that that student was completing and then in the middle um there's the students showing us their completed B crafts that they had made very proud that day um and on the very last picture is a student receiving their B certificate so the students um will also receive a certificate um every student that day um showing if they've been um kind or safe um I can enjoy it a little bit but um so as mentioned before during bday the student no running in the classro that's one of our Little Learners um giving an example of how to be safe in school and like mentioned before the students on the B days the students get little certificates either be safe or be kind or both certificates so on those days we as teachers are kind of more more intentional on finding something that that each student in the classroom does that we kind of the behaviors that we're looking for so often they'll get like one B every couple days here everybody will get a certificate and here next you're going to see a couple more students that are explaining how they got their be certificates help the so that's our that's our youngest Learners kind of from the mouth of babes exping it better than we could um as you can see here T um us dressed here and in our picture that was the morning of our most recent bday so we have signs welcoming students kind of showing being safe being kind um just different posters made by teachers and staff bumbles is there um so um you know antenna black yellow it really helps the kiddos really kind of you know not that they need it because there's a mascot and they're excited but to kind of Buy in they're kind of buying into everything they're excited about life at this age which is amazing um but so that is our most recent one um and any questions for us any answers what bumbles oh it varies sometimes you kind of have to you know keep it quiet so they don't recognize the voice might be P trying to out our bumbles no it berries fumbles is bumbles yeah yeah bumbles is bumbles but there are questions from kind of you know the older crew right do I know you yes oh very cute it's nice to see them like making all the connections between their behavior and your system that you have so and it all works like all four of my kids went to paway and I'm a huge paway like parent like I love it and I used all those visuals with my children yeah so I still have them I still have them laminated in a folder at home I'm not kidding and I them parents they work so I just it's so wonderful to see it still going transition easy they love being reinforced they love being kind of able to shine being recognize so even just little simple moments of in the hallway oh waa that was super safe they kind of sit up straighter and they kind of have their moment or as a group they get to kind of earn as a whole group which they enjoy too because then they get something super awesome super fun to do yeah that's like a Common Language understand it's great anybody else thank you thank you all right next up competency determination regulations sure plug this in because we go back and have them do their thing again exactly might need them to give me some positive it's kind of like a weekly theme like what a bummer the first topic is after our determination yeah thanks ladies right uh so we have Miss St CER here as well just to have a conversation it we're not looking for any um votes or anything that tonight it's really about providing uh an update to the school committee on where we stand on uh what the company determination means at the state level after the ballot to um the mcast ballot uh was passed uh in in November and um we had a recent presentation from Rob curtain uh from the Department of Ed back in December uh and yesterday Mike and I attended our our Tri County Superintendent meeting with probably 40 superintendents there yesterday to really focus on this topic and what people are doing around the state and what does that really mean for us and what is um I'm going shorten everything now to CD because sometimes the word competency gets me like some other words I have in my my vocabulary um so the CD is is what we're going to be talking about and what I think is important before we begin the slideshow is that in Massachusetts um before and even after uh in order to receive a diploma uh to graduate from from high school in the state of Massachusetts we in public school system you have your local graduation requirements and then you have what the state has deemed as a compens determination a CD in years past that CD was passing of the mcast okay so both of those go hand inand in order for someone to receive a diploma when the ballot passed in November it did not get rid of the CD it just said the mcast is no longer the CD so we've got to be careful in terms of that conversation and that's what I'm trying to clarify tonight so when folks are listening listening to this or reviewing it uh they'll understand so first slide again here was the proposed language um I don't want to you know read the whole thing but basically they were saying you need to complete coursework certified by the district that demonstrates Mastery of the topics covered under the mcast from 2023 so the freshman and sophomore English Math and Science Frameworks that's really what the language said uh in terms of the change in the law so you can see that here so this is the actual ballot that was provided they got rid of as measured by the assessment instruments described in section one which was but remember the assessment was the mcast that was the instrument to change the language to by satisfactory satisfactorily completing coursework has been certified by the students District as shown Mastery of the skills competencies and knowledge contained in the State academic standards and curriculum Frameworks in the areas measured by mcast high school test described in section one uh administered in 2023 so that relates to math science technology history and social science foreign language and English um there's a knowledge base that kids must have so it didn't get rid of the CD it just said the mcast is no longer the CD okay is that good frame for for folks here yeah and can I just ask maybe you're going to get to this y um one of the questions that we talked a little bit about last time and I think has been point of discussion is whether or not the MS can at the local level be chosen to the CD the answer is no but it can be chosen to be part of the um requirements of a diploma but it can't be the CD it can C CD is state level assessment or however they determine and we'll get to that in a second but the the mcast can and some districts are choosing to add the mcast into their graduation requirements and we'll get to what our requirements are um as stated currently in the in the hand but if if a district I'm not trying to indicate what I have no idea what what we're going to but y um nor do we so if if um the mcast were given any weight it would be part of the local graduation requirements but would not satisfy the requ for the competency determination that is 100% correct so the challenge that we have in front of us is determining what's going to satisfy the competency determination correct and that's and and we can end the conversation right there because that's really what the slide shows about you just solved it for I want to go back to bumbles right so so what's important to understand is really um we're in a scenario and this was really the major topic of conversation yesterday in the Tri County Superintendent group was what what do we do as as districts right we have this short-term issue which are the is the class of 2025 right what do we do with those kids who if they've already passed the mcast their CD is done but if they haven't you can't they can't and they haven't passed the retest you can't use you have to come up with a CD you don't need um you can't continue to retest so Kelly will tell you that we're they had their one opportunity and that's it then there's a medium term who are the students are currently in high school what about next year the students who are sophomores Juniors who have to take and sign up for classes currently to ensure that they're meeting whatever requirements we set for and just be we meaning the state we meaning combination of state and locally well but the Crux of really the state because if they get off there the CD needs to be determined by the state no well we can determine the local CD Now on our own but eventually the state is going to weigh in and say the courses that you might choose to meet the CD are not certified and do not count I'm going to get to that in a second but they but they determine whether we we can say hey these meet the thing the the this this meets what the what what should should qualify as determination and that might pass initially but after their review they could say no that's correct but it's the it's the state CD that we're trying to that we're trying to meet fulfill 100% by we're trying to fulfill the law based on how the state is interpreting okay so go ahead mer sorry that's okay um class of 2026 some of them already took the mcast so that does not fall into bucket that is correct right or it does huh so that if they took the mcast Y the 2026 as far as I'm reading what the department of Ed said does not count towards CD the CD only class of 25 it ends with the class of 25 okay however we are required by law to continue to take the mcast because of the federal funding that comes flows through the state we have to have an assessment so then there's the long-term right so there's three three buckets that we've got to start thinking about so what we talked about yesterday at the Tri County was everyone stop basically and just focus on this year just focus on 2025 and then let the department of Ed or the um you know work through it or the Board of Education work through language to tell us what they're going to accept as the CD moving forward what we learned yesterday as well and with Governor Healey's um you know opening remarks on the new year is that um she's creating a task force to determine what to do next now from what we heard today Mike and I met with um Senator spilka's office today uh they're not going to have anything ready for 20 until 2027 so we're still waiting for guidance and and we'll get further along there so so again shortterm class of 25 that's what we're going to focus on as an admin team in the high school right um examples of top topics covered in the in the FAQ I shared the FAQ with you it's online I linked it here there are some things that are important about the mcast one I think it's important to understand it still has to occur two the Adams and copx scholarships for local for state universities and colleges right those are impactful meaning if you have certain scores there's tuition um that you can get as scholarships and our by SE by literacy students have to pass mcast for that component which also has an impact on our students as they go into college um so we have to think about that we have to think about the students who have graduated previously who have who had met all of the graduation requirements but didn't necessarily meet the CD which is passing the mcast so we're looking back to see I don't know we don't have many students but we we've got to look back through those transcripts and see who didn't graduate who did not get a diploma because of the mcast requirement only how far back do you if you were talking to attorneys they would say go back I think I think it was five six years anyway but we don't have many either way it's an interesting thing to have to go back for that yeah but to Marcy's point if you took the MCAT when this was was the sophomores it's like yeah it's kind of it's kind of like hey I filed my building permit and the code was this and you changed it out from underneath which is illegal to do you can't do that but in this case they are changing it out from underneath right the children sure but then you have to go back for the other people who it doesn't make any sense at all doesn't and again this slide deck was um you know presented to us from the Department of Ed and I'm just sharing the medium term so the current high school students not the graduates of 2025 desie has to provide oversight to us and they have to give us Direction they're not right and the Board of Ed also has to propose areas that we have to look at similarly longterm what are the recommendations for state are they going to say to us every District in the Commonwealth must have this as the graduation requirement so the majority of districts you'll notice for local have adopted the common the mass core right the the four English three Mass two World Language all of those things um and we'll show ours in a moment that's what most high schools have done in districts however the CD was the mcap and it was interesting um Dennis jetti from Senator spook's office said to me today what what do you think is the best thing what best approach is there having a Statewide say you know assessment again uh that's consistent across all districts or to in ask all districts to have the mass core as the requirement therefore passing all those subject areas um it's a mess in other words and the Challen challenge of that is consistency how much fality can it be done with across those districts and that's where the test that's right helped with that normalization and what does that mean in terms of our L students our special education students Etc there are so many factors to this that those who were gung-ho to get of the mcast and the language that was presented were very shortsighted oh yeah um in my opinion and that's only Jim Adams's opinion not the opinion of the astr school committee I just want to put that on record yeah so so what does it mean to graduate from you know ashon public schools graduation policy what have we said in our policy and do we need to be thinking about changing our policy or or procedurally right now so that's the other question that we we we talked about yesterday so let me just narrow this down for you what's in yellow it's hard to read but it's in yellow the and complied with all state accountability requirements that's the mcast we did not identify the mcast we just said state requirements so for us all we have to do is identify what those requirements are in our mind and and what we approve as courses that are um or Kelly looks at and says they're equivalent to freshman English sophomore English Frameworks so if we have English language learner students who are not taking freshman English but they're taking um a beginner English you know language class do those Frameworks that we're teaching match up with some of the Frameworks of the English n English 10 right and if they do we're comfortable saying that they make the the the intent of the law change which is the Frameworks of English for grades nine and 10 we have older students who are coming great transfer students as well right we we talked about our graduation requirement here how we're very specific in English which we might want to change it says you have to have one course passing course one credit of American literature the mass core does not state that it says four credits in English like we're very specific so we have to go back and look at our our requirements for the diploma the graduation are not only are are our students meeting this but also the CD remember some folks in years past have met the CD they've passed the mcast but they don't graduate because they haven't met this policy right so they're they go hand in hand you have to do both to get a diploma from the as public schools and I just ask sure if premature to the discussion the whole if you want to table that's fine but um I look at using that example literature yeah you know what's the history behind why we did that is the same true social studies with specifics yeah so we've been here 16 Kelly's been here 20 we don't know knows oh so yeah so we we actually the three of us met this morning and we said huh we need to go back and look at right that Mak sense the historical cont of this like we shouldn't be that specific in my mind but we I think to me you may be right me it just should be conscious decision to we're just doing it because we always did it right right yeah it's got to make sense to somebody and I wouldn't be in favor of removing it if we found out what the reason was just just because sure because ours is more specific ours can be more specific because it's going to but your point why we we need to be able I don't know if we can ever find out the why hey your kid people aren't there anymore right you're not going to graduate with a diploma unless you pass this right but they that's that's what's holding them up and we need to be able to justify that right so the point is here right we may have kids coming from transfer student again I think we've got to be thoughtful we have transfer students who come from out of state right and world history early American history are not part of their curricula that they've been you know but yet they're a senior and they've had passing grades and all their other we're going to hold kids back and not graduate them because they've got to meet very specific requirements right and and that's I I struggle with that a little bit and and again I think language can be in we've had this conversation I know where you're going with this and I agree with you it's Andor at the discretion of the high school principle of of course equivalent to right something of that nature because day this yeah this should sculpt an ashin student that spent the four years us agreed and we can and we can then have language in there that helps us accommodate the exceptions but we shouldn't uh you know then say this isn't now what we want out of a four-year student in Ashlin because of an exception so so I would look at it from that definitely that lens yeah and want to keep the things we find valuable um and be specific where it makes sense right we may have some history the only like forer might be able to help us with that or Patty um it's not to me history is only helpful in so much as it might help us understand the intent of well that's what I mean right but but if we all look at this now and say you know what having history having wor in world history and having a deeper knowledge of American history and having we might said that's okay no but I don't think we have to understand why somebody did it to begin with I was curious right for me I think I mean one could argue I think a Civics course you know I I mean it's you know could meet that requirement of a credit I look at this as an opportunity to revisit it make sure we're doing everything with intention Y and get the get the history so that we're not going to just throw something out because we're not thinking the same way you know thinking of it and we're not looking I'll be clear we are not looking to change this policy at this point in time we are not we we are looking to eventually come and say we have to adjust the student handbook or the program of studies to for the CD component that's what we're going to be coming to the school committee with currently this is just an example why why I like to refer to things in general yeah yeah exactly if this had mcast we'd have to actually have to if if the CD requirement changes Jim and determines that some of these things are going to fulfill that would that affect changing the policy no okay no yeah it's just it's inclusive of it it's fine okay so is it it's one of the things that's on the table for discussion allowing for our graduation requirements to satisfy the competency determination say that again I'm sorry I was worried about that screen people is is it permissible to consider that meeting the graduation requirements also satisfies the competency they have to be separate they're they're separate but they can be they overlap they can overlap for sure right we can I and I'll give you a couple examples of that because I think it's important to to delineate that for and that's what some ders are doing ex they're they're trying to they're be very and they have some of them gone way too the most recent ones again that we we received over the last couple days um are much um I would be much more inclined to propose on their language versus the ones that first came out so um so what are yeah what are our next steps right what what are we coming to you for in the next um probably in the next meeting or two um review the graduation policy do we adjust or leave alone for the 2025 students so meaning the policy you just saw do we just leave it alone th those are the graduation requirements in terms of the courses that are being required for the as public schools I would say yes right what would be the reason to change the only thing you could do is in future years some folks again are putting the mcast in as a graduation requirement we're not there yet we're not looking at that we're just saying we have to look at the policy it did not include mcast some districts wrote specifically in their policy that they had to pass the mcast so for me unless we were somehow just hanging our hat that we don't need to address something in our policy because it's addressed by the state CD that would be the only time where I would say hey let's make sure we address something in the shorter term but I don't think that's the case right it's not Paul you're right yeah so so second thing you know make recommending changes to meet the CD right so but that means the program studies in the handbook we have to adjust those for the class of 2020 or for the school year 24 25 because it's specific specifically we should let folks know and that's what the department of Eda said you need to let folks know what the CD is going to be right right and then so it's clear so it's clear so you but you vote on the handbook right so this is part of the hand and so just to understand the the process from their perspective they don't have the time or capacity to really certify this year this year so they're providing more discretion for us to determine that right I would say yes but subsequent years years they will you'll because I mean and the reason for this is you have a lot of differents that would be like oh look at our graduation rates now because right uh so that happened during mcast or during Co we were actually going back and forth and we haven't found it I haven't been able to find it uh what courses they said were certified and what were not in terms of leading towards graduation um so so they do have a process there's a lot of again I get into the politics but there's a lot going on at um the department of they do not desie does in the process of hiring a commissioner that being said we don't know where that new commissioner might come on and say this is what we're looking to do um that's important I think it's important to understand that there's legislative um action that could be taken on the Pol the actual law and what does that look like um but I don't think any of this is going to come to fruition until 26 do they have any guidance on once you come up with a local competency determination where they want us no so should it be in the policy yeah it should be in the handbook the it should be in the handbook and distributed to families immediately okay yes yeah yeah Paul so we talked about yesterday the big p versus the small P right ver policy is the big p and the St from the school committee procedurally you know what it looks like at the at the at the school school lens right so so are but who are they looking to prove that competency determination right now it's the school committee approves what the CD will look like under the um from the recommendations of really the principal who has the authority to review classes see if they're equivalent to and and and the reason I asked is is policies are our documents correct right y um so if we're involved in that decision we have to obviously take a vote and as long as that's going to suffice for an update to a handbook the answer yes but we won't do that until they're ready to come forward with Rec I'm procedurally like you know hey if we have to prove that we did it it'll just be it'll be in the minutes it be minutes and some so I'll give you some examples of that too right in a moment because there are some who are looking to change immediately ikf the graduation policy and some are just looking to change the handbook and procedures within the handbook for what CD means but the state has provided guidance that the handbook is sufficient sufficient right they're they're actually taking their hands off from most of it right now they're pretty upset yeah um let's say are they taking their hands off or washing their hands I think both Mark it's a good question um so one of the next steps is and we've already done it identifying impacted students um and you know we Kelly we're having this conversation today what we have five students five students who who are are are being impacted by this but we have three students who were negatively impacted because immediately because in the retest they would have passed it under the partially meeting expect like they have different levels right in the um education plan that they could we could have written doesn't exist now so those and so Kelly called today the department said well sorry while they may have that that number it doesn't work anymore because you can't do an EP they don't exist just ludicrous but that's the way it is that's that's that's the challenge with only pushing a very small Narrative of what the process actually was yeah so here are some examples and I've shared them all with you I I think um you can get really into the weeds of these um here's a simple one uh complete two of The Three core science classes with a passing grade complete n9th and 10th grade math with a pass grade what does that mean what is nth and 10th grade math well what we know the state is saying is there needs to be Frameworks of Algebra 1 and geometry those are typically freshman and sophomore math classes um similarly with English there's most people call it English n or English 10 or whatever it is the framework's there so it's it's matching up and Kelly's having staff looking at the Frameworks so some of our students who might be Kell you can probably come to the podium and talk about specific classes that we might have um for remediation Andor um pullouts for students or yell students that aren't necessarily called English n or 10 or math algebra one or two like integrated math for instance right right integrated math one and two uh covers the concepts of Algebra 1 and geometry um we've integrated three as well that um I think goes maybe deeper into some of those courses and gets into a little bit of Algebra 2 um you know I'm thinking about some of our El classes um those students they're taking their English with the El teachers um but they're certainly working on um math Frameworks um and we have three different levels there beginner Advanced beginner and intermediate and and what you'll know is again I I want to be clear no matter what we determine like if Kelly is saying these classes meet the the intent of the law change right the scope of it with the Frameworks that's just one part of it right they still have to meet our graduation requirements in addition to that CD component I think that's what um that's why I tried to highlight at the beginning it's both of these equals the diploma it's not one um but it's both of them um so here look at Blue Hills they're very specific English n English 10 but you get into there was one um in Barnstable uh which I I didn't share here but they actually outlined the courses that are not eligible in their mind and and a lot of them related to special education courses as well as English language learner courses which was ludicrous but that's how they're focusing that's their problem that just doesn't make any sense from well anyway you can look at it here's what not to so so here's here's one again these are s that folks are looking at uh one I find actually very useful to us this is Newton um who have said basically we're just focusing on um you know the 2025 right now um and then we'll let things play out um students who have not yet taken specific mcast there are three categories uh local certification will be determined by satisfactory completed coursework that has been certified by the students District that's us I showing Mastery of the skills comp competencies and knowledge contained in the State academic standards and Frameworks right so we we can do a crosswalk of the courses that Kelly thinks um are appropriate for all of our students and say okay yeah we think they meet the the high standard of learning uh you know based on the Frameworks can I back up from the weeds that we're in just a little bit we're weedy right now we we are weedy I know we need to be weedy yeah um that's um but when I mean when I think about this whole thing feel like we have to be into the weeds I think what's probably most said make sure kids who graduate have earned itre right like however you measure that whatever stand it's meaningful right it it it means something to achieve it right but it's also Equity right so that we have students have either challenges or that come from different backgrounds or different places think that they're not un we're looking to graduate people we're not looking to not graduate correct and and so I guess my question all three of you is you know at the end of the day do you have any concerns about this change with respecting the changing expecting I understand logistically right in the sense that have pass test that but really are we lowering stand that's the when we get past sort of the weeds what we have to do thatass also want to sure that is oh we don't do that it's not important students and their education learning like to he yeah you love it go ahead call we're all on the same page for the most well I just think you know historically students that aren't earning the diploma it from here in Ashen High School it has been students that have failed a class and not met the graduation requirement as opposed to most of our students pass mcast um which to me says the classes when whether it's English 10 or uh El Advanced is they're getting the content um that they need um yeah that we have not had students that are not walking that stage because of mcass so I have a similar question in in a little bit different way the our graduation requirement is vague in somewhere right say number of math credits it didn't say that that math credit that's right right so a student might have said okay I struggled there I didn't pass it but I I got some support I passed the mcal oh crap now I can't graduate if competency determination is now that specific class that they didn't go back and retake so my concern is for those kids that are in that Quagmire that you know how are we going to identify support those kids who now need to pass a course they can't they can't take something that shows that they have those skills anymore that's a few hours at of time it's a course so so that that's hugely impactful if anyone Falls and I don't know if anybody will but I'm more concerned that the goal post was back there you're ped it now we've changed it and what does that what does that do for those any if there's any students that are in that situ I don't even know if there's any students in that situation but this kind of Quagmire leaves that as a possibility and how do we help those kids that they're gonna have to stick around in in school for another whole semester what or whatever that the term of that course is just to do something that they could have shown competency in in a few hours right and I don't know if how many would ever fall into that category but we're because we're changing and we're gonna now say a specific course that was a year and a half ago for a student or however long and now they might need to change their schedule or take something and lose out on on something they're take they should be taking their senior year yeah just so that so Paul your point too I think that's why I look at I look at the Newton language to a certain extent where it just says like math credits earned in the equivalent of at least two years of high school math not being being specific as to what the class is but saying listen you know we don't identify Algebra 1 two geometry trig whatever as a requirement and that's why sometimes I question the English and the social studies right in terms of right why there specific classes but not math yeah um so the the CD is basically just saying okay you've passed what Kelly has deemed to be appropriate in the math department is be deemed appropriate meeting Frameworks okay that's fine we're we don't need to be specific I guess even that if if they're giving us latitude right we're GNA take it use the latitude because even if you say right that meet that framework well if that if that 10th grade course is the only thing that me that framework then you're still in that same boat they have to go back to that one at least until we get the kids that are potentially in this you know this spot right right once we then the next year next year now we'll we'll be able to ident identify that CD and we're getting the kids as they go through they'll know they need to pass that and they know they need to do whatever the case is um and I mean I guess that's a general concern I have with this shortsighted ballot question too now we're putting a lot we're going to be putting a lot on that conversation with teachers the kids that are right on the edge of these that we're not going to how do you okay you missed it by this much sorry it's passing the course retake this entire thing as opposed to get some supports show competency if it's something that's that's going to really I think be impactful to students that are right on the edge there they're gonna have to retake a course as opposed to get supports and show competency in something that doesn't take an entire semester Jim is there going to be um like bri in suggestions from school districts to the governor kind of task force St we don't know so when we met with when we met today with um sen Senator sp's office we we have a meeting with her on the 12th of February superintendent from this area in her districts and Dennis was bet was saying this is Hot Topic obviously he said we haven't heard if any superintendant are part of the task force so the task force is just being mentioned and what 31 folks 31 areas section of that it sounds like she's the governor is trying to pull together but as of yesterday Mary Burke who is our Mass ex executive now the the director um was notified that she was going to make this announcement but we haven't been told um Armen fires is our president he hasn't no one's been told that this superintendent will even have a voice at the table which is amazing to me right I mean I would think if you're in start of task force you might want to say hey the people who are in the trenches need to be having these conversations they it may happen sounds like sounds like they haven't even identified the makeup of the Heen but that but that's typical right it's typical just throw it out there we're going to do this and in 27 you'll have an answer well it needs to happen now yeah and it needs to happen more quickly uh to get that through so again I just share with you some things that are you know interesting to me the Lincoln Sudbury one just came out um you know they just talk about English n or equivalent right so so we have flexibility latitude if you will any upper class literature elective or special ed equivalent at the CP level algebra one and geometry you know again they're being specific Earth Science Biology again um I love how they ended their we will wait for the guidance from desie prior to determine ls's comp determination requirements for the class of 26 and Beyond we're focused on 25 and then you need to give us some guidance as to what this is going to look like which I think makes total sense um so what we're going to do uh clearly um is and that was the last slide I guess um was to come back here with our recommendation for the change in what the CD looks like um because it can't be the M right uh and it is impactful to five kids and we want to make sure that you know Kelly's doing doing her due diligence with the classes that they're taking to ensure that the CD has value as it as it relates to the diploma right because I want to be clear again the diploma we have specific requirements that again if transfer students Kelly's got the ability to wave certain classes based on transcript reviews because they may not offer certain courses in the districts that they've been or we have a student who's been with us for two years from another country who took English at her High School in you know Guatemala so so we want to make sure that she's got Kelly's got the ability with her team to review it and approve it that's my most important yeah and so kind of to that and we we mentioned a little bit we met policy yeah um in that front as you go through that if we want to provide that discretion because you you know as you get into the weeds of figuring that uh you know it may make sense for us to look at a minor modification in our policy to provide that discretion to Kelly which it's one of those things to back it up and give that weight because essentially you're only provided the The Authority you're given right you have to be you know so if if that if that ends up being the case that we need uh some flexibility there that might be a minor modification of our policy that we would want to do um to ensure that whatever is done you know can't be questioned that's right Kelly Mike anything to add with regard to the conversations that we've had just regarding CD and I mean Kelly I think it's important to to weigh in on your principles groups um I I think we're all in the same boat but I I don't think there's anything that I'm going to say super LEL everyone you know being kind of in a different place and just trying to figure out the best way to make sure um kids who deserve to earn a diploma do that's the goal ask one tangentially related point that is think far less urgent than this with elimination of competence do we have any concerns about the level of attention or Focus giving test impact and we use that for assessments right we use that to all sorts of data and like you know it's have a that's my biggest concern in this whole personally I I I have a tremendous amount of concern about it the the fact that I've spoken with students who are who are sophomores who feel like it doesn't matter anymore um but obviously there are a lot of things that still matter right first of all we pointed out the the importance of students who could be eligible for those scholarships right right we also talked about um the fact that uh anybody who is getting their seal of by literacy that that those things still matter from my lens accountability we're still we are still going to be for a lack of a better term judged on the success or the struggles of our students who are taking the mcast that accountability piece is not going away so yeah it's a it's a major concern from my lens and I think from some of the Educators as well I mean if if we are if our students are not taking it seriously you know what what happens well I guess a question is does there anything that includes teachers from making the mcast part of the grade for class in the year they're taking it so could you for instance because you take Ela every year so could you make an mcast gr but even like the IR diagnos I'm just trying to think of like you know you take Diagnostics as you go just I just didn't know if there was something yeah so I hear that I think one of the reasons that that we appreciate the assessment measures is it is it allows us to learn about how our students are making growth because it it measures the growth from year to year and it allows us to see how we're doing as as a district and where to focus right you're teaching and and really be able to dig down deep into the data and the data analysis of it all to see you know are there certain Frameworks that we're just not hitting we're missing the mark in certain areas as a district and less about how a certain individual is doing that's that's what I'm concerned about is that we might not anymore get the real important information that it provides to us to make us a a better District in terms of the education that we're providing for our students I would you know obviously Mark brings up the point you you wouldn't be able to use it as a grade because we don't even get the results until later you and I don't want to get into the weeds of saying that's what we would want to do because it's utilized for from My Lens it's utilized for a different purpose which is that formative assessment piece to understand how we can better serve our students yeah that's my biggest concern is see my kids doesn't matter like it's a free day at school like check check circle circle and whatever and be done with it click and and then when something comes out of it teacher were to look at that and struggling with it see this is what we should do may not match or it's just hard to take seriously as an assessment to if everybody's s because they're not to be concern I don't have any answers to that yeah I mean because part of it also is kind of touched on the false narrative that they teaching to the test well the test is supposed to test on the Frameworks you're supposed to be test teaching the Frameworks so whole false narrative is part of that that problem right it's like you're not teaching to the test you're teaching to the Frameworks which the test is designed to evaluate you on so uh so it's kind of just and the competency determination is based on having a show showing competency in the in the Frameworks that were that are tested by by the right so yeah it and but that false leads them to say oh you know because it's unrelated to anything else in their mind they were teaching to the test but no you you know so it's yeah just problematic all around got some work ahead of you yeah no I no I don't know if I mean I think we feel good about 2025 I really do I think we we feel good that that how the language can be I don't say for a lack of better term generic right but interpreted so we can we can make sure that the courses that we're identifying and we're going through them and we looked up a couple kids today and just said okay they would meet the requirements so and they passed it except the EP doesn't exist anymore right I mean that's that that's what bothers me it goes both ways with these tests we also have kids who haven't met right but we know have passed the classes that would be required right I guess I I big picture I'd like to be able to see this is an opportunity to do something better and more meaningful but I still want the value of thec as tool for assessment both for us as a district benefit [Music] of somebody says hey I got an idea let's put this on the ballot you know and everybody well that sounds good I think they think that's dumb and they don't think about it shouldn't be legislating by by like um don't so any further discussion on that no just let us know like I said it'll be in the next meeting if we if we need to do anything even like to provide the discretion needed just there's a couple different tracks one is like what are we going to do opportunity to graduate and then there's bigger philosophical discussion what are we teaching how are we teaching how are we understandings are I do fully understand like you're only testing what you're supposed to be teaching anyway but on the other extreme you know if if the teaching went too far into how to pass just this one little way of assessing it but there are other ways to creatively teach things that might appeal to other kids that weren't as successful in this one I mean we could go down a whole rabbit hole but I I just want to be the voice we Haven no I know but but I but I we really didn't go down that that other side of it yet but I I do want to be the voice for like what if yes this was um Hasty and nobody was prepared and all of that but is there a world where at the other end of all this better right yeah that's what I said like an opportunity it should be an opportunity I I don't disagree with you on that yeah if if if only there they they would have changed it when they looked at it after the ballot to say at time equals X in the future I disagree with how it all went down so so we could thoughtfully do something and not leave everybody in alert and not affect kids I mean this is all you know yeah it's a pain in the butt for the people sitting here but it's going to impact kids right this wasn't the way to go about it it's impacting the kids that they're supposedly were trying to you know champion and Mark that was brought up yesterday about Equity too I mean that I think that's the lens even today um Dennis J and bet talked a lot about that Karen's going to want to hear is how whatever we do whatever state state does how is how will it positively or negatively impact the equity of opportunities for kids right let us know if there's any way we can Advocate to get the superintendent on the task I'm sure there's got be I think Mark and Paul were right they probably just haven't it's just you said this is what we're going to do right I'm sure the mass is very much to of right they've got their lawyers and spokes people yeah so without a doubt y so okay yeah thanks Kell thank you Kelly thank you Kelly always Paul do you have any War approval yes uh between January 12 excuse me 2025 and January 22nd 2025 iul Kendall authorized by my signature payables the amount of 447 this includes general fund expenses of 26,631 revolving expenses of $265,250 51 and Grant expenses of uh $465 thank you you have any I I do again I think there are a couple things I just want to mention one um you know Mike and I have met with uh today we met with um two members of Senator spoka staff um they routinely come over and just have conversations about what what are Hot Topics uh and a list of the Hot Topics that we had today uh one is uh Chris myself and Mike sat in yesterday on an msba um webinar for a couple hours hour and a half on us um submitting a SOI uh which you know is one of the things that I've been working on uh and looking at a statement of interest for hitway and Warren and what that entails um because the some of the the process has actually changed since um we um submitted was it eight nine years ago now 2017 uh for mes um but I still have to go before the select board as well as the school committee to get approval to submit an SOI um because what that would entail is potentially having if accepted it would be uh the feasibility study which is what you remember um we had to fund locally for that um so that is my intention is to get to them before the middle of March because it's du in April I'm working on it now and we'll have that hopefully ready to go so we we we mentioned that to the senator sp's office we talked about Chapter 70 and the continued funding and ensuring that uh if you are a district like we were last year um hel hold harmless meaning we're we're not getting a lot of money it's $30 a kid or $50 a kid ended up being a hundred last year per student uh that we need to continue to raise that much as possible for local communities who are not getting that significant Chapter 70 increase um um fully funding Circle breaker as well um conversations centered around immigration and how we handle those situations and in light of um you know president Trump stating even this morning that ice could actually go enter schools as well as churches now whereas the policy beforehand was not to um his comments were I'm going to leave it to their um using good judgment we have certainly know stop I send an email out to our staff and stop measures in place and saying listen if anyone comes halt them they call me call Mike we'll deal with it and our local police and go from there um it just it's just more about concerns than anything um are you you're aware of the PG's guidance out there on yeah we got yeah I think I even shared part of that uh it came out through the mass for us um and that was our part of our conversation yesterday as well with um the uh superintendent in the area what was the last topic we had with them oh the confidency determination yeah yeah CD making sure that whatever they do they on top of that any discussion about revenues tax no no and there wasn't a discussion on that it was just continued the Cherry sheets should have been out today they were okay I haven't looked at okay I have not looked at it yet um they were supposed to come out no circul okay yeah okay so I mentioned that I just haven't had a chance to look at it um and now the last thing from from my lend and perspective we have another budget meeting Saturday uh only be a couple hours at the most uh we're going to focus on special education as well as the pre and Jenna will'll be there um we'll start at 8 and Jenner will be there just to talk about a little bit of changes made at Mendes as it relates to a budgetary impact because it relates to the middle school schedule that Aon had talked about last so that's pretty much Where We Are had a great meeting yesterday with our Ela curriculum leadership team uh talking about different Focus areas that we have and one of the things that you know we're really trying to focus on this year is is our writing across all grade levels um so we decided to take some time to dig into our rubrics um and and how we are utilizing rubrics in the area of writing to ensure that we're looking at common um common areas common mistakes and have some consistency in the use of rubrics so it was a it was a kto five discussion as well as a 6 to 12 discussion uh so trying to get us all on the same page and it was uh really purposeful um and one of the things that made me excited in our you know Jim and I do regular walkthroughs but I also on a monthly basis meet with principles and and talk to them about what's happening in their buildings and then do a walkthr with them and I think you've heard us talk about you know writing and and and how we want to incorporate some different strategies and one of the strategies that Suzanne Rod our new literacy coach has brought to to Mendes is the use of two column notes and taking two column notes and teaching our students how to do that and ultimately give them a template but then have them understand the purpose of those notes and how they can create them on their own and as I walked around with with Jenna um last week three different classrooms of students were using that skill it was just great to see them you know putting the the work that suzan's bringing and put it into action and know it made me excited I I talked to our team yesterday about that you know we we're moving in the right direction there so hopefully we see some improvements in the in writing you know when it comes to the mcast in a couple you know in a couple months um midy Year's window is open for common assessments I ready uh K to 8 that that closes on January 31st so folks are finishing up that work uh for ELA and math uh as you know our those of you who have high school students midterms start tomorrow I go until Tuesday so I know that our high school students have been working hard I'm assuming that's why AB is not with us today we know he's probably studying studying hard for his his midterms uh and Dibbles as well as part of that um midyear assessment data dibles is happening for all students in kindergarten through third grade um in terms of Ed evaluation update uh formative assessments are due by all administrators who are evaluating folks who are um either in their first year second year or third year so are non pts St staff gets a formative assessment and that is due by January 31st so folks are working hard on finishing those up uh and in terms of some professional learning updates we are we have plans underway for our March 14th date one of the things that we talked to talked about um today at our safety committee meeting was the ne taking the next steps in our Alice work um and we're going to be talking about our reunification plan and uh talking to our staff members MERS about what happens in light of any type of major emergency how are we going to be you know reunifying students um and where we would go for our certain points of reunification um if we have to evacuate so that's going to be something that we're discussing with our whole staff come come mid-march along with many other things be more of a a building based uh professional development but we will have some districtwide initiatives talked about and finally I've got to give a shout out to um the ashon Middle School theater group because Mr Adams and I are are next door to them on a regular basis so we we hear them throughout any meeting that we have uh after school they have been working really hard uh I know how how those students who working they've been after school like crazy getting ready for their performance that starts this weekend um they have shows on Friday at 7 p.m.

before we all sit down we need to take a moment and remember three people that have been very instrumental to our educational system number one is Mrs Nikki Rose who was assistant principal at Broad View Middle School for 30 some OD years is Erica i w mess her last name who was a medior specialist for AIS and South Street school and last Mr Jr ridel who I served on this board with for over eight years and we want to keep all three families in our prayers go we just take a moment thank you [Music] R Al present Terry present Michelle here Kate here Lis here Dr Cronin Dr Cronin she's there laen here here W here Richard here Julie here thank you public participation the board welcomes public participation and ask that speakers please limit their comments 3 minutes speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them the board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about board education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the Danbury public school system thank you um no one sign the she so I don't know if anyone in a hi um I'm Hayden Rogers and the vice president of B i' just like to start with a message from Mr Donan regarding the vision and mission statements for the newmy um it says good good evening board members we are excited to share with you the thoughtful and collaborative process that led to the creation of our School's new vision and mission statements a team of dedicated teachers pathway leads and administrators met periodically to lead this work the result is a set of statements that reflect our vision for the academies of Danbury aligned with the portrait of The Graduate and are deeply rooted in our District's mission and vision ensuring a unified and inspiring direction for our school Community our journey to crafting these statements began with our team reviewing exemplary vision and mission statements from other dist this in turn helped provide a lens for writing our own and helped highlight the type of language we might we felt might be important to include during the writing process in addition we spent time reviewing the national Career Academy Coalition rubric to ensure our language aligned with the recognized national standards together the team wrote a draft vision and mission statement Gathering input was the next step in the process surveys were created to gather valuable feedback from students teachers and families these surveys were tested with a small group of Faculty members prior to being distributed to the entire school and final weeks of the 2023 to 2024 school year the questions for all surveys were translated into both Spanish and Portuguese in acknowledgement of our large multilingual population after reconvening this school year the team reviewed the survey results with Administration and use the data to revise the draft vision and mission statements they focus closely on ensuring alignment between these statements and the overarching vision and mission statements of Danbury public schools this school year the team develop Flex lessons and conducted another survey to gather more feedback and ensure engagement from both students and staff regarding the updated vision and mission statements this thorough and inclusive process ensured that our new vision and mission statements embody the essence of the Academy andury High School align with the portrait of The Graduate and reflect our districts over achieve vision and Mission we are now proud to share the result of this collaborative effort our new vision and vision statements the vision statement theem of Danbury High School aspire to be a model community of empowered Learners positively imp impact the world mission statement The Academy of denur high school and partnership with students families and the community provide transformational learning experiences that Empower all students to embody the portrait of a graduate and pride in their future endeavors and then I just have some updates um from our school um so our semester ends Friday January 24th um students in the exploration Academy began the academy selection for process and that ends on the 31st all Academy directors provideed information sessions during flex and mran presented last night um on Virtual par night as well um winter sports are underway all of our teams are doing pretty well so far um we had two different uh we have two different Saturday sessions that will be starting soon um one is an SAT practice that runs from January 25th this Saturday to March 29th it's voluntary for stud students to sign up uh it's free sat tutoring the second session revolves around AP practice and tutoring which runs from March through May intending to provide tutoring for our AB students we also had in December our National Honor Society fall induction we had 29 new indues um we also had our career fair in the main gym on December 12th uh we had 60 corporate Partners rotated um through all freshmen giving them time to explore many different careers that are connected to our Academy Pathways Mr Donovan had his principal's breakfast uh where he asked uh where he answered questions from parents on February 1st we have our DHS robotics competition February 8th is our hter cheerfest for our cheerleading team and finally our DHS robotics team won their competition at WPI okay thank you for your information does anyone any board members have any questions no thank you very you thank you consent C I move the motion that the Board of Education approved consent calendar exhibit 25-7 and 25-8 as recommended and in accordance with minutes of 1825 sites facilities 25-7 and 1825 reg board meeting 25-8 motion made by juita could I hear second second second by Julie any questions concerning consent count n all in favor can iar I motion so car we don't have any students rep here tonight you going to do presentation um no no presentation no presentation next thing is superintendent report that one I got okay so um obviously it's a light superintendent report tonight the single item that we really should just be focusing on is the superintendent's budget um so this um so yesterday we presented the uh superintendent's budget um I can go kind of over this a little bit about at a high level we offered a workshop last night for our board members where we went through a high Lev overview but then also um a dive into the details that comprise the the drivers and the line items um for the budget um this year we aligned our strategic plan along with the needs that we have in the school system I think it's no secrets that we have some serious needs around Staffing um our ability to support our schools effectively um climate and closing the achievement Gap um instead of going through the entire report tonight I under the under the superintendent report uh I would like just to talk about the high level drivers and then when we get to the discussion um section of the agenda open it up for conversation and questions um for the for staff members who um in the workshop but also those who receive materials um post Workshop so if you want to for those of you who have a packet in front of you um I'll be referring to page 13 under budget drivers so this year a large component of the budget is driven by the enrollment needs and the opening of a satellite campus sorry the new one I just came U that would be the new one that might hand out oh this beginning of the y y so ironic I don't have cop um so I'll I'll slow up thank you got it uh so the budget drivers the main budget driver a large budget driver in this year's budget is the opening of The Academy um on the ctis campus so that's the DH West and so the the what constitute that ask is the um the need to staff based on the enrollment moving um between 800 and, 1400 kids over in the next year and uh year and two years um the staff and benefits come to um six a little over 6 million maintenance and utilities um over 700,000 Transportation over 2.2 million technology 318,000 and school lunch 360 so that one driver alone in our budget is over $10 million so that's a that's a significant component the other main drivers in our budget are going to be in contractual increases so those are our obligations as we roll up our contracts um our labor contracts and then the cost of doing business um restoration of positions that were eliminated um last year from the budget a little over 3 million um other new positions that are not Academy related um that are special education or multi- language Learners and that is 1.1 uh over one 1.1 million the offering not competitive uh parent educator Staffing model and that number of 4 mil 9444 th000 is comprised of right sizing um and making a more competitive par contract but also the addition of par par Educators at the elementary level which is uh very much needed and was requested last year proposed in the um in the budget for last year so that need really does not go away um a little over 2.8 million for special education increase cost so we have a a slight uptick in the number of special education students in the district but also um increase in tuition cost at a district and just the cost of doing business um there um our multilingual learner needs um and the services that they are entitled to um are over a little over 1.1 million benefits for the staff above are a little over 4.

gu cuz I don't want want to do that one no discussion information on policy service option we got to go back up one more 5.3 okay all right doc yeah discussion information on board docs training and online voting so really what this is about and it's up to you guys as to what we're doing is we've taken a look at it number one we have the technology to do it number two like last board meeting is an example um something went funky in in bardocks and uh we lost uh some of the notes that that uh Judy took for it um and so in trying to go back and listen to the uh uh the board meeting to see who made motions in second because if you stand too far away and you don't really talk very loud we don't see it so she was commenting that you had to actually look for people's lips to move to see who made the motion in the second and so first of all hug the mic when you're talking it make it like it's your best friend um but more than that is this is a way to get around that um but we don't have to do it if you don't want to but we're just bringing it to you because if you go ahead and we got to do a little bit of training and and Judy has put the steps that you need to to put it in but then it just comes up on the screen and what we're really talking about more than the audience out here is the audience that may be online because some people can hear that are sitting in the audience but those online don't necessarily hear all the votes this would go up on the screen and show you like it like it uh does at the bottom of that particular agenda item who voted a who voted nay um and it' be on the screen right as you punched in your vote uh and then that way the people on uh online would be able to see how the vote went even if they couldn't hear it um if everybody says we're going to lean in and and talk loud then we don't necessarily need this but we're just trying to give you guys an option as a new board on how you want to deal with it so so that's where this is coming from and what we're trying to address okay do you guys have any questions like is it it pops up automatically is does it take a lot of time so it becomes a motion and a second based on that the moderator the moderator could be in there the moderator could be Judy the moderator opens it you guys hit yay or nay once all five or in moderator again depending on where it comes from shuts it down you can take a look at it uh to what uh Mr Ray and and and Mr harus have said in the past okay it's a 50 vote oh wait I didn't invite vote Yes I meant to vote no okay open it back up change it to no it's now 41 vote but either way it shows up on the screen so that's way it's going to be probably will be a little convoluted initially um but over time I think it becomes potentially easier and again it's really more just for our our constituents and their ability to to see what's going on well if you need notes I did take notes on the meanss that I had so if you need that yeah no we we got it but because we didn't realize that the that the computer or that the board dos program screwed up but until the next morning she thought well I'll just quickly I don't want to speak for you but I'll just quickly take care of it but that's when we realize sometimes there's a sound issue so um either way we can cover two ways if if if shelle's taking notes as as more president or Steven's taking notes we can use those too but here's another method if if you want to use this method what's the price difference but there's not it's part of yeah it's part of part of what you PID for with bardocks we just haven't used it we just haven't used it but it's part of it's like everything else we're in the Lamborghini and we're in second gear we're trying I've seen it used and the way you're describing is already better than the way I've seen it used so I I'm good with it I'd be okay can we can we like try it on a short meeting like where where we meeting where we know the meeting is going to be a shorter meeting when when do you think we'll have a short meeting St that that won't be February um when it when so when you when it says here board do training is that what what is the training that is it for the online voting or yeah what we what we would do is is we're just talking two things I believe from the original agenda number one is we would come back let's just pretend it's February so in February this obviously just applies to starting with the motion for adoption of the agenda and the motion for the adoption of the uh the meetings and then the motion for the action item so you might have 10 items in February as an example um the training would then be because Dr Valen and Miss Horn are new is there anything else we need to do that have any concerns relative to board docs that we could do additional trainings that would help everybody out because it's a new board so it's it's covering two the main focus is the voting but if someone said I'm still having problems understanding how board dos works with this whatever this is then we would look to see is there's something we need to do to bring in either online or in person I think several years back we brought someone in person from board dos to do to do additional training we would do additional training just to make sure everybody's comfortable with everything within board dos besides just the voting I think we can figure it out yeah Jason what do you think I'm good let's do it what do you think I think if it helps Judy yes let's do it it's all about Judy it is no but it does it help you because if it helps you and it doesn't yeah right right I think it sounds like a great idea doesn't cost anything extra and it's a backup as well as helpful for our constituents that are watching online doesn't require a motion does it we just just need direction from you guys which I have so all right we'll move forward all right let's do it sounds good okay now I'll move on I was trying to get everybody out of here five 5.4 discussion and information on policy service options okay in uh the question was asked of the two different ways that you can get policy services asba or uh the trust the trust came out with policies uh recently for a variety of different reasons um so for interest of everyone just I I did review the trust policies I was asked to review them as the attorneys were writing them so I have an understanding of what the trust policies are um uh I would say that one of the concerns that was raised by different districts was the length of the policy manual that asba has and so in some cases there was a reduction of uh regulations and uh exhibits in trust versus asba uh in both cases as I stated in the board backup uh the policy that you're going to get is going to be probably 99.9% exactly the same irrespective of who we used and I say that because the policy is generally related to uh State Statute so there isn't that much difference that you can write on State Statute by the way you have school attorneys it's called kosa Council of school attorneys they're the ones that write the policies and so the same council is writing the policy for both groups the difference will be you will not have as many currently I'm going to use these terms I think they use slightly different terms in in the trust you would not have the same number of regulations uh or exhibits if you go to the trust I personally believe that that creates some issues uh especially with new board members and new administrators not understanding that we can put as many regulations and Exhibits into the trust as we want but please understand that that will necessitate some additional dollars as we go ahead and use the attorneys to review everything we do because we're not going to bring regulations and Exhibits without having legal review of them we have some stuff in here that talks about what are the model model policy agreements um probably what you're getting in the biggest difference is is in terms of asba asba is a board member organization and so what asba does is provide training for board members so I know some of you did a webinar some of you are talking about going to I think Dr Valu you're talking about a training on the 31st for bolts I think Pinal County is using asba for a training in February um you have the law conference you have uh any number of other trainings the trust does not is not necessarily a board training entity so although we pay just short of $5,000 for the asba and only like5 or $600 if you want to the trust that's because in that $5,000 is all the trainings that take place for board members by board members the trust what you see in their trainings are really things like cyber security they might have a a trust training on uh if you want to do uh something with uh training for employees or for student discipline you would get that training if you want addition training as a board then you have to bring them in and pay for them to come in and pay the attorney to come in and do the training so the $500 or $600 I may be off on my number I can't quite remember it off of the trust is is not the final number by the time you get done utilizing the attorneys to go ahead and uh bring forward with the training so just keep in mind policy advisories policy updates um that there's a chart in there if you could bring that up Craig the chart that is do you know which one that is comparison the last one that just kind of gives you we try to give you a little bit of a comparison of what was included in each one and so you'll see in the trust side there's things some things that are not included so I just give you that overview because again I think asba right now is providing more than what the trust is if you just do the policy piece and not anything else there are districts that have stepped out of asba completely there's districts that have just used use the trust um uh policies but still use asba we would have to talk to asba to see what the agreement is we have an agreement with them right now but it's a 30 I think it's a 30-day opt out so it's not like we can't get out but I'd have to get the exact quote numbers of what would happen if you didn't do uh if you didn't do the policies uh uh with uh asba so there'll be a a a slight reduction I know there's concerns asba I think uh I think Dr Valen and Mr horn were there when we did the the training at ASA and asba they are making some changes to make the policy Services easier to manage and get to uh some slight reduction in regulations and Exhibits but more in the area of redundancy uh I would not expect a massive change um but they're hoping to they have the first couple sections ready to go that they're probably going to release in the Le next couple of uh weeks or month that would say this is what we're trying to do with the policy manual to make it easier for people to understand um but but I would just put that preface I'm I'm open to any questions or we can have an open discussion um but do note that the numbers by themselves don't necessarily dictate all that's being provided because asba is a member organization of board members so it's designed to help board members the trust is insurance and so they're responding to school districts that ask for more policies but they don't necessarily have all the uh all the pieces to um train board members uh and that's not what they're set up to do there's is more of an insurance-based and what's the risk to the district and how do we help the district um move away from that risk so they might not have an open meeting law training as an example they would be much more into something like cyber security yeah I guess my question is you know when when there's a question on policy would you contact you know someone from the trust or would you contact the lawyer I mean would you contact ASB or would you contact lawyer because I would see you contacting the lawyer that works for the trust you know what I'm saying right you would you would you would initially two different ways depending on what the situation is you would potentially contact asba or you might contact the the the trust that you have on retainer just depending on the the difficulty of the question that's being asked if it's a uh you'll see at the bottom of asba policies in many cases they're saying it's not truly legal advice because in some cases like any else in life not all lawyers agree with what's there uh so if it's if it's a a detailed piece uh probably call Denise who's our attorney through the trust through prepaid legal um so you do that in in most likely either situation okay then when it says policy update assistance I was gonna ask oh sorry tell me what that means because I I would imagine that if the Law changes wouldn't the trust update that automatically tell me what that means you when you get into some of the uh uh some of the components of regulations and Exhibits it's not an automatic that the trust would work with you you'd have to pay for that additional piece uh when it comes to a policy advisory and update within the law uh asba calls them policy advisers I don't know what the trust calls them that would be automatic that usually happens generally speaking twice a year but if something changes um it may happen more frequently but if you're getting into regulations so for example when we did the T working uh policy um you would end up paying to have that work done because it's not an automatic piece now that one's a little difficult because neither one of the two aent entities have teleworking but if there's one that's there the the trust may say this is already been previewed by attorneys here you go here's some samples uh the the excuse me the asba would do that the trust may or may not do that depending on whether they have the regulation because again um uh I my concern is is is the trust can be a little bit policy light relative to regulations so if they do not have anything then you're on your own or working with them to pay to get it in the case of asba it's more than likely there for most situations but not for all situations so with normal circumstances of contacting the trust if you're thinking how many times we might contact them what is that the way I mean we're only talk we're talking about small amount here but I mean it depends because what the way the trust works is you you we get our prepaid legal through the trust so uh they go ahead and establish based on histo historical Trend data how much you're using the trust and then what your rate is accordingly across the state if you exceed that rate then they will increase your amount the next year for what you owe for prepaid Legos so one year I was in another district and due to a lot of different issues going on we were going to the TR to our attorney for quite a bit bit uh and as a result of that the next year our rate went up so it's kind of like insurance if you use insurance and you overuse Insurance then your insurance rate goes up with Prepaid Legal now the reason you still have prepaid legal and the reason we use it in the old days you had a retainer so if you said 80,000 and you hit the 880,000 mark in October then you had to go into your budget and figure out how you're going to come up with legal fees for the rest of it they moved to prepaid legal as a way to say we believe for this amount of money you can get this coverage and they have over time uh gotten it down pretty good to say this is what it costs I don't know what the increases are um I'd have to ask them for those increases um but if you exceed uh because you're going there then you will pay a higher rate the next year for the trust legal I I guess I would see that you know as we're talking about policies I would I would imagine that most questions you would have regarding policy regardless of asab or the trust you would I would see you're calling the lawyer right calling the trust to answer those questions right more than likely but not in all cases but yeah I agree with that so when you say policy manual reviews it says available does that but is it included or do we pay extra for that no it's no we don't pay extra for it with asba it just say is available right and then but you but then there's a cost through the trust to do that yes based on what we what the information that was provided to us by the two or you know we we asked reached out to them and asked them to to to give us their agreements and then we went back and cross cross reference between the two agreements to to see what were the cost differentials and then you have your employee handbook service what does that mean it's included we give them our employee handbooks or what yeah what yes the the issue with that the we did it this year for the first time the issue that was there is the handbooks uh many times with all the changing uh uh regul or excuse me laws and or regulations uh do they always get updated and so in the case of asba we worked with them this year we're not the only ones we worked with them this year and what that agreement entails with them is annually they will review all the legal components that are in our handbook for our employees and make sure if there was any changes whatsoever or during the year when there's a change they will do the update to the handbook because they have a copy of that handbook if it's uh not a legal issue and more just a practice that we do in our district then that would be our responsibility but the reason we went with them is because of the constant changing we wanted to make sure that those handbooks had the latest and greatest uh legal uh components in or or or laws in there and so that's what the asba uh piece uh applies to and that way we're sure that anything that goes out to employees in their handbook is uh the latest legal uh uh filings also it was to my understanding like if one of us wanted to go like for example l wants to go to the bolts um conference that we that we still as our as a district pay for her to go yes for Mo I don't I won't say for everything so for example if you some things yes um uh there may be a few things you don't pay for I'm trying to think of off that top of my head but I don't um I'm trying to think of as an example um like the county meetings I I think we pay for the meal but not necessarily for the training so there's a few things you don't but in general in general yeah you would pay some uh the bigger difference is when you go to those bolts trainings and stuff is the trust doesn't necessarily have those and so therefore um uh they do have a legal one uh like the law conference that asba and ASA does in September but some of the more training of staff that is not necess or excuse me of board members that is not provided by the trust as of now now that may change but as of now we're not aware that they provide those trainings so other districts that have gone to this because there's actually quite a few districts um in the state what do they do they don't necessarily get training I don't I don't know what they do it depends on uh some of the some of the movements not all the movements I don't want to be as taken as all the some of the movements are related to more political issues and so I don't know that they've come to a solution on that but because of their belief of of the political what they believe is political ideology of asba they've decided to move off but there is not right now to my knowledge um an organized uh group that provides trainings for boards uh most asba is affiliated with nsba there's some pulling back from that affiliation um but there's part of the affiliation is the training across the country to get boards uh all on the same page relative to how meetings operate in some of those kind of uh those kind of situations there has been some concern about uh uh I'll just say politically IDE political ideology but I think the biggest thing we have to understand is that uh across this state and across this country uh we have a variety of different people with a variety of different opinions and therefore any large organization has to try to meet the needs of the white populations the African-American populations the Native American populations of Democrats Independence the Republicans the you know what I'm saying and so they're trying to find a uh uh run a fine line of providing needs for everybody within the organization and the bigger the organization across country across state the tougher it is just because what people are saying on the border is different than what people are saying in Northeast Arizona what people saying in the big city is different than what people are saying in in rural the issues that affect are different so they try to do that balance act uh the best they can but at times it does create issues when people object to what may be said or not said or a group a subgroup within the organization so that's the issue with many of the uh people that have left asba um but I don't know of training that they're getting because I'm not aware of something out there that they would that would provide their kind of training maybe there is but I'm not aware of it I have one more question so if we were not if we went to the trust policies and asba had a training do they allow us to pay to go to the training for asbaa can you still can you still go to a bolts training if you were not a member of asbaa I believe so um it is a different cost it's a higher cost because you're a non-member than if you're a member um so I I believe you can um but I I'd have to to honestly I'd have to explore that in more detail and come back to you with a better answer to make sure that I'm correct on that assessment but I believe you can pay a non-member fee you have down here discount on board dos fees what's the discount right there board dos has an affiliation with asba so that's where the discount is we'd have to go back and go back in and look into it and I can give it back to you um but there's an affiliation with board docs there's another board books is a different company that does very similar I use that in a different district and so if you use board books you're not going to get the same discount as if you use board docs I will tell you between the two Bard docs is a lot easier to use than the other one but but that's the Affiliated I can give you I can get you that I'll send you guys an email on what that cost savings is I mean I think we'd be remiss not to look into it because I mean we're we're talking $5,000 versus maybe almost um I think we I this I think we really need to look into it and see I'm not saying that I one is better than the other um that's just it's a huge cost difference um I do agree that everybody has their own political ideology I just I just think that we are up here to do what's best for our students um and I don't think they need to I don't know I just don't think ideology needs to go into it just tell us what we need to know like give us give us the down and dirty and let us make that decision um and I and I would say this much I spoke with the asba uh executive director today I think they're trying to move to that particular I mean there's been some turnover there with Wy different I'm sure there is if everybody start no but but I mean but I mean turnover relative to who was in charge um and so if if you want me to bring this back at the February board meeting or even the March board meeting I'd be more than happy to do that um what I would do in that particular meeting because this was just a discussion is I would ask both the trust uh and asba to be present to go ahead and and make a a quotee unquote pitch but also to be there to to to make sure that whatever I'm saying is I'm not misrepresenting anybody so so whether it's February or March um I would uh uh I would ask that they that they were present to go ahead and have a unability to explain so that I don't misrepresent anything that's been there by both I think this is more than just a board meeting thing I mean this is a big move and I think we need to keep it like what what do you guys think about like doing a study session at some point that we and then we have them come in at different times I I don't think they both need to sit at the table right like we could have one come in and then the other come in I think this is something that we need to take a deeper look at not just one meeting not just one quick vote um looking at the train the trainings just as somebody that is new um I went to the in-person training um I also did a virtual training last week and we have a couple more that we're going to um in February the ones that I have been privy to I felt them to be lacking um just for somebody that's new I I I didn't feel like there was a lot of meat and potatoes it was um something that I probably could have just you know found elsewhere um or through previous experience on other boards um so that's not a huge draw for me for somebody that's new um that's just me personally but looking at like the discount on board docs fees if that's a huge discount um that outweighs the $496 versus the other one it you know how big is this discount is it shocking um so I just think that we need a more information presentations a study session before we I I I do want to save money I think um there's news articles that are coming out about um the state of finances for school districts and so I I definitely think if there's a way for us to cut costs we definitely want to um make the move to do that um but we need a little more information what did you think about the the training um the training was okay u i mean it wasn't anything spectacular but it's you know um I have a little bit I'm familiar with the way schools run I've been in schools for 30 years but um I think we just need to be really careful about this I I I understand that money is tight and we need to look at that of course we do um but we also need to make sure that we're being very very thorough about our policies because like you said you're looking out for students you're looking out for our staff that's in these policies and so we want to be careful not to have those gaps where we could um potentially run into some issues so we want to make sure that we're covered it's really difficult because things are happening so quickly um just like with Co it just hit us all at once and there were tons of policies that needed to be um revised and relooked at and and um if you don't have the right people doing that and helping you through that it can be really tough and you can get yourself in a pickle where um you know you you can't get out of so and it costs even more when you when that happens on the back end of things so we just need to be careful but I understand what you're saying about money and we do need to look at things but I think we need to be really careful about um you know making sure that we're it's being looked at very thoroughly so so that you based on what you're saying we can go and run a special meeting on the 26th of February which would be the 2 uh or the 4th um uh Wednesday in the month now we are scheduled to be up in Reno in a conference that gets back I don't I'll talk with Dr Fountain after today to see about plane tickets and what time people are getting back in so that we can make it but so tentatively let's put the 26th down and I will reach out to both entities and and we'll figure out we'll start figuring out how to structure uh the particular meeting uh I'll talk with board president president on on this too in the next uh couple weeks as we go forward with this but why don't we tentatively look for the 26th um and then uh you'll get more information so that's it's tentative um but but that would fall in line with what our policy says which is says this the fourth Wednesday of each month you can have a special meeting so we would look to have that as a as a special meeting how long has the trust been doing this think this might be an is Jen here what's three or third year yeah it's just come up in the last couple years yeah I think well I mean I think asba had the Monopoly on that whole thing so I think that it's like people are dipping their toe into to to it as well so yeah okay yeah let okay I'll move forward with that okay now we can go to Sly ason so in the past you guys we've everybody every uh board member has taken either one or two schools and like you're their liaison so you go to their school you can talk to their go to their PTO meetings or booster meetings or I don't know whatever you can talk to the principle that sort of thing um if they need a board member there they can call you and so um not going to lie it's probably hasn't been um hasn't we've we've had the leaz on but and probably hasn't been practiced a lot in the last couple years um so um and and I did include the just the one pager from this the the governance team handbook that talks about site visitation so if you want to get a flavor for what the expectations are when you come on to the site to visit or participation in in in School site in meetings on school sites that's attached just just as an FYI for you guys more than anything else okay so that being said I guess um does anybody have a school that they would like to sometimes if your kids are there or whatever I know I don't know know that that is going to pertain to anybody here that that they're like oh I'm always on that campus anyway so I'll just be that liaison that was my idea like I was always there because I was at or and I get that and I understand that but I it also talks about you know you're there as a parent or are you there as a board member so sometimes there might be a conflict of I mean I get it though that and and what I'm handing out is Judy talked with the principles and so they have the different schools and some different upcoming activities so that might give you a flavor of what's happening in the schools if that's something that that you feel like you want to go see and visit okay so I'm just going to go down the line I guess Jason what would you like to do Simington Simington neighborhood school and I have okay invested interest there as well all right I like the high school okay how about the center for Success yes there you go feel like we're picking teams at the playground or something um if if we end up shuffling this around at all I also don't mind uh the high school have two children that attend um and just in the past couple weeks I've attended multiple basketball games soccer games booster meetings and so forth um so I'm there anyway um the middle school I'll switch with you if you want I can do middle school and you can do high school if it's yeah either way whatever okay let's do that okay so we have um Sim so um I don't really care it doesn't matter to me we're all going to have to take more than one so um I could take Ranch Elementary as well okay I can do Ellsworth all right CTA on the same they are that's good look at you okay so is this just Harmon left is it I I I I'll do Harmon that what how you've already they said CTA okay all right so Harmon's my stomping grounds all my peeps went through okay um so is that it did I get them all okay all right perfect um do you need a list of that Judy you got it okay okay so then we we're going to go down to request for future agenda items anybody have anything I guess I have a question tomorrow's meeting there's a bond meeting right yes what what no there's we're we're starting the process of a bond committee and so we have a committee that's a parents community members uh Administration teachers students and all it is is is uh the presentations quite frankly that you received from steel right and so that will be the first meeting and then there will be a there's a series of five meetings between now and the end of March do you we have those like what yeah I can give you I can give you the dates and then based on that the committee will come back with the idea right now is there will be a presentation to the board in April of what the committee looked at and what the committee's recommendation is uh if it's positive then the board would take all that information in uh and necessary we'd have a study session in April or May and then we come back either in May or June to decide if you wanted to call for an election uh you will be uh uh receiving information over the next couple months so as an example steif will made the presentation now they won't make the presentation I have to speak for Mike because he's not going to be at the bond committee but I'll use his same slideshow that you guys used uh in February you're scheduled we had two um political Consultants that put in bids for the political Consulting so you will get uh that move forward to you as a recommendation for the selection uh they will do a a survey of our community in March and so part of the presentation in April will be the results of the survey to say hey if if the what was the last survey that was done that was done in in 21 the difference the differential for this um and you were at that meeting the differential for this is is the question that comes up is are you going to go out for a bond um as one question but the the reason we're even doing this is because um you can go out without having to raise the taxes and so if you ask that question to people they may answer it differently than if you just said you want to go out for a bond and it means taxes are going to go up so those are the kinds of questions that would be answered by that for by the survey and then we've done a needs analysis across the district so that's part of what the committee will look at so I may have jumped the gun and you may have a different question but I just want to give you some process what time what time is that where is that meeting it's here in the boardroom it's from 4 to 5:30 no I I guess my question was I when you go to the governing board it pops up on there is that a requirement or to post in that way or there there seems to be some questions on that and so what we've decided to do is that if we have some of these issues that are big both the commit the the curriculum you will see if you go on the board agenda now you will see both curriculum adoption committees that are being posted as well as the bond committee depending on who you talk to they say no you don't yes you do uh I of an abundance of caution because of the topic we are now placing them on the on the uh the website for board dos um and uh so that people can take a look at what we're communicating uh and what the meetings are how the meetings are being held there's a question as to whether it's a superintendent meeting or Bond committee meeting um there's probably some legislation that some legislators would believe that superintendents are trying to circumvent what the requirements are so out of an abundance of caution we've just decided to put them all up on board Ducks I I wasn't planning on going like if if three of us happen to show up don't you then what we would end up we would end up doing is is soft post we have to do a soft post so please I'll get I'll send you the uh the calendar of meetings uh and if you're planning to attend let me know um uh I would be cautionary because uh very similar to any other situ sitation if you have a committee that's trying to make an independent decision uh your attendance or comments or views may as we speak about you going to sites and being in site committees you may push without your intention a direction for what the committee wants to do one way or another just based on a comment that was made about it and that's why we're trying to do a representative for knowledge I don't know that everybody will show up but we have a committee that roughly runs someone in the neighborhood of 40 to 45 people so this is not just a small committee um but you're more than welcome to come but just keep that in mind that that uh we want to see what the committee and the community and our our employees think uh and then we then we bring you back something the intention would be for the committee I don't know what that means but for the committee to do the presentation I do have a co-chair some of you know guy Shoemaker out of uh ananta does a lot of work he's my co he's a co-chair that committee and so there's a very good chance that he will be leading the presentation just so it's a chance for you guys to understand what the committee felt who's the chairperson you it's co-chair me and him but but I would have him do the a presentation just I was just making make sure that because I was a little surprised to see there and I just want to make sure I mean I'm not planning on going but yeah now we we just out of abundance caution because of the topic uh and there's some issues about curriculum we put both of them on and we'll continue to put them on in the future there may be other things that come on before for right now those are the two uh uh and we can add more but we just felt those were two we ought to do it out abundance caution can can we go back really quick to the to the liaison piece of it so how are these principles going to know that where their leasons and then do we have are we gonna like come up with some things to do with the schools or we just go to their events because I'm new so here here's what I've done in the past okay um I've just gone and said hey can we just talk can we chat yep okay so we just go we just sit down and chat if um sometimes I go to PTO meetings or booster meetings you learn a lot with body language right um uh if if they want somebody there well we're going to do Awards or we're going to do this then you know you can come um nothing too crazy as board president I actually did go to every one of the principles and talk to them and I asked them all the same questions just to get a feel that's all it's nothing crazy but I mean I would just go and talk to the principles and see what they want to do okay and and in terms of knowledge um obviously there's many of them sitting out here but there's a form that we have that that has all of our meeting dates and down at the bottom of it it has the Liaisons on one of the pages we will update it based on the new board and so they have access to that document uh and so that'll be that'll be part of it too I'll also share with them the same thing I shared with you in terms of what's in the governor's team handbook for expectations for how this uh how a meeting goes um and if necessary I can be at meetings too depending on on what what's going on and and what concerns are okay thank you anybody else have a future agenda [Music] item okay I'll make a motion to adjourn at 6:15 second all in favor I I I motion carries five to zero I okay

Saturday at 2: p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Middle School theater they're performing ing the sfic of Romeo and Juliet I think it's probably going to be wonderful based on seeing the costums and and and the work that we're hearing them do uh for those of you who are interested in attending that are out there in the public it is a cash only event and it'll be $10 at the door so that's that's my plug for our middle school friends who are performing this week any indication from last year oh last year was fantastic so I they do great work they really do they've got a great program going all right we're moving on to policies the policy subit meeting met recently do did did we change make any significant enough changes that any of these need a second read they do I I I would say some of them are brand new uh and I apologize the links were not there uh they are now there so when you get an opportunity um to to read them again it's the first read I would then recommend if you have any questions to to reach out to me uh so I can then make adjustments uh as necessary um the one policy there's a policy that we never had on the books there are a couple and the I'll just highlight um the school nutrition program um charge policy right there was a there was a policy that our nutrition services program had it was it was never a policy written by the ashon public schools so all of these policies relate specifically to masc and going back to March of 23 I believe it was so we're just going back and reviewing some of our policies and and the jnd DN DB IG and DC it's really removing them and putting them in separate areas of of where they belong um so if it's instruction versus um you know they classify it as redrafting policy moves of language to more appropriate location um and you know the only I guess Lori the only one would be the the school committee officers we just the only language change was uh clerk versus secretary it was like one word which we didn't we decide not to even change it correct yeah I think I think the policy subcommittee was like fine and just this kind of technical question I understand you I'm looking in the folder for this meeting and only two that I see listed are the ones that you re emailed to us they called in here when I looked both they're both labeled as Redline but the red lines didn't show the red lines aren't there so right so here's the problem with that and I I mentioned it the last time um and if you go if you refresh um into the school committee count the folder all of the all of them should be there so if there's the redline version right that's the problem is I was having just TR to give you an example of one uh I had to learn how to do this um when did that get refreshed because I all done uh so if you go into like IG n DB copy of Redline version do you see it in Red Line it got refreshed about 30 seconds ago because I the links weren't there and I had to relink them and not all of them have changed Mark there were new policy so it was not red so like the igb up above is the red and everything else below is what we had and and that's what was struck okay so I apologize for that I I I noticed the links weren't there but I that quickly why we're sitting here so I'm fine either direction I know you're they're new two reads does this really qualify as a read if Mark literally 30 seconds ago can now see that was do we want to start start the process at the next meeting for the number one or do we want to just take the time this week to evaluate and then come back to the second read next week if I think we can all read them in between in between yeah and then yeah and just you I know you're the the two read is a policy of ours any subst of changes requires two reads at public right so my question is does this really count as the first read so I think I think of that as being for two purposes one it's for us to sort of have like an initial look and discussion on right and obviously but it's also right which this does it does do that I guess the way I'd look at it is I'm fine taking this think if we come back and mayd I'm fine either way but just it's a fair point right well that was that was the question I was it doesn't meet all of all of our reasons for the for but it does meet the notice requirement I think we everybody still has a week to weigh in and I think if we get to the next meeting you got till February 12 right there's a month so if there's some discomfort with we didn't have enough time to really make our changes or whatever we can always not vote and put it off till the kind of our our conversation I just wanted it to be intentional that we said yeah thisif right okay so I apologize I didn't quite catch that they weren't linked dropped into the yeah okay um so um and I'll give everybody if if anybody did look at anything and you want to give input right now and if not we will um go to the next meeting for the second read and then take it from there okay for the cons consent agenda Mark had a good point yeah says Grant approval but there's no backup on I don't know what that is there I I I think it was just a I think Gretchen left it on okay it's something that we typically have um there were no Grant approvals okay just gifts and donations all right so so uh we we will make a mo motion to approve the consent agenda minus the grant appr we don't have second all in favor hi hi I all right we are heading towards the end reports of school committee members Marcy um so our Middle School site Council was cancelled today so I would have had an update but Aaron did email us and we're going to look at the site Improvement plan next meeting which I think is following our next next meeting meeting so we won't have an update there for a bit she also said that she's going to come back um on the schedule updates at the next future meeting um so just stay tuned uh not a lot uh we do have one thing that's probably not the best news in the world um so one of the executive orders that was signed instructed all agencies to to cause all dispersement of payments relative to the in inflation reduction act which are reimbursements for that are part of that now our hope is that it's already in the ma the check's already in the mail and uh and it's already been quote unquote distributed but uh as of right now that looks like it's on old hear that we we'll we'll keep it updated but yeah it was uh significant dollar amount whatever so unfortunately uh order number yeah so it it's but hopefully there's enough pressure that that'll go through but there'll be pressure from every demographic in the in the country so one of the first uh schools to get a check right so there this isn't just Northeast thing this this is all over the place and um so hope is we we'll get it eventually but if it isn't already in the mail it's it's all W um I I was not able to attend the high school state Council this month I did go to the Warren site discussion take a look at how they do their report cards that's a process time and it was an interesting awesome uh does anybody have anything else before I move to right I move to enter into executive session under mgl chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union Personnel superintendent Jim Adams or to conduct collective bargaining with the intent of not returning to public session um take a roll call vot oh second yes I always forget that step do we have a second for that second thank you Marcy hi Paul hi Mark hi hi yes okay we'll see you there staying here yes we're going to stay here um we don't need to have a link because we're all here and any needs a minute to get your stuff together and we'll let cable get

for improvements to it and Security 233,000 Plus and then there's a whole list of of other and those other are coming from dozens of other incremental um increases across many many areas that total 1.87 um we went over items uh in the budget from custodial supplies to instructional supplies to um some building repair increases in building repair some non non-pb transport ation costs some security equipment um some of the some of the account line items are as little as $750 and some are as large as uh $400,000 so that total line is comprised of many many smaller incrementals that add up to 1.8 million which in of itself is also a driver um our total budget um the total requested budget uh for the superintendent is 194,195 46 that represents an increase of 34 million um and almost 35 I'm sorry 345 million for 21% increase um what we discussed uh in the workshop and I'll go to um closer to the last page which I believe is Page 29 is that when we compare our budget requests there is a 21% increase of 5.2% is dedicated to the academy Alone um but had had our school system stayed on trajectory if we were fully funded last year which we know all the reasons why that was not possible um the increase would really only represent 7.2% of an increase and that includes the academy so um you know I think over the course of time if we were keeping Pace um the asks would not be as um astronomical um you know but we are digging out of of a hole um in terms of funding um Staffing Resources and coming off a pretty large cliff last year um you know we partnered with the city to um do everything possible to close our gaps we eliminated lots of positions we eliminated over 68 positions plus um we're trying to restore 29 of those because of the critical nature of those and the effects that it's had on the school system um and so in the workshop we talked a little bit about some comparisons on what Staffing levels look like in schools of comparable size and comparable makeup um in comparable cities and um our need to keep up so while the Assa shared is great um we think it's very important to make sure that our um our needs are articulated they're clarified um and they're they're Justified for for what we need um so we I was happy to present that to the board during the workshop um certainly happy to open things up and can move to discussion at the boards uh board chair's request or pleasure um for questions or comments from the larger board Mr car the new sheet revised sheet that we received just now for page 15 shows an additional 360,000 for the school launch does that change the total or is it just added C emission so it was actually a $700 adjustment that was made which um might reprinted the sheet because there was a um just a a small number error uh in the recording so that it's really it was a $700 adjustment $360,000 that's there with the under school lunch is part of the cost of opening of the academy um last night we talked about the school lunch has always been um self-sufficient so that bring in a revenue that supports the staff that needs to run it and however with the opening of a new satellite campus the scale has tipped a little bit um and so we're going to need an additional 360,000 to staff we cannot pull that staff from D high school that staff needs to remain there to run the operations and we need a hold new kitchen staff over at um at the the new site so that's the increase there for appreciate that when I do comparison to last night's page 13 and here last night didn't have it was in the it was in the total it was in the toal yeah I apologize there was a typo on last night the 360 for the for the school launch just wasn't listed it was a typo but that 10, 43496 that that number is the same it was just the composition of that that's thank you the other question I have is I think it's important that you mentioned and I'll phrase it this way does this particular presentation budget put us in the 21st century or is it something else is it you have made a high point last night y that this was a need budget this is a needs budget um even though the ask is great it it you know we are to to be perfectly honest I did articulate this in the in the workshop um Staffing is is imperative right now um the cuts that we made last year had a had a very detrimental effect across the system um but even more than that um we have to remain competitive with some of our contracts um the par professional um dilemma that we're facing right now is is real and it's very true so Care Professionals care educators are are the life blood in many of our schools they support multi lingal Learners they support special education they they support intervention that students desperately need and particularly post pandemic we need our pair of professionals um anybody who has ever had a good pair of professional in their classroom those of you Educators they are wor worth your weight and bold um they help deliver small group instruction ctive instruction um they help to uh students who need to be uh to be helped with self-regulation um and behavioral there are there oneon-one um they help to um help with our class size number so um in some cases that is the only thing that helps make some of our larger class size numbers more tolerable um but because of the pay rate right now uh that we are uh that we have with that contract wants with systems to retain and attract um those positions last year we had many many openings this year I think we have between 40 and 50 openings right now um when par educators are not in the class it makes the teaching and learning environment very challenging um which also feeds into some some climate issues that we have and so and and safety and so we've talked a lot about how the fixing that particular issue around um the par educator contract and the needs that we have there um are kind of a root caused to a lot of systemic issues that we have across buildings and in some buildings um it is tfold because of certain potion at are housed in those buildings so um it's something that we are um seeking to correct that we can um bring some more stability to the schools with these very important positions thank you J that news that has been and put de my question is regarding the budget because I know this was a question a few months ago um of your um teachers around and parents how do you what would be the worst case scenario if you don't get fully funded as one and how will this um how do teachers feel at this point how secure they feel they have jobs at this point for the new academies for those that have going so so uh last year the effects of the budget cuts and eliminations and not filling positions has had a very negative effect on culture morale climate um we've had people that turned us down right in the hiring process because they were afraid to come here no one wants to be the last person in um we've had some challenges with special areas we've had um certain groups that we announced that we were on the on the on the edge of elimination um it is very hard to attract bills groups now where is out um so so it has had a serious effect on people's uh want to come here so that's the the attraction teaching realm per se are are inlined and are are highly competitive I would say the issue for us has always been conditions we talked about that in the workshop class size the the learner profile that teachers are are working with so um teacher has to teach 8th grade mathematics for example could have um students in the classroom with anywhere from a second grade or third grade mathematical ability to eth grade or nth grade and have to has to diversify what they're doing and stratify with large class sizes so so conditions for teachers here have been challenging um you know if we don't get our full ask we're going to have to go through and scale safety security and highest leverage needs we have legal mandates that we have to follow there are certain things in here where um I'm not quite sure what we're going to do you know there are certain things where that have to be covered we have IEPs I force we've got language needs and service needs we have Safety and Security um know at the door people want to make sure when they drop their children off that they know that they're safe um and that they're a good hands so we we have we'll have quite a bit of a of a challenge um and certainly we'll have to to make do and and figure that out um one of the other things that we're going to have to figure out is in the face of um potential some of our grants federal grants could potentially be changing um with different a different landscape um enrollment um can fluctuate those grants so when we have a better sense of the grants that we'll have available to us or not available um when we have a sense of what the city can do to provide whatever it is that they can provide we recognize that they are also in a situation that that they're working through um then we'll have to come back to the Joint board and scale through our highest priorities teres J do you have I'm sorry my apologies um thomon um I know that you mentioned mentioned about contracts when we can start seeing like review when new contracts for Paris and overall and review to see incase and how can that affect us future so um because we have so many un certified contracts coming up this spring they all expire all of those onee agreements we entered into expire on June 30th um of this year because we have so many of them typically on the time frame would be mid spring we would get a demand to bargain from the union leadership um I've encouraged all of them to push that timeline up a little bit so that um because if you figure you know you need multiple sessions with each one of those groups so we're talking about a lot of time to get through the process um so we're now in the process of picking for all of those five unions trying to pick some dates so we can start a little bit earlier um I will tell you that it is more often the case that some of these are settled after July 1 and in those cases unlike the teachers they work under their existing contract and they'll look at you'll see we'll do retroactive Rees or something like that so you're not going to know with any certainty as you lock down this budget what those numbers are going to look like which is why you see us trying to approximate kind of a larger number for for personnel and because it's so many contracts we have to guess a little more than otherwise um the other group that we will negotiate with this summer while it doesn't impact this budget it impacts your next one is the teachers so and that's your largest group and that is your most influential group in terms of of moving the needle in terms of wages and costs that group will have a good sense as we hit I I want to say it's July time you're going to get a real good sense of what the next year's contract is going to look like but that's also going to really inform kind of some of some of how we allocate that's a long way of saying you're not I just realized looking at that um the list for theems I don't see anything about furniture no the furniture is mainly incorporated into the the package in the build for the bond okay yeah okay thank you okay um just a point of note we we sent out a uh this is kind of hot off the press and we're still going to leave the survey open but as of today um and thank you Mike for for printing this out we asked um our our parents what their priorities are we try to solicit some feedback um from across different groups um I've been out talking to some other groups in the schools as well um but in terms of our parents and their budget priorities we asked uh we had 600 respondents of the parent uh parent survey that we sent out um asking what their top budget priorities were for uh the coming year and the top three were supporting supports arts and extracurricular opportunities for students in smaller that was number three uh and upgrading School upgrading school facilities so those are the top four um of the respondents kind of categoric of what parents wanted to see um the board did also send out their staff their climate survey as well and um while that's still largely open if you skimmed it very quickly you can see many of the same things that I talked about in the workshop as well as tonight that um Staffing and resources and substitutes and smaller class sizes and the supports needed in the classroom um are all over that survey for the results that are coming in um which has an effect on climate and so um we sort of expected to see some of those things for sure but um you know really listening to what our staff has to say about those issues is also very important and again the budget um that's presented reflects um those needs and those priorities not just my own personal but that of the cabinet that of those of the principles um that we spent a lot of time working with oneon-one to understand their needs um and to make sure that we have Staffing that addresses their legal obligations or compliance obligations um but also some ability to close the achievement Gap um and so you know we could certainly add in dozens more staff here to help with that um this is a responsible budget um to the greatest extent possible um even though the ask is large but our needs are great we have many years to to play catch up this is a a step in that direction Sor I my out of that which one to do out of the four critical which one you think is the most critical how are we going to what's the plan to address in order to keep M and make them feel that those feel out feel that they have be so I think you know for parents you know every every parent wants to make sure that their child is involved in something that they love and is passionate about um but uh but internally um you know there's an assumption that our schools are safe they're still well staffed and that we're you know that we have everything that we need and so um in on the set so the first one that the parents had to say was obviously about the having access to extracurriculars um but the very second one is about increasing safety measures um that is very important class size is very important so I would agree that the parents nailed it um when it came down to some of these priorities because um teaching and learning and student outcomes are directly affected that we able to get done in the classroom and our teachers need help and support in the classroom um post pandemic the needs of students um have have doubled uh some cases tripled um the academic stretch if you will and closing the achievement Gap has become greater therefore the effort must must match um that that you know that that divide um we have large class sizes here larger than um we would want to have uh this particularly given the learner the stratification and learner profiles that we have in the classroom the pair of professionals why they're such a great ask is not just about um right sizing that contract to make sure that we retain and attract high quality par Educators to support our work but also increasing the number that we do have it would make absolutely no sense for me to throw in another 45 par Educators that we need at the K5 level if we were not going to correct the um create a competitive W for because I wouldn't get them so we have 40 to 50 openings now we cannot get those staff members because we cannot offer a competitive wage um that's in line with area other area school systems um or even the mall for that matter I'm happy to take any other questions okay so um the question then I think for the board for the chair is sort of next steps with this budget there are a couple of options um ahead we can continue to have another Workshop um and we would can set a date for that we can move forward um tonight if the board felt ready with um supporting superintendent budget and passing um there are there are a couple of options and I welcome discussion on that and certainly flexible and you're welcome option to accept the bud today there can there can be I have a motion prepared if the board chooses M what is What is your question yes Dr C when you going no go ahead she her um at our Workshop there were a couple of it's there were a couple of areas um that we had that I particularly had asked we have a number of um buildings that we lease and um looking for the cost of that and any other Alternatives yes that was one and the the other was where in the budget can we find for the um yearly the oneyear contracts the non um they were all grouped last year um with an across the board increase and where is that in our financial budget report now sure so um Mike do you have a copy uh we're still U working on getting the final numbers for the exemp today we can't hear have to R we can't hear you is it uh we just read the report today for uh the exempt staff we just have to review it uh before it goes out just to double check the numbers uh but the the where as far as where the numbers exist in the budget that you see it's in the salary Lin um with all the budget so that um the 25 bug where the 90 million is that's everybody that that's an all but we wanted to see it broken out Teresa he's trying to answer her okay right and then then you can come in okay yes we're preparing a schedule to have the exempt salaries broken out can I just clarify that because um we don't ex we don't apply um you know the the the number all the salary increase they are rolled up into that $4.5 Million number the actual percentages don't get applied until later in the year after the budget settled um and that is done um you negotiating multiple contracts we're things land where we land with the budget where we land with prevailing wages so the allocation of the 4.5 million is what rolls forward at the end of the process when the budget Settles um we have to reallocate um within the allocation within the total overall allocation if that makes sense um and with the exempt staff you know where we have contracts that are um fixed um teachers union they have a fixed rate the professionals custodians um the exempt um wage if you will that that sheet um can have different numbers on it but not over the allocation that was set aside when the budget settles you have to stay within superintendent has to stay within the allocation but we'll provide that for you m will soon as they finish printing that out but it's but it'll be a schedule of the the current salaries of everybody in that group Teresa I know she answered my question thank you okay yes Mr I like to make a suggestion all we can't hear you please use your microphone I I'd like to make a suggestion that we vote on this budget thank you we vote on this budget this evening with the understanding that the additional information supplemental information that we requested would be forthcoming I don't believe anything that we've requested is going to change any of these numbers so it's more informational factual for us for discussion I say that because I think the faster we adopt this and get this show on a road to get this out to to those concerned that we want to educate and tell them what we're doing to get support is is is important the you know as I said the other stuff is information that we can discuss but I don't think anything is going to change these numbers or is any Mike does have the leases thank you I hands up sois just to to speak a little bit to the leases I I have last year's list and I wanted to update it with this year's numbers before I sent it over but I can give you a pretty close number on on where they are are so there's six different properties um two of them are used for district offices two of them are prek sites we have our adult ed site and then we have our curriculum building at 46 Bieber Brook so all together that's about $740,000 annually that we spend on those leases so You' probably heard of these sites refer to as 43 be 46 be Brook Grandville where the preschool is um Sacred Heart which is uh called Cottage Street where the other preschool program is uh we race Adult Ed over on Crosby Street um where we also have the beach and D building and then uh we have another section at 43 Brook uh where we have a district office space as well Michelle Michelle yeah I just have a quick question no we're talking about the budget and that we be talked about how the Board of Ed has worked hand inand with the city and so can you tell me a little bit about how that is being infused in with this budget um do we have any kind of information from the city from the mayor himself or you know regarding this budget because I know that was a big point of communication working together wondering how they kind of are falling in line with what you're proposing here sure so just to clarify U what I was referencing earlier was our work together with with the city so we spent a lot of time once our needs are lay down the table and of course we had a new mayor new mayor and a new inurance superintendent so we worked very closely last year um to talk about the need um we did have some discussion today um because we released our superintendent Budget on what those needs were to understand um the components of the budget and so there's an understanding of what our needs are as well um you know know this is a a great ask um you know I have confidence that our city leaders will do everything possible to help um meet the need to the best of their ability so um we I have monthly meetings set up from this point forward for the rest of the year so as everybody's working on the budgets um you know the education budget is one budget of many budgets that the city deals with and as the mayor Works through all of the budgets um will be in contact um it's a it's it takes several months it's a several month process to for everybody to understand where they're where they're at where they land and what's available to to us on both sides okay Richard to follow up on Michelle's point I think I mentioned it the other day once the budgets officially adopted would you consider contacting I believe her name is Holly Robinson who's part of the the Committee Against Finance or education at hoc and some of the other legislative people so that uh you can make this presentation to the I'm going to call it the the officials relative to to Danbury so um we can get them informed as to what's happening absolutely that's 100% the intention is to make sure that our delegates are really well aware of what our needs are we've already started that conversation so and and I'm thankful for theog any other questions so do we want to adop the budget I would like that if that certainly understanding that there's some other information that's that standing that's we'll make sure we get that out we're not to do it right okay finish with we're going to have those in in action so we're going to come down superintendent finish her report so we're going to go to the standing committee we shouldn't take about a few minutes to do this community relations our next meeting is sched for 12 um we may try to call a meeting again now we have the bud us um so we can discuss the strategy for sharing this information with the public correctly um we have we have our next meeting in February and it's a discussion on AI in the schools what day um we had a meeting on January 15th mik we were presented you guys still not talking into your mic we can't hear you when you turn to the side start talking into your mic and the audience can't hear you okay we had a meeting on January 15th uh the the finance committee Mike Weaver presented the financial statements as attached to the package for the period six-month period ending December of uh 2024 uh Mike had um taken out his his comments were he took out that $7.5 million arate that initially was listed as part of budget so we took that out to reflect the budget uh truly of the appropriation for the $160 million um keep went on to indicate that the available positive fund balance at this point here was um 5.4 million uh we also thank Mike for his work and his assistant for his work relative to the the audit um the audits plural uh getting work with the the budgets and on the the reports the financial reports we talked about in the near future soon as we get through the bud process that these variances will be looked at and talked over C thank you Mr J our next um our next meeting is scheduled for February 24 have we cleared all our meetings this extra meeting with who the necessary people we supposed to clear one both meeting policy thank you now we need to add a action item on the agenda if there's no other question concerning budget and the Committees we're going to add the action item to the agenda sorry uh motion that the Board of Education add an action item to the agenda to adopt the superintendent's proposed 2025 2026 budget motion made by Louisa second seconded by Kate on in favor to I all people that are in Zoom Michelle Dr Cronin hello okay okay yeah okay okay so read motion that the Board of Education adopt the superintendent's proposed 2025 2026 budget in the amount of 9 [Music] 4,464 64 as presented for submission to the mayor as required by City Charter and accordance with 25-11 motion made by Louisa second and second second second by Julie any questions all in favor could I hear I I I oppos I motion so carful action item a I'll make a motion that the Board of Education approved for 2024 2025 Board of Education goals in accordance with exhibit 25 motion made by Kate second second by one any question concerning the goals I would just like to thank the bo for participating and putting those goals together and at some point I'm quite sure that we can always add to those goals but it's the first time that I've been on the board that we've had board go so I I really want to thank those information with the the group and putting this to making sure that it happens action item B motion that the Board of Education approve the November December Financial reports as recommended by the finance committee and in accordance with exhibit 45-10 second I'm sorry before I go back I was moving along to Fair on action item 8 he I didn't call for the vote and I thought I did all in favor of the motion could I hear I I oppos motion's okay um Mr janeva did I cut you off second second half seconded yes okay any question concerning action item B I messed up I messed up Louisa you did the a you did a action item no no then what did you do I did nothing she did she did prea of the budget yeah I okay all right fine I got you didn't have you have this is add on motion bu oh I didn't that's where we at I don't hear that one so good here Teresa thank you thank you sorry about that I thought I was losing it too I carry the motion Rich made the motion ask second the motion are there any question concerning the motion all in favor other motion could I hear I I motion car thank you okay next on the agenda is it any information at this time that board members want to bring uh to the board at this particular time education issue why why you okay what um I just wanted to um mention that I attended the legislative breakfast sponsored by uh ke yesterday um it was held in Bridgefield uh Dr was there um Julie was there as well um and there was some robust conversation about upcoming legislative priorities and sort of um you know what what other districts are also interested in seeing go forward this this legislative session and the top U the top Senate bill that was proposed um centers around student individual student um performance for specializ students and how how that funding works so I just want to share that with the board thank you I make sure that the board was represent thank you J yes I just want to thank all the members of the board um for supporting the budget um that was proposed I know that's was a big nugget um you know as we push that forward we do so as a team and um you know when the results of how we're funded from back we'll also do that as a team as well and I I want to to say I appreciate your support um and for those of you can a workshop for digging in and asking some really good questions so thank thank you thank you um board chairperson report um I would just like to ask uh board members that have signed up for committees if you please if you're not going to be able to attend the meeting just please let Caren know or the chairperson of that committee know that you won't be here okay uh you know we know that everybody can't be in a place 100% okay so um and Carol does a lot of telephone call and trying to get make sure that when she sets up the meeting we have a so just respond my um the the other item I'm going to take care another time but uh again I hope that we continue to work together as a board and uh you know try to make this District what we say that we would like it to be the best District it is in in Connecticut okay so um at our expulsion hearers that's what I want to do we need to pick up and everybody that can get involved in exposion hearing we shouldn't have the same one or two or three people always doing exposion hearing we have 11 people on the board okay and we can take turn we had changed the hours instead of 3:30 4:00 we are doing some of the exposion hearing at 6:30 so it shouldn't be the same people all the time doing exposion okay thank you that's my report there nothing else that needs to be said um entertain a motion can I ask one question yes to Dr kber I keep looking at the the the drawing the rendition is that actually two buildings for this new high school if so what's the difference between the two buildings is that just a conceptual so there's a it looks a there's a bridge there's another building on the other side but this is one one building it's just the way that it's leveled that it looks like it's to but there's a entrance from the kind of there's a logic I think wellogic isic is I me it's a pretty Rive building it's a very good size building so it looks like two because of the way that it's broken up but um one side has a lower level the back side of see entertain a motion to adjourn made by Kate second by Julie all them

right we are live so um do you want to call the order it is [Laughter] 703 unit States the stand na indivisible andice all Mrs Reed here Mrs hel here M Allen Mr pH here Mr Golden here M Juliano here Mr Mr Jones is not here he did say he'd be absent Mrs orente here and Mr Davis here perfect can we have a motion and a second to approve the minutes from the December 19th Action meeting and the January 8th 2025 reorganization meeting motion second all those in favor I opposed or abstain from the eth right yeah all right Mr Lee you're out all right welcome everyone thanks for coming out on this uh frigid night we are going to do our awards for student of the month and this is our favorite time of every board meeting because we get to recognize our students for how awesome they've been uh not just this past month but throughout the course of the school year so we're going to start with JFK our first and uh students when I call your name come on up here and stand with me and you have to stay up here awkwardly with me because then we're going to get a picture together all right and then your whole group can sit down all right our first student of the month and this is actually a hold over from November is Sophia patrio congratulations go Sophia is a hard worker shows perseverance and determination every day even when things may be difficult for her congratulations Sophia okay next we have Giani lley Spiderman come on Spider-Man come on up here certificate handshake my man Johnny is super kind to his classmates and teachers he has made so much progress since school started he is always willing to help someone who needs it in addition Giani does a great job of using his manners and is always listening to his teachers way to go Gian all right our next student is Kyle cochi that Kyle has been doing so well with following directions being a kind friend and working towards communicating all of his needs congratulations Kyle our next student is Hurley Pacho conratulations there you go Hurley is a student who continues to amaze me every day he is a shining example of what it means to be genuine supportive and kind Hurley is always ready to lend a hand to classmates in need whether it's helping a friend with a tricky math problem or sharing a smile in the hallway he inspires others to be their best and I am proud to celebrate all the wonderful qualities he brings to our classroom congratulations our next student is Paige Cheri go Paige is a very responsible student she always does her work to the best of her ability and helps out in any way that she can congratulations our next student is Brienne worst Brienne demonstrates patience an understanding nature and Leadership within the classroom Brienne Works nicely with Partners in small groups brien's caring ways make her classmates feel comfortable around her congratulations to Brien and our last student for JFK is Juliet Kramer Juliet has all the traits of a model student and an active learner she is a leader in the class room and a topnotch human like that congratulations to Julet all right guys you ready for your big photo moment okay come over here with me you guys can all right in front of me here okay I'll slide over a little bit so we can get in front of everybody get in front of the GRE all right look here look here look at Miss Megan hello good job guys great job yes okay now on to our students from Eisenhower our first student from Eisenhower is Zara ahed up congratulations the fifth grade teachers nominate Zara to be student of the month Zara is focused and attentive she always puts her best effort into her work and focuses on attention to detail she collaborates well with others and is a positive role model for her peers [Applause] congratulations our next student is Samuel Church the sixth grade teachers nominate Sam to be the student of the month Sam consistently Works to the best of his ability in all classes he has a wonderful work ethic and works to the best of his ability at all times Sam is a bit shy however he expresses himself quite quite well through his writing he is a kind considerate and caring person who is genuinely a wonderful role model for the class so congratulations to S our next student from DDE is Noah Plaza Noah is a thoughtful and hardworking student who is insightful and reflective in ela class he is also always willing to help his classmates if they have questions or are confused about something he sets a calm tone in class that encourages Focus from classmates that struggle in that area Noah has developed relationships with his peers while participating in basketball and the advanced physical education program during advisory overall he is a motivated and very responsible student so congratulations toight and our last student is Jana Taylor conratulations the eighth grade teachers have nominated Jana Taylor for December student of the month Jana consistently comes to class with a growth mindset and is always ready to learn Jana is a model student who demonstrates Integrity citizenship and kindness she is a class leader who is always willing to help her fellow peers and her teachers congrats Jen come on over for your awkward picture order they the more good job guys thank you guys oh sure sorry another awkward I'm sorry all right thank you thank you good job thank you everyone parents thank you for raising amazing students um you certainly can stay for the rest of the meeting but you absolutely do not have to stay for the rest of the meeting so have a wonderful night uh stay warm thank you you have a great night thank you bye bye good night thanks for coming out ready they're we're GNA clap for [Music] you thank you everyone no problem no problem we should tell that young boy that we Echo those sentiments cold and we are tired all right do you want to go I don't think you have to go through the mission St goals we're good on that all right moving along um let's open the meeting to the public I a motion and a second to open the meeting to the public for the discussion of agenda items only motion second all those in favor opposed or obain see no public so no comments um may have a motion a second then to close the meeting to the public motion second all those in favor I opposed to obain um superintendent report all right we'll start with our security drills for both uh JFK and DDE there um letter a and and B under C you have your monthly reports that were uploaded to the portal for your review letter D we have uh two new reports uh two confirmed uh hibs for this past month I believe they were both at the elementary school letter A we have uh recommendation to affirm last month's uh hi case that we that we were able to read letter F we have some fundraisers so we have Miss mismatched socks say that five times uh candy grams uh and also t-shirts water box mod and hats to benefit the Eagles autism Foundation um that's a district y uh letter G item G we have field trips we have a number of field trips we pretty much have everything on the books already for this year so we're just working on a date for one final one but everyone is scheduled uh letter H we have a Personnel uh we have the resignation under number one number two uh we have a leave of absence and and our final item under curriculum and instruction is we uh today we had qac our qac review that we've been working on um getting all the evidence together for them they were here in the building today we should have those um results within the next month or two and one of the things that we were able to do was fill out a um an updated a scoring form for the instruction in program so they used to only score school districts based on on how you how youve done with your testing like all your testing scores now they're adding progress to the scoring as well which we made progress last year so we ended up going up three points in that so if you're if you're filling out that update it has to be Port approved and that's why it's on the agenda this evening and then I'll turn that into the county office tomorrow can I have a motion a second to approve those items and then we'll see if there are any questions items XA through XI for the superintendence report motion second were there any questions on any of those items I'm going to do roll call Mr Golden yes Mrs Allen yes Mr Phillips yes Mrs Reed yes Mrs Hof yes M Juliano yes Mr orente yes Mr Davis yes perfect all right business and finance um can I have a motion a second to approve business and finance items xia through XI I don't know what that is second second all right so we have the financial report for the period ending November 2024 um no line item has been overexpanded there are sufficient funds to meet the obligations for the remainder of the year the treasurers report and the secretary's report are in agreement for the month of November there are no changes in anticipated Revenue amounts or sources um I believe the finance committee got through all the bills all right so everyone did signatures and reviewed so we have the bills list there um item f is to approve the November and December 2024 listing of source for teachers as follows that's their pay rate and the bill rate you'll notice that as of um January 1 I just wanted to put this on there ahead of time for the um addendum for their contract because for uh minimum wage requirements we had to increase that par professional rate so that way it meets the minimum wage um increase as of January um G is to approve the cafeteria dispersements for the month of December 2024 in the amount of $ 31,48 51 H is to approve the care dispersements for the month of December in the amount of $177 4 and then I is just professional development um for several of our staff members and Associated costs and descriptions of those does any anybody have any questions on um business and finance I do yes so the source for teachers is that how how many months is that four well that's just that's that's just the pay rate so it changes every week depending on how much the total in the bills oh that's um I gotta look at the I don't think I have it with meks I left my cop there yes so these are usually um this one is probably two weeks and then the rest are probably like weekly weekly bills yeah um we have several Aid positions that are still unfilled but we have to fill them based on IEP requirements so some of the teachers I mean some of the AIDS are coming from source for teachers which is making the bill a little bit higher um but again it all depends on people being out um we had a special ed vacancy for a long time that we were kind of filling with different areas so it's expensive number of M with the elementary school yeah now I have a question about the same thing um different though how are our rates compared to other districts are we comfortable we are comforable we're still a little bit lower than some some of our surrounding rates but um we keep we've gone up a little bit and at some point I said I I can't keep going up with even though surrounding districts are because then that's just going to drive them higher which is just going to continue to drive us higher but we are very competitive okay as long as we're competitive no we're very competitive we've had much better Success With The Fill rates this year my next question yeah we really have it's actually been pretty good this year um and we have a lot several Subs that are just happy that they they just want to come here which is nice so we have a standing um po of Subs through source for teachers that one to do we have a standing building sub for each building yes we do this there every day no matter what y okay have we thought about maybe hiring another one so we don't have to go through source for teachers if we had well no we have the we have the standing stop through Source there it's yeah I just wasn't sure if that would save us a little bit of money by not really no okay yeah because then you'd do benefits and all here because they'd be a fulltime employee even though they're like a long even though they're like like a floater um they would still be a full-time employee so not they wouldn't be like a considered long-term sell because they'd be doing something different every day so it doesn't really fall under that same where you're not paying benefits on a long-term salber pension or anything if we hired someone to be that floater they would receive benefits they'd be the fulltime so um any other questions all right Mr Golden yes Mrs Allen yes Mr Phillips yes Mrs reene yes Mrs Helma yes Miss Juliano yes Miss Doran yes and Mr Davis yes all right perfect um we don't have anything for old business that I can remember um new business committee updates we don't have anything for BTA or BT PSA uh Finance we schedule our meeting for 6:45 because I forgot we changed our time to 7 um so I literally went through it in two minutes um because they were signing bills but I'll go through a couple things here um like I always do um we presented the budget report the revenue report um everything's being received for revenues um up to date uh we didn't have any updates to added District special education placements I just told the finance committee that our budget prep is underway state aid figures will be released on February 27th per statute um and then our 2526 budget is due to the county office on March 19th uh 2025 for their review and then May 1 I believe is going to be our public hearing if I remember correctly uh more information on budget figures and where we stand will be available at the February meeting um just really closely watching those special ed related costs um looking at increases in obviously salary benefits things that nature do have some concerns because our Assa submission um there was a decrease in student enrollment which I told everybody I think last month or the month before but that our free reduced lunch population um did go up so maybe there'll be a bit of a balance there uh so we're going to watch that closely when those state aid numbers come in we have a performance report due for one of the co grants the S2 grants that's due February 28th I will have that in on time um I think I just have two or three ethics disclosures um to be submitted that's the annual filing requirement so anybody that didn't complete that I've been sending weekly reminders so just go ahead and get that done let me know when you're done school bus inspections are going to be March 19th uh we just went through another round of quarterly to make sure that they were um in good condition and then just a little shout out to our maintenance and custodial staff for working hard to get our Lots um salted and cleared from our snow and ice over the past month so Chuck was here till midnight on came in on Sunday night Sunday night till midnight free and then back on back on Monday also to one of my bus drivers who came in on Monday and helped clean off the buses um great job by all take to Village um so that was finance committee school boards I haven't seen anything come over through for New Jersey school boards um ed services Michelle we didn't have a meeting in January we do in February Y and I update I let them know that you were still the representative so they were happy they have to update anything here uh Pine Hill Pine Hill we had our reor meeting first for the month but we also had our regular meeting the same night to kind of keep it from having two meetings which was nice um we swore in our new board members which really weren't new board members they were existing ones that were voted in um we had ethics training that are attorney went over like all of our ethics stuff with us um we of course did all the annual reorg meeting stuff voted president vice president we have the same vice president and president that we had last year Marty and Christine um we also did the teacher um of the year for Uber Brook was Miss Barrett and the staff member of the year was Miss needle Mrs needle she's the media center staff member two great choices yes um one of my sons had Miss Barrett so I I out of all the math teachers I wish more of my sons would have her it just happened so um but she's very good um we have our board retreat is February 1 um Saturday morning I think it's from 99: to 11:30 um and then the Committees were sent out we get put on our committees then we know what meetings we have to attend um we do our committee meetings virtually the week before the board meeting typically typically it's the Tuesday before the board meeting but I think next month it's Monday because is it New Jersey school board no it's cam cam County School Board is the Tuesday I think so the fourth is that meeting last night we had site council meeting and we went over a bunch of different things graduation was changed to June 18th uh we congratulated Miss Barrett because she's on the site Council for winning teacher of the year uh they had they talked about a brief meeting they had with all the Juniors and seniors after the holidays um basically encouraging them to finish strong because some of them may or may not be eligible to participate in things such as prom and um the senior trip and other things that they do um they have to be passing with 30 credits to be eligible plus not of course they cannot they cannot be getting in trouble and things like that as well um second marketing period ends next Tuesday project success is not being used as much as they would like it to be used so they're promoting it a little bit more for the kids to use um we went over the course guide they have 10 dual credit courses starting well in next year's course guide and I'm not sure how many are a carrier but there are 10 of them next year's course guide that no cost to the students if they take this class and they pass with an A B and I believe c as well they get credit for C County College they don't have to pass the AP exam like it used to be um let's see uh junior class will be doing their class picking of their classes the week of February 3rd sophomores will be February 17th freshman will be March 3rd and Berlin they're hoping for the week of March 24th so this still to put that on the calend though State Testing is going to be for the NJ GPA for 11th graders from March 10th to March 13th then they have the njsla they're going to have it April 29th to March 2nd there'll be a two-hour delay both all those days for well the first set of testing for everyone but the 11th graders and for the second set of testing for the 10th and the 12th graders there'll be a two-hour delay all those days the next meeting is in person in the media center date to be determined because the date that was on the calendar of Mr kru can't make it that day um virtual me the meeting after that will be virtual May 28th um virtual conferences are February 20th starting at 6 PM 8th grade parent night is next Thursday the 30th at 6:30 p.m.

e e good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the January 23rd 2025 general meeting of the Clifton Board of Education please rise for the flag salute and a moment of silence I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible andice for all thank you roll call Mr Shad please miss bassford president Mr brunak here Mr Kenova here Dr Danny here Mr Mia here Mr siano here M Suarez here vice president Santiago here president Paris here we have a Corum thank you uh commissioner Mahia could you read the mission statement please sure the mission of the clion school district in an open and reciprocal Community Partnership is to provide all students with quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong Learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to the Democratic Society and an everchanging world thank you the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Clifton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date time and place thereof posted at the city clerk's office Clifton Public Library administration building senior citizen Nutrition Center on cable TV and the local press on the district's website and mail to presidents of parent teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with policy 0168 it's our student representative Mark here I'd like to welcome you up to give your report good evening everybody before I begin my report I would just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year let's continue the successes we've had in 2024 into 2025 uh first of all I would like to address a fairly new fairly important policy at Clifton High School as most Bo board members and parents know a full roll out of the classroom cell phone ban policies imminent at CHS I'm not speaking to inform anyone about the details of the policy that will come in due time for administration I simply want to make it known that student leaders at CHS are making every effort to make sure the roll out is smooth the week of the policy roll out there will be student made videos broadcast on our very own morning news that explain the policy in more detail and some of the benefits of a cell phone less classroom to students these videos will work to improve student attitude which is likely currently apathetic towards the policy second of all Dr Rober toy uh and I met with the super attendant ambassadors early earlier this month it was a productive meeting we discussed many important topics for the upcoming year a brief synopsis of this meeting will follow one of the first issues was the morning breakfast at CHS uh we received some complaints and are now starting to open both K3 and K5 around the same time to alleviate some congestion in the morning and make sure that all the students can sit with their friends and whoever they wish we at CHS are very proud of our extensive breakfast program that serves hot breakfast as well as grab andg go options to hundreds of students day daily secondly a focus group was created to try and get CHS students to check their emails more often uh we noticed that some students fail to check their emails because they feel they may feel like there is no need or because it is cluttered with Google Classroom notifications we are working to inform students that if they don't check their emails they may be missing out on valuable information such as scholarship opportunities finally we are also going to be working to iron out some of the Kinks for wellness days and the upcoming marking periods to finish off I want to give a quick recap of the upcoming Sports and events for CHS there will be a boys hockey match tomorrow at 6 p.m.

to e e e [Applause] in so as they are coming on stage there's a lot of them as you can see give them a second they're going to take their time get settled in their space once they're ready to go they'll be in rest position that's how we all know they're ready to go in the meantime I just want to introduce myself in case we haven't met uh my name is Colleen trass and I teach Orchestra here at fiser middle school and also at Ying High School um in a moment I'm going to turn over the microphone and you will almost exclusively hear the students announcing pieces um one gives me a break from talking so much too it's it's their concert so they're going to tell you all about their pieces um I'll invite you to you know unplug and enjoy the event I promise this goes up on YouTube afterwards so I don't feel like you have to like you know if you don't have to feel pressure to like film all of it there'll be a copy of it on YouTube you can see later on um and just kind of give them your full attention they worked very hard up to this point so just give them your full attention here um we'll get start in a little bit and like I said um the rest of the time you'll hear from our students so I'm going to turn it over to our first announcer good evening and welcome to the winter orchestra concert our first piece would be tiger Ridge this program Beach which means a composer is using a music to tell a story the story of this piece is about a tiger who's going through the day during quiet parts of the song The Tiger is napping in the Sun and other sections there running or hunting one [Music] nah [Music] la [Music] Happ [Music] [Applause] our next piece will be a Vikings tail this is also a program piece and our composer is telling the story of Viking words it is a dark and intense standing piece and requires us to play many different volumes or Dynamics I'm just going to warn the audience about our sound effect really quick just in case it gets a little loud we do have a little thing just one part of the song that's not playing and sometimes it comes out kind of loud um so I'm just going to warn you in advance here not like what is that um you'll know what it is when you hear it um but I'm just giving you a heads up if it's not a violin sound um it's our little special effect I just have to warn them in case anyone gets startled okay so Vikings tail [Music] the [Music] n [Music] the [Music] la [Music] the [Music] [Applause] our final piece will be Treasure Island this is also a pram piece and the composer is T the story of pirates on adventure working for Treasure this piece required kind called Low to during this piece you will hear each section played a Melody we hope you enjoyed our version of the concert next will be sixth grade chamber orchestra all [Music] the [Music] [Applause] w e we are the sixth grade chamber orchestra a chamber orchestra is similar is similar as a small group of work students in chamber were chosen to learn an additional challenging piece and rehearse it outside of Orchestra class first is a high energy piece which requires the use of many different strings playing techniques may include like like playing and quickly changing Dynamics or volume [Music] the the [Music] the [Music] yeah for than w w w on stage now as the seventh grade Orchestra our first piece is called First Light is a program piece meaning the composer is using it to tell a story or wants the audience something while they listen in this case the composer wants the music to sound like a beautiful sunrise we hope you enjoy first life for [Music] for [Music] h [Music] all [Music] all [Music] for [Music] h [Music] w [Applause] all right so our next piece is called the full title Gloria in excelis Deo um it's usually just referred to as baldi's Gloria um it's usually performed with uh choir and Orchestra in this case it's just arranged for just String orchestra um you're going to hear two separate groups playing we have like the orchestra like the background accompaniment part and then several solo players so these students um were told everyone was given the opportunity hey if you want audition for a solo you have to go home practice these measures come back and audition for me and these are the students who had our solos um so just so I don't forget anybody um on violin one we will have K Bach and Empress Canada on violin 2 Amir Velasquez viian ordones and n eam on viola Lea George Emil Morell and T Ashford and onello Anna samorin and Audrey detur um we'll recognize um everybody at the end of the piece as well have stand and be recognized for their effort um but this is go n [Music] the [Music] oh [Applause] our final piece of being kisor kisor is a program Fe in it it tells a story The compos tells a story explore on the long and joury with different sections we hope you enjoy our portion of the content our next will be seventh grade Quintet [Music] the n [Music] la n [Music] e [Music] la [Music] [Applause] good job Li [Applause] all right while they're getting set up um our next group is going to be our seventh grade quintet um so a small group of five people pet 43 um so we have our quintet um this group formed themselves um kind of came to me said this is our quintet we' like to play together um they also chose this piece last um last year so the piece was picked out by them I helped them find it and get it obviously um but they pick the piece they pick the people um they've been rehearsing during their lunch period um because they have to they only get one lesson a week so they've been doing this like on their own time they eat they come down they practice they've been running this through um quintets and small groups like that work without a conductor so in a moment I want to make sure they're all good and still tuned winter is a very bad time for tuning so if you keep see me fiddling with instruments it's is terrible time for tuning so I'll check on them really quick and then they they go without me so in a moment this will be quintet and there are pieces called Garo for [Music] for [Music] for [Music] woo W wo w for w [Music] for for on stage now is the eighth grade Orchestra our first piece Mythos was written by Sun noodles who was inspired by myths Legends and fairy tales it contains four different sections Ted Once Upon a Time Adventure fantasy and final victory in this piece you will hear Tempo and mood changes time signature changes and a viola solo performed by Astro trial [Applause] you're [Music] St [Music] what [Music] the [Applause] consing is a slow and expensive piece with piece that features each section of the orchestra at some point performing this piece requires lato or smooth and connected b as well as balancing volume throughout the orchestra to make sure the melody can be heard in addition the violent one section needs to play in a high position called third position which allows viol players to reach new and higher notes [Applause] spe [Music] now e [Music] oh [Music] to I [Music] [Applause] our next piece is Brandon B country by johash his six Brandon B considered to be one of the most famous pieces from the broke ER music by was famous for being mentally and phally [Applause] challenging for [Music] the [Music] the [Music] this [Music] [Applause] our final eighth grade orchestra piece will be Arlington sketches this piece presented challenges including playing flat shifting to higher positions 16th notes playing contrasting and dynamic moves after this we'll have a short to bring out the honor Symphony Orchestra we hope you enjoyed our portion of the concert [Applause] n I [Music] am [Music] you [Music] n [Music] EX e [Music] than [Music] la the [Music] [Applause] so we see a little bit of time here to bring out um our last and biggest group on our symphony so give us just a minute or so to everybody out here about 65 kids give a now [Applause] Ron so while we're bringing out our bringing out our biggest group like I said um I'm going to multitask a bit it's going to be a while um there's a lot of people we have to thank um for making this concert possible um so to take care of all that first of all I want to thank the students for all their hard work up until this point um thank you to you the audience their parents Guardians friends family everyone who's here to support them for your support year round but also tonight I'd like to thank Bob Steve and the rest of the Fisher Middle School custodial staff um this year especially I needed a lot of help setting stuff up um this entire platform is not usually here they build us assemble it they move everything they help out us help us out a lot throughout the year I'd like to thank the classroom teachers and especially the teachers who are here chaperoning this evening and helping us out uh Brock nland our department supervisor um building administrators Dr Hannah Dr Hannah Mr dwire Mr chlock Miss frean and Mr rco Mr D is here tonight so thank you for being here I'd like to thank our superintendent Dr Gentile and assistant superintendent Dr Bogus the Board of Education and fing my music colleagues um here tonight is Mr silipo he who be conducting a little bit um thank you Miss mayerson from anti she's here helping out tonight but also to all my music colleagues um Mr Price Mr bport miss marrison m Miss Hall car Mr Edwards I have to anybody I know all them know them forever I just can't Forget anyone um so thank you to all of them for their support um again throughout the year but also um this evening so with that being said I think we're all here all right so I'm going to pass the microphone back to our students to announce I'll also tune anything on stage now is the honor Symphony Orchestra this group combines seventh and eighth grade band and Orchestra students our Orchestra director M TR and the band director Mr Cino rehearses strings and band classes separately and combined classes as we get closer to the concert our first piece will be shaherazad the piece is a popular choice for professional orchestras since it is a favorite among classical music fans it's a program piece meaning it tells a story in this case it is a story of shahad who is a narrator in the book Arabian Nights through this expressive piece the composer tells stories of War Love and Other Adventures the violence s will be performed by eth graders Elizabeth Martins and Noel cwell [Applause] w for [Music] pap [Music] what [Music] la [Music] all [Music] la [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] la [Music] la [Music] bir [Music] w [Music] w our final piece will be capricio espanol the composer was inspired by Spanish folk music and dances you will hear different theme elements of this music including fast moving rhythms and percussion including tambourine and C conducting our last piece will be band director Mr Filipino we hope you enjoyed our show [Applause] let's hear from Mrs TR one more time spe [Music] he [Music] n the [Music] he the [Music] w [Applause] um thank you again for your support um tonight and um throughout the school year we appreciate it um get home safe tonight we'll get them back to you shortly thank you

all right wild cats it's a frigid Friday fun day it's been a cold week we're sitting at 6° right now at the time of filming it's been cold not e-learning cold but definitely cold out there we got our trusty driver Mr ksky back this year we're going to pick up a few of our students from Kermie ask them how they're doing all they got to do is answer a few questions and they're going to get a ride to school possible to have your eyeballs Frozen kids don't tell me it's too cold out that guy's out there jogging Runners they're crazy I'm a runner are your lights on I don't know will they turn off automatically okay good good morning hi who am I here with Maddie how are you enjoying the cold weather we've been having this week I mean I got a hand warmer so oh an electric hand warmer that was one of the best gifts on Amazon this year to get on the holidays on Friday and my grandparents already got me a heated sweater a heated sweater wow I've never heard of one of those it's really nice we're going to give you a ride to school you just got to be able to answer a few questions okay it's new Year New You could you tell us since it's a new year could you name like a newer teacher in one of the departments at school um my math teacher Miss Nolan Miss Nolan Miss Nolan is a math teacher fairly new here oh we got to make sure you don't get hit by this plus here can you name a veteran teacher like someone that's been here a while um Miss Walters Miss Walters I love her she loves her Miss Walters loves their students veteran Avid teacher English teacher Miss Walters good job we made it all the way to School great job have a great day stay warm thank you you too there's Dr DWI in his snow pants we're racing a bus we are here at kermi we are 25 miles away from school it's about a lap around the track but on a day like today it might feel a little colder we're going to pick up a few more kids here get them back over to school in a timely warm fashion you guys want to ride H wild cats who am I here with Chloe and Samantha both wearing coats good job all right so so it's new year new you out with the old in with the new can you guys name us like a newish teacher someone that's new better just a year or two Miss Rodman Miss Rodman English teacher brand new this year all right how about an old teacher like one of those old folks walking around an experienced teacher I'm not sure help her out or you guys going to have to get out Miss Stadler Miss Stadler veteran Avid teacher social studies teacher we made it we made it school guys hope you're warm all right maybe we go a little Offroad here we'll get back to Ker faster pick up some more kids just a slight bump Mr ksky is a professional driver he's into racing stopping at all the four-way stops regretting not wearing the long johns today I'll say that got to answer a couple questions hop on in here we're going to give you a ride to school as long as you can answer a couple questions who am I here with Julia Payton D two junior Here is it fun driving to school now that you're a junior you feel like older and like mature uh yeah it's fun but I don't like walking that was going to be my next question you like the driving to school but you don't like the walking from ker McGee I Le it's like a quarter of a mile that's like one lap around a track that's not that far yeah it takes like 5 minutes and 5 minutes in the cold is too far so on the walk over you get to think about your day make New Year's resolutions can you name a newest teacher in the building oh my god oh Mrs Rogers a PE teacher Mrs Rogers PE teacher can you name us an older teacher or veteran teacher oh Mr ballan Mr ban yes math division head also teaches who's the guy that greets the students every day out in front of the school Dr DWI Dr DWI who's he the principal principal very good very good Tuesday was definitely a little on the chilly side we did not have any learning day if we do have an e-learning Day by what time do you have to check in for your attendance 1:00 1:00 she got it first try where do you find all your assignments on an e-learning day uh Google Classroom Google classroom if you had to say what's like the temperature threshold that would be like Yep this is an e-learning day what do you think it should be anything below zero once you hit below zero yeah minus one yeah e-learning e-learning yeah zero no e-learning exactly okay all right we made it thank you you're welcome want ready to school all right wild cats I'm here with Tiffany what year at school are you senior how you enjoying this uh cold weather actually enjoy it at least I'm not hot you know okay you're a fan of the cold weather we just picked up a new customer who am I here with Mia zata make sure you lock your car yeah we're good did a lock yeah how are you enjoying the cold weather so I hate it I hate it how do you like the walk over from kerm to school it's not the best not the best I'd give you this drink but it's not mine to get she brought two she has two cold drinks on this cold day I think there's like ice foring in this thing are you going to drink both these no it's for my friend oh one for a friend one for you that's very nice of you can you guys just answer a couple questions for us as we get to school it's like new year new you how the old with the new can you tell me like a neest teacher around the building a new teacher yeah the neest uh wait can I have thing for a second you go to her Miss nki Miss nki I think yeah math teacher yes it's very good I about an oldish teacher oh an old teacher you okay but like they don't have to necessarily be old but they've been here a while um Mr C it could be Mr C Mr C Mr K Jeron yeah yeah he fits both he is old and he's been here a while yeah he's a veteran very good were you hoping for e- learning this week huh were you hoping for an e-learning day this week oh yeah definitely yeah wait can you give me a pass or no we got you here earlier no tell me you were filming Friday fun day maybe that'll be your pass yeah all right stay warm zip your coat up you'll be warm oh wait here's your drink thank you all right wild cats well that was fun it was cold but it was fun warmer days are ahead let's get through this winter together keep coming to school wear a coat get some hat and gloves enjoy the walk over from kerm get to school on time if we have an e-learning day check in by 1:00 have a great weekend wild cats stay warm [Music]

for call the meeting order and we'll start with a pledge of allegiance iedge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all want to welcome everyone to the school board meeting this evening just remind everyone we are live streaming the event um and um we'll start by um entertaining a motion to accept accept consent agenda items I have a motion by Earl do I have a second second by Pat any discussion all those in favor 70 um next we'll move down to some recognition was F time of the meeting we would like to start this evening with some celebrations for some fall Sports and so we have high school students here that I'd like to recognize and um gentlemen when I call your name and I read your list of accomplishments do you mind standing up while I'm reading and then we'll want to get a picture and shake your hand when we're finished okay so first up Kaden would you stand up and I'd like to read some accomplishments for Kaden this year so Kaden young accomplished a remarkable amount in his three years of running at Cross Country at the high school starting with his sophomore year he was selected as an Indiana Allstar his senior year and competed in the midwest meet of Champions he's a hoer Hills champion and a three-time allconference selection kadon is the high school 5K record holder with a time of 1507 and he ran the fifth fastest time in the state of Indiana in 2024 he completed in the state finals twice and has been a sectional runner up he's won the ray girkin Invitational twice and the Duke Meer classic twice congrats to Kaden and his historic cross country and now I'd like to celebrate Parker Bales Parker pH stand up Parker Bales finished his junior tennis season with a 21 and3 record at number one singles with two of his losses coming at the hands of players voted to the All State second team Parker had a season full of highlights he was the first jchs boys tennis player to win an individual single section champion since 2000 he was also named all hoer conference all district and all state honorable mention through three seasons Parker has amassed a 61 and9 record for the Panthers congrats to Parker on a fantastic Junior [Applause] Tennessee congratulations and if you will go around and Shake everyone's hand to grab a picture conratulations and don't forget to grab some JC cookies we got to celebrate you they're in the hallway thank you to their families to making sure they could attend tonight we really appreciate take a cookie for now and a cookie for later did you hear that JoJo we got cookies not ice cream I think we have a presentation next and next up we have Alan Brenham and he's presenting something very special to our Orchestra Department would you like to come up Mr bham and describe what you have and show us and then we'll have a special presentation I have two kids that have done exceptionally well I that St right here so I know what you're doing because [Music] P so they went to college but every kid can't go to college or doesn't want to go to college and what you're doing for the other kids is really nice and I think Trump said the other night we need to get on board with this program so you're already on board so you're ahead of the game thank you this is why I'd like to present the Jenny County Schools there's a little history behind this particularly the top the top is sick of spruce and sick of spruce comes from Alaska and what the company does that harvests the spruce there are no trees cut it's all from down material they take these huge logs and they bind a bunch of them together and they build a house on them and move that house from place to place wherever they are harvesting the loggers live on that they replace that about once every five years the top on this guitar came out of one of those that have been in the water for about 50 years what happens under water is the barnacles grow holes in it and lay the RS but these are this is a special type of top they're pretty expensive today but not for me but anyway I'm going to leave that with you just in case something should ever happen to the top we've got this to go back so we got original material that go back in hopefully nothing like that ever happens we'll be really careful won't we Mr Billy yeah say pressure on I don't know if you notice or not but all the trim on this is red white and blue for J County and then the headstock has a JC logo on it so and the Allen guitar it's at the bottom okay all my guitars have that a on them somewhere oh I've played your instruments before then do you uh do you keep them at the uh we patch music in Brown County wow I have I've drilled on some of these before wow a biger walnut back and Sid biged Walnut neck trim and oh that is beautiful how long does something like that take to make pardon how long does something like that take to make I really that take keep myself do it six days wow wow and if I send it out to my finisher I'm looking at another eight weeks soaz I don't dedicate myself to six days anymore but the first one I ever built took me six days was in class so a lot of the setups were already made can we get a picture of you with Mr Billings and the guitar yeah um before we can I would love to get the picture but I'd love even more to hear it and some more pressure okay well can someone play a little something I can do that and just make sure you sit down because I don't see a St I'll take a chair to the side here wow that's um so we have not met before and this is kind of a surprise to me um this is fantastic um I have been working real close with Kenny Henry who runs our music store here in town um that has been a huge huge support to our program doing repairs and things and he is now actually teaching me how to do repairs and all the anything ter apartment violin from scratch putting it back together he's teaching me how to do a applying tools and stuff been a big help um I built my first electric guitar in high school in Jim Clarkson shop class A fewa blades doing it but you know 16 what do you want to do I build a guitar um so like maybe you know one of these days I will uh be able to you know do some craftsmanship like you've done here this this is I really appreciate this um that that fine line between you know an instrument needs to be played and and the kids need to experience good quality stuff but then also don't do that so yeah I'll uh I guess I'll Chris in this thing I I don't typically learn People's music and remember it maybe because my brain is too small for all of that uh but was T this morning I I do write my own music uh so we'll person with something in mind I guess [Music] okay person's on here we go [Music] beautiful beautiful thank you so much I want to thank you because he was going to hand that to me tonight and I'm just a rhythm guy I you know the case and the humida has been donated by Pat Sullivan my neighbor yeah because uh when when we finished it up and and uh he had a gig bang and said I don't think we better do that with the kids not with that one I I keep stuff cased or I've got special hangers in my office where it stays out of hands unless I I hand it over so's it'll be very tell you oh awesome awesome awesome gentlemen I couldn't ask for a better example of Jennings County and and taking care of our kids thank [Applause] you you're certainly welcome that does oh it's got a pick up too nice very nice soal or something we can yes I just keep sna I well if you ever know I'll get sorry to mess up your deadline Mr BR James got in the way on that deadline didn't he I took up a little bit of your time it's been so we're going to go ahead and move on um through the agenda so first we'll ask if anyone else is present who would like to speak on any item on the agenda or any other topic hearing none um we'll move down under old Business program yes this is just inform dist reminder to the community and parents that if they want any input on um science textbook adoption for K through six to contact me or their building principal and we will get them in their hands so they can give their input great do we have a deadline for that next few weeks yes okay perfect um so again we always want um our community members parents especially um to give input into textbook adoption so we are adopting a new science textbook um so if you're interested revie that information um please reach out to again building principles and or car here at the um central office um next will go down under property um Sand Creek roofing project yes I'm asking the board to approve the Sand Creek Roofing contract I'm recommending the second lowest bidder that was South Central Roofing at $338,000 due to the fact that the lowest bidder was not deemed responsible due to an incomplete bid package so we'll entertain a motion to approve um that a motion by mayor Lyn do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor 70 next we'll move down under new business yes uh Mr Roller and Mrs eving they are here to um present a proposal to allow for a PE waiver um for basic PE course 3 3 542 um given the due um diploma requirements for the incoming freshman class this will give uh greater flexibility for offerings um it's commonly used across the state at other High School um we'll ask for an approval of the first February board meeting yeah and with the uh with the new Indiana high school diploma it's all about flexibility and being able to personalize the students and what they need and a big push is opening up time in their Junior and senior years to be able to get out work BAS learning handson opportunities um this flexibility with PE has been available from the doe since 2009 um we have held off on it um a big change with this is that it went from two required credits for PE so a full year to one required credit um for this diploma so we have put together a PE waiver um as Carrie said many other high schools use it would be for any IH sa sanction sport that we participate in um marching band and Touch of Class our swing choir program um and all of that is listed there on the form they would need to start from the first practice and finish through the last contest um she'll complete a full season and have their coach sign off on that their coach or their sponsor sign off on that and that would result in a past fail situation so when I say that um they would receive credit but there would not be a great attach that would affect their GPA um so they would still that would check that box for them they would get the credit for that PE course and open up some room in their schedule for other opportunities so so this again is an inform item we will vote on it at the next meeting yes okay very good um so next we'll move down under professional staff we have one recommendation this is recommendation for uh Jason B JCS head football coach contract extended through 2627 school year okay a motion motion by Travis do I have a second second second by Pat any discussion all those in favor seven o next we'll move down under support staff again one recommendation another recommendation Trey McAdam JCS Volunteer football coach effective um January 24th 2025 this is for appertain a motion to approve motion by Earl I have a second second by Chelsea any discussion all those in favor next we move down under finances we have some donations yes I'm asking approval for the following donations Mark hes and realy $75 to Brush Creek for the donut perfect attendance the following are for the high school Don for the men's volleyball club expert iare $250 812 Driving Academy $250 Layman humel Insurance $100 and Jill Napier $100 next is Ray G wager $100 donating to the high school Panther pantry and Techo foundation for youth $200 donation to cpio Elementary for the registration for the robotics team entertain a motion to accept those donations as read so move have a motion by Pat do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor 7 next we'll move down under property we have a resolution yeah res resolution 25-1 is resolution to dispose of surplus items and it's in your packet the the list of details in your packet entertain a motion to approve that resolution resolution as presented motion by Travis I have second by Mary Lynn any discussion all those in favor 70 next move down to operations yes this this was an informed last meeting I'm asking for approval of the school bus routing software and that the company's name is transfinder oneyear contract entertain a motion to approve I have a motion by Chelsea do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor seven which brings us down the have two brief others one in your packet are pictures of the new furniture in the high school cafeteria that finishes out the project we've been working on and M rer I hear the students were really excited to see those upgrades when they came back this week yes it was very um exciting we we actually found a spot in the corner on Tuesday morning to watch the kids come in and they were shocked some ask if it was if it was staying or if we had just rented it and it's here it's yours you can sit in it it was very exciting to see them very a lot of Pride really modernizes the space makes it feel more like a college atmosphere different types of seating very nice and then uh last one just a thank you to you it's actually a school board appreciation month in January and I just want to publicly thank you for all you do you always keep kids first in all your decision making and you're very thoughtful about decisions and you have been such a key leadership part of all the significant improvements we're starting to see across the corporation I appreciate you and your thoughtful leadership so thank you hearing nothing else to come before the board we entertain a motion to adjourn motion by Chelsea do I have a second second by Pat all those in favor 70 making attorne what

I'd like to call this Finance meeting to order um we will begin with election of a president and secretary um asking for nominations nomin as president yes and secretary nomination I Nom other nominations um any discussion oh sorry all those in favor any discussion iose I did that in completely backwards order but I will happily now turn it over to the president and I will happily turn it over to Phil March all right um the designated depositories for the school corporation will be German American Bank and Jackson County Bank the same as we had last year the second element of the second element of this is the annual investment report currently we have 3.2 million of the 3.5 million 2024 Geo bond that we have for the uh long-term maintenance currently invested from from an investment standpoint number three review of all um investment policy the investment policy is policy 6144 and I'm not recommending any changes of that at this time next one is the cancellation of outstanding checks we're required to settle any outstanding checks before the two-year Mark our oldest outstanding checks about 15 months right now so we're in compliance with that and lastly is the finan the corporation fiscal and qualitative indicators it's in your packet and you'll see on page one we've got a slight dip in ADM on page two you're going to see a slight reduction in Ed fund slight increase in Ops fund and an increase in local funds due to the 202 23 bonding that we did for the CTE project on page four you're going to see a slight Surplus between revenue and expenses and that just means that we uh spent last year spent less last year than what we got in which is a good thing and you also see a fourpoint drop in the fund balances as a percentage of expenditures but we're still in compliance to The Unofficial you know where where we need to be on that there's no real hard Mark but most people use a percent and we are within that compliance too and on page four you see a decrease in the FED funding and that's due to the spend down of the uh stimulus sr3 stimulus got taken care of and that is all I have to report unless there's any questions any questions from board members hearing no questions we'll entertain a motion to adjourn the annual board finan have a motion by Pat do I have a second second by Earl all those in favor seven o meeing a

welcome everyone to the Ashland planning board meeting of Thursday January 23rd a reminder to everyone that that meeting is being broadcast and recorded first on our agenda well first I will call the meeting to order on time at 7:15 and second uh we go to the clerk's report Kate thank you madam chair we've had three emails since the last meeting um one of the going back a meeting I I forgot to ask if anyone responded on behalf of the board Kevin had his resignation and I just on behalf of the board I don't think anyone's responding in the way our pre pre-cooked ones are I can't respond good wait TW don't are we good nope testing uh testing testing microphone is it yours Peter testing testing got it all right great um so we had we've had three emails since the last meeting mostly were caught up on um responses but I think there's one from the historical commission that had to do with us being aware of specific sites um and I don't know if that one has been responded to Yes um so in terms of um Kevin's email I I did respond to that though I'll have to go back and know if it was just a personal response for me or maybe nothing officially from the board but just an acknowledgement of his resignation so we can go check on that and as far as the historical commission um yeah I asked I sent her question back asking if um if there was a way if it would be helpful for us to know certain areas um where these things might take place so that we would better know when to ask for more in-depth information yeah so I can just give a quick update to that I did uh reach out to uh Jim neelon the historical commission the next Wednesday Curtis Hoffman who's a member of the historical commission is going to come in and show me the material and where live uh where it exists in the town Vault with the Town Clerk and and so then then I'll be I'll know where it is I'll take a look at it and then obviously I can pass that knowledge knowledge over to the pling boards great thank you so then we I just want keeping up on response so then do we I guess we don't have to give a board response then to Kevin I I'll look back into that um I think I think my response probably was fine but um but yeah I'll I'll double check that okay so thank you okay next on our agenda is public comment there any public comment tonight there we go good evening thank you Mar 75 one almost said my old 119 Main Street I know that on the agenda tonight is is the comprehensive planning report that's on that's on tonight but I'm here through the chairman to the to the and Mr Peter we did a great team up last night and it was a great meeting working meeting and everything was really surprisingly well if it was a race we came in first but we also um heard the rest of the rest of the teams St but I'm going to to a horn for both me and Peter it's like we we knew we finish our own sentences with ideas is you said at the meeting last night you took my lead we LED each other to understand where where we're going thank you thank you Mark all right seeing no other public comment um we will go to the next item our agenda we have all been looking forward to the presentation of the Metro West YMCA uh for Ashton and the surrounding Community um who Peter is yeah so I can just introduce uh Peter uh and and Rick um from the from the Y from the Metro YMCA and I would ask uh you to come up to the podium and uh we can start the presentation uh and please introduce yourself um just for the pl board's knowledge obviously the uh the Metro YMCA is a project that's been uh slated to to to be uh to be here Ashen for for a number of years I know the community is very excited um and so um having conversations with the leadership of the metr W YMCA and knowing where the where the project is right now and the development of the project uh they asked to come in front of the Plenty board and give a a presentation uh and an update uh on on the project so at this point I think I'll hand it over to both Peter and Rick uh and please introduce yourself and uh and all the members of your team and hold I was going to say hold on just because uh we're starting to do these on a more regular basis I think um maybe and I I would like the whole team to be introduced but um just for people unfamiliar I think we should introduce ourselves as a board um I know most of the people connected at least here to the YMCA my name is Trisha Kendall and I currently chair the board cathine Jersey proud Framingham YMCA member and board member excellent that's great that's good that's fine and um just also so you know we have uh an associate member who's unable to attend tonight but she will be watching the tape and we have an open seat right now so um we're a little short but we will be filling that seat hopefully sooner rather than rather than later so um I will let Rick in the course of his um introduction introduce the members of his team thank you all right it's a pleasure to be here tonight um really nice to meet some of you and be reintroduced to some others uh my name is Rick mcferson I'm the president CEO of the Metro West YMCA I've been in that role for about 12 years now it's hard to believe and uh this um idea this dream of a regional YMCA serving this part of our service area has been a priority for the whole 12 years that I've been in this job and long before that um during the time that uh I've been in this role I've worked with you know lots of volunteer y board members Community leaders and and why staff members to really help provide important programs and services for the families in our region and the impact has been significant I would say um the impact of the traditional y facility uh in Framingham in the Outdoor Center in Hoppington has had uh a real impact on the quality of life for the kids seniors families uh it's really undeniable for the past 60 years the impact that thew has had in this entire region over the last 30 years I would say a why over the last 30 years a why located in Ashland uh to serve this region has been a long-standing goal of our board of directors um Community leaders just and people just like yourselves this has been uh in the works in conversations for so long and so I'm here tonight to say you know so why is everyone um investing so much time working so hard to make this happen then I'm going to Tee It Up to all these great people here that are really going to get into the weeds but uh I'd like you to just you know take a oh boy I'm not moving here it's not advancing so it's got to be on the C all right so not from here anymore from here after that I'm done so feel I'll have to figure it out when I'm finished so um so um I I just want you to take a look at the images here for a minute you know the hoit family why will be an inclusive diverse and welcoming Force for good that will strengthen the health and well-being of the community by helping people achieve their goals and build relationships while creating a sense of belonging every day this why will promote Healthy Living support Youth Development strengthen families enhance social responsibility uh it will Foster a sense of belonging but providing a welcoming environment for all people regardless of background or ability and really that's why so many people are working so hard to make this happen and with that I am going to introduce Peter Weiss gber who's our chief development officer uh proud Ashlin resident I might add and uh he will take it from here no he's got to lean into it all right it's awesome be all right thanks Rick for the past 30 years I've worked for YMCAs and what I've loved doing in my career and in my job is bringing new YMCAs to different communities whether that be quinsey or Westboro or Foxboro and to have that opportunity to do that in the town that that we love where we live is really just a a dream come true um the fact that the facility is going to be in Ashland means a great deal and the town of Ashland has been a fantastic partner but I think it's important to really stress with this group and with folks in the community that this will be a a regional facility this will be serving the surrounding towns as well even though we know the the zip code and we're very excited about the ZIP code that that we have so I think you'll see that that Regional aspect of this really come to life as you look at the um the leadership cabinet so our cabinet co-chaired by vizzy Tac of Ashland um Tom Karen of Framingham is made up of 20 volunteers from ashin Hopkinton Holliston Sherburn and Framingham and it really is a a fantastic group of passionate volunteers you'll probably recognize a few of the names on there as well whether it's um Yolanda or Amy or Steve or Enzo definitely a lot of folks who have done a lot of great things in in this town and in the region they've been working hard over the last 18 months Making Connections building momentum and really earning the right to make an ask for folks who may want to support this this project so we're happy to share this point there we go um that we've secured the first $10 million for this exciting public public private partnership that funding includes State support and special thanks to State Senate President spila who's been such a champion for all of all of Metro West it also includes a $5 million HUD earmark and Senator Warren Senator Mary Congressman McGovern Have Been instrumental in in making that happen and they're excited to see this all the way through and I know they'll be there at The ribon Cutting next to next to all of us when we get there I think it's telling that that our lead gift of $2.5 million came from math Works based in NAIC and our most recent 7 figure gift that we were able to um secure came from the TJX Foundation based in Framingham speaks to that Regional nature but also to the importance of what these companies see as a resource for their employees in this region many of whom live in town here and certainly in hopkington hollist Ashland Sherburn and Framingham the other towns where our leadership cabinet make U members come from as we shift our Focus to the next $10 million um we've received support already from NM bank and middle sex Bank we've submitted a number of foundation requests um and from a number of families and individuals in this region who truly see the impact of of what we're going to um be able to bring to fruition so I just I would close by saying that having done this now for 30 years in my career I know how this story can end this story can end with a ribbon cutting with all of us surrounding this building that's going to be a resource for tens of thousands of kids and families for decades to come and generations to come and I think we see that at our Framingham facility with families who went to the Y whose kids went to the Y whose grandkids go to the Y now and that's what we'll have here just an amazing resource for for the project so we're on our way to $20 million uh and then we'll continue on beyond that I need to say that fundraising at that level takes a lot of time it's hard work I'm saying that because my boss is U but it's exciting work and we have an opportunity really to to leave a legacy and I think as you see um how the project is shaping up now in this next part of the presentation I think you'll be as excited as as we are so it's my pleasure to call upon and introduce seim with CBT Architects um who we're working closely with and say will walk you through the next part of the presentation thank you want's the magic butt thank you Peter it's a great honor to be here and we're super excited about obviously being part of this really amazing opportunity to not only build a beautiful building but to really be part of this journey of making this community um even even you know greater and better and having this YMCA be part of that uh Endeavor uh we are in the process of um honing in on what the master planning would should look like and we are also in the process of thinking about the design of the building um as well and today we would like to give an overview of where we are in that process um not to say that you know these are not final but in terms of the a lot of the conversations that we've had and the thoughts that we've been given uh we we've given uh to the project um is what we want to share today we started the project by really thinking about what the guiding principles are about you know what this uh facility wants to be uh in ashin in Metro West Region and really thinking about aligning that with um the community as well as the YMCA really prioritizing health and well well-being relationships and achievement and belonging as The Guiding principles and how that could all lead to really celebrating inclusivity um celebrating uh you know really great uh beautiful building um that the community can be proud of but also thinking about how we can integrate nature as part of how we uh Envision the building and all that leads to a series of um aspirations of the qualities that we want to achieve that um evolve around the ideas about sustainability um having a unique identity um about building the member experience as well as the flexibility of spaces and how the building could evolve over time as the different um funding opportunities and as the community involvement grows as a members grow how the building also could grow over time through a number of workshops uh We've EST established a number of goals um that are out outlined here um and you can see that they're not only just focused on members and programming but a lot of it is related to sustainability about the visibility identity um as well as community building we see nature as a really big driver um and something that makes this YMCA very different uh from a lot of the other YMCAs knowing where the site is and knowing the the really robust nature and the environment that the building is going to be sitting around uh sitting within really celebrate nature and integrating nature as part of the experience is something that we're really prioritizing the other thing that we're really uh thinking about a lot is the connection the connection between the programs um within the building but also connection from inside to the outside and and outside and in so as we're looking at the overall master plan on screen uh you can begin to imagine all the different kind of an outdoor activity that we're envisioning as part of this overall plan while also thinking about all the pragmatics of thinking about the parking um and what that experience is going to be um the peak hours and as well as what the experience is going to be when you enter the building and when you're looking out to give you a little bit of an overview about the thought process that we've gone through for this uh Master planning um exercise one thing that we wanted to show here is the fact that along Memorial Drive the the gr is higher and then towards the north which on screen is towards the right lower right um that's U the north um the the slope um the the ground slopes down and what that began to sort of give us suggest us uh is the potentially being able to place the building in a location that would allow the building to have this really amazing Northern view towards the nature which would align with how we think about the daylighting the building in such a way that it wouldn't require necessarily extra um solar um protection on the exterior as well as reducing the operation cost obviously because we'll be um naturally daylighting um a lot of the building from sort of the diffused Northern Light what this development spine that's indicated in the arrow also calls out is the fact that we are able to put a lot of the logistics in the parking on one side of the plot and then allow the northern side of the plot to be fully um sort of this nature beautiful nature that I think is very special about the site along the along the root of thinking about the sustainability and passive strategies that we want to incorporate uh we were looking at a lot of different sort of a massing schemes and one thing that we uh sort of agreed to from very beginning is how we can reduce the the embodied carbon of the building and one very simple way to do that is by reducing the footprint and also by reducing the envelope of the building which is where a lot of the embodied carbon is so when you begin to look at the comparison of let's say a building that has a lot of ins and outs like the footprint that you see on the right compared to something that is a little bit more orthagonal and simple as a rectangular box in the middle we can begin to understand that there is already in a envelope that there's a 20% reduction in the envelope which we thought was a very simple but smart strategy in terms of how we can keep uh the embod carbon down obviously if we build a a perfectly Circle uh footprint we will have a 38% reduction in envelope but obviously given the programmatic requirement of the gym facilities and other um you know yoga studios and other program and pools um a circular geometry would basically yield in a lot of inefficiencies which is why we uh sort of a agreed that something that is compact as seen in the middle um sort of a noi plan is something that we were committed to uh from very early on and how we're placing that building on the side so that it overlooks the the landscape um and how the building can also act as sort of that um division uh between the parking and the nature is something that we uh discussed a lot about and strategically decided that that would be a really great location to place a building along the same lines of thinking about sustainability I mentioned about the compactness of the building and obviously the the higher you build uh the more compact the footprint will be and and hence Le foundation so although we see a lot of YMCAs that are spread across two floors um we really really made the effort with um our collaborator grow to kind of see how the three story configuration could work and in our um the sectional diagram you see here we came up with a section where you can enter the building at a mid level so although the building is three story and compact the experience of how you get to your different program within is just that you either go one story up or one story down so that is sort of another way that we were able to think about reducing the impact on the site as we're thinking about where this building is located and what it means to be in Ashland in Metro West you know we were doing a lot of research about a lot of the different um historic examples of historic buildings that have been built in in Ashland and as you can see in this array of examples um there is no sort of a one style um or one aesthetic that would sort of a Define Ashland um but at the same time um we've done a lot of buildings in uh these sort of very significant and historic neighborhoods uh both in an urban and a Suburban setting and from our experience the most successful buildings have always been the buildings that actually reflect the period in which it was built rather than trying to mimic or copy some sort of a styles from um decades ago and we think that there are ways to really bring in some of the narrative from the site and from Ashland or perhaps a greater New England as we are thinking about um some of the narratives such as glacial erratics or Boulders and this is um you know a map of a a named glacial erratics across North America um just to orientation uh you see a lot of Canada uh up north and you see the five Great Lakes and you can see where all the black dots are that's where named glacial erratics are across North America and you can see that in the New England region there's a high concentration of named glacial erratics that you know look something like this and we see a lot of these Boulders on on our site as well and we are finding ways to how that could also be a way in which we can kind of build a narrative around what the building wants to be and rather than let let's say necessarily thinking about what the historic ashin buildings are doing can we think about the essence of what these Boulders are doing and allow some of the materiality to manifest more of that solid Massive Spirit and therefore the material that we're thinking about one of the materials that we're thinking about is whether it could be some sort of a masonry material at the base of the building or at a good portion of the building that sort of a resembles or that is kind of inspired by solidity that we see in a lot of the glacial erratics that we find in New England area as we're thinking about materiality materiality of the building we're also thinking about um embodied carbon but also durability as well as cost so when we begin to balance all of these things we are also thinking that it could be a portion of the building could be aluminum panel of some sort because we thought that it could also be a good sort of a complement uh complimentary material to uh masonry um material as we're thinking about the phasing um as I mentioned earlier uh we think that that development spine that uh I had shown earlier in one of the earlier slides it could be a really nice way to not only think about um how we can take advantage of the site and allow the building to to really Leverage The passive uh the northern light and all of that but it could also be a way to uh think about the future phases of the building so by establishing that spine that goes east to west we can really guarantee that the future phases that grow in the East and the West direction that they're all going to continue to have the view to the Nature View to the north and all are are going to continue to really take advantage of the diffused Northern Lights uh that we think is going to be a really great amazing experience um for the building this is a snippet um of where we are in I would say a design process um and and by no means this is like a final but a glimpse of how we're thinking about you know how those two materials can really begin to shape the building and how we can begin to really think about framing those Northern views as such um and then the ELC component that is over to um the west of the site how that can also uh play up a role in kind of a uh U being part of this overall organization of the the the massings and the buildings in such a way that it doesn't feel like it is sort of this isolated separate one but it is all part of this sort of a larger master plan is really what the aim is here this is a view from the north so as mentioned earlier really taking advantage of that Northern View and diffused light um is something that we really want to celebrate here that's correct and also um thinking about the idea of sustainability we know that the idea of circularity is something that we also want to consider um and as we are as we walked the site we obviously found a lot of trees there but we also found a lot of Boulders so as we are continuing to develop and finesse the design uh we're really researching into how we can actually keep a lot of the materials from the site onto the site um by thinking about how to use the wood that we we are going to cut down and how to keep that inside the building as potentially interior finishes and as mentioned earlier how some of these Boulders that we find on site how we can also reuse them as potential site elements is something that we are actively I'm looking into um that is sort of uh where we are in the process um and I would to Enzo good evening my name is Enzo scalora scalora Consulting Group here in Ashland uh we are the owner representatives for the project and I get to talk to you tonight about a little bit about the schedule and trying to keep this job on schedule so as uh saying the rest of the team said uh one of the main objectives was to really start this project with a very comprehensive master plan that they can grow into that the YMCA grow into and we're continue to massage that but as we massage those components one of the things we were a authorized to do was to release parts of it into design so we're actually in design development right now uh on certain aspects of the project um next week we'll be meeting with the town departments uh Peter did a great job setting us setting a meeting up for next week so that we can start collaborating on some of the technical aspects um as we look forward we we expect that sometime in March will be ready to submit for a comprehensive site plan application um we're evaluating variance potential uh if we need a variance we'll go through the zba of course we expect to start that prior to the site plan application give that some momentum and we're thinking about submitting Conservation Commission at the same time as the site plan application for for approvals um and again looking forward post that uh as far as our timeline there's a critical board meeting at the end of June which authorizes the project to move into construction documents eventually bid the project to construction managers and obviously preus for construction in the future um so we're assuming a three-month timeline from March through June essentially sometime March through June in terms of Conservation Commission maybe four months for zba if need be or three months and then um site plan approval process so those are some of the assumptions we making as we're moving forward into what is hopefully a grand opening sometime in 2027 I think that wraps us up for questions and answers well from it depends on if what they're SE if they're from a variant standpoint I haven't looked at it and I don't think we've discussed it from full point but from a setbacks issue if there's a variance that needs to be obtained then go to the zoning board but no this project is full planning board site plan approval process now whatever special permits need be obviously I haven't discussed that you know with the applicant at this time but um maybe more conversations are needed just as their development continues on the site but if need be obviously yes you would organize that that variance indoor special permit that would need to be issued from the zoning board prior to any planning board loation do you know if there's a I didn't know if that was just um something you misspoke or do you think there's a there's going to be a an issue to go before the zoning board of appeals we're evaluating everything right now as Peter said we're just trying to determine our final plan and just trying to give you a sense of how we're thinking about the project that we move forward next week I think we be the most telling coming out of that meeting with some of the technical discussions so when you were talking about the the March was that um was that some a submission to the planning board or submission to the zoning board of appeals that was submission to the planning board in March yes probably Midway third week of March is what think not going to hold you to it I was just kind of wondering yeah where we are in line okay um well I think I I think just that um that what we're intending today um for the board is just to have this kind of informal discussion to get to know the project better get to know the players better um because obviously it's a complex project and the earlier we start understanding um you know how things are coming together and what the concerns of the board might be representing as representing the town um so I think it's a fairly informal that way but I will first of course open it up to the board so I I have a question is related to it's the why but the comprehensive plan so we we right and Mark spoke about that beginning of the meeting right kind of in the thick of strategies and one of them is support their Regional Metro West YMCA expansion a Memorial Drive by Expediting permitting Pathways consolidating permitting reviews and creating a clear process to streamline the permitting process so do you know anything about that like what what would you be asking we would you want to feel that seat okay because it it it struck me as odd because that there must be something we need in would probably be the time to get it out there if if we're something we're supposed to look at and otherwise um I have two hats here one is on the comprehensive plan we can say maybe we don't need that and cross it off or flush out whatever things we were talking about I think the conversation we're having tonight is obviously helps meet that goal right sometimes the comprehensive plans the goals don't always meet exactly up right the comprehensive plan is ongoing that's a goal of it or a draft goal but I think we're trying to at least have the we're having these conversations now right to try to flush out ideas and just to understand each other and I think that this conversation tonight kind of helps meet that goal now if it's a meeting that needs to be put together with the Conservation Commission and the planning board just so all both boards are on the same page as his project takes takes shape I think that's something that could be done in or organized that would help meet that goal of the comprehensive plan and I think that's just an example of of how the town and the applicant could work together obviously into to meet that goal of the comprehensive well I think I mean at that timeline we won't be done with the comprehensive plan so so we can we can scratch that yeah and and and look timing you know you're never h you're not going to hit everything right nothing nothing's going to obviously dovetail like you want it but I think it's a matter of you know working through all processes and and and juggling all juggling all items so was Kate was this something that came up that it's kind of being discussed as part of the comprehensive plan but obviously the comprehensive plan isn't official or anything yet so you're wondering if this was requested or um if it's just come out of um a a lot of residents maybe concerns that things don't get up our find the background just need to find what it means like in and if if people are report back they're in front of us saying March of this year it does not need to be in the comprehensive so I have one answer okay and I think I have two answers that the Y doesn't really know too much about it so we're fine just keep moving okay that's did I get that right I think that's I mean the public definitely is and it did come up last night at our comprehensive okay um can I just say one thing I think um the respect for the environment ironment I I I mean I I'm not I say this before I'm an adult who wants Garanimals for matching so I'm the actual materials you picked and how I I I don't know that I can comment but I can see the planning and the thought behind that and I appreciate that um Peter is this a um is this is this site in the real Transit District yes at the zoning and the zoning is um what will this fall under in that Zone commercial let me can we come back to that one yeah okay um and also with the is the um is the project going to require a site um site alteration special permit as well I assume yes I assume yes with the gr the amount of grading I've walked that site you know it's going to take a lot of earth work okay so yeah that's going to be kind of within dep so site plan review special alteration special permit are we looking at any other I mean we're early in the process but I was just wondering from the committee like do uh right conservation but also special permits are there any special anticipated special permits or waivers from the planning board that you would be looking for I don't know how far I I'm G I'm sorry to cut you off Enzo uh I just got to text somebody watching at home um it's great that we're all obviously having this conversation but when you do speak you get have to come up to the microphone and speak into the microphone just so the folks at home uh can obviously hear us so and I am happy people are watching at home so we apologize thank you so I I I I apologize to cut anybody off but I just want to make sure everyone at home can hear uh in in an appropriate manner right we will be more as Peter said and and we're this is more of a Community Affairs event where we're in here it looks on yeah well we're just presenting and giving you a sense of where we're at the project we're evaluating all the permitting we're evaluating with our internal groups and with Peter and your teams in terms of we might need a height variance is one thing okay so we're evaluating that if we can lower that obviously we won't go for for a variance but that's part of the massaging of the building that we're working through right now so that's one thing we're trying to keep parking uh to only what's needed but think about the growth of the property right so we have to come back and scramble and add more parking right so we're trying to keep that parking count under 300 so those are two things that we're we're massaging right now in preparation for deciding how the final plan is going to look before we present it to you are you saying you're hoping to keep the parking less than what's required is is that what is that what you're saying or ask might you be asking for more than what's allowed we're evaluating exactly what is allowed okay there's a gray area there from what our current evaluation but overall even if we were to exceed that we would still stay under 300 because 300 trips some other some other regulations and in a in a way I'm asking um someone related to what Kate was talking about like if we know what's coming as far as the there's the site plan of course there's the site plan review but there's all these nuances with special permits and and things like that so if we if we know it's kind of coming knowing that you don't know all those answers right now those are problems we can we can talk about in advance if they're if they're if they're problems for the planning board or if they're not or how do how do we address those versus having to try to tackle them on the spot when the project is further developed so um earlier so when we meet with the town departments next week and Peter's team our Consultants will be present our evaluation is going to take it to another level and we're going to talk about some of those techn technicalities so that we come with a more solidified plan of all the permits that we need okay but we again we are trying to massage things to limit the amount of permits to stay within the guidelines and so forth and so so on right we're just not there yet right yeah best to stay within the rules when you can right but it doesn't always work right got it that answer the question yes great I guess this is more on our side but to be prepared and presumably we've known about this for a while but maybe we didn't know when it was coming like the whole water sewer because that's a that's a big it's a big place and um I know we often are at sort of near the limits of the capacity of those so has anyone looked into that or because I think I think we're going to want to know that right one way or another yeah I think when we move forward with this project I think that's one of the major steps it will be questions obviously our peer review Consultants uh our peer review I mean excuse me our water and sewer Consultants who have been working with this town for years you know they do have a very good grasp and and and if if that is a concern of the planning board I I'm ass sure I can bring it up next Wednesday to make sure that the YMCA obviously fully understands the concern of the town from a capacity standpoint yeah I mean I think that's a good point to have it on that technical kind of agenda right from the start because it keeps coming up with every large building that we do and um obviously this is a little different residence versus this this type of building but it'd be better to adjust it from from day one um and have the town involved in that um Anna um I obviously very very helpful presentation and I also found it to be thoughtful and strategic um as far as the the detail and the thought of looking at ashlin's historic buildings thinking about the natural elements of the landscape the regional elements um I thought that was one of the more um strategic and thoughtful presentations I've seen in a while so I I appreciate that um my thoughts I had five kind of points to think about that would be helpful to hear next time when this is presented in March um one has to do with Transportation obviously outside of parking uh whether there could be a bus stop um part of the comprehensive plan discussions is to allow for more um robust uh alternative Pathways to get to places this isn't too far from our Public Schools uh will there be a way obviously a bus stop uh bike L bike Lanes or or ways to leave your bike maybe electric charging stations for cars things that make this very modern very future where people can walk bike get to it in ways other than a car so that would be really delightful to see as part of the project that we can see not just the building design but the landscaping and thought of how to integrate this with our community um and I would encourage the future applicant to to speak to our bike trail committee folks who've been involved in various uh efforts to create a bike path through Ashland and whether there's a way to integrate this project into some of those plans um so that's one Transportation Alternatives other than cars can we actually pause there is there someone who can maybe talk about that about how the building and how it's fitting into its site and all the things around there that it might connect to of the tri the rest or you want to I was just wondering if there's um we can stop here yeah if if if if if it's ready to be talked about at that point like how the building relates to this particular site go back to um whether we're going to be able to zoom in but when we're looking at the master plan over here one thing that we are really trying to do is to have an impact beyond the site so one thing that we're really thinking about is this out Trail um that we are um carving out um in I would say what seems to be sort of a purple light purple um sort of a trail and connecting to the Charlie trail um so that you know people it's not just about using the facility but and then people can come and actually enjoy the nature and be part of the greater um Network um we also acknowledge that you know there is a uh West Union um Street which is a very significant important Road um especially you know with the Boston Marathon and just thinking about the proximity to that and we're thinking about whether there are ways to you know create a more of a sort of a visual connection um from where that is um in terms of just thinking about I think if the bike lane um I think that is a conversation that we would like to have uh with you guys you know as a project goes on um there are EV uh charging um I wouldn't say stations but we we are designing the building in such a way that we can have um the EV charging um I forget exactly what the amount is but um a good amount of The Parking Spot will be EV charging ready so that when the future when there are hopefully you know more electric cars more you know sustainable means of transportation that there's an infrastructure that that's already in place to allow for those connections to happen um does that is that sort of a answer your question yeah I think um you know we know on where's the dog park located relative to the is it up toward the T Station or below the T Station it's kind of like where that sledding hill would be so is it the next so is it the very next okay sorry about that right I remember that um yes so I think I mean what would be and I know when you get that far we'll have this but showing how the Y connects in with um the the bigger picture of the things around it you know how it connects to the trail how it connects to the dog park I mean even the Dunkin Donuts right I mean it's a it's a community spot right so to to see how this um you know there's the Memorial Park kind of right across the street the the school is there so this is really a a center you know a mini Center in Ashlin that almost everyone is familiar with and uses at some point so to see this building kind of land in the middle of all this activity and understand since it is meant to be so connected to the committee or to the community whether that's by dogs or by coffee you know to see how see how it's really connecting into the those things would be great even if it's just a sidewalk but to show it in in its kind of environment um sorry to thr but we thought maybe fine that's fine next um my other comments were um to get a little bit more detail obviously on the landscape Elements which I think this is hinting at it somewhat but um The Mention obviously the presentation has focused quite a bit on the building reflecting and honoring the outside the Sun the nature the green um but maybe getting a little bit more detail as to what the Landscaping plan is um so that was one comment I mean this hints hints at it but with a lot more detail would be helpful what trees are kept uh what things will be planted uh what the what the outside area will look like and then um I had questions or thoughts about you know the sustainability of the building itself whether there'll be any certification relative to the how the building is built um and then solar ready or actual solar as far as energy that was more of a question I think we're targeting I guess to go backwards um in terms of solar we're targeting solar ready um but and then we are in conversation um with the the PV um select energy uh in terms of where that could happen um and uh we are designing the building in such a way in fingers crossed in hopes that we wouldn't have to necessarily install these huge structures in the parking lot but and then allow the roof of the the building to have enough space to allow these PP panels to uh take place so as we're thinking about the hvc and mechanical equipment and what goes on the roof we are really trying to consolidate them and leave ample room for PVS um take place in the future and obviously the infrastructure of the building and how it that it obviously will be designed in such a way that when that time comes when it does happen that it it's easily connect you know you can just connect to it as opposed to having to you know sure or or any kind of contemporary kind of modern Green Design on that on that roof whatever that might be green green solar anything that's modern and futuristic I think this is an opportunity that the applicant's team seems to be looking to so those were some of my questions we actually have uh if you don't have it already we have a sustainability what we call a sustainability best practices list that was created do you do you have that list yeah and I'm sure it's not from your point of view I'm sure it's not uh comprehensive I'm sure you with your team that you're very familiar with all these issues but it kind of brings up things that we've talked about as the committee um committees in Ashland um and would be obviously always um looking for um your input as well based on experience that you have in other projects and ideas that might work here yeah we love that and we we have the checklist and we've sort of gone through them and begin to compare it with you know our current approach and the direction we are headed in terms of where the alignments are where we're exceeding where we're falling short and so we are actively sort of protecting against the what and it's great to see that you know town of Ashland is so big on sustainability and obviously us um as a as a team and also as a as a design firm we're also sustainability is something they really want to promote um so um we're actively always just crosschecking but also thinking about the different ways like example with the circularity for example is something that you know it's not required obviously but it it's just felt like it's the best thing to do it's it's what's right to do especially given how much you know um wood is on the site how much you know material is on the site and trying to find ways to keep those on the site is something that I I feel like when I first saw the initial iteration of the project years ago now that it was more at an angle a right angle to Memorial Drive and so it's really kind of realigned itself um so so the street really runs very north south as the Memorial Drive is that East West it aligns East West to the building this site plan is almost True North almost okay yeah um and you know it was interesting find when we were walking the site is that because initially we were kind of very skeptical of having uh a big parking lot along Memorial Drive in terms of like that identity from Community but when we were walking the site we saw that there's a burm along Memorial Drive that there's a there's a burm and vegetation and we thought that that is a nice way to screen the parking lot and create this sort of a discovery um approach moment to people who are turning from the Memorial Drive that it's not the parking lot that they see but you go through this trail of woods and then you see the building and the landscape Beyond and then you see the parking lot and and that was sort of the AA moment for us to be able to kind of say actually maybe it's it's good to have the parking lot close to the Memorial Drive and allow the nature the burm to play the screen role and allow us to try to preserve as much of the nature and the view to the north as possible building really becomes kind of this threshold between the busy street and the parking and the nature Beyond yeah I mean I think the um I think the you know the shape of it that this very simple bar can um sometimes be in intimidating maybe to people looking at it that it's just a box right how hard is that but in school myself in design school you know we you you really talk about the beautiful box like how do you create the beautiful box which is which is really when you look at these historic examples that you have been looking at around Ashton a lot of them are that a lot of them are a box footprint that that then use other means to express themselves and that that's not an easy task I think sometimes it's easier making kind of these crazy shapes and that's that's the prettiness of the building um so but I'm I'm um really interested in this approach that says hey we really have to look at sustainability we have this opportunity for a perfect north south alignment what can we do with it how can we use it in many different in many different context right and then you then the question becomes how do you create the beautiful box which um you know I a agree with you about not um I think often when you try to replicate something that's um noteworthy in the town it it really often goes Ary and I think it's about um showing respect for those things um having a nod to those things but not duplicating those things um so I'm would look forward to to seeing that you know design process as it as it moves forward not not at this time go ahead I don't have anything additional to add from what I've heard but I think thank you for really taking the time to go through all detail the evolution of the design so far I think that's really helpful um what I would add is as you're developing you are in schematics but as you're developing especially the experience as you drive through the Memorial Drive and that connection with the bum and the building Beyond I think as you're developing these views that particular moment it needs to be part of your journey um because if you look at just this the south of this building is got a lot of opaque surfaces you're connecting to the north with lot of the transparency which I think I appreciate I see a glass connection that you have from the Memorial Drive to the north but I think that need that language needs to kind of continue a little longer on the south side of it because it's completely at least from these views right now it's opaque box so it's a going to be a it feels a little too modern for Ashlin design I think so I connecting to that nature and that drive that you just explained I think that's really important to experience that Beyond putting a very modern architectural element in ashin which is not something that like from your images that you already know that you're not going to see that very often so I think that connection uh is great on a 2D on a plan side plan view but I think it needs to come a little more on your 3D threedimensional and that experience that actually you would see in a building that you have here so especially for the scale of it um it's three story yes one story is below the street level but again I think it's going to be the materiality also you've I think you're not it's a great story about the glacier stones and things like that but I think the materiality needs to connect a little more to the ashin design language it's a little off right now it needs to scale down and kind of connect back to the history of Ashlin and ashin materiality so um as you're developing this I would really pay attention to the materials palette as you're progressing you're way early on the this one but yeah can you elaborate a little bit more on I don't like you had on your slides you had brick and the stone and the concrete and you had aluminum panel but on your elevations it's much more modern material right it's more you have a little more modern materiality that's showing on your elevations uh they these These are envisioned as uh aluminum and the the base of that that gray base that you see would be sort of that masonry unit okay um the the finish and the color that we would select um and the and the coursing uh that we would design um we would think about you know that transparency and allowing light to come through um but the materiality is the aluminum glass and uh masonry it's just the nature of the Finish you know how much Sheen are we thinking about in terms of you know can the metal panel reflect the changing season around the building in such a way that when it's fall season you see a glimpse of the red you know through the metal panel can the CMU or brick have a have a also level of Sheen or a different sort of a coloration or a pigment yeah um that doesn't necessarily try to be like the historic brick uh but and then have you know take a life of a more more modern future focused life that people see it and they know that yes you know that's seems familiar but at the same time that's very different right so that that's sort of like what we're trying to capture maybe it's not completely captured in this current Iration but definitely something that we're going to continue ABS that's exactly what I saying I think you have that right concept there but I think as you developing that those those elements need to show off definitely otherwise it feels like a really cold aluminum box definitely um I'm assuming it's one of the alucabond panels or things like that right that you're planning to use use we're trying to stay away from composite aluminum panels because of it's unsustainable and um perfect nature so it's probably likely going to be more of like sheet metal or brake metal um perfect but the Finish will be that it's similar all the more reason why the other materiality needs to start to kind of connect so that especially with when you're driving through that Memorial Drive that nature and kind of that because there's lot more happening on the other side of the building which you're it's not public facing it's more when you really walk into that facility that's when you're going to connect to that so I think it's really important to bring that as you're developing definitely you're it's way early to talk about it but just be mindful I think it's it's really good uh to bring up though because I think um you know and if I'm hearing you correctly it's like we're liking all the things that are being said but don't necessarily really like the look of the building yet you know know and that is because it's very early right it's it's not um you know the amount of energy that can we don't even know exactly what the outside is like because the inside hasn't been fully formed yet and where all the program goes so it's about emphasizing that we're looking for something there and we know it's not there yet so we're going to reserve judgment like on that part obviously I think I think this is exactly where we're here right this early in just to get some feedback and to know exactly ex ly you know what you guys are looking for and to hear from you so that we can go back to the drawing board and kind of see how we can also you know really absorb that and then you know as we iterate and develop further and be able to really reflect on that I think one of the things that older buildings have which may we may have just given them artificially over time but um they have a certain kind of what no matter what their material is if it's even if it's something cold like Stone but it has some kind of uh you know conceptual warmth to it and I think that's maybe what isn't isn't present yet in the drawings is the kind of that warmth and welcoming while being a modern building for sure um and yeah I think it was more important especially when you both brought up the context right when we start to zoom out a little bit and start to look at it the reference of what's going on on the right side I mean not compared with Dunkin Donuts but at least your da part and all the Charles Trail and things like that when you start to connect with that larger scale this building will have to start showing that materiality in a very different palette that's what I so can I jump into this as a non-designer non- architect non-designer voice uh and I I very much appreciate the conversation and I I think it's okay for us to kind of state an opinion I I'm very excited about the modern element of this I think the pieces that speak to me a quite a bit visually is the ELC view I think what it's called yeah the building in the back the the smaller section right there has that almost reflective of the sky and the green there's so much glass there that you can imagine it's going to reflect whatever is happening in nature and it's going to almost match the skyline in a really beautiful way whether it's stormy outside rainy or a beautiful sunny day I personally think the the darker building that's closer feels more urban too almost too Urban for Ashland and so for me that contrast was a little bit painful to my eye not I'm not a designer I'm not an architect I'm just sharing a view that I personally would love to see more of that reflective sky feel in that closer building um and I do like the element of art although again this felt more urban rather than Ashland s and I do wonder if that mural or art or whatever you're imag there can more closely reflect that history that we have here whether it's a history that somehow hints at the Boston Marathon or hints at our historic buildings or hints at um our Native American history are there's so much here that we can play off of to make those artistic elements a little bit closer to our history um but that's those are my more kind of subjective ref reflection I I love the modernity and I would not want to make that go away but I I I'm I'm leaning more towards the back building than the darker front no I think that's a great Point um the mural piece is something that we've been talking for a while and you know it's a question of whether we allow the mural to be part of the ELC and the Y programming meaning that seasonally can the kids uh participate in the murals or does it become more of a permanent piece as you mentioned and in that in the latter case obviously you know we would you know engage in a much more deeper conversation with you guys in terms of what would be sort of that fit the good fit um but it's definitely something that we're you know um talking about and in regards to um the glass I I I do agree and I love you know when when the glass um or materials uh are able to reflect some of the surrounding going back to um our firm's sort of commitment our firm's commitment to sustainability um glass the more glass a building has the higher the embodied carbon usually is um and also in terms of the operation and the heat loss um there there's a huge sort of upside of what a glass building means so more and more we as a professionals are trying to stay away from building these beautiful glass boxes just because of its implication on on on on the on the planet and hence in the in a lot of the projects that we're working on currently there is a a a huge amount of effort in really thinking about where we place the window strategically um so that we can reduce the embodi carbon as much as possible without compromising the daylighting and the views um so it's something that we're balancing but it's always a balance right because if we just always focus on the nature and the sustainability and body carbon then you know we'll build a solid box and you know with LED lights and you know and make a refrigerator and then it'll be you know we'll call it a day but um so it's a balance of that but definitely a good point and uh in this our current iteration it really focuses on trying to put as much of the glass on the Northern side because we know that we are going to be able to get that really nice filter light and the view um but and then while acknowledging definitely your point about we are going to need some windows and you know that level of transparency so that as people are driving by or parking and arriving that it doesn't feel like you know a solid box um so something that we are that we will sort of uh you know wrestle around with in the next coming uh months an opportunity to make it Dynamic the mural like you said it could be something more Dynamic and nothing constant and that itself is a moment by you know I think something that you can but that experience is going to be once you come into the driveway near the parking lot so the scale of this is very different when you are actually in that environment versus driving by that so I think there's challenge you have on both ways so that's right I was going to say I'll also open it up if there's any questions um or comments for public comment people that aren't on the team that want to comment you can be feel welcome to come up as well I don't know if we have too many people on the zoom but that they should raise their hand if if they have a comment anyone out there on the zoom yeah I can just mention if anybody online wants to make a comment please raise your hand and I'll ask you to uh I'll call on you as normally do and then did you see anybody nope okay um my my question would then also be for the team if there if there's any anything and it also goes to like Expediting the process having a smooth process um if there's any questions that that the project team has for the board um that we should make sure that line of communication is open to as far as what um you know what uh what you're looking for from us or the type of input in order to help your process go more smoothly um that would be be very helpful for us as well one of the things that we've had a lot of success with when on projects is one ensuring we give you a comprehensive application right with as little uh potential for gas as possible that's one of our objectives when we do that effectively on projects it makes your life easy right the second thing is opening up the conversations with your peer reviewer make sure there's a dialogue back and forth so that when you receive information it's also accurate for information coming back from them I think those two things done well um we can help that process along now after as I said before after next week's meeting we'll have a better picture of locking down some of these things in preparation for you know talking about the technical aspects and I think that meeting will lead into some more of the specific questions that might come about yeah I think for for us um obviously there's the list of requirements for the application um and I'm I have to go back and actually see what's on there but like seeing the project we're always looking to see the project like I said in its greater context and I think because a lot of our bylaws talk about that like how does the how does the building fit into its context not not necessarily does it look like this building next door but how are they connected how do I how do they talk to each other how do they become good neighbors you know you want to zoom out a little bit more yeah zoom out a little bit more and then as the landscape does start to get developed and the the building starts to get developed in its facade just to be able to see to be able to see that from different angles um obviously those are usually provided but to right to um to show them in its context with other buildings if if they're there um would be helpful as well so that not only us but the public can really visualize how it how it sits on Memorial Drive Great anything else from anybody on our side Enzo had mentioned um a March um application and our board meeting is June it's a really important board meeting is that timing work is that realistic you mean to what was the timing to start in March and finish in June yes is that that was essentially the timing correct in similar processes similar communities you know that's in our opinion a fair process again we still have to work with you to figure out the final permit applications if there's anything if we need a variance walk through that process but yeah that's kind of the intent yeah I'm going to say that uh historically our board tends to take more time that said I think um that that's just a that's just part of the records as to how long projects take coming through the planning board that's said I don't think um we want it to be that way I think we're looking for a smoother more efficient process so we're happy to work with you on that and it may even be that if you reach another Milestone before March I don't think there's anything that prevents us from having a second informal meeting to kind of check in um in order to keep um to keep that project more on track yeah I think obviously tonight's the start of the conver start of a conversation that has been going on obviously on your side so I think Trisha is correct you know if there's a if there's another Milestone let's come in bring it back and let's talk about it you know let's not just say okay we'll come back and March and we'll just hit the ground running after the public hearing but after the advertisement of the public hearing notice right I think uh the lines of communication have been opened kind of move forward and I would say to this obviously we have professional peer reviewers um that work on big projects in the town of as and and I from my standpoint is that the as as your professional team right can engage with our Professional Engineers and go back and forth it moves very it can move quickly um where where there's a lag time and where things get mixed up is that if the response is if one party is dragging their feet on the other side you know and I think it's our job my job to make sure is the town's peer Reviewer is not dragging their feet right and it's getting is being timely in a responsible manner but also if you guys aren't submitting data revised plans if if it's going weeks on end then you can't really look to the planning board to say hey we missed this deadline not you know I think that's where that's where the rubber hits the road in in my eyes we do have we we've done quite a bit of work I think we have a checklist that Kate had put together for projects that we can adopt for this I well I think we should I do I do want to it's kind of what Peter was saying but I I I support you're saying our board takes time because we are thoughtful but the time that I have seen we are often blamed for a long PE that comes from the other side and I'm confident I mean it often starts with the packet I've spent if we don't get a complete packet right it might be complete enough to get your application in but then it's not really right you know it's not really to the level that we can comment on if you right so so I think working together but I I'm just going to speak up for our board that I do not think it's us causing delays to things it's usually been not ready need more time I think Peter I have not seen from our Consultants I've seen them meet extremely responsive but Peter committed to if it is on our end no our Consultants are always very committed you know and um I'm dealing with them on a very big project that right now and and things roll and you got to be kind of proactive and and get ahead of it and I think uh I think for the most part I think your team has been very professional so far we're having you know a you we were you've asked for a departmental meeting we going to have a meeting obviously ly any information that I can give to you I know I sent over the Memorial Drive as builts which is a huge piece of how you set up your project right that was a town project um you know when we develop when the town developed Memorial Drive when the town purchased all of the land area of the the RTD and cus became on board so there are there is information that is flowing back and forth and I think it's just a matter of keeping that communication open I think I just think that from the planning board side also there sometimes we do um think of things like kind of at the last minute like oh you know what what if we have this you know on what about this idea and so um or different views of the project that we'd like to see and so that's why I'm wondering if if it if it fits your schedule as well if if there's another if there's a another point where we can have an informal meeting so that we're trying to gather all these things certain views that we'd like to see or the big contact site plan or a little bit more information about those materials that we're kind of doing it you know in an you know in an early stage so that when March comes or when you actually submit the application really all the Ducks are in a row and we've seen it all kind of before and we're just looking at it more formally now um because like I said I think we don't enjoy that long process either we'd like to have it work efficiently but while we're always obvious ly trying to um make sure we have the the best product for ashin so yeah I mean part of this was to be transparent this is our timeline this is what we're working to here's an idea of you know what some of the concepts we're thinking about and it's the start of the conversation with your team right yeah and we hope that continues we very much appreciate you all coming today we hope to see you again um I said formally or informally what whatever it works out and I think I think it's going to be hard to find a person in Ashland who's not a fan of of this project coming in so it's just working through all the nitty-gritty details I do kind of a followup to that because one thing Anna kind of touched on it but I being a member of the Y and Framingham and and knowing how busy it could get potentially if you're planning on 300 parking spots that it's very very well thought out about safety of that because like that parking right there right now you're I know you're not there but like please don't come back without that better design because we're going to ask I'm pretty sure our board will be asking that so allowing for bicycles there's kids there's little kids that run out you know that so please try to thoughtful about that one to do ahead of time so we don't have to spend too much time dealing with it and luckily I think the uh the um the goals of a of a applicant like the YMCA who is about families about kids about people of different different abilities um I would assume it sounds like sustainability and I have to assume safety is is a top priority for the organization as a whole of course definitely is I just want to thank all of you so much for having us here tonight I want to thank everyone who tuned in at home um for for being here with us also um big thank you to the team here this is the Dream Team this is a good crew and when you are looking for a professional uh responsive team that's going to be ready to work closely with you um you've got it so we're excited to you know tackle this together so good night and thank you very much great thank you thank you I I I will say I'm very impressed with with you coming here and I think it's a good sign and I'm me personally I think we have a good chance with this project to do it efficiently because you're here so thank you thank you thanks for coming see you soon thanks Peter yeah I um I had heard the name a whole bunch of times with the sustainability committee and but I didn't I've never met him before thanks Rick thank you got it okay yeah so when when when I was introduced to him before Peter will be back in a minute but um before the meeting started like I don't think we've met but I know that name you know right right so yeah yeah I'm I'm not sure and what was his role that oh all right oh no problem we're just decompressing a little bit before starting up all right so that's fun to talk about woohoo next on the agenda is the discussion of 10 to 60 Main Street um there you are Peter like where'd he go soorry yeah I was just stopping the screen sh so can you um explain again what we need to do tonight um about the 40b project and our comments to submit comments yeah I'm sorry so yes so I think everyone understands that the 10 to 60 Main Street was filed for 40b the zoning board of appeals um kind of will open the public hearing uh earlier this month and uh on Jan January 7th um and as a whole right the uh the zoning board of appeals has asked for comments from from departments uh from the planning board uh just to get some feedback right from from where everyone is what is uh where where people are feeling on that project uh speaking with the chairman John traan he is just trying to reach out to all boards and committees to understand um um like I said what their kind of views are and maybe what some of the issues that one may have with the project what are the pros with the cons um and so I am just I had to put that on the agenda um obviously I'm wearing two hats these days one with the planning board one with the zoning board of appeals um and so I think this is an opportunity uh in is the a one of probably probably the first opportunity for the planning board to share any comments that they have with the zoning board of appeals uh these will be records these will be put on record obviously they'll be submitted formally uh to the zoning board of appeals um just in like a circumstance where the planning board would ask for comments from the sustainability committee and know the design Review Committee uh so with that said um I did provide an everyone's packet um a copy of the letter that the planning board did put together um in sign I believe last May um when comments were issued um to the to Mass housing um regarding the application uh of the 1060 major Main Street project to Mass housing in an effort for the site eligibility letter now since then obviously Mass housing issued the site eligibility letter thus the opening up the Avenue for the appli to file with the zoning board of appeals and so I think it's on the agenda tonight just to to talk about it if if people want to take it home email me comments that's fine we can do that um but obviously this is just uh going through a process um to develop comments uh if the planning board would like to act in this manner um to these owning Bo appeals what would be the I mean we have we produced a very long but well detailed letter I think what would be the harm there's probably pluses and minuses but of simply giving the letter that we previously produced as a committee to the zoning board of appeals I mean it's public information obviously it's all part of the public record and we can do that right I think the one thing we should add is I remember there was one particular rendering at the end that we all really loved that the planning board got there was quite a bit of work to get to a rendering that we seem to like and so I think the zoning board of appeals would benefit from that particular rendering what I would Envision is is a letter to the zoning board of appeals that says listen our comment the state speaks for itself take it as you wish there could be information there that will help you and by the way here's the rendering that we as a planning board worked multiple months our arguably years to get to so that you understand all of the work and effort that we undertook with the applicant and how close we got to a rendering that we believed as the Ashen planning board was consistent with our view for the downtown good luck that's kind of what I Envision that way the zoning board of appeals sees oh the planning board did all this work for this particular Vision with our letter it gives a full context are you talking about the rendering that was in a fairly small scale very early on where we kind of early on in the new version of 10 to 60 but I think we all liked wait a minute yes that one no not that one let me maybe that one hold on let me see that was the handdrawn was that the handrawn one that might be it there was another one I I can dig through do we have the similar one just so that I can reflect this might be it or it's a similar one yeah I I think it it might be because I think we were noting that it was two it's really four stories instead of three probably and we liked it yeah I mean maybe we showed them both I don't think this is it I think there was one more one more after this and maybe maybe we I'm trying to remember maybe it's mentioned in this hold on my question is what is important from zoning board of appeals what is it that they would need to weigh in at the end of the whole process that's missing from this five pages well so they're going to have to make a excuse me from the feedback that we've already kind of put together is it that so point the feedback that we put together covers a lot of what they're looking at and obviously some of the waivers that they're being asked to Grant right and so I think if our feedback um if there was additional feedback it should be feedback pointed to the requested waivers by the applicate and I'm happy to circulate more in more detail what those waivers are um but it's regarding height it's you know it's really in this instance a tight um this is a higher building than what was proposed um and uh and also from a traffic setup right they're they're moving away their The Proposal right now is is proposing to use the two existing curb cuts when the plans in front of the planning board were to line up the major Ingress and egress to the site through Pleasant Street and uh this proposal right now is moved away from it and so it is it is a different site plan you know in comparisons from the one I know Kate you just pulled out one uh which was almost which was um which was also kind of a handdrawn rendering um and also that it was more of an aerial view um I think those are the so some those are some of the biggest changes um and then some of the other waivers pertain to more wetlands uh Wetlands stuff um however the applicant is also going to have to go in front of the Conservation Commission um at some point so I think that we I I mean I obviously this can live as part of our statement but if things have change I think we should try to try to take a look where those um we would care about traffic and so just say the new plan does not line up we don't think it's a good idea we don't have to make it extensive but I think I think um given that that board is all volunteers like us I I think we're maybe another set of eyes for them and and for the community and then I I haven't I did not get to go to that meeting and I haven't watched the meeting but I did hear people say the applicant has made CH changes that the town asked them to and I don't know who and when so we I would love to see what those are I mean it would be nice to produce a list right the town asked me to do and I did it cuz I I mean I feel like we should be transparent about that for one um who in the town ask you to do what and and did you do it and it might be I I don't know but I I I guess that's a little concerning if that really happened but I would want to at least see what that is and the town is who and maybe the planning board wouldn't agree with that direction and just say so I mean that's all we can do it's isn't this feedback required for tomorrow or asked they asked for it for tomorrow am I like no so the the zoning board of appeals is going to be the the next hearing with the zoning board of appeals is going to be on the 11th J February 11 okay so we have time but our but our meeting next meeting is not until the 13th correct y so maybe it's important to look at the latest in the greatest package and look at it from the site plan and and kind of look at comparisons because this the letter that we had drafted had a lot more contextual kind of and the history of where the design landed and why it was not the right project that's what we focused on in that letter but that's not probably important for zoning board of appeals it's more kind of the bird's view that we probably are not getting into in this you know speaking with the zoning of appeals um I think I think most if not all the members understand that the project did go through an extensive review process by the planning board it was a year-long process they understand there is history to this project right it did just didn't kind of form yesterday right um and so I think our letter does tell that story right and I think um including their images helps tell that story and to say these are some of the concerns we still have such as Xyz um and I think you know I can say that the next the next meeting for that commit for the zoning Bo of appeals is going to be heavily focused on traffic right um our traffic consultant from MDM will be at the meeting um and they that was kind of the first item that the zoning board of appeals and the applicant decide to kind of really vet through thoroughly um before the next step is taken so if if it if a full letter has not been formed yet by the 11th I think we could come back on the 13th and and finalize it and then issue it you know this project you know from from a town standpoint the way the process is going to roll out is that on the the proess started on the on February 7th and right now we are within that 180 day shot clock right um to produce indor to actually to close the public hearing and that is if no extensions are no extensions are granted um by the applicant and obviously with understanding of the applicant and the town um from that point on then we have the town of Ashen has to uh formally submit a decision within 40 days after that 180 days uh so obviously I'm trying the major point is we're at the beginning of the 180 days we're not at the end but obviously the sooner we could get comments to the zoning board I think that will be appreciated by the zoning we we really need to have the plans in front of us I mean can we pull them up because we can at least start some notes of what we might comment on just as a note I'm happy to pull them up I'm happy to share my screen um while you're pulling it up can I clarify that this rendering from March 7th is the one that we all had a positive reaction to there was one more on May 5th and we had started comparing the two that's when they so um I this is the one I was referencing what we could do if we give the Z of appeals our letter is both renderings and just comment that as reflected in our letter to the state this was our original liked rendering followed by the second evaluate as they have context Clarity so this is this is the one thank you and as far as the traffic studies the ones that was presented to US during the project was from 20 during the covid time that was the traffic studies that we used for the design development of what was presented to us that whole traffic study has been totally re their traffic study the current project in front of the zoning board of appeals has they've obtained the new project applicant has obtained a a different traffic engineer Bas Associates uh and they created a traffic plan um that is obviously molded to the proposed project um so it's important I don't know if any of you have seen it because I think it's important to look at the S plan new side plan proposal side plan with that traffic study to connect it because the design that we looked at was sounds like it's history now so if that's what's important for zoning board of appeals those are points that we should as focus on just to make note um I agree so if you come to the town's website I sent the link in the Friday email um and it's obviously that the 1060 Main Street cases online you will see the January 7th presentation and you'll also see embedded is a is a direct link to the YouTube um for any Z pling board member and Below there are comments from the Board of Health the sustainability committee and the portable Housing Trust directly there as you move down you'll see the application and um I can pull out the pl the site plan I this is the building how it sits today you can see the what is going to be retained is in Gray 10 and then obviously the front of 20 but from the site plan view uh the renderings that we did see in front of the planning board the main Ingress and egress is going to be right through here right now the curb cut is going to be here where exists today and then also out on Myrtle Street and then right here in the interior of the site and or interor of the frontage they will have a shortterm parking area um an accessible parking area but also a parking area for Amazon and UPS trucks um as they do da daily deliveries um so the site plan has changed from what the planning board did riew um from that overview um and like and and as you go through this information on on the website they'll see more color renderings and and through their presentation this is just obviously the the site plan um from the engineer and Sample yep well they they asked for feedback they did ask for feedback do we have their the text or how did that that request it was just verbally yeah ver it was verbally and during the meeting yeah well I mean that's a that's a good point I'm not I feel so I feel strongly about volunteer board asking for help other eyes if possible but what I would what might be the ask is are there partic like we do to design review hey we've looked at this here are some things we'd like to have you dig into or look so it might be more appropriate to say you have our yeah e and I think um I think we we could put that in our letter do a little bit to say hey and and uh and communicate to the zoning board if there is you know there's a certain item please you know obviously email through MH yeah yeah there are some there there's there's some there's some commonality there's some similarities um but yeah there's some differences um and then attach mhm yeah agreed agreed we okay that's I'm happy to dra yeah we can do that I don't want just I agree I agree with you Anna that we already did it however is is my position working with the zba on this project I also mechanically need wanted to obviously present the request to the planning board and I agree you're taking the right approach yes we did the work let's put it back in front of the zoning you know let's share our comments obviously the zoning board of appeals also received all information regarding what the town sent into Mass housing back in May right it's all prob record and so so they but I think it's but I think it's made a re to reiterate the the the the views of the planning board and I think I can write a memo and obviously I'll send it around and then we can kind of work through that submitt process and and that using obviously the the May 23rd letter attach to and but U have have your memo and that we get it to them before they febru yes then no I agree I just want to be responsive to the requests though and well but also opening the door that they may have particular things that we would be welcome our best shot at sure no I think that's the right approach in my eyes MH yeah look at it I I took some notes and obviously what you just noted obviously I I do have all the documents and so I'll I'll put a you know a couple paragraph you know couple paragraphs together um obviously make it shorter uh Shor suweet and then uh yeah and then obviously uh I'll pass it along and and we can kind of uh have something ready to go you know uh sooner rather later they want to yeah no and you know obviously we want to be respectful of their time and yep oh I had my my microphone off too sorry everyone um okay so next thing on our agenda is the discussion of accessory dwelling units um the adus um and the change in the state law and how to adjust our bylaws um to be in alignment with that so I think we left this last time [Music] of where did we leave this last time Anna had some um so we had some we had some comments samples like yeah and there was some sample bylaws yeah that we that we kind of looked at but we didn't um actually that was the meeting you gave us the samples but you weren't here yes yeah um we pulled some comments together and I was going to read we made those comments we sent them to the state and obviously we're there um we put them in I think um there was a couple comments you know our DPW made and obviously we submitted everything um along with every other community and I think um I think really any day now the state should be turning those around and then we'll be working from what the what the draft regulations were excuse me what the final regulations are going to be um to produce a bylaw and I know Anna you had a couple um draft communities is that correct or sample communities I can't remember I remember I remember looking at the we didn't we focused on the response to the state we did not get into it but one thing we did talk about because Peter is sure they're going to give a draft bylaw and we I do recall this we said we probably would be better off replacing ours not trying to update ours like delete what is there everything make it simple and the new and and the draft should be a good starting point well I don't know I personally think something should be on Springtown meeting so I don't if it doesn't come timely I don't think we should wait right I think it's just that like in the in the NA example for for instance I think in my reading of it and that was something that was passed from NAIC before the regulations came out um I I believe and so um I in in my in my view and this hasn't gone through Town Council or anything like that but there were things in the NAIC um bylaws that I would not think would be allowed under the regulations that they were asking I I didn't think some of the things would be allowed but that's only my my opinion so oh I I think the thing is yeah we can I think the thing is that um in it's just a matter of time so I think we can pull some um some to me to me I think the natic one was way too complicated um I I think we need to keep it very simple so that we can work through it before Springtown meeting so that we can at least change our bylaw to a line with what the state is going to put out there whether it exactly meets so that maybe we just have to tweak it according to the according to the regulations to make sure to hopefully only do this thing once the issue is we need someone to work on it right we need someone to put together that bylaw to find the bylaw to have it vetted to you know look at it to look at it regulation in relationship to our current bylaws um and so you know who's who's going to jump on and do that so we at way back we said that Lisa had a draft for Ashlin and I we haven't gotten that like we should start with that you know what I think after this meeting I'll circulate anything that I have around with the draft bylaw obviously I just I'm looking at the email from Anna and Anna you are correct you did write a memo and I think we sent that out but I'll recirculate this yeah and then whatever I information and that I've been able to pull forward I'll be able to circul circulate it and kind of take a look yeah I need to yeah I'll just share it we did not should at least look at it I think it starts right here at B it's going to be behind y yes are you are yes yeah you are yes but why don't we just talk about that I I for one would prohibit short-term rental you know to not do short-term rentals I think the goal is to provide housing I don't think short-term rentals are housing I think they're hotel rooms and so that to me would actually take business away from local local hotels instead put them in short-term rentals so I I don't think we need to get into that I don't think we need to get into that um mired situation I I think it defeats the purpose yeah I mean we're we're we're supposed to be providing housing and I don't think that provides housing I personally just to keep this moving would say prohibit now and it can be changed because I um the conference we went to last year it was like the communities out in the Burk Shear like they that's why they did it because workers can't even have a place to live and it just yeah I and I I would be open and we aren't the Arbiters of our community we're just trying to do our best to put something out there to to have us not look like we don't care about updating our bylaws to be compliant mhm but but that's the thing if it's if it's by right my understanding was for a building permit yes my understanding was the regulations say because it's by right it doesn't go to either Authority you know it go it's by right it goes right to the Building Commissioner unless you're outline is specific specific circumstance stands about you the Adu wants a special permit or it usually goes to the ZB that would go to the zoning board of appeals and just just well I mean if it's like a regular variance but there so I guess maybe related to this have said one only but they have a special permit process for another one that is correct and I and I don't know um well I think in that instance right so I think there's two things right I think the reg the the the draft regulations to me were not clear on pre-existing non conforming Lots Andor houses when we talk about a if it's even allowed correct so I that's where I might I kind of want to see what the regulations say right now if if you're extending a pre-existing non-conformity right that's typically going to be a special permit to the zoning board of appeals right and so I kind of want to see what those regulations say I agree that when these regulations came out the state made it very clear into speaking to this point Trish to to reemphasize what Trisha was saying and what what deep was saying is that it goes it's it's by right it goes to the building commission right they you file the site plan you know with with the setbacks XY Y and Z and this is what I'm looking to build right it's been very clear that towns are not going to you know these have to be similar to what a regular house would the process of a regular house would go through right from a residential standpoint so if you just had a regular lot right a lot a form a lot that process is hey I'm going to build this house and this is what I'm going to do and I'm going to go to the Building Commissioner there's no site plan review right and so they made it clear that there's no site plan they don't want site it's not necessary to go through a site plan review process for a edu right um so that is what I picked up on from the state um yeah I think in that instance the things I was thinking about that um that were in the na regulation I think that they and again it was before the regulations came out that they that that there was a lot of different little circumstances that they were shooting toward a board and I I'm like I don't think you can do that because the house doesn't have to do that the main house doesn't have to do that so the Adu doesn't have to do that that's the point they made again and again in the regulations yeah so um yep I'm sorry can I just go back to that first point though so the question I think that we have to say is do we want somebody to be allowed to get a second EDU by a special permit we no more than one I I I guess I'm going the low impact keep it simple to bring and these can all be changed we've learned this right and like why why do we think our zoning has to be so stagnant Anna it does not just right and we can amend it when we hear from the community and people are saying like why can't we have two all over the place and then we can I'm fine with that too let's keep we just overthink sometimes yes which we are allowed that's one thing we are allowed to have some yeah but why is that restrictive that's just saying an Adu has to follow the same rules that a house has to follow no they are you are we are allowed to make like like some uh that it has to be sort of behind the house and that's my read of the state law the last that it was right but that's not but that's not being restrictive I don't think it's just saying to me that's just if you're saying it has to be in the same building envelope it's or it has to be in the same area that a house is allowed it just means that an Adu can't cross the setbacks either yeah right you know without a without a variance from the no [Laughter] no wait so so why wouldn't it be allowed the same as as what you could build because it gives flexibility and don't forget the most this can be is 900 square feet right it cannot be more than 900 square feet yeah I think I think it's the height I think it should be again match the height that's allowed on the law that's allowed yeah because yeah because because it means that yeah well we we we having the ideas here that's not the a language of an of mhm I'm that meets so what adct did they reiterated the law it's the state law it's the state law yes 110% you could clear you could you could wave all parking requirements yeah they we cannot ask you to have parking if you're within half mile I like the mile because if I'm building that and I'm and I'm thinking that I'm going to help supplement my income I have to think if I think it's going to be with someone with a car or not to make it practical I I guarantee you it could cause parking issues in neighborhoods but like it yeah no I like the mile I think it's you can walk a mile in 20 minutes and and again if these get built it is going to be a developer it's going to be small developers like us do do I think it's worth it so so you're saying you you must provide a parking space if you're over a mile from the commuter rail station if you're under it's your choice if you want to provide a parking space or not knowing that knowing that not providing a parking space May limit the amount of people that exactly that take you up on renting yeah those yeah um so the only thing I think we are allowed to do is have some design about it has to um no I don't think you can do that because as long as it meets building code we cannot that's not our purview um but but I think you are say it has to be quote subservient I don't have all the right words I've read a couple drafts of and I believe you are allowed so like you don't want them to put the ad for instance in the front yard even if they have setbacks and I think we are allowed to say certain things the thing is it's assuming that the Adu would be less attractive than the actual house which I'm not sure is always sometimes it's a nice opportunity to put a really cute little house in front of something that's not so pretty um no I I get it I think I mean Marcelo had a lot of thoughts about that and I don't have his brain about that and he he's not on our board um but we cannot if it meets building code we that's not our business yeah yeah well the thing is the thing is for most properties I mean everything in I think the vast majority of Ashland is is Zone ra right and there's a 40 foot setback for an RA zone right front front setback and and so there's just not that you have to have a pretty big lot to have your house sit more than 40 feet back or at least so much back that you can now put another house in front of your house and have space unless unless it's attached so I'm so I'm not sure that I'm not sure there's going to be many circumstances unless the the partial is very big and still that Adu is sitting 40 feet back from the street so um so the only open issue said is the pre-existing non-conforming which we had said on the other conversation fine as long as they can setbacks my opinion that's my opin Peter's waiting to see if the state law says something different and that's where I'm kind of that's that's the one yeah that's what I'm looking for okay okay yeah along with that do are we going to ask for town meeting that I already have okay great it's already it's already Tak care well we can also start circulating to the public because we're doing our best we've thought about it we've read them we've read the law right Peters went to things but we're we're a small portion of yeah I think I think as long as the ideas are in there we can manipulate I have some stuff I can work with you and I think as far as the existing non-conforming we talked about this before I think that is and it's it's a typical part of existing non-conforming too that as long as the Adu or the in case the addition of a house meets the meets the setbacks all the setbacks that exist the house can be nonconforming the lot can be nonconforming but if the Adu meets all the setbacks it's fine right it doesn't matter that the house is non-conforming on the other side of the lot that's correct or that the lot itself is a th000 square F feet short of being in a conforming lot it doesn't doesn't really matter as long as it meets as long as the ad meets all the setbacks and height requirements it's in the rules it doesn't matter if the house is outside the rules you're not expanding anything right you're you're not making anything more detrimental that's right you're not increasing the non-conformity but in anyway and that allows because there's a lot of non-conforming lots out there yeah I think um I think this will come together easier than the MBTA that is that is not saying much I think if you can get it in the bylaw we'll work I can work to get it in the language of the bylaws in general that we've kind of established with the MBTA and the kind of the the clarity that we're trying to okay y that sounds good yeah any other comments on that okay all right the other things we have on the agenda are more of our typical stuff why don't we take care of the meeting minutes quick um and then it'll be done with all the stuff we have to do and I'm just going to so all we have is the January 9th ones is that right uh that's correct okay I haven't had a chance to look at them so if we can just take a minute I did read these oh oh There were some like yeah yeah that I do remember that in that meeting yep oh Magic motion are you still um I think I'm good if you guys read through it and didn't I don't see anything jumping out at me I make a motion to approve the January 925 meeting as presented and a roll call vote Katherine Jersey guy and Trisha Kendall I so um all right so um I think the other thing um that we should just talk about briefly tonight um I guess it's just under administrative manners that just the the process of so maralo did officially put in his resignation and that position is being posted yeah so that PO that that that position is posted up it's online they're collecting Talent Banks it's already up yep okay and there will be no there's actually going to be a um uh in tomorrow's Town manager newsletter that goes out there's going to be a note that speaks to uh vacancies on open boards obviously the planning board that vacancy is going to be highlighted as one of the uh one of the op one of the seats and how long are we looking to have the open before we vote we have 45 days to fill the seat so if if we're going to fill it so I just want f are we putting the design review in there too on that yes so design review actually has an open seat that's actually if you go to the talent Bank the uh is that the newsletter do you know I have not seen the newsletter the actual article in your the the language I always just spoke to our Communications manager and she just said that yes plan boards in there and that's where I kind of left it okay um we'll see tomorrow we can put it in the next yeah yeah um so um but do you know if there's a do we leave it is there a certain amount of time we need to leave it open I I don't I don't think there's a minimum number number of days in or you know I think any like any job post it's you know two weeks minimum you know two weeks minimum whatever that is um I spoke with Susan Ro excuse me Susan Ro uh Susan Roby about um um the select board's next meeting and I think that's going to be on February 5th and then that would maybe follow by the meeting on the 19th um but February 5th is their next meeting so we should um February 5th sounds quick but at least we should um I think in February we should try to coordinate a date with the select board to have that joint meeting I mean granted if we get some applications of course right um but at least start thinking about a date so that we're not scrambling to do that and I think also we should um find the questions that we used when Marcelo came on aboard I'm sure I have them as well I think there were five questions we may want to look at those modify those I don't remember if they were of that time or if they were very general questions um and I would suggest I mean this will be together with the two boards but I would suggest that we have those questions and we and we send them to any applicants inance yeah I don't think we did last time and so I think sometimes it was a struggle to understand the question and answer the question versus being able to really think about it I I think is more I mean I guess I would say it's it's nice to kind of keep it to that but I wouldn't promise that nobody asks another question either no no I don't think but I think it's you kind of have to if get people prepared I think if you want yeah I don't think it wasn't meant to be uh restrictive it's just like I think this is what we did last time to kind of make sure we generated some um have some equality across the questions to candidates I think there were yeah I I think so yeah yeah I'm sure we have those somewhere Anna wasn't here made a decision about something so Anna we were just talking about um we finished the meeting minutes we were talking about the open position so it is uh Marcel has officially put in his his resignation letter the the position has been posted it's going to it's on the website it's going to be um in the town manager's newsletter tomorrow um we weren't sure if the design Review Committee ones were going to be listed in there as well um have to see um and then we're to my knowledge nobody has filed Talent back for right but it's yeah it's just it hasn't a matter of a day she I believe she is interested in applying but I do not think she has applied yet um so but we were talking about to make sure we at least have a calendar date given that we have 45 days to fill the position that we um have a calendar date that we start working out a calendar date with the select board for at least a placeholder for that discussion and also I had mentioned that there's a there's a list I think of five questions that we put together when we filled Marcelo spot then it would be good to dig those up again and see what they are and see if they're still um maybe in sitting in my uh I saved email or saved uh you um mile yeah you probably have them too yeah I mean I think I I have the I I I'm sure I have the the the yeah yeah the final version so plenty board questions for associate or there just three I have three and it's dated February 11th 2013 that would yeah that sounds the ass I think you're right yeah yeah CU he just finished his third year so this it would have been Maybe January of 2022 in there somewhere yeah so this this was to the select board oh I I made a note I'll try to I'll try to dig around I'll dig around too and see if we can it's just be it' be a good starting point yeah so it's not we're not totally re I think it's I believe it's a twoyear slot yeah it will be a mic well it's important to note that we're that we're filling a position for a matter of months and then the position is open for two years at the election and Kate's position is open for a fiveyear seat so it'll be a fiveyear seat and a two-year seat no he would be Marcel wouldn't have been running for r at all however if you resign right and you if you resign mid year right it's the it's it it's the bylaws that it's up to the planning board and the select board try to gather Talent Bank forms and try to fill that seat temporarily however at the next election cycle that seat then goes on the ballot so Mark correct only for two years correct so they will be this upcoming election there'll be two seats on the ballot one expiring in 2020 7 and then one it's fire in 2030 correct and would therefore run as the that's true whoever if someone is correct correct yeah there's regardless because no one in the seat has to run so well but it's not it's literally only till May and then they choose to run or not well a two or a five I am not sure what the language says so we'll look tomorrow it's it's already out there probably so yeah or a five both great he we'll go for the two-year term because she's done um yeah so we'll look at it what it says tomorrow but yeah then we can get it out to Facebook or whatever just see if make sure the word is out there so okay so that's important um because it is a good opportunity for someone to kind of test it out and just see now I I hate sitting in the seat for three hours or you know or whatever so okay but the pay I mean really yeah you know you're very easy to please then Kate um so is there anything um okay so our next our next meeting is February 13th that is a three we break people because of the way the holidays fall um so that we can get the other homework done in between which is good um does anyone have anything to report on in the reports reports on planning topics Mark gave a little thing about the comprehensive plan but I should just give another quick that um summary of what happens there well we're at another kind of critical point so generally have goals decided again they last time um Jen Goldson spoke those are still up for grabs technically and we're working on there there were proposed draft strategies technical working session so they're taking the feedback and taking until March so we won't have a meeting in February um to repesent and kind of rank those yeah starting they'll be meeting with um Town's departments but what I wanted to say is that coming up it will be getting into the end of that phase which is her her plan is to report to a joint planning board select board so we'll have to have that there it would be after the 20th of March for sure but I think she did not give a timeline but coming up okay and so the Final Phase in their process is then you start Drafting and how long is that phase I think it depends I think it depends how I think they take the first stab but it depends if we like what they did I mean how much rework um that kind of stuff so okay I mean it won't be ready for the Maytown meeting that was just um I assume we should be able to make the fall town meeting oh great I would think that was at the goal I remember I think possibly all right wow any other um I just want to make a quick note on February on February 5th um the fire department has kind of spearheaded the re um the updating of what's known as the hazard mitigation plan uh mpc's been doing that work mapc did that about five or six years ago um it's an important plan because it's for fedal funding from FEMA you have to have updated upto-date current Hazard mitigation plan so Keith uh Keith roby's been kind of working on this and I was part of a meeting this week um but MPC will be at the select board's meeting on February 5th to give a presentation so just to give you heads up um if that is something that you kind of want to tune into obviously it's going to be a zoom meeting um if you don't want to come here in person um but more information will be sent out regard regarding that invitation okay so just want to make a quick note of that uh other than that I have no updates all right anyone else updates okay and then if there's nothing else I will make a motion to adjourn at 9:43 p.m.

finance committee of the whole um Mr jeni roll call please M here excuse me Mr here Mr Grio here Dr here Mr here M Rosenberg here thank you join us for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all first item on here is for us to um review the superintendent's recommend budget so I am going to forward this to Dr herrian chair of the finance committee hi thanks for everybody for coming out yet again tonight for more budget um I believe I am handing this off to Dr Solen to um give us an update on a second budget recommendation thank you Dr herrian um you know I mentioned what was that Tuesday night that uh the budget is a really fluid process uh and information you know is we have the unenviable responsibility of trying to Define how much we're going to need spend in January knowing that there are a lot of variables that change between January and July 1st um one of those variables is insurance and we got some new information uh today that influenced my budget recommendation but I just want to walk through what I just shared which is our budget proposal line by line uh is what you'll see in the table form forms on pages 2 through 4 uh and to the far right there are updates there uh recommendations um for any potential reductions now um there are also recommendations for addition in light of our insurance update today uh but I'm just going to walk you through real quick um potential reductions uh and so the first item is under the director's supervisor line that is maintaining the uh secondary stem director uh position again that would be like a counterpart to what Mr hanlin is doing now but at the secondary level um for the stem uh curricular responsibilities our original budget budgeted that position at the top of the pace scale for the administration um we don't ever budget any other position at the top of the pay scale so um we reduce that from Step six which is the top step for administrators to step four uh which saves $5,000 um I really always try and operate from furthest away from the classroom into the classroom but given the other reductions we've made there's not a lot of room to do that and not impact the classroom um just reminding folks this year is our last year of German at the uh Middle School level uh decision we made last year to try and make sure that we could provide those science opportunities uh at the Elementary grades um this is a reduction in the addition so this is not a current teaching position that we're reducing by 05 there was a request for a 1.0 art position to cover the additional sections that we've been adding for enrollment that brings this down to 05 of a of an increase instead of 1.0 in that field on the next page uh you'll see the increase in workers comp per the recommendation again I'll ask Vin to touch on that momentarily staff training we've flatlined that budget amount to um the amount of money that we uh dedicated in our budget this year to staff training uh $211,700 um so a reduction of 4,500 um we've made budget line reductions to um again kind of made these These are again all proposals for your consideration but replacement equipment and new equipment uh $10,000 in each of those lines um the budget for Pupil Transportation um you know Vin can elaborate on that as well but we made a a potential recommendation for a 4500 $45,000 reduction in that line the next two um lines are again reflected in the insurance quote that we received today uh dues and fees uh $15,000 reduction teach Point by Vector for Teacher evaluations upon reviewing the contracts we were able to make a reduction there um and still provide that service for next year um because we need to have a mechanism to record teacher evaluations and then finally maintenance repair of buildings uh $50,000 reduction there is a potential given the net additions and subtraction s uh it's a a total reduction from The Proposal of 1361 181 that would bring the total increase in our budget um to 6,238 41 or 6.94% over the current budget so that VIN if you could just hit on uh those line items that I mentioned that fall under the operations domain I appreciate you provide any color there or answer and any questions thank you Dr Solen good evening ladies and gentlemen happy to be back again on the budget topic uh really the the most important uh topic I wanted to talk about this evening Jeff hit on some of the insurance lines when we budgeted insurance we did not have our initial estimate from our insurance broker uh so we budgeted 5% for workers comp and our liability lines including Transportation auto insurance um we did get our initial estimate today finally and we weren't that far off the the estimate is about 7 to 8% um so workers comp for example is at 13 at 8% so we need to increase our $199,000 recommended increase at 5% by an addition additional 13,298 um the big change that is being recommended by arasur which used to be HD Seager is that because of a number of very large jury awards that have occurred you know recently not only in Connecticut but across the country they want us to take our excess liability from a $5 million to a 10 million policy um and they're recommending that strongly and that's a $30,000 addition so the the total increase that you is reflected on this sheet that Dr Solen walked through is 46,000 for the insurance lines again 30,000 of it just to increase our excess liability policy Sean Kimble the town manager and for the town and the Board of Ed we work together with arasur and um the town will be budgeting that additional excess liability as well so that's a $40,000 increase the minuses Dr Solen walk through all of them I'll just comment that you know as it relates to maintenance you know we had requested a $485,000 increased to continue to make sure that we're you know maintaining and doing preventative maintenance on our buildings you know we'll take it down 50,000 in order to um you know provide a workable budget to the board and the same thing holds true on Pupil Transportation you know as as we look at Pupil Transportation it's a 4 point3 million line item we've requested a $331,000 increase some of that has to do with the contractual increase cost of the buses but also we're anticipating our special ed and General Ed runs we're confident that we do need an additional type one bus but we think that taking that down $45,000 is not an unreasonable approach to take when we budget it's always a matter of tradeoffs so these are the trade-offs that we're recommending at this time and that concludes the uh the update from my end Dr s thank you um I know we had some questions Tuesday about um what role do the uh folks who don't have like a traditional classroom responsibility we have reading and math coaches um reading and math specialists at the Elementary grades uh we have a couple of coaching positions uh and we've proposed you know we have a director of K8 curriculum and we have proposed a secondary stem uh specialist for director of curriculum um Marlene do you want to just kind of elaborate on what those roles do and the new role yeah can you hear me yeah yeah okay um I guess I'll start just by talking about how the coaches impact instruction and impact the lives of students at the elementary level and I guess the best way I can describe that is to to tell you an anecdote that illustrates something that happens every day so imagine a set of twins at the elementary school and a parent contacts the grade level teacher to say you know I'm really concerned because one of my twins seems to really be thriving and the other one I I'm really worried about I'm not really sure what what it is but I'm concerned that they're not bringing home you know the same quality I'm not seeing the same achievement and so the teacher will say okay talk to talk to the parent and then often times as is the case the teacher will reach out to the coach or the the ram as we call them and the ram will support that teacher and being another set of eyes and a thought partner to look at all of the assessment data often times as is the is the case right now with our I ready curriculum in sixth grade and for Math and our aadience assessments across all the grades already has been in place for about a year and a half and aadan is is fairly new although a little bit older than I ready and they'll sit down with the teacher and help them and the teacher might say you know I'm not sure maybe this student needs some pull out support now you're talking about pulling a student out of the classroom to maybe get some additional supports and the ram might say well let me come in and let me you know look at the assessment data let's look at it together and let's figure out what this could be I'm going to come into your classroom and I'm going to do a reading conference for 5 minutes three times a week and so the ram pushes in and is in the classroom doing that and the teacher sort of seeing what's going on and the the ram knows that the the student is getting better but the final word is when the Scholastic Reading inventory comes back and or the aadience inventory comes back and the teacher can actually see what a difference that reading conference makes and in the process that teacher says gee I saw what you were doing with Susie I started doing that with some other kids in my class and boy I could really see the growth and so now that coach has has by their presence and by their expertise helped that student directly help that teacher directly and now that teacher has learned those skills that they're going to employ with their current class and for their classes for years to come and so the benefit of teaching our own people we have great people in this district and and this is something that we committed to for a long time but through our Sr money in the bounce forward plan we said we're going to put our money into coaching and support so that we can better our best and that we can make our teachers help them with the things that they need so coaches are working with individual students they're working with teachers and they're really listening to what teachers need you all have been a part of um showcases where we've talked about building thinking classrooms if you're a teacher and this is true not for all of our teachers but for some who have are veterans and may have been doing this for a long time you weren't taught to teach in the methods that are prevalent now and so having someone in your classroom to give you some pointers to model a way of doing something and then being able to do that for more and more students it's it's a great asset and so we talk about coaching it sounds like it's very formal but it's really those informal conversations so coaching is both um I would say it's both strategic and it's um situational so you have these strategic meetings where you're looking at data and you can pinpoint things that need to happen and then you just have those situations where your one question leads to another leads to another and you're able to impact instruction in that way and so coaching is so very powerful and we see it working best um right now in the elementary school because we have a a coach in every one of our buildings so when I think about the work of a science and math curriculum coordinator I think of the exemplary work that Mr hanin does every day in working with those coaches and taking those coaches on coaching walks into classrooms it really is the conduit for provid in the support to the teachers that we need helping them with curricular needs it is facilitating um data team meetings it's it's working to help better our best and when I think about our scores in grades 3 through six we have very strong math and Ela scores 79% of our students in math are above you know at at are above standard and 60% in ela and that doesn't hold the whole way through so in my opinion I think that our um our achievement at the higher level isn't meeting our expectation are we doing well as compared to other other um other schools in the state we are but the expectation is that we we can do better and I think having a curriculum coordinator in that position really sets us up to give our students the best that they can because we'd be giving our our teachers the best that we can to support them I talked a lot so I'll pause for questions and I can't see any of you so I'm sort of talking to the microphone out there I know this straight table is not ideal um thank you very much for that explanation I actually really appreciate that you gave us a concrete example and a concrete example for others to better understand what some of these positions are doing so thank you for that um also thank you to Mr Mariana and Dr Solen for um taking the that difficult information that you received just today correct yes and um and working up something that um some decreases that don't appear to to affect what happens directly in the classroom it's a way uh to save I feel to save those coaching positions to keep working in that curriculum coordinator position which do directly impact kids in classes um by trying to be trying to tighten our belts let's just say in other areas that are less impactful of of direct instruction so I thank you for um redoing the numbers and giving us the option b that we have before us um right now I'll open up for questions or comments from let's take uh finance committee Members First So Adam or Mark um never thought what I'd uh see the day when uh I would think that a 5.3% increase would be palatable to me but uh that's kind of where I am so that's all I have to say thanks all right he's feeling good he's feeling okay where's the 3% increase I think uh anyone else now we're off finance committee um Miss cullinan I think it's on um I I actually who's Tony next um shouldn't we uh shouldn't finance committee make a motion then we can pass the motion and then we can have a discussion from the full board yeah do sounds good I mean why not right only three of us can vote right now that's true yeah that's true so um I would make the motion that the finance committee submit to the full Board of Education a proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 26 of 95 million man it's hard to say that number 95 million 75645 an increase of 6 million 23841 or 6.94% over the current Year's budget that's the option b that's before us do I have a second second thank you Mr eki Question discussion discuss is there discussion I don't have any comment now thank you um so we so we'll vote we'll just vote and then we'll do the discussion okay all in favor it's unanimous with the finance committee and um now discussion Miss cenan okay so basically I I do not have a question because I think the team led by Dr Solen and Company um have been been very thorough and thoughtful and actually transparent with what um they have presented to us we have asked a lot of questions um they have been very available to answer any questions um and I just appreciate all the work that they have put in to uh presenting this budget to us so thank you all thanks anybody else else point of order we're discuss we're not really discussing anything shouldn't we I think since this is a you know a special well special meeting now I'm assuming now we are we in a a uh Finance we're so do we need to adjourn Finance so that we can are we then calling a meeting of the full board we did not after that full board meeting tonight so where are we so just so through procedure is uh you voted out of the finance committee tonight right yeah right yes um if we're going to have a full board meeting it would be on the agenda to be discussed as an item right we don't that be next Thursday is when it's actually scheduled okay I saw that that's why Tuesday you're right Tony yeah um but I I don't think it's an issue of board members on have General comments um we're not making any business decisions yeah I'm so this is finance of the whole So yeah thank you for your comments Miss cullinan anybody else want to add anything no I want to Echo uh what amme said I I I very I'm very uh uh fortunate and aware that we're we have an outstanding staff and team here and you know this is my 16th budget process and it's always been this detailed and uh it's always been very responsive uh the staff goes out of the way they answer our questions um and our Administration and teachers and educators are here all the time uh staying for the full meetings I think you're nuts but thank you we appreciate your support uh but it goes to your dedication so I I I just can't under uh I can't emphasize to the general public which unfortunately we didn't have any in this this year's uh process that there's a lot of work and Analysis that goes into this before we get the number and usually by the time we get it um by now I think the staff is Val verse types of questions we have so I just can't thank the team enough I know you guys put in long hours as it is so it's uh much appreciated thank you mic [Laughter] dropped yeah now I just exactly um what Tony and Amry stated earlier I do want to thank the administration and everybody body involved in the process and also my colleagues that are up here as well too for asking thoughtful questions digging deeper to ensure that we have a full understanding before moving this forward so I really appreciate you know this year um you know you really put thought into ensuring that we still have qu high quality instruction moving forward um and that this is mostly and should always be student driven a plan that is student driven and so I appreciate that and and what I also um um admire Dr Solen is that you're you're cognizant of the fact that yes we want to um sustain and maintain the extent and retain the Staffing that we have but also you know um obtain some exceptional Talent into our district and proposing that stem Position will cover all that um and I I feel whole uh once you do and hopefully get that position in here in a sense so um there's a there's a sense of coherence within this budget and I feel like we're proposing and hopefully at at our um special meeting that we move this forward to the town um and that they recognize that as well too so thank you all uh not not directly related but uh so Dr Sol and I obiously you know about the special education task Force's work and recommendation that came out today um I don't believe Harford could move that fast to change a formula this General Session but you never know but based on what came out the report gations in lightest budget process to are you concerned at all at this point if there's any change to es ECS formula to put a heavier weight on uh special needs um population in light of the fact that we're considered a welltoo town um is there any concern about that formula negatively impacting us at this point as a tour of the tell um good question Tony and how that play into this budget yeah good question and I think you know um like you I mean both of us have had a lot of experience trying to read the tea leaves and and do that and um seen situations where uh you know had a mid-year reduction in ECS at one point uh I say back in like 2017 or something um right you know in this situation uh it is not been my experience that we ever see Dems and Republicans both supporting uh increased funding for special ed um and how whether that plays out through ECS um the educational cost share or the excess cost Grant um I think both of those could be beneficial to us ultimately um you you know whether that is paid for through something like a reduction in Pilot or I I don't know um but I feel pretty optimistic actually that if anything uh and there's been a lot of I've seen a number of bills introduced about holding harmless communities like ours that um have seen some ECS and ECG backsliding in the last couple of years um so actually if if anything I feel kind of optimistic that by April fiscal conditions could improve for cheser that' be that' be nice to see be great yeah I won't hold you to it but thank you yeah I'm not going to hold my breath man but I to put you on a spot but I'm sure you've been thinking about that lately yeah um we actually talked a little bit about that on Tuesday as well and um there's just at this point in time no way for us to know we don't have our crystal ball although I've always suspected that VIN has one somewhere in his office um but uh the other thing that when it gets to the town and the town starts talking about where the education budget fits in there's just it's April there's just a lot more information at hand at that point I feel like this budget that we're putting forward has is the best number that we can um work with at this point in time and be um really cognizant of of funding what we need to fund so again thank you to the whole team Dr s canj yeah do you adjourn for the whole board of education for a whole finance committee of the whole yeah we can make a motion to adjourn okay do we have a motion to adjourn so moved Mr grippo a second Mark Mr eki thank you we are adjourned right or vote vote vote oh all in favor thank you w weer great um Thursday will that be here here thank that was 20 years ago

evening everyone we will open this um APPA Valley Unified School District board meeting on January 23d 2025 we'll call it to order at 5:00 pm and uh with that um I'll do a roll call Amanda Buchanan here Maria okara I and Renee longshaw here andita Tucker here and Rick I'm here as well no one is absent please join me in the pledge T flag I to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you okay public comments Kylie we have any public comments pertaining to our closed session uh we do um one for item B6 B6 okay and that is um lesle McNelly and this reference negotiations good evening that's all it takes then I'll turn it back off too and I home okay great thank you good evening board members superintendent Nelson cabinet members and members of the audience I'm lesie mcnanley bargaining chair for avuta as you're aware this year is a sunshine year for our contract that means the entire contract is open for negotiations for the next three-year cycle last year the district in abuta went through training for interest based bargaining or IBB we started working on the sunshine in November on many non-monetary articles and I believe the process has been pretty productive so far the real test of the IBB process is when money is involved however and that part of negotiations is coming at us pretty quickly as you're aware our current healthc care is provided through a trust which will not be available to us next year after much deliberation avuta has decided to go through Cal Pur beginning next year for our medical insurance this is the most affordable option for our members when we were in our negotiating session last week we were told that the district team did not have direction from the board for any additional spending on healthc care and that our bargaining would need to remain within parameters bargained in the past we found this disappointing but began working through the process with the hopes that direction would be coming from from you the board tonight we've heard through board reports and the budget committee that things are tight financially for the district and I don't doubt this however this is my 40th year of teaching and I can't recall a single year when the district has ever said there was plenty of money and negotiations were easy and I'm here tonight to ask for your help out of 14 school districts in the region our district ranks eighth or ninth in salary depending on placement on the schedule with the new health insurance we will be going to tiered rates instead of composite rates which if unchanged will negatively impact our young families we hear that we shouldn't compare ourselves to our neighboring districts because they have different funding mechanisms than we do however our neighbor Hisperia unified is funded quite similarly even though their unduplicated count pupil count is lower than ours and they're able to better pay their employees it takes a teacher 34 years to reach the top of the salary schedule in Apple Valley it takes the same teacher 20 years in Hisperia the difference in earnings during this time equates to more than $1,000 over that 14 years this is no small difference understand that while the negotiating teams are be being told not to compare avusd to places like Victorville or other area districts new teachers who could be differen makers for Apple Valley are doing just that if you are a fully credential teacher looking for a job and you you have a choice of all of our area districts why would you choose the district that consistently pays less than most of the others the 14-year analysis that I spoke about with Hisperia for Victor Elementary it equates to over $165,000 for that 14 years for Victor Union it equates to over $268,000 and both of the Victor districts include fully paid benefits last spring the negotiating team visited every site as a part of a listening tour we wanted to know what were our members biggest concerns as we entered this negotiating season special education class size and other issues came up a lot but there was real anger when the subject of salaries and health benefits came up teachers want to know why other districts are willing to invest more than Apple Valley is do we not work as hard do we not care about our students as much I watched the presentations at the state of the district a couple of weeks ago and was impressed by the programs our schools put on I was also struck by the effort of the teachers that it must have taken to put these programs on more than things more than buildings more than projects your teachers and support staffs are your most valuable asset in a school district you can tell a District's priorities when you look at its budget what will your budget say about the way you value us thank you thank you thank you Lesley Kylie is there anyone else wishing to speak okay thank you okay so we're going to go move on to Clos session and we have items one through nine but prior to um moving in a Clos session I'm going to read um the following item one superintendent evaluation item two pupil Personnel explosion cases exp number 13425 through EXP 18425 stipulated agreement expulsion case stip number 4 2425 and revocation of expulsion case exp 24 item three Conference of litigation government code section 54956.9 subsection a current litigation 11 cases cvds civb 21133 22186 76 231 4073 23 22171 241 2359 241 23211 61 24444 and civs 24289 government code section 54955 sub section c and 54956.9 subsection D subsection 2 and E1 anticipated litigation one case 2501 item four Public Employee discipline dismissal release reassignment transfer leave excuse me title certificated and classified employees five Public Employee appointment re resignation retirement reduction title certificated and classified employees item six conference with labor negotiator agency negotiator Jeremiah Harrison B employee organization Alpha Valley Unified Teachers Association seven conference with labor negotiator agency negotiator Christen Dupri B employee organization California School Employees Association eight conference with real property negotiator government code 549 56.8 and negotiation part Matthew schulenberg alphab Val Unified School item Nine security matters government code section 54957 consol consolation with Apple Valley Unified School District chief of police and that is it so with that I can ask for a motion to go into close session so moved um motion by opara with a second second Anita okay all in favor I hi any opposed hearing none that'll be the order so we'll be in close session until 700 p.m.